#january can’t come soon enough—y’all are going to do AMAZING i know it
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Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! I hope everyone who celebrates is having a lovely one!
As a special Thanksgiving surprise, because it’s been about a week since voting was first opened, I have decided to release all of the prompts for Geneuary!! 🥳
@drawthethingdoppelganger made me an absolutely gorgeous graphic, and I couldn’t be more grateful. Everyone show her some love for making it!!
I want to give a very special thank you to everyone who voted! Here are the prompts all written out:
Day 1: Dream/Imagination
Day 2: Family/Alternate Universe
Day 3: Slumber Party/Jealousy
Day 4: Sunshine/Rainbow
Day 5: Mermaid/Magical
Day 6: Fashion/Secret
Day 7: Feast/Empathy
Day 8: Crush/Birthday
Day 9: Robot/Jingle
Day 10: School/Musical
Day 11: Keyboard/Candy
And because Thanksgiving is Bob’s favorite Holiday, I knew I had to make a silly lil’ sketch of him:
Plus a bonus Gene!:
Someone needs to keep me away from color palettes because I’m getting way too obsessed with slapping them on my sketches.
#thanksgiving#Geneuary2024#i’ve been so excited to share these prompts ever since dt sent the beautiful graphic to me#i don’t want to reveal all of the poll results but it seems y’all were really excited about dream/imagination 👀#let me know which prompts you’re most excited about!!#january can’t come soon enough—y’all are going to do AMAZING i know it
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riptide (m) | k.sj. | (1/2)
one | two
pairing: kim seokjin x reader
rating: m (18+)
genre: angst | smut | established relationship!au
summary: It takes a foolishly trivial incident to unravel how astonishingly little you and Seokjin actually understand each other. It has you questioning your relationship, and him? Well, he’s questioning his whole life.
warnings: swearing + implied alcohol consumption + realistic relationship problems + mentions of insecurities, jealousy, complicated mental dispositions + emotional distress + sexual situations (unprotected penetrative sex, dirty talking, a bit of manhandling, fingering) + mentions of masturbation + a ton of miscommunication (refer to the summary smh)
word count: 12.3 k
note: it’s FINALLY done, y’all! came up to be a monster of 25k words, so i decided to split it into two. i’ll drop the other part next week. this took a lot more time, energy and re-writing than i’d thought it would. i began writing this in january - it’s been five excruciating months! 😩 i really hope y'all will like this one~ 🥺💜
💟 YOUTH – 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7
— masterlist
— feedback is always appreciated!
riptide (n) – a dangerous area of strongly moving water in the sea, where two or more currents meet.
Lady, running down to the riptide -
Taken away to the dark side -
I wanna be your left hand man.
The turn of events has been so fucking hilariously impossible that Seokjin has literally been rendered speechless. Which doesn't happen often, mind you. What can he do, he is just extremely witty—he always has something to say about everything, usually and preferably with impeccable comic timing. Especially when it comes to you.
This, though. This completely baffling scenario, right in front of him, has him gaping like a goldfish with no words to say.
"Final call, Jin. Gawk at me for five more seconds and I walk out of here," you threaten, an elegant arm poised at your waist and gorgeously plump lips pressed into a thin line. "Say something?"
And Seokjin still cannot formulate a single word, because what the actual fuck? How can you even think that he could ever—
"Alright." You catwalk out of his bedroom, leaving him blinking into space.
He jumps the next second, leaping after you. "Honey! How would—what—I can never—why do I even have to say—will you wait? You’re being so ridiculous, right now, I hope you know that!"
If he wasn't in such a fix, Seokjin would physically cringe at his speech. It was better when he was just gaping.
“Honey! Stop being so overdramatic, you’ve known me and you’ve known Jimin! For years! Stop acting like you seriously don’t know what happened, here!”
You don't stop, though, gliding down the stairs and hopping over the haphazardly tossed items in the living room as you exit out of the house.
And then you're gone. You're really gone, over something so fucking ridiculous, that Seokjin still has no words to say.
All he knows is that his girlfriend of five years has finally gone crazy enough to jump to conclusions of such high magnitude of stupidity.
And, that Park Jimin is a dead man.
It all begins on an unsuspecting Sunday morning, when the entire house is smelling of weed, stale booze and some worse fluids.
Last night, Seokjin vacated his own bedroom for the boys to smoke up in at Jimin's request, because that is the only well ventilated room of the house. He spent the night in Yoongi's room with earplugs in, dead to all the chaos in the house—as he often does on party nights—to catch up on his beauty sleep. He cannot afford any unbecoming dark circles or, God forbid, breakouts.
And no, that's not a comedic moment, he really does need his face looking perfect this week for reasons outside of personal gratification too, because he has a shoot on Tuesday. He especially took a leave from his part-time job at the Mexican restaurant downtown where his girlfriend, you, work full-time, on a Tuesday—saying goodbye to all the amazing tips always forwarded to the cooks on Taco Tuesday—for this. Nothing would mess up his face.
Not to mention that one very important audition for a very gigantic project he's been looking forward to. They're yet to announce the date, but it would be this very month. He hasn't really told you much about it, planning a huge surprise for later when—if, actually, but he prefers to be unrealistically optimistic in every situation possible—he bags the coveted position, at the end. He hasn't really decided upon much, other than a long drive and a picnic date to one of those grasslands on the city's outskirts that you love so much. Oh, and bringing up the prospect of moving in together in an apartment with just the two of you.
He's pretty certain you must not remember him raving about the opportunity, because it has been months since he did that. He then proceeded to be covert about all the mini auditions and trainings he underwent to prepare for the final audition, and he is confident you have not connected the dots.
But that is all a discussion for later — he doesn't even know when he would be auditioning.
The crux of the whole matter is that he needs to keep looking as flawless as he can until that audition happens.
So he has slept like a baby, last night, while the rest of his friends have partied, including two out of three of his housemates—Hoseok and Jimin—along with Taehyung and Taehyung's girl. Namjoon had foregone attendance in lieu of the Halloween party, next weekend, that he knows he would definitely be forced to attend because Hoseok is hosting. Yoongi, his third and final housemate, escaped the house altogether to spend a night of music-making with Jungkook in his dorm.
So, in the morning, when Seokjin is moving around his kitchen that seems to have been hit by a tornado, checking the fridge and mentally praying that his baggie of smoothie ingredients is still in good shape—a scream echoes around the house.
Seokjin freezes. That sounded a lot like…you.
Immediately alert, he runs out of the kitchen and into the drawing room. Hoseok is hanging upside down on one of the couches, something that looks a lot like undigested white sauce pasta puddles on the ground, inches from his new, fiery red hair. Seokjin grimaces.
"Kim Seokjin!" your screech tears the silence.
Seokjin twists on his heels, looking up in the direction of his bedroom. It really is you. And you're in his bedroom—the room he did not occupy last night.
God only knows what kind of a scene you have walked in on. He hopes these idiots didn’t have an orgy up there, although he really can’t put it past them.
Not waiting another second, Seokjin rushes up the stairs and pushes through the doors to his bedroom. His mouth falls open on an audible gasp.
You stand next to his bed, dressed up elegantly in a navy dress that ends above your knees—which makes him wonder if you are here for an impromptu breakfast date—with one hand clutching his duvet that has uncovered what looks like…
…a head of long, dirty blonde hair.
Who the fuck?
In his bed?
"Hey, Honey!" Seokjin's voice is a squeak. "You… you here for a date?" he manages out of a suddenly parched throat.
You roll your eyes. "Uh huh. A fact you would've known if you looked at the texts I sent you last night." Your eyes are narrow at him. "This explains why you didn't, though. Busy night, Jin?"
He balks at your words, at a loss. How could you even think it was him, when you know all about Park Jimin and his escapades?!
Seokjin's blood boils. Fucking Jimin. There is going to be blood on Seokjin’s hands.
In the midst of it, the blonde head shifts.
Soon after, as you two watch, a pair of brown eyes with smudged makeup emerge from inside Seokjin's bed—and the audacity?! There’s makeup all over his covers! Jimin will pay for the dry cleaning. The face is followed by a whole, tiny woman of five-something feet who is, thankfully, covered in a shirt.
Seokjin is almost not breathing when the blonde starts to give him a dreamy smile, his gaze switching between her and you. And it’s extremely stupid, because he hasn’t seen this woman before, ever, in his entire life. But he catches the way your arms fall to your sides and those elegant, dainty fingers of yours ball up into fists as you look at the blondie’s face.
Fortunately, the girl recognises him at last before her grin could turn fully dopey, and with a squeak, jumps out of the bed. “You’re not—um. Hi. Sorry, I, uh. I’ll get going.”
And surprisingly, she does exactly that in less than a minute, leaving you to stare down at Seokjin.
“You know, it’s really unbecoming for a girlfriend to keep finding girls in her boyfriend’s bed every other week and not be given an explanation, ever.” Your tone is teasing, but your eyes are taunting. “You shouldn’t always be so dismissive, you know? What if I start getting ideas? I don’t think you even remember how to make up with your girlfriend, at this point, because I never fight.”
That is when Seokjin starts gawking. And literally doesn’t stop until you’ve left the house.
“I don’t get it,” Jackson says, stuffing cold noodles into his mouth and chewing on them without closing it. “Do you think he cheated on you, or do you not think he cheated on you?”
You look at your best friend with your face twisted up in disgust. You swear to God you would never have agreed to make friends with this guy on your mother’s insistence when the Wang family moved in next doors to you, had you known he’d turn out to be such a barbarian a decade later. Twelve-year-old Jackson had been such a decent kid—studious, elegant, well-mannered. What went wrong, along the way?
You exhale, shifting on your chair, very wary of any dried up fluids that you might come in contact with. “I know he did not cheat on me, Jax, the very notion is completely ridiculous.”
Jackson stops chewing and looks away from the WWE match playing on the TV to squint at you. “I’m…confused? Wait. What is the problem, then? What are you mad at him for?”
To be completely honest, you aren’t quite certain yourself.
But you do know that you don’t feel good. And that this feeling has been building up over a couple months, but you have only really acknowledged it head-on, today, in all five-something years of your relationship. Five years, seven months and eight days, to be exact, but that’s kinda besides the point.
You’ve had at least a few months’ worth of buildup that has gotten you to this point, you would admit. Especially after Seokjin had to cancel that visit to your hometown at the end of June, for your parents’ thirty-fifth wedding anniversary celebration because he had an important audition for a big-brand ad film. The cancellation was acceptable, but his offhand comment that, “thirty-five isn’t even that special, we’ll get them a huge gift for their fiftieth,” stayed with you longer than it should’ve. Things got okay-ish when you reminded yourself how Seokjin never really thought too hard about things he said, always being a humorous, unattached clown in every situation. But this morning's dismissal has pushed you over that edge. You straightaway goaded him, claiming he doesn’t remember how to make it up to you, and all you got in response was his shock and being called “ridiculous” and “overdramatic.” Fun.
You were most certainly joking, if a bit caustically, when you said what you did. He could have taken it as a joke and laughed it off. He could have taken it as a threat and comforted you, said it was Jimin that used his room, and maybe kissed you. You already knew what had happened when you saw the girl, anyway. But this was probably the third time this situation had happened, this month.
Sure, you are understanding and really do know Jimin and what all he gets up to, but is that really supposed to be such a given? Asking your boyfriend to hug you close and kiss your forehead when you discover a girl in his bed just as you were about to cuddle the lump of sheets thinking it was him, is not too much to expect, is it?
Granted, Seokjin has never been extremely expressive, but still. It feels like he’s consciously trying to keep you at a distance, these past few months.
You don’t have the complete grasp of the storm of thoughts in your head yet, but you want to try and explain it to Jackson the best you can.
“It was about respect, in a way, I guess,” you quietly mumble, and Jackson turns the TV off, now sitting cross legged on the couch to face your chair. He puts away his takeout container to frown at you, probably gleaning how serious this is for you. “He stood there, without saying a single word, expecting me to stop being mad. Almost willing me to stop being mad by making these big, incredulous eyes at me. Like it was that horrible of his girlfriend to demand for an explanation when she found a girl in his bedroom. It was just the two of us, I wasn’t making a scene in front of anybody. He just—ugh! He could’ve simply asked me to not be mad, said it was Jimin who spent the night in the room and maybe even laughed about it, or plotted Jimin’s murder—I would’ve joined in—but no. He acted like I was being stupid, told me not be ridiculous and dramatic. And that made me feel really stupid.”
Jackson winces. “And why do you think you were not being stupid?”
You exhale. “I wasn’t. Because I wasn’t actually accusing him of anything, and five years down the lane, he should know that now. I just wanted him to say it and not scold me when I tease-taunted him. He always expects me to know everything. And even though I always do, it gets tiring sometimes. These weird thoughts get to you — that maybe you’re being too understanding and he’s using that to his advantage, you know?” You look down at your lap, playing with your nails. “It’s just…um. I wanted him to coddle me, I guess. To treat this as something big because I was throwing a tantrum about it and, just, I don’t know—try to cajole me? Assuage me with his words, maybe? But he didn’t. Because he hasn’t done that in forever. Because I never need him to, because I always freaking understand everything!” A sob leaves you.
Jackson pats the place next to him. “C’mere, you dumdum, and stop hyperventilating,” he mumbles, hugging you to his side when you move to sit on the couch. “I don’t exactly understand how the relationship dynamics work, but from what you told me, I get that you wanted attention? Some loving? And instead you got disappointed looks because Jin expected you to be mature and rational about it — the way you always are — and that too with his fucking eyes and some low-key insult words? Is it something like that?”
Wow, Jackson really paraphrased all that amazingly. “Yes, actually. It’s exactly that.”
Jackson sighs. “Y’all have been together a long time, babe, so I guess it’s kind of a given that you’d get to a no-bullshit point. Which is why he hasn’t done that in forever, because y’all probably don’t need that kinda stuff between you anymore.”
“I get that, it’s how a relationship matures. But I’m pretty certain that it’s not supposed to make me feel like this,” you sound slightly muffled, having stuffed your face into Jackson’s hoodie-covered chest. “I feel—I feel like we got too comfortable and now he’s just started to take me for granted. And I also feel like I’m being too needy. Am I being needy and annoying? He’d hate me if I told him all this, won’t he? Half of the reason we’ve worked out so well is because we’re both career oriented and don’t waste time overthinking stupid shit.” You gasp. “Oh, no—would he leave me? He’s used to his girlfriend being mature, not needy—”
You are cut off when Jackson pulls you away by your shoulders, giving you a serious look. “Wait, wait, stop. What did you say? Not the needy part, you’re allowed to be needy once in all the damn three-sixty-five days y’all stay busy for. The…taking you for granted part. Pretty big of a thing to say, babe.”
You sigh. “We haven’t been on an actual date in months. Seokjin thinks there’s no need for that extra effort when we spend lunch breaks at work together, everyday. Outside of the restaurant, our meetings involve our entire flock of friends by default. It’s been three months since we slept together.” You sniff, hating having to impart such a private detail of your life. “So no, I don’t think it’s that big of a thing to say, at all.”
“Wow.” Jackson gives a slow whistle. “You’ve really been bottling up a lot in there, huh?”
You shrug. “I guess. It never made me feel underappreciated, though. Sure, I was irritated at some occasions and disappointed at others, but… Today I feel horrible, Jax.”
“Did you share anything with Byulyi?” he asks, referring to your flatmate and good friend since college.
You shake your head. “She already has a lot on her plate, right now. She got rejected by the photographer she wanted to intern with, so it’s back to freelancing for her.”
“Yeah, that must suck.” Jackson grimaces. Then he looks at you. “You need to take a break, hun. Sit back, today, and have tacos and beer with me. Reset your inner thoughts. Talk to Jin tomorrow. Although, I must say, it’s kinda depressing that you have to actually tell your boyfriend that he’s being a bad boyfriend. Isn’t that kind of shit supposed to be realized on your own?”
You purse your lips. “I guess, yeah. But…don’t say that he’s being a bad boyfriend, Jax. I don’t think he even realizes something is wrong.”
“And that…doesn’t make it worse?” At your raised eyebrows, he concedes with a roll of his eyes. “Fine, fine, in any case — maybe try to hint at it before you dive straight in with the kill? See if he reacts?”
“I don’t know, Jax. What if he doesn’t? He’s really not the best at taking hints and reading signs, or that kind of subtle stuff.”
“Then you can just say your shit. All I’m saying is, give him a chance to figure it out on his own. He’s probably really clueless why you reacted so big on something so small, this morning. If you drop hints, maybe he’ll feel it out.”
You nod, somewhat amazed at how sound Jackson’s advice seems. “How are you doing this, Jax? Being a love guru all of a sudden?”
Jackson scoffs. “I’m just tryna put myself in Seokjin’s shoes. If I was in the situation he’s in, this is what I’d like to happen — be given a window to figure out what’s wrong. You’ve been together a long time, hun. It really shouldn’t be that difficult for him.”
You shrug a shoulder. “I won’t be too sure about that. Why does it even matter if he can or cannot, though?”
Jackson seems to be mulling over something before he drops his chin to his chest. “Because you’re supposed to be partners, hun. If you can tell what’s up with him with a single glance, why can't he? Not being good at taking signs is not a good enough excuse. My gut says that he’d be able to, though. And that knowledge will make you feel infinitely better, trust me. It’ll be reassuring to learn that he really knows and understands you well, won’t it?”
You nod, slowly, but you still have your suspicions. Seokjin has just been the kind of guy whose emotional depth goes to a certain extent and then just — well, stops. There are things that he feels and realizes and sees, and there are things that he doesn’t. It isn’t even something he does, you believe. It’s just how he is. Certain feelings just don’t fall in his orbit. And you’ve never found there to be anything wrong with it when he’s been an immaculately amazing boyfriend and tended to every single one of your needs, always. Well, you have never actually needed emotional consoling, too, so you haven’t had the chance to audition him for that. You keep yourself too busy for all that unnecessary mental pressure. It comes as a surprise, but you have never cried on Seokjin’s shoulder in all these years of your togetherness. You’ve kept your head straight and chin up, even during your college exams. And so has Seokjin, because you’ve never seen him cry, either.
Lately, though, things have been kind of weird. The gradual transformation into your professional lives that began after college, has been drastic in the past few months. Seokjin has been constantly prioritizing his career over you, and you have been understanding about it because you agree with it — to an extent. Seokjin believes it all the way through, though, and you have known for a while that you would hit your limit at some point, and would try to bring him back to yourself. Today morning, it seems, you hit that limit.
You felt dispensable.
You hate this feeling.
To be very honest, you know you can get over this. You can give it some time, remind yourself of how much your Jin loves you, believe that he is eventually going to come back to you once he settles, and be understanding about the entire thing.
You can — but you really don’t want to.
Something tells you that this feeling of getting too comfortable will only fester and take a worse form as time goes by. You can wait it out, sure, and hope you aren’t being a pushover as he works on building his career. You are building your career, too, after all, and at least some of it has been for each other.
The thing is, your plans with Seokjin are long-term—marriage, kids, white-picket fence, and all that. And you believe that if you are sensing a problem now, you better deal with it now before it has the chance to change its form and affect you both when you are at a more responsible point in your life.
Mind made up, you look up at Jackson, immediately grimacing when he forwards a greasy hand to pick up a taco for you. “I don’t…I don’t like tacos. And may I exchange the beer for scotch?”
“You work at a Mexican restaurant, and you don’t like tacos,” Jackson deadpans.
“They mess up my skincare.”
“Oh, fuck off! Have a spinach smoothie with a drink, why don’t you?”
