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jungwonseyebrowsonflick · 3 years

Text

Shy/DOM Boyfriend Sunghoon × Kinky Fem Reader (ft Jungwon)

Pairing: Sunghoon x Reader (You)

Genre: smut, fluff, funny?

Warnings: smut 18+

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" Sunghoon! at seven come to my house, my parents and my younger brother aren't going to be here! " You said excitedly on your phone clutching it tightly.

" Jungwon won't be here? YESS! I'm glad if sees me alone with you he'll karate kick me on the stomach, hehe" Sunghoon chuckled at other side of the line. His big smile was so bright as he talked to you.

" He does taekwondo not karate" you responded to him feeling warm inside to hear him again after a whole month without him.

" Isn't the same thing?..... anyway....I'll be there in a hour, bye love" he ended the call. You squeaked in a mixture of shyness and excitement because he called you love.

" I'm seeing him again...." You sighed. Sunghoon and you started dating a month ago, but because school was over he went in vacations with his family so you couldn't see him for two weeks. But you missed him sooo much, his lips, his hands, his hair,his delicious smell of cologne, his everything.

You couldn't wait to do it again with Sunghoon. Yes Sunghoon and you already lost each others virginity together. Both of you very shy and embarrassed about every single thing. You two even watch a little bit of porn to educate yourself a little. At that time Sunghoon was not really into the idea of watching it since he isn't interested in that kind of stuff and finds it wrong to watch. However you convinced by telling him you two are not doing anything wrong besides learning! That it was for you two only and that'll it'll be the last time watching it.

Well......you two did it....and you were even shock because it didn't look or felt like it was his first time. He just did a great job, still feeling shy at first but as he was getting sexually aroused by you he became confident and turn the bedroom into a fair. You want that again for the third time.

Why are you even counting the times you two did it?

The last two times you did it with him were incredible, it was kind of a vanilla sex and rough vanilla sex all the way but you like it because you loved the after care from him. Now you felt spicy it up a little.....or more. There is so many things you wanna try with Hoonie but you're scared to tell him about your naughty fantasies. What if he thinks you're a sexual freak?

Sunghoon is a very conservative boy, that's how he grew up like with his family. He is a respectful, conservative,and a gentle young men who is quiet a romantic when he feels likes, and really isn't thinking about anything naughty to do.....unless if it's with his secret girlfriend; YOU.

You're going to try to ask him anyway.

You run to your closet and pull out a box that was hidden underneath piles of clothes. There, the black and red lingeries you bought from a friend laid nicely and pretty inside the box.

" Which one should I wear? The red or black" you mumbled to yourself as you check them with your eyes. " Sunghoon likes the color black a lot, and he looks good in black too......the black one wins!" You mumbled excitedly to yourself.

Quickly you exchange your normal undergarments to the black sexy lingering that'll be under your normal clothes. A grey tank top, with a lighter grey jacket kind of zipped up to the top but stops in the middle of your chest and dark grey very comfortable shorts that is quiet short for you. To night you had a plan to seduce him.

After changing you quickly went to the kitchen and prepare snacks to watch a movie with him.

" Pop corn, chips, Pocky sticks..." You said as you put them on the mini table in the middle of the living room.

" I need to stop thinking about Hoon I'm getting all hot and bother" you licked your bottom lip and chuckled quietly while flapping your hands against the air towards you.

*Knock knock knock*

" My man is here!" You jumped from the couch and open the door.

" Baby!"

" Babe!"

You jumped to hug him tight, wrapping your arms around his neck and your legs around his torso. You kissed him all over his handsome face. Oh how much you missed this smart idiot.

" Oh my, you really missed me a lot huh?" He asked as he try to push his face away from your kisses because he wants to look at you. He smack your butt lightly as he usually does when he sees you. You got down and hold one if his hands.

