#that reflected in the light of our bikes and i saw in the corner of my eye | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ivyginkgo · 2 years

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Coconut Island Date (CN Server)

🍁I’ve already post the phone call and this is the date, hope you loves it~🍁

*Part 1*

As soon as I got out the taxi, the rushing sea breeze greet me with a moist breath.

I involuntary stop and take a deep breath.

Gavin : What are you doing?

Gavin's voice pierce into ears, he look at me with a bit of doubt, a gust of sea breeze blew through his forehead, looking a little messy.

I stood up on tiptoe to help him smooth out his unruly hair and explained with a smile.

Y/N : I am feeling the breath of this island!

Y/N : I've heard a saying before...

Y/N : When you first step into a city and take your first breath of air, that's the impression leaves on you.

Gavin was thoughtful, glanced at the city that was unfolding in front of us, and turned to ask me.

Gavin : So do you feel the smell of the city now? What is it like?

I drag Gavin to the street full of coconut trees in front of me.

Y/N : It's the smell of coconut and sea breeze!

Y/N : How about you? What do you feel?

When Gavin heard my words, he close his eyes and take a deep breath, and when he open his eyes to look at me again, his eyes were clear.

Gavin : It is a kind of... It makes people feel very relax.

He think about it and add another sentence.

Gavin : I think about to do nothing with you, just lie in the sun like this.

My heart slightly move, and couldn't help but twitch my eyes.

Y/N : Coincidentally, I thought so too.

We walk through the street while on our conversation, I notice that there were many small pink electric motorcycles neatly placed on the corner of the street.

Next to the small electric motorcycle is a stall with a label that says : Self-service motorcycle rental.

Y/N : Gavin, look at there! I didn't expect it, even the small electric motorcycles can be rented out by themselves!

A couple just stopped in front of the self-service stall to do some research and scan a small electric motorcycle.

They drove past us talking and laughing, and their words were scattered in the wind and blown to my ears.

Girl : It's so happy to ride a small electric motorcycle around the island hahaha!

Boy : There's something more happier, baby! I'll take you to the sea now...

The girl's words made me feel a little bit moved, but then I thought that our trip was not purely for vacation, there was one more thing to do first.

Seeing their figures riding away, I hesitated for a moment, I want to turn around and ask Gavin's thoughts.

But when I turned my head, Gavin had already rent the electric motorcycle neatly.

Y/N : ?

He even put on a pink helmet, and ride the bike slowly and stop, turning his head to look at me.

Gavin : Why a silly expression? Get in the bike.

Gavin : Oh yeah, do you know where is Teacher Gong's current address? *Idk what he means with said 傻傻 (so i translate it to its meaning, silly) *

Seeing his bright eyes and the pink helmet pressing down on his hair reflect arbitrary colors in the sunlight, I couldn't help laughing.

I got into the motorcyle and hug his waist tightly.

Y/N : Of course, follow my instructions, Sir Gavin.

*Part 2*

Not long ago, I heard that Teacher Gong came to this island for a half-year teaching exchange.

I saw the photo he posted in the circle of friends, it was a sunset by the sea, with the caption "the most beautiful sunset".

It just so happened that Gavin and I were planning a short trip. When looking at Teacher Gong's circle of friends, he thought for a moment, and a decision was made.

Gavin : Why don't we set our travel destination here?

Gavin : You look like that you like the scenery in this photo too.

Gavin : Let's go see it together, and visit the teacher after a long absence.

MC : Okay!

After get off from the pink electric motorcycle, I quickly found a light green building according to the address given by Teacher Gong.

After I decided to come to the island, I called Teacher Gong and made an appointment to visit.

Standing at the door, I ring the doorbell.

The door open quickly, revealing Teacher Gong's familiar face. Gavin and I were both stun when we see his appearance.

Teacher Gong wears a shirt with a coconut tree pattern, hot pants, and even light-colored sunglasses. Compare with the serious image before, he seems to be twenty years younger now.

Teacher Gong : Coming? Come in. Come in. Come in.

He warmly greet us to enter the door, and after entering the door, Gavin put the special products of Lian Yu City on the table.

Teacher Gong bring Qing Bu Liang from the kitchen and see us bring the specialty, smile and shake his head. (note : Ching bo leung (清补凉/Qing Bu Liang) is a sweet, cold soup of Chinese origin and commonly served in Cantonese cuisine, Hainanese cuisine and Guangxi cuisine)

Teacher Gong : You are here to vacation, why did you bring me specialties.

Teacher Gong : Then my host has only homemade Qing Bu Liang to entertain you.

Teacher Gong : Try it, this is what my local neighbor taught me.

Teacher Gong : It doesn't taste the same as those tourist attractions.

I still amaze at the change in Teacher Gong's style, but Gavin quickly adapt to it, take two spoon Qing Bu Liang, and nod.

Gavin : Well, it does taste good.

Gavin : But I didn't expect you to come here to learn and communicate, the changes will be so great.

Teacher Gong laugh, and pat Gavin's shoulder.

Teacher Gong : You and Y/N have not change very much. It seems that both of you very busy working in Lian Yu City.

I scratch my head embarrassedly, and Gavin nod to admit it.

Gavin : Yes, there have been a lot of things going on recently, and we also had a hard time getting together for a vacation.

Teacher Gong : I still need to relax more. I came to study and communicate this time, and I followed the daily routine of the local people.

Teacher Gong : You can also feel the sea breeze when commuting to get off work, not to mention how comfortable it is.

Teacher Gong : I feel that my mentality has become a lot younger, and I want to come here to settle down after retirement.

Y/N : Then maybe wait until the next time we come to see you, you will be more younger again.

I put down the spoon and laugh jokingly.

Teacher Gong : You can also come and live here in the future. You won't be bored here.

Teacher Gong said, and sigh

Teacher Gong : In this era, being able to live slowly has become a luxury and pleasure.

When I heard this, I tilted my head, smile and look at Gavin, then bump into his arm.

Y/N : I can.

Y/N : But... Is Officer Gavin willing to come and settle on the island with me?

Gavin answered without hesitation.

Gavin : As long as it is with you, it's okay to go anywhere.

Teacher Gong : Gosh.. I'm still at here, how can you guys become lovey dovey in front of your teacher *He use 撒狗粮 idiom that means (lovers) that show their romance in the presence of singles*

I was a little embarrassed by the teasing of Teacher Gong, and my face was red.

Y/N : *cough*, by the way, we have something else to ask you here.

Y/N : Where was the "most beautiful sunset photo" you posted on your Moments?

Y/N : I checked the travel guide before I came, but couldn't find the exact same angle.

Teacher Gong : Ah about that, it was filmed in a restaurant in Lu Hui Tou (鹿回头). But it's not that the angle is good, it's just good luck at the time.

Teacher Gong : Just captured such a beautiful sunset.

I nod and write down the address Teacher Gong said in the memo.

After a few more chats, Teacher Gong said that he would go to school later. After the meeting, we said goodbye to him.

When walking out of the small building, Gavin glance at the sky and turn to ask me

Gavin : Now that you have the address, do you want to go to that restaurant now?

*Part 3*

It was still a little hot when we came, but it was much cooler at four or five in the afternoon.

The palm tree leaves on both sides of the road were rustle by the wind, and the foggy blue sky envelope the whole person.

Gavin bow his head and carefully strap on my helmet, slender fingers stroking my cheek lightly.

I look up at him slightly, thinking about what Teacher Gong had just said, and asked.

Y/N: Gavin, what do you think it will be like when we all retire in fifty years?

Gavin : How did you come to think so far?

As he asked, he turned his eyes to me, blinking lightly.

Y/N: I couldn't help but think about it because I saw that Teacher Gong was already planning to retire.

Y/N : I'm thinking, will we find a way to be young again like Teacher Gong?

Gavin : Yes. Even if we all retire and become old grandparents, I will ride Sparky and take you for a ride.

Gavin : Just like now.

Gavin answered neatly, as if not bother at all, I nod approvingly, suddenly think of something, and sigh sadly.

Y/N : But at that time, given our physical condition, it should be easy to catch a cold when the cold wind blows. After returning home, we would definitely drink medicine with a bitter face.

I hug his lean waist and sigh softly.

Gavin think for a moment, then cup my face, look me in the eyes and answered seriously.

Gavin : I'll keep exercising every day, and my physical fitness should be ok in 50 years.

Gavin : If you're worry about getting a cold, I'll let the wind down a bit.

Gavin : Don't worry, as the Officer Gavin of Y/N, I will definitely protect your right to "laugh freely".

Gavin : Anytime.

I was amuse by his answer and couldn't help nodding solemnly.

Y/N: Hmm! Officer Gavin is right.

Gavin stare at me and suddenly pick me up and put me in the back seat of the motorcycle.

Y/N: Huh?

As I look around, I see Gavin's wanton bright eyes, and a tone with a slight desire to win.

Gavin : So with me here, I have to have a good time today.

I couldn't help laughing and hug his waist in the cool wind.

No matter when, this person in front of me is always trying to make me happy.

When we arrive at Lu Hui Tou, we quickly found the restaurant recommend by Teacher Gong.

The smell of steaming grilled meat was rushing towards me along with the humid evening wind, and the tempting aroma made me hungry.

Sadly, the restaurant appeared to be full.

Growl~...

Maybe the barbecue was too tempting, and my stomach groaned in response. I was a little embarrassed when I suddenly heard another "Growl~..." next to me.

I was stunned for a second, then couldn't help but burst into laughter. Turning to look at Gavin, he looked at me calmly and innocently.

Gavin: From landing to now, I only ate a bowl of Qing Bu Liang at Teacher Gong's house to refresh and nourish.

It's time to be hungry.

But the restaurant in front of you looks like there will be no vacancies for a while.

Just when I was thinking about coming back tomorrow and finding another place to eat, Gavin suddenly took my hand and walked in the opposite direction.

Y/N: Huh? Where are you going?

Gavin didn't speak, just lead me forward mysteriously.

As we got closer, through a large coconut grove, I could vaguely hear the roar of the crowd in the distance.

Pushing aside the last leaf in front of my eyes, my vision suddenly became clear, and I immediately see a large stretch of sandy beach unfolding in front of me.

The heat of the bonfire hit me with the laughter of the crowd, and there seem to be plenty of vacancies around.

There are many stalls selling things scatter on the beach, and the clamor is one after another.

Gavin turn his head to look at me, and behind him a large fiery cloud show a bright red color, which made his eyebrows fly and his eyes clear.

Gavin: I stumble upon this place when I was just going up the mountain.

Gavin : At that time, I thought, if it is too late to go to Lu Hui Tou, I will bring you here.

Gavin : Maybe you will see a more beautiful sunset color than Teacher Gong's photo.

Gavin : Y/N, this is the Plan B I have prepared for you.

*Part 4*

We sit down by a campfire and order the specialty seafood grill and mulled wine.

The sky was getting darker, and Lu Feng felt a little chilly. Some locals sang old and light-hearted songs in the Li language.

Along with the singing, people stand up and dance around the bonfire.

I was also blown away by the vibe, clapping hands with Gavin and humming.

The dancers are all dressed in local clothes, and the brightly colored stripes look like blooming flowers in the twilight.

I look around, and sure enough, I saw someone standing next to me selling beach-inspired clothes and accessories.

With a move in my heart, I take Gavin and walk briskly to the booth.

Y/N: Let's take a look too!

Standing in front of the booth, I saw a shirt with a wide neckline and no buttons at a glance. I felt a little bad in my heart, and I picked it up with a smile.

Y/N : Gavin, do you want to try this one?

Gavin's eyes fell on the collar of his shirt, he frowned in disgust, and was about to speak when the stall owner spoke first.

Stall owner: The beauty of the eyes is so good!

Stall owner: This handsome guy is handsome and has a good figure, so it is suitable to wear this kind of clothes to show such a perfect figure!

Stall owner: The handsome guy must be the most handsome guy on this beach!

Y/N : Yes yes yes! I agree!

I nod in agreement, and Gavin glance at me to see my smiling eyes.

And then... he simply replace it neatly.

Looking at the beach trendy guy with beautiful abdominal muscles in front of me, I immediately gave a thumbs up and turn around excitedly to choose accessories for him.

While I was happily browsing various colorful bracelets, I suddenly felt a chill in my neck.

Y/N: Huh?

I touch my neck suspiciously, and found that it was a string of colorful and very exaggerated colored stone necklaces.

Gavin looked at it for a moment, and I saw that he had a wicked smile in his eyes, but he nodded indifferently.

Gavin: Well, you look good on it.

Stall owner: The handsome guy has good eyesight, and the beautiful woman also looks good. Wearing this kind of colored stone necklace is absolutely amazing!

Stall owner: It’s so beautiful! It’s a match made in heaven with this handsome guy.

Y/N : ……

In the face of the enthusiastic praise of the stall owner, I had to swallow the words silently and wear it hard.

When i was turned around, i saw that the corner of Gavin's mouth was slightly bent.

After paying, Gavin and I went back to the campfire, and as soon as we sat down, I heard the guests screaming in small voices.

I looked in the direction of their eyes and couldn't help but whispered "Wow".

Beneath the orange sky, in the distance a pale blue fluorescent light rose and fell with the tide, glistening on the sea.

Layer after layer, like a mysterious ocean visitor.

Y/N : Gavin, look, it's so beautiful!

Y/N : This is the legendary "blue tears"!

Y/N : I heard that "blue tears" are the light emitted by sea fireflies being beaten by the waves, and they rarely appear.

Y/N : It seems that our luck today is not bad. Although we missed the scenery of Lu Hui Tou, we got "blue tears".

Gavin was sitting by the bonfire, looking at me happy with his face up, suddenly reaching out and wrapping me in his arms.

Gavin: Did you know that if the wind is strong enough, these "blue tears" can float in the air?

I shake my head and see the little smugness in Gavin's eyes.

Gavin: Then you can see it now.

He raise his eyebrows slightly, and I turn my head to look at the sudden exclamations of tourists around me, and I was so amaze that I was speechless.

At sunset, the sunset glow spreads over the entire sky, and the evening wind whips up the waves, making the blue sea fireflies sparkle in the air.

Gavin : This is my sunset for you. It belongs to us.

Gavin : Do you think it looks good?

It was as if there was a swimming fish jumping out of the sea in my heart, and when I see the boundless blue for the first time, I was excited and shocked.

I nod vigorously, nestle in his arms, and bent my eyes to see the beautiful sunset woven for me by the people around me.

Y/N : Of course it looks good, it's unique to me.

Suddenly a gust of sea breeze blew my hair and blocked my vision.

I was about to find a hairpin to pin it, but suddenly Gavin picked up a frangipani flower on the beach beside me.

He pick one and pin it to my ear to suppress the flying strands of hair for me.

After doing all this, his eyes still stay on my face, I with a little shyly, and asked with a light cough.

Y/N: Gavin, what are you doing?

Gavin: I heard that frangipani is the most famous flower here, and it blooms from spring to winter.

Gavin : I actually want to do this when I first got here.

Then Gavin, like what I taught him in the morning, gently smell the fresh seaside air, and his voice was a little lazy.

Gavin: I want to pin a frangipani for you, and I want to take you to sit on the beach and feel the evening breeze.

Gavin : Experience all the most beautiful scenery on this small island and see it all.

I look up and saw the orange sunset in his eyes, I remembered what Teacher Gong said, and I thought with hindsight...

Now I don't have to do anything, I'm already very happy.

Even after a few decades, I will probably be able to recall this sweet feeling.

With that in mind, I also reached out and made a wreath with frangipani.

Gavin kept staring at my movements, and when I made it up, I leaned over with a smile and put the wreath on his head.

The pale yellow flowers bloomed sweetly and pressed against Gavin's light brown hair, looking warm and lovely.

Y/N : That's right, since I have to wear flowers, how can I wear them alone~

Y/N : We both wear frangipani, and when I recall it later, I will laugh and comment...

I lower my tone, imitating the voice of my grandmother.

Y/N : We are so stupid when we are young, but we are so cute.

Hearing what I said, Gavin hold my hand loosely and look at the sea level in the distance.

The tide is still pounding the shoreline with perseverance, the night has risen, and everything looks hazy and dreamy.

Gavin: In my memory, the girl who made a wreath for me is the cutest.

Gavin : And not just now, even fifty years from now, you'll be just as lovely.

Gavin : Nothing will change.

Thank you for everyone that waiting for this translate, I'll do better next time, this is my first time for translating, so sorry for some words. 🙏🏻

#gavin mlqc #mlqc translations #mlqc bai qi #mr love queen's choice

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embarktodenmark22 · 2 years

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June 2nd, 2022

Today started with yet another bike ride (seriously, after walking 20,000 steps on some of these days, I am so, so happy that we’ve shifted back to using the bikes! What a relief on my pain. Now I’m just sore in my legs haha). We biked in some (ugh) light rain under a grey sky to find today’s studio, Yoke. Not going to lie, it was a confusing search. Google Maps lead poor Beia astray more than once, and the area, as we approached, was surrounded by housing/apartments- it definitely didn’t look at all like a place with office space enough for a design studio. But, sure enough, we turned a corner, saw a grocery store, and found Yoke tucked away surrounded by housing. Fed up with the rain, I parked, and sat waiting for everyone to arrive, shivering.

Our presentation from Yoke was so mind-opening. I feel like I’ve been saying that kind of thing a lot, but it’s so true. I had no idea that you could use design the way that Yoke does- as an immersive, interactive experience in which the technological side of things is mostly hidden. They talked about their past projects, and I was hooked. One had viewers blow the seeds off of a virtual dandelion with a hairdryer- others created interactive materials, like liquids and splashes of paint that would respond to viewer’s motions. Watching the videos, it looked as though viewers got so engaged in the experience that they may have even forgotten that tech, code, and design were involved. It seemed like an effortless bridge between the real and the digital. I honestly admired their dedication as a company to keeping the user/viewer in mind first and foremost- their experience matters more than certain aspects of creative nitpickiness, which is something I need to constantly remind myself.

I think, however, what I found coolest from this presentation was how they walked us through the creative development process of their current project for a building going up in Sweden in the next few years (if I’m remembering correctly). I forget exactly what the building is to be- perhaps a library? Either way, they first revealed that their concept was to create a piece that visually discussed the interplay between art and science, based on the idea that art and science really aren’t that different- they are both tools of understanding, exploring, and reflecting upon the world around us- one merely seeks to understand our world quantifiably, the other is more intuitively. They then showed us installations that they were using as inspiration- such as one where a bunch of mirrors would move as though alive, then, the moment a viewer walked on to their stage, they would all snap and face the viewer (like an audience, but all they’d see is their own face). Another inspiration was a room where rain would funnel down on everything except the viewer. They then showed the specific visual-conceptual inspiration that shaped their current planned outcome- neurons. Their planned final project is intended to look like minimalized/simplified versions of how med students/teachers draw neuron structures. Hearing them talk about the reasons for the choices they made were so cool- with the neurons lighting up on many individual LED panels, each ball of light (each electrical signal in the neuron) representing one person in the building- so the neurons would be firing intensely if the sensors at the doors counted many people in the building, and on slow days, only a few signals would be bouncing up and down the neurons. Honestly, I’ve never considered making designed installations of any kind, and had kind of given up on learning how to code for creative purposes, but this has honestly made me reconsider. I think, at least, I will be picking back up learning code once I’m home and have free time, if nothing else. The possibilities for design are seemingly more endless than I had initially perceived!

Anyways, walking away from Yoke feeling inspired and energized, I was ready for a good bite to eat. Trusting Travis and Michelle’s taste in food, I followed them to Kulturhuset, a fancy-looking cafe with a cool view of some water and other nearby buildings. I got myself some macarons (SO good), a chai latte (been drinking a lot of those lately), and a veggie burger. Travis and Beia, who also got the veggie burger, realized as quickly as I that it was so, so messy (but so good). Everyone sat and talked for a while, and I kind of went into my own head for a bit to recharge my social battery, occasionally butting in to others’ conversations when talked to or when it was relevant. I overheard Dane talking about his mission to find some cheap AirPods so that he’d be able to listen to music and navigation while still here- and his frustrations with trying to meet up with some Danish stranger on Facebook Marketplace. I only mention this, because I wound up tagging along with him to a nearby mall in his pursuit of AirPods.

Beia, Alice, Tessa, Dane, and I spent a good few hours in this mall (Forget the name, sadly). It had a huge, cool metallic sculpture, and a lot of very bougie stories. There was a huuuuge design/home store (there seem to be a lot of those here) that seemed really cool, until you realized that the cheapest item was around $20… So sad, found some good potential souvenirs, but not for the price they were. Seriously, I found a cheap piece of plastic hair clip that I could get at the Dollar Tree…. On sale for $22! AS if. It was a cool store to window shop in. Got some inspiration for a couple art projects there. We then wandered into a strange, kind of sketchy store. The first half, as you windingly walked in, was filled with fidget toys and weird, off-brand bootleg Among Us figurines. Then, as you went in, there was a brief office supplies section, and most of the store turned into party supplies? There was also cheap candy and a sketchy boba bar attached that I didn’t try, boba lover as I may be. Some things are too sketchy for me, and I wasn’t about to find out if that boba was any good. We had some more fun wandering in and out of stores. Their was somebody filming something in the mall, taking up a huge chunk of walkway, then, later, we helped Dane pick out some polos (decidedly, green is his color). There were also these cool walkways that they had instead of escalators, that was like the ones you’d find in an airport, but for going up. We decided to chill and try some of the weird Starbucks flavors available here (oddly enough, this was the very first Starbucks I have seen literally the entire time that we’ve been here. The only one.). As we sat, we discussed zodiac signs, why not to trust air sign men (especially aquarius men), and found out that I had known Alice’s ex boyfriend, Vincent, who apparently was an Aquarius man! Makes sense. As we drank, some weird band came walking by through the store- with a bunch of men who had interesting haircuts (ponytails only, basically, bald elsewhere). So that was neat. We eventually finished our drinks, made a few more stops to windowshop, then decided to leave and head separate ways.

Beia, Tessa, and I headed back into the city to walk around and do some shopping. The entire time I’ve been here, I’ve been meaning to research nearby metaphysical stores, which, lucky me, I wound up just randomly stumbling upon one! It was similar to ones I’d been to back home, but a lot more organized- and with some really cool tarot decks. Mind you, I already have 6-7 tarot decks at home. But I have adult money, and cannot help myself, and bought this amazing Art Nouveau inspired deck that the woman at the counter recommended. Got a nice crystal as well. We left, kept walking around in search of a cart that had been on the street the other day selling roasted nuts. No such luck. Tessa wound up taking off, since the dorms were just a block or so away, and Beia and I, hungry now, revisited the delicious bagel shop we went to one of our first days here. I really should have tried another flavor, but I couldn’t help but to get the Serrano again. Mouth-watering. So much pesto… so many crisp, fresh veggies… whatever meat goes in a Serrano…. Literally nothing tastes this good in the states. Nothing. I am spoiled rotten and probably am going to hate all of the food once I get home. I mean, how can’t I when I’ve stayed this long in a country where even McDonalds burgers look like fine dining! Not. Fair.

Beia and I were getting tired, but wanted to make a few more stops. We wanted to check out this amazing poster store- they had a little bit of everything for every one. Some of the posters were huge. I wish I could’ve gotten something, but I didn’t want to risk taking a poster home and bending it. But seriously- they had vintage art, modern graphic art, art of the city, music-based art, cartoons, modern musicians, and a lot of art historical posters. Could’ve spent hours in there if my feet weren’t acting up and were I not bummed out that I couldn’t get anything big. We then went to go check out a building I had biked past that, in Danish, translates to “Woman House” and had a bunch of cool, eye-catching feminist merch in the windowsill but, alas, its interior was shut down for the day. Before either of these stores, I also had tried to go to a nerdy store to get Mason a souvenir, but the guy inside wagged his finger at me and shoo’ed me away. Bummer.

Anyways, we would have been done for the night, as I personally was super tired, however, there is a 5-6 day rave called Distortion going on all throughout the city, and I wanted to say that I had at LEAST been to it once. So Beia, Tessa, and I geared up, got snazzy, and hit the city to head to the meat-packing district for a “Distortion Street Party.” Figuring out the train was soooo confusing. We almost went to the wrong machine, couldn’t figure out how many zones we needed, barely knew how to get our tickets- almost didn’t because the machine was being stubborn… It was a lot. All for them not to check our tickets once anyways. Lame. Anyways, we made it to Vesterbro (again, the meat-packing/red-light district) to, in fact, find a street party of hundreds and hundreds of people. But, the further we walked in, the more we realized it was just people sitting at benches with friends getting wasted beyond all recognition. We, at this point, had a faint hope of partying for at least an hour, and got some cheap fruity vodka in a can drink. There was, maybe, music in one or two corners of the Main Street. Mostly benches, and garbage, and drunk humans falling over, and broken beer bottles, and people going around collecting cans to make money off of returning them to machines. Seriously. Might have been fun if we were drunk, but seeing all of this sober/buzzed at best just had me feeling sad for the people who have to clean up the mess.

We were going to head to the club that I had gone to a few nights before, Jolene, in hopes of recovering the party spirit of the night (and hoping not to have wasted our time and train ticket), and, in our quest, found a few areas of dancing. One spot seemed very promising- Beia was just talking about wanting to go to a Silent Disco, and a silent disco we found! Excited, we crawled into line for headphones and got ready for a new experience. We got closer, and closer….. and the guy said “We’re closed!” Right as we reached him. So that was fun. We, again, headed towards Jolene. Stopped again, found another area of dancing- a tightly packed crowd that, closer to the stereos, had more dancing and excitement. But, really, most of the people were awkwardly standing around and talking. Super hard to get your boogie on if people just aren’t into it. So, tired, and having an early morning the next day, we gave up on our quest and headed back to the station. Did you know that they charge you to pee in Copenhagen’s Central Station? I was going to fall for the scam, but my card reader didn’t work on their machine. What a scaaaam. Anyways, figuring out the train home was a little bit stressful as well but we got ourselves sorted out. We hopped on, made it back to Norreport, and immediately snacked at the 24/7 McDonalds. I got this weirdly foamy banana shake (probably just not artificial, ngl) and some nuggets with this delicious garlic sauce. Again, gourmet McDonalds compared to the phony stuff American McDonalds sells you. Really fresh food to actually savor, not to buy out of desperation (Which we kinda did anyways). We just went home after eating, but maaaann was I sore. I think I’m falling apart at the seams, pain-level wise, but it’s all kind of numbing together. Both excited for tomorrow- revisiting Sweden for a longer time than just for lunch- and scared- for my poor, poor pain levels. What a day!

(P.S.; These were the “bathrooms” they had available for women at the street party…. Quite literally zero privacy)

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daryl-dixon-daydreams · 3 years

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Words: 6,188 Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Reader Reader pronouns: she/her Era: Alexandria, pre-Negan + flashbacks in other eras Warnings: language, fear and anxiety, mention of fear of heights Summary: Y/N and Daryl head out on the run for the requested medical supplies. Things are tense, but possibly about to get worse... This part is written in Daryl's POV!

Your name: submit What is this?

* * *

“I ain’t waitin’. I got a whiff of him and I gotta go before it disappears.”

“Daryl, are you sure about this?” Carol pressed him, creases from worry between her eyebrows. “Are you sure you’ve really thought this through?”

“What is there to think through? If he finds her again, he’ll kill her. And I ain’t waitin’ around for that to happen.” The archer was a blur of activity, gathering his gear and shoving it into his pack.

“I think you need to talk to her about this,” Carol insisted, relinquishing her hold on his poncho somewhat unwillingly as Daryl pulled it from her hands.

He shook his head. “Nah. Ya know she’ll want to be there and I can’t risk that…” he trailed off. “I can’t risk—can’t risk that.”

A thick silence stretched for a moment and Carol wrung her hands. “Well, what are you going to tell her?”

He paused, his hands on the clasp of his pack. “I ain’t tellin’ her anythin’. I’ll leave before its light tomorrow. By the time everyone is up, I’ll be gone.”

“What am I supposed to tell her then? When she inevitably asks?” Carol pressed him. “You want me to lie to her too?”

“I ain’t lyin’,” Daryl snapped. “‘M just not—not tellin’ her everythin’. ‘M ending this so she can move on.”

Carol’s jaw tensed. “It feels like a lie.”

“Just tell her I went north. To see what I could see. Lookin’ for supplies,” he drawled, setting his pack and crossbow on the ground beside his bed. “I don’t know.”

Carol sighed heavily and shook her head as he straightened up. “I don’t think this is—”

“Look, tell her whatever ya want. Just wait until ‘m gone. This is happenin’. It’ll be done. S’gonna be over with. For good.”

She shook her head and gave him a long look before crossing his cell and gently clasping his shoulder. “Be careful. I mean it,” she said, surrendering to the fact that there would be no changing his mind. He nodded, pulling his bottom lip in between his teeth for a moment.

“I will.”

Carol gave him one last look full of anxiety and left him.

* * *

I hardly slept. Maybe caught 20 minutes here and 15 minutes there. Anxiety about the run—that’s all it was. At least, that’s what I kept tellin’ myself. Wanderin’ into a hospital was about the dumbest shit we could do. They always promised to be loaded with unexpected bullshit and floods of undead assholes. But lyin’ flat on my back in the dark, I knew deep down it had a helluva lot more to do with her than it had to do with the run. I was tryin’ to remember the last time I’d spent more than ten minutes alone with her and it left me with a feelin’ like somebody had dropped a damn lead weight onto my chest. I turned over in bed in an attempt to throw it off, but it still sat there on my lungs. I knew exactly when we’d last been alone for longer than a few minutes. Of course I fuckin’ knew. It was burned into my goddamn memory.

But it wasn’t doin’ me a lick of good to think on it so I pushed it away and waited for the clock beside me to read 5:15 before I climbed out of bed. My gear was all waitin’ ready, except for pickin’ up a gun on the way out. I half-expected to run into her in the armory, but it was dark and empty when I grabbed a handgun and some ammo. It felt like a lonely walk to Aaron’s, up the empty street, dew heavy on the grass, and my bootsteps echoing loudly off the dark rows’a houses. I never feel right in here… with the square little lawns and lights on by the front doors. It just felt fake, like somebody had built paper houses and was plannin’ to light ‘em up to burn any minute. I couldn’t feel settled. I just felt… lost. Outta place. Like I didn’t belong.

I’d gotten rid of that feelin’ once… My mind drifted back to her like it always did. It was like I didn’t have no damn control over my own mind. She’d been the one who’d made me feel like I belonged. But now? Fuck. I’m doin’ it again. Focus, dumbass.

She wasn’t waitin’ by my bike either, so I rode up to the gate. As the lookout platform came into view, I caught sight of her climbing down, followed by Gabriel. Her pack was slung on her back, a shotgun hanging at her side and her favorite pistol in a holster on her thigh. I found myself chewing the inside of my cheek. Nerves. Anxiety. This was gonna be a long fuckin’ day.