You purse your lips to hold back your laughter at his ire, your own worries forgotten in the moment as Jackson gets up to get you a glass of scotch and some healthier snacking alternative.
“You're a dead man.”
Jimin stops dead in his tracks, arms frozen in the act of putting a t-shirt on. He blinks at Seokjin with big round eyes. “Hyung?” he mumbles, a picture of unblemished innocence, especially when he covers his toned torso with the oversized t-shirt he was in the process of getting into. “What—what’d I do?”
Someone who doesn’t know better would never believe that this young, innocent, frazzled haired fairy-boy could ever do any wrong. But Seokjin knows better. “You chaotic womanizer,” Seokjin nearly hisses, "you've gotta learn to clean after yourself. Honey found a girl in my bed. A girl—in my bed.”
Jimin had the decency to drop the innocent act. “Oh. Oh.”
Seokjin raises a brow. “Oh? That’s it?”
"Yeah, well, I clarified to her that it was a one time thing when we got to it. She was obviously expecting something more if she didn't leave when I told her to. Disappointed but not surprised." Jimin is frowning when he comes to sit down on the couch next to Seokjin. “Sorry you two had to see that. You clarified to Honey noona that I’d been the occupant of the room, though, right?”
“I—what?” Seokjin scoffs. “Why would I even need to do that? She knows that already, obviously. She’s been seeing you for over five years, or have you forgotten?”
Jimin squints. “I mean…okay, fair point, I guess. Why’re you so worked up, then? Did something else happen, too? Where’s she, now?” Jimin looks around the living room as if looking for you.
Seokjin sighs. “Well, I couldn't really get much out before she was storming out of the damn house, altogether.”
Jimin blinks. “Storming out? Why? She… um, was she mad?"
Seokjin opens his mouth – and then shuts it. Was she mad, indeed. "I don't know. She looked kinda mad, yes. But maybe she was in a hurry?"
"Why would she be mad? Did you try to call her? Text her? It's unlike her to react so big on something so small." Jimin bites down on his lip, looking lost in thought.
Seokjin shakes his head. "She didn't pick up or text back."
“There’s definitely got to be an underlying reason for her being like this. Are you sure you guys haven’t been fighting, hyung?”
Seokjin sighs. “Yes, Jimin, I’m absolutely certain that there hasn’t been any fighting of any sorts between the two of us before today.” He pauses. “Well, she was slightly irritated that I didn’t check her texts last night, but she knows I go to bed at eleven on days leading up to a shoot, so that one’s on her.”
Jimin looks genuinely concerned, which, in turn, makes Seokjin concerned. Jimin isn't the type to stress over stuff if he can help it. Sure, he cares about the boys and would always be down to do whatever he can for them, but his throwing-caution-to-the-wind way of life causes him to not take most of the things in life seriously.
You’ve been like an older sister to the boys ever since Seokjin started dating you and introduced you to them. They all have their ways of showing their respect and affection to you. Well, maybe not Jungkook because he can’t get over getting unnecessarily intimidated by Seokjin enough to relax around you.
Jimin, especially, always seems to be affected by any tension in Seokjin’s relationship. Everyone can see how it upsets his entire life when you two are fighting, although he’d never admit to it. He doesn’t need to, because it’s pretty obvious when he becomes a cranky six-year-old who hates the world.
Right now, he has a guilty frown on his face. "I should've seen to it that Suzette left before I went to shower," he mumbles as if talking to himself. “Shouldn’t have trusted her to leave just because I told her to.” He looks up at Seokjin with troubled eyes. "I'm sorry, hyung."
Seokjin can not believe himself when he shakes his head at Jimin's apology—this little demon causes so much chaos in all their lives that any apology coming from him should be justified and welcome. But this one isn't really on him. "It's not entirely your fault."
Jimin's demeanor changes a bit and the attitude Seokjin is used to witnessing makes an appearance. "Right? That's what I was thinking, too!" Jimin exclaims, some of the concern on his face lifting. "You have to talk to Honey noona and make things right, though, hyung. She’s the only womanly touch in our man cave. We’d all be barbarians without her.” Jimin looks very wary and kind of nervous.
“It’s funny you would crave her ‘womanly’ presence when she’s rushed off because of a woman that you brought home.” Seokjin scrunches his nose. "And I said it isn't entirely on you, because it is partially on you, Park Jimin. You borrowed my room to smoke up in. Why couldn't you take your Suzy back to your own room?"
"Suzette," Jimin corrects under his breath while shaking his head. "Yeah, I should've, but… your room just felt like a better choice during the high," he finishes in a mumble, dragging a hand down his face. “Hyung,” Jimin says with a pout on his lips, “the last time you two fought was two years ago, remember? On your birthday? When Hobi hyung dumped cake in noona’s hair and she had her first shoot for that bigshot magazine, the next day?”
Seokjin nods with a sigh. “She yelled at me for having stupid friends, and I yelled at her for caring more about the shoot that having a good time on my birthday. Yes, I remember.”
“And then she didn’t visit us for a whole week. Please don’t let that happen, again.” Jimin looks up at Seokjin with big, round eyes. “I can’t take that kind of unrest in my life."
Seokjin briefly wonders, if Jimin’s nightly conquests were to see this side of him, would they run in the opposite direction or be more attracted to him? Jimin definitely needs someone in his life that would bring out this side in him and stay to provide him the emotional comfort he requires when he gets like this.
“I will try not to, Jiminie, but…” Seokjin shuts his eyes. “I seriously do not understand her actions from the morning,” he finishes in a mumble.
“Maybe she’s—maybe she’s worried about something else? Some other aspect of her life?” Jimin suggests with wide eyes. “And she’s just projecting onto you.”
“As sound as the explanation is, I am literally involved in ninety percent of the aspects in her life,” Seokjin says with a twist to his lips. “I would know if something was wrong anywhere.”
“That’s cocky of you to say,” Jimin snarkily comments with narrowed eyes. At Seokjin’s raised eyebrows, he amends, “That’s cocky of you to say, hyung-nim.”
Seokjin scoffs, but then he shrugs his shoulders. “It’s true. We work at the same restaurant, we’re scouted by the same agency. Even her agent is best friends with mine—she gossips a ton about how Honey passes up so many opportunities and pisses her agent off. Her friends are, well—” Seokjin stops short when it hits him. “Wang. Wang could know something!”
Jimin is looking at him skeptically when Seokjin meets the younger’s eyes. “I just think you should have a simple talk with noona first before digging around.”
That is sensible advice. Seokjin nods as he pulls his phone out.
“Just find out what’s been troubling her, hyung. You two are rational people, I’m sure you’ll work it out.” Jimin pauses to scratch the back of his head. “Just please don’t let this be another fight like that one?”
“Don’t worry,” Seokjin finally says with a pat on Jimin’s shoulder as he finishes sending off another text to you, “this one is nothing like that fight.”
Turns out, this fight really is not like that one. Or any other fights Seokjin has ever had with you, in fact, because you’re giving him the silent treatment.
You’ve never given him the silent treatment.
Not even when you were students and didn’t have a load of time on your hands and used to waste precious sleep hours arguing over stupid shit that would probably resolve itself if you just slept on it and looked back at it with a fresh state of mind. Not even then did you forego talking.
Needless to say, Seokjin is distressed.
You drive to the house to pick him up at your usual time, the next morning, after not having responded to any of his calls or texts for the entire day. Seokjin is aghast as he gets into the car.
“Honey! What is going on? Why didn’t you—where have you been?”
You simply start the engine and take off. “Busy,” you murmur after a while.
Soekjin’s head is close to exploding. “Busy? Doing what?”
Your face remains stoic as you weave through the morning traffic. Seokjin looks at you. You’re dressed up in your waitressing outfit that consists of a shirt, skirt and tights, and being who you are, Seokjin can proudly say that you would stand out to be the most well dressed server in the field. You’re always pristine and tidy — no accidents happen to you at the job ever. No spillage of drinks or ketchups, no soiled hands being wiped down on your skirt. Nothing even ruins your manicure.
It is something that Seokjin has always tried to keep up with, this cleanliness streak of yours. Because he has always assumed you would expect it out of him, too. You were attracted to the cover model version of him, after all. It is quite natural that you would have those kinds of expectations. And Seokjin has always been more than happy to deliver. It has become a part of him, in fact. He doesn't even chew with his mouth open even when he's among the boys, anymore.
It has, somewhat, made him practical and less emotional in life, too, but he doesn't really think of it as a bad thing. You have always been practical in life – the most ambitious girl he has ever met, someone that has always prioritized her career and goals over everything else. Seokjin has admired that since college, and has tried to show you that he has similar priorities even if he has had to work on thinking from his mind more than his heart.
But when you are already by his side, what does he even need his heart for, anymore, when it's already yours?
Now, looking at you sitting with a morose expression on your face as you give him the cold shoulder, Seokjin is just as much in love with you as he was when he first met you.
“Stuff,” you say with a shrug, after some extended silence. “You should know about that, right? Your schedule’s always busier than mine and I never complain.”
Your sharp words have him reeling. Whatever do you even mean by that? “Uhm, okay. Fair enough. But… did you really not have the time to respond to a single text?”
“It gets impossible sometimes, Jin, you know how it is.”
Seokjin frowns. He does know that, but he doesn’t feel okay. Something is very off with you. It is as if you’re saying something else and expecting him to discern a different meaning out of it.
He doesn’t understand why, though. You, of all people, should know how terrible he is at decoding signs.
He sighs.
Seokjin, after his conversation with Jimin yesterday, had decided to ask you about the morning’s incident, head on, whenever you called him back. But you didn’t, and this is the first opportunity he’s had to talk to you, so he decides to bring it up, now. “What—what happened yesterday morning, babe? You got really mad and stormed off, and… I mean, you’ve got to know the girl had been Jimin’s companion for the night, right? You know him, how he is!”
You say nothing, hands tightening a bit on the steering wheel. Seokjin looks down at his own hands.
“You know I was only surprised at your words because we really do not have the time to be discussing silly things." He shuts his heart down when it tries to tell him to go soft. He knows it isn't something you would appreciate. "After five years, you know what I’m capable of right? You can never start getting ideas, because that would be insane and stupid. I’m already so supremely occupied as it is between two jobs, when would I even have the time to cheat, right?” he jokes, snorting to himself.
You’re still quiet, but your tongue comes out to moisten your lips. It is a nervous tick of yours which Seokjin recognizes very well, because with your skincare and scheduled regular application of lip balms, your lips never need the extra moisture.
He frowns. Was he too straightforward? But this is exactly how you communicate with him! “Hey, is everything okay, babe?”
You exhale, noisily. “Everything’s fine, Jin,” you finally say with a roll of your eyes. “And you’re right. I know you wouldn’t cheat. You don’t have the time to chat me up, how are you gonna pick someone new to impress, huh?”
Your snort sounds lacking in humor, but Seokjin still gives a couple of stilted chuckles. Even so, he's still somewhat relieved. “Right. Just so we’re certain, that was a joke, right? I mean, it would be really ridiculous of you to think that I would—”
“Yes, Jin!” you cut him off with a deep frown. “If I wanted to talk to you about something, or accuse you, or confront you — I’d do that without you having to prompt me. Stop obsessing over yesterday and stop trying to explain yourself. I know it was Jimin’s doing.”
Seokjin feels immensely relaxed at the conviction with which you say the last sentence, certainly, but something is still off. “Why were you ignoring me, then?”
“I just didn’t have anything to say to you.” You stop at a red light, the last one before you reach the restaurant, and turn to look at Seokjin with really vacant eyes. He doesn’t like your stare one bit. “We’ve been together five years, babe. If neither of us have got anything of significance to say, I’d rather not text too much, if that’s okay with you? I’ve got a busy schedule to work around, too, you know?”
Seokjin wants to remind you that both of you had something of significance to say after you left his place in anger, but chooses to just roll with whatever you’re playing at. Maybe he's thinking too much. He nods. “Sounds alright to me.”
“Great,” you breathe out, somehow looking disappointed along with the preexisting sorrowful expression you had on your face.
You really do not have a concrete explanation for why you acted the way you did with Seokjin, this morning.
You were supposed to hint at being mad, not blatantly try to give him a taste of his own medicine. It could turn out to be a good thing if he eventually starts to miss you and reaches out, sure, but playing mind games never feels right to you. But when he started to joke about not having time to cheat, and something just turned off in you. He really could’ve seriously reassured you of his love. That would’ve been actually comforting. But no. He chose to joke about that, too. You didn’t feel like putting in all that energy anymore, after that.
Now, you sit down in the break room to check your phone during your ten minutes’ rest break. A text message floats at the top of your notifications.
Jax 🚽
Hey
How’d it go?
With an exhale, you decide to call him back. Your fingers are too tired to type, and Jackson is sure to launch off into a rampage of texts the moment you tell him you’ve tried to turn the tables on Seokjin.
Seokjin is in the kitchen, his usual rest break not being for another hour, so you don’t have to worry about him walking in.
“Hey!” Jackson jovially greets you as soon as he picks the phone. “Did you get my text?”
“I did, yes,” you respond in a calm voice. “I’ve been looping milkshake mugs through my fingers since eight am, they needed some rest, so I decided to call.”
“Yeah, no, it’s cool. I was in a really boring class, anyway. So. How'd it go?"
You pull in your lip between your teeth. "I… I kinda ended up telling him I am a busy person too and that we shouldn’t text that much."
You hear silence instead of the outburst you'd expected.
"Jax?"
"Are you actually gonna try to play a mind game with the dumbest human being you know on earth?" Jackson so very eloquently asks, his interpretation making you pinch the bridge of your nose. “He’s never even gonna figure it out!”
“I know how it sounds, okay?” You exhale. “I honestly don’t know what came over me.”
“Okay, alright, one thing at a time. So, no coddling?"
"Not a single soft word. Just more expectations of me understanding, and claiming that anything but that would be stupid of me. He acts like I'm supposed to know everything about him and everyone in his group of friends," you mutter in irritation. “As if those dumbasses know the first thing about themselves.”
You realize you're being a bit harsh, because his friends – basically your younger brothers, at this point – are a bunch of clueless idiots that love, adore and respect you. You shouldn't be badmouthing them, Seokjin’s growing callousness towards you isn't their doing. It's his own.
You sigh. You really miss how things used to be when you were in college.
“Uh, I think we need to rewind a bit. What happened? What triggered this?”
It makes you smile a little when Jackson asks that. At least your best knows you’re not wholly clinically insane. “Well… I drove him to work. He…" your brows lower at the recollection, "he was the first to bring up yesterday morning. And yet again, he gave me the same you've got to know this and that crap, and then he tried to assure me in the dumbest possible way. Do you know what he said, Jax, do you?”
“Um, do I wanna know?”
“He said, and I quote, he doesn’t have the time to cheat. Jackson Wang, are you hearing this? He really straight up said he was too busy to cheat on me and so I should rest assured! Who says that?!”
“He must’ve meant it as a joke—”
“Yeah, he said that, too, and then very immaculately added that it’d be ridiculous of me to think otherwise. I have lost count of how many times the words ridiculous and stupid came up.”
“Goddammit.”
“Goddammit is right,” you mumble, morosely resting your head on your palm.
“What did he say, by the way? When you told him to text less?”
You give a wry chuckle. "Well, he said it sounded alright to him."
"Son of a bitch. You – you two are messed up, man. Messed up bad. Why the hell can you not just say shit you really mean and actually want to instead of saying shit you don't? You don't wanna text less because you're busy, you want him to dote on you because you miss him!" Jackson sounds beyond frustrated. "And it doesn't fucking sound alright to him! It sounds scary, it sounds confusing, it sounds like something you would never say to him!" He groans. "But none of you would say that shit to each other! You’re choosing to be evasive and fucking plastic instead of honest, and falling deeper into your mess."
You reel from the onslaught of his harsh words, eyes widened and breath stuttering. Jackson isn't usually the type to pay so much attention to your relationship problems. But this time, you guess, he has garnered the depth of your unhappiness and thus has gotten so involved.
You realize he is right. Nothing good can come out of any turned tables, because Seokjin is, anyways, not even going to be able to work out the problem by himself. He may even go around talking to his friends about how you were being cold with him and not giving him any time, and still not realize he has been doing the same to you. He is thick like that.
When his friends tell you tales of his compassion, you're unable to relate. You've never seen that side of him. He has probably grown up from that emotionally overwhelmed high school graduate who had made friends on a whim, the night of his graduation.
You certainly don't appreciate the emotional abstinence, though, and would very much rather prefer if he would open up a bit more. It would help you be more open with him, without fearing him calling you "stupid" in response.
But it’s still alright, you accept him with that thick brain of his, because he’s still only ever going to be the only one for you.
"How are you two gonna get around to having a proper chat if you just keep building more walls between you both?" Jackson asks after the long pause from your end, this time softer. “I’m sorry, babe, I was wrong. Giving him signs and making him realize shit won’t work. It was stupid of me to suggest that. It’s probably why you ended up being so caustic with him.
“No, no, it was all me, Jax. I could’ve chosen to not listen to you, but my ego got in the way, I guess. It’s not exactly easy, telling your boyfriend you’re feeling neglected. I mean, what if he laughs in my face and tells me I’m being paranoid? What if he thinks I have no regard for his career — or mine — because my priorities don’t align with his?” You bite your lip, shutting your eyes as your insecurities attack you.
“Hey, no. None of that is gonna happen if you really share with him what you’ve been feeling. No hints, no sarcasm, you’re gonna have to tell him point blank. Allow yourself to be raw. He’s the love of your life. You don’t have to protect yourself from him, right?”
You sigh. “Yeah, I know. You’re absolutely right, Jax. But I really have no idea how to even approach him, at this point. He’s either too busy with shoots, or with the guys, or some meeting. I cannot do this on call, because that always leads to misunderstandings.” You bite down on your lower lip, contemplating. “But I’ll figure something out.”
"Yes, you will. You always do. So, that’s good then. In the meanwhile, can you at least clean up this latest pile of poop? The talking less thingy is gonna make you two more distant, hun."
You scrunch your nose at his metaphor, but then your shoulders slump. "I don't know, Jackson. The way he so impassively agreed to it would make me sound really stupid if I take it back. And given what he keeps saying, he really doesn’t want me to sound stupid."
Jackson gives a snort at that. “Hah, funny. But listen. At the end of the day, he’s your boyfriend. You're gonna have to really decide if you're trying to get your boyfriend to give you more love, or if you're fighting a battle of egos and would like to bend him to you."
You bite your lip. “You make me sound manipulative.”
“You yourself confessed you let your ego come into this, one time. Don’t let that happen again. I’m trying to make you realize that complicated problems can have simple solutions, too. If only you’d communicate. Just talk to him soon, please, and make him understand why you’re hurt. Don’t carry on with this stupid cold war, okay? You gotta figure out exactly what you want, first.”
“You know what I want, Jax. You’re literally the only person that does, actually,” you remind him with a sigh.
“Oh, he is, isn’t he?”
You freeze, eyes bulging at the familiar voice. “I’ll… I’ll call you back,” you mumble before you disconnect the call and turn to look over your shoulder at Seokjin’s unreadable face. He stands with his arms crossed, still in his uniform but without the apron. “Jin… what—uh…”
“What am I doing here?” he scoffs, lips curling in distaste as he stares you down. “Well, I was going to the loo when I saw you sitting here. You looked upset, so I thought I’d check in on you on my way back.” He clicks his tongue, a dry chuckle tumbling out. “But apparently, you’ve got other people doing it for you, already.”
