oh WGAT?? its my dads birthday?? whoops

Some of my own Danganronpa non-despair AU headcanons/imagines this time! (THH edition)

I was inspired, so I decided why not write down some headcanons/imagines/character adjustments for my Danganronpa non-despair AU! I’m gonna be doing this as a series, starting with the THH characters, then the SDR2 characters, then the V3 characters (although I will mention characters from other games in my headcanons). Enjoy!

Makoto Naegi | 苗木誠

He’d definitely lend a listening ear to whoever wanted to vent to him.

When he first comes to Hope’s Peak, he’s such a fanboy over everyone

He has an inferiority complex and self worth issues because he’s surrounded by insanely talented students, but Sayaka and Kyoko quickly help him get over that

He’s pretty good at keyboard, and plays alongside Sayaka a lot

He actually got noticed by Kaede, who offered to teach him, which obviously he was ecstatic about

He’s the only one in Class 78th, and possibly all of Hope’s Peak, who is neurotypical

Sayaka Maizono | 舞園さやか

Her and Makoto are basically best friends

She’s still a total cinnamon roll, but she loves to play little pranks on the rest of Class 78th and have a good laugh over it

She, Ibuki, Leon and Kaede tried to form a music group together but they fell apart really quickly due to their different styles

She has a huge crush on Makoto, but she’s afraid to admit it

Leon Kuwata | 桑田怜恩

He’s almost always the only one in class, just so he can avoid playing baseball

Ibuki taught him guitar and he’s been playing nonstop ever since

He *tries* to get along with Sayaka, but prefers hanging out with Ibuki since they almost always end up playing together

Everyone in Class 78 calls him the Ultimate Guitarist because... reasons

Toko Fukawa | 腐川冬子

She doesn’t have the weird thing for Byakuya in this au

She doesn’t slut shame the girls either

She’s still really shy tho

She initially dislikes Hifumi for writing fanfic, but they eventually bond over their mutual love for writing

She’s also close with Tsumugi, and the two of them collaborated to write a book that was loosely based on Tsumugi’s favorite anime

Genocider Syo is friends with Sonia, but she’s a bit put off by Sonia’s obsession with her and other serial killers

Kiyotaka Ishimaru | 石丸清多夏

Initially, the rest of the class shys away from him because he has a stick up his ass about the rules, but Mondo and Chihiro quickly befriend him

After a while, he loosens up a bit, but he never stops being the Ultimate Moral Compass

He tries to bond with the class by telling jokes, but he’s always super awkward with it and is usually unsuccessful

He’s SUPER gullible — he’ll believe anything anyone tells him, and you better believe Class 78 uses that to their advantage

Once, he dyed his hair white on a dare, and ended up liking it and kept it that way

He also tries to do impressions of his classmates (mostly Mondo) but, again, is painfully bad at it

Everyone actually finds these funny tho

Mondo Oowada | 大和田紋土

He, surprisingly, likes to play card games, which everyone was shocked to find out

Except Celeste, who is fascinated by his interest

He’s very protective of his friends, and will do anything for them

Especially Taka and Chihiro, his two best friends

He’s an amazing hairstylist, and secretly loves to play with and style people’s hair

Everyone in all of Hope’s peak knows to go to him for hair care tips and tricks

He also taught Chihiro how to ride a motorcycle the two of them rode around together a lot, until Taka ratted them out

He still hasn’t forgiven Taka for that

Chihiro Fujisaki | 不二咲千尋

In this au, he’s a bit more open about his gender, but still has loads of insecurities

At first, he’s completely in the closet, but after rumors spread online about him being a boy, he decides to live as himself and goes to Mondo for help

Mondo became his first real friend to him because of this, and him (and eventually Sakura too) helped him become strong

Eventually, he became an honorary member of Mondo’s gang and would often hang out with them in his free time

His hidden talent is being a voice actor, but he’s super embarrassed to talk about it since he’s the Ultimate Programmer

His first voice role was in a video game he developed himself, which led some talent scouts to notice him

He eventually voiced in several anime and video games, some of which he also helped develop

He’s almost as passionate about acting as he is about programming, but the only people he feels comfortable talking about it to are Hifumi and Tsumugi, who both become huge fans of his, and Mondo and Taka

When he found out Junko had created Monokuma, he was fascinated and offered to help her with ironing out all his kinks

He, Chiaki, Mukuro and Miu also created the Exisals in this au, for the sole reason of fooling around

Although, Chihiro himself was a bit intimidated by his creation at first, but after Tsumugi and Junko pressured him to try one out for himself, he fell in love

Yasuhiro Hagakure | 葉隠康比呂

He’s less of a dumbass in this AU, although he still has a tendency to get himself in sticky situations

Celeste and Hifumi played a prank on him by getting him to dress up in the Robo Justice suit and go around scaring people, but it backfired after Hiro fell down the stairs and broke his leg

Being the only one in the class who can, he often buys wine for Celeste and Mondo (and whoever asks, but only those two ever do)

He and Mondo use the same hair gel, so sometimes he’d take Mondo’s without knowing, which would lead to some awkward misunderstandings

Interestingly, he once predicted the world would end and they’d all end up dead, but that never ended up happening

That’s where the “30% accurate” thing came from— before that he was almost always right

He constantly makes jokes about being an old man (even though he’s only in his early twenties)

Hifumi Yamada | 山田一二三

He’s no longer solely attracted to anime characters, but he still loves them very much

He’s also nicer in this au

He’s besties with Tsumugi, and they bond over their love of anime and fiction

He’s also a huge fan of Chihiro’s, after he found out Chihiro was on the development team for his favorite game AND voiced two of his favorite anime characters

Low key has a crush on Celeste

Angie constantly makes jokes about how his first name is just “one two three” in Japanese

Whenever he’s watching an anime Chihiro was in, he’ll hound him with questions about what it was like recording, which Chihiro doesn’t mind because he doesn’t get to talk about his voice work a lot

Someday he wants to write and direct his own anime, and Tsumugi and Toko give him a lot of writing tips

He formed a LARP group with Gundham, Tsumugi, Chihiro, Junko, and Kaito

Celestia Ludenberg

She doesn’t treat Hifumi like a servant in this AU, but she’s still mean af and has a superiority complex

She eventually revealed her true identity to the class after she got inspired by Chihiro, but it didn’t change anything with her classmates

Except Hiro, who constantly made jokes about them having the same name, much to Celeste’s annoyance

She occasionally brings Grand Bois Chéri Ludenberg to school with her, but she doesn’t let anyone except Hifumi, Sonia and Gundham pet him

She high-key has a crush on Sonia

She doesn’t actually know how to do her own hair, so she has to get Mondo to do it for her

Sakura Oogami | 大神さくら

She and Tenko become friends SO QUICKLY because of their shared passion for martial arts

She’s still friends with Aoi tho

The three of them hang out together a lot

She and Tenko developed a new form of martial arts combining Neo-Aikido and Sakura’s own style, which they named the Oogami Method

Junko bullied her because of her ripped uniform, but after she explained that nothing would fit her, Junko offered to have one made for her

Kyoko Kirigiri | 霧切響子

She and Shuichi are very close, obviously

She gives Shuichi a lot of pointers on improving his investigative skills, and they work together often to solve cases

She and Makoto still become close, but their friendship is overshadowed by her and Shuichi’s

She notices this after a while, and makes a concerted effort to spend more time with Makoto

She’s less distant in this AU, but she still tries not to show her emotions

Her hair is naturally black in this AU, she dyed it purple after she lost a bet (with Celeste)

Aoi Asahina | 朝日奈葵

In this AU, she doesn’t just love donuts, but she loves all sweets

She was a fan of Junko’s before coming to Hope’s Peak, and the two of them became friends quickly

She and Akane are also close, and everyone jokes that they’re sisters, though in reality they aren’t

She once got recruited by Kaito to be in a play his class was putting on, but she’s such a terrible actor that they gave her part to Junko

She once walked in on Junko and Mukuro testing out Monokuma for the first time, and they were super freaked out, but Aoi was fascinated and wanted to try controlling him

Mukuro was against it, but Junko was cool with it, so she got to in the end

Byakuya Togami | 十神白夜

He and Makoto are both obsessed with true crime, and the two of them actually become friends because of that

They both love digging into Hope’s Peak’s files and his family’s files to find mysteries they could try and solve

Sonia joins them a lot too

He unofficially became the class’s French teacher after they found out he was fluent

He’s nicer in this au, and he’s kind of the dad of the class

When the Imposter was impersonating him, the two of them got into a little mini-war over who was the superior Togami (Twogami surprisingly won that war, albeit barely)

Mukuro Ikusaba | 戦刃むくろ

She’s away from Hope’s Peak A LOT, usually doing soldier things

When she is at Hope’s Peak, she spends most of her time either developing new weapons or looking after Junko

She’s usually the one who has to clean up after Junko’s shenanigans, even though she partakes in them herself

She helps Junko with a lot of her projects, but usually she ends up working on her own things while Junko does her thing

Despite this, she loves working with her sister when she gets the chance

Her proudest achievement is the Exisals, even though she collaborated with Chihiro, Chiaki and Miu to create them

Junko Enoshima | 江ノ島盾子

While she’s obviously not Ultimate Despair in this au, she’s still very chaotic and loves causing shenanigans and playing (mostly) harmless pranks

She’s friends with Sayaka and Kokichi because of this (both she and Sayaka are members of D.I.C.E. too)

She still puts on different personas, but she does it as a joke

She’s actually a very good actress, and she loves to act, but just like Chihiro, that gets overshadowed by her Ultimate talent

She loves to build and create things, just like her sister, which is why she created Monokuma

She uses Monokuma for her pranks a lot

Sometimes she goes through severe depressive episodes where she doesn’t have the energy to leave her home, but she usually uses Monokuma as a sort of telepresence unit so she can still talk to her friends

At first, no one knew that Monokuma was her, but Aoi ended up spilling the beans

She also learned animation from Ryota, and wants to make an anime starring her, Kaito, Tsumugi, Chihiro, Mukuro and Hajime

She loves to share her projects with her friends, and often lets other people control Monokuma or model for her

She gets hurt a LOT, and usually Mikan has to care for her

Her proudest achievement is replacing the Exisals’ weapons with water guns (even though Mukuro did most of the work)

They actually decided to leave them like that afterwards, since the Exisals were only ever used by her friends to mess around in

She suffers from PTSD, and part of that is recurring nightmares that the world ended and all her friends were forced to kill each other

Is This Love?

- It had to be that fateful day that you two stumbled into his spree. The day that would mentally fuck with you forever. - Spree AU

♫ - The thinking you’re the better man The danger I don't I understand

Word Count: 3K

Warnings: Blood, language, some attraction to a serial murderer, standard final girl

pic credit: @pinkresources​

You don’t know where everything went wrong. Things just went downhill so fast that you barely had a chance to even blink.

Yet here you were, covered in who you thought was your best friend’s blood, a giddy Kurt, and a million people watching.

This couldn’t be the same sweet unassuming guy you’d met before, right?

Everything about him was off now. His tone, his style, his demeanor. Maybe you chose not to see the undertones of insanity to him. Because you were just as alone as he was in the end. 

Looking back now, he was definitely stalking his prey. Whether that was you or her, whoever gave him the most leverage and made him a household name. A name to either be feared or admired.

It had to be that fateful day that you two stumbled into his spree. The day that would mentally fuck with you forever. 

It was supposed to be a normal day, just get your friend, in and out of some of her busiest and various interviews. You were her assistant, even if she tried to coin it some other term or just called you her friend, plain and simple.

Your pairing made you feel somewhat self conscious. Here she was, pretty, leggy, adored by fans online, the facade she had constructed for herself when in reality she was just manipulative and vindictive. This definitely wasn’t the crowd you wanted to work with, alas here you were.

“Remind me what we’re doing.” She said, eyes still completely glued to the phone. 

“Variety wanted that challenge video with you.” 

“Perfect, now,’ she took her eyes off of the screen and paused her typing. “Where’s the car?” 

“What car?” 

She rolled her eyes, “Those shitheads didn’t get me a car? How do they expect us to get there, walking?” 

Sometimes you wondered how she made it this far. Probably because everyone wanted to be used by her.

“Relax, I’ll just order a ride again.” You whipped out your phone, picking a red app out of the hundreds of others that caught your eye.

“Relax? Do you know how hard it is for me? I could be in the Maldives by now but no you told me to do this stupid interview because you’re poor.”

The insult didn’t exactly sting you as much as it would’ve a year ago. As a media graduate you thought you’d be working within the big leagues, not with a prissy and bitchy vlogger who wanted everything at the drop of a hat. 

Plus this interview came with some big bucks and if you could manage to nail this without fail, you could quit the very next day.

“Sorry, look, it’s just today and then tomorrow you can go out and do whatever you want.”

She whines, eyes back onto her phone and tweeting about her hardships. While the princess waited you kept an eye on passing cars, anything that would match the one on your screen. 

A car pulls up in front of you both, the windows of the passenger seat rolling down to greet you.

“Kurt, right?” 

He nods with a smirk, definitely inviting you in but also reminding you of someone. You make your way to the backseat, but are pushed aside as your friend takes her place in the middle of the row. You laugh nervously, glancing at Kurt as you take the passenger seat. 

“What’s with all these cameras? Are you like in a reality show?” Your friend blurts out, prompting Kurt to glance at her.

“It’s just for safety. Wait are you - oh my god you are!” Kurt gushes, making the connection of the celebrity in his backseat. 

Your friend flashes her pearly whites at Kurt, loving to be the center of attention. 

“No way. Bobby is not gonna believe this.” He beams.

You can feel it’s almost time to dissociate in order to get through this ride. 

Kurt turns his phone over to the right, capturing your friend’s image a little better. The comments pop one after the other at rapid speed. You can’t read it but you can tell by Kurt’s face whoever is commenting is in disbelief. 

“My friend Bobby is obsessed with you, he always says he would make a sex tape with you.” 

You cringe at the thought and at the sudden robot voice erupting from Kurt’s phone exclaiming that Julia take her top off. It doesn’t seem to faze her though, she lives for it.

“Hey has anyone told you, you look exactly like that guy from Stranger Things?” Julia laughs, You’re unsure if it’s supposed to be a jab or an actual compliment for Kurt.

Kurt’s smile drops, it’s something he got a lot as a tease from Bobby. How he looked like him but didn’t quite have his suave and lovable demeanor. If anything he was the complete opposite, pathetic.

“A bit.” He waves the thought away, and as soon as your friend begins to take pictures of herself, he begins speaking rapidly. 

“If you post anything, make sure to tag me I’m KurtsWorld 96. Follow for follow.” He beams, as if this is something he normally does.

Ohhhhhh boy. This is just a twitter bot in a boy’s body isn’t it. 

Your friend just giggles to herself, completely ignoring his plea for fame. 

“See, I would love to do that. But my friend has to do like some background check or whatever. No hard feelings though, ‘kay?” With that she’s back to her own bubble.

It’s you who’s on the spotlight now though and you mentally curse her out for it. 

“Really?” Kurt glances at you and you can read him just like all the other fans. The hopefulness in his eyes. 

“I mean if you need to check out my stuff I don’t mind at all. In fact, that’s why I have all these cameras set up.”

“I thought they were for protection.” 

Kurt chuckles, “That too, but I mean when stuff like this happens you have to document it, right? Gotta let everyone know what you’re doing all the time.” 

The extreme level of desperation from Kurt almost scares you. You’ve seen this before, you were this before. His problem is he doesn’t have a Julia. 

You nod, smiling easily. 

“After all, we’re only as good as our last performance.” Kurt says suddenly. 

You do a double take.

There’s a familiarity to what he says. You’ve seen or heard it somewhere before. Something only known to you in private. 

Your brows furrow as you both look at each other. There’s a certain tension between you now, you get goosebumps from the way he looks at you. The feeling in the pit of your stomach confuses you. 

The times he glances at you in silence just to raise his brows or to do some facial quirk to make you laugh feel pleasant.

You watch him intently, the way his fingers grip the wheel, the way his hair could use just a touch of hydration, the way the corners of his lips lift into a smirk.

Julia doesn’t notice the eye fucking at all, not surprising.

The later half of the ride consisted mostly of just Kurt talking about something he was planning and that if you two were interested he would love to have both of you back. 

Julia, though always eager to have a camera shoved in her face, surprisingly declines because Kurt just doesn’t seem like he’d suit her brand. You feel the embarrassment for him and want to get out of this situation as soon as possible.

Your prayers are answered and the minute you see Kurt brake, you rush out just as your friend holds up a finger for you to wait. Kurt offers her a water bottle which she takes happily because it’s “free”. You wait but he offers you none.

She takes small sips and then crams it into her bag. 

Kurt simpers, but you don’t know what exactly is in the bottle, yet. 

“Thanks, Kurt.” You can’t help but meet his gaze. It’s not desperate anymore, no. It’s almost.....darker.

“My pleasure.” 

You both rush into the building, Julia forgetting about him already. But he sits in your mind the entire time. 

Julia cries as she doubles over in pain, her hand basically gripping yours for dear life as she coughs up blood. She had left the interview early due to a stomach ache but you’d never seen anything so severe.

“Julia, okay listen to me, we have to get you to the hospital.”

She shakes her head, hurling crimson onto your shirt and hands. 

“Julia! You need help, we need to go!” You yelled adamantly.

She wasn’t like this until the car ride with Kurt. 

You sprang into action, going back to your phone and putting in Kurt’s info to find where he was. The only perk about being an assistant to an influencer, is people will come when you call. And Kurt was sure to come.

You order a ride, and cover up Julia’s face which already is starting to look like something out of a zombie movie. Her face is swelling up and her lips are bleeding. 

You take her by the arm and lead her down to an awaiting Kurt, joining her in the backseat.

He looks different. More rugged and somewhat cleaner, he’s changed clothes since the few hours you saw him. Even the car is different, it wasn’t his Prius. 

He’s not even fazed by her sudden reaction to the water and instead, the moment you close the door he drives off in the opposite direction. 

“Kurt this isn’t the way to the hospital.”

“Oh I know, I’m taking you home.”

“I don’t live this way.” You were beginning to feel the panic rise in you.

He chuckles to himself as if he just made a killer joke. “No, no, my home.”

Your eyes widened. You scan the car filled with cameras. Certainly anyone watching would call the police. You can’t help but freeze, your shaky hands trying to grip Julia as she continues to hurl uncontrollably. 

You pass streets you don’t recognize and making contact with drivers is out of the question while you’re paralyzed. 

Kurt pulls onto a rocky road, a house completely devoid of light staring back at you. You wish you could scream once he gets out of the car but when he opens the door to your side and helps you with Julia into the house, you’re on autopilot.

“Honestly I’m surprised she made it this long. Everyone else lasted only a few seconds.” He guffaws, completely in awe as if this was some kind of achievement.

You stare at him, in deep thought of who else he’d done this to.  

“Why are you doing this? Why - why would you-” the sheer panic in your voice doesn’t seem to affect him.

He dumps Julia onto the couch mindlessly, as if he just came home from a long day of work. 

“Because I love you. And I’d do anything for you. And.....I didn’t like the way she was talking to you.” 

He faces you now, coming to hold your face in his hands. You don’t recoil yet but shiver at the way his oddly cold fingers feel against your warm flush face.

“How do you -” 

“We’re only as good as our last performance.” He echoes from earlier. 

It all clicks suddenly. The reason why he didn’t give you a bottle. The comments on her videos defending you. The anonymous messages between you two. It was him all along. 

To say that the now dead body next to you while he professed his love to you was very unsettling would be an understatement. Much less it being broadcast to millions of people watching. 

“If you loved me you wouldn’t be doing this,” You tried to reason, bringing his hands down to his side.

You liked Kurt. Even if you hadn’t known what his intentions were. But the messages made you feel like someone was on your side. Like he understood you. Now you weren’t sure if the past few weeks even meant anything to him or if he really was just using you to get to Julia. 

“You let her walk all over you the same way I let Bobby. But not anymore! You and me, we can be bigger than they ever were.”