“I’ve got the gate,” Gabriel said, heading for the latch. She wandered over and I felt a jolt when she met my eyes. I nudged my nose up in a nod, but she just looked back at me with that same stony expression. Unreadable. It always seemed like I never saw her smile anymore. Maybe she did, just not around me. I got that blank look or a glare that I probably deserved…

“Were ya on watch?” I asked, curious why she wouldn’ta gotten rid of her shift in favor of sleep, knowing we’d be heading out on a run early.

“No,” she said simply. No extra info. Typical. Why waste more on me when one word would do? She didn’t owe me nothin’. And she knew it. I swallowed my other questions and leaned forward on my bike so she could climb on. I felt her settle in behind me and glanced over my shoulder at her. She caught my eyes for a brief moment before looking away, down toward the ground. That was typical too. It was like she just couldn’t look at me. Felt like somebody twisted a blade in my chest every time she dodged me like that. And yet I couldn’t get enough of her, even if she was purposely a giant pain in the ass most of the damn time… I still felt like she was a mirage in a desert. A mouthful of cool water in a drought. Food for a starvin’ man.

Gabriel was waiting with the gate open, so I revved the bike to life again. Her arms wrapped around my waist to hold on and for a second I thought I felt her cheek press against the back of my shoulder, but I knew I must have imagined it. My heart was racing as we pulled out. I was more anxious than I had been all night. The thoughts rushing through my head moved so fast I couldn’t even focus on any of them.

Gabriel yelled at us to be safe as we moved through, kickin’ dust up that left a glowing red cloud behind from the reflection of the taillights. The ride to the city was smooth. We made good time, luckily only passing lone walkers or small herds that were easy to avoid. Around the curves, for a brief moment, she’d hold tighter to me and lean into the turns like I’d taught her in what felt like another fuckin’ lifetime. Each corner I could feel every individual fingertip pressing into my waist or stomach. It was always followed by a sudden wash of heat like somebody had shoved me in a shower with the temperature all the way up. I couldn’t control it. Didn’t matter how hard I tried to ignore the feelin’ of being so damn close against each other…

I slowed down as we neared the hospital. Cars sat rusting in gridlocked traffic, tires long gone, frozen in time—same place they were when everythin’ shut the fuck down. I slowed my bike to roll over some debris and hit a chunk of concrete a little harder than I meant to. Her arms tightened around me reflexively at the jolt before loosening again the next second. My heart jolted at the same time. That feeling… of her clinging onto me for safety—but fuck. Let’s not make it out to be more than it is, dumbass. I turned toward my left shoulder. “Sorry,” I murmured. She didn’t say anything back, just shifted in her place behind me, puttin’ an inch more space back between us. The hospital came into view ahead, tall over everything else on the block.

She tapped my arm and I turned so I could hear her over the engine. “We should park. Sound of the bike,” she said. I knew what she was thinkin’. Any walkers or people anywhere around would hear us. I turned down a side street and parked in a loading dock bay. She climbed off about as damn fast as she could. Kicking the kickstand out and swinging my leg over, she was already walking back toward the corner of the building to look down the street.

“Hold up,” I called after her. I still had to get my gear off the back. She either didn’t hear me or didn’t give a shit and I found myself gritting my teeth. But when I rushed around the corner, I nearly collided with her. She did wait. She was leaned up against the brick, her shotgun in her hands, staring ahead at the looming building.

She straightened up as I stopped beside her and we started windin’ our way down the last couple blocks, keepin’ to the shadows of the buildings, stayin’ in cover as best we could. Even so, I couldn’t help glancin’ up at the endless windows, too many high points. All it would take is one asshole with a rifle and a scope... My hands started to sweat as I gripped my crossbow. I glanced at her, but she was as stony-faced as ever. “C’mon,” I said, quickening my stride. “I wanna get the hell off this street.”

I heard her let out a small scoff behind me. “Yeah, you’re the only one worried about being out here,” she murmured. My teeth clenched again but I did my best to ignore it. There was no point gettin’ riled up this early in the day. We still had a lot of fuckin’ work to do. We reached a set of double doors on the side of the hospital, but one glance inside showed they were well barricaded. I stood there rubbing a hand over the stubble on my face. “S’try the south door,” I drawled. To my surprise, she didn’t argue. But that side was a fuckin’ bust too. “Shit,” I spat out. There was a tall cabinet blocking the entrance.

“Good call,” she said sarcastically.

I shot her a glare. And this time when I bit my cheek, I tasted blood. “Ya got a better fuckin’ idea? Huh?” I challenged her.

She rolled her eyes, studying the door for a moment. There was a large glass pane above it that was broken out and I saw her eyes lock in on it. “Boost me up there,” she said, inclining her chin to indicate the window.

Did she want to go in alone? Well, that sure as shit wasn’t fuckin’ happenin’. “Like hell,” I growled back. She rolled her eyes again.

“Just boost me through and I’ll get the door open. I’ll let you in.”

Now it was my turn to scoff. “Ya gonna move that cabinet? By yerself?” I asked skeptically. The muscle in her jaw tensed.

“I don’t have to move it far. Just enough to let you squeeze in. And you can help from the outside.”

I pulled my bottom lip in between my teeth. I didn’t like the idea. I paced a tight circle, thinkin’, as she shifted impatiently beside me. “What if ya get in there and there are walkers? Huh? We can’t see shit down the hall.”

“I’ll be quiet. Come on. We haven’t got all fucking day and we’re sitting ducks out here. Unless you’ve come up with something better—”

I didn’t like it, but she was right. Shit. “Fine,” I interrupted. She leaned her shotgun up against the wall as I set my back against the door, fingers locked together and hands low at my bent knee. “C’mon. Gimme yer foot.”

She seemed to hesitate and I wondered if she was having second thoughts, but the next moment she stepped close in front of me and her hands came to my shoulders. “Ready?” I asked. Her face was maybe six inches from mine, her hands light. I started to feel warm again, a flush of heat across the back of my neck that started spillin’ into my chest. I could see every fleck of color in her eyes, the upturned curve of her eyelashes, that little scar on her chin... Fuck. Focus.

“Ready.” She planted her boot in my hands and I boosted her up so she could grab the window edge. The tinkling of glass dropping in was all I could hear for a moment, and then her weight disappeared from my hands. Spinning around, I watched her pull herself through onto the top of the cabinet. She stayed perched there for a moment, glancin’ behind her, scoutin’ the hallway, before she dropped to her feet lightly. She made it look easy. Graceful.

I couldn’t stand still, constantly shifting my weight. I watched her face tighten as she wedged her shoulder into the cabinet, using all her weight, and it started to move at an angle away from the door. I pushed in with my shoulder from the outside and we finally had enough space for me to slip through. I passed her shotgun through first before turnin’ sideways and slidin’ in. It was dark and completely silent except for the sound of our own breathin’. It felt stuffy inside, and I could vaguely smell somethin’ sharp like animal piss and a sickeningly sweet smell. Death. Decay. I paused to draw the string on my crossbow back, cocking it ready to fire, a bolt nestled in the flight groove.

She pulled her flashlight out from the side pocket of her pack and clicked it on, shining it partially up the hallway ahead. “Jesus…” Her boots crunched over broken glass. She adjusted the shoulder strap of her shotgun, her eyes fixed down the hall, following the moving beam of her light. “This place is a fucking wreck,” she whispered. In her distraction, her tone lacked the usual hostility or sarcasm.

“Somethin’ went down since we were last here,” I agreed. There was a lot more debris and furniture toppled over and strewn about. A lot of obstacles to a clean getaway if we had to make one. “Let’s just get this done and get the hell out.”

“What a unique idea…” she remarked over her shoulder. There it was. Damn sarcasm was back.

I couldn’t help rolling my eyes and movin’ past her so I was in the lead. I knew it would annoy her, but I secretly wanted to be the one in the line of fire if somethin’ was crooked. I headed for the stairwell, pullin’ my own flashlight out and shinin’ it inside before I tried the door. It looked clear. “Upper floors are more likely to have shit left. Let’s go.”

We moved in silence. I could feel her ghosting behind me the whole way, almost mimicking my movements. This was the first time the two of us had been alone on a run since… since I dun even know when. But despite it being so goddamn long, we weren’t out of step. Once we started movin’ it was like no damn time had passed. We fell right back into our old rhythm. I knew her and she knew me. We worked well together when she put aside her need to argue with everythin’ I said. It still felt like we each knew what the other was thinkin’. Not that I expected this run would magically make working together bearable again for good, or solve anything, but at least we could if we had to. I also now was realizin’ this whole thing was probably orchestrated by Rick. Did Denise really need the supplies? Sure. But did it have to be Y/N and I gettin’ ‘em? Alone? Fuck no. I dunno exactly what he was hopin’ for but I’m pretty sure he’ll be disappointed…

Moving steadily upwards, we had most of the supplies on the list, plus plenty of extra finds, but I was growing more and more uneasy as we went on. We hadn’t run into a single fucking walker yet, and to me that meant they were probably herded up in a massive hoard somewhere. It felt like a matter of time before we found them or they found us. I could sense Y/N’s tension risin’ again too. She was more fidgety, more careful about each step she took. I found myself frequently sweeping my eyes back behind us to make sure nothin’ was lurking just outta the flashlight beams. There were the usual signs of walkers nearby; smears of blood on the floor and walls, that fuckin’ smell ya could never get outta yer nose, even chunks of flesh from the rottin’ fuckers. But we still hadn’t seen one, and I was fuckin’ worried.

“Almost got everything,” Y/N whispered to me, shoving a couple more bottles into her pack. “We just need to find the CPAP machine,” she murmured, staring down at the list. “I don’t have a fucking clue what the hell that looks like.” She glanced over at me, one of her eyebrows quirked in a question and I realized she was waitin’ for some kinda response.

“What? Yer lookin’ at me? I ain’t got a goddamn clue what the hell that even is,” I said gruffly. Shit. I saw it. Just for a second, but one corner of her lips twitched up in a smile and I swear there was a spark in her eyes—like the ones I used to see in her all the time. My heart jumped and I tried my best to ignore it. She seemed to turn away, hidin’ her face right as I was puzzlin’ over it.

“Right… well, let’s try down the hall. There’s probably another supply closet at the other end,” she said, nudging her head toward the darkness ahead.

We made our way cautiously. I pushed into the lead again and was surprised when she didn’t argue. I tried every door handle but most of ‘em just led to empty or trashed patient rooms. I caught her frozen in the doorway of one that had a massive bloodstain on the floor and spatter partially up the walls. Her eyes were wide and vacant, and I wondered what she was reliving. “Hey,” I said, just over her shoulder. She seemed to pull out of it abruptly and she turned away, moving on like nothin’ had happened. I let her go ahead, mainly so I could keep an eye on her for a minute and make sure she still had her head in the game, but I didn’t need to worry. Not about that anyway. She’d always been tough. She wasn’t shaken by shit easily. I knew that. And yet I still had this drive to want to protect her, even though she didn’t need it from me. And she definitely didn’t want it from me.

“Here,” she said suddenly, slinging her gun back on her shoulder and more fully opening the door to a small supply closet. There was hardly enough room for her to stand inside, so I posted up just behind her and strained my eyes and ears for anythin’. “It’s all electronic stuff,” she whispered, entirely focused at the task at hand. Her hands floated from one device to the next, illuminated by her flashlight. She was looking for some label or model number or somethin’ to tell her what they were. She bent down and grabbed some scattered papers from among the boxes on the floor. Swearing under her breath she held one up to the flashlight. “Of course the cover and all the useful shit in the front is torn off,” she muttered. She was bending down to grab another handful when there was some sudden, deep noise on the floor above us.

My heart seemed to stall out for a moment and she straightened up and froze, her eyes lifted toward the ceiling, lips partially parted. The sound seemed to reverberate through the building. I could feel it beneath my feet. It resonated through the walls. After a moment, I was looking at her and she glanced over and met my eyes, her eyebrows a little furrowed with worry.

“What the fuck was that?” she asked in a harsh whisper. I only shook my head. She gulped and refocused, shakin’ it off, focusing back on the papers. She was flipping page after page, scanning them as fast as she could.

I started to hear some more noises above us and then eventually spilling toward the other end of the hall. My grip on my crossbow tightened. “We need to move,” I said, keeping my voice low.

She was still intensely focused on the manual in her hands. “Just gimme a minute…” she said vaguely.

I shifted, turning more toward the far end of the hallway, straining my hearing. There was more clattering above us. “We might not have another damn minute.”

“Just—hold on—”

Fuck. I stood frozen for a moment as a herd of walkers started to spill out from the stairwell at the other end of the hallway and start toward us. “We ain’t got a minute, Y/N!” I urged in a harsh whisper. She didn’t seem to hear me.

There were more walkers than I could count. They hadn’t spotted us yet but I had to move fast, so I did the only damn thing I could think of and pushed her forward into the closet, pressing in after her and shutting the door as quietly as I could. I instinctively clicked my flashlight off and hurried to grab hers and do the same, plunging the two of us into darkness in that small space.

“Daryl, what the hell?!” she snapped at me. She’d been so focused she was completely oblivious to the mass of dead wandering our way. The goddamn closet was so small I had no choice but to be pressed into her… My heart started to pound and I think it had more to do with her against me than the undead assholes outside. I was sure she’d be able to feel it and prayed she’d just think it was adrenaline or somethin’. “What the fuck are you doing?!”

I shoved my hand over her mouth, all my patience gone. Did she really think I’d shoved her in a closet for the hell of it? “For once in yer goddamn life just shut up!” I growled in a low voice. She seemed to tense against me but in the quiet the sounds of the walkers outside the door were now easily heard above our ragged breathin’ and they were growing louder every second. I still had one hand over her mouth and the other clenching my crossbow at my side. She shifted against me and pulled my hand away. I could hear and feel her breathin’ pick up pace. I planted my palm on the wall behind her, next to her head, very aware of the growin’ heat pooling between the two of us where we were pressed together. The air felt suffocatin’. I started to worry the walkers outside the door would be able to hear my breathin’ I was so nervous. I wanted to shift, move away from her like I’m sure she wanted… I wanted to change positions and get my bow up, but it was impossible.

She didn’t seem to know where to put her arms within the tight, dark space. I couldn’t blame her. I was leaned in against her, sorta over her even. I felt her hand accidentally brush my arm and my body jolted a little at the contact, like some reflex I didn’t know I had. My teeth ground together. After that she seemed to settle away from me, into the wall behind her.

We had to just stay there, fuckin’ frozen, hardly room to breathe while the hoard passed by. Every once and a while, a body would thump hard against the door and I’d feel her flinch. I could feel sweat dripping down my neck and beading up on my face, my hair sticking to it. We were so close I could feel her breath against my skin when she faced toward me. I felt the rhythm of her breathin’. And I couldn’t ignore the fact that in that tiny ass closet, the only thing I could smell was the faint scent of her shampoo. I tried hard not to notice, but I’d be lyin’ if I said I didn’t try to put some name to the smell. Lavender? Not quite. Maybe more like rose? I dunno. And despite the possible death lurking just outside, I found it hard to focus on anythin' other than the feeling of her against me.

It felt like it took hours for the hoard to pass, but it was probably only ten minutes. But after the sounds drifted away we were still left with a big fuckin’ problem. They had to go somewhere, and my best guess was that they were travelin’ down.

It was so dark in there I couldn’t even tell if my fuckin’ eyes were open or closed, and it seemed to be makin’ it hard to think… Or maybe the angle of her one hip pressed into me was—fuck. Get it together, man… I fumbled for and clicked on my flashlight, findin' the two of us both wincin' at the sudden glare, noses almost touchin'. She was lookin’ up at me, her lips softly parted, her expression only full of concern for once, that little worry line she always gets near her eyebrow.

We both stayed like for a second. I guess just struck by actually seein’ how close we were in the sudden light, until finally she tore her eyes away and turned her head.

I tried to clear my throat, worried my voice was gonna come out soundin' strained or somethin’. “Uhh… sounded like they were goin’—”

“—down. Yeah,” she finished.

My eyes traced the angle of her jawline as she kept her face turned away from me. I heard the paper manual crinkle in her hand and groped for the doorknob behind me. “Yeah,” I agreed quietly. “So, we got a problem about gettin’ out.” My hand finally landed on the doorknob and I turned it and slowly opened the door on the hall, checking both directions carefully but also feelin’ like if I didn’t put some damn space between the two of us again I was about to explode. It looked clear and I stepped out. Glancin’ back, she still seemed frozen, up against the wall, her face turned away toward her shoulder so I couldn’t really get a read on her. “Hey. What is it?” I prompted her.

“Hmm?” She seemed to snap back to herself. “N—nothing…” She went back to searching the manual in her hand, like nothin’ had fuckin’ happened. Just one goddamn time I’d like to know what the fuck is goin’ on inside her head… But I ain’t got no right to that. She’s made that pretty fuckin’ clear.

It wasn’t the right manual or the right machine. But she went through two more until she found it. “Got it,” she announced, waving the paper at me before shoving it into her already full duffel bag. She seized a small machine from the shelf and started trying to rearrange items to make it fit in her pack.

“I got room,” I said, still nervously checkin’ over my shoulder. I thought I could hear the hoard moving below us, maybe two floors down.

“It’s fine. I can make it fit,” she said, jostling more stuff in her bag.

I rolled my eyes and grabbed the damn thing from her, slinging my crossbow strap over my shoulder. “Ya’d really rather split yer pack at the seams than take any fuckin’ help from me,” I murmured. I didn’t wait for an answer. I didn’t need one…

She stepped out of the closet and I caught her wiping her forearm across her forehead. It left a smear of dirt near her hairline. I had to pull myself back to the present. “So, how are we getting out of here?” she asked, adjusting her pack and the duffel bag strap on her shoulder.

I glanced at her, knowing she wasn’t gonna like my idea.

She rolled her eyes. “Well, you’ve obviously got something. Just get on with it.”

“Fire escape,” I said.

I watched the muscle in her jaw twitch as he jaw clenched. “Fuckin’ great…”

“Unless ya got somethin’ else—”

“You know I don’t,” she snapped back at me. She wiped a hand across her forehead again, swiping away fresh drops of sweat. “It’s—” She cut herself off. “Let’s just go,” she sighed, defeated.

I looked at her for a second more, trying to gauge just how freaked out she was, but it didn’t seem to matter. We didn’t have any other options.

“Let’s go,” she snapped again. “Before I change my mind about being able to handle this.”

“It ain’t—”

She squeezed her eyes shut and I watched her body tense. “I swear to god, Dixon, if you say ‘It ain’t that bad’ or ‘It ain’t that high’ right now, I will lose my shit and attract every fucking walker in this goddamn building. I don’t even give a fuck.” Her jaw muscle twitched.

I couldn’t help letting out a sigh that was more of a growl than anything but then I turned and headed for the window a couple doors down that I’d noticed was busted out. Leaning through, I scanned the outside of the building for a fire escape. Nothing on that side.

“It’s probably around the other side. Let’s try the end of the hall,” she suggested. Her boots stayed rooted to the floor and I glanced at her again. She caught my eyes and must have read the concern on my face.

“I’m fine. You’re the last person I need worrying about me,” she growled.

Fuck. She could be infuriating… I found my hand clenching and unclenching a few times before I followed her back out of the room.

She was right. There was a fire escape down that side. I grabbed a piece of metal off the floor and straightened up. “Ya ready?” I asked one more time. “They might hear this glass break so we gotta fuckin’ move.” I thought her hands were a bit shaky.

“Just do it,” she said. And this time, I could hear the quiver in her voice.

I smashed the window and knocked out the glass before pullin' myself through. The metal grates rattled under my boots and she looked suddenly sick as she approached the window sill. I hesitated a second before reaching a hand out to help her through.

“I’m fine,” she said. She didn’t look fine, but she gripped the ledge and climbed out. “Oh, fuck. Fuck…” she muttered as her feet landed on the platform. She was keeping her eyes fixed straight out. Even just the metal grates at th prison used to freak her out, and that was one floor.

I wanted to comfort her but… I wasn’t dumb enough to think it’d help or that she wanted me to, so instead I just started down the stairs at a good pace. She followed stiffly behind me, gripping onto the railing with white knuckles and falling behind.

Every once and a while I’d glance back and she looked like she was about to be sick, but she was still following. We hit a snag as we reached the third-floor platform. A large part of it had rusted and fallen away, leaving a gaping hole we would have to edge around to reach the next set of stairs.

“Oh, you’ve gotta be fucking kidding me.” I heard her behind me and when I looked back her eyes were wide and round and she was clutching onto the railing like it was a lifeline.

“S’fine. I’ll cross first. Just keep over—”

“Oh, really, Daryl? I should keep over to the side? You mean I should stay away from the huge fucking hole in the goddamn floor?” It kept drawing her eyes and I’d see her rip them back up and away, reeling.

I knew that was mostly coming from the fact that she was fuckin’ terrified, but every harsh word from her still stung. “Fine. Clearly, yer good,” I spat back. “Ya don’t need me and ya don’t give a shit and yer fine. I fuckin’ got it.” So much for trying to calm her down. I edged past the hole in the metal grating and went down the next set of stairs. Finally, I just had to push down the ladder, climb down, and we’d be on solid ground again. But when I looked back up, she was still frozen where she had been, on the far side of the platform. I watched her for another minute, waiting to see if she’d move. I knew she wasn’t gonna ask for help, not from me, but she obviously needed it and tough shit, I’m the only damn person here. I rubbed a hand across the back of my neck, anxious to even try again, and climbed back up. I edged past the rusted-out hole and stopped next to her. “Just gimme yer hand.” She didn’t loosen her grip on the railing, and her eyes landed on my face. “S’fine. Just for two seconds, lemme fuckin’ help ya.”

Her chest was heaving with fearful breaths and I guess the idea of tryin’ to cross along that edge alone was worse than puttin’ her hand in mine. Part of me still thought she’d take the heights over me, but she didn’t… She pried her hand off the railing and placed it into mine. I—I can’t say my heart didn’t jump when my fingers closed around it. The motorcycle. The fuckin’ closet. Now this. We’d hardly been within six feet of each other for years and now all this in one day… I felt dizzy. It ain’t like Rick could have predicted these things would happen. He sure as shit couldn’t command a hoard to force us into each other in a tiny closet… but he must have been hopin’ for somethin’ by sendin’ us out here. Was it gonna work on her? I fuckin’ doubt it.

As we stepped along the edge of the edge of the platform, she held her breath. She always seemed like nothing in this fucked up world scared her anymore, nothing phased her. Half the time it almost seemed like she didn’t give a shit if she died. But this? Heights? This still scared her on some level she couldn't reason away.

But we made it across just fine. She was gripping onto me so tightly I thought she might have bruised the bones in my damn hand. And as we climbed down the next set of stairs, long past the danger, she was still holding onto me. But just as quickly as I realized it, she slipped her hand out and stiffened next to me again, fixing her eyes away toward the railing, which she grabbed onto again desperately.

We made it down the ladder, dropping onto the concrete and making a run back to my bike, slippin' from cover to cover, packs heavy and weighing us down. I was thinking how batshit crazy it was that we’d just done a hospital run and hadn’t had to kill a single walker AND managed to get all the damn supplies... when we rounded the last corner and a string of curses left her mouth.

“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me. What the fuck?!” She knelt down next to my bike and as I looked, my stomach dropped.

“Son of a fuckin' bitch.” Both tires on my motorcycle were slashed. Ruined. Fuck.

We were stranded in the city without a runnin’ vehicle and somebody knew we were here.

#daryl dixon fanfiction #daryl dixon x reader #daryl dixon twd #the walking dead #twd fanfics #daryl dixon drabbles #daryl imagines #daryl x y/n #fanfics #writers of tumblr #twd drabbles

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strawbearisamu · 3 years

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promises [summer collection: vol 3]

❀ timeskip! matsukawa issei x gn! reader | wc: 1.2k

summary: snapshots of the promises he made you, 8 years at a time from when you were 8 to 16 and finally a proposal at 24.

note: volumes are not connected this is a standalone story.

"hey! you can trust me," he smirked.

"oh yeah? do you remember the first promise you made?" you grinned.

❀ eight — accidents

in the sweltering heat of the sun, slippers warm from the heat, slapping against the tarmac in your little cul-de-sac, you chased him. the humidity of summer enveloping you, you wipe the sheen of sweat off your forehead, panting to catch your breath, "i give up, you win issei!"

he beamed in response, so obnoxious yet so pure, you couldn't help the little smile that graced your lips too.

"that means you have to try it! ride the bike side to side, it'll go faster!"

"side to side?" you asked, a little unsure of what he meant, getting on your little bicycle.

"yeah! it'll work, trust me," he boasted, "i saw it on tv!"

"promise?" you asked, fingers gripping a little tighter on the worn rubber handles of your bike.

"promise!" eight-year-old issei said in excitement before riding off ahead of you.

"side to side," you mumble under your breath, before pedaling up the slope, fast, your younger self blissfully ignorant of the burn in your calves and thighs, you steer your bike towards the left, then the right, then the left, and again and again. somehow convincing yourself that it was working, you gave him a thumbs-up as he looked back towards you, "catch up slowpoke!"

"i will!" you huffed at him, provoked, speeding up, as the gears of the bike started whirring louder, the wind whistling in your ear. you reach a hard corner and issei is still way ahead of you, one harsh turn tips the scales in the equilibrium of gravity as you crash and collide onto the ground.

"yn!" issei shouts, turning back and pedaling towards you.

you sniffled a little, rubbing the bloody gash on your knees, hands now a little grimy and stained from the tarmac, the rough road scraping your arms and knees, blood running along your elbows.

"you promised it would work!" you frown at him, as he leaned towards you, poking your bruise in curiosity, "OW!"

"i'm sorry y/n! they said it on tv!" he said panicked, scratching his head, before pushing you back to his house as you sat on his bike. his mom horrified at the wound, patching you up and forcing her son to apologise to you again.

"okay that's a little unfair, i was 8!" he crossed his arms.

"okay fine. ah! what about that one time!" your eyes lit up as you recalled the memory.

❀ sixteen — sneaking out

"issei," you squeezed his forearm, "we'll be fine right?"

"relax, i've done this before, we'll be fine." he assured, a playful glint in his eye. "i promise, don’t you trust me?" he inched down towards you as you nodded.

and so the both of you snuck past the napping guard, the small rusty back gate creaking as he gently pried it open, grabbing onto your wrist and dragging you along behind him, navigating the overgrown path.

giggling, you clutched onto your bags and each other as you ran, in the sports shoes you changed into just for this, in the humid summer heat, uniforms clinging onto the layer of sweat on your skin, palms sweaty against each others, a burning ache in your calves and thighs as you tried to keep up with him.

tapping your cards hastily, and hopping onto the first train. settling onto the seats of the semi-packed train. with the cool air of the air conditioning blowing in your face, and issei by your side, you still yourself in the moment, admiring him, his face, memorising the texture his curls, the slant in his lids, the curve of his lips, the scenery beyond the windows, imprinting it all in your mind, hoping you would never forget, only smiling when he raised a brow at you.

four stops later, you guys arrive at your destination. all the elaborate stealth just to eat at your favourite little ramen shop tucked away at the fourth stop. the both of you bursting into adrenaline-fuelled giggles as soon as you stepped onto the platform.

—

you slurped the last of your ramen, letting out a satisfying sigh. "we actually did it!" you grinned, proud. you and issei occupying two of the eight limited counter seats in the cramped little shop.

"we sure did," he smiled at you, resting a palm on your head before wiping away the layer of sweat on his forehead as you stared. "something on my face?" he teased, eyes finally meeting yours as your gazes lingered on one another, allowing yourselves the privilege to indulge. his deep-set eyes boring into yours with an emotion so raw and indescribable that even in the years you would spend apart, you would never forget them.

"aha! another broken promise, we were called into office the next day issei, and i distinctly remember you saying we would never get caught," you snickered.

"hey none of that matters now, only the promise i'll make you today," he defended, reaching across the candle-lit table for your hand.

❀ twenty-four — proposals

"yn," he reached into the pocket of his blazer with his free hand, pulling out a red, velvet box, popping it open to reveal a ring.

you let out a soft gasp, your bottom lip quivering slightly as you blink back the tears welling in your eyes.

"yn, i may have broken a lot of our promises, and i will admit i’ve been a bit of an asshole. but this time, i promise you, i will do everything in my power to be a damn near perfect partner for you, to make you the happiest spouse, to love you through thick and thin, through the good and the bad, through everything. as long as i’m with you.”

"issei…” a tear rolling down your cheek, “you promise?" you whispered.

"i promise." he nodded, thumb gently caressing your cheeks, wiping away the tear. the same grey eyes from 8 years ago boring into yours once again.

"that's what you said all those times too," you laugh.

"i guess you'll just have to trust me again, will you marry me?" he smiled.

"issei, i’ve never said no to all your dumb ideas, not when we were eight, not when we were sixteen," you paused, gaze falling to the ring in his hand then back at him as you soaked in the moment. the soft candle light illuminating his face, his eyes sparkling a little as they reflected the light, curls falling softly, the expectant look on his face as he fiddled the ring between his fingers.

"so are you marrying me or not?" he pouted a little in frustration.

"and i certainly am not saying no at twenty-four, yes, of course i'll marry you issei." the smile on his lips widen impossibly, impatiently sliding the ring onto your ring finger, as though he couldn't wait another moment longer.

"i can't believe you said yes, now you're stuck with me forever," a goofy smile playing on his lips, issei gets up, moving towards you, pulling your sitting form into a hug. "i love you so much," his leans his forehead against yours before guiding the back of your head into his chest, an arm wrapped around your shoulder.

"we still have to do a ceremony dumbass and you better not break your promise again," you warned, voice muffed into his top as he kissed the top of your head, "i won't babe."

sol’s comments ❀: wahaha self indulgence again :> that whole bicycle thing is based on a true story and im positive he meant sway side to side instead of steer side to side now that ive watched yowamushi pedal (aka now that im a pro cyclist). also me and my bff used to sneak out a lot during free sessions so the 2nd part was inspired by that hehe.

m.list ·˚ ༘ ꒱ | each and every reblop is appreciated ☻ (+ free hugs)

#sweet by sol 💗#sol’s summer collection ☀️#🌟 strawbeari specials ⋆.ೃ࿔*:･#mattsukawa fluff #matsukawa issei x reader #matsukawa imagines #matsukawa issei #matsukawa fluff #matsukawa x reader #mattsukawa x reader #mattsukawa issei #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu fluff #haikyuu x y/n #hq x reader #i made something! — sol ⋆·˚ ༘ *

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wisp-of-thought · 3 years

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I met you when I was young. We were both young, but now I see it. I was 15 and you were older and kind and spent smiles like they cost you nothing. Maybe it was this illusion of abundance that originally tipped me into the fall but you were everything I never thought could exist for me.