You wince, shutting your eyes. The one time he was finally going to give you some much needed attention — you sent a bad message his way.
“So. Good to know there actually is someone who knows what you want. Would’ve been easier if it were me, though, given how I stand to be the one that is to deliver.” Seokjin sounds pissed off, and despite your irritation, you really want to make him understand.
You rub at your forehead. “Stop talking like that, Jin, it was just Jackson.”
“Wang?” He seems to seethe more, for some reason. “Of course, it’s fucking Wang!”
You frown, standing up. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Seokjin looks at you incredulously. “You—do you not see how this looks? You have problems with me, Honey, but you choose to discuss them with him? Who’s he, your therapist?”
“He’s my best friend, Jin, someone I trust,” you grit out.
Seokjin seems to take it the wrong way, his agitated expressions slowly fading into a blank stare. “Oh. You trust him, as opposed to…” He trails off with a shrug, but the implication is as obvious as it can be.
“Jin—”
He raises a hand up, palm facing you as he looks away. “If you need some time apart, you should tell me in plain words. You know I’m not good at reading signs.”
Seokjin gives you a blank stare before turning around to leave the area. You stand rooted to your place, jaw dropped and eyes wide.
Some time apart? Has he lost his mind?
He really is a huge freaking idiot who cannot pause to think what implications his words have. He seriously doesn’t recognize what all his “don’t be ridiculous/overdramatic/stupid” speeches do to you. You realize you should really make him understand. This has gone on for way too long.
But maybe you should take some time to yourself to cool off before that. You don’t want to say the wrong thing in your rage and complicate things further.
You sigh to yourself as you slump back into the bench you were sat on before.
You’d set out to tell your boyfriend you were feeling neglected, but you ended up making him think you want to be apart. How the heck did you get here?
You belatedly recall Jackson's words.
Why the hell can you not just say shit you really mean and actually want to instead of saying shit you don't?
You’re choosing to be evasive and fucking plastic instead of honest, and falling deeper into your mess.
Your usually dumbheaded best friend was right on this one, you realize. You should’ve just talked like a normal human being instead of letting Seokjin’s words get to you and get pissy in retaliation.
You give a weary sigh.
Seokjin is grateful for the sudden busyness he’s got on his schedule, or he would explode from all the pent up frustration you have been causing him.
He realized he wasn’t as upset with you as he was irritated, right after he walked away from you on Monday. He dropped you a text with some excuse of needing to stay back so that he wasn’t forced to ride with you in the car again, and later took the bus home.
You had told Jackson Wang about what was troubling you, but not him. It made Seokjin feel upset, incompetent and more than a little insecure. Seokjin absolutely hates feeling insecure. Especially about you. You’re the singular most precious entity in his life — not that you are an entity, per se — and anything that seeks to threaten your position in his life or his position in yours, makes him lose his shit.
So it was understandable that he jumped to unfairly disproportionate magnitudes of conclusions that day. When he thought about it, later, he could easily tell that you are just mad at him and not actually contemplating leaving him, not even for a little while. Not that he’d just sit back and have you do that so easily.
Seokjin also hates overthinking, but that is all he did for the entirety of his Monday.
Monday, though, was the last time he had time to overthink. Life got exponentially busier after that.
Immediately after his shoot on Tuesday, he received his agent’s call and was informed of his jam packed schedule for the remainder of the week. He was pulled into two separate magazine ad shoots on Wednesday, a perfume ad film drank up all of his Thursday, and today, a hair product ad film needed him to report to a sunrise point in the city at the ass-crack of dawn. The sky was still dark when he rode across the city with his agent at nearly four in the morning.
And now, the afternoon sun beats down on his car as he drives back alone, his agent staying back to tend to some business. Stopping at a red light, he reaches for his spinach smoothie with one hand and his phone with the other. Ugh, he feels beyond tired.
Blearily, he looks down at the device around a yawn, fingers habitually reaching for your chat.
He took a week off from the restaurant and dropped you a text, late Tuesday evening, informing you of the same.
Honey✨❤👸
Hm, kay. Good luck x
Unsurprisingly, that stands to be your last message in his inbox. It’s been four days.
Sighing, he swipes a hand down his tired face and exits out of the message app. He went to bed at nine o’clock, last night, and owing to the way he has trained his body to sleep on command, he did manage to get a sleep of nearly six hours, too. But it was fitful and plagued with nightmares featuring you.
Knowing he doesn't have to be at the restaurant until Monday and that his next gig isn’t until Wednesday, he cannot wait to get back home and drink his weight in alcohol before he sleeps his way through the weekend.
Just as he has moved past the intersection, his phone rings.
Honey✨❤👸 calling...
He nearly spits the smoothie he just sipped at.
Coughing, he roughly jostles the plastic cup back in the holder and pulls up to a side of the road to pick up the call. “Hey,” he breathes into the phone, embarrassed at his desperation.
“Jin. Um, hi.” You sound awkward, as if you…have been compelled to call him due to some reason.
He is immediately worried. “Honey? Is everything okay, do you need something?”
He hates himself for being so concerned when you have been neglecting him for so many days – yet again, despite your spat at the restaurant – instead of finally talking to him about what’s bothering you, but he can’t help it. At the end of the day, you are the love of his life.
“Yes, yes, I’m okay. It’s just, um. Can you pick me up from the restaurant?” you sound nervous.
But, Seokjin realizes, I was right. You do need something. He clears his throat. “Uh, okay, I guess,” he agrees before stopping short when he realizes the time. “Wait, it’s barely even two. Why are you leaving?” he asks, confused and a little concerned. You work your shift till five every day and till eight on weekends.
“Tomorrow is Halloween, Jin. We’re closing for the weekend, remember?”
Seokjin’s mouth falls open on a gasp. He really had forgotten. “Oh. Oh, okay. Yeah, I’ll be there in five, wait up.”
He swerves the car into the lane and takes off in the direction of the restaurant.
He laughs at himself. He has been so caught up in work that he literally forgot Halloween. He wonders if this is what actual adulting is.
He is stopping before the restaurant within three minutes of your phone call, eyes immediately spotting your delicate figure standing on the sidewalk with your hands crossed against your chest.
You step down from the curb when you spot his car, and walk towards him. He watches your elegant legs as they beautifully fall in a straight line. Even when exiting your job as a waitress, you’re every bit the elegant model he met in college. Your hips sway tantalizingly, and something akin to longing swirls in his chest.
He composes himself quickly when you cross the car to get into the passenger’s seat. You awkwardly clear your throat as Seokjin busies himself with starting the vehicle, unsure if he should initiate conversation.
“Um, sorry about this. You were probably getting ready for shoot,” you finally say. “Byulyi dropped me off today. She wasn’t picking her phone up. I was trying to get a cab for half an hour. And the bus stop’s really far—”
“Hey, stop. It’s okay. You should’ve called me sooner.” Seokjin catches your apprehensive gaze on his oversized hoodie when he chances a glance at you. He sighs. “I was returning home from shoot, actually.”
He feels you stiffen, and he feels even more mentally drained at this. You used to be updated with his schedule to the tee — just short of having an actual copy of the calendar his agent carries on him. And the same goes for him with your schedule. This feels so wrong.
You are quiet for a while, your hands fidgeting in his peripheral vision.
“How—how was it?” you finally say, voice coming out like a croak.
Seokjin shrugs his shoulders. “The usual. Blinding, tiring, exhaustive. I did okay, I guess.”
He feels your gaze snap up to drill holes into his skull. Your eyes are wide when he checks. “Okay? Since when do you do anything less than amazing at shoots, babe?”
He feels endeared at your casual use of a pet name. “I had to get up at three in the morning and go through a skincare routine. Then drive across the entire city to get to the location, because they wanted to capture actual sunrise. I was more tired than excited by the time they rolled cameras, so.” He shrugs. “Can’t really say I gave my best today.”
You nod at his admission.
Seokjin almost jumps when his phone rings, again.
Jiminie calling...
He feels you shift in your seat. His mouth sours at the reminder of that Sue girl that started off this entire tussle between you and him. Fucking Jimin and his conquests. What happened to the shy and more than a little glum looking freshman he let into his living space, three years ago?
Your hand suddenly reaches forth to accept the call, putting it on loudspeaker, immediately. Seokjin gapes at you, momentarily looking away from the road.
“Uh…hyung?” Jimin’s confused voice echoes in the car.
Seokjin snaps out of his daze when you gesture towards the device. “Wh—Jimin, hi, what’s — what’s up?” he stumbles his way through a haphazard greeting.
“Hyung, I needed a favor. Are you on your way back from the shoot, right now?” Jimin asks, and Seokjin sees you freeze in your seat.
He feels a perverse sense of satisfaction. Yes, take that! Park Jmin knows of my schedule better than you do! This is what you get for ghosting me! “I was, yeah. What is it?”
“Oh, great! I kinda need your help, hyung. My tire gave out. Could you pick me up from the Kappa hall?”
Seokjin scowls. “Yah! Who am I, your butler? Hop on a damn bus!”
He notices you pursing your lips, no doubt finding his agitation humorous — you always do.
“Hyu~ng,” Jimin whines. “I would take the bus, but the next one leaves in forty-five minutes and I need to be back within an hour!”
“What? Why?”
“I started on my sem project really late, hyung, and now I gotta spend any time I can spare at the rehearsal hall. I’m meeting a choreographer here in an hour. Please help me out!” Jimin is still whining, and maybe his reasoning is kind of alright, but—
Seokjin is tired to his bones. He literally cannot drive all the way down to your apartment and then drive back to the university campus to pick Jimin up.
He sighs, wearily. “Jimin… I’m really tired.”
“And I’m really desperate, hyung! Dancing is tough! And the subject I've chosen, tougher. I haven't done ballet since first semester, Freshman year! I have to work my butt off and be done in under two months."
Seokjin exhales, feeling beyond exhausted. But then your finger is tapping on the screen and the call has been muted. Seokjin’s surprised eyes fly up to meet yours. You look conflicted, biting down on your lower lip as you shake your head with a frown.
“You should go home and rest, Jin. Leave the car with me, I’ll pick him up.”
“Hyung? Say something?”
Seokjin blinks. “You…”
You roll your eyes. “I’ll pick him up, yeah. He’ll drop me off and drive back to your place.”
“Hyung?! Did you put me on mute, or what? I can't hear a thing!”
“Tell him you’ll be there in ten!” you say, unmuting the call.
“I’m in the car, the network must have glitched. I’ll, uh… be there in ten?” Seokjin nervously finishes off, looking at you in question. You give him a nod, blinking slowly. “Wait up, okay?”
“Oh my God, thank you so much, hyung!” Jimin practically squeals through the phone. “I’ll be in the ice cream shop across the building. I love you, hyung-nim!”
Seokjin rolls his eyes and disconnects the call. He looks at you from the corner of his eyes as he takes a right, now moving in the direction of his apartment instead of yours. “You sure about this? Jimin, um, knows. About our…” Seokjin doesn’t want to call it the f-word, because he would like to believe that you two aren’t actually fighting. “You being upset, I mean,” he settles for the easier alternative. “He might ask questions.”
You give a small huff of wry laugh. “I can handle it, Seokjin. I’ve known Jimin for almost three years now.”
Seokjin doesn’t like it when you address him by his full name. And so, his lips remain pursed for the remainder of the ride, only parting to tell you to “drive safe and text me when you finally get home,” and then he walks inside his apartment without looking back.
He hears his car come to life and then speed away. He shuts his eyes, leaning against the kitchen counter. Gathering his emotional as well as physical bearings, he opens the refrigerator to rummage through some leftovers to munch on while he breaks out a six pack of Budweiser.
Before his fried rice has even reheated, Seokjin groans at the sight of an all too jovial Hoseok entering the kitchen with a glint in his eyes. “No, Hobi. Not now.”
“What? I didn’t say a word, hyung!”
Seokjin winces, shutting his eyes just as the microwave beeps. “I don’t have enough energy to deal with your general aura, right now,” he mumbles, extracting the piping hot glass bowl. He leans down to open one of the compartments beneath the kitchen table to get to the beer that he’s been dreaming of for nearly an hour, now. “I’m dead on my feet and—woah!” Seokjin gasps, cutting himself off.
Hoseok hops into the kitchen, coming around to stand behind Seokjin. “So you found ’em,” he says around a chuckle.
“Found ’em? This is you?” Seokjin whips his head around to glare at Hoseok up from his crouch. “Why is my liquor closet resembling a liquor shop, Hobi? Why do we have all this—” he turns around to read the labels, cursing under his breath. “Why do we have,” he pauses to count, “five bottles of Tequila and eight bottles of Vodka?”
Hoseok frowns in concern. “Eight? There should be ten, hyung, check again.”
Seokjin actually gasps, this time. “What the hell, Jung Hoseok? Explain yourself before I start throwing hands!”
Hoseok smacks a palm against his forehead, taking Seokjin by surprise, yet again. “Tonight’s the Halloween party, hyung! Did you actually forget?”
Seokjin screws his eyes shut, letting his head roll back with a frustrated whine. “No~o, don’t tell me it's tonight. Halloween’s tomorrow, right? Why is the party tonight?”
“Yes, hyung, Halloween in tomorrow, which is why it would be stupid to hold the party when Halloween is ending.”
Seokjin finds the logic to be very severely flawed, but his energy is draining out fast and he cannot keep up with this quarrel. There’s no point, anyway. He’s known about this party for nearly a month. And Hoseok isn’t going to postpone a whole party just because Seokjin is tired.
“You look tired, hyung. You should rest. Recharge yourself before the party, okay? There’s plenty of time.” Hoseok pats Seokjin on the shoulder with a kind smile.
“I’m not even in the mood to party, Hobi,” Seokjin mutters, reaching behind all the glass bottles to extract his pack of cans.
Hoseok scowls at Seokjin. “Because you’re upset about your fight, I realize that. All the more reason to party, hyung! Take your mind off it for some time, why don’t you? You don’t even have to dress up, come as yourself.”
“I’d rather just drink myself to sleep and not wake up for the next twenty four hours.”
Hoseok blocks his path as Seokjin moves to exit the kitchen. “Is Honey coming?”
Seokjin sighs, shrugging his shoulders. “I don’t know, Hobi. Did you invite her?”
“No, hyung, because you said you would.”
Seokjin clicks his tongue. He completely forgot. “Then she isn’t coming.”
Without listening to his protests, Seokjin trudges upstairs with his food and beer. He will be forced to come down for at least a couple shots, he is certain, so he better make as much of the time he has on his hands as he can.
These days, it seems to be becoming a pattern for you to do things without really understanding why you do them.
You nibble at your bottom lip as you recall how gaunt and pale Seokjin had looked when you sat in the car. You had been really self-centered as it is, not really keeping in touch with him for four days, and then reaching out when you needed help. You couldn’t bear to think, on top of everything, that he had driven you home despite his extreme exhaustion while you sat back selfishly and let him drive around the city to pick Jimin up when he looked like a ghost.
You shake your head at yourself as Jimin jogs down the road to enter the car, ten seconds after you texted him.
His gaze is slightly hesitant when he meets your eyes, even though his smile is nothing but genuine. “Hello, noona. How come you are…” he trails off, gesturing around the two of you.
You start the car, shrugging one shoulder. “Seokjin came to pick me up. Now you’re gonna drop me off.”
Jimin gives you a huge smile, before his eyebrows suddenly lower. You look away, veering onto the road. “Wait. Were you in the car with him when I called?”
You chuckle. “Yes.”
“Oh,” Jimin mumbles around a small laugh.
You hum to yourself as you drive, distracting yourself from the thoughts that keep encircling your head. Seokjin is your boyfriend, no matter how mad you might be at him — you love him and care about him. Which is why you have tried to help him out. Not to mention, you felt slightly guilty, as it is, about calling him to pick you up. Why is your gesture of goodwill bothering you, then?
This is what you do for people you care about. Seokjin would do the same.
Your train of thoughts suddenly comes to a screeching halt.
Would he? Would he, really?
“You okay, noona?”
You jolt back from your thoughts, wide eyes turning to look at Jimin. “Wha—yes, yeah, I'm fine.”
He cocks an eyebrow at you. “You’re gripping the wheel really hard.”
You look at your tightly clenched fists, and immediately ease them. “Oh, uh. Sorry. A lot on my mind, I guess.”
“Understandably,” Jimin mutters, looking out of the side window when you turn to look at him.
You purse your lips and press down on the accelerator.
A few beats of silence pass between you two before Jimin clears his throat. “Can I say something?” he asks you in a soft voice, looking nothing like the seductive persona he puts forth to get ladies falling in his bed.
You exhale. “Sure.”
“You, um. You are not just hyung’s girlfriend, you know?” he says slowly.
You scoff. “Of course, I do. I am also the very best server my restaurant has ever seen and the best struggling model you’ll ever meet, on the side.”
Jimin snorts, before giggling with his eyes closed. “You know that’s not what I meant.”
You do. But you do not want to face it. You want to be selfish, for once. You do absolutely know that you have been ignoring all the boys in your anger at Seokjin, but you absolutely do not wish to do anything about it. Not until you’ve resolved this tense air between you and Seokjin.
“You are also a part of our little family,” Jimin quietly finishes.
You suck your lips in at that. The word “family'' really gets to you.
He’s right, isn’t he?
All eight of you — well, nine, now, with the addition of Taehyung’s girlfriend — have been a family since the day you met these guys.
You smile as the memories start to filter in.
You had had a giant crush on Seokjin since the very first time you saw him in your Freshman year. Well, having a crush on the guy wasn’t that unheard of given how handsome he was. It also helped matters that he modelled for the cover page of your university’s journal within his first month in college. What surprised you was his reciprocated interest when you both finally got to know each other, thanks to Byulyi. Your current roommate was majoring in photography back then, and somehow roped the two of you into modelling for her portfolio. Seokjin asked you out during the sixth month of your Freshman year.
You recall being introduced to Yoongi in your Sophomore year, when he entered your college as a Music major. You found him laid back, calm but really sassy, and fun to be around. The three of you often hung out together, and you took immense pleasure in singling Seokjin out with the two of your sarcastic back and forths.
In your senior year, Hoseok transferred to your college as a Sophomore, and Taehyung and Jimin entered as Freshmen.
Hoseok was literally the most lively person you’d ever met in your life. There wasn’t a single moment of boredom next to him. He was easily given the responsibility of planning all your outings and parties, henceforth — a position he still holds with full competence.
Taehyung was usually found to be lost in his head more often than not in his initial college days. He was confused about his major for two entire semesters. With inputs from the group, when he eventually picked Art, he eased into college life. After that, he came out to be one of the weirdest and unwittingly funny guys in the group. You still don’t get how he was the first amongst all the boys to find him a girl.
Jimin was a really quiet and reserved individual, at first. He very rarely interacted with you all, choosing to stay holed up in his dorm room, instead, that Taehyung had forced him to share with him. You suspected he was recovering from a recent heartbreak. It became evident when he started dating someone within a week of getting into college, only to confess it was a rebound when he got dumped. The whoring around that began after the whole debacle is yet to cease, though. Obviously.
Hoseok comes from a really well-off family, and had brought along with him the four-bedroom apartment he currently resides in with Yoongi, Jimin and your boyfriend. His uncle gave it away to him, rent-free of course, and he proposed to share it with the rest of the guys. Seokjin and Yoongi were immediately on board, more than eager to leave the chaotic dorm life behind. Taehyung, contrarily, decided he wanted to get the whole college experience and refused to quit the dorms. Jimin, then, left the dorm he shared with Taehyung to move in with the elders.