“Kurt you’re insane! We have to go now.” 

You make a break for the front door, only to be pinned down by Kurt. You struggle but Kurt’s figure hovers over you. Your breath hitches at the sudden closeness of your faces and bodies.

“I’m sorry but I can’t let you do that.” He says grimly. 

“Kurt please, I won’t tell anyone. I promise. Look we can - we can leave and go somewhere they won’t find you.”

He scoffs. “Live in anonymity? You know I can’t do that.”

You know you’ve lost the battle right then and there. 

You have to appeal to his nature, his blood thirst. You’re quick on your feet because the stench of the blood on your hands is beginning to make your stomach churn. 

You crane your head to the side and lean into him, pressing your lips together. He’s frozen for a second, taken aback by your sudden change of heart. He pulls back and stands, leaving you on the floor still. 

He’s laughing now, almost manically. 

“You love me! See? With everything you and I know, we could be a power couple!”

You stand, watching him as he celebrates prematurely. 

The comments on the stream were going crazy. Most of them not believing that your friend or Bobby were dead now. A variety of sounds coming from the phone fill the room and muffle your quick breaths.

You take small strides to him slowly, keeping your eyes on the phone. “You’re right. No one can tell or make us do something we don’t want to anymore.”

He’s coming down from his high, raking his hands through his hair and muttering to himself. 

“We have to clean house.” He says, rushing to Julia’s body, grabbing her feet and dragging her to the garage. 

You take this moment when his back is to you to run to the door again, flipping the lock open and running as fast as you can out into the freezing air. The adrenaline fuels you. Kurt curses as he drops the body and runs after you. 

He lurches forward when he’s close enough, dropping the both of you onto the rocky dirt. You scramble to get up but he takes hold of your head by your hair and brings your head down onto the ground roughly. 

You’re disoriented for a moment, unable to see. 

“You’re making things harder than they need to be.” He sighs, flipping you over on your back and taking you into his arms in a bridal carry back to the house. 

“Please don’t kill me.” You manage out, feeling a stinging pain in your head.

He pouts. “I’m not gonna kill you. I need you.”

He sets you back down onto the pool table in the garage, going back to talk to the millions watching him and you now. 

You don’t see what he types but from the looks of it he disagrees severely. “No I’m not going to kill her! She’s the Bonnie to my Clyde.” 

If anything, this was going to be Romeo and Juliet. Only you weren’t dying for this.

You feel around for anything on the table with your limited view. A ball, a stick, anything. You grasp a hard triangular shape, gripping it with with the little strength and adrenaline you can muster. 

He’s too distracted by what everyone’s saying to notice you behind him, rack high in the air. You yell as you bring the rack down to the nape of his neck, he goes down hard and fast but you’re quicker. 

You pounce and straddle him, bringing the rack up again to gain more momentum and aim down at his face.

He’s cries out in pain, hands coming to shield his face. “What are you doing?! This isn’t how it’s supposed to be!” 

“Sorry babe. Change of plans.” You grit through deep and fast breaths. You get a few more hits in before he seemingly goes limp. 

Your chest heaves, trying to get back to normal as you wait with bated breath for any sign of movement from him. You make a move to climb off of him, seeing the phone thrown to the side, still documenting the entirety of what just happened. 

You toss aside the rack, crawling to the phone as you read the comments. Things calling for Bobby to come out, some asking if Julia was okay, others insulting Kurt and you. One catches your attention.

Watch out!

You turn in the nick of time, avoiding Kurt’s swing of the rack. You try to crawl away but he grasps your ankle and drags you back. You manage to get a kick in with your other foot, earning you a second or two. Kurt bellows out in pain.

He persists, climbing on top of you to grab your throat firmly. The action and pressure of it is enough for you to abandon the phone and try to pry him off. 

“We could’ve been great!” He yells, his bloody face painting yours. You cough roughly, trying to get some air back into your constricting lungs.

You can’t hold him off any longer, and if you don’t get any oxygen, he’ll win his twisted legacy.

Remembering the phone, you let go of his hands and feel around until you are able to grab it firmly and hit him in the eye with it. He falls back and screams in pain. 

You’re on top again, taking hold of the collar of his shirt to hold him as you attack with abandon.

“We’re.” Hit.

“Only.” Kurt groans.

 “As. Good.” Another dastardly good hit.

 “As. Our. Last.” He sputters, choking.

“Performance.” You let a guttural yell rip from your chest as you deliver the final blow. This time he stays down. 

The silence rings in your ear long enough to spur you out of the moment. You can hear sirens in the background, not long now. You glance back to your anonymous lover, your hand coming to lift the hair out of his bloody face. 

Your fingers linger on his face for a second. You bring the phone to your face and laugh mirthlessly, “Fuck you all.” 

You climb off of Kurt, heading to the welcoming breeze of the outside world. 

You sit on the porch chair, covered head to toe in a mixture of blood, eyes fluttering shut as the sirens get louder with each second. 

You smirk.

If You Don't Love Me, Lie To My Face - Part I (Reylo Fanfic)

Part I | Part II | Part III | Epilogue 

Summary: Grifter!Rey helps U.S. Senator Leia Organa's son, Ben Solo, out of a jam when a couple of muggers invade her turf. Afterward, she debates robbing the rich American herself, but can she protect her heart while stealing his?

Pairing: Rey + Ben Solo | Finn + Poe Dameron

Rating: E

Continuity: Modern AU

A/N: For the first time ever, I’ve actually written most of the story before I started posting! I think it will be way less stressful since I don’t have to “keep up” with updates. New chapters will be posted each Friday. Enjoy!

Master list –> AO3 | ff.net | Tumblr

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If You Don't Love Me, Lie To My Face - Part I

By: sushigirlali

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Kennington, London

——————

There are moments in life that make you question everything that came before. A look from a stranger, an incident at your job, a terrible movie... things Rey Niima was usually able to push past without pause, but tonight, she was finding it extremely difficult to ignore the feeling that her life was about to change forever.

"Hey, give us your wallet!" A pair of brawlers had cornered a man at the mouth of a nearby alley, drawing Rey's attention as soon as she stepped out the back door of her favorite pub, The Black Prince.

"Excuse me?" the would-be victim responded indignantly. His voice was deep with an American lilt, his stature intimidating.

Did these fools really think they could steal from a man like that? But then, not all criminals were as intelligent as her.

"You heard me! I want your wallet!"

Rey hung back from the potentially violent situation unfolding before her, sizing up the assailants. Their outfits were all black, including the ski masks covering their faces, but she couldn't see any identifying marks or gang affiliations. "Must be lone wolves," she thought.

There was something familiar about the tall one doing the talking, but she couldn't place them. It probably didn't matter, though, because the redwood with the nice accent looked like he could take the both of them with one hand tied behind his broad back.

Still, for some reason, she was finding it hard to walk the other way. Definitely not because the man was the most striking person she had ever seen. No, it had to be due to the fact that these bums were causing a ruckus on her turf. At least, that's what she kept telling herself, frozen to the spot as she was.

"Listen, I just got done volunteering at a shelter all day and just want to get home. Please allow me to leave unmolested."

"Volunteering at a shelter?" she muttered under her breath. "Well, fuck. But it's not your business, don't get involved." Rey was turning around to go back inside the pub when the sound of a gun cocking drew her up short.

"Don't make me repeat myself again, pretty boy."

"Whoa, hey, there's no need for that!"

"Then empty your pockets! Now!"

"No," he said crossly. "Put that thing away before somebody gets hurt."

"Dammit," Rey groaned, retrieving the silver baton clipped to her belt. Sometimes, she really hated having a conscience; in her line of work, it was a real liability.

"Hey, get your hands off me!"

"Oh, for fuck's sake," she growled, resolutely stalking toward the turbulent scene. "Oi! You lot!"

The big guy and his sidekick paused to look in her direction. "What?" the leader said in a surprisingly feminine voice.

"Not a guy," Rey mused. "Based on your absolutely abominable bullying technique, I don't think you're getting that guy's wallet any time this century, so why don't you just leave him alone and move along."

"Excuse me?" the woman said threateningly.

"I'm sorry, did I stutter?"

"You move along, little mouse, this doesn't concern you!" the shorter guy spat.

"You do know who's neighborhood this is, don't you?" Rey said tauntingly.

"Yeah?" the first one said dismissively. "So what."

"So, knock it off! We don't need the fuzz coming down here because some hooligans are roughing up a foreigner."

"Hooligans?! And who the fuck are you?"

"Me?" Rey sneered, flicking the baton out to the side so that it extended into a long poll. "I'm no one."

"Phas," the skinny guy said nervously, obviously recognizing her at last, "we should go."

Rey had never been so proud of her reputation as a grifter who was just as likely to steal an expensive piece of art from the peerage in an elaborate heist as kick a thug's ass in the street.

"But the boss—"

"He'll understand."

"But—"

"Phas!"

"Fine. But don't think this is over!" the woman yelled before running off with her companion.

"Well," the American said slowly, "that was an experience I never wish to repeat again." He smiled at her. "Thank you," he said sincerely.

"You're welcome," Rey replied gruffly, still riding high on adrenaline. "Do you always walk around by yourself at night in a city not your own?"

"Do you always save unsuspecting passersby from thieves?" he retorted.

Her phone went off, but she didn't answer it. Up close, the man was even more attractive than she had initially thought. "Suit looks expensive, too… and is that a Breitling?" Perhaps it was her lucky night after all. "Only if they're handsome," she said smoothly.

"Oh, uh…" he flushed at her compliment.

"Hmm… not the reaction I expected." It was kind of refreshing, though. "Sorry, I—ugh, one sec," she said as her cell went off again. "My brother," she explained, checking the caller ID. "I have to take this or he'll just keep phoning until I pick up."

The man shrugged, "No problem, I'll just wait over here." He stepped up onto the curb and walked a few paces away.

Rey nodded and lifted the phone to her ear. "What?" she said shortly.

"Who's the stiff?" Finn asked without preamble.

"Nobody."

"Right," he huffed. "Are you working him?"

"Undecided, stop pushing."

"Whatever you say, Rey. Just be careful."

"I will. Where are you anyway?" she said, humored by his tough older sibling act.

"Hanging outside the pub, just around the corner. Why? You need me?" Finn teased.

"No, I'll catch you later. Don't wait up." She ended the conversation before he could respond and stuffed the phone into her back pocket. "Sorry about that, uh…?"

"Ben," the stranger supplied, moving closer again. "Ben Solo."

"I'm Rey," she said, holding out a hand.

Ben's lips quirked and he gave her a firm handshake, his huge hand dwarfing hers. Rey felt a shiver run up her spine at the brief contact, but she shook it off.

"So, what's that for?" he indicated the weapon still in her hand. "Joining the circus?"

"No," she grinned, "it's a bo staff. I use it for self defense."

"And the defense of others," he said warmly.

"On occasion." She folded the bo staff back into a baton before reattaching it to her belt.

"Can I get you a drink?" he nodded toward the pub. "To say thank you?"

"I was actually on my way home before I… bumped into you."

"I could… walk you home? If you want." He didn't sound desperate, but it was a near thing.

"I'm not from around here," she said evasively. She couldn't really bring him back to her base of operations, which was only a few blocks down the street, but she didn't want to stop talking to him either. "What a dilemma."

"No? Where are you from then?"

"Nowhere."

"Okay… Well, I promise I'm not a pervert or a serial killer or anything," he said earnestly, "so you can come back to my hotel with me if you want. It's late and I'd hate for anything to happen to you."

She crossed her arms. "Because I'm a woman?"

"Hey, I'm 6'3" and double your weight and I almost got jumped like ten minutes ago," he reminded her. "It can happen to anyone."

"Fair enough," she allowed, lowering her defenses. "Still…"

"I can call my security detail if you want verification that I'm not a psycho," he offered. "I'd just like the opportunity to get to know the woman who saved my hide."

Rey's interest sharpened. "That's sweet, but uh… security detail?"

"Yeah," he said nonchalantly. "My mother is a U.S. Senator. I'm in town on her behalf. She was supposed to come herself, but her re-election campaign is heating up and she couldn't spare the time."

"You disapprove," she said perceptively.

Ben's dark brows shot up. "Yeah, actually. You a mind reader, Rey from nowhere?"

"Something like that," she smirked. "I prefer the term grifter."

"Grifter?" he said curiously. "What does that mean, exactly?"

"Oh, you know," Rey winked for effect, assuming the privileged American was about to run in the opposite direction, "I swindle rich people out of their valuables by preying on their weaknesses. Basically, I'm a professional bad guy."

Ben looked hopelessly confused by her explanation. "But you just helped me."

"Well, sometimes I like to help out the little guy." Rey looked him over. "Little big guys too."

"Like Robin Hood?" he said, disarming her with a crooked smile.

"What? I wouldn't say I'm—I'm a hero or anything," she stuttered.

"Well, you're my hero," he said smoothly, holding out a hand. "That's my driver pulling up over there, in the black Jag. Join me? Please?"

"I… okay," she agreed, placing her hand in his, "but just for a little while." This time, she couldn't ignore the shiver.

——————

Alarm bells should be going off in her head, but Rey felt perfectly comfortable with her new companion. It was odd, considering her trust issues, but Ben didn't seem to be only interested in her looks. And she knew she looked good tonight, her dark leather leggings were basically painted on and her lacy bra was visible through a mostly sheer black tank top. Add on her subtle smoky makeup and half-up hair style that emphasized her cheek bones and...

"Rey?"

She loved the way he said her name, almost like a caress. "Yes?"

"Are you hungry? I haven't had dinner yet."

"Oh, sure," she said, never one to give up a free meal. Though she did kinda wish something else was on the menu… "What is wrong with you? You just met the man! Note to self: masturbate more."

"Chinese okay?"

Her mouth watered. "Perfect."

"What do you like?"

"Besides you?" she said without thinking. "Uh, I mean—anything, really. Noodles, if they have them."

Ben let her comment pass, but he was beaming. "I like noodles too. Maybe some kind of chicken? Orange?"

"Excellent," she seconded.

"You're easy," he said, but then caught himself, looking horrified. "I mean to order food for, not—"

"It's okay," she laughed, patting his thigh. "I know what you meant."

"Sorry, I haven't done this in a long time," he said sheepishly, catching her hand before she could remove it.

"This?"

"Gone on a date."

"Oh." Was this a date? Rey couldn't remember the last time she had been on one. Pretty much anytime she'd been alone with a man not her brother in the past ten years it was because she intended to rob them.

"Not that this has to be a date," he said quickly, releasing her hand. "Sorry, I keep saying stupid things."

Dammit, but he was cute. "You don't have to keep apologizing," she replied lightly. "Let's just have dinner and talk and see where that takes us." Maybe the night would lead to some fun extracurricular activities, maybe not, but at least she'd be able to case his place. Based on what she knew so far, the guy definitely came from old money. "Just keep reminding yourself that he's potentially a mark, not a boyfriend, Rey."

"Sure," he smiled, looking relieved. "Hey, Poe?" he said to the driver. "Can you pick up some food after dropping us at the hotel? We're starving."

——————

Ben fumbled a little opening the door, but quickly recovered and ushered Rey inside with a gallant sweep of his arm. The hotel was nice, but not extravagant, something she found odd for the son of a U.S. Senator. Then again, he had apparently been helping out at a shelter all day, so maybe he really was as down to earth as he seemed.

"The bathroom is through there if you need it," he pointed toward the bedroom.

"I'm fine, thanks."

"Okay, I'm just going to grab a quick shower. Poe should be back within the hour, so make yourself at home."

"Can I join you?" she was tempted to say. "Sure, I'll just watch the telly."

Ben nodded and left the room. A few seconds later, Rey heard the water start. Flipping on the TV, she left it on the cartoon channel before having a look around.

There weren't any expensive electronics or pieces of art in plain sight, so Rey could only assume that anything valuable would be in his room. "Oh, well, nothing gained, nothing lost. Better update Finn, though."

Yanking her cell out, Rey sent a quick text to her brother with Ben's name, the hotel's address, and a couple sentences about the modest state of his living room. He answered her almost immediately, sounding concerned.

Finn: Are you sure about this bloke? If you're not there to rob him, I assume that means you're interested in something else?

Rey: Yes? Maybe? I don't know. We just met, but…

Finn: At least text me later, okay? So I don't have to worry

Rey: I will. Love you 3

Finn: Love you too, peanut

Finn: ...check the room safe if you get a chance. Those types of hotels always have them and you never know what might be inside ;)

Rolling her eyes, but knowing he was right, Rey listened for a moment. It sounded like Ben was still in the shower, so she took the opportunity to pop into the bedroom and search his closet. A standard issue hotel safe was at the back, surrounded by some very nice black suits.

It wouldn't have been hard to crack the safe if she had her gear, but her heart wouldn't have been in it even if she did. She didn't want to rob Ben Solo, which was a first. Still, she did appreciate a challenge...

"Did you need something?"

Rey whipped around to see her host in nothing but a low slung white towel. "No, I—uh…"

"Would you like something to change into?" he inquired kindly.

Unable to respond with his magnificent chest and long thighs on display, Rey just shook her head in the negative. His brow creased and she felt like a kid who had been caught snooping for Christmas presents. "Shit, shit, shit, I've totally blown it!" Backtracking to the living room, she wasn't surprised when he followed. "What should I do? Oh, god, I don't want him to think…"

"Rey, what you said earlier… about being a… what did you call it? A grifter? Are you—mmph!" he started, unable to complete his thought as Rey impulsively reached up to kiss him.

But instead of pushing her away and demanding an answer, Ben threaded his fingers through her hair and dragged her closer. Taking his response as permission, Rey wrapped her arms around his waist, gripping his bare back as the kiss went on and on.

Somehow, they ended up next to the couch. Rey pushed Ben into a sitting position and climbed onto his lap, rubbing her clothed core against the tent in his towel. "Rey," he whispered, lips trailing down to her neck, "Rey, I want you."

"Yes," she responded as he reached for her waistband. Coming up on her knees, she growled when he yanked her leggings and underwear down her hips with one forceful tug. Things were getting out of control, going too far too fast, but she didn't care; she wanted him too. "Help me," she demanded, legs trapped by the constricting garments.

"I've got you," he huffed, reaching behind her to unzip her black combat boots and pull her pants the rest of the way off.

Meanwhile, Rey tore her top and bralette over her head before going to work on the towel barely covering his lap. "Wow!" she blew out a breath, zeroing in on his ardent erection when it was uncovered. He was big, maybe bigger than anyone she'd ever been with. Would he fit?

"Fuck," Ben sighed, sitting back to stare at her body, "you're beautiful, Rey."

Feeling weirdly shy about the sincerity in his sinful voice, Rey kissed him again in lieu of a response, reaching between them to spread herself for entry.

"Wait," he said, gasping for air, "what about protection?"

"Implant," she mumbled, rubbing her slit against the tip of his penis. "I'm clean, are you?"

"Yeah, I haven't—oh, god—uh, done it in a while."

"Good." She felt strangely possessive of him, this man she had just met. It pleased her that he didn't sleep around. "Fuck me, then. Raw."

Ben slammed his mouth down on hers again, positioning his dick with one hand and gripping her left buttock with the other. But he didn't ram himself home, instead he teased her hole, sliding only a fraction of the way in before retreating. He did it over and over, mimicking the action with his tongue until she was incoherent with desire, squirming, imploring him to fill her…

And then he was, and she found that he fit very well inside her indeed. His thick cock seemed to be made for her, hitting all the right spots and ones she hadn't even known existed until now. "Ben!" she cried, furiously pumping her hips in time with his thrusts. "This is—you're—"

"I feel it too!" he returned, palming her breast and teasing her erect nipple. "From the first moment I saw you, I—"

She licked his mouth, begging for entrance, not wanting to hear his sweet words even as they made her heart soar. He opened for her, but was obviously frustrated that she had cut off his declaration. Before she knew it, the hand squeezing her ass drew back and lightly smacked against her butt-cheek.