My best friend introduced us in passing. I met you mid-morning in the middle of the week in the middle of a bustling hallway. Maybe this was the first sign that we would never be anything all the way. You made a joke about my name but it was all in good fun and to hear my name on your tongue made my palms prick. All I saw was your smile, brilliant enough to blind. It hurt to look at you too long, but I did it anyway. I was always a little bit of a masochist I suppose. You will learn this soon enough, when I love you so hard it hurts. When I manage to turn this soft thing between us sharp. But in fact, you won't. You won't learn this. And perhaps that is where we begin to fall apart. Or when I do. I begin to fall apart. Because we never seemed to do much of anything to you. We never seemed to touch you at all. While we tore me apart. Or I did. I guess it was always me doing the breaking, wasn't it?

We leave after last period to get lunch from the place near school you swear has the best fries. We miss 3 busses trying to figure out the route, the last one is on me because I can't run in flats with my school bag. While I walk, you sprint across the parking lot to buy our tickets but we're already too late. I don't want to watch the movie even if it's only 5 minutes in. I want to leave. I've wanted to leave since we waited for your food in awkward silence for 15 minutes but I swallowed and called it first date nerves even though we never said it was a date and I know now that it most definitely wasn't. And that's how things always were between us, weren't they? Me being let down by my own expectations of you. Me taking your kindness and taking and taking and taking even what wasn't there?

You let me pick what we watch instead since we're already here and pay for my ticket. I return the cost to you in the dark of the theatre. The movie is bad. In fact it's awful. I lean away from you and bite my nails during the sex scenes I didn't expect from the trailer. I wince every time I hear you shift, so sure you hate me as much as you hate the film, quietly begging for it to be over. We leave after it's done. I apologize. I didn't know it would be that terrible. You tell me we totally could have caught the original one we came to see and I nod, holding back tears that taste like shame. But you mean nothing by it.

It's summer, warm and sticky, walking across the parking lot.

I fell out of love with you then.

I didn't know it in that instant but looking back on it, this is the exact moment.

I realize there is nothing here. Nothing between us but space. There is nothing here, and the question is seeded if there ever was. The thought takes many weeks to root and bud. Months to flower and come to fruition. But it is planted here. Here, I keep searching for a feeling of comfort even if just in your presence but there is nothing to find. My stomach turns at my mother's missed calls, she's wondering where I am, who I'm with, and I'm panicking because I am still young. You offer me nothing but shrugged shoulders and it is worse because I know you mean well. Or rather that you mean nothing by it. And suddenly I know that I need you to say something. I need you to say something that matters right now. Or there will be nothing to come back to tomorrow.

But you don't. You don't walk me home. You walk me to the street across from my father's apartment building. Nod. One hand wave. See you later. Walk back across the street before the light can turn red again. You don't look back. And of course, I only know this because I look back. Stare after you. Not heartbroken yet. But gently being let down. For the next few days I would rather not think about you. I try many times to remake how it happened in my head but I'm grasping at threads. There is too little material to sew a new tapestry memory from stray comments and wayward touches.

After this butterflies were not summoned at the sound of your name, funny how easy delicate things die isint it. After this, I did not feel the tug of your orbit's gravity pulling me closer to you in a crowded room. Your words sounded less and less divine to me, I think this is because I started hearing what you were saying instead of what I wanted you to be saying. After this, the poetry about you turned sad, then angry, then ran mostly dry. There were no more tears shed over you in the bathroom around the corner from the theatre classroom because your promises were pretty coloured tissue paper flowers to me now. Good for decoration and conversation, but they would tear easy, for they were never meant to last. Never crafted to be put to the test.

We try again a few times. Every once in a while I find you at my locker at the end of the day and we try again. Painfully awkward, but we try again and again and every time I think it's over you're there again. Here is where you instill in me the inability to get over you all the way. You do it by accident. Or at least mean nothing by it. And I begin to understand this the hard way. It's hard because everything means something to me. For I have spent my life trying to squeeze enough from the nothings cast my way.

You ask me out of the blue if I'd like to go for bubble tea and I say I've never tried it so we do. My mother is at work and my sister is in school and no one is at home to expect me and I feel sickeningly giddy at the little rebellion. The silence is only half as uncomfortable as before. The other half-emptied of expectation and filled with acceptance. But the place is closed and this time I laugh at the inconvenience fate keeps gifting us. I tell myself it's a sign. One I'll look at later. We go somewhere else. Somewhere convenient. Somewhere familiar.

You buy me an iced coffee we playfully push the two dollars back and forth across the table as I insist to pay you back and you refuse. As a gentleman. As a friend. The spell is broken when you ask about a scar and I realize I could never tell you. Well, I could. But I don't want to. That someone like you would never understand. And you let the subject drop so easily. You let it all go so easily. Instead you check the bus schedule and walk me to my stop. You get on your bike and ride down the street and you don't look back.

Another time you meet me at the mall. My father asks to meet you so he does. You are the first boy I know that he ever meets. But of course, this means nothing to you. And so I try to let this mean nothing to me too. I link our arms together and it's easier to touch you. Without anticipation. You leave me after we eat cinnamon rolls and do not look back. And I always find myself looking after you. A part of me brought back to the piece of myself left in that movie theatre parking lot in the afternoon sun. But I don't ever really love you again after that.

And I am better for it.

We are better for it.

I am glad I still have you.

For I don't know what would have become of us if not for your careless gaze and fickle heart.

I do not know what would have become of me.

And I am grateful now, for the falling out of love.

- #1: reflections on falling out of unrequited love with him

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starryse · 3 years

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The Star Pitcher

Juyeon x Reader

The Boyz high school au!, 60’s au!, baseball team TBZ au!

6.8k Words

Summary: The perks of baseball season consisted of seeing your cute guy friends in their uniforms, soft pretzels, and the excuse to get out of your house and sit in the warm summer sun. The downside? One of your cute guy friends was also the team’s pitcher who you were madly in love with.

Masterlist

The neon lights cascaded across the line of skateboards and bikes outside of the diner, the shining glare reflecting onto the window next to your booth. The sky was darkening to a deep shade of purple, the street lights and passing by cars offering comfort in the oncoming night. Dusk was a beautiful time in the city, though the shadows that came from the groves of trees when you walked through the trails were disheartening to say the least. You weren’t as lucky as the rest of your bunch, not owning a motorcycle or your dads hand me down car- you weren’t even allowed a skateboard because it was “unfair” to your younger siblings. This made the long journey home after your daily hangouts quite dreadful; and as summer time grew closer, the nights became shorter, meaning the comforting blue sky disappeared twice as fast.

Your face scrunched in distaste as you focused on the increasingly dark outside, not registering the conversations going on around you. The boy next to you noticed your dazed state, his eyes glancing down to your hands as they twirled around the straw in your half empty milkshake.

“You okay?”

Blinking a few times, the dryness of your eyes slowly faded as you snapped your attention to your disformed straw in front of you. You hummed, “yeah why?” your finger gliding across the rim of the glass, strawberry cream coating your skin in result. Juyeon watched you wipe the residue on the bottom of the Jean jacket he let you borrow, his sharp eyes enlarging as he winced- his mom would surely kill him later. The slicked hair boy was brought back to his senses when you finally looked over at him, his mouth quickly stammering a response, “oh, I uh just thought you seemed a little out of it,” Juyeon awaited your reaction, continuing when you simply shrugged, “you know I can drive you home, y/n”

You groaned, pushing your back into the booths cushion while pushing your drink closer to the window sill, “Juyeon-“

“I know I know, you don’t have to tell me twice” the huffing man leaned against the table, resting his chin against his propped up arm. You rolled your eyes, poking your pouting friend in his side, causing him to jump and swat away your hand, “Don’t be a baby, baby. I can handle myself okay?”

“Yeah Yeon, don’t be a baby. Y/n has made it very clear she doesn’t want any of us to take her home because she’s embarrassed by our presence” Hyunjae’s mocking tone ceases your hands from Juyeon’s sides.

“Wha- not true asshat” you didn’t bother in defending yourself anymore when it came to Hyunjae’s smart remarks, it was a hidden show of affection between the two of you. Though it didn’t stop you from tossing the ball of straw paper into his open cup of coke. That particular action gave you a disgusted look from the brunette, his lips moving as you could only imagine the mimicking words that spilled out.

Daily hangouts with your group of angsty, sarcastic boys was your favorite thing to do when you needed a much needed break. At the end of a long day, seeing the familiar 11 faces waiting for you at the school entrance was just what you needed to relieve stress. Even if they were possibly the most annoying people you have ever had the pleasure of knowing, they were your favorite humans. Maybe except the current boy beside you who’s shoulders were shaking against yours as he laughed at Eric’s sly comment. He wasn’t as annoying as the others. Then again, the hearts that soared around your eyes as you snuck glances towards him were a dead give away you were a bit biased- the heart wants what it wants. And in this case, yours most definitely wanted the handsome baseball player, Lee Juyeon.

“Earth to Y/n. Hellooo? We’re leaving, dummy.”

“Huh?” Your head snapped up to meet the annoyed expression of Sunwoo, eyes following the boys that had been piling out of the booth as you sat confused.

Sunwoo looked to Eric for assistance, knowing fair well why you had been blatantly zoned out the last 15 minutes. Eric nodded at Sunwoo, ushering for him to head out the door with the others as he mouthed an I got this.

“Cmon’ pretty girl, I think me and you need a Juyeon free night. What do you say?” Eric grabbed the jacket you had shrugged off over the back of the booth, tossing it over his shoulder while he stood waiting for you at the exit. God you were really whipped, Eric was pretty damn sure of that as he watched the puppy dog look you sent his way in response to his question. Knowing the answer, Eric wrapped his arm around your shoulder, tugging you closer as the two of you made way back to the rowdy group.

Most of the boys had took off towards their houses, only Juyeon, Kevin, Sunwoo, and Hyunjae remaining. The boys were sat along the curb of the parking lot, shared glasses of coke being passed around while they waited for their two youngest to return.

Sunwoo broke the silence, his infamous evil smirk pointed at Juyeon and Hyunjae, “I wonder what Y/n and Eric are doing” Three heads turned to the sighing boy, eyes scrunched in curiosity as they awaited Sunwoo’s next words.

“I mean, it has been awhile right? And those two are quiteee close”

Antagonizing. That’s all he’s doing.

Did the two gullible idiots whom were currently gawking at one another realize this? No. No they didn’t. The muttering boys scrambled up from their spots on the ledge, untied shoes tripping against the pebbles that had loosened from the cement as they rose quickly to find the “quite close” pair. Sunwoo’s hand clasped tightly against his mouth, the urge to fight the oncoming cackles growing harder as he watched the gangly men run into the bike racks, their ego’s too high to even care while they bolted for the diner’s door. Kevin, not remotely amused, watched in disapproval, knowing fair well that the hyena sounding laugh near him was that of pure provoktion at the gullible dancers who, at their own expense, were a tad finicky over their youngest friend.

“You know why they’re like that, right?”

Sunwoo nodded his head, sucking in a breath as his laughter died down. Of course he knew why, whether or not he liked it, he knew everything about the diverse set of feelings in the group. He sighed, tucking a leg close to his chest while the other kicked against the pavement, “yeah of course I know. I think everyone does except Y/n herself.”

The coke was bitter in Kevin’s mouth, the acidic taste tingling against the cuts on his lips. Having enough, he set the coke by Sunwoo, using the drink as a sort of share of thoughts between the two. Uttering a thank you, Sunwoo was quick to down the rest of the fizzy soda, a grotesque burp following. Loud laughter once again surrounded the curb, though this time sounds of disgust and displeasure joined as Kevin shoved the guilty party farther away from him, his left hand fanning the air away from his nose.

“God Sunwoo-“

“What, it was a great drink!”

You and Eric finally rounded the corner of the parking lot, a fighting cat and dog duo following close behind as they beat themselves up for listening to Sunwoo, yet again. Hearing the noises behind them, Kevin and Sunwoo turned to the 4 of you, looks of relief washing over them. Sunwoo stood up, dusting the dirt off of his track pants in the process, “God finally you idiots show up, did you not notice the darkness surrounding us?? It is,” he checked the thick silver watch decorated on his wrist, a scoff leaving his lips, “8 pm”

Eric snorted, rolling his eyes in response, “okay grandpa, let’s go then”

You stood against the small tree near the end of the street, your arms crossed against your chest to shield yourself from the growing winds. The cars passing by offered some light against the darkening sky, the diner’s lights beginning to dim as closing time got closer. Summer time was supposed to be warm and bright, and yet here you stood waiting for your friends, shivers running down your body while you glanced around the city's streets. Interrupting your small bruising session, the feeling of a shoulder knocking against yours had you turning to look at the culprit, your nerves calming at the familiar face.

“Hi”

“Hey” you grinned back, eyes scanning the pretty man. The moonlight brought a look of innocence to his face, the blue fluorescents casting shadows across his skin leaving only the bundle of stars in his dark eyes to light up his appearance. Juyeon was a human of the finest features, and a stellar personality to match. The duality his eyes could perceive was always interesting to watch, you never knew to expect his sharp gaze or soft looks of adoration. Tonight, you found yourself hoping for the second option.

Juyeon reached for your hand, tugging it into his as he placed both of them into his jacket pocket. His thumb ran circles over your knuckles, the slightly rough padding of his fingers locking between yours. Your eyes peered down to his jacket, stomach knotting at the sight of your hand with his. This was okay, right?

“I figured you were cold”

You lifted your head, free hand pushing away the strands of hair that blocked your vision. Juyeons sight was casted on the other boys, watching as they fought over who got to ride with him instead of skating home in the dark, “I saw Eric with the jacket I gave you, so I kinda assumed you would be freezing your ass off by now”

Juyeon’s taunt was meant to joke around with you, and normally you’d scowl then proceed to pick at him right back. But maybe it was the way he looked under the stars, or the way your hand felt great in his as the feeling brought you warmth. Or it could be the proximity between you two, shoulders pressed against one another in comfort against the wind. Either way, the options had the same anxious thoughts of feeling the need to get over the stupid crush on your friend. Your heart tugged at the thought, it was hard to move on from someone who hid you snacks in your room every time he came over. But having a crush on your best friend who you just knew was too out of your league? That was even worse.

“Y/n, let’s bounce. I wanna start that new film series before my mom gets home from the pub!”

Oh thank God for Eric Sohn.

Mentally letting out a breath of relief, you loosened your grip from Juyeons hand, slipping away from his hold in the process. Bidding the boy goodbye, you waved over your shoulder before jogging to Eric as he began to skate back to his house. Juyeon, on the other hand, stood stone cold, watching the two of you exchange laughs and smacks on each other’s arms. He knew it was ridiculous to be pissed over two friends getting along, so why was he squeezing his jacket sleeves just a tad too hard? His jaw was slack, teeth nipping at cheeks as he yelled for the three idiots, who were still fussing over who got to ride with him home, to give him his keys.

Thankful that the trip to Eric’s was much shorter than what would have been your lonely walk home, you were pleased to already be walking up the steps of his farm porch. Knowing there was no formality needed to invite you in, Eric simply unlocked the door and waited for you to step inside before he relocked it.

Eric’s house, much like him, was always comforting. His house smelt of pine and vanilla, not surprising since he too smelt similar to that. Eric’s bedroom was on the 2nd floor, whereas his parents slept downstairs (which made for great sleepovers so you didn’t have to worry about waking his mom up who works 2nd shift).

Your shoes were tossed to the side of the wall next to Eric’s, knowing how strict his mom was when it came to keeping the house tidy, you had a designated spot for your shoes whenever you visited. Eric, who was now passing you one of the waters he grabbed from the fridge, motioned his head to the stairs, silently telling you to make way to his room.

For a teenage boy, Eric’s room wasn’t nearly as messy as one would think. His clothes were tucked away in his dresser drawers or hanging behind his closest doors, leaving the messiest thing to be his un-made bed. You plopped yourself onto the nearest side of the bed, making room for Eric on the other side. The radio that usually sat on his side table was tossed in between you two, Eric’s fingers nimbly flicking between the stations to find the baseball film he had been non-stop talking about. The TV downstairs was off limits until his parents were home, they were quite finicky as the cost for the larger box tv was a little too much to be accidentally broken by their energetic son.

Settling yourself into his pillows, you tugged the closest blanket over your torso, legs curled up to press against your chest. Eric’s sudden exclaim had you giggling at his victorious outburst, his arms fist pumping the air before turning the volume on the gadget up. Jumping beside you, the blonde shimmied to your side, wrapping one arm behind your back and the other behind his head.

“I cannot wait to watch this, Younghoon told me it was the best movie he’s ever seen!” Eric was going on and on, his eyes lighting up as if he were the same moon that glared down at Juyeon earlier. Juyeon. Right. Why did your brain have to bring him up? As if you couldn’t escape the mere presence of him, he was filling your thoughts just as often.

Noticing your lack of response, Eric craned his head down to see you pressed against his shoulder blade, eyes stuck on the bed sheets beneath you. He should have known it would be nearly impossible to have a night without the pitcher of their own baseball team being brought up.

“I can feel you staring at me”

Eric scoffed, flicking the side of your temple while looking back at the radio, “yeah well I bet my sheets could say the same thing.”

Left hanging, Eric took notice real quick at the feeling of something wet drip onto his jeans. His inner baseball player came out as he swiftly moved you up to eye height, hands pushing your shoulders back to rest against his bed frame.

“Hey, look at me”

Before you even had the time to react, Eric was already gently lifting your face up to meet his. Your eyes raised to meet Eric’s concerned brown ones, though your vision was much blurrier compared to his you could imagine. His thumb was soft against your cheeks, blue sleeves wiping the few tears that escaped past your waterline. You felt terrible. Not just because of the unreciprocated feelings you had on Juyeon. But seeing the way your usual happy-go-lucky friend was looking at you as if you were the most fragile thing on the planet- man, that stung.

“What can I do to help, Y/n?” Eric’s voice was gentle, barely audible even. His palms never left their spot against your cheeks, his fingers lightly tracing across your skin to bring you ease.

The truth was, you didn’t know how he could help. Deep down you knew there wasn’t anything anyone could do to relieve the ache you felt every time you saw Juyeon; everytime you remember that he wasn’t interested in you like that, how his heart wasn’t set on you like yours was for him. Not only did you feel utterly helpless, but you felt the gnawing feeling that you were only being annoying, making a big deal out of a stupid crush.

With a shaky breath, you placed your hands on Eric’s before pulling them down to your lap, “I want you to help me move on.”

“Are you sure you’re fine? Because I have no problem keeping you here until you are”

“Yes Eric, I promise I’m okay” you slipped your shoe over your heel, “besides, I’ll see you at school tomorrow so you’ll know if I’m not, right?”

The pout on his face raised enough that he could mumble a Pinky Promise, as he tightened his pinky around yours. You laughed at his childish antics, pulling him over for a hug, “pinky promise,” you patted the top of his head, his chest huffing after, “don’t forget to be at my house before 6! Juyeon gets there around 6:15 so I want you there before he is”

Eric nodded, pushing you towards the door, “okay leave now because I have no self control and will definitely not let you leave if you don’t go now”

Mumbling strands of okay with giggles spewn between, you finally made it out the door and began the ever boring walk home.

**As soon as you stepped inside your house house, the weight that you thought was lifted off your shoulders came hurling itself right back, and this time it brought shame along with it. Normally when you felt like shit, you’d make yourself a bowl of cereal, turn on your radio, and listen to whatever Elvis Presley interview was on. This time, thanks to Miss Shame, that wouldn’t be enough to cure your self-pity moment; no, it was time to call in the big gun.

** “I’m sorry, you did what?” Sangyeon sat across from you, his legs tucked under his butt as he shifted his position so he could properly look at you.

“I had sex with Eric” your voice trailed off at the end, eyes glued to your hands that currently were tugging off loose string on your jeans.

The sound of silence only made you more tense, terrified of what your eldest friend was thinking, or even feeling, at the moment. Growing frustrated with the lack of response, you begin to try and explain yourself- though the assertive tone that Sangyeon had when he called your name out had you quickly pursing your lips.

Sangyeon went on a tangent for what felt like forever, his hands doing the dramatics besides the substantial amount of sighs he produced, “I- I just don’t think I understand why, emphasis on the why by the way,” his hands finally went down from their long phase of being tossed around in the air, “you would go and do something so stupid like that?”

“I told you-“

“Stop, I understand what you told me,” the frustrated man interrupted you, “I’m just failing to see why you both thought it was the correct solution”

Quite frankly you were puzzled about it yourself. Fucking your other best friend, and the one you didn’t have feelings for, definitely wasn’t in the itenery when you joined the odd bunch of athletes. You were frustrated. Depressed. And just tired of being the last choice. And in the moment, sitting there being comforted by Eric, you finally felt like you were the most important person in the world and not just the star pitcher of your school’s baseball teams groupie.

“Eric only did it because he knew I was hurting, he just thought he was being a good friend- which he was. As for me, well I. God Sangyeon I just-“ A tissue suddenly sat in your open palm, sangyeon softly smiling as pointed at your eyes. What the hell? We’re you seriously crying right now? Wiping the stray tears that had fallen, you took a long chug of your water before continuing, “I just wanted to be something important for once. I didn’t want to be the pathetic little girl that had a crush on her best friend, Juyeon, the popular pitcher who could have the hearts of any girl on those stupid bleachers. I’m sorry, Sangyeon. I fucked up, huh?”

“Pft hell yeah you did”

At times, you forget just how blunt your friend was, this being one of those times as you sat with your eyebrows raised in slight shock at his confession. Sangyeon noticed your look, raising his hand at you to signal you to just listen.

“But we all make mistakes, right? Sure your mistake was Eric’s dick, but I guess that’s just what you needed to figure things out. Which, you need to definitely do as soon as possible because I have a hunch things are going to work out just fine” Sangyeon opened his arms, waiting for you to thank him with his favorite hug (news flash, he loved your hugs a lot.)

You squeezed your arms around him, slightly shaking you both back and forth. The sound of your thank you was muffled by the white and blue shirt he wore, causing you both to laugh at the disformed words. You leaned back, Sangyeons eyes still partially crinkled from laughing, “thank you for being the best dad a girl could have”

Sangyeon scoffed, his grin widening even more as he shoved you back, “whatever, weirdo”

Mondays. Also known as Satan’s asshole.

Eric kept his promise, showing up before Juyeon could arrive to take you to school like normal. That, you were eternally grateful for. You weren’t ignoring your best friend persay, just simply giving him space until you could realize what the hell you were going to do about your feelings. And that was starting today, as you and Eric skateboarded (or in your case walked) past Juyeon as he made his way down your street. You’d be lying if the look on his face didn’t make you want to run back to his car and apologize endlessly, but you were raised to be strong, and that’s what you were. Kind of.

The perks of baseball season consisted of seeing your cute guy friends in their uniforms, soft pretzels, and the excuse to get out of your house and sit in the warm summer sun. The downside? One of your cute guy friends was also the team’s pitcher who you were madly in love with.

Since you were the boyz’s (ha) best friend, you had attended every game since they formed the team 2 years ago. And even today, as you sit front row on the cold, metal bleachers, you were still cheering them on despite the fact you had sworn you were going to distance yourself from Juyeon. Maybe you would have succeeded in that promise, but the way Juyeon looked at you right now as he struck yet another player out, well, it had you wondering why you even thought of such a blasphemous idea in the first place.

With only one out remaining, the opposing team was bound to have to forfeit as the gap between the teams was only increasing. You could only imagine the pride running through your friends’ veins as they got even more amped up knowing they were soon to claim victory. The amount of talent they had could match their love for the game, the two qualities mixing to create one hell of a baseball team; you were sure even the opposing team could see that as their energy levels drained with each strike or out they received. And while you wanted to feel bad, you knew there was no use- because even the team who knew they were bound to lose, had smiles written on their faces while they half-fived their teammates when running past one another.

The sound of bats clinking against dugout cement floors, helmets being tossed to the side of the field and the overlapping good games being said to one another signified the end of the short-live scrimmage. Watching the boys finish their lineup and run to do their large group hug was heartwarming, the other fans in the audience snapping pictures with their disposable cameras could agree. Your moment of proudness was cut short as Haknyeon and Younghoon yelled for you to join them on the field, their hands waving frantically at you to get your attention. Not wanting to cause anymore attention to flood your way, you quickly gathered your bag and rushed to your boys, an embarrassed laugh bubbling in your throat as you were welcomed into the hug. Loud smacks were heard, the cheering players aiming to slap each other in utter happiness over their win- of course you ducked between their arms in an attempt to hide yourself from said slaps (unfortunately for you your ass was not covered and they gladly gave you a few victory whacks.)

“God pretty soon you guys are going to win the championships, then imma be the biggest groupie ever” your comment had the group in fits, heads shaking in amusement.

“Yeah well you’re the best groupie ever” sunwoo pushed your shoulder, a cheesy grin lighting up his face. Hollers and whoops were made in agreement, the two closest to you (Sunwoo and Jacob) tugging you closer into their sides so they could ruffle your hair (leaving you very displeased as you spent quite a while that morning carefully taking the hair rollers out to have stable curls). Trying to tame your now frizzy hair, you weren’t able to control the smile that grew to match the boys’ around you.

Seeing you smile wide in happiness and hearing the laughs that you fabricated, Juyeon couldn’t help himself from staring at you. Watching your nose crinkle from the side pokes the boys littered on you, or seeing the way your eyes were filled with light as you joked right along with the others, it only made the man wish you were standing next to only him and not his attractive friends. Normally, he wasn’t one to be possessive or even jealous. Though when it came to you, someone who’s supported him at every game, waken him up at the crack of dawn to adventure to the sea side of town, and have feverishly grown on him over the few years you've known him? He’s positive he’d go to the end of the world for you.

With the amount of time he spent with you, attached to one another's hips, it was utterly impossible for him to not have developed feelings for you. You were beyond sensational. In his eyes, you were a stellar person- someone with a heart of gold who would probably sell their soul to protect the ones they loved. You had always been the first person he’d call when he needed someone the most, there was never a second of doubt that you couldn’t help him through anything he went through. When he tore the ligament in his elbow and couldn’t participate in 2 weeks worth of games, he was devastated. He had spent forever just trying to wrap his head around the fact he couldn’t be there for his team when they needed him the most, beating himself up over an injury he couldn’t have prepared for. You were the only reason he kept going after that, why he continued to get out of bed everyday to watch his brothers practice even if he couldn’t do so himself. Truly, Juyeon knew you were his foundation. His beautiful, intoxicating, better-half best friend who he had finally realized, as he stood across from you now watching you look as perfect as ever in his extra jersey he gave you to wear at games, just how in love with you he was. And he has absolutely no idea what the hell he was going to do about it.

You weren’t dense, you could feel Juyeon’s non-trailing eyes on you. You didn’t think you made it obvious you were trying (and clearly failing so far) to distance yourself from him, unless he was that intelligent he knew something was off already, so why was he very blatantly staring at you? You couldn’t stop the questions from piling up, your thoughts keeping you distracted from the winners high the boys clearly still had. To meet his eyes and stand your ground was what you should have done, but alas, you squeezed your arms together and slipped away from the sweaty, compact group. With a mix of genuinely overheating due to being stuck to the sweating boys and the gaze Juyeon had locked on you, you were quite aware of how hot you felt at the moment. You tried to escape as quietly as possible, wanting nothing more than to get back to your house and sob until you the tears stopped flowing. Unfortunately for you, your group of friends all had overprotective spidey senses over you, practically able to sense your every move before you could even make it. The moment you turned your back from the group, you were instantly met with whines from the boys, a hand tugging you back to the middle of the circle.

“Eh eh eh, where do you think you’re going missy?” Chanhee poked your stomach, earning a light tap to his forehead from you in return.

You groaned in response, “I was trying to leaveee.” Noises of complaints erupted from the group, sounds of why’s and no’s sounding from each boy.

“Uh sorry but you can’t”

You turned around in Chanhee’s hold, head cocking in confusion. “Uh why not?” you mocked his tone. Chanhee opened his mouth to respond, his eyes rolling at your taunt. Though he was cut off before he could he even begin,

“Because. We can’t celebrate without you, you’re my- I mean- our good luck charm” Juyeon stuttered, just merely missing total embarrassment.

You, who was very much not expecting Juyeon to comment something like that, were quick to shut up. The internal struggle of what to say was hounding you, your eyes looking anywhere but Juyeon. So you hid closer to Chanhee instead, stealthily sneaking your hand behind him to pinch his elbow in an attempt to get him to help you out. Chanhee, getting the hint, smoothly answered for you, “Y/n would love to come, but unfortunately she has our psych project to working, right Y/n?” The white haired male looked at you, his eyes narrowing while he nudged your side.

“O-oh yeah. The projects worth a lot and I can’t take another bad grade in that class” you voiced, gaze finally meeting Juyeon’s. It didn’t take a genius to see the soft glaze of disappointment that lingered in his eyes, even after he masked it with a smile.

Taking that as your cue to exit, you waved at the group, their previous wide eyes and grins much more tamed as they stood glancing between you and their friend. They watched you walk away, waiting until they couldn’t see you or thought you couldn't overhear them to start murmuring amongst each other.

“So that was obviously a lie” Changmin stated as if it were a fact, his sight still locked to where you walked off at.

Jacob, who could either be considered too nice for his own good or just gullible, furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, not understanding what the brunette meant. Changmin, who was more than pleased to explain himself, responded to Jacob’s puzzled expression, “I’m in her psych class, and there’s no project due. At least that I’m aware of, anyhow”

Chanhee felt his heart jump out of his stomach, his stomach buzzing as he was caught in the lie. He had to cover for you, and yet he had absolutely no idea how. They already knew he was lying once, they would surely realize it a second time. He could feel the pairs of eyes make way to him, his fingers drumming against his thighs to ease his nerves.

“Well what I meant was-“

“He meant to say Y/n had thrown up earlier and wasn’t feeling up to the whole party scene” Sangyeon covered for his friend, locking eyes with Chanhee’s grateful ones as he mouthed a thank you in which Sangyeon nodded his head in approval.

The boys seemed to believe their captains' claim, most of them backing up and leaving it as is wanting to just celebrate their victory. Of course, Sunwoo hadn’t believed a word of what Sangyeon said. The round eyed boy snorted to himself, knowing very well as to why you left in such a rush. And then there was Juyeon, and even Hyunjae, who couldn’t help but feel there was a hidden truth to the line. Both boys chose to not speak up, deeming it as just a weird feeling instead.

“Anywho, can we go get food now? The other teams already leaving and we’re still standing here like weirdos” the youngests outburst had the group in fits, loud laughs filling their ears once again. Whining, Eric let out strings of protest as his friends shook his head and left him taps of affection on his butt. Leave it to Eric to lift the sour moods of his teammates, even if he himself was a bit tense.