You met Jungkook immediately after your graduation on the boy’s eighteenth birthday. He instantly struck you as a smart kid, really good at singing as well as art. Yoongi disclosed he wanted to be a music major in your college, and you tried to encourage Jungkook about it, but the guy could hardly even look at you. It was cute but also hilarious how much he was scared of Seokjin, and by principle, you.
You believe that is still true. Now that you think about it, you're pretty sure you haven’t seen Jungkook ever actually relax around the two of you.
“Noona?”
You blink, coming back to the present as Jimin calls out to you. You take a deep breath, the memories hitting you with tender emotions. All these people are really precious to you, aren’t they? The bunch of you really are a family, aren’t you?
A sad smile swims up to your face. You miss the boys.
When he calls again, you turn to look at Jimin, questioningly.
“Please don’t be mad at hyung,” he slowly says, looking down at his lap. In this moment, he looks quite unlike the Jimin you are used to and reminds you of, instead, the one you’d first met. “He might lack tact, sometimes, but he really loves you a lot. You’re his whole world. Whatever it is that you are angry about, you should tell him about it. I don’t think he would be able to figure it out by himself.”
This, you agree with. “I’ll try, Jiminie.”
“We all miss you. Especially Hobi hyung and I,” he says with a lopsided excuse of a smile.
You resist the urge to fluff his hair. Jimin and Hoseok have been like the younger brothers you never had. You miss them, too.
He suddenly chuckles. "And Yoongi hyung hides it well, but I think he's the one that misses you the most. No one helps him roast Jin hyung quite like you do."
You roll your eyes. "Of course not. It's a waste for Yoongi to even try to find a better partner at roasting Jin."
You spot your apartment building and pull up to it.
“I’ll try to talk to Jin as soon as I can, Jimin, I promise. Don't worry so much about it,” you say as you step out, patting the boy once on his head. "I miss you all, too."
You give a small wave and faint smile to him as he drives away.
tagging: @shrimpmsg
note: so! a lil bit of backstory and the infamous halloween party - how we feelin’ so far? the next part is ~12k words, too, and i’ll post it next wednesday, wait around~ 😘💕
SECOND PART OUT NOW: read here!
© jimilter | 2021
#bts#kim seokjin#jin#bangtanarmynet#btsgoldnet#thebtstown#ksmutclub#bts smut#kim seokjin smut#jin smut#bts angst#kim seokjin angst#jin angst#bts imagine#kim seokjin imagine#jin imagine#jin x reader#seokjin x reader#*mine: fic#w: riptide#w: youth#not q
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Meg’s 2020 Art Summary
I’ll go ahead and put everything under a cut, but first, I’d just like to say a quick thank you to everyone- to all the new friends and followers I’ve made this past year, and to all of my friends from the past few years that’ve stuck by me. I can’t imagine life without you all! Thank you!!!
January
MC awakening into Hera. Still something I’m pretty proud of, though I’d like to try redrawing it sometime soon! :D
February
Ah.... this was a fun one. Ladynoir Wall-E au vuv very fun time
March
Another fave <3 Alex really helped me find my footing when it came to using they/them pronouns, for myself and for others.
April
April was mostly rough sketches, but I really loved how this one of Ruelle came out! She’s such a detailed character, it’s insane!
May
Not much for May, either! But this Alex with antlers is still pretty cute vuv
June
Nonbinary Adrien, Bi Nino, Adrinino...... *chef’s kiss* perfection! This was a gift for my friend Mari (love u Mari!!!) :)
July
Razi is very fun to draw, especially with that expression! I love his character design a lot, so I’m glad I tried my hand at drawing him!
August
A few pokemon that month, a lot of redesigns of old characters! This is Igraine, one of my older OCs- she’s an ekans! :D Her design used to be really plain, but it’s got some pizazz to it now!
September
This one’s a two-parter, because the pictures go together! My Adrienette/Ladynoir knight au! This was probably the first time I really tried my hand at drawing armor with a reference, and I really like how they came out!
October
I didn’t do too much in October, but I did finish one full week of Drawtober so hey! This Marinette is probably my favorite piece from then, y’all know I love my vampire aus :)
November
My favorite piece of the entire year!!! Fawn Centaur Alex resides in my brain 24/7. I was so happy with this piece, through the whole process, and I just think it turned out so well. I was especially happy because this wasn’t the first time I tried to draw this concept, but this time it worked out!
December
And the final piece! My second favorite this year! Another Alex, a lineless piece that I was drawing purely to experiment with lineless art! It was so hard to do, and I wanted to just give up a few times, but I’m so happy I kept working at it.
Overall, I’m very very happy with where my art’s gone this year. In addition to all of this, I’ve sketched out an entire 20-something page comic in my sketchbook. This year was amazing for my art’s growth, and I really can’t wait to see what I come up with next year!
Thank you all again, for the support and kindness you’ve shown this past year, I could never thank you all enough <3
2018 Art Summary
2019 Art Summary
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Remedy
Pairing - Jared x Reader
Tags - Slight angst, FLUFFFFFF, language, and I think that’s it.
Word Count - 2,664
Beta - @winecatsandpizza
Fic Aesthetic - Yours truly
The Song I Chose - Off My Mind by Radio Company
Written for - @saxxxology’s Vol 1 Writing Challenge
A/N - So, I couldn’t find much about Jared’s sister. I don’t think she’s married, but just so y’all know I made up Trent, Max, and Macee. Also, there may be a part 2 to this. It’s my first Jared fic, and I’m not sure I write him well. At any rate, I hope y’all enjoy it, and I especially hope you like this Saxxy. I really tried to make this good. :)
To say you’d become a failure to your parents was an understatement.
From the moment you dropped out of college to pursue your real dream, they’d cut all ties with you. Honestly, it didn’t come as a surprise considering all they seemed to care about was what they wanted you to succeed in. If it didn’t benefit them, then they weren’t interested.
Finally realizing their true intentions was the straw that broke the camel’s back. You packed what little belongings you had and left for Texas, leaving your home-town in Ohio behind in the rearview mirror. The beat-to-hell car you inherited lasted you until the outskirts of Dallas, so you decided to hole up in a hotel with the last bit of savings you had.
After checking in and grabbing some snacks from the vending machine in the lobby, you headed to your room and splayed out on the bed. You scrolled through local jobs as you munched on a Snickers bar. Nothing really jumped out at you, but this wasn’t a time in your life where it was rational to be picky. If you were going to pursue becoming a singer, then you needed some cash to get you started.
Nothing really piqued your interest around Dallas, so you decided to span your search further. After an hour of sifting through different job opportunities, you finally came across one that caught your eye.
Full-Time Nanny in Avery Ranch
Start Date: Mid-January 2020
Children ages: 5 and 2 months
Hours/Rate: M-F 7:30am-5pm - $18/hr
Serious Inquiries Only: (512)586-2463
Other than singing, babysitting your sister’s kids was something else you thoroughly enjoyed. Her husband had cheated on her, and they divorced soon after so you became a constant in their lives. Not that you weren’t before, but since you were a full-time student at the time you often watched them during your off time.
Before you could talk yourself out of it, you called the number and waited. By the third ring, you were starting to get discouraged but then a woman’s cheerful voice answered.
“Hello?”
Talking on the phone was never a strong suit of yours. Especially not knowing who was on the other end, it always gave you anxiety. Taking a deep breath, you stammered out a response.
“Um, h-hi. My name’s Y/N and I saw your add about the Nanny position. I’d like to apply if it’s still available.”
You heard the woman clear her throat and some rustling before she came back on the line.
“Hi, Y/N! My name's Megan. Yes, the position is still available! Can you come over tomorrow at noon? My husband and I would like to meet over coffee to get to know you a bit better before we introduce you to the children.”
Well, you weren’t expecting that, but the desperate situation you were in won over the butterflies fluttering against your abdomen.
“Y-Yeah! I can do that!”
The warmth in the woman’s response was evident and it eased any doubts you had bouncing around in your head.
“Great! We’ll see you tomorrow, Y/N. I’ll text you the address and feel free to wear something comfortable. Lord knows with two kids I won't be wearing my best dress."
You bid her goodbye and sighed into your pillow. Despite uprooting your life merely a day ago, things were starting to come together, and for once, you couldn't be happier.
--------------------------------------------
Jared sighed as he walked through the airport. Another season of Supernatural wrapped and he was finally on his home turf again. The familiarity of the Texas air nipped his bare skin as he headed for the awaiting taxi. Tonight, he'd rest up and then tomorrow he'd go and see his siblings.
The ride to his studio apartment was short, but it allowed him to send a few texts and emails anyway. He tipped the cab driver generously and took the elevator up to his floor.
His apartment wasn't much, but it was enough for him. The entry area was small, bearing a hook on the wall to hang his keys, a closet for his coat and shoes, and a couple of light switches. Just off to the left was the living room. He had a black leather sectional and a nice entertainment center where he could watch the latest Cowboys game comfortably. The kitchen wasn't enormous, but he didn't need it to be. It had everything he needed and all the appliances were new enough. His bedroom was just the way he left it, his king-size bed unmade and his laundry in the basket by the bathroom door.
Jared tossed his suitcase on the bed and padded to the kitchen for a beer. He'd start laundry tomorrow. It wasn't like he had anyone to impress or anything. Ever since Supernatural gained its popularity, he'd shied away from serious relationships because he barely had time for himself let alone a significant other. Settling into the couch, he flipped through the channels before stopping on the movie Die Hard, one of his favorite Christmas movies. Before he knew it, he'd dozed off, his hard work and jet lag finally catching up to him.
-------------------------------------------------
You groaned and shut off your alarm. How was it already 6 AM? Forcing yourself to emerge from your warm blanket cocoon, you padded to the bathroom praying a hot shower would wake you up. Mornings were far from your favorite thing, and if you were going to meet with your potential employer then you needed to be somewhat presentable.
Once you were dressed and had some sustenance, you wore a simple pair of jeans and a comfortable top. Your hair fell neatly at your shoulders and once you applied a small amount of makeup, you looked less like a zombie than you imagined. Remembering to grab your card key, you slid on your flats and headed to the address that Megan had texted you.
The drive was nearly three hours, but you didn't mind. It allowed you to decompress and listen to your favorite Spotify playlist. Luckily, the rental car you managed to get had Bluetooth, otherwise you'd have to deal with the local stations.
Finally, you pulled into the driveway and allowed yourself to take a few deep breaths. The house was pretty big, two-story with a two-car garage. The yard was well kept and you could see the faint outlines of playground equipment down the street. Overall, it looked to be a nice, quiet neighborhood.
Crisp air fanned your face as you walked to the front door. A couple knocks later you were face to face with a sweet-looking young woman. She smiled warmly at you before inviting you inside.
"Hi! You must be Y/N. It's so good to meet you."
Smiling back at her, you shook her hand and then noticed a taller figure walk up behind her. He nodded at you and wrapped his arm around his wife’s waist.
“I’m her husband, Trent. Please come in and make yourself comfortable.”
You followed them inside and gasped as they led you into what had to be their living room. Your eyes wandered and marveled at how cozy and elegant everything looked. Not that it mattered to you, but you couldn’t help but think this couple had a lot of money.
“You have a beautiful home, Mr. and Mrs. …”
It only just hit you that you didn’t know their last name. Megan brought you a cup of some wonderful smelling coffee and sat down on the love seat across from you.
“Stevenson. Our last name is Stevenson. Thank you for your kind words. We moved here a little over a year ago so I could be closer to my niece.”
You nodded and moaned happily at the taste of the coffee. This was one of the many things you enjoyed in life, a nice hot cup of coffee.
“Oh, does your family live close? That’s always nice, having family that lives close by. I used to watch my older sister’s kids all the time while she worked. They’re in school full-time now, so that’s why I decided to move here to hopefully pursue my dream.”
It amazed you that you felt this comfortable around the Stevenson’s so quickly. Normally, your anxiety would get the better of you and it’d be like pulling teeth to get you to share personal things about your life. Megan nodded and scooted over to allow room for Trent to sit by her.
“Yes, one of my older brother’s lives about fifteen minutes from here. He’s not home often though due to his job. He’s an actor and really only gets time off during the summer and the holidays. My other older brother lives about forty-five minutes from here. He’s an Orthopedic surgeon.”
“Wow.” You breathed. “That’s really awesome! I have always wanted to be a singer, but my love of kids made me want to wait a little longer to try and become successful at it. I probably would have had kids of my own by now if I was fortunate in the relationship department. I seem to always find the ones who are either already married or live in their Mom’s basement.” The three of you shared a laugh and you watched as Trent scrolled through his phone.
“This is our son, Max. He just turned five about a month ago, and in his lap is our two-month-old daughter Macee.”
You looked at them both in awe. “They’re beautiful! Max sure looks like he loves Macee a lot.” Just as you handed Trent his phone back, a small voice sounded from the foot of the stairs.
“Mommy? I can’t sweep…”
The three of you looked to see little Max standing with his teddy bear and rubbing his eyes. Megan opened her arms and set him on her lap, pressing her lips to his forehead.
“Hey, baby. You can sit with Mommy while we talk to miss Y/N.”
Your ears perked up at her words. Was she giving you the job? Both her and Trent shared a look and you could tell they were having a wordless conversation. Finally, Megan turned and gave you an excited smile.
“Y/N, if you’re up for it, Trent and I would love to have you as our Nanny. You seem very attentive and dependable. We have a spare room that you can stay in for the time being, and you’ll have your own bathroom.”
“Thank you both so much! I can’t wait to work with you and get to know your adorable children. When would you like me to start?”
Megan gave you a folder with a few papers in it to go over.
“These are just a few more things about us and the kids that I want you to know. You can bring your things over tomorrow night and then on Monday you can start.”
You bid Trent and Megan goodbye and headed back to your hotel. It was as if a weight had been lifted off your shoulders. You’d only been here a short time and you had a place to stay and a job. Now all you needed to get was a car and you’d better off than you were before you started your journey.
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The sound of his phone’s text tone woke Jared from his slumber. He typed a quick response to his sister and stretched his tired muscles. After taking a quick shower and getting dressed he grabbed his wallet and keys before heading out the door.
His sister said to be at her house in a couple of hours, but he didn’t see the harm in getting there early. It would give him time to play with Max and Macee for a little while. The drive there wasn’t very long, and soon he was walking up the sidewalk to their front door.
He let himself in and could saw his sister in the back yard playing with the kids. Before he could head through the house out the back door, something caught his attention. A sweet melodic voice flowed through the upstairs hallway that made his heartbeat quicken. He moved so he could see better and caught sight of the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. She had long brown hair that waved a bit at the ends, was probably about five foot one, and her voice was mesmerizing.
He watched as she cleaned the kids’ playroom, her hips shimmying to the music she was listening to. It was then that he recognized the song she was singing. It was one of the songs from Jensen’s new album! Standing in the foyer, he let himself listen to you a bit longer.
Oh, and how do I get you off my mind
With you back in my bed
How do I get you off my mind
Can’t have you living in my head
You can only stay awake so long
While deciding what is true
I lean in for a kiss upon your shoulder
Realize it wouldn’t do, not with you
So, how do I get you off my mind
With you back in my bed
How do I get you off my mind
Can’t have you living in my head
Unbeknownst to him, his sister was watching him watch her, the biggest smirk on her face knowing that you had caught her brother’s eye.
“Her name’s Y/N, and she’s Trent and I’s nanny.”
Jared whirled around to meet his sister’s knowing gaze. He knew he’d been caught staring and was sure he was blushing furiously.
“That’s ah… I’m uh… glad you found someone suitable for the kids, Meg. I bet she’s great.”
“Uh-huh… I haven’t seen you look at someone like that since… well, since ever really. You like her.”
“What?! That’s… I mean… I don’t even know her. I just… her singing was um… really good!”
By now, you had finished cleaning the playroom and was prepared to relieve Megan so she could go out with her family. You heard her talking to someone and you assumed it was Trent.
“Hey, Megan! I finished cleaning the pla-”
Your words were caught in your throat as you looked down into the foyer. There, standing mere feet from you was your celebrity crush since you saw him on Gilmore Girls. Jared Padalecki. It took only a moment for things to click in your brain and you deduced that he and Megan were siblings.
“Y/N, this is one of my older brother’s Jared, Jared this is Y/N.”
“H-Hi…” You squeaked. He gave you a boyish grin and you forgot how to breathe. “I’m uh… just going to get a few things from my room…”
Once you were behind the closed door, you let out a shaky breath. How in the fuck did you manage to get a job at Jared Padalecki’s sister’s house?! Taking a deep breath you grabbed the Tonka set you bought Max and headed downstairs to the great room to play with him and Macee. Jared was in the kitchen with Megan, and you were lucky enough to be immensely distracted by Max to hear what they were saying.
“I’m telling you Jare, you should ask her out! I give her weekends off, and I don’t think she knows anyone here but us. I think it would be nice to show her around.”
Jared rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “I don’t know Megan… I just met he-”
“Oh cut the crap, Jared. You can make all the excuses you want, but you and I both know you like her. C’mon! Take a chance! She’s cute and you’re single. If you keep waiting around for the right person, then who knows how long you’ll be waiting?”
Jared contemplated his sister’s words as he eyed you through the kitchen. Who was he kidding? Megan was right. He sighed and swallowed thickly as he headed into the Great room.
“Here goes nothing…”
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Supernova: Chapter 15
I wish I had better news for y’all than the hell year I’m currently living in.
Sorry, I’m tired. My mom broke her foot Monday so I’ve been the primary caretaker for both her and my uncle. Not a lot of time to do anything but that, especially with my blood sugar issues. I haven’t gotten a lot of writing done, and I don’t see that improving for at least 6 weeks when she’s back on her feet. Might need to take another hiatus, I don’t know...
Also our heater is leaking and yeah, that’s great in the middle of winter. When it rains it pours I guess...
Anyway, I’m not in a great mood. I was busy getting clothes together to wash and then cleaning soiled pants. You know it’s bad when I want to go back to work...
But, whatever you don’t wanna hear about that. Next chapter is going up on January 23, aka the 5 year anniversary of EVERYTHING WENT TO HELL at my old job that led to me developing diabetes. Yay. I’ll see you then I guess... probably with more clothes for the laundromat.
I hate laundry. I hate everything. Just let me sleep.
Was that someone knocking on the door?
Andy was groggy as she sat up in bed, mind dull. It was still dark outside, and the house was quiet except for the pounding sound coming from the first floor. She could hear people waking up in the bedrooms below, and her curiosity got the better of her. Within seconds, she was sliding down the ladder to the second floor.
Jen was standing in front of her open door, rubbing her eyes and yawning. “Did Sara get locked out or something?”
“I'm right here, squirt.” Their older sister was in a similar state, though more used to sleep deprivation. “Maybe one of mom's clients broke out of prison again.”
All three winced at the thought – Amanda was even worse when she got woken up for work. Lucky she wasn't there to see it; as soon as the knocking had started, she had probably launched out of bed to go check things out. No doubt she had her pistol too – she had gotten it after the last client had paid a late-night visit.
Andy was already awake, and she crept towards the stairs with slow, even steps. She could see the front door from the top of the steps. Her mother was talking with someone in low tones, but it wasn't anything pleasant.
“You're out of your mind.”
“We don't have time to discuss this.”
The voice made Andy's core bubble. Uncle Leo rarely came out after dark, and she was amazed he had the strength to pound. That was why she took a few more steps, slowly edging her way down the stairs. She was still hidden in the shadows, but she had full view of the door.