"Oh!" Rey jolted at the slight sting, but it wasn't in pain. On the contrary, she requested, "Again! Ben, do that again, please! I'm—"

Knock, knock.

"Oh, shit, Poe's at the—"

"Don't you fucking dare, Ben Solo," she growled, bouncing up and down on him with renewed vigor. But the driver started knocking harder, likely because of the guttural sounds erupting from Ben's throat. "Come on, man, can't you tell we're busy?!"

"But—shit!" Ben hauled her against him, no longer playing, just looking for relief before his friend broke the door down.

Rey found his soft grunts and swears endearing, so she took pity on him and increased her pace even further. "Come for me, Ben," she instructed, grinding down on him with all her might. "Come now and then we can eat. Or you can eat me, whichever you prefer."

The dirty talk seemed to work, because in the next minute, Ben was biting down on her shoulder, shaking with the force of his orgasm. Not far behind, Rey led his hand to her swollen nub, needing just a hair more stimulation to tip over the edge. Almost instantly, his trembling touch sent her into climax. Still vaguely aware of what's-his-name banging on the hotel room door, she pressed her mouth to Ben's pectoral to muffle her cries and came for what felt like ages…

"That—was—amazing," Ben panted, hugging her so tightly she thought she might pop. "The—best—I've—ever—had!"

"Me—too," she couldn't help but admit.

Loosening his hold, Ben cupped her cheeks and kissed her softly. "Thank you."

"Ah—you're welcome," she said, smiling like an idiot. Before she could lean in again, Poe resumed making his presence known.

"Ben? Are you okay? Answer me! Did that woman kill you? Your mother will be so pissed if you're dead." He hit the door again. "Either answer me in the next ten seconds or I'm going to get security!"

"I'm fine, great, alive, whatever!" Ben called back loudly. "And annoyed," he said to Rey. "Go into the bedroom for a minute while I get rid of him."

"Okay," she agreed, gingerly getting up. They both groaned when he slipped out of her, which Rey found gratifying. "Can I use the shower now?"

"Sure, there are towels under the sink. My sleep shirts are in the top drawer of the dresser," he offered.

"He wants me to spend the night?" she mused, feeling giddy and terrified all at once. "Alright," she said aloud, picking up her clothes and disappearing into the bedroom she'd been casing earlier, "call out if you need backup."

"Will do," he chuckled, "will do."

——————

Ten minutes later, Rey emerged from the bathroom feeling fresh and back in control. Picking a long sleeve shirt out of Ben's dresser at random, she pulled it over her naked body before toweling off her wet hair. The black cotton was as soft as it was big, but Rey didn't mind; it smelled like Ben.

Catching her reflection in the floor length mirror by the closet, she was amused to see that the garment fell to her knees like a sack, giving her already slender body exactly zero shape. "Oh, well, it's not like I plan on wearing it lon—"

A disturbance in the living room suddenly diverted her reverie. Sneaking to the door, she carefully cracked it and peaked out.

"You can't just keep her here!" Poe nearly shouted at Ben.

"Keep your fucking voice down," he snarled back. "You're not my boss or my mother and you can't tell me what to do. I'm a grown ass man!"

"Maybe so, but you're acting like a teenager! You can't just sleep with some chick you picked up off the side of the road when Leia is counting on you to—"

"I told you," Ben said through gritted teeth, "she saved my ass and I wanted to get to know her. I didn't hire her for the fucking night!"

"Could have fooled me," Poe scoffed. "For all you know, she could have been in on the attack and—"

"Get out!" Ben ordered, clearly at his wit's end. "I'll call you when you're needed again, if you are."

"Are you firing me?!"

"Not yet," Ben said grimly, marching to the door and flinging it open. "Just go before I forget that you're my best friend and say something I regret."

"Fine," Poe said, storming out of the apartment. "Let me know when you come to your senses!"

Ben slammed the door shut, then turned around and leaned on it. Scurrying back into the bathroom before he caught her eavesdropping, she started combing her hair, attempting to look natural in case he came in after her. When he didn't, she tried not to feel disappointed.

Leaving her damp hair hanging loose around her shoulders, Rey found him sitting at the dining table in his towel with several brown paper bags in front of him. He looked lost in thought and she hoped he hadn't taken Poe's opinion about her motives to heart. "Wotcher, Ben?" she asked hesitantly.

"Hmm?" he said, looking up at her. "Sorry, I was just...uh…" The arrested look on his face made her toes curl. "Wow, you look amazing."

"This old thing?" she joked, sidling up next to him. "I borrowed it from a mate."

"He has good taste," he said, opening his arms.

"I certainly think so," she said coyly, moving to sit sideways on his lap. Rey curled one arm around his neck and placed the other one on his chest. "Are you still hungry?"

"For food?" he choked, holding her so that she wouldn't slide off.

"Food," she nodded, leaning her forehead against his, "and other things."

One of Ben's large hands inserted itself between her thighs. "These kinds of things?" he murmured. "I think we can—fuck!" he bit his lip as he discovered that she wasn't wearing anything underneath his shirt.

"We can certainly fuck," she teased, "but—oh!" Rey gasped as he stood with her in his strong arms. "Ben? What are you…?"

Before she could get the words out, he'd pushed their dinner out of the way and laid her down on the table. Placing the backs of her knees in the crook of each arm, Ben pulled her forward until her butt was on the edge of the table and her pussy was level with his mouth.

"Having dinner," he said in the most ridiculously sexy tone of voice she'd ever heard, flipping his nightshirt up so that she was bare from the waist down.

"Oh, god!" she whimpered as he lowered his head. "Ben, you don't really have to—ah!" Gripping the back of his head as he started to lick her folds, Rey shuddered every time his long nose bumped against her clit.

"Enjoying yourself?" he said a little arrogantly. "Is this why you came home with me? Cause you wanted me to make you feel good?"

Considering how very well he was treating her, and the uncertainty on his face, she decided to play along. "Yes, Ben, I wanted you the second I saw you!"

He smiled slightly, then resumed tasting her. "So, does that mean you want to come?"

"That would be lovely," she sighed, enjoying the pressure of his wide mouth.

His mouth quirked at that. "Never heard sex described that way before."

"Then you're doing it with the wrong people."

"Oh?" his gaze turned hot. "And how many people have you been doing it with?"

"Not many," she said hurriedly, "and not in a long time."

"Good girl," he said silkily. "So, if I were to put my fingers inside you, would your cunt feel… full?"

"Yes!" she panted, so wet she was dripping onto the table now.

"Let's see then."

Arching her back as he slid two fingers inside her body, Rey realized that she had never really known sexual satisfaction until tonight. She was twenty-five and still basically knew nothing about sex and relationships. "Huh."

Ben stopped moving, lifting his dark head to look at her. "Rey? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah," she said dreamily. "I guess I've just never felt this way before."

He held her eyes for an extended moment, amber striking against hazel. "Yeah, me too." And then he was fingering her again, sucking and teasing her slick opening until she was crying out his name in ecstasy.

Afterward, he scooped her up in his arms and carried her to the bedroom, kicking the door shut behind them. Needless to say, they skipped dinner that night.

——————

Rey grunted as she felt Ben leave the bed the next morning. He had been her heater since the sheets and pillows were strewn about the room. "Come back," she said hoarsely, throat worn from use. "I'm cold."

"Just a moment," he laughed, opening the bedroom door to fetch something from the living room. "Your cell has been going off for an hour straight."

"My cell?" she yawned. Then, "Oh, no." She sat bolt upright. "Wait! Don't—"

"Rey?" Ben called in disbelief. "Who the fuck is Finn?"

——————

A/N: I love Kingsman and always think about Rey being a punk with a heart of gold like Eggsy. I didn't include the spy angle, but I was able to visit The Black Prince, where scenes were filled for the movie, a couple years ago and have fond memories. Anyway, reviews are appreciated! <3 

He Kisses Me When - Dr. 6-10 | westallen fanfiction

More drabbles. :)

...

6. When I am relaxing in the bath

An audible sigh escapes me as I slowly sink into the warm bath water, my hair up in a bun and my body aching from the long day of running around the city in pursuit of evidence for a serial killer that caught my interest. My Dad and Barry don’t know about it. Only Cisco does, and mum’s the word. I just have to hope he won’t tell Caitlin, because she – ironically – can’t tolerate secrets now and will go straight to Barry (he’ll take to her better), who will then try to process how to respond to the situation.

I didn’t lie to him this time, so he can’t be mad about that. (I feel guilty every time I have to do that when I believe so strongly in a story that if false promises need to be made to keep my husband from preventing me from following through on them, so be it. I’m glad I didn’t have to do that this time though.) This time I was simply very crafty and kept all knowledge of what I was doing from both of the very protective men in my life.

My dad will naturally walk in on my husband trying to decide how to react and give his very strong opinion, which will convince my husband to have that same opinion and to carry out his wishes, which he will no doubt do, albeit much nicer than my dad would have done.

In the end I’m mad, so I’m hoping Cisco is a good secret-keeper and that at least my dad doesn’t know. Barry I can calm with kisses and love declarations and sex. Dad is a little harder.

Throwing all that to the wayside, I let my thoughts slip away and close my eyes as the water swallows me whole save for my head pressed against the far side and my toes peeking out by the faucet.

I’m so content I don’t hear or feel the wind from the door opening and closing, but I hear his voice and know I’m in trouble.

“Joe told me what you were digging up today.”

My eyes flash open, and I turn to look at him, I can explain on the tip of my tongue.

“Are you mad?” I ask instead, nibbling on my bottom lip.

He shakes his head and crosses the room to me.

“You’re not?” My brows fuse together.

He chuckles. “No. I knew what I was getting myself into when I married you.”

I grin as he leans down to kiss me and then gasp as he climbs into the bathtub fully clothed save for his shoes, socks, and jacket.

“Barry! What are you-” I squeal, but he only laughs and settles himself on the other end, having to bend his knees up considerably so he can fit the full length. I laugh too then because he just looks so uncomfortable. “Barry,” I coo, shaking my head.

“This idea was better in my head,” he admits.

So, so in love with him, I get on my knees and crawl over to him, climbing into his laps and well aware of how his eyes keep drifting down to my breasts.

“Let me make you comfortable,” I say, and this time I’m the one to kiss him.

.

7. When I am searching for something I lost

I can’t find them anywhere. They’re pretty jewels hanging from a pearl strand that go perfectly with my dress, and I can’t find them anywhere!

Barry’s trying to help. I know he is. But he doesn’t know how I organize my make-up or my clothes. I’m supposed to expect him to know where my jewelry is?

No, I don’t think so.

Still, as I pace back and forth throughout our bedroom and bathroom, I can’t help but be aware of him standing in the middle of the bedroom, not moving to avoid me running into him, and running his hand through his hair, gripping his locks because he doesn’t know what to do to help me and he’s afraid to do nothing.

“Iris…”

“Yeah, Barry?” I ask, still digging through drawers of jewelry and make-up.

And then it must occur to him what he can do, because he takes one step, halts me with his hands on my arms and kisses me before I can stop him, his lips pressed to mine in a surprisingly sensuous kiss.

Something occurs to me, and I break away.

“What? What?” His eyes are wide.

“My coat pocket.” I grin wide and instantly take off for the stairs.

He follows me quickly and watches as I reach the door, then the coat hangers, then my dress coat and reach inside.

“No,” he says in disbelief.

My smile spreads somehow further as I turn to dangle the earrings before him.

“Guess you’re my lucky charm, Allen,” I say, and I know I’ve boosted his ego, but I don’t care.

Barry Allen is my everything.

.

8. When I am mad

I’m boiling, absolutely infuriated. Nothing could make me madder in this instant, but Wally – who has just woken up from his night over on the couch – somehow achieves that feat by asking what the big deal is.

“Oh, no,” Barry says as I turn to face my brother, my fingers curled into fists at my side so I don’t start clawing his eyes out with my fingernails.

“What’s the big deal?”

“Sorry for what?” Wally asks aloud, and I know Barry has just mouthed to his brother-in-law to apologize. “So your editor didn’t like your story. Write another one.”

I stomp toward him, unable to decide which infuriates me more, him not realizing what the big deal is or him not feeling bad about the fact that he’s made me so mad.

I finally see him worrying for his own safety at least as I get closer because he’s backing up and has himself pinned to the wall before I’m inches away pointing my finger at him.

“The ‘big deal’ is that this story will change lives. The ‘big deal’ is that I risked my life getting the information to write this story-”

“Wait, what?” His eyes widen and Barry’s face falls into his palm.

I probably shouldn’t have informed my little brother about that part. Oops.

“The big deal is-”

“Uh-uh, you’re not getting out of it that easily. Your life? What happened, Iris?” He’s suddenly soft with me, and part of me loves it, but the part of me that’s still mad at him doesn’t. How dare he be concerned when he could’ve cared less about the story two seconds ago!

“Iris?” Barry tries, and for some god forsaken reason I turn around and address him.

“What?” I demand, though he hardly deserves it.

He walks up to me, sets his hands on my shoulders, and looks me in the eye.

“If anyone can change that man’s mind, it’s you.” He lowers his head to kiss me, and I reciprocate – much to Wally’s annoyance. “I love you.”

I melt. Completely melt into his embrace.

“I love you, too.”

“Ugh. Get a room, you two,” Wally says, and actually leaves the loft. I don’t care. He’ll be back later for pizza and telling me how great of a writer and big sister I am – if history has told me anything.

Right now my husband is kissing me, and there’s not much more to care about than that.

.

9. When I talk too much (to shut me up)

I’m unaware – completely – that I’m rambling almost as fast as my husband can when he’s excited. I think said husband is listening intently as I rail on about something that happened at work, something stupid, something that was both good and bad and I can’t stop talking about.

“And so then-” I stop talking to laugh. “I can’t believe it. Can you believe that, Barry?” I smack his chest lightly. He winces, but not because it hurt.

“He – they – it actually, oh my God.”

He forces a smile. “Mhmm.”

“Barry, are you listening?” I frown.

He nods. “Yep.” So I continue again.

It’s not until several minutes later when honestly I’ve forgotten what I was talking about before I started repeating myself and laughing at what I remembered but didn’t say aloud and how Barry has been awfully quiet, and I think to myself have I been talking this whole time???

“Barry, what was I talking about?” I ask, the fact that he was falling asleep beyond me and not worth discussing because it hasn’t really hit me yet.

“Um…”

“Oh, nevermind, I remember.”

“Oh, no, you don’t.” He sits up quickly and leans in with a rush.

“What- Mmm,” comes my muffled moan, and I think to myself, maybe kissing is better than talking right now.

.

10. When I am scared

I’m hiding under the desk in my office. There’s been a citywide alert for a new meta that can control electricity. Several people have been electrocuted and now the whole city’s power is out, gathered up in this meta’s body.

Barry’s running around saving people. Cisco and Caitlin are busy helping him out from STAR Labs, where I should be. Barry and my dad told me to stay put. They don’t want me to be the next person electrocuted. For some reason I listen to them, since I have no protective gear and STAR Labs isn’t exactly close.

But because I’m not helping out, all I can think about is how scared I am. Not just for me, but for the whole of Central City, for Barry, because he’s my Barry, and I won’t feel safe until he’s in front of me again, warm and happy and safe himself, even if the city-wide power outage is still in place.

The lights turn on, and my phone rings. My cell. I see who it is and breathe a sigh of relief.

“Barry?” Hope and tears are in my voice, and in a flurry he’s there before me, his grin faltering for a moment when he can’t tell if I’m okay. “Barry.” Relief spills off my tongue, and I nearly crumble until he’s there catching me and holding me close.

“I’m okay, Iris. Everything’s all right.”

He’s stroking my hair tenderly, holding me up, and I’m telling myself to believe what I’m saying.

“I know…I know…”

Oh, his chest is so solid, his arms so strong, his words a sweet lullaby against my skin.

“Iris…” he urges softly, and I lift my head, tears welling in my eyes.

“You came back to me,” I say, though he always does. I shouldn’t doubt it by this point.

He nods, smiles shakily, cups my face in his hands and kisses me, warm and soft.

“Always,” he whispers when we part, and suddenly, I’m not scared anymore.

Missing Interlude - Plagg

So remember when I said that the Missing Interlude was just a one time thing?

Yeah...my muse disagreed.

Contrary to popular opinion, Plagg was not simply the lazy and foolish kwami that most people believed him to be. Sure, part of that may be his fault, as he wasn’t about to go out of his way to correct people’s assumptions about him if he didn’t need to. After all, if people think he’s lackadaisical and silly, they tend to not expect much from him, which worked doubly in his favor in either convincing people to leave him alone or allow him the element of surprise if they wouldn’t. After all, most people generally didn’t worry whether he was plotting to kill them if they thought he was simply sleeping most of the time.

Plagg…admittedly hadn’t had many good wielders in the past. Fu referred to them as owners, but the very thought of the title grated at him something fierce. By their very nature, cats weren’t ‘owned’. They would stay with people. Go to those who fed them or treated them well. But they claimed their humans, not the other way around.

Even if that weren’t the case, most of his wielders had been…not the best of people. He joked about Hawk Moth and didn’t take his akumas seriously because honestly, how could he? It was ultimately the equivalent of a child playing with toys in comparison to some of the things he had been forced to do. He pitied Nooroo for his current unfortunate situation, certainly. The butterfly kwami was gentle by nature and while he wouldn’t wish such misuse on any of his brethren, Nooroo was especially sensitive. But it still said something that he found himself envying him more.

Cartoonish characters who made people burst into song or controlled birds were always preferable over serial killers, war mongers, and so-called ‘visionaries’ that saw fit to topple an entire nation to rebuild it to fit their ideals.

Atlantis was a joke. The Leaning Tower was an accident. The dinosaurs…well, those jerks actually had it coming. But still, each incident was almost minimal compared to the acts caused by some of the people he had been unfortunate enough to be discovered by over the millennia. It was part of why he played up his destructive and cat-like tendencies for the monks when he’d finally been retrieved, if only in hopes that they’d seal him up so he’d be left alone for a few centuries and just not have to deal with any of it.

There was a part of him that questioned Fu’s wisdom in sending him of all the kwamis out to face Hawk Moth. Especially when his power was one of the two that the villain was specifically after.

Ladybug made sense. Tikki was practically built for purifying, healing people, and undoing damage. Like a cosmic reset-button that allowed the akuma battles to be a temporary disruption of the norm rather than a literal matter of life and death. And sure, Tikki was always willing to be useful.

But Plagg had wanted to sleep. He had wanted to be left alone. He wanted to NOT be reminded of things he really REALLY wanted to forget. And he couldn’t even have that.

Cheese was a nice distraction from these darker thoughts—as well as part of the reason he demanded it so often since he knew he had a chosen who could manage it. Yet strangely enough, his chosen had also started to become a good distraction in his own way. An annoying one at times, sure. But a good one. It was why he even put up with listening to the kid waxing poetic about Ladybug. That plus the realization that the Ladybug he was crazy about was actually his little girlfriend who was secretly just as crazy about him?

Gold. Pure gold. It was like a movie that practically wrote itself!

At this point, he was honestly just waiting for the day the two finally had the big reveal for themselves just so he could imprint their expressions in his mind for the next century. Maybe even millennium. His only wish was that he would have a camera when it happened that he could show the rest of the kwamis.

Plus he knew Tikki would love it, even if she would lecture him for it.

Still…

Adrien was a good kid. He regretted not being able to trust him fully because he was at least somewhat certain that the boy wouldn’t follow in those ever darkened footsteps of his predecessors, but…

He sighed internally.

Plagg liked Adrien, he really did. But Adrien was young and immature in a lot of ways. Sure, he was a hero now. But would he stay that way? The future was always left to be determined. There had been a lot of Black Cats before Adrien Agreste. Too many that had gotten his hopes up only to let him down in the end.

Maybe that was why he worried so much for his current holder. The way that Adrien opened up to him so quickly and easily was less a testament of their bond and more indicative of his desperation just to have someone he could talk to.