" You really look handsome today" you said as you check him out while bitting your bottom lip right in front of him. Sunghoon laughed quietly with blushing cheeks. He held your face and kiss your forehead then peck your lips. " I know babe...hehe....how about you?...you look too sexy today?" He raised an eyebrow to you while his eyes linger on your short shorts, but not in a lusty way but more like his questioning on his mind why are you wearing tooo short shorts? It's cold in your house?

You blush a little since you always felt s little nervous or intimidating by a certain look of expression he made when he looked at you and you always found it so attractive.

" I'm not looking sexy at all today, what are you talking about? Sunghoon ah! Come here with me, tell me about your field trip" you pull him down to sit with you on the couch and he followed you.

He sat next to you, his elbows against his almost separated knees, both of his hands clutch together in front of him. He had his torso lean down a little. This is how he usually sits, and once again you find it super attractive, because for you he was expressing his masculinity so much. Just everything about him was attractive and it was one of the reasons why you fell in love with him.

" It was pretty fun until....my step aunt had an accident and fell from the pole she was dancing on....she hurt herself badly" he said in a very serious yet sad tone as pressed both of his lips together and just stare out in space.

You suddenly let out a laugh and immediately covered your mouth. Sunghoon looked at you but then smile and his whole body was paying attention towards you. " Why are you laughing?" He quietly chuckled.

" I'm sorry babe but you just said your aunt fell because she was dancing...on a pole?"

" Yeah- i didn't explain the situation well, she was very drunk that night in the club, she got crazy or high and got up on stage and started dancing you know....sexy? In a sexy way? ....and well she missed a step and fell down...... that's what her boyfriend told us...." He said as he try to control his smile because he didn't want to laugh in such a accidental situation.

You no longer cared and just let it all out. " My prince i missed you so much!" You suddenly got up and freely fall on top of him perfectly. Because of your fall, Sunghoon's back leaned against the couch.

" I missed you too- princess-" he try to said but you kept kissing his lips and then on his neck. " So needy aren't you?" He laughed as he try to push you away from him. " Oh? What about the snacks? Are we going to watch a movie?" Sunghoon asked curiously as he notices the snacks there.

" There's a more delicious snack right in front of me" you said admiring his beauty and his precious smile. Sunghoon smiled as he caressed your cheek with his hand softly. "Princess, you're a delicious snack too....." He said with an embarrassing look. You raised your eyebrows in surprise. " What? Park Sunghoon is that you? You wouldn't say something like that to me?" You tease him. Sunghoon suddenly sat up , with you still on top of him straddling him. " What? You started it!! ' there's a more delicious snack right in front of me'" Sunghoon mimicked your voice making you laugh and lightly hit him on his chest. "Park Sunghoon!!" You shout.

" Yang Y/n!" He shout back, both of you laughing hard. " Tell me what is that you want princess?...." He asked with a shy smile as his hands caressed up and down your sides to show affection but YOU couldn't control down there from not burning up, but it was getting harder as Sunghoon still gaze at you.

" Sunghoon.....can we make.....love?" You asked a little shy about it but still manage to look at him confidently.

Sunghoon raised both of his eyebrows and widen his eyes. " I don't know why I'm acting surprised, I kind of had the idea from you " he smirked with a grin.

You look back at him as your eyes stare at his quiet plump red lips. Sunghoon was like the male version of snow white: jet black hair, a pretty pale complexion of skin, dark beautiful eyes and natural red or pink plumpy lips. He lips look kissable and felt kissable.

" I'm so lucky to have you, not just because of your handsome appearance but just you, yourself is perfect!" You sincerely said as you rest your head against his shoulder.

Sunghoon smiled as he heard that. He hug you tightly and whispered in your ear. " You're perfect as well my princess.....this month we spend together you've been a really good girl.... should I reward you?" He asked. You widen your eyes as you hear those words from the shy Sunghoon you know.