The old man was leaning hard on a cane, and his forehead was dotted with sweat. He was breathing hard, like he had run to their house. In his hand he clutched a device she had used once before – way back when she had first gotten herself into trouble.
What did the Union want?
“Holy shit...” She heard her older sister’s voice from up the stairs as a video clip played.
“Is that P-”
“Don't watch that!”
The video died abruptly, but she had heard enough of the chaos on the other end. Her core turned icy as she looked back down to the stairs. Her brief moment had given her away. Amanda was standing at the bottom of the stairs, and Uncle Leo wasn't far behind.
Oh... shit.
“Get back to your room, Andromeda.”
Leo shook his head as he edged closer. “Andy, you need to come with me.”
What a place to be, frozen at the top of the stairs between the two people who she listened to without question. Her mother's eyes were burning, and her grip on the banister rock hard. Her uncle's knuckles were just as white on his cane. His breathing was getting worse.
“They're gonna win, right? There's no way they'd...”
Jen's voice brought her back to reality. Andy shook her head and made it the rest of the way down the stairs. She met her mother on the last step, towering over the woman as she tried to look for a way past. Amanda may have been small, but she had a presence that made her feel ten feet tall. Yet at the same time... she was small.
Did she always look like that?
The woman grit her teeth in response. “I told you to go back to bed.”
“What do you need me for, Uncle Leo?”
Silence echoed across the entryway. The old man smiled, but it was in a sad way she had seen him do before on TV. Something about it made her insides ache, but she didn't care. Whatever was inside her, it needed to be ready.
“I had hoped never to ask this of you. Forgive me.” His posture stiffened. She got an image of a man in armor briefly, before it disappeared. “Andy, we need your powers to stop Mr. Blasto from killing the rest of the Union.”
Amanda let out a harsh bark of laughter, almost as if she couldn't believe it. “You need an untrained teenager-”
“She's the only one who is fully immune to his effects. It didn't work on Nova when they faced off years ago.” He kept going, despite her flinch. “Now, are you going to let her come with me or not? We're running out of time.”
Andy didn't even wait for her mother to answer. She hit the bottom of the stairs without thinking, pushing past the woman to join her uncle near the door. The only thing that stopped her was Amanda's hand clenched tightly around her wrist. Had she had skin, she probably would have been bruised.
Then again, if she had skin she probably wouldn't have been woken up at 3 AM to save people.
Amanda's eyes were solid and hard as she glared Andy down. “Andromeda, if you don't get back into bed-”
Andy slipped her wrist free as she moved further away. “Mom, they need me. I gotta go.”
“If you walk out that door-” her anger abated, and she straightened. “I can't be responsible for what happens to you. Whatever fallout, you face it yourself.”
Funny, she would've thought she had a few more years before getting to that point. It didn't matter. Andy nodded as she continued her walk, pausing only to slip into her sneakers. Once they were on, she and Leo left the house, closing the door behind her.
“I've got her, Scanner.”
She hadn't noticed he was wearing an earpiece. That probably came from years of wearing one discretely. It didn't matter – her core was beginning to bubble as she waited for whatever was to come next.
“You're going to drop down a few clicks from the drop zone. SR's been holding them off, but he's losing ground.” Scanner was speaking through a device the old man handed her – it wasn't like she had an ear for a mic anyway. “Once you're down... just get them out alive.”
The tension in the tech's voice only made things bubble more. Andy at least managed a nod as she waited for... whatever was to come. Leo was already stepping out of the way, leaning hard on his cane. However, at the last moment, he reached into his pocket.
“You need this. We’ll think of something better later.”
He tossed her a length of cloth with two holes cut out of it. Andy's mind went blank as she held up what look to be a blue Halloween mask, the kind a child might have worn over their eyes if they wanted to be a ninja turtle. Maybe if it hadn't been 3 AM, she would've argued. However, his face was serious, so with shaking hands she tied it over her eyes.
Not that it really mattered – nobody knew she existed anyway.
“You can do this, Andy.” Leo's eyes were kind, but she could see the ache. More than anything, he wanted to be down there with them. “I believe in you.”
“That makes one of us.” She shook out her shoulders. “Well, drop me down. Here goes nothing.”
Andy didn't get the chance to say anything more. There was a flash of bright light, and suddenly she wasn't at home anymore. Her core bubbled as she dropped down into the city proper, feeling as though she had just been placed into the middle of an apocalyptic war zone. Given what was going on, that was appropriate.
She stepped over a particularly large pothole, glancing around. “Scanner, how close am I?”
“Almost there. I would've given you more space to acclimate, but-” there were explosions in the distance. “Shit, we're running out of time. Get over there and take him out!”
Andy didn't need to be told twice. She broke out into a run, following the spray of destruction. It wasn't long before she got a proper view of the goings on. She could see Ember, glowing behind the psychic's erected shield that was beginning to waver. Her stomach dropped at the sight of her aunt, unmoving and barely breathing. Then there was Sky Rider himself, shaking so badly he looked like he might just fall apart at the seams.
Richter was looking pretty tired, but he was still hauling rocks against another shield. He wasn't the point, though – Mr. Blasto barely had a scratch on him, and his tank was half full. His blaster still bubbled, ready for another round.
And there she was... an idiot in a Halloween mask with no idea what she was doing.
“You're strong, Sky Rider. It's a pity you're going to die here. Are you sure I can't-”
“Bite me. Unlike some people, I don't join up with serial killers.”
Good sign – he could still snark. Andy felt a little better, but she could hear the strain in his voice that made her core bubble. She should have been moving... but it was like her feet were frozen to the ground.
Had Richter stuck her there? Looking down confirmed she was fine to move. The issues were coming from inside the house, or so her sister would have put it. Andy, half asleep and barely aware of herself, couldn't feel fear like a human could. That didn't mean some primal urge in her strange body wasn't telling her to run the hell away. Apparently, even across species and galaxies, some constants remained the same.
Dr. Sakamoto would love to hear that if they got out of this alive.
Mr. Blasto sighed and cocked his blaster. “A pity. I could've used a psychic of your caliber. Oh well... best to end things. I've been told this only hurts for a moment, miss Ember.”
He leveled the blaster with her head again as time seemed to slow. Andy's body reacted before her brain did as she broke out into a run. She cleared the cars, even Richter's barrier. In the corner of her eye, she saw Sky Rider's body tense. But then she was past him, into the space between the stunned hero and her would-be killer.
Then she was getting hit with a face full of plasma.
“Well, you didn't mention you had an idiot speedster.” Blasto almost sounded amused. “But it doesn't matter, I still have-”
He stopped talking as Andy wiped the still boiling plasma from her face and shook it off. It was a miracle the mask still stayed on her face, but maybe Halloween costumes were made of stronger stuff. Even if she wasn't burning, it wasn’t a pleasant experience. After all, she had swallowed some of it. Talk about gross. Give her quartz crystals any day...
“What the hell?”
Richter sounded like he was about to piss himself. Then he wasn't doing anything at all – his own rock zoomed at breakneck speeds to hit him in the temple. He went down hard, not moving. Sky Rider let his fist relax. Even exhausted, he could manage some telekinesis.
Andy was pretty sure that had made her bait, but she didn't care. One down, one to go.
“You ok, Rider?”
The psychic was breathing hard. “No, but we'll live as long as you stay standing. Kick his ass.”
She didn't need to be told twice. The would-be vigilante turned to face Mr. Blasto, plasma still dripping from her body. Her new opponent was checking his blaster, a confused expression briefly crossing his pale face.
Well, at least she got him thinking.
“I don't know how you managed that, but you're very lucky.” The blaster was up again, and his eyes were glowing now with that honeyed power that had more than five bodies to its name. “Now stand there and let me see if you can survive a double hit.”
Andy could feel something slide over her, like a thin sheet pulled over a bed. For most people, it would’ve strangled them and bound them to his will. For her, it just kept sliding to the ground, where it puddled and disappeared.
Guess she didn't need sheets on her bed. Nice.
“Nah, that shit tastes terrible.” She jerked her head towards her unconscious aunt. “You do that, or the big guy?”
The man in front of her went from calm to frustrated as he realized his other little ability didn't seem to work on her. His brow furrowed, and then he tried it again. The sheen was almost oily now, but it rolled off her like a wave and splashed at her feet. At least it didn't get her sneakers dirty.
“It doesn't work on you.” He cocked his head. “You're the second...”
But then his mouth closed. Mr. Blasto shook his head. A smile crossed his features once more, but there was nothing friends about it. Her core bubble at the sight of it. It was like he was looking past her then. At what?
She didn't hear anyone, at the very least. Even a total newbie like her knew better than to turn her back on her opponent to chance a look. At least it wasn't Richter, so she didn't need to worry about a blitz attack.
Just on the frontal nightmare she was dealing with.
“It doesn't matter. I can tell from how you're standing that you're new at this.” He cocked his blaster. “Once I tear through you, I can go back to finish the rest of the team. Why don't you be a good girl and just die? It'll be less painful if you accept it.”
Her core went ice cold. Andy glanced around – her aunt, unmoving. Ember, fighting with everything she had to keep her brain to herself. Sky Rider, practically dead but still trying to protect her. They were all stretched thin, betrayed by their former teammate and at the mercy of a man who could wipe them out.
And she was the only one left.
The city was quiet, but she could hear the helicopters in the distance. Someone was watching somewhere. Were her sisters seeing her there, standing like an idiot? Was it going to reach as far as New York even? All she could think about was Uncle Leo, watching and regretting ever sending her out there. Her mother, knowing she had been right.
So many people...
“I can't let them down.”
Blasto cocked his head to the side. “Excuse me?”
Her voice grew stronger as she straightened her posture. Her core was bubbling now, like someone had filled her full of baking soda and vinegar when she hadn’t been paying attention. “They trusted me to bring the team home alive. So, I can't die here.”
In the dark of the night, she saw colors with a sharper edge and clarity that humans probably never noticed. Blasto's strange ability was a greasy oil slick on the road, gathering in a nearby sewer. It coated Ember like a thick film, but she could still breathe.
Her hand had a light in the palm.
“Well, you definitely talk a good game. I should put you down before you develop the skills to back those up.” The blaster was leveled again. “It's nothing personal.”
Andy was out of the way before he could fire, moving faster than she ever had. Before, she would have considered her body heavy and slow, but something was pushing her on. The plasma hissed where she had once been, eating away at the sidewalk. She stood off to the side, staring. The light was still in her hand.
Just had to get him away from Ember before she fired...
“You know, for a big-time villain, your aim sucks. I thought rookies were supposed to be easy to take out!”
His head swiveled, and again Andy had to duck out of the way as another ray of plasma splashed past her and started to eat a light pole. When it crashed to the ground, it hit her in the back and reverberated dully across her entire body and made her vision swim.
If she had been a human, that probably would've hurt a whole lot.
“Ok... look where I'm going before I catch wise.” She shook off the sensation ringing across her torso, still feeling it in her toes. Had she been a real hero, that probably would've been all over twitter as a super fail, or so she had heard the scientists in the lab talking about on their break. Lucky for her, she didn't have a hashtag attached to her name.
“Valuable advice, too bad you won't be around to use it.”
The plasma hit her hard in the back, knocking her onto one knee as it gushed to the ground. Warmth flowed across her entire body, but it didn't hurt her. Instead, it just kind of pissed her off. Talk about hitting a guy in the back.
“Guess you haven't gotten the idea that doesn't hurt me.”
She rose to her feet, shaking it off. Blasto was in front of her now, and she had a clear street in front of her. The light was even brighter in her fist. Andy steadied herself, briefly wishing she had the sensation of being outside her body back. Then, she had known what to do. Now...
Well... time to figure it out.
“Nova, hope I'm doing this right. They're counting on me.”
Andy wasn't sure why she said it as she brought up her fist. The light was even brighter now, sparkling in colors she couldn't name. She could feel the heat between her fingers as the pressure built up, until it was too strong to hold back. That was when she threw her fist forward, aiming the punch right for Blasto's stomach.
Her fist connected and exploded into light as he was thrown back with the force of a bomb explosion. Night turned briefly into day as she was pushed back a few inches, her feet dragging deep into the broken street. Later, the streets department would have to take those deep cuts out, but at least they'd have a city to work on in the morning.
When the light cleared, she saw Blasto thrown almost across a city block, laying in a shallow depression. He wasn't moving, but she saw his burned chest falling and rising with labored breaths. Alive, but just barely.
“Shit.”
Andy's trembling body fell to her knees as exhaustion took her over. It was hard to keep her eyes open, much less move out of the way. She was still conscious, however, so she pressed the device she had stowed in her pocket.
“Scanner, did I do it?”
The tech's voice sounded like they were about to cry from relief. “They're all showing vital signs still. You did it alright, you crazy asshole.”
“Good... I think I'm gonna take a nap. Don't let the FBI get me.”
And with that, she fell face first onto the earth, her mind and vision going blank. Her last thoughts were that in a few hours, the dawn was going to rise and with it would be a lot of traffic. Hopefully they would have gotten her out of the road by then.
---
Angel had a perfect view of everything as he fought through what felt like a punctured lung and some broken ribs.
Andy, dripping with plasma that burned the ground below, rose from the ground like some kind of mythical deity. She had leveled her fist, and with it came the brightness of high noon. Blasto went flying, and then it was over as he hit the ground and didn’t get back up.
“Don't let the FBI get me.”
That was the last thing she had said before going down. Then it was night again, and he was left with a team that had somehow survived with a full count. He could already hear the ambulances rushing for them, leaving them to figure out how to get everyone help without secret identities being exposed. Just thinking about it made his head ache as he leveled into a sitting position.
But they had survived... and that was the important thing. Question was, were they going to survive the fallout?
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ugh i literally love y’all so much if i wasn’t already crying I’d be crying even more because hhhhhhhhhh i don’t deserve you or the lovely mod akdnksgmkk 🥺
and right?? this why i can’t tell her SHIT cuz it’s alwayyyyys about her and she’s just awful 💀 i absolutely despise when she says shit like she knows me better than anyone else or she knows me better than myself like JDNDKNDJSNFJS
ma’am gtfo 😭🤚🏽 i can’t tell her anything because im selfish and dramatic and it’s because of that phone and stupid shit like that 💀💀
bc of her, ive had very low self esteem ever since I was in elementary school, horrible anxiety, and among other things.
in January of 2020, I was REALLY going through it. Like probably one of the worst times of my life. I had a H U G E argument with her which led me to do something that would’ve prevented me from being here and still typing this as we speak but i failed.
okay it wasn’t JUST because of her but she played a big part. I’m glad I didn’t go through it but that one year mark of it is coming soon and I’m scared as shit because January seems to be such a cursed month for me.
Oh and Not to mention my birthday is in January too so- 😽😽😽😽
~🧁
Because of that phone, I can’t- 💀
I’m so sorry to hear about January, but let me just say, I am so, so glad that you failed, because it means that you’re still here, and you still have a chance to experience so many amazing things now, and once you’re older! Happy early birthday, and I promise to be here for you all throughout January! I get how scary it can be, and I know I can’t do much, but I can be here for you through Tumblr, and I know for a fact you’ll get through it, because you’ve made it this far, and you’re amazing and strong enough to make it through!
And it’s me and mod, who don’t deserve you, cutie 🥺🥺🥺💛💛💛
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@marilyndraws Come get y’all juice!
In all seriousness, here it is! I hope you like it and I hope it’s as accurate as it could be. I know I took some creative liberties but I hope you love it as much as I loved writing it. There are a few places where I was unhappy with it while writing. The pacing is a bit off and the characterization isn’t great but I hope you like it!
Have a great days otherwise!💖 AjdnsjJANSJS god I hope you enjoy it. Your art is just wonderful and I scream every time!!
Here’s the piece!
Missing Persons
Statement of Amy Bassmaji regarding her time working in missing persons. Original statement given January 5, 2016. Audio recording by Jonathan Sims, Head Archivist of the Magnus Institute, London.
Statement begins.
Okay, listen.
I’m not... I’m not crazy. I promise you I’m not crazy. I haven’t had a history of mental illness, my family doesn’t have a line of any of that type of shit. I am, all things considered, perfectly sane. I’m- I’m sound off mind, I swear. You have to believe me. What I saw is absolutely fucking crazy but you have to believe me.
I’ve tried to tell people but all they do is look at me like I’m losing my mind and... and honestly, I think I might be...
I just... I can’t handle another look like that. I don’t think I can take another. But... you’ll believe me, won’t you? This is what your institute is for?
Lord, what am I doing? I didn’t even believe in your credibility a week ago and now?
Just... I’m not crazy. That’s all you need to know, I am not crazy. I saw what I saw. And what I saw couldn’t have been a lie.
See, I work in missing persons. Or... at least, I worked in missing persons. Some people were easier to locate than others, just as a few are more unsettling than some. Usually, the missing report could be some kid running away or a sloppy kidnapping. It isn’t normally too bad.
I never really dealt with the more heavy missing persons cases. I was still climbing the ladder until recently. I got a promotion, which I was ecstatic about. Finally, some progress, you know? All that hard work finally paying off, finally being able to look at the fruits of my labor. It was... thrilling. I hadn’t looked forward to something in a while.
It was normal at first. Maybe not as riveting as I had dreamed for it to be but it was good. Most of my coworkers were wonderful, though some of them had their moments. All things considered, they were normal. They didn’t stick out for being amazing but they didn’t stick out for being terrible either. They were just... average.
Now, here’s the thing. I said most for a reason. Nearly all of them were just... normal but there was one exception to that.
Her name was Marilyn. Marilyn Hightower. At first glance, she was just like everyone else. She blended in just like I did. Just like you do. Just like... well, most do. She helped find a good few. She was reliable, efficient, and well trusted by the staff. I shouldn’t have been bothered by her.
Yet despite all that... I hated being around her.
I don’t know how to describe it, the feeling she gave me. It was just wrong. It was like there was something crawling up my back, agonizingly slow and dangerous. Like I was an insect trapped in the web of an eight legged monster.
I don’t know if I’m just saying that because of what I know now but looking back, I should have known. The clues were all there I just... I just couldn’t have known what it all meant.
What am I saying? I don’t even know what it all means now. I came here hoping that maybe, just maybe, you could. Maybe you know about this shit with spiders and webs and missing people. Maybe you can make sense of what the hell is going on and what the hell happened to me.
I don’t... I don’t know why I was the only one who seemed unsettled by her. I didn’t say anything about my unease because everyone else loved her. My superiors, my coworkers, hell, even my friends. They all seemed fine with her and I... I didn’t. I wasn’t. And I didn’t want to ruin what I got so I... I just kept my mouth shut.
I thought that maybe it was just me. Probably just me being an asshole, I thought. Just forget about it, just let it go. Maybe she just rubs me the wrong way, maybe it’s just that our personalities don’t mesh. There wasn’t anything about her that warranted my displeasure. And the more I watched her interacting with my other coworkers, the more I grew sure of that.
She was just so... vibrant. She got on with everyone like a damn house on fire and I was sure that it was just me. It had to be just me even when she looked at me like I was... I don’t know, food? Prey? She looked at me as if she knew that I didn’t trust her and she was going to do something about it. Like my confusion was some cruel, amusing joke. Some game for her to control and enjoy.
Thinking about it, it probably was.
The thing that changed all that was when I was visiting work late one night. I forgot my laptop in the meeting room because I was in a bit of a rush. My girlfriend and I were heading out for a date and I didn’t want to be any later than I had to be. I guess I lost my mind a bit in the thick of things.
It was supposed to be an in and out sort of thing. I knew the building and it was just a laptop, for fuck sake. It should have been five minutes, tops.