The team was sure to have made an appearance at your group's famous hangout, meaning snagging a burger and fries on your way home had been out of the question. You opted to just scavenge your cupboards, hoping to find at least something dinner worthy; unfortunately, you were sure you’d end up eating ramen again, as per usual.

You were correct, ramen was indeed the main dish of the night, you had been remotely blessed with packs of spam to fry up along with some eggs and rice. Though you had been content with what you were able to eat, the rising feeling of guilt couldn’t stop itself from making an appearance as you sat alone at your small kitchen table. You couldn’t help but to imagine your friends right now, knowing fair well they were probably messing around and eating the familiar greasy food you all had grown to love. And yet here you were, eating dinner by yourself, just because you couldn’t grow a pair and accept that you had feelings for Juyeon. Instead, you went to the measures of ignoring not only him, but the 10 other people who had been nothing but great friends to you.

It wasn’t like you could just call them up, the diner only had one wall phone and it was for emergency use only, and your wall phone was currently broken as your dog had chewed the cord. And God forbid you walked all the way to the diner at this time of night, your anxiety would have you running right on back to the confines of your rural home as soon as you made it down your road. Regret was a thing you tried not to experience, you tended to just live doing what you liked and that was that. But this time, it was eating you up.

The food in front of you had gone cold, not that you cared considering your mind was obviously worrying about other things- or people. Your thoughts had drifted off to Juyeon, specifically to him earlier. Logic wanted you to believe that he was merely looking at you because of where you were standing, though your heart had other things in mind. No matter how many times you told yourself there was no way Juyeon could have reciprocated your feelings, something always told you to believe otherwise. Sure you knew he could have practically any girl he wanted, he was absolutely gorgeous and his personality was even better. But was it so hard to believe he could maybe, just maybe, like someone like you? His teams #1 fan who went to all of their matches. Someone who not only had his back, but your shared friends as well? You wanted to believe that, you really did. But why else would you be sitting here, alone, not with Juyeon?

Continuous knocking on your door startled you, your previously sulking shoulder now standing straight as you made way to the abrupt sound. You hadn’t expected your family home until rather late that night, considering they were an hour away at your aunts house. The boys were all at the diner, so you had presumed, and you didn’t exactly have other friends besides them. Maybe it was the tofu cart?

The halt your feet made as you opened the door was sudden, your eyes enlarging at the man in front of you. The wavy tuffs of black hair certainly did not belong to the tofu delivery man, unless he had a strikingly good looking son who looked way too similar to Juyeon you didn’t know about.

“Can I come in?” Juyeon looked down at you, hands twisting the ring on his fair in a habit of anxiety. He didn’t expect you to say no, which is why he sucked in a deep breath of anticipation as he entered your home.

You were fairly shocked yourself, following Juyeon’s figure as he went to his favorite spot in your house- the bar stool Island in your kitchen. It wasn’t surprising he went there, though it only spiked your nerves more knowing he chose to sit there instead of your bedroom; the two of you considered the counter in your kitchen your “deep discussion” area, it was a place you had always found yourselves in the early hours of the morning, talking about the little things that been bugging you lately. Which is why you couldn’t help the way your heartbeat sped up as you sat across from Juyeon, moving the scraps of your dinner to the side in order to have no distractions.

You weren’t sure what to say, deeming it as Juyeon must have had plenty in the way he tapped furiously st the countertop before jumping straight to the point. Oh how you wish you didn’t open the door.

“Are you in love with me?”

You understood what they felt in the movies now. When the camera pans in on the character during the aftermath of the climax, the environment around them seeming to slow down with a blur. “I-I’m sorry, what?” You choked back the saliva that had gotten stuck, not feeling like haphazardly dying in front of your crush.

Juyeon sighed, drawing his fingers back to his lap as he glanced up to you, “Eric told me what happened”

Now normally you weren’t one for violence, in fact, you were rather just passive aggressive in all that you did. But at the moment, you wanted nothing more than to strangle the blonde haired snitch. Placing your hands over your face, you let out a long drawn groan, “that little bitch, of course he did”

Juyeon couldn’t stop the short chuckle that escaped his lips, “you didn’t answer my question”

Apparently the opportunity to confess then be brutally rejected was a lot closer than you had hoped. It was now or never. You’d much rather choose never, but it seems that your friend couldn’t keep his mouth shut to save his life.

“Yes”

“Yes what?” Juyeon spoke, unable to focus on anything but the way your mouth moved in response to the question.

“I’m in love with you. Did you really have to ask? I thought it was pretty damn obvious, myself” sarcasm rolled easily off your tongue as if it were a form of defense getting ready to face rejection.

Juyeon huffed, leaning forward to flick your forehead at your retort, “I had to make sure it wasn’t a one-sided thing, dummy”

The remark you had saved next was useless now, your tongue ostensibly getting caught in your throat. If now wasn’t a better time to choke on spit, what was? Juyeon jumped up from his seat, grabbing a water from the fridge to pass to your choking frame. You, unable to speak clearly, stuck a thumbs up in appreciation, to which he found incredibly cute.

After recovering from the fit, you finally made eye contact with the softly smiling boy in front of you for the first time since you (unwillingly) confessed, “does that mean I didn’t just get rejected?” Your lips were in a mix of a pout and smirk, your face resemble that of a duck.

“I love you too” Juyeon was grinning wide at this point, his heart pounding in his chest at the affectionate exchange.

You were beyond giddy, body quickly leaning close to Juyeon’s to press a soft, quick kiss to his lips. As you pulled back, neither of you could say anything, the fond gazes you had on one another and the heating of your cheeks conveying the right words for you. Juyeon, for one, was ready to do nothing but return the kisses- and that’s exactly what he did.

Note: Hi y’all, I’m back (kind of). This is my first full fledge AU, and I’m so happy it was for Juyeon! I’m a sucker for baseball tbz au’s, so I just had to make one myself! Stay tuned for a special announcement regarding Star Pitcher ;)

Extra Note: pls don’t be afraid to leave feedback (reply, message, reblog), it would help me tremendously and I’d really appreciate it! I love seeing what y’all think! :)

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hxneyandespressx · 3 years

Text

we were both young when i first saw you

summary: jj and elle are friends, but are too scared to tell each other "i love you". that was until it was too late to even say goodbye

pairing: jennifer jareau x elle greenaway (jelle)

word count: 6k

a/n: inspired by love story (taylor's version)

☆。*。☆。

The evening sun slowly went below the horizon as a young blonde girl biked on the dark cobblestone path. A reusable tote bag, filled with organic produce, hung on her right shoulder as she weaved between people, trying to get home before dinnertime. Seeing a small bookstore up ahead, JJ pedaled harder. She parked her mint green bike against the side of the bookstore and entered the small boutique. The bell on top of the door rang, and an elderly man popped out from a room behind the cash register. He looked around to see who came in and smiled when his eyes landed on JJ.

“Ah– Miss Jareau. How may I be of your service today?” Alistair the bookstore owner greeted her, his thick Glaswegian accent rolling off his tongue. JJ smiled as she walked up to the cash register. She pulled out a brown leather-bound book and placed it on the countertop.

“Is there anything new this week?” JJ asked politely.

“Lemme see what I have in the back, lassie.” The elderly man shuffled back into the storage room, carrying the book JJ gave back. To pass the time waiting, JJ walked between the tall oak shelves, filled with wonderful stories to be read, to see any books she might be interested in. As she slowly walked down the aisle, her curious blue eyes spotted a rather peculiar book. Detailed artwork covered the book’s spine, intriguing JJ. The young teen gently pulled the book out from the shelf and brushed off the dust with her hand. Intricate floral illustrations decorated the hardcover. The burgundy color of the book complimented the floral illustrations. In gold lettering, the title of the book reflected the clementine sunlight coming in from the window. Romeo & Juliet. The blonde girl had heard of the tragedy play, but she never got the chance to read it.

JJ jumped when Alistair called out her name. She quickly put back the book and gathered her things. Coming out of the aisle, the young girl waved for the bookstore owner’s attention.

“Ali, I’m right here.” JJ called out as she approached the front of the store.

“Lassie, don’t just go and disappear on me like that.” Alistair said as he took a seat on the wooden stool.

“Sorry,” JJ apologized sheepishly. As she looked down, the book in Alistair’s hands caught JJ’s eyes. “What’s that you got?”

“This… is the new book I recommend you read this week.” The elderly man handed the rather thick book over to the blonde girl. JJ took her time inspecting her new read. Light scratches adorned the deep brown leather cover. The beautiful spine binding held the book together. Her thumb grazed over the gold title: Wuthering Heights. JJ smiled widely as she was excited to read her new book.

“Thank you, Alistair.” JJ thanked the bookstore owner as she made her way to the front door.

“Anytime, lassie,” The Scotsman waved goodbye to the blonde girl. “Say “hi” to your mum for me!”

“I will!” JJ said with excitement as she walked out of the bookstore. Feeling all giddy, the young girl carefully placed the book in her tote bag, trying not to crush the produce. She put on her helmet and started to make her way back home.

As JJ continued down the road, her ears caught the whispers of the townspeople. Snippets of how two girls were sneaking around, at odd hours of the day. The gossiping never bothered JJ, ever since five years ago. Some things would never change in this old town, JJ thought. However, one piece of gossip caught the young girl’s attention. Is Jennifer… you know… gay? This caused the young girl to gasp in surprise and stop her bike. If it came to light that Jennifer Jareau was gay, the whole town would shun her. The neighbors, everyone at school, her friends, Alistair, her parents. She can’t let that happen.

Taking a deep breath to calm herself down, JJ continued her trip back to her house. Once arriving, JJ parked her bike against the porch railing and entered her home. Her mother greeted her while her father sat silently in the living room, reading the Farmers’ Almanac. The blonde girl ignored her father as she took out her book from the tote bag and handed the vegetables to her mother.

“I’ll help once I put this book away.” JJ said, walking up the creaky staircase. Her mother nodded her head and went into the kitchen. JJ continued her way up until she entered her bedroom. A mahogany tall bookcase in the far right corner was showered in all the medals and participation trophies JJ won since playing soccer as a child. Coffee mugs cluttered her working desk. Pillows of different sizes piled on her medium-sized bed. CDs of various musical artists surrounded the small stereo system beside the bed. A large N*SYNC poster plastered on her wardrobe’s open door. Decorated simply, with a few more posters scattered sporadically, the bedroom was fit for a small-town girl.

JJ placed her new addition on her messy bed and proceeded to change into cleaner clothes for the evening. After changing, the blonde girl went to the window that was closest to the house beside hers. Moving the sheer white curtain and looking through the window, she hoped to see someone special in the house. But, alas, she wasn’t there. Maybe she’s busy, JJ thought. The sad girl exited her room, went down the wooden stairs, and into the kitchen to help her mother with preparing dinner.

Dinner went quietly as usual. The Jareaus weren’t the type to strike a conversation over dinner, not once since the tragic event that shook the family apart. JJ took away the dirty dishes and started to wash them, as it was her turn to do her chore. After washing the dishes, JJ headed up to her room for the night. She said “goodnight” to both of her parents before skipping up the stairs in excitement.

Closing the door gently, the blonde teen placed her back against the door and slowly let herself sink to the ground in a crouching position. She was glad that the day went all right. Her parents hadn’t argued, yet, so JJ was feeling content at this moment. Wanting to keep this mood going, JJ got up and went to her bed, grabbing the new book she got earlier in the evening. She laid on her bed, feeling comfortable, and cracked her book open.

A few hours went by and it was nearing midnight. The whole house was quiet, except for one room. Hey There Delilah softly played in the background as JJ was reading chapter four of Wuthering Heights. The blonde girl was enjoying her silence until she heard a small bang on her window. She sat up scared, her heart racing due to anxiety. Then, another bang on the window was heard. JJ got up from her bed and slowly walked to the window. She cracked the window open and stuck her head out, searching for the perpetrator. The warm summer air gently blew onto JJ’s face as the blonde girl squinted her baby blues. Just as she was leaving the window, her eyes caught a tall silhouette standing in the middle of the pathway between the houses.

Her dark chocolate locks gently swayed along with the summer wind. A Guns n’ Roses t-shirt hung loose on her lean frame. Dirty shoelaces left untied, lying on the dry clay soil. She was tossing a pebble into the air and catching it.

The girl waved a hand up in the air with excitement, calling out JJ’s name.

“JJ.” The girl yelled, the sound ringing into the night.

“Shush– our parents will hear you.” JJ hissed at her. The girl softly chuckled at the blonde.

“Meet me at our spot.” This was the last thing the mysterious girl said before disappearing into the darkness.

JJ smiled when the girl mentioned “our spot”. She was waiting all night to escape her house to spend some time with her favorite person. Closing the window, JJ turned off the music and lights. She hid some pillows to create a silhouette of a body under the comforter, making her cover for the night. The blonde girl grabbed her denim jacket and slowly opened her door, hoping that it wouldn’t creek into the pin-drop silence. She quietly tip-toed her way down the stairs, entering the kitchen. Opening the mint green door that led to the backyard, JJ stopped for a moment to make sure no one was awake. When it was clear, the blonde girl stepped out into the backyard, closing the door behind her.

A wide grin appeared on her face as JJ jogged into the woods. She made her way through the dark forest swiftly, as if she knew the land like that back of her hand. Seeing a sliver of moonlight ahead, JJ quickened her step while swatting away at any tree branches. Exiting the forest, the blonde made her way into a secret garden. This place was discovered one night by JJ and her best friend, when they were looking for a place to be alone together.

Making her way into the garden, JJ picked off a light pink rose from one of the bushes. Trying her best not to prick her fingers from the thorns, the blonde girl continued her way to search for her friend. And soon enough, JJ saw her, eyes closed while patiently waiting and leaning against the tall oak. Taking a small breath, the blonde girl walked up to her and laid her head on the mysterious girl’s lap.

Feeling a heavy pressure on her legs, the sleepy girl woke up in surprise, but calmed down when she saw JJ laying her lap.

“JJ.” A soft smile appeared on the brunette’s face.

“Elle,” JJ softly said. “Here, a flower for you.” The blonde girl lifted a beautiful pink flower in the air. Wanting to give the rose, she tried to pick off the thorns to make it safe to handle, while trying her best not to prick her fingers. Once done, JJ tucked some hair behind Elle’s ear while placing the pink rose there.

“There. Beautiful as always.” The blonde girl smiled widely as Elle looked away, a peachy blush forming on her cheeks.

“Anyways, how was your day? I missed you.” JJ said while twiddling with her thumbs.

“The usual. Fixing cars at my dad’s garage shop.” Elle said nonchalantly, folding her arms behind her head.

“Ooo what a tough guy.” JJ teased the brunette. Elle rolled her eyes at the cheesy line.

“How was your day, by the way?” Elle asked as she gently brushed JJ’s soft golden locks.

“I got a new book from Alistair!” JJ cheerfully said.

“Which one?” Elle asked.

“Wuthering Heights.” JJ stated. Elle chuckled when she heard the blonde girl’s answer.

“You do love your classics.” the brunette said lovingly.

“Said from the girl who thinks reading is boring.” JJ retorted back, sticking her tongue out to say I told you so.

“It is!” Elle exclaimed. “But I would only be interested in books if you read them to me.”

JJ raised her left eyebrow quizzically. Does this mean she likes my voice?, JJ thought.

“Would you?” JJ said, feeling amused.

“Cross my heart and hope to die.” Elle stated as she did the crossing motion over her heart.

The two girls continued their conversation for a while longer. They went from talking about literature to what they should do together next week. As JJ rattled on making a trip to Lake Erie, an idea popped into Elle’s mind. The brunette wiggled underneath the blonde girl’s head and made her way over to a few bushes, blooming with flowers.

Elle grabbed a couple of flowers from the bushes and some ivy from the iron gate next to them. After gathering her materials, the brunette girl walked back to her spot next to JJ. She started to make something out of them, knotting and tying them together with such skill. JJ sat up from her previous position and looked at her friend curiously, watching her hands working diligently. White gardenias and yellow stargazer lilies were tied together with strings of ivy, forming a flower crown. Elle smiled softly at her creation and gently placed it on JJ’s head.

“There. Fit for a princess.” Elle stated. She smiled softly at the sight in front of her.

“Elle…” JJ said with so much adoration in her voice. A deep peachy blush formed on Elle’s cheeks, not from embarrassment, but the fact that her best friend and crush liked what she made.

“I made it because it’s fun and I know you look good with flowers.” Elle explained. JJ brought Elle into a warm embrace, their blonde and brunette locks getting tangled together. The two girls stayed in the embrace for a while. The brunette girl’s nose got stuck in the tangles of champagne blonde locks. Taking a quick sniff, Elle caught the scent of peaches, recognizing that it was JJ’s favorite shampoo.

“Now It’s my turn to make you one.” JJ said with excitement, pulling away from the hug.

“No.” Elle deadpanned. The brunette was not the one for flowers. She only made the flower crown for her friend.

“Come on! Let me make you one!” The blonde pouted.

“Okay,” Elle said as she had her hands up as a joke, pretending she got caught for a crime she committed. “ Surprise me.”

JJ huffed and got up from the ground, dusting away at any grass that clung to her muscular legs. She walked over to a few bushes far away from Elle, thinking and deciding which flowers to choose. Once she picked her choices, JJ happily walked back to where Elle was. The blonde girl sat down and got to work, hoping to make her friend the best for crown ever. She tried to sow cornflowers and dwarf sunflowers together with strings of ivy that got leftover. Getting frustrated, JJ tried her best attempt at making a flower crown.

Elle was amused by JJ’s attempt at a flower crown, but not wanting to upset her, the brunette kept her mouth shut. JJ bit on her lip to keep herself from swearing as she was having trouble tying the ivy close, to make a circle. After a few attempted tries, the blonde finally got the final knot tied.

“Tada!” JJ exclaimed as she lifted the flower crown in the air. Feeling proud of herself, she gently placed the headdress onto Elle’s head. “Now we can be princesses together.”

“You know I’m only doing this for you, right?” Elle stated.

“I know.” JJ said as she stuck her tongue out, just to be silly. Elle laughed at the silly attitude JJ put on. The laughter slowly died as Elle leaned back against the tall oak tree. JJ sat across from the brunette as the two of them chatted the hour away. As it neared 2:30 am, a twinkling light shot through the night sky caught JJ’s eye.

“Elle! Lookup!” JJ excitedly said as she pointed at the dark abyss. The brunette girl squinted her eyes as she searched for what JJ was talking about. Just then, another twinkling light darted across the sky. Elle puffed some air out in surprise.

“Well, what do you know? We get a show tonight.” Elle joked as she slowly got up from her position. Brushing the grass clippings off her shorts, Elle held out her hand for JJ to take.

“Come on, let’s watch the sky.” JJ smiled as she took Elle’s hand. The girls walked onto the open grass patch, trying to take their seats to watch the surprise meteor shower.

Both the girls laid on the soft dewy grass as they watched the twinkling night sky. The moonlight shined brightly down upon them, acting as a spotlight.

As Elle looked at the sky, JJ was looking at the brunette. The bright moonlight illuminated the brunette’s face, showing off the little freckles that painted her soft face. Her chocolate locks swayed along with the warm August air. She smelt like lemongrass and sleep. To JJ, it was like she was admiring her from afar, like a polaroid picture hanging on her bedroom wall.

Slowly but surely, the blonde girl moved her hand towards Elle’s, gently grabbing the brunette’s open hand. JJ’s cold left hand held onto Elle’s warm palm as a smile appeared on the brunette’s face, her head turning to face the blonde. JJ felt so lucky to call Elle her best friend, but she wanted something more. But she doesn’t want to break the friendship they currently have. Her heart ached every second when Elle wasn’t hers.

JJ’s baby blue eyes stared into Elle’s own deep russet eyes. They observed each other’s eyes for a few moments before tearing their gazes apart to look up at the twinkling night sky. Both the girls continued to stargaze in silence, the crickets in the grass playing their nightly song.

“I wish we could escape this town for a little while. Just you and I.” Elle stated as she stared at the night sky. She wasn’t looking for an answer, as she knew that JJ wanted that too.

“If we were to get out of this old town, how would you imagine our lives together?” JJ asked as Elle’s statement piqued her interest.

“Perhaps an apartment in a city of our choosing. Preferably in Manhattan. I come home, bringing you flowers while you are baking cookies.” Elle explained. A soft pink blush formed on JJ’s cheeks, feeling warm as she heard Elle’s plans about their future together. She too hoped that one day they get to leave Pennsylvania together and live happily ever after.

“What about a pet?” JJ asked.

“What about it?” Elle asked, feeling indifferent about having a pet.

“Maybe… a turtle?”

“Why a turtle?”

“Because they are cute, duh.”

“And if we were to get one, what would you name it?”

“Henry,” JJ stated. Elle laughed quietly, hoping not to alert anyone. “What? I think it’s a cute name.” the blonde huffed, pretending to feel offended.

“I’m sorry.” Elle said as her laughs died out.

“You’re let off the hook for this one, Greenaway.” JJ jokingly said. The two girls continued their stargazing “date” with little blips of conversations here and there. JJ felt content being with Elle and she hoped that nothing would tear them apart.

JJ yawned softly as it was getting very late. She let go of Elle’s hand and slowly got up from the ground, dusting off any grass that clung to her legs. Elle softly smiled at the cute yawn that JJ just had as she stared up at the blonde girl.

“What?” JJ asked.

“Oh– uh nothing,” Elle said passively. The brunette girl also got up from the ground, making herself neat so she wouldn’t track grass and dirt into her house.

“Let’s go home.” Elle held out her hand, hoping that JJ would take it. Indeed did JJ take it because she may never know when she would see Elle last. The two girls took their time walking through the garden, almost acting like a couple. They got out of the garden, carefully closing the wrought iron gate, hoping the creaking metal wouldn’t wake anyone. Making their way through the dark woods, Elle and JJ continued to hold their hands to feel more connected. And it was also not to lose each other.

They reached the backyard of the Jareaus and had to part ways for the night.

“Night, JJ.” Elle said as she released her hand from JJ’s. The brunette girl turned her heels and headed to her house’s patio door.

“Night, Elle.” JJ smiled as she quietly made her way to the kitchen backdoor. Gently opening the mint green door, JJ tip-toed into the kitchen and prayed that no one heard her enter. Once the coast was clear, the blonde girl gently closed the door and locked it. She gently took each step one by one, not making a sound, as she made her way up the stairs and into her room. JJ opened her door slowly, as the metal hinges tended to creak when not oiled properly. She entered her room and closed the door in the same fashion. When locking the door, JJ let out a breath that she didn’t even know she was holding. Feeling content for the night, JJ took off the flower crown that Elle made off her head and placed it gently on her nightstand. She took one of the polaroid pictures off of her wall and flopped onto her bed, letting her muscles relax.

JJ brought the polaroid up to her face to see the captured moment. It was Elle, all dirty from car grease, smiling and posing like Rosie the Riveter. JJ kissed the picture and proceeded to close her eyes, holding onto the polaroid picture like a dream catcher.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

A few days passed by and the warm summer sun shone onto the garden as JJ and Elle were giggling and having fun, having no care in the world. Like it was only them on their paradise island. That was until they heard some bustling and a shout behind a hedge.

“Jennifer, where are you?” The angry voice of JJ’s father rang in the afternoon sky. The blonde girl’s head never turned so fast in fear to face her father. Salty tears pricked her azure eyes as her father marched towards the two girls. Right behind him was Elle’s father, also raging in anger. Both the girls yelled as they were grabbed by their fathers, separating them apart. Shouts filled the air and the girls tried to kick their way out of the men’s arms.

“How did you find us?” Elle yelled as she tried to squirm her way out.

“Micheal saw her sneaking through the back kitchen door and called me over to investigate. We followed behind JJ as she went through the woods.” Robert explained, trying his best to use his strength to hold onto his daughter. JJ gasped in shock as she didn’t know that her father kept an eye on her.

“I didn’t know anything about this Elle! I swear!” JJ shouted. The blonde girl grunted as she tried to get out of her father’s tight grip on her arms.

“I knew you two were friends since a young age, but this? This is unacceptable. We heard the rumors circulating town so we had our suspicions.” Micheal said through his teeth, clenching his jaw to prevent himself from shouting more.

“But I love her!” Elle yelled out as her deep russet brown eyes caught JJ’s baby blue ones. The blonde gasped softly at Elle’s confession, trying to understand what she heard with her own two ears. I love you. She loves me! I have to tell her back!. JJ thought. Just as JJ was opening her mouth to say “I love you” back to Elle, her father interrupted her.

“Stay away from JJ!” Michael shouted at Elle, hoping that he wouldn’t have to see the brunette with his daughter again. Elle’s dad dragged her away from the Jareaus as Elle continued to shout, her voice fading away.

When the Greenaways were gone from the premise, Micheal Jareau let go of JJ and the blonde girl was exasperated, holding onto her arms.

“What the hell was that?” JJ said as she tried to catch her breath.

“What the hell? I should be the one asking you, JJ. I can’t believe you went behind my back for this. I know you and Elle are friends but it very well seems to be more than that.” Michael said in his normal voice, still keeping the anger in his tone.

“And so what? You would throw me out of the house?” JJ challenged him. JJ’s father scoffed at her.

“I don’t need another Roslyn situation,” Micheal yelled at JJ. “You better get your head straight.”

“Don’t you dare bring up Ros!” JJ shouted back, her voice quivering and angry tears forming in her eyes. She couldn’t believe that her father had the guts to say her dead sister’s name. If she were alive, JJ would have been living with her, away from her father’s wrath.

JJ pivoted on her heels and ran away as fast as she could from her father. She needed to get away from the situation, but especially away from him.

“I expect you back home in the next fifteen minutes!” Michael shouted as he turned his back to head home. JJ didn’t hear him. Her thoughts were muddled from all the rushing emotions. The blonde girl ran for as long as she could because she would have to think about what had happened if she stopped. JJ ran into an open clearing and a beautiful meadow presented itself as a sanctuary, a place where JJ could calm down and gather her thoughts. Wildflowers and dandelions flourished all over the bright green grass. A family of white-tailed deer hid behind the tall maple and oak trees from afar. Small bumblebees danced in the air as a chipmunk was gathering seeds near the ground to stockpile for the winter.

JJ tried her best to slowly catch her breath as she walked further into the meadow, trying to find a place to sit. She laid down once she reached the middle of the meadow and everything came rushing back. All the shouting, crying, and fading of Elle’s voice played loudly in her mind. JJ needed to get away from that but it followed her to the meadow, almost haunting her. Tears started to form and slowly dropped to the soft earth.

Why? Just why did all this have to happen? JJ thought. Why couldn’t I have my happily ever after like the other girls?

JJ covered her face with her hands as the tears fell harder. Her crying screams rang loud within the quiet meadow. At this moment, the blonde girl didn’t care if someone heard her. She got separated from the love of her life and she didn’t know how to cope with the loss.

After crying out for a few minutes, JJ’s voice started to grow hoarse. Her eyes dried up, no longer being able to produce tears. But her heart still longed and ached for Elle. Taking a big sniffle, JJ rubbed her face to get rid of the dried tears on her cheeks with the hem of her t-shirt. She got up tiredly from the ground and felt the wind passing through the meadow. Goosebumps formed from the chill summer evening air and JJ had to hug her torso to keep herself warm. Deciding to face her father’s wrath for the second time of the day, JJ slowly walked out of the meadow and into the forest, squinting her eyes as the sun was going down the horizon.

Once she reached her family home, JJ entered the house through the back kitchen door and saw her father at the dining table, reading the local newspaper. Her head hanging low, JJ shuffled to her room, without saying a word to her father.

As she entered her bedroom, a new emotion set in JJ’s heart: anger. Angry at her father, at Elle’s father, at the whole town. To JJ, there was nothing wrong with loving whoever you felt attracted to, but a small town in rural Pennsylvania thought otherwise. In a blaze of anger, the blonde girl grabbed all the polaroids that hung on the wall and threw them onto the carpeted floor with lots of force. She aggressively took the flower crown that Elle made for her and threw it out of the open window, wanting to get rid of any evidence that reminded JJ of the brunette.

Angry tears pricked JJ’s sad baby blue eyes and the blonde girl clenched her fists, trying her best to not scream. She felt life was being unfair to her. Everything that happened today was unforgivable to JJ. She hoped that her father goes to hell when he dies. Tears fell harder as JJ started to weep, hiccups coming and going.

Feeling hollow from her outburst a few minutes ago, JJ sat at the edge of her bed while staring at the floor. Her limbs felt exhausted as she laid down on the comforter. Her muscles ached from all the running she did earlier today. JJ let her eyes slowly close and Mr. Sandman did his job sprinkling his golden dust over the tired girl, hoping she gets good dreams that would distract her from the swirling emotions in her heart.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

A few weeks went by, and JJ hadn’t received anything from Elle. No phone call. No email. Not even a letter. Hope was slowly drained out of JJ’s heart as the days of August slipped into a moment in time.

Everything that JJ did or said reminded her of Elle. The blonde girl cursed herself as she wanted to get over the hurt quickly, but her heart did not allow it.

Monday. The overwhelming feeling of emptiness consumed the blonde girl as she stared at the ceiling. Her eyes trained onto a singular spot on the plaster as the golden rays of the summer evening cast down upon JJ’s face. Hurt by Christina Aguilera softly played in the background as JJ wallowed in her thoughts. Why did she have to leave? Was it because of me? It was totally because of me. Ugh– we should have run away together when we had the chance.

JJ wondered what it was like to be loved by Elle. She wondered if someday Elle would be by her side. A small headache slowly formed as JJ kept living inside her mind. Sighs filled the air and JJ closed her eyes as a way to escape the tornado of emotions that was swimming in her heart.

Tuesday. As the blonde girl was riding her bike back from the town’s bookstore, JJ decided to take a long detour. Taking the nearest alleyway, JJ changed course to head in a different direction. As each second passed, JJ pedaled faster, almost like she had an appointment somewhere.

A red building was approaching fast and JJ had to hit her breaks, almost falling off her bike. The blonde girl tried to catch her breath as she looked over at the empty building. People were not bustling about and fixing cars. The scent of grease was no longer present in the late summer air. All the spare cars were taken back to the local junkyard, ready to be rusting the days away. And most importantly, Elle wasn’t there. A white picket was staked in the front, saying “For Sale”.

With a sliver of hope, JJ prayed that Elle came back as the blonde girl started to pedal back her way home.

Wednesday. Grey clouds took over the typically light blue Erie sky. The warm summer rain danced rapidly across the black asphalt as JJ solemnly sat by her window. Hoping that Elle would tear the curtains open, JJ fixated her gaze at the empty room with glassy eyes. No one had bought the now empty house in the past few weeks, the “For Sale” sign gently swaying along with the wind. The blonde girl hadn’t moved her position in a few hours, also like a skeleton hanging on a hook. All empty inside and the only thing that filled the void was her hurt and longing for a certain brunette. It was like JJ’s soul was taken away when Elle left.