While Sunghoon on the other side he was controlling his smile by pressing his lips together and closing his eyes tight looking away from you. 'oh my god! Sunghoon!! wasn't that too much!? You probably sounded soo cringe! What is Y/n going to think of you, loser!' Sunghoon thought.

You bit your bottom lip as turn to look at him. " Please reward me......I deserve it...." You said innocently. Sunghoon looked at you surprised probably not expecting you to say anything back. He sighed as he suddenly push you away from him against the couch. He straddle your hips, his hands clutching on your wrists to the sides.

" Let's go to your room.....are you sure your parents aren't coming?...." He asked as he hold you like a bride and made his way to your room.

'ok ok! My confidence is doing a good job again!' he thought.

Just for teasing he throw you on the bed. You immediately pull him by his neck. Lips touching starting a heated make out session. You run your hands everywhere, from his face to his body trying to feel him through his clothes. Sunghoon did the same as he caressed one of your thighs. With his veiny hands force your legs to spread apart so he can lean his hips against your core.

Sunghoon let's go of your lips and reach down to kiss your neck softly as he kept thrusting dryly against you creating a very arousal feeling between you two. You let out tiny whispery moans and Sunghoon let out tiny small moans and groans. " Mmm~...ahhh.....Hoon...."

His hips suddenly started to do circular motions against you to create more friction. You quietly laugh as you held onto his broad shoulders. He glanced at you and smirk. " You like that..." He said and suddenly hit you with his hips against you. You widen your eyes and yelled " ahhhhh! Sunghoon ah!!" Out of surprise.

He chuckled as his right hand that caressed your thigh before went up to rub your right breast and massage it lightly. You bit your bottom lip as you felt in the clouds when he touch your breasts. You really like that a lot.

His red plumpy lips kissed your neck, shoulder, and in the middle of your clothe chest so passionately making you moan lightly even with your shirt and bra on.

Wow, who thought you can make love and still feel good with your clothes on?

" Take my shirt off...." You whispered to him as he didn't complain and did what you told him to do. He took that jacket and tank off. Soon he saw the black sexy lingering you're wearing.

" Mm? What's this?" He gave you a surprised questionable look. " It's for you love, I bought it for you.... Don't you like it?..."

" I love it, but......you had this planned didn't you?" He said giving you a shy teasing smile.

" Yes baby now laid in your back!" You pushed him off you towards the bed. You climbed on top of him straddling him. Quickly you took of your shorts which showed your nice see through underwear. You pulled Sunghoon against your neck and chest as you decided to ride him on his clothed lap.

As for Sunghoon, he was shock because of your surprising behaviors, this is not his old Y/n?....was she hiding this side of her? He decided to smack, grasp, and scratched your ass making you almost screamed.

" Ahh! Sunghoon!!!" You're not going to lie, you loved it to the point we're you cummed fast and good.

" Oh my god ....oh my god..... Hoon~" breath it out finishing off releasing everything on his pants. " Can I choke you?....." You suddenly said as you kiss and suck his Adam apple on his fine looking neck.

" Ahh~...." He said closing his eyes feeling good. "Choke me? Is that even a thing?.....no I'm scared..." He said smiling sheepishly. 'what an idiot now you sounded like a chicken! Man up Sunghoon! Be dominant!' he thought as he felt embarrassed again.

"Then you choke me.....don't worry i am informed on how to do it right...." You said as you took off his dark blue sweater. You lean down to kiss his chest down his stomach. You went back to lightly pinch his nipples and to suck on them. You gaze up to look at his expressions. He furrowed his thick eyebrows upwards, and you can tell he was controlling his moans by breathing heavily.

You know your boyfriend isn't very vocal at all, which you don't mind since his groaning is what turn you on the most. However I think it's time to hear him scream your pretty name.

After sucking his nipples, you kiss and lick down his chest down to his small abs, going even down to reaching the edge of his Calvin Klein underwear. You unzip his pants pulling them down. You saw the big bulge.

' I've missed you....' you sillily thought.