Some of the lights were still on and there were a few people working late in their offices but those people were sparse and we were acquaintances at best. I was as good as alone but at the time it felt like a comfort, knowing that I wasn’t traipsing through a completely desolate police building.
When I got to the meeting room, I was surprised to find that there was a light still on. Not all the lights, just one. It was the overhead lamp that hung in front of the board, illuminating the red yarn that connected staples photos, letters, news clippings, and locations. You know, the like. The type of stuff you see on TV.
It was dim in the darkness but it spilled out into the room.
It shouldn’t have been unsettling but there was this gut feeling that something was wrong. It twisted and convulsed in my chest and I felt... delirious. I wondered if anyone was still here this late at night. It wouldn’t surprise me, the department we work in tends to keep all of us up.
You don’t realize how many people go missing but working in a place like I do...? It tends to give you perspective. You get multiple reports at least every other day of normal, breathing people disappearing off the face of the Earth. You have to see hundreds of pictures of smiling faces that, more often than not, never get found again. It’s soul crushing, in a way. Realizing that so many normal people disappear out of thin air.
Realizing that the people that you walk by on the street or the people that you love could be one of them. Or how many loved ones will never be able to see that missing person ever again, nor will they ever have the closure of knowing what happened to them.
It’s why I got into the field that I did. My brother disappeared when I was fifteen. I guess... I guess knowing the pain personally does that. I always thought that everyone joined for the same purpose, for genuinely trying to find people and bring them back. To make sure no one has to lose another person again.
I was wrong.
God, I was wrong.
Being in that room sent shivers down my spine. I don’t know what it was but the shadows that the yarn cast looked like webs, intricate and wrapping and waiting. Waiting for the perfect opportunity to snag me. Trap me. But trap me for what? Trap me for who? And I could have sworn there was something in my ear, this odd... scratching noise.
I ignored it. It would go away soon enough, I thought . And the sooner I was out the sooner I could escape the prickling in the nape of my neck. I wanted out of that room as soon as I could be.
I should have run then. I should left my stupid laptop and run then.
I crouched to grab it, which was propped in between two chairs right where I left it. I squinted in the dark, reaching forward, but when my hand wrapped around the handle it didn’t wrap around the plastic that it usually did.
No, it wrapped around hundreds of small, moving things.
I screamed. As embarrassing as that is, I screamed. I yanked my hand back and stumbled, tripping and stepping on those things with a terrible, disgusting squelch. my ears rung for god knows how long but I searched for whatever the hell I was surrounded by.
And that’s when I heard it.
And that’s when I realized it.
The scuttling.
The spiders.
The sounds of hundreds of thousands of millions of spiders moving and crawling and writhing where the light does not reach. I could see them now, their shapeless form shifting and climbing in the darkness, crawling up the walls and onto the table with their millions of legs and beady, malicious eyes.
They were hapless, moving as one and covering the room like a thick grime.
I was too terrified to scream, too terrified to move. It felt like there were cobwebs in my throat, clogged in my joints and tightening around my neck like a noose made by that suffocating ocean of spiders that surrounded me. I was drowning in it, drowning in the terror that consumed me.
I felt nauseous, I felt sick. I felt afraid. Would they kill me? Consume me like the insects that they trapped in their web?
Then I looked up.
Then I looked up and there she was. Marilyn. She stood in the light of that damned lamp and smiled at me, sneered at me. Her eyes glowed with the same malicious amusement of the monstrosity that filled my ears and choked my lungs. She held a piece of yarn in her hand, pinched in between her fingers as she smiled.
The spiders seemed to grow erratic with excitement and something else. Something like hunger. Something like desperation. Their scuttling and movement grew louder, grew faster. They pooled at my feet as if they were waiting for some barrier around me to break. And I knew that barrier of brief protection would break the second she let it. And in that moment, I realized that I wasn’t just some victim.
I was the insect in the web.
I was the insect trapped in her web. She was the spider and I was her prey and I was stuck in the trap she had created. And I realized that I wasn’t her only victim and I wouldn’t be her last.
She wasn’t here to bring people back. No, she was here to make sure they stayed missing.
She grinned then. I think she must have seen my dawning horror, the bombshell of that epiphany blooming on my face.
I ran. I left my laptop and I ran. I didn’t give her a chance to tell her damned spiders to trap me.
When I got back home, my girlfriend was there. Bless her heart. She helped me the best she could but the worry on her face as I tried to explain what happened made me shut up. She didn’t believe me. She would never believe me. No one would. Hell, I wouldn’t have believed me.
I quit my job the morning after.
I didn’t speak to Marilyn again but I could see her from the window of that room while I was walking back to my car, smiling with that same smile from that night.
I moved as soon as I could but the spiders follow me. Wherever I go, they follow me. Their scuttling fills my ears whenever I close my eyes and their cruel, amused stare glares back at me like a cruel joke.
I don’t like spiders anymore.
...I think I might get an exterminator.
Statement ends.
Ms. Bassmaji’s account of this encounter sounds like a few we’ve had before. The sea of the spiders, the scuttling. It seems Hightower is still terrorizing the innocent with the help of the Web. Unsurprisingly... we cannot make a follow up with Ms. Bassmaji.
However, Tim did some digging with records and found both Amy Bassmaji and Marilyn Hightower as employed. However, Marilyn still proves to be as slippery as a damn eel and disappeared before we could locate her.
Martin did some digging himself, finding out that Ms. Bassmaji was reported as missing by her girlfriend, Katelyn Palmer, in May of 2017.
Prior to her disappearance, there was a spider infestation in their flat. Oddly, only their flat was exclusively effected. No amount of pest control could have gotten rid of them. Odder yet, Ms. Palmer states that as soon as Ms. Bassmaji went missing, the spiders seemed to disappear with her.
I hope that she didn’t suffer too long, but knowing of the way Hightower kills, I sincerely doubt it. I can only pray that we apprehend her soon.
End recording.
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Life is a Series of Choices- Chapter Two
AN: Here’s chapter two!! This is where my original work begins. This is more of a filler chapter, the next few will be more exciting I promise. I want this story to be about five chapters total, and my goal is to have all of it up by the end of August, but I’m not sure if that will actually end up happening. Hope y’all enjoy!
Word Count: 1,230
Warnings: none
A few days passed and Melissa often found herself thinking back to coffee with Jamie. She hadn’t connected with someone like that in such a long time, hadn’t been able to get lost in a conversation and talk for hours. She had found somebody she could actually enjoy spending time with, but of course he wanted to be just friends. Of course, Melissa respected Jamie’s reasons, but it was still disappointing. They’d texted back and forth a few times, and their most recent plans included lunch, and tickets for Melissa and Skylar to come to a game that evening. Lunch was at one of the many small restaurants near the American Airlines Centre, and Melissa found herself losing track of time again. Jamie had a sort of quality about him that made anything he said seem interesting. They chatted until Jamie’s phone was blowing up and he realized he needed to be at the arena. They argued about who would cover the bill, with Melissa finally winning. Jamie insisted he walk Melissa to her car again, then quickly remembered he had a small gift for her. He ran to his car, and returned with two bags in hand.
“Jerseys,” he supplied when Melissa gave him a questioning look. “I wasn’t sure if you and Skylar had any, so I figured I might as well.”
“Oh, thanks! Good luck tonight, not that I think you’ll need it,” said Melissa, giving Jamie a small wave as she got into the front seat of her car. She met Skylar at her apartment where they relaxed and watched Netflix until it was time for them to begin getting ready. Skylar was predictably thrilled by the jersey, letting out a squeal she would later make Melissa promise had never happened. They shared an Uber to the American Airlines Centre, early enough that they’d be able to get a good spot down by the ice for warm ups. Sure enough, when the boys skated out Jamie’s eyes wandered for a moment before he found the two of them. He offered them a small smile before beginning his warm up. When they made it to their seats a few rows back from the penalty box, Skylar turned to Melissa.
“So, how was your date today?”
“Skylar, I told you it wasn’t a date, he just ended things with a long term girlfriend and just wants to be friends for now. Nothing serious,” responded Melissa, sipping her overpriced drink.
“Mhm, he gets you amazing seats, gives you his jersey, and looks for you as soon as he’s on the ice? Friends my ass.”
“I swear, it’s nothing. Trust me, you’ll be the first one to know if anything happens,” said Melissa. Before she could continue the lights were dimming and the players were beginning to make their entrances. The game seemed to fly by, and by the time it was all said and done the Stars were walking away with the victory. Melissa knew Jamie likely wouldn’t see his phone for a while but that didn’t stop her from sending him a quick congratulatory text message. It wasn’t until she made it back to her apartment that she saw the response.
M: Great job out there! You guys killed it. Thanks again for the tickets :)
J: Thanks! :) No worries, any time you want to come to a game you can always ask.
M: Will do. Better not tell Skylar that though, or else every time she has the night off she’ll be pestering me for tickets XD
J: Just between us then ;)
J: Oh, I was wondering if you’d maybe be interested in hanging out over the all star break? I know it’s a long time away but I’m not sure what it’s like for you trying to get time off from work. If you can’t don’t worry about it, no pressure. Just know the offer stands if you’re interested.
M: Well depends what you have planned. I don’t just take time off for anything, this better be good Benn :p
J: Was thinking of keeping it pretty lowkey. Find a beach somewhere tropical, rent a beach house, spend some time in paradise.
M: I’d love to join you but my bank account says otherwise :( thanks for the offer though
J: My treat. You deserve to relax too you know!
M: Jamie I can’t let you do that even if I can get the time off
J: Just think about it. Like I said, the offer stands.
Melissa was shocked to say the least. Friends don’t normally offer to pay for other friends to accompany them to some tropical beach somewhere for a week in January. Yet, here Jamie was. She was conflicted, hell she didn’t even know if she’d be able to get the time off. Why would Jamie offer something like this? He wasn’t the type to really throw his money around or spend it in over the top ways. Unless… well, unless he wanted things to move in a less than friendly direction. Melissa certainly wasn’t opposed to the idea, but saying she didn’t have any doubts about getting into a relationship with Jamie would be a lie. Before she let herself think about the offer any more she decided to text her boss to see if getting time off would even be plausible.
M: Hey Ava, I was just wondering, what would my chances of getting a week off at the end of January be?
A: With this much notice pretty good, why?
M: Oh just wondering. Considering maybe booking a vacation.
A: I see. I won’t make any promises but it shouldn’t be too hard. Let me know when you’ve made a decision and then we can start looking for people to cover your shifts.
M: Will do!
Well shit, now she had to seriously consider this trip. Like everyone else who’s in a tough spot, the first thing she did was Facetime Skylar.
“Sky, I have a dilemma. Jamie just asked me if I wanted to spend all star break with him at the end of January.”
“So? He wants to hang out? What’s the big deal?”
“He wants to rent a beach house somewhere tropical and he wants to pay for me. What the hell am I supposed to do? If I say yes I’ll feel guilty that he’s spending his money on me. If I say no and tell him I can’t get time off I’ll feel guilty for lying because I talked to Ava and she told me I could most likely get the time off.”
“Well if he wants you to join him I say go for it. Besides, it’s only October. Wait and see what happens between now and then, and you can always change your mind.”
“Thanks babe, I don’t know what I’d do without you and your advice.”
Skylar ended the call with a small wave and a smile, and Melissa was left alone once again to consider her options. If Jamie was using this trip as a way to get closer to her, she trusted him enough to not force her into something she didn’t want. And if paying for tropical retreats was just something Jamie did for his friends, Melissa wasn’t one to complain. Jamie was right, she did deserve a vacation. Melissa made up her mind; she’d text Jamie tomorrow after work.
#jamie benn imagine#jamie benn#life is a series of choices#hockey imagines#hockey writing#liasoc#nhl imagines#nhl imagine#nhl writing
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Eat, Pray, Love...In China??
2018 was a rough year for me!
My final year in University began in Fall 2017 with a study abroad semester in Spain. Within the first few weeks of my study abroad my then boyfriend and I had broken up. Having previously gone through many breakups with him throughout the years, this was nothing new. That is to say, I was fine with everything, and I was in a really good place in my life.
Spain was a magical time and experience for me. I fell in love with the country. I fell in love with the fact that all my academics were in a foreign language that I knew well. And most of all I loved my beautiful and wonderful host families with their beautiful and wonderful children!
Gosh! I can’t wait to live there one day (because it’s gonna happen)!
After my long-time boyfriend and I broke up sometime after my birthday, I reminded myself that I was living in Madrid and should not let this rain cloud ruin such a wonderful life opportunity.
Therefore I rallied. I began using my time to focus on myself and continued to develop my language skills. Beautiful Spanish city, with beautiful Spaniards? There was nothing else to do but live my best life.
But I also used this time to focus on getting back to myself and learning how to be alone again. Exploring different parts of Madrid, making new friends and eating tortilla española with a good book on every terraza possible were how most of my days went. I got back to being the happy, care-free, stress-free me that I lost for a very long time.
I felt happy. And light.
And then….the bullshit.
I returned to my University campus in January of 2018. My school was a small, predominantly white liberal arts school in the middle of nowhere. As this was my last semester in school I just wanted to eat my fruits, drink my water, go to the gym, and mind my business!
But upon my return the happy and carefree me struggled with maintaining my happy. School work always provided a way for me to drown out the trash happening around me and just focus on concrete things. But, alas, it was my senior year so my course load was the lightest it had ever been. I couldn’t drown out the bullshit.
Upon my return I was immediately welcomed back with open arms from people I knew. They were quick to ask me about my time abroad and how great it was. Ya know. The usual talk. Then it quickly turned into questions about my relationship. Kinda went like this:
They: “So are you guys still together?”
Me: “Nah. Didn’t work out. Ya know. Shit happens.”
They: “Oh girl. Sorry to hear that but you’re better off.”
Me: “….I mean it wasn’t a bad split….why am I better off?”
They: “Well you know cause you deserve better. Especially after what happened over the summer.”
Me: “….Summer?”
They: “Oh you know last summer when he was here.”
Me: “….Over summer?”
*Just for clarification: Ex-bae was a year ahead of me so he graduated May 2017. So this refers to Summer 2017*
And it’s clear from this conversation that the proverbial tea was spilled. Cold tea for them. Scalding hot—burn your tongue cause ya drank it too fast—tea for me.
Here it was I was hearing so much SHIT (ALL THE SCANDALS! OK?) about him that all these people—people who loved chilling, and hanging out with me, who had the AUDACITY to call themselves my friends and smile up in my face!—knew whatever they knew for MONTHS (SHIIDD maybe even YEARS) and no one told me shit.
LOL Ain’t that some shit?
Anyway.
Needless to say that it was a very dark semester for me. Spiralling from shock. Confronting said ex-bae and still not getting any solid answers. (Sometimes ya just don’t need closure!) Not knowing whom to trust.
I cut a lot of people off that year! If you used to say Hello to that young man you were out!
Lol kidding… maybe…
ANYWAY!
The worst thing about it was that I saw myself turning into a person I did not like very much. There were months where everyday I would wake up in some combination of pissed off and sad. The light, care-free me from Spain was no where to be found. Which made me even more pissed off and sad because I was in a seriously good place before I went back to that Blackhole of a University.
But like a worker bee, I had to keep moving forward. Grad school applications were either in progress or submitted so at least I had that to look forward to right? I would be onto a new future soon right?…….RIGHT?!
Haha…
I was the type of person who always had a plan. Then a back-up plan. Then a back-up to the back-up. And as a last resort an emergency or exit strategy. So grad school was always the #1 plan for me after graduation.
LOL So funny.
EVERY. SINGLE. SCHOOL. Rejected me. Except 1 program at this amazing school, but that was my Safety Programme. But in those weeks I saw my top plan drifting off in the wind, taking what little sanity I had with it. *eye twitch*
So onto The Back-up Plan right? Right. Grad school wasn’t an option for this year. So that presented an opportunity for me to go out there and get some work experience. As an international student with an F-1 visa I could apply for OPT and work in America for a year. Ok. Cool. That was the new plan. Great.
Haha. I spent MONTHS applying for every job out there. Undergoing multiple job interviews over these months. Passing many rounds. But never got a single job offer. Haha what a time.
Thus, when graduation approached I was happy to be leaving the Sinking Ship that was my University days. Honestly I wanted to run away. If you spoke to me in those days I would tell you that changing my name and moving to a foreign country where no one knows you is a form of self-care. I stand by that.
But I needed to get away from EVERYONE and EVERYTHING that I knew. With going back home to The Bahamas as my emergency/exit strategy, I wasn’t too happy with that plan. I wasn’t done with the world, although the world was showing me that it was done with me.
But before graduation came an interesting opportunity to teach English for a year in China. China rang bells in my head because it was literally so far from everyone I knew. This was going to be my new fresh start. I would know nobody and nothing. Not even Chinese, because I studied Spanish and Italian for the last 4 years.
Thus, having The Discussion with my family led to many blank stares and confusion on their part. My mother would come to me every few hours just to make sure.
Mum: “China?! What in China you wan see?”
Me: “I just need to go far for a bit…”
Mum: “But China? What about Spain? You did like Spain!”
Me: “Not far enough.”
Brother: “What you tryna run away from? Come tell ya brother. Cause I need to understand!”
Me: “ *laughing tryna hold back tears* Gee y’all. I am a world traveller! Why I can’t go to China?”
Mum: “Cause it so far! Who you know over there? He (Ex-bae) hurt you that bad that you wan go that far?”
Me: “Yes! Gee! Let me just run away in peace! Y’all lucky ine dropping off the planet! China is happening ok??!”
Brother: “…well make sure they don’t steal ya passport please…”
This exact conversation happened literally almost everyday over the summer months.
But I would not be deterred! This was my chance to get back to myself; to find myself once again. Cause this new, unfamiliar Reese was not working for me. This was my fresh start.
As my brother would put it: “You tryna be on ya Eat, Pray, Love tip aye?”
Basically yeah.
So this is some background on how/why this blog was created. Or how/why I ended up in China.
This blog is going to be about my new travel/life experiences, as I go about trying to get back to Me.
So cheers to getting lost!
XOXO
Lil Reesey
P.S. Whoever put Obeah on my 2018 or whoever playing with my voodoo doll…Can ya ease up and let me live for a bit? Thanks!