Plagg couldn’t help but pity the kid. It was also why he didn’t try to fight the way the kid started to grow on him, either. Even despite the puns. And the lovesickness. And his at times stupidly over the top gestures and complete disregard for his own well being that Plagg was going to break him out of mark his words!

Adrien still had a lot of growing to do, and for all that Plagg let his impulses get the better of him, he was also surprisingly patient—in this case patient enough to help Adrien grow and give any sort of nudge the boy may need to do so. Because he knew the boy had potential.

The problem was the numerous stumbling blocks that were getting in the way.

There was his father—and stars, how Plagg despised that man. Always watching but never there. The undeserving focus of a completely one-sided relationship. If Adrien’s passivity and other “quirks” were signs, the fact that the nightmare Sandboy conjured for Adrien was a cage was practically glowing neon.

There were also the other girls who kept clinging to him, giving his boy the impression that he was not allowed to have personal boundaries. That not making other people upset mattered more than making himself heard when they did something to make him uncomfortable.

There was the overfilled schedule that stole away the precious little time Adrien would have to find himself and just enjoy life before it was over all too quickly. Humans were such short-lived creatures, after all…

There were the regular akuma battles. And Hawk Moth. The constant danger they and Paris as a whole were constantly in.

And then there was this latest upset…Marinette’s “disappearance”.

It was…strange. He honestly didn’t know what to think.

Plagg had known that Marinette was Ladybug since Dark Owl. He’d gotten a good long laugh out of it, too. Later. Much later. Couldn’t let Adrien in on the joke too soon, after all.

Watching those two dance around each other became a whole new form of entertainment that it took everything he had at times to not burst out into uncontrollable fits of laughter.

It also had the other side effect of making him want to bang his head against a wall most days because his current wielder was so oblivious it was downright painful at times. It hurt when he watched the kid be so blind to how much she adored him. And then there were the instances where she all but TOLD him—gaah! He was starting to understand why humans loved romantic tripe so much. It wasn’t the ooey-gooey kiss-fests, it was the anticipation of when the people involved would finally get their heads straight so they could bonk lips the right way.

And wasn’t it just hilarious that both his kid and Tikki’s were pretty much their own rivals? Even their own worst enemies in keeping them from getting together? Well, hilarious and frustrating. It really depended on the day and the antics involved.

Of course, the other problem was that the antics involved had started to be other people.

Chloe was one thing. Adrien wasn’t interested but they were at least friends. Whatever feelings of affection she had could be tapered off and tempered with time. She would likely even try to support Adrien more if she knew. And the girl had…at least somewhat started to grow up. Ladybug was a surprisingly big help with that, given how much her civilian self was often on the receiving end of the other girl’s cruelty.

Kagami was…interesting. But really little better in the long run. Less antagonistic, sure. Not nearly as harsh or cruel. But she was just as aggressive and controlling, from her demands for a duel with Adrien and insistence on winning when they first met to talking over Adrien at the ice rink. He would grant that she at least respected him and didn’t infringe on his personal space, but she still saw his passivity for what it was and took it upon herself to step in on his behalf—or what she thought was his behalf at any rate. Adrien already had enough of that in his life. What he needed wasn’t someone to make his decisions for him, it was someone who would encourage him to make his own.

That was why he had been rooting for Marinette. Even if she hadn’t turned out to be Tikki’s newest bug, she would be good for him. She had dreams about him, certainly, but any of her plans seemed to at least involve taking his kid’s feelings into account. Whatever lengths she went to in order to get his attention were less about pushing him to go her way and more about just trying to push for a chance to go the same way together. It was endearing. A little cringy at times, but overall endearing. And it had seemed they were finally making progress after the Heroes Day incident. 

But then there was Lila…

Oh, he had a few choice words for Adrien after the whole Volpina incident. Blindly following the new hero over his own partner? Overlooking how downright impractical it was for her to take out a meteor that literally NOBODY saw coming before it reached the earth and was closing in on the city? Ignoring his partner’s very valid suspicions and writing her off as jealous for not wanting to trust a supposed ‘hero’ they only just met? FLIRTING WITH HER?!

Ladybug’s behavior towards Lila may have been harsh, but Adrien damn well KNEW better than to immediately take her word at face value. He’s been around socialites and the power-hungry ‘elite’ for Tikki’s sake! Best friends with Ladybug? Fox Miraculous? Descendant of the Fox user? Adrien actually KNEW Ladybug and about the Miraculous! How was he actually BUYING any of that? How did he not clue in that Lila was the reason his book was missing? And the way he looked so disappointed when Ladybug revealed the truth—to the point of being more upset with Ladybug for outing the girl rather than the girl for lying in the first place?

This kid was too kind and trusting for his own good. And it was probably going to be the death of Plagg just from the sheer stress of it all. Honestly, he could feel his fur thinning out because of it.

It seemed like it was a short lived problem since the girl left soon after. But then she came back. And worse than ever, being akumatized at least twice more since then. One of which involved putting Adrien in an enchanted sleep that Plagg only just got to avoid kissing him out of. The other which involved witnessing Adrien…disappearing in a way that Plagg was still having to try very VERY hard not to think about at risk of revisiting other less than pleasant memories thankyouverymuch!

It made one thing clear: Lila wasn’t just a pest. She was a threat. One he really wanted to see gone.

So it was really no surprise that Plagg wasn’t happy about his kid choosing the ‘moral high road’ in this situation, since the poor idiot didn’t understand what the high road was even supposed to be. It was so easy for him to say, especially since Adrien wasn’t the one really being affected by the lies.

No, it was clearly Marinette being affected, and she was also the one Lila seemed to have it out for since she, at least, was willing to call the other girl out on her lies. Adrien thought that staying quiet and keeping his head down was the best option because for him, that’s how any conflict was resolved. It was a bad habit that Plagg had been hoping to break him out of, but that progress was slow going. His passivity was too strong and only bolstered by his relentless optimism and belief in others as well as the way that others would tend to push him down.

Plagg sighed. The kid just didn’t get it. This class of serial liar and manipulator couldn’t be dealt with by letting her continue unopposed.

So he understood at least why the Ladybug girl had been so upset. And he even sympathized with her, he truly did. But she was the sort of person to meet a challenge head on, and if an attempt failed, she simply looked for another way to deal with it. She didn’t bow her head. She didn’t turn tail and run away. And though there was conflict and it was having an effect on her, things were hardly so bad as to warrant an extreme reaction.

Like say, having her civilian self “disappear”.

If he hadn’t known she was Ladybug, he would be confused. But with that knowledge of her identity…he was only more confused. He didn’t understand why she was pretending to be missing.

Had something happened?

Was she in danger?

Did someone discover her identity?

Sure, maybe being Ladybug full time might be more productive, but given how protective she was over her civilian life, he couldn’t see her simply giving it up if she didn’t have to.

He didn’t buy for a minute that she would simply pull a vanishing act for the hell of it, even if her classmates were being mind-numbingly stupid. He knew he’d said before that these people were blind, but to just automatically accept all those tales was sheer lunacy! They certainly deserved some sort of reprimand, but not by making them think their friend might be dead! And even if they did, she would never do it to them.

The girl took her role as Ladybug seriously. Other than a few missteps, she treated the title with all the caution and importance that it warranted. He’d met her in person as himself, and even had the chance to work with her. He could understand why Tikki felt it justifiable to reveal Fu to her. And as much as he wanted to think well of his kid, he couldn’t deny that of the two of them, she was the better suited for handling the secret and bearing the responsibility that came with it.

So what happened?

When he first discovered she was still out and about as Ladybug after hearing that initial report, he wanted to forcefully end the transformation and confront her outright. He even considered slipping away when Adrien was busy and tracking her down to get some answers. Because Plagg may be patient, but he really needed an explanation for this.

He stopped, feeling that tingling energy of a Cataclysm waiting to happen and realizing that he was getting worked up again. He took a breath and forced himself to calm.

Observe first, Plagg reminded himself. Stalk your target. Watch. Wait. Gather information before making a move. Something had to have happened to warrant such a drastic change. He needed to find out what was going on.

And if she was doing this for giggles?

They would be having words.

eight’s a crowd pt. 2~ bts

pairing: ot7 x reader

rating: sfw

word count: 5.2k

summary: you’re a bighit staff member in charge of stage set-up when you find yourself inexplicably drawn to the very seven men you’re setting stage for. soulmate au!

a/n: if you’re reading this i love you!

part 01 02 03 04 05

You were unloading the lighting equipment when Sungjin approached you. “Hey, want to take our lunch together?”

Setting a box down with a huff, you shook your head. “Not today. I want to get the equipment unloaded. Go ahead and eat though, don’t let me stop you.”

“Are you sure?” he frowned. “You were supposed to take lunch an hour ago.”

You brushed him off. “I’m sure, don’t worry. I’m almost done anyway.”

The real reason why you wanted to complete your work early was to give yourself enough time to sightsee. You wanted to take a moment to explore the city, but if you waited too long, then you wouldn’t have the proper time. You’d stop and get lunch on the way, if you could.

Once Sungjin left, it was just you and Jae, along with a handful of other men roaming the venue. You were bussing back and forth between the stage and the unloading truck, carrying equipment. The process was laborious and you were sweating, but that wasn’t new. You were preoccupied when the door to the venue opened, and still too immersed to notice when Jae dropped a speaker in shock.

The rest of the crew continued unbothered, but you noticed when Jae took a shaky breath and pushed his glasses up his nose, pointing a hesitant finger toward you. “You mean that (Y/N)?”

Perking up at your name, you turned and realized Jae was speaking with Kim Taehyung. You froze, and avoided dropping the box you were holding by sheer force of will.

Taehyung turned almost in slow-motion, and when his gaze landed on you, his face erupted into the most beautiful, genuine smile you’d ever seen. Even Jae choked on his own spit. Thanking him, Taehyung walked toward you. You could feel his footsteps reverberating in your chest and briefly wondered what the hell was wrong with you before he stopped.

“Hi,” Taehyung breathed. “Are you (Y/N)?”

You nodded, not trusting yourself to speak. Taehyung reached out his hand for a handshake, which you returned, shifting the box awkwardly to one side. His hand was warm in your own, surprisingly calloused, before he tugged you closer and bowed, kissing your hand like a real-life Disney prince. You looked up in shock, meeting Jae’s wide-eyed gaze.

Taehyung straightened again and shot you another boxy grin that went straight to your heart. “It’s nice to meet you, I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Oh, really,” you replied, nervous. Had Jeongguk mentioned you? Why would he do that? You were just another passing face in a sea of a thousand. “Everything good, I hope.”

Taehyung laughed at your obvious discomfort. “Only the best.”

The two of you lapsed into silence, and you twitched uncomfortably. Taehyung was staring at you with a dark and unfathomable gaze, face bare and hair mused. He was either impervious to the awkward silence or too preoccupied to care, content to commit your face to memory until you cleared your throat. You were glad only Jae was close enough to recognize him, or else you were sure he’d be attracting attention.

“Is there anything you need?” you asked. “Is something wrong with the stage?”

He seemed startled out of his trance. “No, the stage is fine. Everything is fine. I was actually wondering if I could speak to you alone for a moment?”

Your mouth opened in shock before you snapped your jaw shut, with an audible click. “O-oh. I’m sorry, I’m really busy unloading right now—,”

Suddenly Jae was by your side, taking the box out of your hand and shooing you toward Taehyung. “It’s nothing I can’t handle, (Y/N)! Don’t you worry about it. You’re due for a break anyway, I know you skipped lunch.”

You shot him an evil look while Taehyung turned to you, worried. “You haven’t eaten?”

“Not yet,” you admitted. “I was going to once I finished.”

“No, she wasn’t,” Jae continued. “She was going to work herself half to death and then swallow a granola bar whole in the bathroom.”

Taehyung looked genuinely hurt at your own blatant disregard for your health, but you turned your face to the side and hissed at Jae, under your breath, “Don’t you have anything better to do?”

He shook his head and physically turned your face toward Taehyung again, who was eyeing Jae’s hand on your chin with tight-lipped displeasure. “It’s not right to overwork yourself like that,” he scolded, gently. “Come eat lunch with me, I want to make sure you stay healthy.”

You couldn’t believe this was happening. After working for BigHit for over a year, you were being asked to lunch by Kim Taehyung himself. Meanwhile, by your side, Jae couldn’t believe you weren’t throwing yourself at his feet!

You couldn’t help but think the situation was one big joke. First running into Jeongguk backstage, then Taehyung seeking you out. Maybe Brian was trying to prank you?

“That’s not necessary, uh, Mr. Kim,” you replied, not sure how to address him. You weren’t close enough to call him oppa but he was older than you, and you wanted to be respectful.

“Taehyung is fine,” Taehyung corrected, instant. He reached out and took your hand again, running his thumb over the back of it. “Eat lunch with me, please?”

He looked at you with puppy dog eyes and you felt your resistance chipping. “I guess I could take a short break. I should be back quickly though—,”

“Nope, nope, nope! Don’t worry, (Y/N), we won’t miss you at all. In fact, you could probably take the whole day off and we wouldn’t even notice you were gone. Have fun, eat well. Have a drink for me!” Jae cried, pushing you ahead of him as Taehyung dragged you behind him, toward the exit. The heat from his hand was gradually working up your arm in a way that was frankly alarming.

You turned to shoot Jae another bewildered look before he stopped pushing, standing still and gesturing wildly between you and Taehyung. Your face creased in confusion before Jae sighed, pointed at Taehyung, and made an obscene thrusting motion. You gasped, scandalized, before Taehyung tugged you right through the door. The last thing you saw was Jae’s smug face before the door clicked shut, leaving you and Taehyung alone in the hallway.

Instead of speaking, Taehyung just kept walking forward. There was a low buzzing starting underneath your skin, originating from where his hand was touching you. Finally, you asked, “What do you want?”

He hummed, slowing down enough so that instead of dragging you, he was walking by your side, still holding your hand. You couldn’t think of a polite way to remove it, so you kept it there. “I don’t know, I was thinking either something local or barbeque. What are you in the mood for?”

You stared. “I meant what did you want to talk about?”

He laughed, smiling. “We can talk while we eat. Do you mind just coming back to the tour bus? I wouldn’t mind eating in public, but it’s always a risk.”

You immediately nodded. “Eating in is fine.”

You slowed until Taehyung turned to glance at you, and you looked pointedly at your clasped hands. Taehyung snatched his hand away and you almost thought he was blushing. “I’m sorry,” he apologized, before pointing. “It’s this way.”

The two of you continued on. There was electricity crackling in the thin space between you, and Taehyung’s arm continuously brushed your own as you walked. He seemed as relaxed as ever, but you couldn’t bring yourself to glance in his direction. What was he doing here? Why did he want to talk to you? You couldn’t figure it out, and the suspense was killing you.

You wished you could say something. You wished you could miraculously morph yourself into a social person, but that was impossible. As if sensing your internal conflict, Taehyung gave you a reassuring look. “You seem nervous.”

“I’m just awkward,” you admitted. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s nothing to apologize for,” he replied. “You can be comfortable around me.”

You laughed without humor. You would be more comfortable around a convicted serial killer. “I’ll try.” It made you feel better when he talked, so you asked, “How have you been enjoying the tour?”

“Oh, it’s been fantastic,” he gushed, immediately vaulting into a tirade about how much fun the tour has been. Listening to him calmed your nerves, but you couldn’t help what wonder what he wanted. You were a nobody on the tour, what interest could he possibly have in you?

You were much more relaxed by the time you made it to the tour bus, but Taehyung ruined it by saying, “By the way, a few of the others are in here. I hope you don’t mind.”

“What?” you asked, startled out of silence. “I don’t want to be a nuisance, we can go somewhere—,”

But as if hearing you speak, the door was flung open and Jung Hoseok was standing there. His red hair was mused, like he’d been running his hand through it.

“Tae!” he cried in excitement, but his eyes were glued to you. “You’re just in time, Yoongi’s back.”

“Any luck?” someone called from within the bus, before there was a smacking sound.

Taehyung stepped inside, and you followed behind him reluctantly. Min Yoongi was sprawled across the couch but sat up in shock when he saw you. Park Jimin, who was standing at the kitchen counter, dropped his phone in the sink.

Hoseok gave them both a sharp look before looking at you again, gaze going soft. “And who’s your friend?”

“(Y/N),” you offered, proud that your voice came out strongly.

“She’s a part of the set-up crew,” Taehyung supplied, and Jimin shot Yoongi a quick look you couldn’t decipher.

“That’s very cool,” Jimin said. “Thank you for the work you do.”

Your entire face flushed at his gratitude. “It’s nothing, really.”

“No, it’s not!” he insisted. “It’s staff like you that keep the show going. You’re the unsung heroes of the entire tour.”

You tried to hide your awkwardness behind a laugh, but it felt forced. “That’s very kind of you to say.”

Jimin opened his mouth to reply until Taehyung leaned closer to you, his mouth almost brushing your ear. You had to hide your shiver. “I need to grab my phone from my bunk, I’ll be right back.”

He left, leaving you standing alone by the door. Hoseok cuddled up to you right away. “Sit down, make yourself comfortable.”

“Oh, I’m fine,” you tried to say, but Hoseok led you to the couch and helped you sit next to Yoongi, his hand on your back. The travel bus felt sweltering, and you could feel your shirt sticking to you with sweat. “Really, I don’t want to intrude.”

“You’re not intruding,” Yoongi insisted, which surprised you—he seemed like the member who’d be most annoyed by your sudden appearance.

You huffed out a laugh, and their eyes didn’t leave your face. You resisted the urge to smooth your hair.

“So, you’re with the set-up crew,” Jimin noted. “Tough job?”

“It’s not bad,” you replied. “I handle the small stuff.”

Taehyung came back, saving you from further small talk, and interrupted, “She hasn’t eaten yet, where’s Jin?”

Instead of answering, Yoongi turned to you accusatorily, “Why haven’t you eaten?”

You opened your mouth to lie, just like you did with Sungjin, but for some reason you were compelled to admit, “I wanted to get my work done early so I could explore the city.”

Jimin straightened. “Really? Would you mind if we came with?”

You gaped at him. Was he really asking if he and the rest of Bangtan could come with you to sightsee? This couldn’t be happening. “Why?”

“We want to see the city, too,” he pouted. “Our concert isn’t until tomorrow night.”

“We were already planning on going,” Hoseok admitted, smoothly. Almost too smoothly. “If anything, would you like to come with us?”

“I already said I don’t want to intrude—,”

“And we already said you weren’t intruding,” Jimin said. “Please? We have a tour guide.”

A tour guide? The thought made you almost giddy with excitement. You’d never had a tour guide, most of your exploring consisted of you wandering around the area until you’d gotten your fill. Having a tour guide, especially with a language barrier, would be a huge help.

But would it be worth it? Being around Bangtan made you nervous as hell, and you still didn’t know what Taehyung wanted to talk about, but you didn’t want to pass up such a great opportunity.

You eyed the four of them. “As long as you promise you don’t mind.”

“We don’t mind,” multiple people said, maybe all of them, and Jimin hid his laugh in his elbow.

“And!” you continued. “You okay it with the rest of the group. And security. And BigHit.”

Hoseok said, “It’s a deal. Yoongi, call Namjoon. When do you want to leave?”

“Let her eat first,” Taehyung scolded. “I’m already calling Jin.”

“We can eat in the city.”

“But (Y/N)’s hungry now.”

You perked up. “Actually, I’m fine.”

Taehyung held up his finger. “Let us feed you, baby. It would make me feel a lot better if you ate.”

For a moment, your face flushed red at the sudden use of his endearment. It made your skin prickle, but in a decidedly good way. “I’d rather leave now and eat in the city, if that’s okay.”

“Of course,” Yoongi said, face softening. “I’m calling Namjoon, be right back.”

He left, and Jimin filled his spot on the couch. Hoseok sat to your other side, and Taehyung crouched in front of you. You waited for your anxiety to increase, but surprisingly, it didn’t. The longer you spent with them, the more comfortable you felt. Despite this, you were still left questioning. You didn’t understand why Bangtan was being so nice to you. You’d never heard of them acting so friendly to another employee before. What made you special?