You looked up to see your blushing boyfriend. This will be the first time receiving a blow job from you. You grasp the bulge roughly but not too much just squeezing it as if it was some type of squeaky toy.

Sunghoon yelped of pleasure at the sudden contact of your hands attacking him.

As you were done teasing him you pull down his underwear and his length pop out freely. You not having experience with decided to pretend it's a popsicle you're sucking on. Your hands grabbing on the uncover parts of length rubbing there.

" Mmmm~..........ahhh...Y/n" he hissed your name, his eyebrows furrowing together and bitting down his bottom lip telling you his feeling really good. You know he is trying to control his moans but now his starting not help it.

You suck harder and bobbed your head repeatingly, his length almost touching the bottom of your throat. His length twitch in your mouth. Does that mean his close to cum?

" Fuck! Y/n~.…...ahhh!" He moan out loud grasping your messy long hair between his long thin fingers making you bobbed your head harder as he thrust his hips against your mouth trying to cum now.

As he did you swallow it all. Sunghoon relax there breathing heavily while closing his pretty eyes. You climbed on top of him and laid on top of his body. You put an arm beside his pillow and the other hand caressed his face. You breathlessly watch him breath in and breath out.

" You liked that?......" You whispered as you kiss his earlobe. Sunghoon nodded and smiled sheepishly once again. " I loved it ..... So much .... How are you so good?.....I want that everyday before I go to practice..." He chuckled.

You laughed with him. " Sunghoon you make me wanna do so many bad things to you ...." You bit your bottom lip. It is true, you have sexy fantasies you want to make in reality with him, Sunghoon only.

Suddenly he pushed you down without warning you. He straddle you. He put his fingers around your throat and started pressing.

" Same princess.....i also want to do bad things to you baby girl...." He said darkly with a rougher voice. Ooo that really send you to the edge of getting wet.

" Press here...." You guided his thumbs in a certain area of your neck. Sunghoon obey and tighten his grip on your neck making you feel breathless and dizzy but in a good way.

He was making you feel in a certain way you can't explain.

Sunghoon suddenly let's go. His pretty veiny hands roam around your body caressing every inch. He wraps your left leg around his waist caressing your thigh softly. He kisses down your shoulder, down in the middle of your chest. He get close to your right breast, gives you tiny kisses around your hard nipple making you giggle and bit down on your bottom lip. You played with his jet black hair, pulling his locks softly.

He did the same to your other breast, kissing, pinching, sucking on your hard nipple making your core throb. " Ahh~ Sunghoon..... please fuck me already..... please....." You said grinding your hips against his hard length.

Sunghoon without warning slams his length inside you. He spread your legs more for more space for him to go deeper. You pull him down by his neck to kiss him more sensual and passionately. His kiss back with the same passion and sensuality as you making the whole make out session steamy. Everything was so heated, the kiss, him railing you, the sex sounds, moans, and groans coming from you two.

The whole room was like circus once again and you two were wilding crazily. " Fuck~ Hoon~ choke me daddy choke me~!" You said as you were reaching to your big orgasm. Sunghoon once again wrapped his hands around your throat and tighten his grip on you.

" AhhHH~ YEAH! YES! SUNhoOn~ mY......LOve...~" You felt the delicious feeling of your big orgasm and the good feeling of dizziness mixing together intoxicating you of pleasure.

"Ahh~.....I'm close baby.....I'm sooo-......mmm~fuck" he whispered and moan in your ear.

Both of you came together.

Sunghoon suddenly pulls away and laids next to you with heavy breaths. You also felt breathless after going through the rollercoaster of joy. Sunghoon reaches next to you to cuddle up with you. He kisses your forehead and pats your hair softly. He reaches to grab one of your hands and cross his fingers between yours.

You turn around so your naked chest is touching his chest. You took your time to admire his face. " Sunghoon.....I love you..." You sincerely said by heart.