#ReeseGotLost#LostInTranslation#ReeseGotTheJuice#WheresReese#Travel#Lifestyle#Mood#BigMood#ReeseBoughtACamera#ReeseGetsLost#BlackGirlInChina#BlackGrilMagic
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but like if Diana was suddenly Alive, how would she react to Luke and Tori's relationship, both pre-war and during it?
hey, thanks for being so patient with me on this!
i had to flesh Diana’s character out a little more so i could get inside her head and think of how she might respond to Tori’s relationship with Luke
so without further ado, hcs below!
so Diana is suddenly just…like Alive, prolly the year that Percy comes to camp, let’s say (which means that Luke has already stolen the lightning bolt and helm of darkness, but it’s like mid-january, just for timeline reference)
she wakes up in a hospital, the doctors say she came out of a coma but she’s pretty sure she died
she can’t remember where she was during the interim, and the doctors can’t recall how she ended up in the hospital or who was even paying for her to remain on life-support for so long
whenever she asks, they stutter a response before going completely silent and getting a glazed look in their eyes for a few moments only to come out of it, smile, and change the subject
she’s discharged from the hospital after a abt a week (idk if that’s even realistic lol) of monitoring and recovery
and as she’s getting dressed, a million thoughts race through her head abt if she still has a place to live, if she has a hospital bill that will kill her again, where her children are
and once that thought pops into her head, that���s all she can think abt
so even with all those other worries she finishes dressing and jumps off the bed, heading straight to the front counter to check out
but she pauses when she sees a familiar-looking man flirting with the nurse at the desk
she wants to confront him immediately, but doesn’t want to look crazed in front of the nurse so she shoves him out of the way, interrupting their flirting session
“i’m Diana Williams, checking out, is there anything i need to do? sign?”
the nurse is miffed and has enough dignity to look ashamed for ignoring Diana before grabbing a clipboard and pen for Diana to sign, explaining info abt bills and the like
Diana can barely hear, she scans the paper and signs before handing the clipboard and pen back to the nurse
she turns to face the man then
it’s Apollo if you haven’t figured it out yet
he’s abt her age, with brown skin and hazel eyes, short curly brown hair but she knows its him, she’d be able to tell from a mile away
he opens his mouth to say smth, but she grabs his arm and pulls him outside
“where are my children?”
flashing sideways to Tori, she’s at camp, totally oblivious to what’s just happened, as is Dan (still not claimed btw)
the next day they’re called to the big house before breakfast with no explanation
Diana is waiting with Chiron, in his wheelchair form, in the front room
Diana’s always been good at making friends, so she’s chatting with Chiron easily and honestly he’s more uncomfortable abt this whole situation than Diana
the doors swings open and Dan comes in first, quickly followed by Tori
they both pause when they see their mom and Diana stands, flattening the wrinkles in her dress and smiling nervously at her children
Dan rushes forward and pulls her into a hug, tears flooding his eyes
Tori is still frozen at the door, afraid this is some cruel dream or hallucination
when Dan is done hugging Diana, he pulls back, keeping one of her hands in his and turns to face Tori, who is still frozen at the door
Diana smiles softly and holds out her free hand, and like two magnets, Tori’s hand raises and she slowly approaches Diana
when their hands meet, Tori breaks down into tears and Diana rushes forward to throw her arms around her daughter as they both sink to the floor
it’s harder for Tori than it is for Dan, bc she was there when their mom died
Tori is afraid to let go of Diana’s hand or lose sight of her bc she’s so afraid Diana might just disappear, revealing that this was indeed some weird dream or hallucination
they settle into the front room of the big house and talk to Chiron abt this whole situation
he knows as much as Diana, which is not much and the gods sure as hell aren’t saying anything
when Chiron brings up the fact that they could just be summer campers, Tori hesitates and Diana notices
Dan looks away, annoyed but doesn’t say anything as Diana asks Tori what’s wrong
Tori blushes and looks away but doesn’t say anything
Chiron excuses himself and asks Dan to accompany him to whatever task he’s just made up. Dan goes reluctantly
Diana takes Tori’s hands into hers and says, “someone special?”
despite how much fear fills her that she’s going to blink and Diana’s going to disappear, it’s amazing how easy it is for Tori to fall back into this relationship with her mom
“his name is Luke.” Tori mumbles. “i don’t even know if he likes me back, but…well we’ve grown close you know over…well, over sh-shared pain”
Diana doesn’t meet him then bc everything is still settling, with her being Alive again and all
Diana reluctantly goes home, but promises to IM them that night and tomorrow (Apollo’s provided her with some drachmas)
Tori’s claimed that night bc Apollo got a stern talking to after Diana found out he hadn’t claimed her yet
but Tori sneaks over to the Hermes cabin that night to talk to Luke abt this whole ordeal
he’s not sure what to think, honestly, but some small part of him is afraid he’ll lose her now that her mom is back. and it’s stupid and irrational, but he can’t help but feel that way
but he lets Tori decide if she wants to go home until the summer (she ends up deciding to stay bc she knows smth is up with Luke)
Dan leaves for home
Diana IMs Tori any chance she can get thru those months leading up to summer
bc of his irrational fears of losing Tori, Luke confesses his love for Tori sooner, when summer begins (rather than right before he leaves for Kronos’ cruise ship)
so when Diana visits to drop Dan off for the summer session, Luke meets Diana
tbh, Diana’s shocked when she sees Tori holding hands with a white boy but she hides it behind a smile as Tori and Luke walk down half-blood hill, outside the barrier
Luke is nervous af but he also hides it behind a smile
Dan says goodbye to his mom before heading up the hill, not wanting to be there for the meeting
Diana and Luke shake hands
she looks at Tori and says, “oh, he’s quite handsome for a white boy”
Tori stares at her mom and Luke jumps like he’s been shocked before his entire neck and face go red
“oh, and he’s sensitive too, that’s good” (and she means it; i’m not trying to make it sound like some kind of jab to his masculinity or whatever)
when it’s revealed that Luke was the lightning thief and he goes off to kronos’ cruise ship, leaving Tori at camp, Tori goes home for that winter
of course she tells Diana everything and Diana just wants to tell her that he’s trouble and Tori shouldn’t be with him anymore
but Diana can also see how heart-broken she is and doesn’t want to make it worse
until Tori decides she’s going to go find him and convince him to come back to camp that next summer
“you can’t save those who don’t want to be saved”
“you don’t know that he doesn’t! i have to at least try! i owe him that much”
Diana can tell how much Tori loves Luke, and she’d hate to take such a thing away from her, but Diana’s scared that Luke is going to get Tori hurt, right after they got each other back
she wants to tell Tori that sometimes love is just like that
she loved Apollo, still does, but had to let him go bc he’s a god
they have a bit of a falling out right before Tori goes to find Luke bc of this
Diana tries IM-ing Tori while she’s on the cruise ship but they aren’t going thru and Diana starts to worry
she contacts camp but Tantalus and Mr. D are no help; the only thing she can do is talk to Dan
she feels utterly helpless so she starts praying to Apollo; she’s not sure what good it will do, but she does it anyway bc all she wants is for her children to be safe
Tori IMs Diana when she decides that she can’t stay on the ship, and that maybe Luke doesn’t want to be saved after all
she’s sobbing as she tells her mom this, and although Diana is relieved to hear that Tori’s coming back, she comforts her daughter and avoids any “i told you so’s”
but then Tori is stabbed by Kelli
Diana finds out bc Tori IMs her the night that Luke trades his life for Tori’s
when Diana learns this, the cold realization dawns on her that this isn’t some summer fling that she’s seen all her friends have before
it’s not even akin to what she and Apollo share
Tori and Luke’s love for each other goes far deeper and is the type of love that can’t be expressed with words
and when she realizes this, dread fills her entire body and she feels the most helpless since this whole ordeal began
Apollo’s told her abt loves like those in greek mythology; during their late-night talks when they were together
but she never imagined one of her own children would have found smth like that; it’s almost cruel bc greek myths rarely had happy endings and she’s afraid that smth may happen to her daughter
she can’t sleep for days afterward, IM-ing Tori as much as possible just to see her tho she doesn’t know what to say
Diana knows now that there’s no convincing her daughter to come back home or to give up on Luke
she continues to pray to Apollo
one day, tired of feeling helpless she IMs Luke and to her surprise he answers
she’s angry as soon as she sees him, but she doesn’t precisely know why bc he saved her daughter’s life–his love is strong for Tori and that should mean smth to Diana, but it only makes her angrier
tears fill her eyes as she spits out, “you swear on the styx you will protect my daughter, no matter what, do you understand? you are not to let any harm come to her”
and bc he loves Tori, Luke swears
she hates him after that point, but she loves her daughter more
and as long as Luke keeps his promise, then there isn’t much else Diana can do
Tori makes sure not to tell Diana any details abt what goes on as the war ramps up
some small part of Diana wonders how Tori could love someone such as Luke
but she also wonders if she could ever fall in love like that and with someone like Luke--can she really blame Tori?
Tori goes home after the summer that tbol takes place and Diana is there with open arms, esp bc Tori is devastated that she’s lost Luke
some part of Diana feels like its her fault bc she made Luke swear on the styx to protect Tori
but another part knows that Luke would have with or without her prompting; she’d done it bc it was the only thing she felt she could control at the time
Diana avoids talking abt Luke too much, just lets Tori vent as much as she needs
being home allows Tori a much-needed break, and Diana tries to encourage Tori to find the strength to keep fighting (heavily implying Tori needs to find the strength to move on from Luke)
Diana tries to stop Tori from going back to camp that next year bc a war is coming, but Tori feels she’s responsible for letting it get that far and Diana doesn’t argue despite being scared sick that Tori may die
she begins to pray to Apollo again bc both Tori and Dan feel obligated to help chb in some way during the war
when it’s all over and Luke dies, some part of Diana is relieved
but seeing how badly Tori takes it evokes that same anger toward Luke
Tori clearly deeply loved him but with him gone, he broke her heart and his promise
and Diana resents him for that
some small part of her wishes that Tori had never fallen in love with him in the first place
he was nothing but trouble
well, almost
bc it was clear that he made Tori happy
and Diana wishes nothing more than for her children to be happy
i hope that���s kind of what you were looking for
thanks for sending this in!! ^_^
FEED ME SEYMOUR
#wow capitalizing names in my post??? it's more likely than you think#oh god for shame! i do not even know your name#notesofananonymousnight#asked and answered#luke castellan#my oc: tori williams#my oc: diana williams#my oc: dan williams#my writing
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be my date
relationship: janis x fem!reader
summary: When in dire need, get Janis to be your girlfriend for any special event. But when she actually likes you, things may not go as planned.
prompt: “Alright, enough is enough. Who’s gonna bite the bullet and write either a friends w/ benefits AU or fake dating AU with a side of pining Janis? This is the fic that we not only need, but the fic that we DESERVE.”
word count: 1,890
author’s note: please bear with me, it’s gonna be slow but just go with it because janis is a softy and is worth the wait (also there’s a couple of lines that were really awkward to write so just y’know brush it off okay? plus it’s super late as i write this so if there are any errors pleASE don’t come for me/tell me nicely)
•••
When you started your senior year at North Shore High, you simply expected that you were gonna breeze through. You were going to focus on your studies and try to survive so you could go off to college. You didn’t expect to make friends but when a tall, chubby kid named Damian and a short, bubbly brunette named Cady walked up to you with open arms, you simply couldn’t resist. A couple friends could be good to keep you sane.
You began sitting with them at lunch and were introduced to the rest of the gang; there was Karen, a bubbly, airhead blonde; Gretchen, an insecure brunette who was seemingly attached to Regina, who seemed to be stuck up but she was nice enough that you brushed it off. Then there was Janis; Damian introduced her as his best friend, her hair was brown with bleach blonde ends and she was in a giant jacket covered in various patches.
From the moment you saw her, you were intrigued by her. There was just something about her; always paint splattered somewhere on her body, her punk-rock attitude, her soft, small smile. From then on, you knew you had to be friends with Janis. But it seemed that the girl had put walls up, blocking all of her feelings from the outside world. It was something that you hadn’t dealt with before but you were willing to try to break through that. You had to get to know her.
Around a quarter of your way through senior year, you came out to your friends and family as (your sexuality). Your parents smiled and brushed it off, claiming that they’ve always known. Your brother almost yelled at you through the phone for not telling him sooner. And the group took it with ease; Damian claimed that his gaydar went off the second he saw you, causing you to laugh. And Janis had a small smile directed at you and her cheeks were dusted a slight red and you couldn’t help but smile back.
Little did you know, Janis had a huge crush on you. Ever since that first day, she was immediately attracted to you. Her breath got caught in her throat when she first saw you smile, awestruck by how gorgeous you were. And as the two of you had been getting closer, hanging out outside of school and learning more and more about each other, her feelings continued to grow.
She was terrified at how much she liked you. Her heart hammered in her chest every time you laughed and simply hearing your voice could calm her. And she knew she had almost no chance with you, you were totally out of her league, and she originally thought you were as straight as a stick, so she was left to pine over you and drive herself crazy.
In a little over a month was your brother’s wedding, and your mother insisted that you brought your date with you. Your mother hadn’t realized that you weren’t dating anyone at the time, and you didn’t have many friends so your options were limited. But, you felt this could be the perfect opportunity to spend some more time with Janis without the rest of the group around. The next morning, you walked up to Janis before heading to your first class.
She was at her locker, grabbing a few books away before spinning around, faltering a bit after noticing you were there. She ran her free hand through her hair before speaking, “Hey, Y/N. What’s up?”
“I was hoping to ask you something, do you have a minute?”
“Yeah, uhm, go ahead.” Janis’s fingers were fidgeting with the hem of her jacket as she leaned back against the lockers.
“My mom insisted that I bring my girlfriend to my brother’s wedding, but y’know, seeing that I don’t actually have a girlfriend right now, I’m kind of in a knot. So if you’re free on the 5th of January, I was wondering if you could pretend to be my girlfriend and go with me? I mean if you don’t want to, it’s fine I’m just really desperate-” Janis interrupts you with a small laugh.
“Y/N, I’d love to. I’ve never been to a wedding before though, so you’re gonna need to help me out.”
Over the next month, you and Janis have been spending more and more time together in preparation for the wedding. The two of you would hang out in Janis’s garage as she painted, talking until the sun went down. She was hesitant to go to your house though because she knew that if she encountered your parents, she’d be introduced as your girlfriend. And knowing that it wasn’t real, it would cause her to shut down and block the world out for the rest of the day. And she didn’t want you to see her like that.
One day, the two of you went out shopping for the wedding and you took her hand as you walked down the hallway at the mall, causing Janis’s heart to drop to her stomach and a small smile to stretch across her face.
After that incident, Janis called Damian and could not stop rambling about how much she was falling for you.
“Damian, you don’t get it! I can’t be her fake girlfriend when I actually like her, it’s almost like she’s leading me on but I know it’s not real. I can’t even face going over her house because I won’t be able to face her introducing me to her parents as her girlfriend. Y/N doesn’t even know what she’s doing to me. Every time she so much as looks at me, I get butterflies. God, I can’t believe I just said that.”
“Janis, goddamn, chill out. Have you seen the way she looks at you? I swear, y’all are oblivious. Y/N likes you, Jan. Just give it time.”
“Whatever you say.”
Janis couldn’t fall asleep that night. Her mind couldn’t stop spinning, thinking that maybe you could like her the way she likes you.
Soon, the day of the wedding rolled around. Janis had to take almost the entire morning to prepare herself for the fact that she was your girlfriend for the day. She arrived at your house at around noon, knocking on the door, causing you to jump off the couch to run and greet her. Janis had straightened her hair, the blonde locks falling gently over her shoulder. She was in a floral tuxedo (which she had painted herself) with a matching bowtie, resting against white dress shirt. She had black dress pants and a nice pair of black boots. And you were awestruck.
You must’ve been staring because, after a moment, Janis let out a chuckle. “Y/N, are you just gonna stand there or are you gonna let me in?”
Embarrassed, you step back as your cheeks are painted a rosy red. You let out a small laugh before apologizing. “Sorry, you just- you look amazing.”
Janis’s face is clad with a smirk before speaking herself. “Why, thank you. You look gorgeous,” there’s a small pause, barely noticeable, but you catch it, “as always.”
You were in a light blue dress with spaghetti straps, the top cutting down in a V to just below your boobs where it then flows out, the skirt reaching your ankles, where a pair of silver sandals are barely visible. You smile at Janis before your parents appear out of the kitchen. You don’t notice that Janis becomes nervous and begins toying with her fingers. She smiles and shakes your parents’ hands as you introduce her as your girlfriend, but her eyes dim just a little bit, only wishing that this could be real.
The day brushes on with ease, the ceremony went somewhat quick, marrying off your brother and his new wife. And then the reception came along, the two of you at the front table with your family. While most of the conversation, surrounded the newlyweds, you two were asked quite a few questions (some about your relationship; you took the liberty of answering those, seeing as Janis was uncharacteristically anxious).
As the party progressed and people became more drunk and rowdy, you decided it would be the perfect time to slip away and get some peace and quiet for a bit. You nudge Janis as a dance song comes to an end and take her hand, leading her off the dance floor. “Do you wanna go somewhere a bit quieter?”
Janis simply nods before following behind you.
The wedding had taken place in a valley up against Lake Michigan, so you led Janis to the shoreline. You took your shoes off before running into the sand, finding a spot to sit and look over the lake, Janis following close behind. The two of you sat in silence for quite some time before you pipe up.
“Hey, Janis?” The brunette looks over at you, muttering a ‘hmm’ before you continue. “Why were you so anxious tonight?”
Janis looks down at her lap, hands playing with her tux. “It’s scary. Meeting my friend’s family for the first time and being introduced as her girlfriend when I’m not actually the girlfriend.”
“I’m sorry, I should’ve just told my mom that I didn’t actually have a girlf-”
“No, Y/N, it’s my fault honestly. I’ve known from the start that I was coming as your girlfriend and it’s my fault for going along with it. I like you, Y/N. As more than friends. And this whole time I’ve been dragging myself around, knowing that I’d end up disappointed and broken in the end but I knew it was making you happy so I kept playing along. And here we are now, the night coming to an end, and I’m going home empty-handed.”
A small, hesitant smile grows on your face, before scooting a bit closer to the other girl. “You like me?”
Janis doesn’t respond, scared that her voice will fail her if she tries, and hardly nods at your question. The silence washes over the area for only a moment before you speak again. “You could’ve told me, Janis.”
“I was too scared. I know, me and scared are an odd combination. But I’ve already been destroyed by close friends twice. I didn’t want to have to confront another heartbreak. It was easier to not tell you and have things be normal than tell you and have you shy away and things get awkward and-”
She was cut off by your lips on hers, your hand cupping her cheek as you pull her in closer. You pull away slowly, Janis looking back at you like a deer in headlights. You laugh, sitting back on your knees, a huge smile taking over your face. “Has anyone told you how oblivious you are? I like you too, silly.”
Janis simply sits up on her knees, comes over to you and wraps her arms around your waist before pulling you in. Your lips connect again, your arms falling around her shoulders. You stay that way for what seems like an eternity before breaking apart to breathe, both of you smiling like you’ve never been happier.
Janis cups your jaw in her hands, thumbs caressing your cheeks. “I really like you, Y/N.”
“I really like you, too, Janis.”