Yoongi walked back into the living area. “Namjoon, Jin, and Jeongguk are gonna meet us by the van. Ready to leave?”

You nodded. Since you’d planned to go directly from work to the city, you already had money and your phone, plus your room key in a separate pocket. You just needed to remember to text Jae. You felt guilty leaving your work unfinished, but it’d been Jae that had gotten you into this situation in the first place.

The boys gathered their stuff. They led the way to the van, Hoseok and Taehyung in front of you, Jimin and Yoongi behind. You felt like a celebrity with her own police escort.

When you reached the parking lot behind the venue, you noticed Namjoon first because he was the tallest, locked in a conversation with Seokjin to the side. Jeongguk was leaning against a white van with a pensive look on his face, but the second he caught sight of you, his expression lit up like a Christmas tree.

“(Y/N)!” he exclaimed. Before you could think, he strode across the lot and enveloped you in a sudden hug.

Time froze. Your face fit perfectly into the crook of his shoulder, and he smelled amazing. The heat from his body soaked through your clothes and you hesitantly wrapped your arms around him, only slightly stiff. Vaguely, behind him, you thought you heard someone mutter, “Jeongguk, you’re scaring her.”

He released you, smiling sheepishly. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to ambush you. I just wanted to apologize for running into you last night.”

“It’s fine,” you assured him. “I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

Jeongguk was nudged to the side, and you were met with Kim Seokjin. He looked even better in person, although all he was wearing was a sweatshirt and jeans. He pulled his bottom lip through his teeth and you struggled not to stare.

“It’s nice to meet you,” he said, dropping into a short bow. You returned it and held out your hand.

“It’s nice to meet you, too.” Instead of shaking your hand, Seokjin grabbed it and stroked over your knuckles, making goosebumps rise on the back of your neck.

He smiled and let go, fingers lingering on your skin. You turned to find Namjoon, who was waiting patiently for Seokjin to take his turn. You couldn’t help but internally coo at his dimples when his face broke into a wide smile.

“I’m glad you could come with us,” he said. He didn’t reach for your hand, but he was standing close enough that you found yourself unconsciously leaning toward him.

“Thank you for letting me,” you replied. “I was just gonna wander around on my own.”

His face fell as he frowned in concern. “You shouldn’t walk around by yourself, something bad could happen.”

You blushed and shrugged, touched by his concern. “I’ve been doing it since the beginning of the tour, nothing bad as happened yet. I’m always careful.”

“Well, from now on, you can sightsee with us,” Jimin declared, bouncing next to you.

“We’ll keep you company,” Hoseok added.

“And we’ll make sure you stay safe,” Taehyung finished.

The seven of them seemed to be inching closer, forming a circle around you. Instead of feeling closed in, you felt pleasantly included. You were grateful to realize that their attention was becoming less and less intimidating.

“We should get going, though,” Namjoon said, gesturing to the van. “We’re meeting the tour guide at the travel agency.”

The van was small enough to be inconspicuous, with four seats in the back, three in the middle, and two upfront. Half of the group was corralled into the back, with you seated in the middle seat next to Jimin and Yoongi. Namjoon was stuck upfront with the driver.

You finally texted Jae to tell him you wouldn’t be back, but he only replied with the eggplant emoji. You scowled and deleted the chat.

When the seven of you were settled, Namjoon slid the sliding van door shut and clambered into the passenger seat.

The second he shut the door, you felt electricity crackle in the air. The van felt like it was full to the brim, and an overwhelming sense of rightness filled your chest. It was like an unknown hole in your heart getting stitched together. It was like the snap of a key turning in a lock, except you didn’t know if your chest was being locked or opened.

Jimin shifted next to you, and you felt his leg press against your own. His thigh was warm and firm, and Taehyung’s hair brushed your cheek as he leaned against your seat to talk to Namjoon over your head.

Everyone was chatting absent-mindedly amongst each other with you caught in the middle, but strangely, you didn’t feel like an eighth wheel. Despite the obviously close bond the seven of them shared, you didn’t feel left out. In fact, with the way Yoongi kept glancing anxiously at you from the corner of his eye, you felt enveloped. Warm. Blanketed. It was comforting.

You decided that you were going to throw practicality to the wind and enjoy yourself. You were in a foreign country sightseeing with seven handsome celebrities, and you were going to have fun. Any question you had could wait until tomorrow.

The van lurched into motion, and Seokjin leaned next to Taehyung, face pushed between Yoongi’s and your own. “(Y/N), why are we just now meeting you?”

They all spoke to you so casually, like you’d known them for ages. “I’m not usually backstage. I was doing a friend a favor when I met Jeongguk last night.”

Seokjin seemed to find that vastly amusing. “Almost like fate, huh?”

“Yeah, I guess,” you replied. He said it like it was an inside joke, one that you didn’t quite understand.

When you parked, Jimin insisted that you exit before him. His hand brushed your waist as you maneuvered around him and out of the van. It made your skin tingle, and you missed the warning look Namjoon shot him while Jimin shrugged remorselessly.

The tour guide ended up being a very nice man who was a native to the country you were visiting. He spoke fluent English, and you and Namjoon ended up helping the rest of the group with the language barrier. Namjoon was obviously grateful to have your help, and it made your heart warm, knowing that you weren’t just a useless addition to their excursion.

You had the time of your life. Having the guide there to show you local scenery helped because he was able to show you stuff you’d never have been able to find on your own. He offered a lot of information about local lore and history, all of which you listened to avidly. You were so immersed in the trip that you forgot to be nervous around Bangtan—instead the eight of you laughed and joked around. You realized as the day went on that they were much more normal than they seemed on camera.

Jeongguk had a camera with him, and he walked around the city like a photographer, taking pictures of the rest of you. You tried to avoid him, but he seemed to seek you out; you constantly glanced over and found his lens trained on you before you could jerk away and hide. After a while Taehyung wrestled the camera away from him and started taking photos that included Jeongguk, who’d strayed away from being in any photos until then.

Seokjin bought your lunch and the eight of you ate on the beach, staring out at the water. The maknae line, along with Hoseok, goofed around in the sand, while Namjoon and Yoongi dragged you into a conversation about your job and hobbies.

You talked about how grateful you were to tour with them, about your wanderlust and desire to see the world. The weirdest part was how genuinely interested they were—you could tell by the way they stared, how they nodded and interjected their own opinion in your stories, that they cared about what you were saying. You didn’t know why, but you weren’t going to question it. You were usually too reserved to talk to anyone about yourself; finding comfort like that now felt like a blessing, and you didn’t want to ruin the moment.

They day ended with Jeongguk throwing Jimin into the ocean while the sun set prettily over the water, and the rest of you laughed while they tussled.

You didn’t get back to the hotel until it was dark, and Bangtan followed you up to your room after changing into more comfortable clothes in their tour bus. Luckily the room had two queen-sized beds, and you changed while Namjoon ordered takeout and paid over the phone before you could protest. He claimed that since he was older than you it was his responsibility to pay, but you still felt guilty. You didn’t want them to think you’d agreed to hang out with them because they were famous and had money—you’d had a great time with them today, and it had nothing to do with how much money they had and everything to do with how much you’d enjoyed their company.

Seokjin put on a nameless movie that droned in the background while the rest of you talked and ate. Conversation seemed to flow effortlessly between the eight of you, with someone always prepared with another topic after one conversation fizzled out. You didn’t keep track of how long you stayed up talking, but by the end of the night, Bangtan didn’t seem like Bangtan anymore—they were just seven people in a group, and you were lucky enough to spend time with them.