Sunghoon shows his sweet dimples smile and hugs you tightly. " I love you too my pretty princess...."

You lean to kiss him again but stop when you heard the sound of a door closing and Jungwon screaming. " IM HOME!.......mom can you make me my favorite curry?..."

" Yes son ..... where's your sister by the way?...." Your mother said.

You and Sunghoon looked at each other with horrifying expressions.

" Shit! They're here! Sunghoon hide under my bed now now!" You said not wasting any time. You dressed, fixed your bed, helped Sunghoon dressed and pushed him underneath the bed.

Looking naturally you came out of the room. " Y'all here already? I took a nap....." You said pretending you were slightly sleepy with your messy hair and mascara slightly running down your cheeks.

" Yeah....... Jungwon won the black belt!" Your father said excitedly suddenly giving a tight hug to Jungwon almost suffocating the poor adorable looking boy. Your mother did the same and after a second you did the same to go with flow although you do feel proud for your little brother.

" Ahhhh! I know I won, I shined! Now let me go-" Jungwon said annoyed wiggling himself from them.

" Congrats little bro, you deserve it for being so good at it " you winked at him. Jungwon grins at you and then gives you a pat on your shoulder.

"..…... cologne?....." He suddenly stop patting you as he got close to smell your neck. He widen his eyes unbelievably. " Sunghoon?.... ain't it? Was he here?" He asked you quietly still giving you a " are you serious" kind of look.

" He did.....he came by to give me the homework i made him do for me" you chuckled to yourself. " Then I thanked by giving him a hug.......hey by the way how do you know it's his?..." You asked now trying to mind of change the subject.

" You forgot he is also my friend? .....gosh Y/n when are you going to wake up! " Jungwon whined as he went to his own room.

You saw your parents where no longer in the kitchen or living room. You immediately run to your room.

" Sunghoon! Baby!" You whispered as you crouched down to help him pull up from the bed. "They're all out of sight! Leave now!" Sunghoon nodded, after getting out, he gives you a slow passionate kiss making you melt from it and just wrapped your arms around his neck.

Sunghoon pull away with a smirking grin. " You're sooo in love with me" he said before kissing your forehead. Quickly you check again.

"Come now!" You whispered and held his hand pulling him towards the entry door. " Goodnight love!" You said.

" Good night my lovely princess......gosh this feel like Romeo and Juliet...." Sunghoon shook his head before walking away. You closed the door and leaned against it.

" Oh Sunghoon...." You breath it out while touching your heart.

"Why does the couch smell....like Cologne?....and why are you standing there looking dumbly? And why is there food on the table?" Jungwon pass by and stare at you. You widen your eyes open. You forgot to put all the food away!

" and why don't you stop asking questions! The door was for me, I did have a movie marathon before taking a nap, oh and I let my friend Sunghoon sit with me and eat some food-"

" But the food looks untouched!" Jungwon said examining a popcorn curiously and trying it after it.

" oh my god Yang Jungwon just shut up! What do you want to hear from me? That I slept with him or something?..." You acted annoyed. Hopefully he believes in you cuz baby Jungwon can be quiet an observer and a doubter.

" So you did slept with him?" Suddenly gives you his signature Lenny Face. " MOM-" he screamed.

" JUNGWON! JUNGWON! what's wrong with you! I'm not like that! Gross! Me inviting some boy to sleep with in my own house is just simply disgusting and disrespectful......kid what do you even know you're just a child just go play Pokemon with Sunoo and Riki...." You pushed him away and sat on the couch grabbing some chips.

After a minute.

" Y/n! Your room smells like Sunghoon! I'm finally telling mom and dad!" You widen your eyes and jump from the couch. " Listen here you Jaden Smith wannabe! I didn't do shit you know Sunghoon can be very mischievous! That boy started messing around my house!"

" I know.....but his cologne is all over you as well THE couch and YOUR BEDROOM!......but not in any other area...... coincidence? " Jungwon smiled feeling proud in bothering you.