JJ sat with her knees up to her chest, with her chin resting on the kneecaps. The pain in her heart was far greater than the aching pain in her muscles and joints. The wind changed direction and the rain splattered into JJ’s room. JJ was unbothered by this as her clothes slowly started to get wet and her skin got chills from the rain. She sat in this position for another fourteen minutes before getting up from the ornate chair. The girl grumbled as she moved the chair back to where it was with the desk. She went back to the window and shut it with ease.

Feeling tired, JJ slowly changed out of her wet clothes into a cotton pajama set, designed with blue butterflies. She rolled up her wet clothes into a ball and threw it like a basketball into the hamper, scoring it inside. A tiny smile formed, but as quickly it came, it disappeared just as fast.

The blonde girl slowly climbed into her bed, covering herself with the comforter. Her eyes drooped with tiredness as JJ tried to relax her aching limbs.

I will spend my whole life loving you, was the last thought JJ had before she dozed off into a dreamless sleep.

Thursday. JJ took a walk after eating dinner with her family. She needed to get away from them, as tension was building up in the Jareau house. The blonde girl walked past the entrance to the secret garden that she and Elle frequented. She paused in the middle of the sidewalk. Tempted to enter, JJ held out her hand to hover over the rusted iron handle, only to hesitate. Memories rushed into her mind, reminding her of that fateful day. But a little sliver of hope was felt in her heart and JJ proceeded to enter the secret garden. Weaving her way through the tall hedges, JJ speed-walked towards a certain place and passed by some bushes blooming with pink roses. She was able to find the special spot that was her’s and Elle’s. Feeling blue, JJ walked up to the same tall oak tree from weeks ago and sat by the overgrown roots, curling up to a fetal position. She wanted to feel something, anything, as the scent of lemongrass wafted into the air. JJ looked up, hoping that it was Elle, but all she was greeted to was a blank space.

Friday. JJ was spending her night wallowing in her heartache. She slowly strummed her acoustic guitar, the dissonant chords rang into the silent air. A knock was heard at her bedroom door, signaling that someone was there, waiting to enter the somber room.

“JJ….” the blonde girl’s mother gently called out her name.

“....Come in.” JJ croaked out, her voice hoarse from the lack of talking from the past few weeks. Mrs. Jareau opened the door and entered JJ’s room with a peculiar package in her hands. She gently placed the package on the messily made bed.

“This package came from someone special.” Once those words came out of Mrs. Jareau’s mouth, JJ snapped her head up to look at her mother.

Knowing her daughter’s answer, Mrs. Jareau exited out of the bedroom, hoping the package would bring JJ out of her heartache. When her mother left, JJ stared at the package on the edge of her bed, the package taunting her to open it. The blonde placed her guitar by her bedside and grabbed the oddly-shaped package.

JJ carefully pulled the transparent ribbon off and peeled off the brown paper wrapping. Inside was a royal blue cotton blanket, with a scarlet letter laid on top of it. In messy handwriting, the letter was addressed to JJ. The blonde girl slowly opened the letter, unfolding the paper in her hands. Her tired eyes began to read the scribbled content of the letter.

Dear JJ,

I’m sorry for what happened. Everything was all my fault. I knew the consequences if we were discovered together, but I didn’t care. I only ever cared about you. This letter and the gifted blanket are a way for you to remember me.

We’ll see each other again — I promise.

Love, Elle

The blonde girl picked up the soft blue blanket and brought it close to her chest, to feel close to her lost love. A teardrop slowly fell down JJ’s solemn face. One by one, more tears fell, dripping onto the paper wrapping.

“I love you, please don’t go.”

taglist: @reidtheprettyboy / @morcias / @pagetsimp / @makaylajadewrites / @everything-im-a-fan-of / @j3lle / @gravelyhumerus / @temily / @fearlessed / @jellejareau / @girlbossjareau / @homosexualyearning / @wheelsup / @hotchsbabygirl / @lewistara / @a-writers-ramblings / @sapphic-prentiss / @hqtchner / @spencers-renaissance

#honeys stories #jennifer jareau #elle greenaway #jennifer jareau x elle greenaway #jelle #jelle fanfic #jelle fanfiction #criminal minds #criminal minds fanfiction #wlw yearning #userchips #userika #userhj #usersunlight #usercosmic #userablake #userkodi #userbabbie #gravelyhumerus

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harknesswife · 3 years

Text

It was you all along (Agatha Harkness x Female Reader)

Summary: This is a sweet self-insert love story between Agatha and a Westview citizen. Everything that happens follows the original events of “Wandavision” and MCU, like a parallel.

Chapter: 10/10

Word count: 1.663K

The bus stopped in front of the “Welcome to Westview” sign. We all got off as FBI and SWORD agents kept blabbering about going back to our real lives. I let my mind wander for a while.

It had been a week since I ran off the hex, leaving Agatha behind. They got all of us into this facility that, to me, it kinda looked like a prison. “We just need to be sure that the city is safe to come back to”, they said. My room had no windows, but I knew that this wouldn’t stop her. I’d sleep every night hoping that she’d just burst her way in and take me out of there. She told me to wait, and I did.

Agent James clapped his hands and brought me back from my daydream.

"Ok, welcome back, everyone. Everything is perfectly fine. Westview is secure, Wanda is gone. And that’s all you need to know."

Some people clapped. They wouldn’t tell us anything about what happened after we got out, and that was driving me insane.

We stepped inside Westview as if we’re entering a pool, slowly and carefully. The city was way different from the colorful lie we were living. Everything was pretty gray and dark. I passed by my place, the door was still open just how I'd left it. But I didn’t want to get in, not yet. I wanted to preserve a little more of that memory of how it used to be. Lots of families were getting inside their own houses, I could see people packing stuff. I kept walking, getting my eyes used to this new reality when I saw it.

Her house. What used to be her house, the place where she took me on that Halloween night. Everything was destroyed. I crossed my arms on my chest, trying my best not to cry. Sword did it, I was sure, to make Westview “safe again”. I peeked around, trying to find any clue when I glanced at her bicycle just tossed aside. I ran for it and when I was about to lift it…

"Oh, hey!"

It was Fietro. I took several steps back.

"You can have it", he said, lifting it and handing it to me. "I don’t mind".

I kept staring at him, trying to read his eyes. He smiled at me.

"I’m sorry. Do we know each other? My head is still kinda messy from all the, you know…"

"No need to be sorry", I said, relieved that he didn't remember me. Especially naked me. "Nice to meet you. Are you leaving?"

I pointed at the two big bags behind him.

"Definitely. I’m not taking my chances with her again."

"Wanda? I thought she was gone", I asked, slightly more interested.

He sighed.

"I shouldn’t be talking about this. I’m sorry", he tried to leave, but I held him.

"Do you know what happened? After we all left?", I was holding his arm with only one hand. He wasn’t trying to get away, but I refused to let go.

"I was here", he whispered. "But I can’t talk about it. They made me promise."

"Please!", I asked. "I’m so confused right now. I need closure. I think knowing would help me to just… move on.

I meant it and he knew that. He above all people knew how it was to be unable to control his own mind. So he told me all about the two identical men flying and fighting against each other. He told me about that brave woman that just threw herself in front of Wanda’s kids to protect them, even when she didn’t know that her body was bulletproof. How the sword army was defeated by these same two young boys. And, finally, how both witches kept throwing blasts at each other, a huge battle in a red sky.

"And then..." he said, pointing at the exact place where it happened. "They got back. But Wanda was… different. She looked like a witch, cape, and everything. And the other one - I could see some anger in his voice - was just on the floor, defeated."

I took a deep breath.

"Wanda left after a while. The agents found me and it was their idea to destroy the place. I used to live here, you know. That’s why Agatha picked me".

It was really weird listening to someone else saying her name.

"But if Wanda’s gone… What did you say about taking chances?"

"Well. I heard something that I never told the agents...", he was whispering again. "Wanda changed Agatha’s witch clothes into casual ones. She told her that she knew where to find her. I think Wanda did to her what she did to all of us, trapping her inside her mind. And that makes me think that..."

"She’s still here."

It wasn’t a question. She was there, in Westview. That’s why she didn’t come for me. Now it was my time to find her. I smiled at him, hopping on the bike.

"Thank you, Fietro!!"

"Wait, what did you just call me?"

But I was already pedaling away at full speed. Looking right and left, trying to figure out where Wanda would place Agatha. Plain sight, so no one would suspect? Or maybe a little bit away from the neighborhood, just to be safe? I felt a few drops of rain falling into my head, wet hair getting into my eyes. There were a few cars on the street and It was hard to keep track of all of them. The orange light of a headlight blinded me for just a second, and it was all it took for me to fall. I tried to get up, feeling dizzy.

!Hun! Are you okay?"

I wasn’t ready. But she was right there, in the rain, kneeling in front of me. I had no idea how.

"Agatha", I said, staring at her. Somehow, I thought she would simply look at me and remember everything.

"It’s Agnes! A common mistake, tho", she smiled, her hair also getting wet. "Oh, let’s get inside! Let me help you with that", she said while grabbing the bicycle. I got up slowly.

If I had looked back, I’d see how she stopped, confused for just a split second, after touching the handlebar.

The inside of her house was cozy and colorful, like a piece of the “fake Westview”. It felt like home.

"I’m gonna get you something warm. Just a sec, honey."

She left me in the living room, my heart beating like crazy. “Calm down”, I said to myself. I looked around, trying to find anything that would help me bring her back. There was a shelf with some books, but none of them were glowing. Mundane. I got closer to read some of the titles when something else got my attention.

A few drawings were on the table right next to the shelf, some of them unfinished. A faceless girl with wings. The back of two women with bubbles floating around them. Pieces of our memories. They were still there, in some corner of her mind.

"Here you go", she said, handing me a cup of tea. Our fingers touched for a second, and she kept staring at me as her smile faded away.

She let go of the cup and touched my face, just like she used to do. I closed my eyes, waiting for her next reaction. Something was happening and I knew it.

"Go. Now."

It was her voice. But it didn’t sound like her.

The rain was still pouring outside. She kept telling me to leave, her eyes locked on me, like a trance. I refused. One of her hands was now glowing with a red fog.

Wanda.

"Agatha, please. Please. You need to remember. Please!", I kept saying it while she slowly lifted her hand.

I had no idea how, but Wanda was controlling her. Talking wouldn’t help. I took a step in her direction, then another one. She lifted the other hand, a threat that I ignored. Agatha did some sort of magical movement and everything flew into the walls. Everything but me. She wasn’t expecting that. I took another step, getting closer.

"You protected me long enough", I said, hoping that, somehow, Agatha would listen. "But I need you to come back."

I grabbed one of her wrists, trying to ignore the massive red energy that she was holding on her other hand. I could feel the warmth and the light getting closer to my face, I knew that it was my last try. I took off the ring that she gave me and placed it on her finger, screaming by how much strength it took me to do it. We both fell on the ground immediately.

I crawled over to her. She was trying to get up.

"Agatha?", I said with my voice breaking.

She looked up.

Agatha held me tight, touching my face to make sure that I was okay. I couldn’t stop the silent tears from falling. She kissed me several times, on my lips, my forehead, and my cheeks.

"I’ve missed you..." she whispered, fixing a lock of hair behind my ear. "We gotta get out of here. Wanda knows about you."

"I had to", I said, holding her hand.

"I know", she nodded, taking off the ring. The stone was black now. "You won’t need this anymore. I’ll be your shield."

We both got up, ready to leave, when the same orange headlight blinded me again, right inside of her living room. Only it wasn’t a headlight, as I realized too late. Agatha put me behind her, staring at that weird thing.

It was like a mirror, but instead of our reflection, we saw a man. He was wearing a cape and a necklace with a glowing green stone.

"My name is Doctor Strange", he said, in a calm voice. "And I need you to come with me."

#wandavision #kathryn hahn #kathryn hahn fanfiction #kathryn hahn fanfic #agatha harkness #agatha harkness x female reader #agatha harkness x reader #agatha harkness fanfic #agatha harkness fanfiction

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raibebe · 4 years

Text

Soft core

Genre: Fluff(?) Words: 11,4 k holy shit this is insane Prompt: Jaehyun in his vampire bdsm outfit he wore in the Punch era but make it sfw Warnings: mentions of blood, brief mentions of member x member relationships, brief descriptions of a panic attack

A/N: This was written for Aimee who loves Jaehyun with her whole heart, happy birthday Aimee 💖 I hope you had an amazing day and like this little something. I know you deactivated but I already started writing this a month ago and I’ll post it anyways in the hope you’ll see this someday and a couple of others will enjoy this as well. I have mixed and matched their outfits and tattoos from both the concept photos and the live stages. Also I’m sorry Johnny, but you fit the role of the shameless flirt so well… Bonus points for anyone who spots all cameos. Special thanks to @burtonized who made me keep going with this and listened to all my complaints.

To say you were nervous before starting your first shift at your new job in a reasonably shady bar not too far from your apartment was an understatement. You seriously questioned your own sanity and why you had even applied for the job when you had seen the offer on the beat up wooden entrance door next to an old motorcycle license plate and a bright green neon sign that illuminated the word ‘open’ a couple of days ago. The blue haired man behind the bar had given you a questioning look after you had entered the bar because you couldn’t have looked any more out of place with your soft sweater between the old wooden interior and the leather the barman and a handful of customers were wearing. It had cost all of your courage and a reminder that you needed to find a job for the weekends to walk up to the bar to ask the barman about the job offer. He had asked you a couple of questions like whether you had already waited tables before, which you had (at a place that was lit far better than this one but how different would it be?). The man who had introduced himself as Kun and honestly seemed like a big softie on the inside despite his serious look (it had to be the intense eyebrows) had agreed to hire you on the spot because he had the offer up for a while and no one had come in to ask about it and he couldn’t keep bullying his apparently very chaotic roommates to keep covering the shifts on the busy weekends anymore.

That’s how you found yourself here, a couple of days later on a Friday night, staring at the wooden door yet again (now missing the job offer and not yet illuminated by the neon sign).You took a deep breath and pushed through the door of the bar, this time not looking as out of place as you had before, wearing black skinny jeans and a simple grey v-neck. Kun looked up from where he was wiping down the counter, shooting you a smile. Today he had styled his hair up, exposing his forehead and was wearing a black button up shirt with a bunch of white details that was missing quiet some buttons at the top. “You actually came,” he grinned, “You can put your jacket and bag into the back room.” He pointed to a door with the label ‘staff only’. “We’re opening in half an hour. I’ll introduce you to the others once they decide to arrive.” Nodding you rushed to put your stuff away. You were pleasantly surprised by how clean it was in the back. The beat up interior from the main room was nowhere to be found. So it really didn’t seem too bad if it was only shabby for aesthetic purposes.

After taking a couple of more deep breaths in front of the mirror in the staff room, you felt as prepared as you would ever be and emerged back into the main room of the bar. Next to Kun behind the counter was now another man, clad in the tightest pair of leather pants you had ever seen and a loose, see through black blouse, his long blonde hair tied back into a ponytail, showing off a variety of piercings in his ears that were reflecting the low light of the neon signs. When both men noticed you, the blonde flashed you a bright smile and quickly wiped his fingers on the towel he had used to dry some glasses and held it out for you to shake. “Hi, I’m Ten. Kun told me he had finally found someone willing to help us out on the weekends but he missed to tell me how cute you are. Don’t worry the customers are all nice and if anyone gives you any problems, weird stares or makes inappropriate comments, just tell me immediately and I’ll throw them out,” he introduced himself. You couldn’t help but giggle a bit at the image of this petite man throwing drunken men twice his size out of the bar. “Thank you,” you answered before introducing yourself as well. “Would you please wipe down the tables in the back?” Kun asked, handing you a cloth, “The other waiter should be here any minute, so he can walk you through the process.” “You’re all males working here?” You asked shyly while starting to wipe the tall round tables closest to the bar. “Honey, there’s not many woman brave enough to even set a foot in here even though about eighty percent of our regulars and hundred percent of our staff are big softies hiding behind leather jackets and tattoos,” Ten chirped, disappearing beneath the counter to check the tubes of the beer taps.

Speaking of the other staff, as if on queue the door slammed open to reveal a ridiculously tall man with the biggest brown eyes you had ever seen, his platinum hair swept back from his forehead, a huge grin plastered on his face. “Yooo, the poster with the job offer is gone, did you finally find someone?” The man all but shouted, excitedly bouncing up and down on his way to the bar, shucking off his leather jacket and carelessly throwing it on one of the bar stools to reveal toned arms and a strong chest straining his short sleeved black shirt. “Xuxi, indoor voice please,” Kun groaned, massaging his temples. “Oh sorry,” the other man - Xuxi - answered, flashing Kun big puppy eyes. “We did find someone, please don’t scare her off,” Ten answered Xuxi’s initial question, emerging back from under the counter, smashing the door shut, which caused Kun to groan again. “That thing has a handle for a reason,” he sighed. “It keeps opening itself back up otherwise,” the smaller man shrugged, leaning against the now spotless counter, a mischievous smile on his lips. “Wait, her?” Xuxi asked, eyes wide in either excitement or amazement, “As in she? A girl?” “Yes, hello,” you quietly introduced yourself, stepping out from the corner where you had been cleaning the tabletops.

“Wow, you’re so pretty,” Xuxi said instead of a proper introduction when you walked over to where the three men were standing. You could feel the heat rise to your cheeks, tinting them a rosy color. Sighing, Kun took the dirty cloth from you and rinsed it in the sink. “This is Xuxi, the other waiter for tonight. As you might have noticed he doesn’t have much of a filter, but i swear he is harmless.” “Just call me Lucas at work, it’s easier,” the man in question grinned, not even bothering to correct Kun and extended a hand for you to shake (needless to say because he was unnecessary tall, his huge hand could almost cover your whole fist). “I’ll teach you everything you need to know,” he beamed and even though he had just called you cute, he was definitely the cutest person currently in this room. “Thank you,” you murmured, a smile spreading on your lips because Xuxi’s grin was really infectious and you felt your anxiety disappearing.

In the remaining time before the bar would officially open, Xuxi taught you everything you needed to know. From their system and how you’d take the orders and which tables you would serve to special drinks that weren’t on the menu and what to do if any customers would give you trouble. “There’s probably not much to do for the first two hours or so”, Xuxi concluded, running a hand through his platinum blonde hair, making his muscles dance beneath his shirt, “Like that you can get used to it before it gets packed. Fridays are always busy and there’s a bunch of different people coming. Did any regulars call in before?” He asked the last question to the general direction of the bar. Flipping through a book next to the cash register, Ten nodded. “127 are coming in, they got that big table in the back but other than that, no one called.” “What’s 127?” You asked curiously because that was one of the tables you were supposed to serve. “They’re a group of guys our age, but I’m not really sure what exactly they are to be honest,” Xuxi laughed while fixing the belt that held his wallet before handing you your own one. “I think they are bikers,” Ten supplied, turning around to reorganizing the bottles behind the bar for the third time tonight, “At least some of them have bikes and they sure look the part. Have you seen Johnny’s new tattoo the other week, Xuxi? That must have hurt like hell.” “Yeah, I saw the post with his chestpiece on his Instagram. That man is ripped.” “Well, you’re one to talk,” you murmured under your breath, organizing the contents of the belt to your liking. Laughing out loud, Ten slapped Kun on the chest. “We need to keep her, I like her,” he giggled and Kun just shot you a slightly pained smile, rubbing where Ten’s hand had come down. “Oh come on, old man. I didn’t even hit that hard.” “Stop calling me old, I am literally just two months older than you,” Kun groaned, softly shaking a grinning Ten. Unbothered by the bickering of the two barmen, Xuxi called over from the door: “I’ll switch on the sign!”

Your anxiety came back at full force when the bar started to fill up one hour after it opened. Resisting the urge to hide behind the bar, you approached yet another group of shady looking men to take their orders. Like the other people you had served before, they gave you a weird look while looking up and down your frame once before asking if you were new here. You just nodded and smiled politely while writing down their orders before walking back to the bar where you took out one of the trays and put the note with the order on top so Ten or Kun could put the according drinks on top. “Here, have a little drink, the night is just beginning,” Ten grinned and pushed a glass into your hands before completing the order while somehow also dancing fluently to the music that was playing through the speakers now. You eyed the drink suspiciously, the deep orange color throwing you off a bit. “It’s not spiked, no need to worry,” Xuxi told you, suddenly appearing next to you, placing his own tray with empty glasses onto the counter, winking teasingly before grabbing a colorful bottle to pour a bunch of shots, so Ten and Kun could focus on the other, more complicated drinks on the orders. You drowned the sickly sweet drink quickly and put the glass next to the ones that needed to be rinsed. You mouthed Ten a ‘thank you’ when you picked up your order and he blew you an exaggerated kiss, making you giggle and feel a little more at ease. It was like he had known you were being nervous again.

After checking in with your other tables and earning a big tip from some truckers that actually had been really nice, you made your way back to the bar to help Kun with rinsing the glasses that had been piling up. “You remember those regulars that were coming in tonight?” the blue haired barman suddenly asked, “That’s them.” He nodded towards the door where a group of men were coming in. For a moment, your breath got caught in your throat because Ten hadn’t been wrong earlier when he said that those 127 guys looked like bikers. Honestly anyone of them could have been a model for the leather clothes they were wearing while standing in front of a Harley Davidson or thrashing something with a baseball bat. (Also was one of them wearing a metal harness beneath his leather vest?) “They’re all nice people, no need to worry,” Kun calmed you down, shooting you a reassuring smile before taking the beer glass from your hands that you had started to grip so hard, your knuckles were turning white. “How many are they?” You asked him curiously while eyeing the group as they made their way over to their designated table, greeting other regulars as well as Lucas (one of them was apparently just as incapable of having an indoor voice as him when he loudly yelled ‘Lucas’ before hugging the taller male tightly).

“Yooo, Johnny’s chestpiece looks even more sick in real life,” Lucas said with wide eyes when he came back to the bar. “Also he gave me 20 dollar so I would ask Haechan and Mark if they were even legal when they would order something alcoholic,” he grinned, “I’ll share if you do it.” “How am I supposed to know who to ask?” You asked because even though you were shy, 20 dollars were 20 dollars. “That’s the spirit,” Lucas grinned and threw an arm around your shoulders to turn you in the direction of the table where the men had sat down, not even trying to be subtle about it. “You see the one with the purple hair sitting next to the tall one with half his chest exposed? The purple haired one is Haechan and the tall one is Johnny. Mark is the one on the stool to the left, just ask Haechan for his age first, Mark will be the one to laugh the loudest,” he quickly explained. “You know them quite well,” you said, trying to fight the heat spreading across your cheeks because it didn’t happen any day that you were in such a close proximity to a handsome man like Lucas. “I went to school with Mark,” he shrugged, letting you go when Kun yelled that his order was ready.

Before walking up to their table you took another deep breath to calm your furiously beating heart, repeating in your head how no one had been mean to you yet and that all your coworkers kept on telling you how nice they were supposed to be. “Hi everyone,” you greeted them when you arrived at the table, “Have you already decided what you want to order?” Seeing the chaos that the group was already in, half of them probably didn’t even notice that you had arrived at the table. “Guys!” The pink haired man wearing the harness type thing scolded the others that were bickering in the back of the little booth on the couch. “I’m sorry, they usually behave better,” he smiled and his big eyes combined with his pink hair made him look like he came straight out of an animation. “I’m Taeyong by the way,” the pink haired man supplied, flashing you a genuine smile, “You’re new here, right? I haven’t seen you around before.” “Today is my first day,” you nodded, cheeks heating up under the gaze of the handsome man, nervously playing with your little notepad. “Let’s order, guys!” Taeyong said, the others slowly turning their attention towards you. How all of them were this handsome was beyond your imagination. Shyly you introduced yourself as their waiter for the night for the second time and asked for their orders. One after the other they either ordered plain beer or some really extraordinary cocktails that you had never heard of before. When the purple haired boy, Haechan, ordered his cocktail, you took a deep breath before putting on your best poker face. “Could I see your ID to check your age first?”

As soon as the words had left your lips, the whole table fell dead silent and the boy’s mouth dropped open in surprise. But before you could lose your courage to mutter an apology, the boy that had greeted Lucas loudly before, burst out in laughter, that the others minus Haechan quickly joined and even you couldn’t hold back the grin that spread over your face. “Now that I think about it, could I see yours as well?” You followed up and asked the dark haired boy with the infectious laugh, whose eyes immediately turned into saucers, his mouth wide open while the others couldn’t hold their laughs anymore, the purple haired boy joining in now. “I’m sorry,” you giggled, turning to the last man to order when they all had calmed down, using the napkins on the table to exaggeratedly wipe their tears. “What can I get you?” When the man with the dark hair that was elegantly swept back from his face turned towards you, you could swear that time stilled for a moment. His dark eyes that were accentuated with a bit of eyeshadow fixed yours and you were captivated, unable to look away. When your eyes dipped lower for a second you could see the black ink of a tattoo on the pale skin of his neck. He seemed familiar but you couldn’t quite tell why. Maybe you had seen him around on campus. But even then you should have been able to tell because that tattoo really wasn’t subtle at all. Briefly you were wondering if he could ever work a normal job with something like that. “I think I’ll just start with a beer as well,” he spoke softly, his voice a deep rumble, tearing you from your thoughts. After you had definitely stared at him for way too long than it would have been acceptable, you tore your gaze away from him, quickly scribbling down his order as well, repeating what you had written down for the others to confirm.

“Great, then I’ll be back in a bit with your drinks,” you smiled, after one of them had insisted that they should get a round of shots as well. “Can’t wait,” the tall one with the eagle tattoo on his chest said with a smirk on his lips, adding a cheesy wink that made you way more flustered than you would have liked. You quickly turned to hide your heated face, speed walking back over to the bar to put their order down. “Did you do it?” Lucas eagerly asked, bouncing up and down in excitement where he was helping to dry some glasses behind the counter. “Where’s my money?” You grinned, holding out your palm towards him. “Waaa, you really did it,” he grinned while bouncing up and down excitedly and you could barely hold in the urge to coo at him. He really did resemble an oversized puppy. You barely knew him for more than a couple of hours but he already had wiggled his way into your heart.

“Lucas, you didn’t tell us such a pretty girl would be serving us tonight,” a smooth male voice suddenly interrupted. When you turned around, the tall man from the 127 gang (Were they a gang? Did they do illegal stuff?) came walking up to the counter, leaning against the polished wood. “She’s new here, I didn’t know either,” Lucas pouted, already grabbing two shot glasses to put up on the bar top, putting the third one back down when you shook your head. You weren’t going to drink on your first day of work even though it seemed to be normal when you watched Lucas fill up the two glasses with a shady looking liquid from an unlabeled bottle he had grabbed from below the counter. Clinking their glasses together both men drowned their shots and while the tall biker didn’t even flinch, Lucas broke out into a whole body shiver, squeezing his eyes shut. “This stuff is really fucking disgusting,” he grimaced before refilling one of the shot glasses again, shoving it in front of the other man again, “I don’t know how Ten manages to make these concoctions.” Grinning, the man in question suddenly appeared and snatched the shot glass from below the other‘s fingers, drowning it himself. The blonde only grimaced a little. “I gotta say, I’ve made better stuff but also definitely worse. Lucas, we need a new keg of beer, can you please get one from the back, you’re so much stronger than I am,” Ten pouted, batting his lashes at Lucas and rubbing one of his hands over the other’s muscled arms. “Be nice to her,” Lucas told the man with the big tattoo on his chest and quickly disappeared to the back.

“I’m Johnny by the way,” he introduced himself, running a hand through his dark red hair. “So you’re the one who asked Lucas to embarrass your friends,” you remembered, your eyes getting caught on the intricate feathers of the eagle that spread its wings over Johnny’s broad chest. He smirked when your eyes came back up to meet his. “That would be me. You like the tattoo?” “It looks nice,” you mumbled, embarrassed at being caught staring, “It’s not something you see every day.” “I have some other ones that are pretty interesting as well,” he winked. “Su-Sure,” you stuttered, feeling your face heat up for what must have been the millionth time this night. “You’re cute,” Johnny laughed, the sound bright and inviting, his eyes turning into little crescents. “What did you come over for? Did I miss something on the order?” You tried to move the conversation in a direction you were a little (a lot) more comfortable with. “I just thought I could put my muscles to use and help you carry our drinks, we ordered quite a lot. Also I still owe you money for pulling that prank on Mark and Haechan. Even though their faces were priceless.” “How old are they anyways?” You asked him because you didn’t actually ended up looking at their IDs and Haechan especially did seem quite young. Digging out his worn out wallet, Johnny fished out a twenty dollar bill and teasingly held it up between two fingers. “They’re both of age, don’t worry, they just have baby faces.”

Snatching the bill from his hands, you quickly stuffed it in your pocket. “Thank you,” you grinned, relieved that it really had just been a prank between friends. “How old are you then?” You heard yourself asking after you had glanced at the tray that Ten had been filling up, but a couple of glasses were still missing. The weird cocktails seemed to take quite some time to make (Why there was celery swimming in what looked like tomato juice was a mystery to you). “Let’s pretend I’m in my early twenties,” Johnny grinned, his long fingers playing with the cherries that were stuck to the rim of one of the cocktail glasses. “Pretend?” You were confused. He couldn’t be much older than you were. “It’s improper for old men like me to flirt with such pretty young girls after all,” he winked and stuck out his tongue. “You… You can’t be much older than me though,” you argued, trying to fight your shyness back down. But your furiously beating heart was betraying you. Luckily he couldn’t notice that from his place where he was still leaning against the counter, the long line of his body perfectly shown off; his legs seemed almost endlessly long in the heavy leather pants. Chuckling, he raked his eyes across your body in a similar way you must have seconds ago but you felt like you were burning up wherever he was looking. Within the blink of an eye he was in your personal space, crowding you against the bar. “I’m 25,” he breathed, “How long do you have to work today, honey?”

Before you could even think of an answer, Johnny was shoved backwards by another man dressed completely in black. You recognized him as one of the men from Johnny’s gang, the one with the neck tattoo that had seemed weirdly familiar to you. “Leave her alone, Johnny,” he drawled, his voice barely more than a growl, “There’s someone waiting for you outside.” After a moment of heavy eye contact between the two males, Johnny scoffed and threw you another smile. “See you later, darling,” he chirped before turning towards the exit. “I’m sorry if he made you uncomfortable, he doesn’t know when to stop sometimes,” the handsome man spoke, his voice still deep but way less threatening. “It’s… It’s fine you wouldn’t have needed to step in like that,” you reassured him, “But thank you.” “Yeah, I don’t know, something just didn’t sit right with me when he crowded you like that. Especially when you’re new to this type of environment, it’s pretty different from your usual job.” “My usual job?” You asked, clearly confused, “Do we know each other?” “Oh, I’m sorry, I thought you had recognized me,” the man’s eyes widened in surprise and he averted his gaze as if he was embarrassed. “I’m Jaehyun. You know, the dude who keeps killing his plants.” Now it was your turn to be surprised. “No way. You look so different.” “It’s the clothes, right?” Jaehyun was rubbing the intricate lines of ink on his neck, looking up from between his dark lashes, smiling shyly and now that his dimples were almost showing, you did finally recognize him.