You found your eyes growing heavy, but you didn’t want the night to end. Nobody was willing to state the obvious, so the eight of you settled into bed and enjoyed the silence. It was strange, being surrounded by seven people and feeling totally at ease with them, and before you knew it, you found yourself drifting off to sleep.

~~~

You woke up in the morning sweaty and overheated. You tried to shift, but you were tangled in your blanket. Everything felt disoriented, but you were coherent enough to register a weight on the bed, curled up close to your side. When you turned your head, your forehead brushed someone’s nose, and their breath was hot on your face.

Much more awake, you opened your eyes and saw Yoongi’s pale hair. He was turned toward you, face buried in your pillow. An arm was slung over his waist, and if you craned your neck, you could see Jimin behind him, forehead pressed to the nape on Yoongi’s neck.

You breathed in sharply through your nose, holding in a shocked gasp. The bed shifted to your right, and you turned over and saw Taehyung. He was holding his own pillow tight to his chest, teetering on the very edge of the bed. He felt your sudden shift and groggily cracked one eye open, taking in your slack mouth and wide-eyed expression.

“Hey,” he said, heavy with sleep. His voice was ridiculously gruff and you almost blushed. He spoke casually, like it was completely natural for him to wake up in bed next to you. Behind you, Jimin mumbled incoherently.

“If this weren’t a hotel,” Taehyung continued. “We’d make you breakfast.”

The mention of the hotel made you sit up. Yoongi grumbled next to you, burrowing further into your blanket. You were the only one underneath it, with the other three sleeping on top of it. This isn’t a dream, you thought, they’re really here, and you’re in bed with them.

You were sleeping with Taehyung, Yoongi, and Jimin. On the other bed you saw Namjoon, Hoseok, Jeongguk, and Seokjin, barely illuminated by the morning sunlight filtering in through the window. They were in a jumbled pile on the bed, and you couldn’t make sense of who was sleeping by who.

The sight was endearing, but then reality kicked in, and you made a shocked noise in the back of your throat.

Namjoon’s head shot up immediately, attuned to the sound of your voice. Seokjin was startled awake, twitching in alarm, which woke up Hoseok and Jeongguk. They mirrored Namjoon’s position, turning to stare at you. Time felt like it was moving sluggishly, and they blinked owlishly. They didn’t seem shocked or nervous—only concerned, waiting to see what you were going to say. Seokjin caught a glimpse of the bedside clock and grimaced.

“Oh, God, I’m going to get arrested,” you gasped, too loud in the dark quiet of the hotel room.

There was a pause before Hoseok threw his head back in silent laughter. Even you were shocked by your sudden outburst, but once you had the thought, it wouldn’t leave your mind. “Why?”

“Because you’re famous!” you whisper-cried. “You’re famous and you stayed the night in my room. Security is probably going crazy trying to figure out where you are. They’re going to accuse me of kidnapping and then I’m going to go to prison and rot in a cell until I die, for kidnapping celebrities.”

All five of them, from Namjoon ambling to his feet across the room to Taehyung staring at you blurrily from over his pillow, looked highly amused by your rant. You felt the bed shift behind you and turned to see Jimin leaning on his elbow. “And who’s going to arrest you?”

“The Korean government, the police, security, BangPD! Someone!”

Jeongguk was snickering into the crook of his elbow. His face was still creased with sleep. “You don’t have to worry, (Y/N).”

“We called security last night and told them we’d be staying here,” Seokjin assured, also trying to hold in his laugh. He followed Namjoon’s lead and stood, although he wobbled and had to brace himself on the bedside table.

“And if someone tries to arrest you, we’ll stop them,” Namjoon finished.

“Now be quiet,” Yoongi murmured, voice muffled. He was the only one who hadn’t given any sign that he was awake, until now. “We have at least five minutes left.”

Namjoon grimaced. “Actually, hyung, we need to leave soon.”

Jimin’s face fell, and he stared at you forlornly. “So soon?”

“Yeah,” Namjoon replied. He started listing off their schedule for the day, and it was so elaborate that you winced on their behalf.

It was a struggle dragging Yoongi out of bed. The seven of them took their time getting ready, glancing at you continuously. You stood with them, not wanting to linger awkwardly in bed while they were getting ready to leave.

“I’m so, so sorry you all ended up falling asleep here,” you told them, and Yoongi huffed out a laugh.

“We fell asleep in your hotel room and took over your bed, and you’re apologizing to us?” he asked.

Your face flushed. You’d pointedly avoided bringing up the bedsharing, because you could still feel Yoongi’s phantom-breath against your neck. Bedsharing wasn’t a big deal, it wasn’t like you’d been cuddling—right?

“We appreciate you letting us stay,” Jeongguk said, sheepishly. “Sometimes the tour bus is hard to sleep in.”

You didn’t doubt it, remembering how small and cramped the sleeping area had seemed. You felt much better about the whole ordeal, knowing you’d at least helped them in some way.

They were gathered at the door, knowing they needed to leave, but wanting more than anything to stay. They looked heartbreakingly authentic—messy hair, bare faces, still in their rumbled pajamas. It was startling to be so thoroughly reminded that they were just like you, except with more glitz and glam in an industry that demanded it of them. Seeing them in such a human light made you admire them even more, and your chest was close to bursting.

“Thank you all so much,” you said. “Really, I had a fantastic time. I’m gonna remember yesterday for the rest of my life.”

All seven of them were grinning so widely, you were surprised their faces weren't splitting. Hoseok said, “We’ll see you after the concert.”

You grinned and nodded, still slightly breathless. Each of them touched you on their way out—Jimin grabbed your hand, Seokjin and Hoseok brushed your arm, Jeongguk and Yoongi wrapped their hand around your wrist. Taehyung, boldest of the seven, stroked his knuckle down the length of your neck, making you shiver.

You’d noticed Namjoon had gone out of his way to avoid touching you yesterday. Today he lingered in the doorway, giving you a considering look, before reaching out and cupping your cheek in his hand. “See you tonight, baby.”

Bangtan waved goodbye, and then you were left alone in your room, the air conditioner humming rhythmically in the background.

Activation || Amadeo & Noah

While Noah walks Haukea through the woods, he runs into AJ right before he is attacked. Then things get really weird. 

AJ finally had the information he needed, the next step was figuring out what he was going to do with the information. He could try to find the families of the victims or the witnesses that he now had access to, but he couldn’t be sure that any of those people would be interested in talking to the son of the man accused of murdering their daughters. So that was out until he could think of a better plan. He also needed to get medical records from the hospital of the victims, but without access and with Blanche a little busy avoiding death by poltergeist he figured that would have to wait for a while too. Far down his list were revisiting crime scenes looking for anything that the police might have missed from the original murders. It had never been a priority because two years later the chances of finding anything were almost slim to none. But he had nothing better to do today, so that was how he found himself out in the middle of the woods just a few miles from the university wondering just what he thought he was going to find at this long forgotten murder setting.

Hooking Haukea’s leash onto her harness Noah closed his truck door smiling down at his happy puppy. In all his days at the barn this was probably the thing he missed most, Haukea’s little face doing one of those Labrador smiles up at him. Ruffling her fur a bit Noah picked his water up from off the side of his truck bed and they were off walking across the parking lot towards the trail. He didn’t really know which one they were going to take yet, but something was pulling him towards…. The left one. Yea they were going to start on the left one and then work their way back, or around, or whatever. He wasn’t to fussed about where they went as long as he was with his dog. And that’s how he found himself walking through the forest with his pupper on her lead in front him not a care in the world.

Not surprising to AJ in the slightest, there was nothing at this crime scene to find. Besides a short string of crime scene tape weighed down by a fallen branch, AJ would have been unable to tell that the place had once been the scene of a murder at all. There had just been too much time between now and then for anything noteworthy to be left over. There was always the possibility that the police had done their jobs efficiently and found everything that had been noteworthy. He kept his cool and made sure not to lose his temper. This was just the first crime scene after all. The first step in a long investigation and he knew that not turn he took could lead to the end of the rainbow. A twig cracking in the distance made him spin and pull his pocket knife free from his back pocket. Maybe he should start bringing his dad’s gun with him. But the guy walking his dog through the woods barely looked like they intended on hurting Noah. “Hey” AJ said, folding the knife back up and stuffing it away, “How’s it going?”

Looking down at Haukea as she barked a small warning Noah held her leash tighter as the boy approached. Normally Noah wouldn’t have given him a second thought, no normally he would have just given a nod and walked past. But it was late afternoon and the kid was folding up a knife and stuffing it in his pocket, a movement that wasn’t exactly alarming but not exactly something that gave him a happy rainbow feeling. “Hey” Noah replied with a small little wave as Haukea tugged at her leash a little. She wasn’t usually a puller, but she was quite the happy-go-lucky pup, always trying to put her nose in potential danger. “Kea heel” He commanded making his dog swing her body tighter towards him as he slowed his pace down before the boy. “And it’s going good, you know out for a walk and everything, how’s it going for you?” Noah asked hoping his face wasn’t as full of suspicion as his chest was.

AJ knew that he must look crazy roaming through the woods and pulling his knife on the first person that happened to walk by. So he tried to diffuse the situation by letting a smile to slip across his face and laughing nervously. He brought his arm up and scratched at his neck. “Sorry I’m a little jumpy. Never know who you’re going to run into out in the woods after all.” He was making sure to sound extra friendly and extra awkward. Awkward was always the best way to make others less suspicious. “Cute dog.” He pointed out, hoping the dude would welcome the misdirection in conversation.

Looking from him to his hand Noah just let his face do the talking, lips pursed in a small line “Yea” He nodded not knowing exactly what else to say to that. Because if you wanted to set someone at ease that was probably not the way to go about it. But then again if this wasn’t like some sort of ambush the Boy was probably a lot smarter than Noah with his knife. Although Noah guessed having brute werewolf strength could be comparable. Noticing the other boy change the subject to something better Noah though calmed down a little. Ok woodland serial killers didn’t usually call dogs cute after all. Right? “She is,” Noah agreed looking down at his dog and smiling softly “Name’s haukea,” He continued as Haukea’s wagging tail made him feel better about the situation. “It means snow white in Hawaiian” He didn’t exactly know why he was offering that information up to the boy but you know, why not. It was friendly information about a safe subject after all.

“That’s adorable.” AJ wasn’t sure how much longer this small talk was going to go on. He didn’t have a lot of experience talking to random strangers in the woods. He hated small talk, he found it useless and time consuming. But the last thing he needed was some concerned civilian calling the police about some suspicious character in the woods. The police department and the media would have a field day if they got the opportunity to tote a Ricci into the station. “You must be a Disney fan? Or a Grimm’s fairy tales fan.” Maybe quoting those ridiculously dark horror stories wasn’t the lightest of conversation. “Uh AJ” He offered his name up, closing the gap between them to hold out a hand in introduction.

“Yea, I was pretty proud of myself for that one” Noah quipped back with a small smile. He was happy this was going better, but then again how could things not go better when they were on the subject of dogs? It was Noah’s favorite. Standing there shifting his weight from foot to foot, Noah gave Kea a sit command, seeing the ‘I want to jump all over this stranger and lick him to death’ action in her yes. “And it was more of a I wanted a princess name for my little princess, and that was the one that seems to stick” He could feel the blush start to rise in his checks but he fought it hard. Men can want to name their dogs’ sweet things, and know about princesses, and put dogs in sweater when it’s cold too ok. It’s not like. A thing or anything you know. Shaking it off though Noah was grateful when the kid decided to introduce himself “Noah,” he replied to the boy before gesturing to the excited dog struggling to stay still and sitting while there was a new person to greet just inches “Oh and she knows how to shake too if you wanted to be really formal about it”

 AJ didn’t want to shake the dog’s hand. He had nothing against dogs or cats or really any pets in general, but he also had no desire for one either. His parents had never had a pet, said that they travelled too much for it to make sense. AJ vaguely remembers asking them for one when he was younger but as the years went on he enjoyed the freedoms no pets allowed him. Plus, he wasn’t an overly sentimental enough guy to really get attached to a pet. “Uh shake” AJ did as was suggested though, because that was how polite small talk went. Surprisingly, the dog listened and soon AJ was holding her paw and shaking before letting go and giving the dog a good pat on the head. “She’s well behaved” AJ complimented, impressed by her skills. Another reason his dad had never wanted a pet, didn’t want to take the time to actually train one. “I never had any pets growing up.”

Watching Kea get to show off her hard work with a lovely shake had Noah practically melting in his tennis shoes. And even more so when AJ remarked on her being well behaved. It had been and still was a lot of work keeping up with her training, but Noah knew in the long run it was all worth it to have the best behaved dog around. “Thanks” Noah nodded at the boy before putting his own hand on his dog’s head to silently praise her for being good. “It was a struggle at first but she’s learning, aren’t you girl” She wagged her tail on up at him. Looking over toward AJ though Noah’s smile fell slightly when he told him he didn’t have any pets “Wow, that sounds rough. I mean my dad was a Vet so we always had animals around.”

AJ shrugged, “It wasn’t too bad I guess. My family and I travelled a lot so we never really had time for one. Wouldn’t be much of a pet if he was locked in his cage all day.” Another bonus of never owning a pet was the lack of fur floating around his home. He still found cat hair on the clothes he had worn to Blanche’s that night. He would have to be careful to make sure to never wear black to her or the Parrish household again. Cats were the devil. He heard the crunching of leaves and glanced behind him but was met with an empty forest. He had been careful to not pull his knife this time around. It had probably just been a deer or an oversized squirrel. This was the forest after all. “You two seem close though.”

“Yea I feel real guilty about putting her in her crate while I go to like an hour class so I can understand that.” Noah commented with a slight wrinkle of his nose, looking down at his puppy for a moment. But then without warning she stood, tail straight out body ridged. It maybe only took a split second before he felt it too, the little prickle on the back of his neck that made him feel uneasy, and the sound of crunching leaves. Looking around Noah squinted into the forest along with the kid, wishing that for once he’d actually had werewolf powers so his low light vision was better. But he didn’t. And if he was being honest it was probably some brave forest animal anyway, coming over to see what all this ruckus was about. Placing a hand on the back of his Neck, Noah gripped Haukea’s leash a little tighter the feeling still lingering on. “Yea, she’s helped me a lot like emotionally with things” He shrugged out hoping that whatever it was would pass quickly so he could stop feeling like he was on edge and ready to rip someone’s throat out with his teeth.

Emotions was a conversation that AJ did not touch. He wasn’t comfortable with people talking about their feelings to him and he definitely wasn’t comfortable talking about his feelings to others. Before he fell down that rabbit hole AJ decided that it was time to cut the conversation off and get out of the woods. He hadn’t learned anything from the crime scene but AJ was pretty sure that he wasn’t going to find anything out either. It was too old, too weathered to hold anything useful. “Well I should start heading back towards the campus I was just looking for some good running trails.” AJ still faced Noah but began taking a few steps backwards and pointed back in the direction of the college. “It was nice meeting you though. And your little dog too.” He laughed politely to try to maintain the friendliness.

Still feeling on a little on edge Noah just nodded at the boy when he said he was going to head back toward campus. Noah should probably head back to the parking lot too, but he’d wait until the teen was at least out of eye shot before doing that. Didn’t want to be a creeper after all. Especially in these creepy woods. Laughing slightly at the wizard of Oz reference though the older boy waved at the teen “Nice to meet you too knife boy, and be careful with that ok, wouldn’t want to scare anymore hikers” He quipped back feeling like an old grandpa, but a you know like a caring old grandpa. Not a weird one.

“Knife boy. Nice” AJ laughed before giving a slight wave and then turning around and starting his hike back towards where his truck was parked on the campus. It wasn’t too long of a walk, though without the path students would usually follow the hike would take a little longer, but AJ had been hiking his entire life so this would present no real challenge to him. He had only just barely crossed over the long forgotten string of caution tape still on the ground when someone crashed into him from the side and slammed him into the dirt. He was rolled onto his back and his throat pinned by a hand that connected to a woman in her mid to late twenties. Her skin was fair but her hair was pitch black and although the face seemed familiar he knew he had never seen this woman before. Thewo man had crawled on top of AJ, pinning both hands above AJ’s head and using her knees to pin AJ’s legs to the ground. “How fucking dare you come here after what your father did?” Great. Another fan of his father. What the hell was she doing out here then? AJ tried to speak, to say anything, but he couldn’t talk with the hand pressing down against his throat. Instead, AJ focused his entire attention on getting free, choosing to squirm against the woman’s weight crushing down on him and trying to get anything, an arm or leg or something free. “Your father kills my sister. I guess I’ll return the favor.” She freed her hand from AJ’s neck and AJ took the opportunity to take a much needed breath. The relief was short lived however, when the woman held the hand up and AJ watched as her nails began elongating to the point that they were longer than the knife currently unreachable in his back pocket. That’s when AJ truly began struggling.

Something was not right, Noah could sense it the second that AJ disappeared along the trail. It was as if the air was charged with uneasiness more so than when he first felt it. Standing there though Noah didn’t know what to, If he was a real werewolf he probably could sniff, or track, or just figure it out himself. But he wasn’t. He was just a man with way above average strength and olfactory senses for his body, a man with doubts. Luckily for everyone though Haukea had no doubts, and while Noah stood motionless his loyal dog used her instincts to charge off after AJ, a sharp growl dissipating in the air after her. “Haukea!!” Noah shouted sprinting after her only able to watch for now as his dog sunk her teeth into some woman holding AJ by the throat.

The dog had been quick and in all honestly had probably saved AJ’s life, but she hadn’t been quick enough. AJ couldn’t begin to describe the pain he felt as the man pressed his elongated nails against the surface of AJ’s stomach and then slowly began forcing them into his skin. The move had been deliberately slow, a show of power. He wanted to take his time with AJ. The pain became only more intense as the nails sunk deeper into his gut. AJ was careful not to scream, he ground his teeth together but forced his mouth to remain closed. He shut his eyes so tight he felt he would pop a blood vessel. Then he heard the man scream. Peaking an eye open he sound the dog- Haukea- biting at the man’s arm and as the man readjusted to get free of the dog’s teeth AJ finally felt his opportunity. In as swift of a motion as he could in the pain that he was in he used one leg to kick one of the man’s knees out then levelled his other against the man’s chest and kicked. AJ was expecting to have enough time to scramble away from the man, instead he watched as the man flew across the air and cracked against a tree at least fifteen feet in the air. The fall from the tree to the ground seemed to move in slow motion and as AJ and the man both looked bewildered from what had just happened, it was short lived as the man found his footing and took back off the way he had come.

Still running towards the situation Noah tried not to let the acrid smell of blood wafting off of the younger boy dissuade him from his goal. Which you know was save his dog and AJ. But apparently the kid had it all covered, as the woman flew backward, Noah’s tennis shoes skidding to a halt near AJ’s head. Ok that was. Well. That was interesting to say the least, this whole unexplained superhuman strength thing. But he couldn’t overthink it now, not when it could just be a fluke of human ability. Listening to Haukea bark the intruder away Noah stood ready above AJ till she came back toward him muzzle covered in blood but tail wagging. Yea she really was a good girl. Crouching over the boy Noah let the adrenaline take him eyes assessing the situation quickly and efficiently “Hey we’ve got you now, just breath alright” Noah ground out as he swiftly pulled his own shirt over his head bunching up the fabric and pressing it into the gash on the boy’s stomach.

The next thing AJ knew another figure loomed over him and then pain shot through his body as he realized pressure was getting put on his stomach. His arms flailed out in defense and caught against skin. His vision was blurry, but he wiped at his eyes and finally focused in enough to see Noah kneeling beside him, shirtless. Why the hell was he shirtless? Further investigation revealed the shirt Noah had been wearing balled up and being shoved against AJ’s still bleeding stomach. He mumbled his protests and knew exactly what a gut wound meant. It meant that he was in deep shit right now, depending on how deep the wound went. It had sure felt deep in the moment. “You’re ruining your shirt” Was the first coherent thing that he got out of his mouth.

Mind running a mile a minute as he tried to go over all of the first aid protocol he knew, Noah looked down at the shirt in his hands the edges already tinged red. His shirt was not going to last long, and he knew time was crucial. But luckily for the pair AJ was coherent and talking so that gave them a little extra time. “It was either this or my pants. So you’re welcome” Noah retorted hoping that would keep the kid talking a little bit as he racked his brain for what he could do, but there was really only one thing they could do right now. “Alright so based on what I know about gut wounds we are going to need to get you to the hospital ASAP ok.” Noah said calmly looking down at the boy and hoping he wasn’t in the mood to complain. I mean Noah could probably keep him contained long enough to get him to his truck…. But then again there was that fluke of strength thing. Yea it was probably best if the kid came along quietly “So if you can hold this close to your stomach, I can carry you to my truck. Sound good?”

As a kid, AJ’s father used to take him hunting. AJ had never been a fan of the sport personally. Found it unnecessary in a world where they could buy meat at a grocery store minutes away. He liked to leave the killing of animals to those that were actually stranded in the wilderness. But he remembered they used to sit up in the trees and talk about his father’s cases. One particular case talked about a wife who shot her cheating husband in the gut and left him in their house alone for hours. It was his father’s final words on the subject that stuck with AJ. “It’s just like a deer if you shoot it in the gut. The best cure is a headshot.” That sentence kept ringing in his ears as Noah was giving him instructions. He definitely didn’t like the idea of being carried though. “Nobody is carrying me anywhere” He grumbled and swatted at his hand still pushing against the wound. AJ put pressure against it himself and then held his hand out to Noah, “I got the wound just help me up.” Maybe refusing help from someone offering was dumb, but his dad had always taught him to put pride first. AJ knew it was bad advice but still had always seemed to follow it.

Frowning slightly as the kid professed his slightly morbid ideology Noah looked for something to tie the shirt onto AJ. But there wasn’t anything really, unless he tied Haukea’s leash around the boy, “Well it’s a good thing that I believe in modern medicine then and neither of us have a gun” He replied back with a wink, un-hooking his amazingly patient dog from her tether. He wouldn’t tie it around the boy yet but he’d keep it handy just in case the kid couldn’t keep it together. Especially when he was insisting on walking himself. “You walking by yourself is not going to help your chances any, trust me on that one” Noah said taking the boys arm with one hand while also scooping his other against the kids back. “On three ok, one, two three” Gently Noah pulled the boy up letting him decide on how upright he really wanted to be.

AJ had to hold back the groan as Noah lifted him up off of the ground. He had been lucky the guy with him had been plenty strong in his own right and could basically lift AJ up with little help from AJ himself. He wasn’t sure how easily he could pull himself up off of the ground at the moment. He had been injured plenty of times throughout his life. Multiple injured ankles plus a broken bone from hiking accidents. Open wounds from self-defense training taken too far. Getting jumped by the kids at school. None of those injuries had hurt this badly. “I can walk.” AJ argued, dragging his feet across the dirt mostly supported by Noah, but still convinced that he needed to do this on his own. The weirdest part was that as he dragged his feet across the dirt worrying that the hike was taking too long and he was going to bleed out, he could tell that walking was starting to become easier. He felt his feet actually catching the surface and soon he was supporting himself. “I bet this isn’t how you planned on spending your day. Certainly not how I planned on spending mine.”