#i'm just absolutely in love with janis sarkisian#janis sarkisian#janis ian#janis x reader#janis sarkisian x reader#janis ian x reader#mean girls#mean girls broadway#mean girls bway#fanfic#fanfiction#mean girls fanfic#mean girls imagine
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New Post has been published on https://toldnews.com/technology/entertainment/watch-mary-j-blige-talks-new-music-and-playing-an-assassin-in-a-new-series/
WATCH: Mary J. Blige talks new music and playing an assassin in a new series
Transcript for Mary J. Blige talks new music and playing an assassin in a new series
Thank you guys for joining us. Our next guest, a music legend, nine-time grammy winner as well as Oscar nominated actress starring in the new networks series “The umbrella academy.” Please welcome the hip-hop of soul, Mary J. Blige. ??? I don’t wanna be like that ??? Hello. Hello. Good morning. You need me to roll you up? Happy belated birthday. Thank you. You are looking more than just fine, fine, fine, fine. Ooh. Thank you so much. How was the celebration? Oh, man, it was — I mean, it was the most fun I’ve had in a very long time. I only have like 16 girlfriends, real solid girlfriends. There we are, we had the time of our lives and my sister — They’re loving it. And my sister’s birthday was the following day so the celebration kept going so my birthday was January 11th. Hers is January 12th so it just kept going and Angie’s birthday was the 9th and neese’s birthday was the 6th. A family affair. Just kept going. Beautiful. Great. But you’re a nine time grammy winner. Women dominated — Yeah, women dominated the grammys this past weekend especially after a lot of criticism about not enough being represented. Are things getting better in your opinion. Yes, I think there’s a movement, there’s something happening where we’re banding together and lifting each other up and women are helping each other to do better because it’s a very male dominated business, all of them. So we’ve learned if we lift each other up and not tear each other down with unity we can make this thing better and that’s what I’m seeing. Can we expect a new album soon. I’m working on two of them. Really? Two of them. Tell us more. I really can’t tell you more but it’s great. My fans are going to be super happy. It reflects my life, you know, reflects all of our lives as women that are like bosses and, you know, know they can say they are bosses right now. They’ve earned the right to do that? And you have. I tell you what, when those come out, we know a show that you’re on right now that would love to have you come back and sing. We’re hear waiting for you. I’ll be back. Yes, you will. Yes. It’s Thursday. So we’re going to do a little throwback Thursday. I can’t believe, 25 years ago you released “My life” and your album and I was telling robin, I said it is my favorite album of all time. Wow. That’s saying something. He loves music. Top to bottom. Thank you. What would you tell — your breakout album, a lot of people thought but what would you tell your younger self, what you know. Wow, I will say please stop being afraid of who you are because I was very afraid of who I was. That was too much for me. You know and now you’re branching out and doing all these different things and acting, the “The umbrella academy.” Y’all, she plays a time traveling assassin named cha-cha, okay. Yeah, yeah. You love being able to — When I saw the script and saw who cha-cha was, she knew hand-to-hand combat and the script was amazing anyway but just the fact that I get to fight like — I get to learn mar that will arts, I was like, yes! And I get to learn how to shoot guns so I know how to shoot a Glock and Smith & Wesson, desert eagle, a sawed off. You want to see cha-cha in action? Yes. Let’s do it. Maybe if you carried it once in a while we wouldn’t have this problem to begin with. My physical therapist isn’t even covered by insurance. This is you suffering in silence? Can we not do this now. Fine. We need to get back to the family compound and find that junkie. We barely got out alive. I will do digging on the family while you look for that junkie. Let’s get our briefcase. Fine. And being that your character is an assassin and kicks butt how much training did you have to do? About five months, we were in Toronto for five months, so every day from the first day that I landed I was amped to go train for martial arts so every day we had to train for martial arts and train for fights and train to ago and fight so it was a lot of acting and fighting? Oh, wow. All that stuff is like acting, fighting, the stuff you see people do so I mean, yeah, it was a lot of that. I already knew how to shoot guns before I got there because, well, my girlfriend Tasha, she took me to the shooting range and so I had already learned how to shoot an mp-40 which is the gun cha-cha was supposed to use and I learned everything else but the fighting — Five months’ work, that’s a lot of work. You kept it going. We watch you on Instagram. You and Gabrielle union. Yeah, we go to the same gym called heart and hustle in L.A. — Look. That’s no joke. Eah, they’re so beautiful. Yeah. How often do you work out together. I see them every now and then because sometimes Gabrielle will have a 6:00 appointment and I’ll have an 8:00 appointment and Tracee will be — it’s just nice to see them because they’re so beautiful and positive and we lift each other up in the gym, you know. I love the attitude in the picture, too. You don’t want to mess with us and you know what, Mary J., thanks for being here. Congrats. The “Umbrella academy,” make sure you check it out.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
#bollywood movie#celebrity gossip#celebrity news#entertainment news#hollywood movies#movie reviews#music concerts
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New Year, New Changes
Happy New Year, Wild Things! Honestly, truly, the new year always seems so inspiring. I hate to admit it, but I certainly find myself buying into the hype sometimes. Especially this year, 2017! I have finally graduated college. Yes! After years of this blog and probably a post every three to four months about how school was awful, I finally graduated. It did feel impossible, but now that I’m out I feel like I need a break to refurbish my mental health, so stay tuned to that. Hopefully this means I have more time to write. While I have been working on my own personal writings, I hope to bring more to The Wilde. I have interest in trying new formats; bear with me Wild Things!
My first post of the new year I’m bringing discussion topics! I’ve found that maybe I don’t write as much because I don’t particularly like to make a whole post over a small thing that managed to piss me off. Or, the topic is just so irritating and I can’t bring myself to dedicate a whole post to it. What I’ll be doing is nothing innovative, I’m just at a point where it feels crucial to continue to put my writing out there. Thank you and I hope 2017 works out for us!
TRUMP AND RUSSIA: Look, I didn’t vote for Trump. He’s awful and a wide majority of his supporters are racists, sexists, homophobes, xenophobes, etc. Make America Great Again, is a joke y’all. So anyways, I guess Russia may or may not have tampered in the 2016 election. Yes, I was voting for Hillary. I’d still vote for Hillary, but the election is over. She lost, that’s that. If Russia did hack our election…well what the fuck? What concerns me is that Russia even has the desire to do that, but you wanna know why? BECAUSE PRESIDENT ELECT DONALD TRUMP THINKS RUSSIA WILL BE AN ALLY TO HIS PRESIDENCY. WHEN HAS RUSSIA BEEN NICE TO ANYONE? Putin, y’all. Trump may be president and our previous presidents may have been in corrupt political situations, but you don’t trust the new doctor because they just got their medical degree today.
CAREFREE BLACK GIRL: The other day I was thinking of the title, “carefree black girl”, this in my opinion does deserve a whole post, but I know I have posted something similar. I may actual even still follow-up with a post sooner or later. What I mostly want to talk about is what being a carefree black girl means. I don’t speak for everyone, but in my experiences, a carefree black girl is one who is proud of who she is, specifically when it comes to black features that have been repeatedly used against us. In high school I was happy to be light-skinned, not because I knew that the black race comes in all shades, but because being a light-skinned where I came from was better than being darker. According to them and nearly every person comfortable enough, or stupid enough to tell me, “You don’t even really look black.” Now I know that all of the black history I have learned, all the women and girls I’ve seen just be beautiful in exactly who they are of the black race, is strength in whom we’ve become in spite of all that was done to us, and to be frank all of what still remains. I have started to move into the steps of being a carefree black girl.
PASSENGERS: Listen, I didn’t go see that new movie Passengers with Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence. I actually asked my friend for the synopsis, on account that I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted to see it. After hearing about the movie I’m glad I didn’t see it, but I will be sure to snatch it when it comes to Redbox. I mean basically Pratt’s character wakes up Lawrence’s character from their weird like comas as they travel to a world that is years away. I had to keep wrapping my head around that Pratt didn’t know Lawrence, he chose her, a complete stranger. The concept of the movie is amazing! Honestly! Traveling to another planet that is basically in the future. How much? And can I have a loan? It’s kind of awesome. But you know what is not awesome? Waking up a complete stranger who had some pretty amazing goals, I hear, all because Pratt’s character was lonely. No offense, but if that ain’t the most sexist shit! Hollywood and movies have this weird thing where women sacrifice their lives for a man and love. Look, those are two great things, but why do we keeping making women, whom were once young girls, think they can’t have their lives and love. Lawrence forgives Pratt or whatever, they live old together, of course. But she had an amazing plan, y’all, but a stranger messed it up and they fell in love. I know it’s a movie, as a writer I know sometimes you need a good storyline. Sadly it’s usually at the expense of women, or the men become martyrs. Bye. There was never any common ground in this situation where it made it fair for Pratt to disrupt Lawrence’s life. Hmm, it’s like women can’t be equal to men.
NEW YEAR, NEW ME: Okay, okay, it’s the new year and I made new year resolutions. I usually don’t do that. I usually hate when people post their resolutions. By February 2nd, no one cares. I say the 2nd because February 1st is Harry Styles’ birthday, so just be respectful and don’t be an asshole that day. But yea, new year, new me, just stop. I don’t know where people come off recreating themselves every January 1st and then remaining the same person. I don’t know Scoob, maybe you should just say new changes. New year, new changes. That’s what I have planned to do at least. I feel as though my slate is clean since I’ve graduated. This will be the first time since ever that I will be not be attending school. Very grateful, but it’s so weird. As corny as this sounds, I feel somewhat free because I can finally work on writing, read a book I actually want to read, garden! I hope I work at coffee shop honestly, and maybe just maybe I can go on some of those small adventures I so yearn to go on. Maybe this year I will realize that Ellis Grey was right, “The carousel never stops turning.” To me this means that no matter what I should keep going, at this point my journey is about me, as is yours maybe.
Welp, that’s its for now! I hope to be back soon! I’m wishing you all a very good new year. Here’s to maybe not being destroyed by Trump’s presidency. Love you! Bye!
Wildy Yours,
Brie
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○○ eyez | three
JFK Airport was bustling with individuals—it seemed that people were hurriedly trying to get across the country for Christmas. Considering that it was the early morning, the most traffic was coming and going from the airport. This Christmas Eve was no forgiving foe at all, but Beija was determined to make it home no matter what.
Beija had been on a schedule—she had spent the last three days preparing for her Christmas trip back home in Houston. She had fedexed her gifts to her parents and siblings already, and she had gotten her house supremely cleaned and prepared for her absence. All that had remained was getting to the airport so she could get home. She left her house five hours prior to her flight, enduring traffic, harsh winter weather, and a tedious security process. She was so close now—all she had to do was get to a arrival and departure directory to see if she was on schedule.
Her heart sank when she saw the ‘CANCELLED’ on her flight. She knew that the weather had been bad but apparently it was too bad to fly. A couple of other flights had been terminated as well, much to the dismay of many other passing passengers.
As she headed back towards the baggage claim to get her luggage back, she pulled out her phone to call her parents. Dialing the number to the house, she pressed her phone to her ear before she kept her eyes on the luggage that fell from the chute and onto the revolving conveyor belt. “Hello?” She heard a deep voice—it was her younger brother Terrence.
“T, it’s B—where’s mama?” Seeing her pastel orange rolling bag fall onto the conveyor belt, and she grabbed it off of the line before she walked back towards the entrance.
“She in the kitchen, hold on,” He yelled for their mother, and she sighed as she headed outside into the cold weather again. She flagged down a cab and watched it pull up to the curb before she began to help the cabby load up the car.
“Hey Beija,” She heard her mother’s voice, and she bit at her bottom lip as she entered the cab. “Waiting at the gate still?” She asked.
“Flight got cancelled,” B sighed softly. “I’m sorry, mama,” She said with a small frown.
“Really? Weather must be that bad up there. Well, I’ll tell Raymond and the boys—I wish you could have come baby,” Her mother said with a matching disappointment in her tone.
“Me too. But I guess there’s nothing I can do. I’ll at least Skype you and the family tomorrow,” Beija promised.
“That will be fine. At least we’ll see your face. But how is everything? School okay?”
Beija paused briefly to tell the cab driver the way towards her apartment building before she answered. “Well, school has been fine. My grades just came in and I got all A’s,” She said.
“Ah, good! I know that some of those classes were hard, so I’m proud of you,” Her mother beamed. “And how is the label? Is everyone being nice to you?” She asked.
“You acting like it’s kindergarten,” Beija laughed softly. “But yeah, everyone is pretty cool. They act like my brothers, so you can imagine how that’s been going,” The women laughed. “But I’m getting to live my dream. Next semester I’m going to do online classes because Ib wants to take me on tour as a part of my internship,” She said.
“Tour? Like around the country? That’s amazing! So you’ll get to see more sights and meet more people...as long as you—...”
“Balance my priorities, I know,” Beija let out a soft laugh before she sat back against the leather seating of the car. “But trust me, I’m gonna walk across that stage with my masters and a whole job offer. The world ain’t ready for me,” She smiled.
“That’s my baby!” Her mother chuckled. “So have you met anyone up there? Any men we need to know about?” She asked.
“Mom,” Beija whined softly.
“Sorry, sorry. I can’t help it, though! I just want a grandbaby soon enough,” Her mom chuckled softly.
“You’ve got three other siblings and at least two of them are old enough to financially support a child—go bother them,” Beija’s cab slowed to a stop when she reached her building, and she sighed as she sat up in her seat. “I just got home, so I will call you tomorrow, okay?”
“Alright. I love you and Merry Christmas,” Her mom’s voice seemed to hold some warmth, but there was a layer of sadness that could be felt. Beija could barely blame her—she was sad herself that she would be stuck alone for Christmas.
“Love you too, Merry Christmas,” Beija hung up the phone before she blew out a wad of air, getting out of her car before she was helped with her bags. Once she had everything, she headed up into her building before she made the trip to her floor. Once she made it off the elevator she made her way down the hallway before she sat down her bags and began to unlock the door.
As she fiddled with her keys, she heard the door behind her open, and she looked back to see Omari walking out of his apartment, his messenger bag slung against his left shoulder. “Hey there, Miss Beija,” He greeted.
“Omari; how are you?” She gave him a soft smile as he nodded, turning to lock his door.
“Good, good—can’t complain. Finna go on trip for the Holidays?” He asked.
“I wish I could say yeah. My flight actually just got cancelled so I’m about to prepare for a lonely ass Christmas,” She tried to joke so she wouldn’t show how upset she was about it.
“Damn, that’s rough. I can’t say I can’t relate. Money too low to head back down to Shreveport,” He sympathized.
“That’s where that accent’s from! I couldn’t put a finger on the shit at all,” Beija let out a small laugh and Omari wasn’t too far behind her with a laugh of his own.
“And you gotta be from the south too. I hear it—let me guess...” Beija finally got the door open, and he came forward to help her with her bags. “I wanna say Texas. Dallas?” He asked.
“Houston. You were close,” She nodded as she got all of her bags inside of her house. “You still tryna get inside my house,” She teased, and Omari shook his head as the two of them chuckled.
“Oh, never. I’m still working at your pace. But what I will do is invite you to mine. Tomorrow I’m having a Christmas party...well, it’s more of a kickback,” He explained. “Just some friends from my job are coming through and now that I know your situation, I’d feel bad if I didn’t invite you and left you alone on Christmas day,” Omari gave her a warm smile, and for some reason that made Beija feel a slight pang in the pit of her stomach. She was annoyed now—she was too old for ‘butterflies’ and all that junk.
“I don’t wanna impose on your party,” She insisted, and he sucked his teeth softly.
“Stop that, ma. I want you there. Just...think about it, alright?” Omari nodded slowly before he stepped away from her door and headed down the hallway towards the elevator.
Beija shut and locked the door behind her, sighing as she placed her hands upon her hips. Glancing up at the ceiling, she rolled her eyes as she huffed. “Seriously?” She mumbled to herself before she went to unpack her things.
After she put all of her things away, she decided to go down to the grocery store—she figured if she was going to be home for Christmas, she might as well prepare to make a small meal for herself. After she returned from the store and put her groceries away, she heard her phone ringing from in the living room. She returned and grabbed her phone, seeing the contact name—‘Jermaine.’
She had to wonder what he was calling her for, but it didn’t stop her from picking up the phone. “Hey,” She said softly as she finally took a rest on the couch, looking at her Christmas tree that was neatly trimmed and tucked in the corner of her living space.
“Hey. I just called to wish you Merry Christmas—did you make it home yet? Ib said you were flying out,” He explained his reason for calling and she slipped off her shoes before she laid leisurely across her couch.
“Flight was cancelled, so I’m spending Christmas in New York,” She replied.
“I’m sorry about that. I can tell you wanted to go,” Beija wasn’t sure if it was obvious in her voice, but he seemed to pick up on her disappointment.
“It’s cool. You back in Fayetteville or nah?” She reached for the television and turned it on, turning the volume down so that it didn’t drown out his voice.
“We just got here, actually,” When he mentioned a ‘we,’ Beija almost asked who his travel companion was until she mentally reminded herself that he had a wife. She knew her name was Melissa, and she seen a couple pictures and that was about it. “Somebody almost killed us driving like a madman, but we good—ow,” He hissed, and Beija let out a laugh.
“Look at you pissing the wife off. You better chill,” She smiled to herself.
“Yeah, whatever,” He chuckled lowly. “But I almost forgot—we gonna have a little kickback at my spot for my birthday in January. This is your formal invitation and shit,” He said.
“Cool, sounds dope. What’s the dress code?” She asked. There was a stint of silence over the line.
“...Dress code?” He mumbled. “I mean, wear what you wanna wear. Be comfortable,” He said.
“That’s not the answer I want. Lord, I forget you trying to rock your bum couture nowadays,” Beija scolded.
“Oh, you got jokes,” Jermaine let out a deep laughter, and Beija anxiously shifted into the couch at the gained bass in his tone. “But why you tryna dress up and outdo me? Who you tryna impress?” He asked in a teasing tone.
“Nigga, don’t even sniff yourself too hard. I just like to dress nice,” She explained.
“Whatever you wanna wear, wear it, a’ight? I won’t even bring up that you trying to look nice for Dame. Wait...” He sarcastically trailed off.
“Oh, fuck you!” The two began to laugh. “Y’all gotta let that go. Dame’s like my brother, ain’t no pulling with that. Plus, I’m focused on school,” She explained.
“That’s good, though. All jokes aside, stay focused—you gonna feel proud when you walk across that stage,” Beija found herself smiling a bit at his kind words. It reminded her of her family and the things they would say, and it held the same kind of sincerity and warmth. “What level you on now? Goin’ for bachelors?”
“Masters,” She heard Jermaine let out a low whistle. “Exactly. Trying to overachieve are one of my many talents,” Beija joked.
“When you graduating?” He asked.
“May. Finally,” She let out a small sigh. “It’s been crazy trying to balance you guys and school but I’ve made it this far.”
“Shit, you doin’ the damn thing, ma. I commend you, real talk,” Beija found herself smiling even more, crossing her legs as she laid across the couch.
“Aw, thank you. Really—it feels good to know that somebody appreciating all my hard work!” She laughed. “But quiet as it is kept, you’ve been a help even before we met,” She admitted.
“I was?” Jermaine sounded confused.
“Yeah! Those all-nighters when I had to study, I had your music on. And then when I found out you had a degree yourself it really made me push harder. You inspire me,” Beija didn’t notice how small her voice had gotten, and it was best not to acknowledge it within.
“Damn. I ain’t even all that,” He laughed to lighten the moment before it teetered. “But I appreciate you sayin’ that, for real. Just know when you graduate we finna show out. I’mma be there loud as fuck, acting up. Then we goin’ out to eat like some rich white folk,” He said.
“Shut up,” Beija giggled as she shook her head.
“I’m serious though! You a part of the family now. Ain’t no way we missing you graduate,” She could hear the sincerity and the warmth in his voice again and it made her feel comforted.
“Don’t make me all emotional. But I look forward to that,” She nodded as if she could see, and the two fell into a comfortable silence.
“But let me stop bothering you, I’m about to get this shit up in the house anyway now that we’ve arrived,” He explained. “Aye, one more thing though...promise me somethin’?” He began.
“Hm?”
“Whenever you need somethin’ or just wanna talk—don’t hesitate to find me. You got my cell, make use of it,” He said, and she raised her eyebrows slowly. “And I could say that really goes for anyone else in the label. I want you to feel welcome with us,” His voice grew serious.
“Oh, yeah. Okay...I can promise you that,” Beija said. “Have a good holiday, Jermaine,” She finished.
“You too,” The two hung up, and Beija sat her phone on the table before she laid back down against the couch, staring at the ceiling before she took a deep breath. She probably should have been a bit alarmed at the man’s want for her to reach out to him, but she couldn’t find the harm in it. He seemed to have no ulterior motive, and that was a surprise in her eyes. Nonetheless, she was glad that the assumptions that she had about Jermaine upon meeting were true—he was a genuine person at heart, and it would be something that would stick with her.
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