He was somewhat of a regular customer at the flower shop you worked in during the week to help out the old lady who owned the shop, always coming in to buy new plants when he had managed to kill yet another one. Now in the heavy leather jacket with more buckles and straps than you could count, he looked so different than when he came to the shop, his dark hair fluffy so his bangs almost covered his eyes and wearing soft sweaters and jeans. You also somehow had never noticed the big tattoo that stretched around his neck.

You could remember the first time he came into the shop very vividly. It was just after your break that you had spent lazing around in the backyard of the shop in front of the little greenhouse, letting the sun shine onto your face, just basking in the moment for a bit, letting all your worries about money or upcoming exams melt away. The job at the little flower job didn’t pay very well because people these days bought less and less flowers and the old lady couldn’t afford to pay more but you couldn’t just leave her alone in the shop. You really enjoyed her presence and learning about the language of flowers and how to bind pretty bouquets. When the distant chirping of the old cuckoo clock in the shop announced the end of your break, you got up from your place and put your apron back on, so you wouldn’t accidentally dirty your clothes. You came back into the shop just in time to see the big load of new plants that was being delivered. Two boys were unloading a colorful truck while continuously bickering in what seemed to be Chinese about where to put the plants in the shop and on the sidewalk outside so people could still walk past. “Urgh, this sucks why did we let us get talked into helping out?” The one with green hair sighed after they had put the last plant down, handing the old lady the papers she had to sign that the shipment had arrived at her place. She chuckled while handing the papers back. “I’ve made some iced tea, have a little break, boys,” she smiled her kind, wrinkled smile at them, taking them to the little kitchen area in the back to pour each one of them a glass even though the smaller of them had declined her offer at least ten times while his green haired friend gladly took her invitation.

Smiling you reassured the old lady that you would rearrange the flowers and plants so you could fit them all into the shop and the small greenhouse in the back. Maybe her grandson would come in later to help you move the heavier plants. He always came to the shop to laze around without having his parents scold him and his grandmother could never say no to his charming smile that made any girl his age swoon. He had recently dyed his hair a soft pinkish shade and had been hanging around the shop a lot more because his parents weren’t quite fond of his style choices. You gently stroked the leaves of the little pink rose bushes (that had kind of reminded you of the boy in the first place) that seemed rather thirsty to you, making a mental note to water them lots after you had arranged them.

While rearranging the cut roses so you could fit the new bushes in between them, the little bell on the door rang, announcing the arrival of a customer. “I’ll be right over,” you said, detangling yourself from the bush you had tried to fit in the display window. “No need to hurry,” the customer answered with a deep voice. It wasn’t often that men visited your store. And most times they just wanted a quick, expensive looking bouquet to either impress a girl or to apologize to their wife. Putting on your best customer friendly smile, you walked over to where the man was eyeing some cherry tree bonsais, his broad back turned towards you. “How can I help you?” When the man turned around, he immediately politely smiled at you, making your heart beat pick up just a little. He was definitely attractive, you couldn’t deny that. His dark hair was unstyled and hung into his eyes a bit, covering his strong eyebrows that every girl would be envious over. He seemed young, about your age. The pale blue hoodie and the fluffy hair made him seem very soft and gentle despite his strong jawline and prominent cheekbones. “Well I’ve moved into a new space and it looks a little empty, so I thought some plants might be the way to fix that,” he explained, fiddling with the hem of his slightly oversized hoodie. “That’s a great idea,” you beamed, trying to seem reassuring since he seemed rather nervous, “Do you have anything special in mind?” “No, I really don’t but those roses you just put in the display window look very pretty, it’s what made me come in,” he said, motioning to where you had been fighting with the roses earlier. “Roses need a lot of attention though,” you warned him, walking over to where you had tucked the little bushes into a corner. “I have a lot of time and like a good challenge,” he answered, a grin tugging at his lips, a set of dimples just barely showing, “You’re bleeding by the way.” He added, gently touching your hand. Startled, you jerked away, heat licking at your cheeks. “Oh, I’m sorry,” he quickly apologized, “But you should bandage that or it might get infected if something gets into the wound.” “Don’t worry, it’s not even that deep,” you concluded after examining the small cut on the back of your hand where you had lost the battle with one of the thorns. You quickly shot the man another smile that you hoped was reassuring.

“So do any of those roses look good to you?” “The pale orange ones look nice.” You couldn’t hold back a small giggle. “What’s so funny?” He asked, his beautiful brows drawn together in confusion. “The color is called peach,” you still giggled, grabbing the pot to show him the petals in the sunlight. “Well it is orange though,” he shrugged. “Men and colors,” you sighed dramatically but couldn’t help the smile spreading on your lips, “You like them and want to try caring for them?” “Yeah, let’s try it. Anything I should look out for?” While walking up to the cash register and ringing him up, you briefly explained how to take care of the roses the best.

“I hope they brighten up your room a bit,” you smiled when he had paid. “The visit sure brightened up my day,” he replied smiling widely, the set of cute dimples reappearing on his cheeks. Before you could overcome your sudden shyness to reply anything, he had already wished you a good day and disappeared from the shop.

After his visit, the man had crept back into your mind a couple of times. Every time you watered the little twin of the rose bush he had bought, it somehow reminded you of his sweet dimpled smile and his deep, soothing voice. You always scolded yourself when you noticed how you were spacing out, in fact watering the floor instead of the little rose bushes how you were supposed to. (You had been made fun of by a certain pink haired boy one too many times lately.) Your boss had just smiled knowingly and pressed a little bouquet with beautiful yellow Chrysanthemums in the middle, when you had closed up the shop, making your face heat up and furiously deny everything. But like always, the old lady knew you probably better than you knew yourself.

The second time the handsome stranger had visited the shop, he had been wearing a white turtle neck and a simple denim jacket, his hair pushed back with a dark blue hat. “Hello again,” he greeted you, gently smiling when he walked up to the counter where you were currently binding a bouquet with a couple of big purple hyacinths, “I’ll have a little look around. No need to hurry that.” Even though you tried to concentrate on arranging the flowers in the bouquet and picking smaller flowers that would look good with the big center piece, you kept glancing over to the man who was sniffing different flowers, quietly sneezing when he inhaled too deeply.

“Those are really pretty,” he said after he had not so subtly watched you work for a while from his place between the brightly colored geraniums while walking up to the counter. “The man who commissioned them paid a lot of money for them to look pretty,” you smiled, gently tucking smaller white flowers all around the big purple ones in the middle. “Does it mean anything? I’ve never seen this kind of flower,” he asked, seeming genuinely interested. “You’re interested in the language of flowers?” You asked, securely tying the bouquet together, placing them in a vase for the time being. “What languages would flowers speak?” The man asked, sounding genuinely confused. For a moment you could just stare at him, his dark brown eyes widened and his mouth slightly ajar, before you burst out in a fit of giggles. “Hey! What’s so funny?” He asked, trying to sound offended but he couldn’t fight the smile that spread across his lips. “They don’t speak any language, silly. The different types of flowers mean different things. I don’t know all of it but the owner of the shop has been teaching me some of it,” you explained to him. “Ooh, that makes a lot more sense,” he nodded, “What do those mean then?” “They’re hyacinths. The man told me he needed to apologize to his girlfriend. The purple ones stand for sorrow. I doubt she will notice though.” “Probably not,” he chuckled. “What did the rose mean I bought last time? The peach one?” “I’m not quite sure, I’ll ask my boss when she’s back. What brings you back here?” “Well,” he scratched the back of his head and averted his eyes, “I need a new plant, the rose was kind of a lot more work than I thought it was.”

“Oh no.” You felt genuinely sad. You kind of had expected it not to go well but this was honestly a lot faster than you could have imagined. “I should have listened to you when you told me that they were a lot, I’m sorry,” he apologized, “But I really want to try to keep a plant alive. She looked really good for the time she was alive.” “She?” “Well I gave her a name.” You giggled again. “That’s really cute.” “Not as cute as you though.” It was suddenly so silent in the shop, the only noise the soft buzzing sound coming from the air-conditioning. You stared into the man’s eyes, expecting a his face to heat up in a similar fashion yours was, to see a blush creep up his face or his ears, but his face stayed perfectly pale, not a single blotch of color visible. But he had to be embarrassed as well if the way he was chewing on his lips was any sign. “I’m sorry, that just slipped,” he mumbled. “I… Shouldn’t you at least tell me your name before you start complimenting me like that?” You stuttered when you found your voice again. “Jaehyun,” he supplied, still awkwardly shuffling around, “It’s Jaehyun.” “Alright Jaehyun, let’s find you a new plant that’s not as easy to kill.

From that day onward Jaehyun came to the shop somewhat regularly, either announcing the death of yet another plant or telling you how they were on the brink of death and he didn’t know how it happened or what to do to save them. You were really close to either tell him to stick to bouquets or cacti but when you were being honest, you enjoyed his little visits. He’d stay longer and longer every time, telling you little stories about how he suspected that his roommates were secretly killing all the plants. In turn you told him about your boring life between your classes and your job. And sometimes you even taught him about the language of flowers while he was watching you put together a bouquet for yet another desperate boyfriend.

One visit in particular had stuck with you for some reason. Your whole day had just been bad: One of your professors had caught you slacking off in class and called you out in front of everyone, then at lunch a guy had run into you, making you drop half your food on the floor and then it had started to rain on your way to work. And if that wasn’t enough, the old lady hadn’t been feeling well because of the sudden change in weather and you had sent her off into her apartment that was above the shop, so she could rest. So now you were just alone in the shop, watching the people outside hurry past the shop with their umbrellas. When it was raining even less people were coming into the shop because you couldn’t put any plants outside that often lured people in. Sighing, you continued with the inventory that you had started out of boredom. Of course you also hadn’t brought any useful books, so you could have studied a little.

You must have been deep in thought, moping about how much this day sucked, that you didn’t hear the little bell on the door ringing. So when someone touched your arm to get your attention, you of course were startled and let out a small scream before you lost your balance on the stepladder that you had used to count the spare pots on a higher shelf. And if that wasn’t enough, you also pushed one of said pots down as well. But before you could even brace yourself for the fall, a strong arm had wrapped around you, saving you from crashing down onto the floor and possibly cracking your head open. When you opened your eyes, that you had screwed shut, you saw straight into Jaehyun’s deep brown eyes that were full of concern. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” he spoke softly and you could feel how his voice rumbled in his chest from how close he was holding you to his body. “It’s alright, it’s my fault anyways. I wasn’t paying attention,” you sighed, slowly realizing in what kind of situation you and Jaehyun were in right now. His face was so close to yours that you could almost count every single one of his long, dark eyelashes. You could even see the faintest little blush spreading over his cheeks and your own face immediately felt hot as well.

Jaehyun just smiled and released you from his grip, gently setting the pot he somehow had managed to catch with his other hand back onto the shelf. He really must have incredible reflexes and obviously the most charming smile you had ever seen. “Don’t blame yourself, you don’t look too good today,” he spoke softly. “Wow thanks,” you sarcastically said, sighing theatrically while running your hands through your hair in an attempt to smooth it out, but probably messing it up further than it already was. “Hard day?” You snorted. Hard was an understatement. It sucked. But a little voice in the back of your head whispered that now that Jaehyun had come to visit you in the shop, it would get better. “You look like you could use a hug,” he smiled and opened his arms invitingly.

Before you could even think twice about it, you wound your arms around his middle and squeezed him tightly, burying your face in the soft fabric of his cardigan that he wore over one of his many turtlenecks. Chuckling, he grabbed the fabric and stretched it around you, so you were basically wrapped up in it against his chest, before wrapping you up in his strong arms. You were drowning in his by now familiar scent and the way his chest steadily rose and fell with his breath made all stress from your body slowly dissolve. “If you keep holding me like this I will cry,” you mumbled, trying to untangle yourself from him. “I don’t mind, you know? Sometimes you just have to cry to let all the stress out,” he assured you, rubbing soothing circles on your back. “Don’t say that, I will ugly cry in your shirt,” you hiccupped, “I barely know you.” “Oh I think you know me a lot better than a lot of people,” he smiled, “It’s an old shirt anyways.” “Liar, I’ve never seen you wear this before.” “You’re keeping track?” He chuckled. “That’s not what I meant by that,” you mumbled, feeling shy suddenly because how could you not keep track when he just effortlessly looked infuriatingly good every time he walked into the shop.

“You feeling better now?” Jaehyun gently asked after you two had fallen silent, just basking in each other’s presence. He gently tilted your head back from where you had buried it in his neck, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear. “Yeah,” you breathed, captivated by him. You had never noticed the tiny mole he had on one of his cheeks but you found it really endearing. “Good,” he smiled, “I brought you coffee from the shop next door.” He motioned to the two cups he had placed on the counter next to the cash register. “You have a heart of gold Jaehyun,” you confessed, a smile slowly spreading on your lips and your heartbeat picking up. You kept the thought that he probably would also make the perfect boyfriend, to yourself. Not that it would matter, you were sure he didn’t see you like that. He just played it off, laughing awkwardly like he always did when he was embarrassed. (Coming to think of it, you really seemed to know him better than you had initially thought.) “Let’s drink it before it gets cold and you can tell me more about your day,” he offered and slowly loosened his arms around you. “Can you tell me about yours instead?” You asked with a small voice. “I’d rather forget all of this stupid day before you walked in here.” “Of course, darling,” he breathed. Your heart skipped a beat before doubling its pace when the pet name rolled of his tongue just like that. Maybe there was just the slightest little chance, he might consider you more than just the friend that worked in the flower shop that he had to visit to get advice on how to not kill his plants. Smiling you loosened your grip on him as well and you two sat down on the counter, dangling your legs and sipping the slightly cold coffee while you listened to Jaehyun ramble about the mess that were his flatmates. Until this day you hadn’t figured out how many people he actually lived with but you couldn’t help but smile at the little stories he told you. And even when he stopped talking, you just enjoyed the silence while watching the people outside. And maybe it was just your imagination but the umbrellas outside seemed just a little brighter with your head resting on Jaehyun’s broad shoulder.

“I’ve never noticed your whole tattoo thing that’s going on,” you said, motioning around your own neck when you came back from your fond memories of Jaehyun. “Yeah, I try to not let it show as much usually,” he replied, almost nervously playing with the collar of his leather jacket. “Did it hurt a lot when you got it?” “Yeah, the skin is kind of tender around your neck,” he answered, his gaze not meeting your eyes but fixating a point right behind you. “You get that question a lot don’t you?” you gently asked, fingers itching to reach out to touch him. “Yeah, it’s all people talk about when they see it,” he shrugged, “I’m used to it by now.” “Oh, I’m sorry,” you quickly apologized. “It’s fine,” Jaehyun reassured you, gently grazing his fingers over your exposed forearm, making goose bumps break out over your skin. “Yes, it did hurt. No I don’t regret it. Yes I probably can’t work a normal job if I’m not wearing a turtleneck. No, I didn’t get it in prison. It was done in a perfectly sanitary tattoo shop by a professional artist. No, I’m not a criminal”, he quickly addressed every typical question he apparently got about the tattoo in a single breath, a smile spreading on his lips, making his dimples appear and your heart beat faster.

“Glad to know I haven’t been talking to a criminal over the past few weeks even though you did kill an unholy amount of plants,” you giggled, checking again if the order was ready only to find Ten engrossed in a conversation with a group of young men that were sitting at the bar, his work forgotten. “Well I guess I am guilty of that,” Jaehyun pouted and it was weirdly endearing seeing him act playful like that with his dark and intimidating clothing. “So you’re not a criminal but a biker?” “Is that what you think our group is?” He asked, tilting his head to the side. “That’s what everyone told me at least. And you do look the part.” “A couple of us do have bikes, but I don’t think that justifies the title. We’re just a,” he bit his tongue for a bit, “We’re just friends. Friends who like to dress in a lot of leather and black clothing.”

It seemed to be a somewhat touchy subject so you decided to not push any further. “You don’t need to explain it to me,” you smiled reassuringly, quickly squeezing his cold hand. “Jaehyun, stop flirting with my best waitress,” Kun teased, adding the little shot glasses to the second tray that completed the order. “I wasn’t flirting, I-“ but Jaehyun didn’t complete his apology when Kun shot him a knowing look and your face heated up on his behalf because Jaehyun didn’t blush like ever. “Stop making excuses and help her carry all this back to the table,” the barman grinned, returning to his work by pulling Ten back by the hairs on his neck from where he was still talking to the handsome customers sitting at the bar. “I would appreciate some help, that’s what Johnny came over for as well,” you tried to push past the awkwardness. “Like hell he was,” Jaehyun grumbled, grabbing the one of the trays maybe a tad too forceful than he needed to, the drinks almost spilling over. “Don’t be angry with him, he was being nice,” you consoled him, gently petting his leather clad arm (wasn’t he warm in that thick jacket?). “I saw just how nice he was being,” he sighed, rolling his shoulders, “He’s such a goddamn flirt.” “Nothing happened Jaehyun,” you tried one last time, looking into his dark eyes, getting lost in the seemingly bottomless obsidian.

Only the thud of the heavy entrance door made you snap out of it and you quickly turned to grab the second tray. You hadn’t even noticed how you had gravitated towards Jaehyun, it was like his eyes had hypnotized you. “Need another pair of helping hands?” A familiar voice asked and Johnny strode over towards you two again, now with an energetic bounce in his step, his red lips curved into a smile. “We’ve got it,” Jaehyun answered, scrunching his nose as if he had smelled something bad before taking a deep breath. “Don’t wait too long, Jaehyun,” the taller said, his tone suddenly stern and his brows furrowed. “I can handle it, Johnny,” Jaehyun gritted out, shoving past the taller man to make his way over to the table where their friends were still waiting for their drinks. Sighing, you followed him back to the table. It was weird how different he was behaving with his friends around. You had never expected to meet him in any place outside of your job at the flower shop and much less in a place like this. The soft man who liked to wear denim jackets seemed to be buried beneath the heavy leather jacket.

“Here’s your drinks,” you smiled when you put the tray down to distribute the drinks. “You’re not drinking with us?” A blonde man with a scratch in his eyebrow asked when everyone had picked up their shot glasses. “It’s my first day, I don’t think it’s a good idea,” you politely declined his offer. “I’m sure Ten and Kun won’t mind,” he grinned, lifting up his own glass to hand it over to you. “She said no, didn’t you hear, Yuta?” Jaehyun growled and shot his friend a dark look. Unfazed by his behavior, the blonde - Yuta - shrugged his shoulders before drowning his shot himself, not grimacing in the slightest even though the liquid had a questionable amount of alcohol in it, judging by the numbers that had been printed on the label. “But I’m sure we can treat you to something else,” he spoke, before shifting in his seat so his poorly buttoned sleeveless shirt fell open even further, revealing smooth skin that stretched over lean muscles and a promise of something metal hidden beneath. “I-“, you stuttered. What were you supposed to reply to something like that? “You’re shameless,” one of his dark haired friends chuckled, a silver chain glistening in the light when he shook his head. “It’s called confidence,” Yuta defeated himself. “Still shameless,” another one agreed, a grin on his face. “He hasn’t had a good lay in a while, don’t mind him,” Taeyong cut in, shooting you a reassuring smile. “Certainly not because I didn’t had any offers, I’m just picky,” Yuta tried to defend himself, looking scandalized. You just giggled when the other’s started picking on him. You noticed that Jaehyun didn’t join in but his posture was more relaxed than it had been before. You really wanted to thank him for defending your choice to not drink but now didn’t seem appropriate. Silently you collected the now empty shot glasses and picked the trays back up. “I’ll be back to check in with you later then,” you smiled before walking back to the counter after checking in with a couple of other tables.

The rest of the night went down in a blur safe for the one occasion where the slender Ten indeed threw out one of the customers that couldn’t hold his liquor anymore and had fallen when he had tried to walk over to the bar to order more because Lucas had already refused to bring him any more drinks. The times when you had checked in on the 127 table, Yuta had still flirted with you only to be either shot down by Jaehyun or Taeyong. You had also noticed that over the course of the night one or two of them would always leave the bar for a couple of minutes before coming back inside with a new energy and a faint blush on their cheeks. You didn’t know what they did out there but you really hoped they didn’t do drugs or anything like that. They didn’t seem as intoxicated as the other customers no matter how much they ordered. If anything Mark was getting giggly after he had come back inside but that was pretty much everything. They all must have incredible tolerance for alcohol.

When the night died down and more and more customers were leaving, Kun waved you over to tell you that you had been a great help and he would be more than happy to see you again tomorrow for your next shift. You had beamed at him and promised to do your best. “I’m sure you will. Thank you for today, I think Lucas and I can handle the remaining customers,” he told you. “What’s with Ten?” You asked. You hadn’t seen him in a while. Kun just sighed and motioned to the 127 table where Ten comfortably sat on Johnny’s lap, the taller carding through the blonde’s hair that he had freed from the little ponytail. “Are they a thing?” You were confused. Johnny hadn’t been subtle about his flirting earlier. “No one really knows,” Kun groaned, suddenly seeming very irritated, “It’s been happening more lately but last week he went home with Taeyong as far as I remember.” “Oh…” “Don’t think about it too much. I want to say that he knows what he’s doing but that would mean that he’s actually using his brain.” Somehow you thought that he sounded sad. “Just tell Ten that you like him, Kun,” Lucas groaned, running a hand through his by now messy platinum hair. “I don’t like him,” the elder gritted out, violently cleaning glasses and slamming them onto a rack to dry. “Sure and I’ve never thought about making out with any of your roommates,” Lucas teased him. “You have what?” “Never mind I said that,” Lucas mumbled, his ears turning red, before he made a beeline to one of his tables.

You chuckled quietly. “I think he’s fond of you as well,” you softly spoke after Kun had thrown another longing look at Ten who was busy admiring the eagle tattoo on Johnny’s chest. “You don’t need to console me, but I appreciate it,” he smiled but it didn’t quiet reach his eyes, “I came to accept him how he is.” “You should at least try to shoot you shout though, don’t you think?” You tried again, stepping closer to the barman to help him clean the last glasses. He sighed deeply. “I’ve known Ten for too long now, I know he won’t suddenly become monogamous just because I tell him that I might not dislike him as much as I sometimes say.” “You can never know for sure, people do crazy stuff because of love,” a deep voice joined the conversation and Jaehyun sat down on the barstool in front of Kun and you, throwing you a quick smile. “He’s right,” you smiled, briefly squeezing Kun’s hand. “If I say that I’ll think about it, will you leave it alone for now?” You eagerly nodded, looking up at Jaehyun to see if he was doing the same. Instead a smirk played on his lips. “If you give me my drinks for free, I’ll even tell Johnny to not take Ten home tonight,” he grinned, holding up his card between two fingers. “You’re paying for everyone?” Kun just gritted out, snatching the card from the other’s fingers. Jaehyun’s grin widened before he nodded. “Isn’t that going to be a lot of money?” You asked worriedly. You had never asked but assumed Jaehyun must be a student like you, so paying the whole bill for nine men (well eight if Kun was giving Jaehyun his own drinks for free) was a lot. “I lost at rock paper scissors,” he shrugged, “Are you done with your shift?”

“She is,” Kun cut in, smacking the credit card back onto the bartop, “Tell Johnny to send him home, I’m not feeding his cats again because they’re screaming for food.” “Sure. That’s the only reason,” Jaehyun joked, pocketing his card with a grin. Kun didn’t answer, instead leaving you two alone to wipe some empty tables. “Are you going home alone?” “It’s not far from here,” you reassured the dark haired man. “I’ll walk you. You shouldn’t go alone this late.” “Only if it’s not a bother for you…” “Keeping you safe is never a bother for me,” he smiled, reaching out to tuck a strand of hair behind your ear and you barely suppressed a shiver from how cold his hands were against your heated face. “I’ll tell the other’s not to wait for me and will wait outside for you,” he softly spoke before turning to walk out the door where his friends apparently had already left.

You quickly gathered your things and sorted out your tips from the rest of the money, putting everything back into the place that Lucas had shown you before disappearing into the staff room to stuff the money into your designated tip jar, so Lucas and you could share your tips with Ten and Kun. While you were quickly trying to fix your hair in the small mirror a very grumpy looking Ten joined you, groaning loudly. You had to suppress your smile. Jaehyun really had convinced Johnny to not take Ten home. “Men are trash, honey,” the blonde suddenly spoke, “Don’t fall for any of them.” “Did you get dumped?” You tried to act like you didn’t exactly knew what must have happened. “Can’t get dumped if you aren’t dating,” Ten chirped, smoothing out a wrinkle in his silky blouse, “But something similar.” “I’m sorry.” “No need to be darling, I’ll just annoy Kun a little more, maybe he’ll actually pop a vein these days,” he giggled mischievously. “Be nice to him, he seems like an actual sweetheart,” you said while slipping on your jacket and picking up your bag. “He is, darling. But where’s the fun in that?” Ten held the door open for you and followed you back to the main room. “Be safe on your way home.” “Jaehyun is waiting outside for me,” you admitted, suddenly feeling shy under Ten’s intense gaze. “So that’s why Johnny wouldn’t take me with him,” he grinned. “No, no that’s not it. He just offered to walk me home,” you stuttered to explain yourself. It wasn’t like what Ten thought it was, right? Oh god. Not that Jaehyun was expecting anything now. He just had asked to walk you home though. Was it a code word for something you didn’t know? “I’m sure he only has the most noble motives,” the barkeeper snickered, “Go, don’t let prince charming wait for too long.” With that he waved you off, walking over to where Kun was wiping a table to drape his body over the other’s back, probably complaining about being dumped. But Kun didn’t seem to mind a whole lot, judging by the smile that tugged on the corners of his lips.

After you had barely escaped Xuxi’s suffocating goodbye hug, you stepped outside into the cold night, taking a deep breath. It was quiet for a Friday night but that might have just been the time. Worried you looked around when you couldn’t see Jaehyun’s broad figure anywhere. Did he ditch you? That didn’t seem like him. Curious you looked into the little ally beside the bar where the dumpsters were. At first you couldn’t make out anything in the dark but when your eyes had adjusted, you could make out a figure, no two, in the dark. One of them was wearing a familiar leather jacket with way too many buckles and straps to be convenient. The man was clinging to the second, unmoving figure and the whole scene made Goosebumps break out all over your body.

“J-Jaehyun?” you stuttered, your bag falling from your shoulder, landing on the concrete with a soft thud. As if he was electrocuted, the man with the dark clothes shoved the limp body he was holding onto just a second ago away from him, but no sound left the other man’s lips, nor did his facial expression change in any way. “I can explain this,” Jaehyun said, his lips a deep red and smeared with what seemed to be blood and eyes wide, tinted a bright crimson. You felt a shiver run down your spine, the scream that had been stuck in your throat threatening to spill now. But before it could rip free, a palm was pressed over your lips and your body collided with Jaehyun’s solid frame. “Please don’t scream,” he whispered in your ear which made all the hairs on your neck stand up. What was happening? Why was there blood on Jaehyun? Has his eyes changed color? How did he get across to you within the blink of an eye? What was with the other person? In a panic, your eyes scanned the alleyway and another muffled scream ripped from your throat when you saw that the man was still unmoving even though he was bleeding from a wound in his neck. “Please,” Jaehyun begged, his voice sounding strained, “Let me explain this, don’t hate me.” Being pressed so close to him, you couldn’t help but notice that his chest wasn’t moving in the slightest like it should if he was breathing. What was happening? Panic began to rise inside you and you felt like you were suffocating, your lungs not getting enough oxygen with Jaehyun’s palm pressed over your mouth. Panicking, you grabbed his wrist and let your nails dig into his skin, but the skin didn’t break. Desperate, you tried to get more air into your lungs, meeting his eyes in a silent plea. “Please don’t scream,” Jaehyun repeated firmly before he slowly freed your mouth, but kept holding you close.

You heaved a couple of heavy breaths, feeling the panic slowly disappear but your heart kept beating furiously, the adrenaline coursing through your veins making you dizzy. “Let me take care of this and I’ll explain everything, I promise,” Jaehyun spoke once your breathing had somewhat evened out. “I’ll release you now, don’t run away.” Your voice was still lost somewhere, so you just nodded. After confirming with a nod himself, he slowly uncurled from you and walked over to the other man who was still in a daze, staring straight ahead. “You will walk home now and not remember anything that happened from the moment you saw me approach you,” Jaehyun spoke to him, looking into his eyes intensely and if your own eyes weren’t playing a trick on you, Jaehyun’s eyes had turned a bright crimson color. He leaned into the other man again where his neck was still bleeding and when the man turned to leave and walk away, the area was clean. Instead Jaehyun’s lips were smeared with blood that he quickly wiped into his shirt. “What the fuck, Jaehyun?” You whispered, your voice sounding raw as if you hadn’t spoken in hours.

“I can explain this,” he repeated again, turning his palms towards you in surrender when he walked back over. “How can you explain this? You- That- That man was straight up hypnotized and behaved like an actual puppet. And that blood. This is crazy. I’m dreaming. That’s it right? Or someone must have slipped me something in the bar and I’m tripping right now. Because this looks an awful lot like you just sucked that guy’s blood like you’re a vampire and that’s crazy. Vampires aren’t real. And I’ve seen you walk around in the middle of the day. But then again, your hands are always cold and I couldn’t even scratch you with my nails and you have mad reflexes,” you started to spiral, the words just falling from your lips. “Hey, take a breath. A deep breath, here,” Jaehyun softly spoke, gently taking your hands and pressing the palms on his chest, taking a deep breath himself. Even though you tried to breathe with him to calm down, you couldn’t help but notice that his fingers weren’t as cold as they had been before and that you couldn’t feel his heartbeat despite the fact that your palm was sitting right over his heart, just separated by his thin black shirt from the skin. “You… You don’t have a heartbeat,” you whispered, your eyes searching his that were a perfectly normal deep brown shade now while you pressed your palms down on his chest harder. “I don’t,” he spoke carefully, scanning your features for any changes, “I haven’t had one for a while.” “You aren’t breathing right now.” “I don’t need to. I keep forgetting.” “You… You’re forgetting to breathe?” “I usually do when I’m around humans but sometimes I forget.” “You say that as if you’re not…” You couldn’t finish the sentence, it was too absurd. “As if I’m not human myself? I’m not. Not anymore.” “Then what are you?” “You’ve said it before, I’m a vampire,” he confessed.