Supporting the kid as they walked Noah looking back to make sure Haukea was following, giving her an easy ‘follow me’ command while he was at it. If he was being honest she probably didn’t really need a command, as never strayed to far from his side normally. But the last thing he wanted was to get AJ to his truck and suddenly have his dog be nowhere to be found. Focusing his attention back on AJ Noah gripped a little tighter as AJ tried to argue “And I can definitely carry you, but I don’t think either of us are going to get our wish.” Noah retorted wishing the kid wasn’t as stubborn, help was a good thing after all, especially if you are at a risk of bleeding out over the carpet. Loosening his grip a little as he felt the kid get the hang of walking like this (although Noah did get a little tingle of strangeness about AJ’s sudden and new found walking abilities) Noah just scoffed playfully at the boy. “Nope. But Thank god you cleared that up for me, because I was getting a little concerned that getting attacked by a strange woman with creepy nails was some sort of kink of yours” He joked hoping that would keep the boy talking.

As AJ continued to walk he could tell that something was not right. Or rather, maybe something was too right. While walking put most of its stressers on leg muscles, the stomach was definitely being exercised too which meant that with a wound like his he should be in searing pain to the point of passing out or at least needing to be carried by Noah. There was no logical explanation as to why he was up walking. The wound still hurt and blood was still leaking from it, but the pain was bearable and red was not pouring from his stomach like it had before. “Well she completely ignored my safe word, so that was fucked.” Chances were she had recognized AJ from the news and saw the opportunity, but what the hell had she been doing there in the first place? And most importantly, what the hell was she? Not human, that was for sure. “Thanks. By the way. Your dog too.”

Snorting slightly at AJ, Noah felt the edges of his lips turn upwards. Yea this kid was going to be just fine. “Hope you used a good one for that,” Noah retorted as they walked “My go to is monkey slut” He grinned at the other boy now, anything to keep him talking and coherent, though it was starting to seem easier as time went on. Though there was the thank you that made Noah have to turn away a little bit. “Well I wasn’t going to stand by and watch you die.” He pointed out trying not to make a big deal out of it. Because It wasn’t like he did it for the thanks or anything, he did it because. Yea. He wasn’t going to watch another person die on him without being able to do anything. He wasn’t going to have that blood on his hands too. “So you know no need to thank me, or her, she already gets enough treats. But um are you ok?” Noah asked changing the subject as he looked down at the rag Aj was still holding to his stomach. He was leaning less on Noah now, which was not some sort of adrenaline fluke that should be happening. If anything Noah should be carrying the boy by now, with him screaming in pain, or like passed out, or something that wasn’t practically walking by himself.

“Monkey Slut? That’s a new one.” AJ sincerely hoped that that was a reference to some modern production that AJ he was unfamiliar with and not just some random thing that Noah had come up with on the spot. Or worse, his actual safe word he used for BDSM. Personally he cared little about what people were into sexually, he just felt bad for anybody that Noah may sleep with that had to actually hear the phrase Monkey Slut used during intercourse. “I’ll make sure to keep that in mind.” The better his stomach was feeling the more he realized that this was not normal just as the strength he used to kick that woman off of him wasn’t normal. The same way that the woman that had attacked him wasn’t normal. The strength could hypothetically be explained by adrenaline; the same way that the woman who lifted the car off of her baby had. The healing didn’t make sense though. It either had to be AJ’s or something that the woman did, and AJ wasn’t guessing healing was not the girl’s endgame. Either way, his wound wasn’t normal which meant that a hospital would be of no use to him. But he had an idea who might be able to help. “I can’t go to the hospital.” AJ said suddenly, happy to be get over the awkward conversation that entailed thanking others. “I need to get back to my truck.”

“Yea, helps as a password too. You know if you think all your friends are clones or something” Noah replied knowing that AJ probably wouldn’t get the reference. But that was ok. Anything to keep him talking, especially since this was starting to get weirder and weirder as they kept walking. Stopping Noah looked straight at AJ as he mentioned not being able to go to the ER. “Like I can’t got to the hospital because my parents will find out, or like I can’t go to the hospital?” Noah questioned with a raised eyebrow the signs all starting to make sense. Weird people after him, super strength that seemed to come from nowhere, high pain tolerance, probably super healing ability. This kid was not a normal kid, and instantly Noah felt himself become even more protective of AJ.

“What friends?” AJ asked, the pain still pulsing at his stomach making him seem more serious than he had actually meant to be. AJ hadn’t kept the company of friendship in almost two years. The closest thing he had to friends now were a few people he had driven home from Prom night when they got wasted off of some mysteriously tasteless spiked punch. Sure, he had learned some pretty crazy things about each of them over the summer, but the fact remained the same that the only times he had seen them had been in situations when one of them needed the other’s help. That sounded more like a partnership than a friendship to AJ and that was exactly the way he preferred it. Friendship was messy and only opened him up to letting his guard down and being stabbed in the back. “You can pick whichever reason you want, but I can’t go to the hospital.” He fidgeted and pushed himself free from Noah’s support. AJ swayed for a second but by some miracle managed to stay upright. “I appreciate your help. But my truck is that way.” He pointed off in a different direction.

“You talking to me on that one punk?” Noah questioned with another raised eyebrow, not knowing if the kid was trying to make a joke orrrrr what? Or maybe this kid didn’t actually have any friends, there was that. Pushing it out of his mind though Noah tried not to hold AJ too tight as he squirmed away from him, but part of him didn’t want to let go, even as he was finally forced to. Standing there as Haukea whined at the both of them Noah didn’t exactly know what to do. Because he wanted to make sure he got to where he needed to go, that he didn’t die or something, that he had, well a Pack if he needed it. But of course admitting that could prove to be the thing that pushwd the kid away, and he knew that, which is why he found himself backing away slightly, holding up his hands in a non threatening way. “Look I don’t know why you don’t want to go but if it’s for the reason I think it is I just want you to know I’m not going to hurt you.” He stated calmly “Like I honestly just want to help. And I know people who can help if you let me” He continued already pulling up Eliza’s possible schedule in his mind.

AJ stared at Noah as if he were insane. “Punk? What are you, forty? You’re like three years older than me.” AJ didn’t have the time to deal with Noah right now. He didn’t seem like a bad dude. He was understandably concerned about letting a boy who had just been stabbed in the gut wander off by himself without going to a hospital. If the situation had been reversed AJ would probably be doing the same thing. As little as AJ cared about the personal lives of others he had less interest in watching them bleed out to death while he did nothing to help. He could be an asshole, but he wasn’t heartless. “I don’t have any friends.” He decided to clarify, not understanding why he would think some random kid in the forest would be making fun of him while still leaning against him for support. “I get that you want to help and that’s real White Knight of you and all, but I don’t fucking know you. And I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.” AJ was began up slowly while still facing Noah. If Noah refused to let him go off on his own AJ couldn’t outrun him, not with his stomach in the shape it was. “I am going to figure it out myself.”

Ignoring AJ’s qualms about calling him a punk (because he didn’t know punk was an old man word now?) Noah stood his ground next to Haukea the dog still whining her displeasure at the both of them fighting. “Friends or no I’m sure as hell not going to just let you go off by yourself” He crossed his arms across his bare chest. Because yea, no sir Noah was not leaving his side until he had to, friends or not. And especially not. Feeling himself get more frustrated by the minute Noah took a breath knowing that time as precious here. But of course that was when Aj decided to make a comment about him “white knighting” the situation and it all went downhill from there. “This isn’t me white knighting, this is me trying to make sure a young man like yourself doesn’t end up dead in the woods.” He snapped wondering if the thought of dying was just absolutely a foreign concept to the boy. And that when Noah felt it in his chest, the sudden realization that no this kid probably didn’t know just how fragile life was at time. He didn’t know that he was being helped by a person who had been through not one but two horrible near death experiences, one of which left him an orphan and a werewolf. Gathering himself though Noah tried not to project these feeling onto AJ, knowing he was growing too invested into this to be of any good assistance. He needed to stay sharp and focused after all, not emotional. “Your strength, your healing. I know where that might come from, and I know people who might be able to help. No hospitals involved.” He said quietly, hoping that would convince the boy. But they just sort of stood there at a stalemate for a few breaths and Noah couldn’t take it anymore. “Please. Please just let me help you to your truck. Or like. Drive you somewhere. I don’t want to wake up next week to your obituary knowing I could have done something” he whispered looking up at AJ a desperate pleading in his eyes.

Jesus, what the fuck had happened to this dude to make him so fucking dead set on helping a random stranger in the woods? One that clearly had no interest in being helped. “Aren’t you White Knighting? I don’t even want your help and you’re still trying to gallop in and sweep me off my feet.” Quite literally, considering he had planned on carrying AJ through the woods less than twenty minutes ago. It was obvious this was becoming personal. Yet AJ had no clue why the hell he seemed to know about strength and healing. AJ was curious about it himself. Almost curious enough to follow along with him. But once again the knowledge that AJ knew next to nothing about Noah, didn’t even know if that was his real name. For all AJ knew Noah could have been working with that freaky chick to get AJ on his side. Noah clearly knew something AJ didn’t about this apparent strength. There was no way that an injured AJ was going to trust him with little to know knowledge on the guy. “I don’t have any fucking clue what you’re talking about. But if you’re so sure about this shit then you shouldn’t need to worry about me dying anyways.” He needed to go, but couldn’t without some sort of head start. The dog wouldn’t be too happy about this, but AJ started forward back towards Noah. He didn’t hate the guy, not from what he knew of him. But that was very little and AJ wasn’t willing to risk it. Once close, AJ tried to summon the same rage and fear that existed in him when that bitch was on top of him and shoved Noah to the ground. The dog went wild, and the sudden strength forced his stomach to sting and his ears to begin ringing. But AJ ignored all of that and turned on his heels and took off into the forest hoping that his adrenaline would kick in quickly and take the pain away.

Opening his mouth to respond, Noah closed it getting the feeling that there was nothing he could do to change the kid’s mind. Though that wouldn’t stop Noah from following him to make sure he was ok. Surely the kid couldn’t object to that right? Right? But before Noah could even say anything more on the subject AJ was launching forward at him, hands coming at him. And if he had been ready he could have withstood most of it, he could have dug his heels in the ground and refused to be budge like he did in football. But the cruel fact of the matter was he hadn’t been ready. He hadn’t been standing his ground like in football so he went over landing on his ass and skidding slightly against the dirt, the force of AJ’s pushing feeling like. Well feeling like exactly the way his uncle would have pushed him, only confirming Noah’s fears. There was something supernatural about that boy and there was nothing he could do about it.

@hawaiianhalfwolf

Archie's Sister Part 3 (Reggie x Reader)

Getting to school was a heap easier with Reggie around. I sat in his car as he drove. "What up with you?" Reggie asked as I looked out the window. I sighed. "What went on at Cheryl's?" You asked Reggie. "Nothing. It was so boring. They played a couple of rounds of seven minutes in heaven-" I darted my eyes at him. "well, one round, Andrews went first and Veronica joined him." I gasped. "He's been in a foul mood all morning." I confessed to Reggie as he drove. I thought it had something to do with Betty to be honest with you. Just as Reggie parked the car and turned to face me. "I had to put your name in the book." "Reggie! You said you wouldn't!" I shouted at him. "You know you rack up some good points." I slapped his arm. "How could you?" "Let me speak." Reggie started. "I only put us hooking up in there, I had to put us, you know, doing it in there as well, but only once. It's so the guys would get off my back about us." I rolled my eyes. "Reggie. I swear to god." "Babe. I promise. It's just you and me." Reggie smiled and kissed my forehead, then nose, then lips. "I'll see you inside." He whispered and we both go out of his car. I was still mad at him though. I got to my locker just as Jughead was finishing a conversation with Archie. "What? Sardonic humour is just my way of relating to the world." Jughead mentioned as I stepped around Jason's memorial near his old locker. "Look it's the rich kids from the goonies." Jughead said gesturing towards Reggie and the rest of the jocks. "You're one of them now Arch." I told his and Jughead looked at Arch. "She's right you know." He sighed heavily. "Alright I'm out." He said walking in their direction. Reggie bumped him heavily. "What it Wednesday Addams." He beamed. He can be a real douche. Just as Archie turned away I looked at Reggie and shook my head in disappointment. I sat with Kevin and Betty in the common room as they spoke about Veronica's act of kindness. I looked up from my book. "What does magnolia even taste like?" I asked them. "We're going to find out at lunch time." Kevin pointed out just before Principal Weatherbee began to speak in the head over speaker system about treating Jason Blossoms death as a homicide. I walked into biology and sat at an empty desk. "Seats everyone!" Our professed announced as he walked into the classroom. As everyone partnered up Reggie came over and slumped down next to me. Reggie was telling me over the summer how much he liked biology and was surprisingly good in thai subject. "Look (Y/N) listen." "I'll be your partner, don't say another word." I demanded and he looked at you shocked. "O-okay." He whispered as Archie spun his head around to face the two of us. He gestured to Reggie and mouthed 'what the hell?' And I gestured back looking like I had no freaking idea what was happening. Archie turned back to speak to Cheryl. During our lunch break, I sat with Archie as he practised strumming his guitar. "You know, you should take lessons from Miss Grundy." "I'm already doing that." He muttered. "It's just an idea." I spat back turning back to my biology book. Veronica, Kevin and Betty came over talking about Moose and being fluid and his girlfriend Midge and staying in the closet. Whoa guys, great start to lunch. I could see Betty looked extremely uneasy and uncomfortable the whole time Archie played. I looked at Veronica and she looked as me. Betty suddenly couldn't control her emotions she got up after Archie's song and he followed her. Veronica went to get up. "Whatever's going on, they need to figure it out on their own." I told her and she nodded. I sat with Veronica at Pops. Bring the new girl in Riverdale must be hard, with all the rumours and everything. "What's got you in a knot?" I asked her and she looked up from her phone. "Betty and Cheryl." "They're friends?" I asked her curiously. "They might be. I'm not too sure. I gave her a mani-pedi voucher, then she turned on me a is now getting her mani-pedi done as we speak." "Cheryl and I aren't even that close." I scoffed her. "Anyways, you technically turned on her." "I didn't know, well that's a lie." She paused and looked at me. "What's it like having a hot god-like brother?" She asked me. I sighed. "It's alright I suppose. I don't really mind getting called 'Archie's Sister'." "Oh come on. It must be a pain in the arse. You never get the attention. You're always compared to him-" "That's enough. I get it." I told her an she smirked. "There must be someone in this town that treats you differently." She asked me. "Dad." I told her. "(Y/N). You know what I mean. No boys go your attention?" She asked me and I shook my head. "You're straight yeah?" "Yeah." I told her. "But I hear rumours about you and Betty." I giggled and she laughed. "Hey. It's worked. We're in the river vixens squad." I rolled my eyes playfully at her comment. "When did your mom start working at Pops?" I asked her as I spotted her mom in a waitress uniform. "The other day." She added. "Hey Mrs Lodge." I called her over. "Yes dear?" "(Y/N). (Y/N) Andrews." I smiled at her introducing myself to her. "You're Andrews daughter. God you look a like like your parents. Your mother's hair and your father's charisma. What can I do for you?" She asked me. "I was just gonna order the usual for Andrews. Archie will pick it up afterwards." I told her. "No worries." She smiled at me. "Tell your father I say hi. I haven't seen him in so long." She said as I began to pack up my books. "No worries. See you at school Ronnie!" I waved and then turned back to her. "What does magnolia taste like?" I asked her and she laughed. She opened up her bag and gave me the last cupcake in the box. "You tell me." She smiled and I took the box and walked out. I walked home carrying my books when I spotted Jughead sitting at the steps to our home. "You can come inside you know." I told him climbing up the few steps to or front porch. "It's all good. Just waiting for Archie." "It's gonna get late soon. Be careful Jughead." "Will do (Y/N)." He said as I entered my home. I stayed in the living room on my home, keeping an eye out for Jughead outside. Reggie kept sending me messages about the most recent homework we got and if I could have my notes.  Reg 🏈: Can't you tutor me tomorrow. Then we can spend some more time together. Me: Reggie, I wish I could. But I'm tutoring the elementary kids tomorrow. I'll see you during the day. I promise 😘. Reg 🏈: Good, because I have something for you Me: Can't wait. Archie's home. Gotta go.  I locked my phone and walked to the door just as Dad opened it. "Hey Jug. Coming in? We got take out from Pops." Dad insisted. "He was just leaving." Archie sneered. I raised an eyebrow at his language at his friend. The next day, school was pretty boring to say the least. No one was catching on about my relationship with Reggie. Archie would occasionally bring him up, but hey, they were mates yet they hated each other- do you see the position I'm in. Reggie sat with Moose on the common room when I walked in. "Hey (Y/N). You still tutoring me after school. yeah?" He asked in a show-off-y way in front of Moose. "Yeah." I nodded acting like I wasn't really interested in what he was saying. Everyone gathered around the common room. I sat across from Reggie and Veronica sat on the arm of my chair. "And Sheriff Keller's grilling me, Mantle the Magnificent." Reggie started puffing out his chest. "Cause I want Blossom dead when he was the only good quarterback we had and speaking of offence tight ends, should've sent the cops to you Moose." He said looking at his best mate. "Here's another unsolved mystery." Oh god Reggie. What are you about to get yourself into? "What exactly were you and Kevin doing at the river, huh? Or does being with the Sheriffs son give you a free pass, Keller?" Reggie said looking at Kevin. I put my head down in shame. I can't say anything. "Reggie's just being a blowhard Kev." Betty said to Kevin who was next to her. "I don't care what he says." I noticed Archie inserting money into the vending machine and Jughead by the side. "I mean, let's think about it if a kid at Riverdale killed Jason, it's not gonna be a jock, right?" He said and passed the football to some team mate. "No, let's be honest, isn't it always some spooky, grotty, internet troll too busy writing his manifesto to get laid." You're lucky you're getting laid yourself right now Reggie. "Some smug, moody, serial killer boy freak." Reggie continued. Then it was like a light bulb went off in his head. Don't say it. "Like Jughead." He blabbered. "What was it like Suicide Squad? When you shot Jason. You didn't do anything to the body like after?" "It's called necrophilia Reggie. Can you spell it?" That was a good one Jughead. "Come here you little-" that fired him up. I watched Reggie jump over the seat. Before I could do anything my brother stood in front of Jughead before Reggie tried to hit him. I put my hand over my mouth. I can't believe him. Trying to hurt Jughead, what if he hurt Archie? "Shut the hell up Reggie." Archie said pushing him away. "Boys." I stood up hopefully demanding an explanation. Hopefully one of them would listen to me. "What do you want Andrews?" "Nothing. Just leave him alone." Reggie took a step back. "Holy crap. Did you and Donnie Darco kill him together? Like some blood brother thing?" That got Archie's blood boil. He threw the first punch. I reached for my brother or boyfriend, which ever one I could reach first, but Veronica pulled me back. Archie got knocked out cold. I groaned. Reggie turned around and high fived Moose. "What the hell Reggie?" I asked him. "I didn't mean to knock him out, it was just some rivalry fun, wasn't it Andrews?" He said referring to my knocked out brother. I shook my head leaving him standing there. I bent down and checked my brothers pulse and tried to help him regain consciousness. I felt Reggie reach for my shoulder. "Fuck off." I spat. I sat at the island bench as Archie mended his black eye with an ice pack. Dad walked in and joined us. "Ooo I'd hate to ask this, but do you get that in a fight with Jughead?" "Jughead wouldn't hurt a fly." I said to him. "Nah. It was with Reggie. It's a long story. Jughead and I were disagreeing about a girl." "Hmm." Archie took a deep breath. "Theres this girl-" "There usually is. Please tell me you guys didn't fight over (Y/N)." "No way. That's gross. Anyways. But it's not about me and Jughead, it's about me and this girl. I think we should do something-" "I don't wanna here this." I said covering my ears. "And it's the right thing dad, but the girl says that, if we do, or if I do this thing, it'll ruin what we have. That doesn't make any sense, does it?" He questioned. I was just as confused as my dad. Is this about Betty? Bro, I'm having troubles, not you. "This is the most honest talk we've had in a while, and I'm glad you wanna do the right thing, I can see that, even under the shiner." Dad mumbled and I took the ice pack off Archie and placed it gently over his eye socket and rubbed his muscular arm. Reggie's are bigger. "Archie, if you know it's the right thing to do, even though it's tough, even though it might, it might cost ya, you gotta do it." Dad nodded. My phone vibrated in my pocket. I walked out of the room and checked it. Reg 🏈: Can we meet up before the game? I want to apologise. Me: You shouldn't be apologising to me. You didn't hit me. Reg 🏈: I know I didn't hit you, but I hurt you, please, I want to make it up to you  Me: You're lucky I love you 😘 Reg 🏈: Love you too babe 😁 We made it to the football ground. I snuck around the locker room and waited for Reggie. "Alright Reginald. You wanted to apologise?" I said as he came over. "Yes. I want to apologise to you. I've been the worst boyfriend in the world. I know that, but I'm going to make it up to you. I hope you're not doing anything this Saturday, because my parents are away again and Olivers going to a mates place. I want to cook you dinner and shower you." "Shower me? How?" You asked him. "Well I didn't have a chance to give you this beforehand." Reggie smile pulling out a chain from his pocket. A small 'R' hung off the end of it. "Reg, wow, it's-" "You don't have to wear it, I just want you to have it." Reggie smiled and engulfed me in a warm hug. "I'll take this, as long as you promise to stop teasing my friends and stop fighting with Archie." "I promise. Anything for you angel." He said and brushed his hair out of his face with one flick. "Thank you. I love you so much." I whispered in his chest. "I love you too." He said and lifted my chin with his fingers and we shared another passionate kiss. We pulled away. "Oh! Also, Jughead knows." I walked out and spotted Jughead talking to Archie smiling. Oh thank god they've made up. "You guys all good?" I asked Jughead as Archie left. "Yeah. But you gotta tell him soon or later." Jughead nudged me. "Your brother beat up your boyfriend-" "Reggie knocked him out cold." "Still, a you're lucky to have a brother and a guy like that to stand up for you." "You've stood up for me numerous times." I told him as we began to find spare seats to sit. "Oh also, you know Reg can't spell necrophilia." I laughed at Jughead. "I know." Jughead nodded. "And I know you didn't kill Jason. Heck, we all have our suspicions." I shrugged looking around the football field. "So, how long?" Jughead asked changing the subject back to Reggie and I. "Since Cheryl's party, last day of school last semester." "Huh. You've got secrets and I've got secrets." Jughead chuckled. "You bet we do." You smile to Jughead. "Oh also, Archie and I are going to Pop's after the Pep Rally, wanna join?" Jughead asked. "Jug, I have a boyfriend." "You know what I mean (Y/N)." Jughead rolled his eyes. "Thank you for your offer, but I should probably go home. I've got a bit of catching up to do. I've got to tutor some idiot that can't spell necrophilia this weekend." I said to Jughead and he laughed.

Nonverbal

Pairing: Min Yoongi x Park Jimin

Genre: Fluff, AU, Comedy

Warnings: Swearing? (Should I warn you of that? Idk) 

Word Count: 3.1k

Summary:

Based on a prompt I got from otpprompts that goes:

Person A sees Person B in the waiting room of an airport and tries to get in touch with them without actually talking, eventually managing to slip a paper with their number in the book Person B was reading. Bonus if Person C is the one helping Person A.

// I have more than 50 saved prompts from otpprompts actually, check them out! They’re so cool c:

// Dispose of me gently, thank you :<

AO3

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“Jimin I swear god, just go fucking talk to him!” Taehyung whispered harshly to his best friend. They were hiding behind a series of chairs in the waiting room before people boarded their designated flights and were staring at a very interesting, very intimidating yet very attractive stranger.

He had pale skin, was dressed in black from head to toe and his hair was dyed mint green.

‘Hmm, he likes making statements too.’ Jimin thought to himself, carding his fingers through his orange hair when he first passed by, then dragging Taehyung over to a corner only to continue staring at the beautiful stranger who hadn’t acknowledged their existence.

“Tae, you know I don’t have the guts to do that” Jimin hissed, pointing a glare in Taehyung’s direction before turning back to the stranger and resting his chin on his open palm, elbow in mid-air as if he was daydreaming.

“Fine,” Taehyung deadpanned, making Jimin look up at him in panic as he stood abruptly “If you won’t talk to him then I’ll ask him to talk to you!”