" Yang Jungwon go to hell....." You said getting into your room leaving a smirking Jungwon, leaning against the frame of his door with his arms crossed over his chest, feeling so proud in making you mad. Now he really pissed you off....but why though?.... You're not sure if he really believes you did anything naughty with your Sunghoon but you still gotta convince him you don't have anything to do with your secretly boyfriend.

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×Text Messages×

❄️SUNGHOON ⛸️❣️

Hey princess did anything weird happen today?

YOU

Besides me and you had a great time together today... 🤔 Actually yes! Jungwon is already suspecting about us! But don't worry daddy imma convince him there is nothing btw us 😉😏🙈🙊💦👅😋

❄️SUNGHOON ⛸️❣️

D-DADDY?!!

Umm...ok babe....you really good at convincing! Like the way you convince me to do your hw....and to do you....🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥-

YOU

Park Sunghoon......you better stop~~~🥵🥵🙊🥵🥵🙊

❄️SUNGHOON ⛸️❣️

Hewhew you started it princess 😉😏

Anyway goodnight tomorrow i got dance practices so gotta sleep early.....have nice dreams about me😘😘

YOU

You mean wet-skskskskss ok my baby my prince goodnight and have hot dreams about me😏😘😉🔥

❄️SUNGHOON ⛸️❣️

Ok why are we so dirty!? 🤔🙈 anyway

I Love You ♥️

YOU

Idk love were meant to be like this together 💖

LOVE YOU BABY💕

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yyuuna · 3 years

Note

i’m not sure if your requests are open ( ignore this if they aren’t :00 ) but the fake dating trope witj todoroki and bakugo bdjnebfb

fake dating

—fake dating with them

includes: s. todoroki / k. bakugo

pairing: various x reader

genre: fluff

disclaimer: lowercase intended

warning: swearing

a/n: i triED 🏃🏻‍♀️ i’ve seen tropes like this all the time but i still couldn’t get it done nicely but here u go,,

—todoroki

despite having literally no idea about what’s going on, he’s no snitch

simply doesn’t care

will submit to ur plans because he’d think why not?? a friend is in dire need of help, so why shouldn’t he help?

ok, on to the story

as u were walking down the hallway of the school building’s second third floor, u spot someone

his name is sora, ur stalker during middle school—he’s rly creepy

by creepy, i mean he used to harass you with his undying love during lunch time, touching you whenever he can, bombard you with diabetes during valentines day, invading your privacy, lying to everyone that you’re together

a squeak make its way out to escape from your lips as your widened eyes stare at sora

thankfully, the joyous screams and boisterous laughs coming from the school fair had weakened his senses, thus not being able to immediately see your cowering figure

he was hard to shoo away back then

despite being able to defend yourself from him back then, him being annoying is rather intolerable

so u sneakily go down the stairs cz u dont want sora to notice nor harass u

buttttt sora caught sight of you—after all, you’re the reason he came to UA’s school fair

“[name]! come back here!” he yelled, jogging to make his way to you

ur run suddenly accelerated tenfold

u kinda caught todoroki’s attention bcz ur shoes were clacking rly loud on the floor

todoroki was just standing there, looking at u

he just got out of the classroom

“oh thank god—todoroki!” you gestured to him as your panic withers away

well at least until sora’s voice stiffened you again

“[name], let me talk to you.” sora grabbed your shoulder rather too harshly

“what do you want? why are you even here?” u back away, but he only gets closer

“what, didn’t you miss me?” he smirked, contradicting the disgusted scowl on your face

todoroki awkwardly stood there, silently watching the exchange

“c’mon, everybody knows we’re together, so i wanted to take you out with a couple of friends” sora took ahold of your hand, caressing your palm

honestly, you just want to go home

so your eyes swiveled at anything but him, looking for nothing in particular

until ur sight lands of todoroki

“shou~can we go to our date now? im rly hungry” u interlocked ur hand with his as u escape from sora’s hold

ok, he was genuinely confused but uh

“uh sure...” todoroki said

sora scoffed “psh, him? ur boyfriend?”