“A vampire…” You repeated dumbfounded. It made sense, everything was adding up but this couldn’t be the explanation. Vampires were just made up. “And the others are too, they’re my coven. That’s why I didn’t want Johnny to talk to you.” “Would he have..?” Your eyes widened and one of your hands flew to your neck, covering where your pulse was fluttering beneath the skin. “I’m not going to hurt you, I could never,” Jaehyun whispered when he saw the fear in your eyes, gently cupping your face as if to prove his point. “I like you way too much to hurt you. And I won’t let anyone of the others even lay a finger on you.” Your eyes immediately flew to his lips that were still stained red when he leaned in even closer so you would be able to feel his breath mingling with yours if he was breathing. “I really want to kiss you right now, is that stupid?” The vampire whispered. “Don’t hurt me,” you whispered back, letting your eyes fall shut. “I could never,” he breathed before brushing his lips against yours in a chaste kiss that send sparks through your whole body. When Jaehyun felt you relax against him, your fingers uncurling from his shirt, he kissed you again, firmer this time, wrapping his arms tight around you as if he was afraid that you would disappear.

When you felt your head start to get light, you gently tapped his strong chest and he immediately retreated, looking at you with a worried expression. “One of us still needs to breathe,” you giggled breathless. “I’m sorry,” he smiled, carding his fingers through your hair, just watching you breathe for a moment, losing himself in your eyes.

“I have another secret to tell you,” Jaehyun broke the silence, his dimpled smile lighting up his face. “I don’t think you can shock me anymore,” you smiled back. “I didn’t actually kill any of the plants I bought. I just needed to have a reason to keep seeing you. Our house looks like a jungle.” You couldn’t stop giggling, leaning into his (not moving) chest that rumbled with his low chuckle. “You’re cute,” you smiled, snaking your arms around his waist below his jacket, somehow not even missing the warmth that bodies usually gave off. “Shut up,” he chuckled, wrapping you up in a tight hug. “You want to know something else?” You whispered into his chest after a while. The vampire just hummed, gently swaying you. “I looked up what the rose meant that you bought when you first came into the shop… You wanna know what it stands for?” Jaehyun hummed again. “It stands for immortality.” This time it was Jaehyun who was laughing, holding your body tighter to steady himself.

#jaehyun #jung jaehyun #jaehyun fluff #jaehyun scenarios #jaehyun imagines #nct #nct 127 #jaehyun fic #nct scenarious #nct imagines #nct fluff

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aurora-the-kunoichi · 3 years

Text

The Forgotten - Part Six Return of the Nerd

Full story here

SMUT FO SHO MY BITCHES, CAUSE THATS HOW I DO!

Despite her failing protests Michelangelo personally escorted Aurora from the compound. She really had no choice in the matter, if she tried to fight him, she would attract unwanted attention and she’d be found out. Thankfully, Mikey didn’t seem too keen on bringing her to Bishop, he actually looked a little nervous as his eyes moved about the hallway seeming to keep her from full view of all cameras. But she had gotten what she wanted, confirmation of Bishop’s base, the one they had been searching for, for years. This was a good thing; it was a win in her eyes.

He walked her through the main gate making sure to keep his massive frame in front of the cameras and guards to shield her presence. This was all so surreal; so much had changed in the last few months. They went from trying to end her life to being unable to control their hormones like horny teenagers but still wary of her motives. She’d take it.

As they came to the edge of the compound’s boundaries Mikey stopped turning to look at the kunoichi. His large mitt palmed the side of Aurora’s throat before running up to cup her cheek. His rough thumb drug over her bottom lip and he let out a soft sigh which by the sudden bunch of his shoulder muscles was unexpected. His eyes scanned over her face and a look of contentment flash over his baby blues but morphed to concern. “Leo said you told him there’s something inside of us, all of us. What is it?”

Taking a deep breath, she let it out ready to give him some answers his overactive brain was so desperately in need of, “It looks like a tiny metal octopus, like smaller than an eraser head. It constantly moves so it’s difficult to locate inside the body and why we weren’t able to figure out how he’s been controlling you all. We only found out recently and by pure accident. If only we had Donnie…..”

“Donnie?”

Closing her eyes momentarily Aurora let out a heavy sigh and she looked up into his baby blues, “He’s your brother. He went missing almost four years ago, a year before you, Leo and Raph were taken.” Another deep breath, but she decided to keep the new formation of Donnie trying to return from him. If he was lying, which he had always been a horrible liar but just in case he grew some new skills since he was reprogramed Aurora kept that little nugget of info close to her chest.

Mikey cocked his head rubbing the back of head, she could see him wince a little and his eyes fog over. “He’s a genius….purple.”

“Yeah, you’re right….Mike did that hurt you to think of that?”

“It felt like someone was trying to drill into the back of my skull. Fuckin burns man.”

Aurora moved quickly around to the back of the terrapin and pressed her palm to the back of his bald crown. There, she fucking felt it, the flutter of something under his flesh caught between his skull and his scalp. She reached for his hand and yanked it back to replace hers. “There! Do you feel it?!”

It took him a few seconds to feel the movement but when he did Mikey’s body jolted with surprise. “What the hell? Fuck!” His fingers cupped it trying to grab at it. “There is something in me! Cut it out! Jesus get it out!”

“I-I can’t Mike, that’s your skull, that’s a little more important than your shin or arm. It could get infected I don’t want to lose you to something as stupid as that. Besides its dark and I have nothing to grab it. My fingers would be covered in blood and that thing would slip free.”

“Fuck, it’s gone.” He began to touch his skin trying to find it again.

“The skull maybe blocks the transmission a little? I’ve seen your x-rays; you guys have thick skulls. Maybe the mutagen? I don’t know…..” Slowly she took his hand in hers pulling them to her cheeks, the gesture stopped his frenzy. “Why didn’t you turn me into Bishop? I was at your mercy and you didn’t give me over to him. You could have easily done so?”

“Your eyes.” He cupped her cheeks and locked eyes, “They’re the windows to the soul. The first time we ‘met’ I could see the sadness and the happiness all at the same time. You were legit happy to see us and then it morphed to sadness then terrified. If we had never met before, which we were meant to believe, I would have expected you to be terrified, which is what most people experience when they first see us. But you were happy, relieved even. Fuck, you even knew our god damn names. Like, I was shooketh! When we got back to base and I confronted Bishop. Bishop told me you were a kunoichi, you were a seductress using your womanly wiles to make us doubt the mission and must have gotten our names from a captured soldier. But your emotions were genuine, so I had trouble brushing it off. Then Raph had his little meet and great with you. You didn’t try to take him, just trying to talk. And then Leo, you could have easily killed him after you sent him to dream land…..awesome job by the way…..but you let him fucking go. What kind of enemy lets their enemies go? You didn’t hurt either of them. When I saw you in the hallway and the way you looked at me when I pulled you into that room, I could see happiness again. No one is happy to see us, not even Bishop. Right now, I can see love.”

Aurora could see tears begin to form at the corner of his eyes and her body responded following suit. “You were always so intuitive Mikey. I do, I love you, I love all of you. I miss you so much. I wish I could take you home with me.”

“I know, I know not until you get this slippery little fucker out of us. Plus, I need to stay here and make sure my bros are ok. He cut up Raph to punish Leo for not fulfilling the mission last night.”

“He did what?! That’s Raph’s blood on your hands?! …..Mission?”

“Calm down he’s fine, nothing life threatening. Leo was supposed to get loose and tell us where you were, but he never reported in. I guess Leo found something a little more entertaining.” He chuckled half heartily. “I don’t blame him…”

“Speaking of, how are you doing down there champ?”

“Blue balls for sure, but I’ll be fine nothing I can’t take care of in a little bit. If it wasn’t for all the security a few hundred feet away I’d have that pretty little pussy of yours stretched over this cock until you were hoarse from screaming my name.”

Heat flushed her checks and felt the warmth of new arousal bloom in her abdomen at the thought. “I’d let you too. But I need to get out of here before they get suspicious. I mean when you came down that hallway you looked determined. Where were you heading?”

Mikey’s eyes widened, “Fuck! I was going to get more bandages! I gotta go! I’ll see you soon Blondie!” and just like that he was gone, running towards the base at top speed. As he reached the main yard he began weaving around and jumping over bodies until he was a speck entering back into the compound.

It took Aurora less time to head back to her bike still being careful of motion detectors, she took to the streets and as she was a good distance away, she slowed her bike to a stop and pressed the com in her ear.

“White skull to base.”

It took a few minutes, but the familiar voice of Casey came over the com his mouth apparently filled with food. “This is Base, go ahead White Skull.”

“We have confirmation. Disneyland has been located.”

She didn’t go home right away, the talk of Donnie made Aurora take a detour to the lair. She informed Casey of her next stop and made her way below the streets. Everything was how she left it, dark and empty. Lights began to flicker on illuminating the large space; she moved to the kitchen pulling out a water and cracked it open downing the entire contents in one motion. She moved slowly eyeing the closed door to Donnie’s lab and decided that was where she wanted to be.

The door opened without a sound and she slipped inside keeping the arch in view. She willed it to come alive with power, to give her back Donnie. As she reached the piece of vexing machinery her fingers ran over the smooth edges finding them surprisingly warm. The lair was naturally cool due to the depth it laid so for the metal to be warm was odd. She moved to the controls and looked for any activity, lights coming alive under the key of the board, a flickering on the screen indicating any type of activity? Anything……anything of Donnie……

Minutes turned to hours, but she remained glued to her spot. Something in her gut told her to stay, not to leave the lair, not yet. Swiveling in his specially designed chair Aurora picked up a small device on Donatello’s desk and spun it around in her hands. It was glass, a cube to be exact, the reflective qualities were gorgeous, a prism effect. It was a light he had been working on, powered by the warmth from one’s hands. It only took a few moments for the cube to begin to flicker with the variety of colors of a rainbow. The longer she held it the brighter it got. When it reached the desired brightness, she placed it back on his work bench and stared into the shifting hues.

He had yet to perfect the device, it only held the charge for an hour or two, but he was certain he was about to have a breakthrough with the conversion of power. Something with the helix bonds or whatever. She knew he’d get it; she just didn’t think it would take this long.

She began to doze mesmerized by the lit cube. Her eyes half closed unfocused on anything she was suddenly aware the light was getting brighter? Did he fix something about it before he disappeared? Blinking her eyes rapidly she focused on the cube finding it like how it should be, dulling with time. Then what was that bright light?

The sounds of electricity crackling began to rise in volume in his lab along with the pulsing of light she had mistaken from the cube. The source now tore her gaze from Donnie’s work bench to the very much active arch. The light grew in intensity nearly blinding her as Aurora stood from her seat. She shielded her eyes with her arms and watched the arch snap and flicker with power.

A circle began to open within its circumference swirling between a greyish color and a bright blue. Then it started to fluctuate, and a figure began to form inside the growing vortex. The lines were fuzzy keeping the picture unclear, but her heart jumped and clenched with anxiousness at the forming figure. It had to be, it just had to be.

Without warning a burst of energy blew from the vortex sending Aurora back with its unexpected force. She toppled over his chair and into a stack of computer parts scattering them across the floor and Aurora on her ass. She quickly got to her feet and found the arc now stable giving her a perfect view of the genius. There was no flickering now, no waves of misaligns data, just a clear as day view of Donatello and it was glorious.

With unsure steps she made her way around the new mess on the lab floor but kept every sense, every ounce of her concentration on the tall missing terrapin staring back at her through the newly working portal.

She didn’t know when she had started crying but her cheeks were soaked and her voice unsure, but she called out, “D-Don?”

Donnie face broke out into an exuberant smile and he reached down for what looked like a bag and hoisted it over his broad shoulder. His left leg rose and slipped through the portal falling onto the cement floor of his lab and the rest of his body followed suit until he was living, breathing, real flesh and bone standing a few excruciating feet away from the trembling woman.

His tall frame was dressed in new clothes, his legs covered in properly fitted grey slacks with expensive looking custom black boots on his massive feet, old gadgets were gone replaced with smaller fancier items. His backpack was missing but his goggles remained but looked to have gotten a major upgrade. She could see his bo was still there also looking newer. Gone were his broken turtle glasses replaced with black rimed frames that better fit his face making the nerd look more sophisticated. Did he look bigger? The clothes were throwing her off. Where the fuck has he been? The words were on her lips, but she couldn’t move, all her screaming muscles cried out to touch him but she was paralyzed by shock. Four years, it had been, four years since she had seen him in the flesh.

The heavy leather duffle was set down and Donatello looked her up and down and he let out a long, very happy shuttering sigh. “You are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

His voice finally broke her from her paralysis, and she stormed forward leaping into his arms praying she wasn’t hallucinating but the solid body that caught her was very much there and very much real. He was home.

Her hands ran over him just to make sure, up and down his arms, over his neck to the top of his muscled shoulders. Her fingers worked the first few buttons free and felt the familiar scars and gouges of his chest nearly sobbing at the realization of his return.

“You’re here, you’re really here!”

“I am, god, it took so long but I’m here.” His finger hooked under her chin so their eyes locked. Purple and brown both flooded with happy tears. “I’ve missed you.” His lips found hers, soft at first growing with enthusiasm as Aurora responded with vigor.

As their mouths engaged and reengaged in desperate collisions Aurora began to finish stripping the genius of his fancy shirt. Her fingers pulled the fabric from his shoulders, down his arms until he was free. To her delight she was right; Donatello had been working on his fitness while he had been stripped from his family. Donnie had been no weakling by any means, the purple banned terrapin could easily crush a skull with his bare hands but he had bulked up in his time away. Eager fingers ran along the ridges of the solid definition squeezing hard with appreciation.

Their mouths broke free pulling in gulps of air and Aurora’s moved to his chiseled jaw line nipping at the scales until he was panting.

“Don” she mewled between open mouth kisses down his long throat, “Donnie……D……Donatello.” The more she moaned his name the louder he crooned until he reached for the hem of her shirt and pulled it free of her body in one fluid motion.

“Aurora.” He moaned cupping one breast with his free hand. Gently he squeezed and rolled the fabric over the mound finding the bud beneath peek quickly. His finger caught the bra and pulled it down releasing a breast to his gaze. With a heave Donnie lifted her higher so his mouth could cover the hot flesh sucking and nipping until her could feel the fabric of her pants dampen with her arousal against his plastron. “God, you smell divine. I want to taste you but I don’t think I can wait.”

There was so much to discuss, so much he didn’t know about. Donnie had no idea his brothers were no longer with the resistance and under Bishop’s control but he looked so happy in this moment and truth was so was Aurora. She would wait to break his heart, they would take this moment, they both needed it. It was a happy reunion and she was sure there would be more now with Donnie back. Gripping his cheeks she ground against him, “Then don’t.”

Donatello wasted no time and brought her over to his abandoned desk shoving everything from its surface. He dropped her down and yanked her boots and pants free of her body to begin fumbling with his belt. Aurora’s hands pushed them from the buckle and worked them free with trained ease. The button and zipper were next, teeth opening quickly but making sure not to harm the precious cargo beneath. When the massive erection sprung free of its confines Aurora’s hands were quick to gather the throbbing flesh in both palms.

The connection with hot flesh against her expert hands made Donnie groan in bliss. His hips shifted making his cock slide through her fingers and she gripped it firmly getting a shuttering sigh from the genius. Her finger found the dripping helm gathering the moister and ran the pad of her finger down the underside of his length staying with the pulsing vein. A hiss pulled through clenched teeth followed by a throaty call of her name. Aurora leaned back spreading her thighs giving him full view of her soaked folds.

His eyes blew wide at the sight and leaned forward grabbing her right thigh hoisting it up over his shoulder while pressing her back on the cold table. Reaching between them Donatello palmed his length running the spongy head through her folds drenching himself in her scent and essence. Donnie rumbled low closing his eyes to push the head of his cock just past her opening. He stilled at the tightness and the sound of Aurora’s hitch in breath. Rocking slightly he sheathed himself an inch before withdrawing nearly pulling free of her body.

“D-Donnie….please”

His eye opened looking down at his kunoichi, her face was beautifully flushed, chest heaving and her lips parted with rough breaths. Still only one breast freed from it fabric prison Donnie reached down to free the other. His large hands covered both mounds and the mutant eased more of himself into her, slowly, until every last inch of him was engulfed in the sweet wet heat of Aurora.

Both let out a shaky sign at their long past due union and Donnie leaned down to capture her mouth in a searing kiss. He pushed forward again and the pressure of his girth and length made the woman beneath him mewl, arching and twisting to get him to move.

“Patience Rora, it’s been far too long since I’ve had you.” Slow and deliberate he began to withdrawal tilting himself so he would drag across the roof of her canal. “…far too long.” Reluctantly his hands left her reddened breasts and moved to her hips snapping his own forward with deliberate intention of making Aurora more vocal. He was rewarded pleasantly when her head snapped back at the sudden reentry and a whimpering moan of his name erupted from her throat. It encouraged the deprived terrapin further and Donnie repeated the process at an agonizingly slow pace until she was pleading with him to fuck her.

Aurora reached up to grab the rim of the genius’s plastron and she pulled him down, her mouth finding his hungrily. Lips parted, tongues wound together and the long lost familiar taste of the genius invaded Aurora’s senses like a barreling freight train. It came and she sobbed into his mouth but didn’t’ break the dance.

The pained sound didn’t startle Donnie but he did pull her closer removing all space that was between them. “I’m sorry.” He pleaded between each drive of his hips. “I’m so sorry.” With each breathless apology his rhythm picked up rutting into the kunoichi with fevered abandon.

His mouth disconnected with hers traveling down to her throat nipping and sucking making sure to leave marks. It had been years since he had seen his own brand on her skin and he was determined to leave enough so each time she looked in the mirror these next few days he would be the only thing on her mind.

Aurora rocked into each plunge of his length whimpering with each strike into her depths. This was so much different than the other day. When she had Leo it was him physically but Leo wasn’t there mentally; he was in his head locked away but not present in the act, maybe to some extent but she couldn’t be sure just yet.

Donatello was here, all of him; mind body and soul and it made the reunion much more intense. As he drove her to the precipice her hands groped at the dense muscles of his arms dragging him back into her. She was desperate for every inch of him, every drop she was prepared to receive.

She could feel it, the beginnings of her peek. It started slow like an over flowing sink, the tingling sensation of her climax rolled in her cunt moving to the stretched lips of her labia swallowing his pumping cock.

Donnie growled feeling her walls started flutter around him, “Are you going to cum for me? I’ve been dre-ahh-aming of his moment for almost five years now. How many times I’ve imagined you under me to give myself a little piece.” His hips picked up in speed to help her along chasing his own in the process. “Cum.” He demanded. “Cum for Donnie.”

With his command it rolled up her belly and spread like wild fire as Aurora toppled over her peek. Her climax overtook her body tensing, arching into him and she screamed. Open mouthed echoing into the once vacant room she came undone around him.

“F-f-uck, so tight…..I’m gonna…….” One, two, three more pistons of his hips and Donatello drove forward one last time anchoring himself as far as her body would allow. His beak nudged Aurora’s head to the side to expose her throat and his teeth latched onto the slender column to hold his lover steady as he gave her his release. His cock pulsated painfully and finally erupted with rich ropes of his ejaculate flooding her insides. With each ebbing flow of his climax Donnie rocked into her body with small shallow movements until every drop of his seed was deposited into her womb.

It took a few minutes for both to calm down, clinging to each other unwilling to disconnect just yet. He was still seated within her as her fingers ran along the top of his shell in slow soothing motions. She didn’t want to move, she just wanted to enjoy being close to Donnie, he was back, real. His smell was soothing, and his slowing heart beat that thudded against his plastron would easily lull her to sleep. But now it was time for questions, time for answers and he needed to know about his brothers.

Aurora’s fingers moved to his skull and moved along the back to run down the base of his spin that transitioned into his carapace. He shuttered at the sensation and finally leaned up to look her in the eyes.

“Hi.” He whispered ghosting his lips over hers.

“Hey yourself, nerd.”

His brown eyes moved over Aurora’s flushed features taking her in, really looking her over for the first time in four years. He could she was happy, and sated for that matter but there as something else in those violet eyes. Then it hit him, they usually moved in pairs, one of his brothers should have been in her company. “Why are you here alone? Are they at the base?”

She knew who Don was referring too and shifted under him. “Don…there is something I need to tell you.”

Donnie’s lazy smile lowered his afterglow forgotten. Slowly he pulled from Aurora’s depths and helped her from the table. His lips pressed in a thin line. “No, please don’t tell me……..they’re…….”

Aurora quickly grabbed for his face not wanting him to finish the sentence. “No! No, they’re not.” She watched his tense body relax at the knowledge his brothers were not dead. “But…they fell under Bishop’s control. Over three years ago Bishop set up an elaborate plan to capture them, you as well if you were with us. He tricked us with false information from a faulty lead and trapped them in an electrified cage. We weren’t able to get to them in time before he stole them away. We barely made it out with our lives as it was. It broke me, broke us, I don’t think the resistance ever fully recovered from the loss of you all. Casey and I ran into them a few months ago for the first time since losing them after trying to confiscate a tech truck that they were overseeing. Leo…Leo nearly killed me. They didn’t know who I was.” Her finger ran over the scar on her abdomen. “But that meeting triggered something in them. All three of them were then drawn to me; I’ve had rather intense interactions with each of them since then.”

She watched the emotions run across his face; confusion, anger, sadness and finally acceptance. “We’ll get them back. I promise I’ll work day and night to continue my work on how he’s controlling them. We’ll find them, bring them home, I didn’t work my ass off for four years and across several dimensions to not see my brothers again.”

“That’s the other thing Don, we found it.”

“Found it?” He parroted tilting his head in confusion.

“What Bishop puts in his victims to control them. It’s back at the base at R & D for analysis. It looks like a tiny octopus. We just need to figure out the ‘how’ now, and cut the communication and…. fuck…. we found Bishop’s allusive base tonight too.”

Donnie cupped her checks and pressed another life stealing kiss to her mouth. With a pop he pulled away with a toothy grin. “You have been rather successful without us.”

Eyes closed she savored his taste licking her lips, he still drank coffee. They had that where he was? “It took us a bit but you came back just in time to give us a win.” Then her violet eyes snapped open and her palm pressed against his chest applying pressure until the mutant fell into his computer chair with a grunt. She then climbed back on top the genius’s lap and gripped the sides of his plastron looking him square in the eyes. “Now genius…..spill it, where the FUCK have you been?”

His hands went back to her hips and let out a sigh, “That night when I disappeared I had an epiphany; I came down here with an idea that this thing could help us.” His long arm gestured to his most recent ride home and returned to her lower back to rub the pads of his fingers along her still exposed flesh. “I was working to use it to access different dimensions….eventually: the nexus, new worlds but what if I used it for a simpler purpose? Move our soldiers from base to a target location to utilize the element of surprise? It would lower the chances of casualties by 30%. I was just going do a test honestly but I must have hit the wrong the button and found myself sucked into the arch and in a new world a very strange new world.”

“How strange?”

“Like another version of my brothers and I strange.”

Aurora’s mouth dropped open in disbelief. “More mutant turtles? Like you? Are you fucking kidding me?”

“Yes I know, it was rather a large shock for me let me tell you. I dropped right into their lair right on top of another Michelangelo. They looked a little different than us, shorter, no clothes besides leather obi’s, knee and elbow pads. Younger versions with their Master splinter still alive, same dynamic though, with Leonardo still as leader. Their Donnie was brilliant; making miraculous things with trash, a very resourceful terrapin in deed. He had made a battle shell, a shell sub and a sewer slider, plus others. Anyways, naturally they were rather distressed seeing my tall ass drop in on them in their home unannounced. After a few hours of telling them my story, and talking about my own brothers and their similarities, Donnie and his brothers agreed to help me get home. As you can see it took longer than we thought it would, finding the right components and a power source had proved more challenging than anticipated. Then finding the right coordinates proved another hurdle to overcome. I got here on accident so it was trial and error until I saw you the other day through the portal. It was the most glorious sight I had ever seen but the power course failed under the strain, which is why I couldn’t come through. We needed to reinforce it to support the transdimensional pull from the other dimensions trying to break through. After we fixed that problem and your face appeared clear as day on the other side I knew we had gotten it right.”

She looked at him absentmindedly running her palms over his exposed biceps, another dimension with more mutant turtle brothers? How many more she wondered quickly before shaking herself from the thought. “Did they have their own Bishop?”

“Yes, actually they do, and strangely enough as Donnie and I were working one night he confessed his own trip to another dimension or terrible future, he wasn’t sure. It was around our timeline and age; I guess their Donnie had disappeared without a trace as well. Mikey had lost an arm, Raph his eye and Leo his entire eye sight. Casey had passed and the villain was shredder. He had enslaved the entire world killing master Splinter in the process which threw a massive wedge between Leo and Raphael, a very violent wedge that kept them apart for years.”

“Fuck….I…”

“There’s more…… they managed to defeat Shredder with Donnie’s help but Leo, Raph and Mikey perished in the fight. It happened years ago and it still gives him nightmares. It would me too, watching my brothers die right in front of me. I don’t think I’d ever recover.” Wiping away a stray tear Donatello gripped her body tighter remembering she had to witness them all ripped from her. “All these years you had no idea what happened to me and then you lose the rest of them. I’m sorry, I’m sorry I couldn’t get back sooner. I promise we’ll get them back.”

She could see the anxiety rise in the genius as he began to process everything. How similar the scenarios were for both worlds and after everything he was still without most of his family. “Deep breaths Donnie, I need you level headed when we head back to base. I know we’ll get them back now that you’re back home. There’s a lot of work to be done and April and Casey are gonna be over the moon to see you. I’m so happy to see you.”

She was about to remover herself from his lap when she felt the head of his cock nudge against her entrance and soon found herself stuffed full of her genius once again. Donnie took Aurora two more times before he relinquished his hold on her and allowed her to dress.

Pulling her back into his embrace after watching Aurora tie her katana back to her hip Don pressed a few open mouthed kisses to her throat. “I’m sorry, I have four years of pent up need for you to work through. You’re not going to walk right for a week after I’ve had my fill.”

His voice dropped at the delicious threat making her shiver at his continued advances and lean into his plastron. “I was hoping you’d say that.”

The run back to base was pleasant with Donatello right by her side. His long legs made him naturally faster which pushed her harder to keep up with the lanky turtle but the occasionally view of his perfectly round cheeks wasn’t a bad thing either. She couldn’t wait to sink her teeth into them later tonight.

“White skull to base.” Aurora called into her com as they moved to the final block of their trek home.

“This is base, please go ahead White Skull.”

“Will you tell The Curator and Meathead that I’m bring home a present.”

“Will do, ETA?”

“Five minutes.”

“See you then.”

Donnie slowed down looking at his kunoichi. “You’re not gonna tell them I’m coming?”

“I wanna see their faces when they lay eyes on you. I wanna keep that memory forever and put it with the same one we’ll get when your brothers return home.”

@imthegreenfairy88 @ravn-87 @alonia143 @tmntspidergirl @blossom-skies

#tmnt #tmnt leonardo #tmnt raphael #tmnt donatello #tmnt michaelangelo #the forgotten #part six #return on the nerd #aurora-the-kunoichi #self indulgent bullshit

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pocket-luv101 · 3 years

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Summary: Kuro and Mahiru go to Yokohama for a weekend vacation. (KuroMahi, Modern AU)

Mahiru sat on the train and he waited for the time to pass by playing games on his phone. There was a light weight on his shoulder but he didn’t mind. Kuro slept soundly as he used his shoulder as a pillow. They had to wake up early that day so he decided to let him rest during the train ride. Mahiru leaned against Kuro in return and listened to his even breathing. No matter if they talked throughout the train ride or simply sat in each other’s presence, Mahiru was content and happy.

More people entered the train and it became noisier. Kuro was a deep sleeper but Mahiru didn’t want the other passengers to wake him. He took off one of his earbuds and slipped it beneath Kuro’s hood. Mahiru carefully tucked the earbud into his ear and he hoped the song would muffle the voices of the people around them. Before he leaned back, he couldn’t help but press a kiss onto his hair. The small gesture roused Kuro slightly.

Kuro shifted next to him and searched for a comfortable position again. He wrapped his arms around Mahiru’s waist, turned his face into his shoulder and finally settled back to sleep. They were sitting closer than before and Mahiru felt his heart quicken. He glanced around the crowded train and he was glad that people weren’t staring at them. Mahiru relaxed into Kuro’s embrace.

He took out a travel magazine from his bag and flipped to a page he bookmarked. They had both been busy due to finals but they could now relax. They spent a lot of time together since they were roommates but he was excited to go out on a proper date. Mahiru suggested they travel to Yokohama and stay overnight. He had circled several places in the magazine that he wanted to go with Kuro.

“There’s a museum for cup noodles? I hope they have a lot of samples for us to try.” Kuro’s voice surprised him. He didn’t lift his head from his shoulder as he read the notes Mahiru wrote in the margins. He smiled up at him and joked: “If we go during lunch, we can save money by filling up on samples and buying a light meal afterwards. University’s expensive.”

“How many times do I have to tell you that instant noodles are unhealthy, Kuro?” He rolled his eyes but he couldn’t hold back a small chuckle. Mahiru held the booklet between them and they went through the different attractions they could visit. “The museum is close to the hotel we booked yesterday. We can even see the sea and shop at the boardwalk nearby. Which do you want to see first?”

“I don’t really care where we go. I’m happy as long as I’m with you.” He shrugged. Kuro sat straighter and stretched his arms above his head. He wrapped his arm around Mahiru’s waist and he used his other hand to flip to the next page. “Last night, Licht texted me and said we need to bring back sweets as a souvenir for him. I know giving souvenirs to your family and friends is a custom but I thought it was only for long trips.”

“I think Licht is just being a little greedy. You know how much he likes sweets.” Mahiru skimmed the different sweets they could buy for their friends. Kuro reached out to him and gently brushed his bangs from his brown eyes. The small gesture showed how attentive he was and it made Mahiru smile. While Kuro wasn’t the type for words, he showed how he cared through his actions. He wondered if it was because he grew up in London.

Kuro moved to Japan for school and they were roommates. Mahiru would show him around Tokyo and they grew closer until they started dating. “Licht would tell me how Hyde likes to flirt with him in public. I wonder if Englishmen are all forward like you two.”

“I don’t think I’m the same my brother.” Kuro didn’t know why Mahiru would compare them when they didn’t have similar personalities.

“Well, you’re not as loud as Hyde but you both act casual when it comes to being so affectionate in public.” Mahiru thought of the Hollywood movies he watched and how the couples would openly kiss each other. He questioned if Kuro was the same with his past partners and he felt slightly jealous. Kuro saw his brows furrowed slightly and he worried that Mahiru was uncomfortable.

“I’ve been in Japan for a few years but I’m still learning. Sorry.” He sat straighter and he started to pull his hand back. Mahiru placed his hand over his to keep his arm around his waist. He threaded their fingers together and tenderly rubbed his thumb along his knuckles. His hands were strong but he knew how gentle they could be.