Taehyung had managed to turn away and take a step before he was pulled back by the roots of his hair, his audible suffering drawing the attention of those around them as his hands flew to Jimin’s, trying to pry him off; yet the beautiful stranger remained undisturbed, still reading his book.

“Tae,” Jimin said, smiling anxiously as he held his hands up low in surrender “Babe, there’s no need to do that.”

Taehyung massaged his scalp, throwing Jimin an unamused scowl. He rolled his eyes as Jimin gave him a sheepish grin. He sat on a chair connected to the series they were originally hiding behind, Jimin slowly following suit as he spared the stranger a long glance. Too long to be counted as a glance, Taehyung thought, still massaging his head.

“Jiminie,” he said, pulling out his phone and earpods “either do something now, or regret it forever.”

Jimin knew Taehyung had a point, even though he wouldn’t admit it. His face fell into one of intense thought and tried to figure out how to approach his crush-at-first-sight.

“You don’t have to talk to him per se” the younger boy said, making Jimin look at him once again with wide eager eyes, curious as a kitten.

“What did you have in mind?”

“If you want to know what I think then you’re going to have to do everything I actually suggest,” Taehyung smirked, still not looking at his unacknowledged hyung.

Jimin’s chest tightened slightly, he knew that whenever Taehyung gave him an ultimatum between receiving his help or nothing at all, it usually ended with Jimin humiliating himself, getting hurt, someone else getting hurt, or all of the above.

But the fair-skinned bookworm was so cute and Jimin didn’t know what to do. He ended up nodding to Taehyung’s terms and preparing himself for the worst with a grimace on his face.

Taehyung locked his phone, leaving Bruno Mars on low volume as he turned his body to look toward Jimin entirely, cautiously eyeing his friend’s new crush in the corner of his eye in case he would look their way. It’s not like he was in earshot.

“Okay!” Taehyung clapped his hands together, his smile wide and full of mischief.

Jimin rolled his and pursed his lips. Mumbling a low ‘I just know I’m going to regret this later’ to which Taehyung happily responded with an ‘Oh please, you’re never going to see him again anyway so what do you have to lose?’

Taehyung’s first idea was for Jimin to pass by Adonis ridiculously close, and wait—or hope and pray—that he notices Jimin enough to strike up a conversation or wave hello.

“Adonis?”

“What? Mint haired stranger is too long to say!”  Taehyung pressed “And besides, Adonis is the Greek god of beauty and desire, which for you, clearly applies.”

Taehyung gave Jimin a smug looked and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively but Jimin only rolled his eyes at his friend with a smile, craning his neck to take a peek at the man. His nose was still buried in his book and looked as unbothered as ever. The noise inside the room, surprisingly, didn’t faze his reading; he wasn’t even listening to music to accompany his past time. Jimin felt the tiniest pang of guilt in his gut at the thought of disturbing his reading. But that feeling quickly went away as Taehyung pinched his side, sending him bouncing forward with a glare.

Taehyung made pushing gestures with his hands as his smile only grew wider with every step Jimin took farther away from him. He had no idea if this was going to work, and honestly, Taehyung just wanted to humiliate Jimin; it was always too funny to resist.

Jimin walked towards the series of chairs that lined the wall, the same series that the stranger had chosen a chair off to sit on. He turned slowly to pass Taehyung a pleading face, regret clouding his eyes, but the younger only grinned wider and encouraged Jimin further.

Jimin turned again, closing his eyes, taking a deep breath and swiftly letting it go. His ripped jeans touched the edge of the seat a few strides down from the anonymous bookworm. He took a step away from it, and started walking forward.

As Jimin passed the stranger by, his hand brushed the edge of the book’s spine ever so slightly. It was enough to make Jimin look back in panic to see if he had indeed disturbed his new crush’s reading, but he only kept on as if Jimin was never even there.

Jimin looked up in even more panic towards Taehyung, but Taehyung frantically motioned for him to keep walking before Adonis could look up at Jimin and see him frozen there.

Jimin straightened his back, took a risky glance at the handsome bookworm and took big steps away from him; moving as far and as fast as his legs allowed.

As soon as he was out of earshot, Jimin’s phone vibrated. He looked behind him to see a far, and now mistakenly smaller, Taehyung waving his free arm in the air as he held his phone against his ear.

“What?” Jimin hissed, turning away just in case Adonis would look up and see him angrily spitting fire into his phone.

“Did it work?!”

“No! No, it did not work!” Jimin raised his voice slightly, drawing a few curious eyes to him. “If it worked then I wouldn’t be wanting to reach into my phone and strangle you!”

Taehyung laughed at his friend’s frustrations, amused more than afraid. In fact, there was no trace of fear in Taehyung’s aura at all, he knew Jimin would never actually live up to his threats.

“But you hit the book! Did he not look?”

“Yeah but—“

“Whoa, okay that rhymed”

“… What?” Jimin asked, very confused.

“What I said just now!” Jimin could see Taehyung beaming his rectangular smile and looking at Jimin’s back tense from afar. “You know ‘But you hit the book, did he no—“

“Yes, okay, whatever,” Jimin squeezed the bridge of his nose with his fingers lightly, trying not to run back to where he came from and hit the back of Taehyung’s head as hard as he could . “Just… what now?”

Taehyung began to think again, what now indeed. At first he thought this plan was fool proof, with the hopeful side-line of Jimin tripping on himself and grasping Adonis’ attention completely.

Aha!

“Trip” Taehyung said simply.

Jimin’s eyes turned into crescents, but not in the usual way when he smiled too much or laughed too hard; they turned into crescents as his eyebrows furrowed together and his face scrunched up in a mixture of shock and rage.

“What?!”

“Trip” Taehyung repeated, uncaring

“No!” An old woman nearby shot Jimin a dirty look. He apologised softly for being too loud, but she only glared a few seconds longer before moving chairs. Jimin sighed, frustrated that he had played into Taehyung’s games so easily. “Think of something else!”

“Walk the way you came and trip on his foot or something.”

“Tae, his feet are tucked under the chair!”

At that, Taehyung took a good look at Jimin’s mint-haired, unknowing Romeo, only then to notice that he did, in fact, have his feet tucked under his chair; crossing at the ankles as shifted positions and leaned back in his seat.

“Well, there goes that”

Jimin rolled his eyes for what he felt was the hundredth time in the past twenty minutes, sometimes Taehyung was too dense for his own good.

Still holding his phone to his ear, Jimin turned slowly to look at the black clad stranger. He had licked a small portion on the pad of his thumb to flip the page, his almond eyes resetting to the top left corner; continuing whatever fictional endeavour he had set out on.

For some reason, this intrigued Jimin. He didn’t see them going on dates or anything of the sort, for all Jimin knew he could’ve been a serial killer or something. But Jimin saw them as friends. Namjoon and Jin had mentioned several times about how Jimin had a talent for finding good people, naturally gravitating towards them in the most chastening of ways. At first, Jimin didn’t take his hyungs’ words to heart although now, of all moments, he believed them.

“Jiminiiiieeee” Jimin closed his eyes to compose himself, straining his posture forward as he continued to speak to his childish friend. “You look like a stalker if you keep staring like that”

“Why am I friends with you?” Jimin grumbled, asking himself more than Taehyung.

“Whatever, you love me!” he laughed, Jimin audibly groaning mechanically into his ear. “Anyway I have another plan!”

“Well shit”

“Shut up, it’s gonna work”

“And if it doesn’t?”

“Then we try something else! Duh!”

“What if I don’t want to grab his attention anymore?”

“Oh please, as if you’re going to pass up the opportunity to snag a cute guy”

It was times like this Jimin cursed himself for ever being friends with Taehyung. The man child knew him better than the back of his own hand and Jimin hated it sometimes. This moment adding to the ever growing list of time he wished Taehyung didn’t know him at all.

He uttered a ‘Lay it on me’ as Taehyung quickly got to explaining. Apparently, the younger boy planned on blasting music on Jimin’s Bluetooth speakers and have him dance to it but Jimin wasn’t having any of it. There were too many factors that contradicted Taehyungs plan.

“Oh yeah? Like what?”

“I don’t know Tae, maybe the airport music, people who are asleep waiting for their flights and the fact that the guards might detain me for public disturbance?” Jimin spat

“Huh… well… that’s gonna be a problem.”              

Jimin scoffed and threw Taehyung another sarcastic remark, only making it halfway through his sentence before someone caught his interest from the corner of his eye. The mint-haired stranger had paused from reading his book, holding it at his side as he walked away from Jimin.

Taehyung screamed in Jimin’s ear, making the older yelp in surprise and drop his phone. He whipped around to glare at Taehyung, only to be met by more, distant, screaming and his friend frantically waving his arms around. Jimin looked at him, confused, but Taehyung only continued to jab arm movements towards him.

“Excuse me?” someone said

Jimin turned around to see his nameless crush standing before him, his eyes turning into saucers out of surprise and shock. He was so much more beautiful up close. He had feline-like features and his skin looked well cared for despite the dark ringlets under his eyes. His lips were a light shade of red, plump and inviting, Jimin could tell that he had probably been worrying it not too long ago. Jimin noticed that he had several piercings on his ears, they were small enough to be hidden from plain sight from a distance.

Jimin must have been staring a moment too long because the mint haired beauty raised an eyebrow at him and took a curious look at his screaming phone.

Taehyung, still, was not calm about the entire situation.

Jimin’s eyes turned wider as he quickly reached for his phone, shoving it into his pocket without ending the call.

“I’m Yoongi” the stranger said

‘Oh my god his name is even better than Adonis’ Jimin thought, forcing himself not to swoon and melt in front of him.

“Ah, I’m uh, I’m J-Jimin.” He managed, reaching to shake Yoongi’s extended hand.

“Nice to meet you, Jimin.” Jimin found Yoongi’s voice low and sultry, making Jimin’s knees crumble underneath him.

Yet before Jimin could respond any further, Yoongi gave him another smile and waved him goodbye, continuing to walk the way he took.

Jimin was frozen where he stood, eyes dreamy and smile content as he gazed at Yoongi’s figure gradually become diminutive, until Taehyung’s screaming woke him from his day dream.

Jimin reached for his phone, took a breath, and slowly put it to his ear.

“Oh my god! Did that just happen!? What did he say?! What did you say?! You fucking stuttered didn’t you!!”

Taehyung continued his rapid fire as Jimin made his way back, shifting from yelling to his phone to yelling to his friend who was now in front of him, face as red as a tomato.

Jimin told him all about it, occasionally having to pause because Taehyung couldn’t supress a giggle or a heightened squeal. He told him that his name was Yoongi, and that he found it nice to meet Jimin but that was all the interaction they had. Taehyung asked him what he looked like from up close, and Jimin told him that he resembled a cat, maybe even a kitten because of how soft his skin looked. Jimin didn’t mention his observation about Yoongi’s lips, knowing that the younger boy wouldn’t let Jimin live it down even after they got back to Seoul. Though he couldn’t stop himself from reminiscing how he liked the way Yoongi said his name, like a phenomenal epiphany after being lost for so long.

Thirty minutes later, Taehyung had finally calmed down, allowing his music to envelope his ears and the games on his phone to steal his attention. Jimin had pulled out his small sketchbook and was mindlessly drawing figures and shapes for the past quarter hour. It was only when the flight attendant’s automated voice had announced that Jimin and Taehyung’s plane was ready for boarding had Jimin broken out of his unconscious trance, realising that he had drawn a pair of feline-like eyes.

He turned to see that Yoongi had returned to his seat, nose still buried in his book but now with only a minimal amount of pages left to read.

Jimin bit his lip, thinking of what Taehyung said about talking to Yoongi being now or regretting it forever.

Taehyung was pulling out a hoodie from his duffel bag and a small blanket to pair it with when Jimin had torn off a small piece of his sketchbook’s page, quickly scribbling something down.

“Jiminie?”

“Come on, I don’t want to be one of the last people to board.” Jimin said hastily, throwing on his jacket and grabbing his oversized backpack.

He walked away from Taehyung quickly, folding the paper he had written on and making his way closer to Yoongi who, expectedly, was still engrossed in his fictional world.

Jimin slipped the paper onto Yoongi’s open page and continued to walk towards the boarding gate before Yoongi could look up and acknowledge him. Taehyung jogged up beside the blushing mochi and bumped their shoulders, giving him a proud boxy grin as Jimin’s eyes turned into happy crescents.

They were the first pair of people who didn’t fall under the category of women and children, or elderly to board the plane, quickly finding their seats mid-aisle. Taehyung had snagged the window seat even though his ticket said he was assigned to the middle, but Jimin didn’t mind very much, he wasn’t able to appreciate the scenery at night anyway since he couldn’t see anything.

As soon as Jimin had buckled in and closed his eyes, ignoring how Taehyung was staring in awe at the other aeroplanes taking off, the occupant of the empty seat beside him had finally arrived. He tucked his small suitcase into the compartment above them and sat beside Jimin quietly.

“So…”

‘Oh shit’

Jimin tore his eyes open and slowly looked to the passenger on his right. Yoongi held up the folded piece of paper where Jimin had written his number and a short message of ‘Text me when you get to where you’re going or something. Jimin x’ and smirked at the orange haired boy.

The corners of Jimin’s mouth curled up in embarrassment as his hand flew to cover his reddened face; Yoongi laughing fondly at him.

“Guess I’ll text you when I get to Seoul then?” Yoongi playfully asked.

Jimin tried to play it off as if his chest didn’t tighten and his heart didn’t soar as he heard Yoongi speak the words. He turned his head to the side and looked Yoongi straight in the eye, drowning in his chocolate eyes and artificial pastel hair. It kind of reminded him of mint chocolate chip.

“I guess you will” He smiled.

In The Blood Ch.4

Various noises filled the air. Everything from the live band, laughter from the students, and conversations that varied from planned dates to impending deadlines that were creeping upon the student body.  Today was the day of the carnival and surprisingly, it had a huge turnout. My friends on the other hand, hadn’t arrived just yet. I started walking around aimlessly, without a specific destination in mind. I was just curious as to what this school funded event had to offer. Fortunately, it was decent enough to keep me interested. There were food stands lined up everywhere. Everything from hot dogs to cotton candy. Placed in the spaces that were left were the typical carnival games that people tend to waste their money on. I could see people already lined up at the ring toss booth. The stuffed animals they place on a shelf just stare blankly at the unknowing customers, taunting them each time they miss. Feeling bad towards them, I made my way back to the live band. At least they weren’t all about ripping people off.  To my surprise, the school hired a local punk/alternative band. I expected something with a little less… angst.  Either way, they were pretty good. I find myself listening to them from time to time, while working on a project. My head soon nodded to the beat of the drums with the sounds of the guitar and bass flowing through me as they merge together. I’m not exactly sure how long I stood there listening to the band, but I soon felt a presence beside me. I looked up to see Ethan bobbing his head to the music as well. I wonder when he got here. His gaze eventually left the band and found its way to me. He gave me one of his dazzling smiles, revealing his perfect set of teeth, leaving me no choice but to return a shy smile back at him.

“Enjoying the music?” he asked, leaning towards me while speaking a little louder than usual, so that I can hear him above the music.

“I am actually. They’re pretty great.” He just nods his head in agreement.

My phone buzzed then, I dug in my pockets for my phone and saw that Sophie was calling me. I answered quickly, turning away from Ethan and plugging my free ear to hear her better.

“Hey we’re by the ring toss game. Where are you?”

“I’m right in front of the band!”

“Do you want us to come to you?”

“No! You can stay there! I’ll come to you guys! Be there soon!”

“I guess you’ll have to go now, huh?” Ethan asked from behind. I turned to look at him. His eyes seemed like they were conveying a silent plea. It would be understandable. I mean, he is new here and probably doesn’t know that many people just yet.

“Yeah. My friends just got here. But you can join us if you want.”

“You sure? I won’t be intruding, will I?” I laughed at this. He actually seemed nervous meeting my friends. I found it somewhat cute and different from his collected demeanor he seemed to have before.

“Oh God, no. Come on. I’m sure they’ll love to meet you.” I reached out to grab his hand to lead him to the ring toss table, where my friends would be waiting. Although he followed me obediently, I could sense his hesitation. I squeezed his hand slightly, to try to reassure him. He smiled at me appreciatively, so I believed he got my unspoken message.

It wasn’t long before I was able to make out my friends in the crown. Rae was dressed in her usual feminine attire. She wore a pink skirt with a thin white shirt. Her usual straight black hair was now curled on ringlets around her face. She looked like a porcelain doll, a child would expect under their tree Christmas morning. Yongguk stood next to her wearing a pair of blue jeans with a black V-neck shirt that hinted at possible toned chest. Sophie opted for a casual look with faded blue jeans and a red hoodie. Himchan, even though he only wore black skinnies with a grey pull over, looked like a model.

“Hey guys.” I greeted when we finally reached them. I received multiple “hi’s” in return, but I didn’t miss their darting eyes as they kept glancing towards Ethan. I tried to contain my laughter as I started to introduce everyone.

“Guys, this is Ethan. I met him in the art building a few days ago. Ethan, this is Sophie, Himchan, Yongguk, and Raven.” I said each name while pointing out the individual. Ethan gave each one of my friends a greeting in return, and everyone looked friendly enough and eager enough to have some fun. Although everyone wore a childlike smile, I knew that everyone of us was thinking about the deadlines and exams coming up. But for now, we’ll all pretend that everything isn’t crashing and burning around us all and enjoy the festivities.

It didn’t take long for Ethan to mesh with my friends. I must admit, I was impressed and pleased. As time went on, our new group started playing the different rigged games, and as expected no one won a damn thing. Not even a piece of candy saying “hey, at least you tried.” Raven and Sophie loss miserably at the ring toss, while Yongguk and Himchan couldn’t hit enough balloons with darts to win even a small prize. Ethan stood by me on the side, just watching everyone else get excited over the child-like games.

“Not playing any of the games?” Ethan asked. I smiled at him and shook my head.

“Nah. No one ever wins at these games. They’re all rigged.” At that he laughed at me.

“Oh come on. I’m sure plenty of people have won at these games before. How about you play one game, just for the hell of it?” My stomach produced a low growl at that moment.

“Actually, I’m a bit hungry. I’m going to go get something to eat.”

“Oh, I’ll go with you. I was planning on getting food anyway.”

“Okay.” Who was I to tell him no? I mean, he has to eat too, right?

We finally stopped at a vendor that suited our liking. It was a little bit further away from the group than I originally intended, but they shouldn’t be too hard to find. I settled on getting blue cotton candy  while Ethan got a corndog. We ate in silence as we stood out of the way of the other people walking around. When we finally finished our food and threw away our trash, I started to make my way back to the others, only to be stopped by a hand firmly holding me by my wrist. I looked up at Ethan, confusion evident on my face, and waited for him to explain.

“There’s a game I wanted to try first.” I shook my head, but eventually allowed him to lead me to the game he was looking at.

“You know you’re wasting your money, right? These things are rigged”

“Don’t be so negative. I could actually win you know.” He said and gave me a wink. It was so quick; I thought my mind had just made it up.

“Have a little faith Hazel.” He gave the vendor the required money and gave me a small smirk. The vendor gave him three balls and explained the simple rules to him. Knock down using the balls and win a prize.  Ethan lined himself up with the bottles displayed neatly in front of him and threw one of the balls. My eyes widened. The table where the three bottles were once set up on was now empty. Each bottle fell, leaving you staring in confusion. Did they not glue the bottles down properly?

“WE HAVE A WINNER LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!” the vendor announced.

“How did you do that?” I asked still in a daze. I was sure these things were super glued in place. I look up only to be met with that damn smile of his again. That damn dazzling smile.

“I told you already. I live a charmed life.” He said in a matter of fact tone.

“Sir, you may pick which prize you want.” The guy interrupted. Ethan looked at the different choices.

“I’ll take the tan stuffed bear.” The vendor went back to retrieve what Ethan had requested and handed it to him.

“Thank you,” he said to the guy running the booth. “And this little guy belongs to you.”

“I stared at the bear, surprised to see that he was talking to me with his arms outstretched in offering.

“Really?” I asked, still not believing it. He laughed.

“Of course. Consider it a constant reminder that anything can happen in this world…including beating rigged games at a carnival.” I nodded and reached my hand out for the bear. It was a typical tan colored bear with dark brown highlighting its paws. I was shocked that it was really soft, for a cheap carnival toy.

“Thank you Ethan.” I felt a wide smile threatening to breakthrough, but was interrupted when my phone started buzzing again. I quickly dug my phone out and answered without looking at the name.

“Hello?”

“Hey. Where are you? We don’t see you anywhere.” Yongguk’s deep voice flowed through my ears from the other end.

“I’m sorry. Ethan and I got hungry , so we went to go get some food. We’re headed back now.”

“Okay then. I was just worried since you’re so short. I thought we wouldn’t be able to find you through the crowd.”

“Ha-ha. Funny. I’ll see you soon.” I ended the call and turned to Ethan.

That was Yongguk. They’re looking for us. We should probably head back.”

“Actually, I gotta go. But I’ll see you later?”

“Sure. Okay.” Ethan nodded in acknowledgement, smiled, and turned to walk in the opposite direction that lead to my group of friends. I started to walk away as well until I heard Ethan call my name out in the crowd.

“Hey Hazel!”

“Yeah?!”

“Don’t lose that bear. I had to use a lot of my luck to win it.” I smiled at his childish talk.

“Will do, sir. See ya!” With that, I turned to walk back towards my friends.

 “Hey Haze. You alright?” Yongguk was the first to approach me .

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”

“I don’t know. We don’t really know that Ethan guy. He could’ve been a serial killer or kidnapped you for all we know.” I jokingly punched Yongguk in the shoulder while he feigned injury.

“Thanks for your concern dad, but as you can see, I’m fine. You guys having fun?” Himchan was the one to speak up.

“Well, I had fun. I can’t say the same for Sophie though.”

“What do you mean? I had tons of fun. I just happen to only have five dollars in my pocket now. No big deal.” Now I was the one who spoke up.

“Five dollars?! Please tell me you didn’t spend it all on games.” But of course, Sophie didn’t answer…which answered my question. I tried not to laugh at her misfortune.

“Okay guys, I think I’m going to head back to the dorm. I still have some studying to do, and I’m kind of getting tired.”

“Do you want me to go with you?” raven offered. Though it was a nice gesture, I declined. No point in both of us cutting our fun off early.

“No that’s okay, Rae. I’m probably just going to shower and crash at his rate. Stay and have fun. I’ll see you guys later.” As I turned to leave, I noticed that I wasn’t alone. Yongugk was there matching my steps. I only looked at him questioningly.

“I had to leave early anyway…tutoring.” He explained, answering my unspoken question.

“Nice bear.”

“Thanks. Ethan won it for me.”

“That was nice of him.”

“Do I need to have that talk with him?”

“Talk? What talk?

“You know. The ‘if you hurt her, I’ll kill you’ talk.” I could only laugh at this tall gummy smiled being next to me. How did I get so lucky to have met him?

“I don’t think that’s necessary, but I’ll let you know if it does.”

“Okay Haze. I trust your judgement. Just be careful. Sometimes people aren’t who they appear to be.”

“Thanks Gukkie. I appreciate that.”

We eventually made it to my dorm. I waved to Yongguk, as he turned to head to his tutoring gig. As soon as I got inside my dorm room, I went straight to the shower. I slipped into my pajamas, and made my way to my bed soon after. When I finally got comfortable under my blankets, Raven came in. Her face looked bright and she seemed really happy. Maybe the carnival did serve its purpose after all.

We exchanged quick greetings as she made her way to our shared bathroom. I heard the shower turn on soon after, I was tired, but still felt pretty awake. I patted the area around me searching for one of my pillows. Instead my hand touched something soft. I pulled it around to my face only to realize that it was the tanned stuffed bear that Ethan had won for me. I played with its paws, smiling at the toy absentmindedly. It was average size and quite cute. I continued to play with the bear when Raven made her way in the room, dressed in her pajamas as well. She climbed in her bed and went about to get comfortable. She spared me a quick glance and that’s when she noticed the object in my hands.

“Where did that come from? I don’t remember you having it before.”

“It’s because I didn’t. Ethan won it at the carnival.”

“Aww…that’s so cute. It’s like how you see in a movie.” I rolled my eyes and shook my head at her.

“It’s no big deal.” I said, trying to avert the attention away from me. She scoffed at me

“Yeah. Okay. Whatever you say Haze.” She got up from her bed and headed towards the light switch.

“Are you done for the night?” she asked.

“Yeah, I think I’m done pretending to be productive.”

“Okay. Goodnight Haze.”

“Goodnight Rae.” I turned on my side, bear still in hand, stroking its soft exterior.

“I still think it’s cute.” I heard Raven mutter under her breath. I let out a small chuckle.

“Shut it Rae.” Her fading giggles were the last thing I heard before I eventually drifted off to sleep

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