“I like how you’ll put your arm around my shoulder when we walk down the street.” Mahiru told him. “I was just thinking of how you’d do things like that with others. I know that it’s immature to feel jealous and I have nothing to worry about but…”

He trailed after Kuro lifted his hand to his lips and kissed his fingers. “I don’t do things like this because I grew up in London. It’s only for you, Mahiru.”

“Isn’t the ocean beautiful, Kuro?” Mahiru stared at the endless, blue ocean as they walked along the boardwalk. They could walk for miles but he wouldn’t become tired as long as Mahiru was with him. They would occasionally stop at a shop and browse the items on sale. Mahiru didn’t have extravagant tastes and preferred to wear simple clothes. Kuro thought that Mahiru was already beautiful with his smile so he didn’t need expensive clothes.

“We should go to the beach for our next trip.” Kuro heard a bike approach them and he looked over his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around Mahiru’s waist and pulled him out of the bike’s path. Unfortunately, a few feet ahead of them, an elderly woman wasn’t able to evade the bike quickly enough. The woman stumbled to the ground and dropped her bags. Mahiru immediately ran forward to help her.

“Are you okay?” He knelt next to the grandmother and helped her to her feet. Kuro joined them and he began to collect the groceries she dropped. Mahiru was glad that she appeared unhurt and she was able to stand on her own. A part of him was still worried and he asked, “Is there someone you can call and ask if they’ll help you home? Carrying so much might be difficult after your fall.”

“What a kind boy you are. Thank you.” She smiled. She waved away his concern and told him, “My children are at work and I don’t want to trouble them by calling for help. I should be fine. My house is only ten minutes from here and my husband is waiting for me.”

Despite her reassurance, Kuro could see that Mahiru felt hesitant to walk away from someone who was hurt. He knew how kind he was and he openly wore his emotions on his face. He knelt in front of the elderly woman and said: “You’ve been leaning on your left leg so the fall hurt you. Even if nothing’s broken, you shouldn’t walk. I’ll carry you on my back.”

“I appreciate your offer. You look so much like my grandson. It’s rare to find someone with red eyes like yours.” She said once she saw Kuro. The grandmother accepted his help and she climbed onto his back. He stood and noticed Mahiru’s smile in the corner of his eyes. He felt himself blush under his tender gaze. Kuro could almost read his thoughts.

Mahiru carried the plastic bags as they walked down the street. They followed the directions she gave them and they entered a residential area nearby. He asked the woman about her grandson to start a casual conversation. Kuro merely listened to them laugh together and he thought of how he was able to connect with others easily. He had a warmth that drew people to him.

“Are you two dating?” She asked suddenly. “You two seem close. Did I interrupt your first date?”

“Actually, Kuro and I have been dating for a year now. Finals week ended and we wanted to celebrate by going on a date to Yokohama.” Mahiru told her. Whenever he thought of Kuro, he couldn’t help but smile to himself. “You live here. Do you know good places for a couple to visit?”

“My husband and I have tickets to the Ferris wheel at Cosmo World. It doesn’t look like we can go because my old bones are aching from the fall. You two should take the tickets and enjoy yourselves! It’ll be my way to thank you for helping me.” She offered. “My husband prefers to stay inside so I’m sure he won’t mind giving you the ticket.”

“Kuro is similar. His ideal date is to watch a movie on the couch.” Mahiru loved the late nights they would spend simply cuddling in front of the television. While they had different personalities, they made each other happy. Kuro taught him how to slow down and enjoy the day.

“But he came all the way to Yokohama for a date with you.” She said and Mahiru nodded.

“I wonder if we’ll be able to see Tokyo Tower when we reach the top of the Ferris Wheel.” Mahiru stared out the window as the cart slowly rose higher into the sky. The view before them was beautiful and he didn’t know if he should focus on the starry sky or the neon lights reflecting on the water. In the end, he found himself staring at Kuro and his way the light highlighted his strong features.

The night air was a little cold so he leaned closer to Kuro next to him. He tilted his head back to gaze up at him and pursed his lips slightly. Even without words, he knew what Mahiru wanted. He leaned down to kiss him briefly. Mahiru wrapped his arms around Kuro and said, “That elderly couple was nice to give us those tickets. Do you think that’ll be us one day?”

“By the time we’re old, there should be a service that picks up groceries for us and you wouldn’t have to go out to buy them on your own. We can both stay home and play bingo.” They both laughed as they imagined the scene. Kuro never thought of romance or marriage while he was a child but he could easily imagine those things with Mahiru. Even after years passed and they were old, he would help Mahiru carry groceries home.

#servamp #kuromahi #sloth pair #servamp kuro #mahiru shirota #fanfiction

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captainchrisstan · 4 years

Text

My Leather Guy

Summary: Bucky has to make things right, even if it means losing you.

words: 1935

Warnings: none... a little bit of Smut... (but if you find any please let me know)

Pairing: Biker!Bucky x Reader.

A/N: This was made with love for @saiyanprincessswanie !!! My prompt was “Nice ass” / “it´s all yours”

Hey guys! <3 my mother language is not English, so if there is any mistake please help me to improve. Also, my work is not allowed to be on other platforms. Just comment, like and reblog <3

Bucky kisses your lips for the last time to see you leave for the club stairs that lead straight to the rooms upstairs, with a sigh he turns around to see his best friend Steve and almost friend Tony at a table watching him expectantly.

Bucky knows their faces too well to know what they want answers to their questions, today would be the sixth time you've stayed with them in less than two weeks. The problem wasn't that you stayed, they loved you, the real problem was that you lied to your father who was also the leader of one of the New York City motorcycle clubs.

"I hope you got it right this time Bucky," Tony says as he brings his beer to his lips but stops halfway through. "That you stood in his driveway like a decent man" as the silence drags on Steve lets out a big sigh.

"He escaped out the window again?" Steve asks what Bucky nods to. "Bucky... I understand that you love her I went through the same thing with Natasha... the thing is we can't get into trouble now that they've agreed to ally themselves with us to corner the Hydra club"

"If it were up to me, I would have told his father by now." Bucky interrupts.

"Does her father beat her?" Tony asks, and the blonde looks at him expectantly.

"No! It's just that she doesn't want to disappoint him."

"Bucky, you're the best man in the club-"

"Steve I'm not saying that... It's because of his mother... since his mother died his dad has made sure he doesn't follow in his footsteps" Tony and Steve look expectantly at Bucky, waiting for answers. "That doesn't end up with a biker.”

"Oh God too late!" Tony says quickly as he grabs his leather jacket on the back of his chair and stands up. "Looks like the conversation is going to get sentimental so I'll see you tomorrow" and without further ado, Tony walks away from the door.

"Look Buck... if you want some advice... You'd better go to his father and tell him" Bucky opens his mouth to say something but Steve raises a hand "Let me finish please, Hydra has been up to our asses since they got to town, they have been trying to wipe out our business and theirs. If he finds out you're sneaking around with her daughter and goes crazy and finishes the deal; we'll be in danger, not just us as a club, but our partners as well"

A few minutes later Bucky thoughtfully climbs the stairs, what Steve was saying was true, he was putting the whole group, no, his family in danger with his selfishness and that could not continue to happen. When he got to the door of his room a soft humming could be heard through it, when he opened the door he found himself with y/n with his headphones lying on her stomach in bed with his back to the door, his pajama shorts barely covering his ass and he was wearing one of Bucky's t-shirts to sleep, closing the door to lean on it, Bucky simply watched his girlfriend and how much he was going to miss being with her once they told your father.

Feeling a change in the air y/n realizes that she is not alone, turning quickly in bed she sees her boyfriend leaning on the door, she smiles but her smile does not last long because of the look in Bucky's eyes. y/n knows that something is wrong.

"What's wrong, love?" she quickly gets out of bed to go to her boyfriend.

"We have to tell your father" I knew that this day would come, I knew that the moment those words came out of Bucky's mouth their lives would have to go their separate ways forever.

"Tomorrow we'll both go together, I promise," hugging Bucky around the neck and he's hugging her around the waist. "Would you kiss me?" one last time she thought

Bucky's lips feel like feathers on the skin, they both know this could be goodbye and they would both make the most of it. Without rushing, they take off their clothes and throw them away so who knows which part of the room, when y/n's legs touch the bed he gently pushes it. Skin on skin meet and fireworks explode as the moaning fills every corner of the room.

In the large double bed, they try to calm their breaths, both have their heads full of possible scenarios of what could happen tomorrow, but in Bucky's head are the most tragic.

Little whispers of 'I love you' and 'I'll always be with you' fill the room until y/n's voice is interrupted by a yawn from her, Bucky puts one arm around her shoulders and draws her as close to his body as he can.

Bucky goes down the stairs with the little courage he has left in his body, when he sees the time on the wall clock he deduces that his father-in-law could be in the club's bar, without wasting any more time he goes to Steve to communicate his decision. This one is on the same table where he left it a few hours ago.

"Steve, I'm gonna go tell y/n's dad" Steve looks up from the documents to focus on Bucky.

"Give me 5 minutes and I can join you" with one hand on his shoulder Bucky stops his best friend.

"I don't think you understand me, Steve... I'll go alone," Steve looks at him not knowing what to do. It wasn't that they were afraid of Y/N's father, only that he was a man respected by many, almost a legend. "If I'm not back in three hours... you know what to do." Without saying anything else, Bucky hands Steve a sealed envelope with Y/N's name on it. Bucky always so dramatic thought Steve as he saw Bucky's figure coming out of the bar.

The road to the other side of New York was long and tense for Bucky, his Harley stopped just outside the Death and Co Bar as he took off his helmet hesitantly for a couple of seconds before grabbing what's left of his confidence and going in.

The place reeked of alcohol and cheap cigarettes, and the place was barely visible in the dim light of the tavern. In the distance, he could see a group of men in leather jackets with the symbol of the American flag on their backs.

As he approached the group of men he could quickly make out the father of Y/n, with a soft cough by Bucky the men at the table stood still and quickly looked in Bucky's direction.

"But look who we have in this fucking place... Nothing more or less than the right hand of the famous captain", your father was looking bucky in the eye who wished he was 3 miles away from that place.

"I've come to talk to you, sir," Bucky mentally kicks himself, his voice must sound firm. "Alone." Without further ado, Jim "The King" stands up from the table with a head taller than Bucky.

“Follow me”

As he leaves the bar Jim leans against the wall and pulls out a cigarette, Bucky is nervous, his hands are sweating and his breathing is labored.

"It's about my daughter, right?" Stunned Bucky doesn't know what to do or say so he just nods. "I've known all along," Bucky's soul leaves his body. "Ever since my Betty died and left me with the task of raising our daughter I always knew this day would come... I always knew you guys had something because Y/N is the spitting image of her mother, and she's not too quiet when she escapes out the window either" the latter brings a smile to Bucky's face. Jim takes his last breaths into the cigarette and drops it, putting it out with the sole of his shoes. "Your mother and I were doing the same thing you do... We were running away and lying to our parents... Come on son, let's go have some beers", without further ado Jim opens the door of the bar, Bucky perplexed, expecting everything but that, so he just follows him inside the establishment.

Two hours later Bucky finds himself saying goodbye to all the club members and heading for his bike, Jim is waiting for him at the door.

"Hey, son," unprepared Bucky feels like the right side of his face is hit with something, "This is just a precaution, okay?. If I see my daughter crying over you, the beating will be much bigger." When Bucky comes out of his trance he just nods and pats his shoulder. "Perfect!, have a good trip boy" the door of the place closes and Bucky throws a spit to throw the blood in his mouth, touching his jaw he realizes that Jim didn't manage to break anything, fortunately, but he won't be able to put the helmet on because of the swelling that is forming on his face. Was too good to be true

Upon entering the bar Bucky can see that the place is almost dead without counting Natasha who is cleaning the bar and Steve leaning on this flirting with her.

"Shit Bucky I think you lost the fight man!" Natasha tries to hold back the laughter, but she can't and Steve just shakes his head.

"Yeah, anyway... I'll see you guys in a little bit" walking up the stairs to Bucky's rooms doesn't stop thinking about how well the situation turned out, about Jim's reaction that he didn't grow up and that now they practically had a free hand so they wouldn't be hiding like two teenagers.

"What the fuck happened to your face, Bucky?!" Bucky had unwittingly entered the room and found y/n at the edge of the bed, wiping her eyes.

"I've gone to talk to your dad" without more y/n gets out of bed and throws Bucky by his wrist to the bathroom of the room, when Bucky enters he can see his reflection in the mirror, his cheekbone was already taking a purple color and his eye was swelling more and more without counting with the little cut under his eye, with a pressure in the chest y/n makes Bucky sit in the toilet while she takes out the first aid kit.

A few seconds later she finds herself delicately touching her boyfriend's face with a wet cotton ball to get the dried blood out. A little sobbing gets Bucky out of his trance and he realizes that he's screwed up, with his hands he touches his girlfriend's naked legs to somehow comfort her.

"I didn't want the three of us to talk in case it got too big, I just wanted to protect you." He whispers

"Bucky, he's my dad, he wouldn't hurt me and you know it.

"The situation could have gotten dangerous and you know it," bucky sighs, "I just want to make things right... besides, your dad already knew about us."

"What?!" y/n stops wiping Bucky's face and waits expectantly for an answer.

"He said you weren't very quiet going out the window.”

"Oh, God... What a shame" they both laugh and the atmosphere relaxes a bit.

"Does this mean I'm forgiven?"

"I'd have to think about it a little bit more" playing bucky up his hands and grabbing his girlfriend's ass through his pajama shorts.

“Nice ass”

“It’s all yours, baby”

#My Leather Guy #SaiyanPrincessSwanie 500 followers challenge #bucky barnes x reader #james buchanan barnes #biker!bucky

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lu-undy · 3 years

Text

Chapter 79 - SBT

Here it is!

The sun was starting to set and Lucien set his foot on the ground as he braked at a red light. He felt Mundy brush his sides and smiled.

To the outside world, they looked like two friends on a ride between point A and point B. But to themselves, it was immensely different. They were not only travelling through a few streets together. It was their entire life that they wanted to spend as close as they were on that black motorcycle with dark red reflections.

The traffic light went from red to green and the engine roared. They flew through the streets fluidly, effortlessly. Lucien proved to be an excellent bike rider, prudent and efficient. After an enjoyable ride, the Frenchman stopped the motorcycle and hopped off.

Lucien and Mundy removed their helmets.

"Here we are." He said.

"Oh…?" Mundy looked at what stood in front of him. He was surprised. He genuinely didn't expect Lucien to take him to a… pub.

"Close your jaw, mon loup." Lucien chuckled.

[My wolf]

"Well, I'd never have expected that from you. You don't look like the pub type!" Mundy answered.

"Such a lot of things you assume about me…! Come."

They entered and both were hit with a smell that Mundy hadn't experienced in more than a year. It smelt of beer, hop and the different and subtle flavours of the beers they create. The visual atmosphere was very cosy too. The pub had off-white painted walls that had turned more yellowish with the years. Large, dark brown beams of wood shot from the ground to the quite low ceiling and above people's heads, more of those same slightly curvy logs decorated the ceiling. The lights were yellow, almost orange and people's chattering wrapped them in a crowded kind of intimacy, paradoxically enough.

Lucien went to the counter and placed an order while Mundy was trying to spot an empty table, preferably far from other people. But the establishment was quite busy. On the television, a rugby game was broadcast and the sports enthusiasts had gathered to support their team around a pint or two.

"Mundy?"

"Huh?"

"Let us find a seat."

"Right."

They walked through the pub, slithering through people, zigzagging around the tables until they met a flight of stairs.

"Let us try upstairs."

"Ok."

The upstairs area had the same kind of atmosphere and was as crowded as below.

"Here, a table." Lucien headed to it and put the two beers down. Mundy took a seat opposite him.

"Thanks, love."

"My pleasure."

They were in a corner, there was a lamp on the wall next to them.

"What is it?" Mundy asked, pointing at the beer.

"A favourite of mine, Belgian." Lucien answered.

"Right." Mundy took his glass and they both raised their own.

"To us." Lucien said.

"To you and me." Mundy answered before they tipped their beers and took a good swig of it. "Mh…"

"What do you think?" Lucien asked.

"Not bad, and quite light too."

"In alcohol, oui, but not in flavour."

"You're right. I like the taste." Mundy said and they drank more of it. "I didn't know you liked beer, eh?"

"I do, sometimes. It has been years since the last one I drank, especially in such good company." He winked at his lover who blushed. "So, tell me about yourself."

"What?" Mundy asked with a chuckle.

"This is a date, Mundy."

"Isn't it a bit late for that?" Mundy raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe." Lucien smirked. "But please, do not ruin my date with the man that I keep in my thoughts at all times. And tell me…"

"Pff…" Mundy laughed. "Alright then, what d'you wanna know?"

Lucien’s eyes shone beautifully under the yellow and warm light of the lamp.

"Everything, obviously."

"That's… That's quite a bit, eh?"

"I believe so, but indulge me, please." Lucien rested his elbows on the table and his chin on his palms, his eyes were half-closed.

"Right, so, uh… I'm… I'm Mundy, I'm a bloke and uh, I'm a hunter."

"Mh-hm." Lucien smiled.

"I'm… Close to forty now and… I don't know what to say, eh?" He chuckled nervously.

"Tell me about your taste in beer for instance."

"Well, this one's good, but not as good as the one I usually get." Mundy answered.

"Then, the next one is on you." Lucien answered and they both drank more.

"Ok, whenever we're done with this one… What else d'you wanna know?"

"What is your favourite genre of music?" Lucien asked.

"I've changed quite a bit through the years but recently…? Uh…"

"Oui, recently."

"Old French songs." Mundy looked away and lowered his eyes. "'Specially when you sing them."

Lucien sighed with the widest smile.

"But I understand you don't wanna sing anymore?" Mundy asked.

"To be honest, it depends." Lucien took a sip. "I do not wish to sing like I have been in this country, as a pretext, an excuse to get close to a man that I have to kill. I don't want that anymore."

"Does that mean you'd be ok to sing again?"

"For you?" Lucien raised his eyes and tilted his head on the side. "Anytime, and any song."

Mundy melted in a sweet smile as the rugby fans cheered. Their racket wrapped them such that no one was noticing Lucien's hand sliding to Mundy on the table.

"Our glasses are empty, you can go and order the next round."

"Oh, yeah, sure, gimme a minute."

Lucien's eyes went to the television screen not far and he lazily followed the match for a moment until a perfume broke his daydreaming.

"You are fast." Lucien said.

"Didn't wanna go away from my date for too long, eh."

They smiled to each other.

"Your turn now." Mundy put the beers on the table and resumed his seat in front of Lucien. "Try this one and tell me what you think of it."

Lucien raised his glass.

"To you."

"To you, too." Mundy answered.

They tipped their glasses and took a generous swig.

"Almost bitter in the end, I like this aftertaste." Lucien said as he put his glass down.

"Yeah, catches you by surprise, eh?"

"Indeed!" The Frenchman said. "And very refreshing, almost fruity."

"Yeah, I like it cause it's fruity without the sugar." Mundy answered.

"Oh, I knew you don't like your men sweet, but I see this also applies to your beers."

"What? You're very sweet." Mundy protested.

"Sometimes, and only with you." Lucien answered, raising his glass to his lips.

"That's not true."

Lucien gulped down the beer and his eyebrows jumped.

"I saw you with Pearl. Since the first day I met her. You're very soft. You just don't show it to people."

"Isn't it the same with you?"

"Heh, guess so. But go on, tell me about you now."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk…" Lucien shook his head with a smug smile.

"What?"

"This was my strategy, wild hunter, what is yours?"

"Can't I use the same?"

"Non, where would be the fun in that?" Lucien chuckled and drank more. "Humour me."

"Alright, I'll think of something… Hm…"

Mundy looked at his glass of beer. The bubbles slowly raced each other to the top, through the golden and transparent beverage. He could see Lucien's distorted index tapping on the table through the glass. It looked like each tap made a group of bubbles jump to the froth of the beer. The Aussie took a swig.

"Mundy?"

"Hold on, I'm still thinkin'."

"Non, not that, look up." Mundy raised his eyes to Lucien who raised his thumb and wiped the Aussie's upper lip.

"What-?!" Mundy's pupils blew up wide.

Lucien licked his finger.

"The foam." He answered.

"Ooh, sorry, didn't feel anything."

"It is fine."

And suddenly, Mundy had it. He had the idea.

"How d'you do it?" He asked.

"What? Wipe the beer of your lip? I would lick it directly if we were not surrounded by so many people." Lucien answered, cocking an eyebrow.

"N-no…" Mundy's thighs tensed under the table. "I meant… How d'you… How are you so… like that?"

"Like what?" Lucien asked.

"Well, y'know… You always know what to do to make me blush and-and I can't keep my eyes on you cause you're… You're impressive."

Lucien tilted his head on the side.

"I mean… You're always so… sexy." Mundy added, with a slight, nervous chuckle.

"Am I?" Lucien pushed his luck.

"Yeah! And it looks easy, almost natural to you! I-it's insane! How d'you do it?"

The Frenchman chuckled.

"A bit of confidence and a pinch of charm." He answered.

"Gosh… Even right now you're-!"

"Evenin', gents, you done with the beers?" A waiter interrupted them.

"Yes, we are, thank you." Lucien answered and the man took the empty glasses away.

"Anythin' else for the gents?"

"Your turn, Lu', you choose." Mundy answered.

"What kind of wines do you have?" He asked.

"Here's the list." The waiter gave Lucien a wine menu. "I'll give you a second and be right back."

"It won't be necessary." Lucien's eyes were scanning the names of the château, the years and the locations at the speed of light. "We will have a Graves 1954, please."

"Oh, alright. A glass or-?"

"Non, a bottle, to share."

"Noted, I'll be back in a second."

Lucien and Mundy nodded and the waiter disappeared.

"I think this date is going pretty well, what do you feel?" Lucien asked.

The rugby enthusiasts cheered loudly for a few seconds again before the relative calm came back.

"Y-yeah… I don't really know… I don't do dates." Mundy answered.

"Il y a un début à tout."

"What?"

"There is a beginning to everything. It is a French saying. But have you never been on a date before?"

"Not really. I mean. It never felt like it."

The waiter came back with the wine and two glasses. He was about to uncork the dark green bottle when Lucien raised a hand.

"Please."

"Oh, sure." The waiter nodded and handed him the corkscrew.

"Non, merci, you may leave us."

"As you wish."

The waiter went away and Mundy frowned, curious. Lucien took a blade out of his inner pocket and grabbed the bottle in his hand.

"We normally do it with champagne and a sword, but I can do it with wine and a knife."

"Do what?"

"This."

Lucien swiftly slid the knife along the curve of the bottle. It caught the cork and the latter flew away.

"What the-?!"

The Frenchman took the bottle to his nose and sniffed gently, closing his eyes.

"Aah…" He exhaled with a smile. He opened his eyes and poured the wine in Mundy's glass before helping himself.

"Holy dooley…"

"Impressed?"

"Yeah! Can't you just open it normally?"

"I could have. But I want to impress my date." Lucien answered as he raised his glass to Mundy, with a soft grin.

"You'll have to teach me that, eh." Mundy raised his glass too.

"With pleasure."

Their glasses met with a high-pitched sound and they both took a sip.

"Mmh, it's a good one. Quite earthy, not too strong though." Mundy said, staring at the Burgundy liquid.

"Indeed. I have a weakness for this château."

"I can see why, eh."

"Mundy."

"Yeah?"

"It was produced where I come from."

Mundy's eyebrows jumped.

"Really?"

"Oui. The private school I attended was named École des Graves, 'School of Graves'. It was named after the château because it was right next to the vineyards. From the classrooms, I remember seeing the vines lay for as far as the eye could see."

"Oh, woah… What does it look like?"

"Neatly arranged lines of green during spring. In summer, the grapes start appearing and you can see the black fruits hanging from the branches. Then, come autumn, it is the time for the vendange."

"The what?" Mundy poured more wine for him and his date.

"It is the word we use for the picking up of the grapes." Lucien drank more.

Both of them started to feel the effect of the alcohol slowly untying their tongues, relaxing them and their mood went more cheerful.

"You have a word just for that?"

"Oui." Lucien chuckled. "It is such a big part of our culture and economy that there is a dedicated word for it."

"Right…"

"And in winter, in some regions they start serving the early wine from that same year."

"Really? Doesn't it need to stay in barrels longer?"

"It does, but it is a tradition, a bit of a festival to celebrate the new wine. It usually doesn't taste very good but the spirit is what counts."

"Oh, I see…"

"Back in the Ministry, they would organise it too. They would have some bottles sent from the regions where this new wine is made and we would all enjoy it in the canteen for lunch."

"Crikey… and then everyone's drunk in the afternoon, eh? What's it like being a drunk spook?" Mundy chuckled.

"Mundy, this is not how it works." Lucien joined him in his soft laughter.

"You get your fancy arse drunk and go to work, putting your balala-mask thingy upside down, wrappin' yer tie on your head like a bloody bandana! And off to save the world!"

Both burst out laughing.

"Non, Mundy! We would not get drunk off of a glass of it!"

"Then you go around, sneakin' in yer fancy tuxedo, doin' whatever spooky business you've been sent off to do!"

Lucien couldn't stop laughing and caught his breath in short snorts. Mundy's ears pricked up and he looked at Lucien with surprised eyes.

"Listen to your laugh, now that's something I didn't expect, eh!" He was sent off on a laughter with his lover.

"I am sorry…!" Lucien took a handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped the corner of his eyes. "Ooh! Last time I laughed like that was a few lifetimes ago…!"

"And when was last time you got drunk with a mate like this, eh?"

"Ooh! It has been forever…! But please, your turn now, tell me about your life here, when you were younger."

"Well… I was a quiet kid, nothin' much to say eh. Parents had a farm, chicken and geese mainly. I helped them after school."

"Did you like going to school?"

"Oh Gosh no! Hated the place!"

The rugby fans in the pub applauded their team again. Lucien seized the opportunity to refill their glasses.

"Why?" He asked when the crowd calmed down.

"Such a pain it was…! Stay sat, your arse on the same bloody chair for hours on end to solve fake problems…! Problems, that wouldn't help me or my parents with the chicken and geese!"

Lucien chuckled and nodded while Mundy took a swig of the wine before resuming his speech.

"And I wasn't good at it. Kept on gettin' shit grades. Parents weren't too happy either, eh. So I dropped the whole thing as early as I could!"

"Really?"

"Yeah! Was gettin' nowhere!"

"What were you the worst at?"

"Oh, easy, languages! Maths I was decent at until they added bloody letters in the numbers. But languages I could never get. We had to take French and I couldn't understand, read or write the damn thing!"

"Well, we can arrange this, hm?" Lucien moved closer and put his elbows on the table. He held his chin on his palms.

"Ooh… Can we, now…?" Mundy cocked a playful eyebrow up.

"I happen to be a native French speaker with a fair experience in teaching." Lucien answered seductively.

"Alright, sounds promisin'. But what d'you suggest, eh?"

"Perhaps some… private lessons?" Lucien let his eyes do their magic and Mundy chuckled.

"Think you can teach me?" He asked. "I'm a tough student. I don't listen, I daydream too much, and I hate to sit still and listen to a teacher blabber endlessly."

"I have my ways…" Lucien moved his foot below the table and brushed his leg against Mundy's.

"Mh… Yeah… I see…" Mundy reciprocated. He took one of Lucien's legs between his own and cuddled it while looking deep in the eyes of the man that made him feel light, so light.

"What about it, then, hm?" Lucien asked. "Do we have a deal?"

"Hold on, Professor Sexy…" Lucien's eyebrows jumped. So this was what Mundy was like when he was drunk, hm?

"Oui?"

"What about payment?"

They drank more of their wine and shared whatever was left of it. They were both past tipsy now.

"Well, as you might guess from my age, my experience is unquestionable in the field, thus raising my fees quite high." Lucien removed his gloves and slid his fingers through Mundy's on the table.

"Uh-huh, right, how much are we talkin'?"

"Too much for you, wild hunter." Lucien smirked. He lit a cigarette and put it between his lips.

"Oh-ho… But what if," Mundy stole the cigarette off of his lover's very lips and puffed on it himself. "What if I don't pay you with money, hm…?"

"Pray elaborate, I am not sure I follow you." Lucien wiggled his eyebrows through his lie. Mundy's eyelids fell half-way through his eyes and he bit his lower lip.

"How the hell d'you manage to be so bloody sexy…?" Mundy growled with his low, gravelly voice.

Lucien flashed his pearly white teeth between his thin lips and stole the cigarette back for himself. He chuckled as he smoked and blew the smoke out in a ring that slowly wreathed, and grew to caress the Aussie's face. It punched his guts warmly.

"Gosh, Lu'..." Mundy clenched his fingers on his lover's. "I don't know if it's you or the wine… Can't see straight anymore… Can't see anythin' else but you… I-I…"

Lucien watched his lover melt and his pupils blow wide with a smirk. It was awfully selfish and arrogant of him but he loved seeing that particular instant in front of him. The moment when his lover cracks, melts by the sheer force of his charms. He cocked an eyebrow up and smoked more.

"If we were alone…" Mundy started but couldn't finish his sentence.

"What would you do, if we were alone?" Lucien blew the smoke away.

"I… Can't tell you, not here, not now."

Lucien's smug smile widened and he chuckled.

"Mh… You tickled my curiosity."

Mundy took a deep breath and his lungs filled with the bitter smoke that Lucien had exhaled a second ago.

"Gosh, and yer cigs…"

"They are menthols. You like them?"

"Yeah…"

Lucien took a long drag and held Mundy's chin on his four fingers. His thumb went to Mundy's lower lip and pulled it down slowly. The Aussie's entire lower jaw loosened up under the thin thumb and his lips parted. Lucien blew the smoke straight between his lover's lips and watched him roll his eyes up in bliss before his eyelids fell completely. The Frenchman smirked. Oh he wished! He wished he could immortalise Mundy's roll of his eyes, his jaw lowering slowly, and the waves of smoke that the Frenchman created slowly filling his lungs, like the waves of love sent straight to his heart. He held Mundy's chin and watched his head roll back slightly, his grip on reality and consciousness slowly fading, abandoning himself and his body entirely to Lucien.

The Frenchman's thumb slowly and softly traced Mundy's bottom lip, from left to right. His eyes followed his own thumb on the thin lip that glistened in gold under the yellow light of the lamp above them.

"Oh-?" Lucien's eyebrows jumped.

Suddenly, Mundy had bitten his thumb and was smirking. He wiggled his eyebrows and Lucien's heart burst in his ribcage.

"Let's go home, luv', need you to deal with me now."

#tf2 sniper #tf2 spy #sniperspy #SBT

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