at this, todoroki’s ear started to heat up—and no his quirk is not in on this

he does have a crush on u, but he doesn’t know he actually has a crush on u. all he knows is that he admires ur strength and many more traits than he does to anyone else

“whatever, we’re still not done, [name]” sora smirked, his finger seductively tracing your jaw before leaving u two

todoroki obviously sensed the danger, pulling u closer to him

“i’ll walk w u” he stared at u

u two started walking towards the exit of the campus, not bothering to separate ur hands—which is most likely his idea

“uh, thanks...sorry about earlier. i didn’t mean to use u—well i kinda did but he’s creepy”

“okay” he casually said

nearing the exit, u began walking to the opposite direction, only to be stopped when he didn’t seem to let go of ur hand

“i thought u were hungry?” he asked

“no i—well yeah, im hungry but it was also with the pretend part, right? i mean, we aren’t together to go on a date” u chuckled awkwardly, though his face stayed indifferent

“date...? is that so....” he trailed off, looking down in thoughts “then if you’re hungry, we should go on that date”

he’s cluelesssssss

“eh? well sure i guess...?”

“okay”

that’s ur first date. by first date i mean there r following dates

—bakugo

sooo im not sure if this is exactly fake dating but the concept is there,, skshjs i need more ideassss

kinda aged up? i mean u two r on an official mission

he’s the type of person who’s against fake dating shit because it’s “fucking stupid” but honestly, he inwardly don’t mind at all

anyway, the group of villains u two were assigned to catch was in a high official party (a ball of some sort), so obv u attend there

as u two were slowly getting information, leading them where u can easily catch them without getting the civilians’ attention, u heard one of ur enemies’ micro transceiver (walkie talkie microchip things on their ear)

“enemy is wearing a fur coat, has [h/c] hair that’s tied up, and is around [height] feet tall” said the person on the other line

the enemy’s eyes widened, but before he could catch u, u ran towards ur partner, bakugo, and pulled him to one of balconies

“what the hell?!”

“they’re onto us!” u whisper yelled, hiding ur coat somewhere while taking off ur hair tie

u heard footsteps, perhaps they have already found out where u both went

“there’s no time!” u hissed, pushing bakugo on his knee

“OH MY GOD...YES! OF COURSE I’LL MARRY U!” u excitedly chanted

“huh?”

bakugo was about to throw profanities when the enemies entered his peripheral vision

u saw this too, but the enemies seemed like they were still about to pester u two

lmao so u pulled the blond up, laying ur face on the crook of his neck to imitate a make out session

and ur right thigh laid against his hip before u pulled his hand to grab it

his other palm encased ur waist, helping u

u can feel his heartbeat accelerating as ur body rests against his own

and ofccc pda makes people uncomfy

“sir, we lost her” u heard one of the enemies relay before they leave them

ur breath fanned his neck as his ears figuratively burned

“get off, dumbass” though his words were harsh as a sand paper, the way he pulled u away, on the other hand, was gentle as a feather

“u know once the agency learns about this, they’re gonna send your annoying ass with me all the time for fucking missions” he scowled despite actually wanting to have u as his partner

“yeah...probably some fake couple missions”

tags; @mayukhii @innersooya

270 notes · View notes

ofstarsandvibranium · 4 years

Text

Traditions of the Court

Fandom: Criminal Minds (Royalty AU)

Pairing: Spencer Reid x F!Reader

Summary: You grew up around Spencer, since his mom was your teacher growing up. You two grow up together and he ends up taking his mother’s place, while you become ready to become Queen. But what’s to happen when you and he realize that you have feelings for each other?

A/N: this is like 3.5k words because I didn’t feel like breaking it up into chapters. Anyway, sit back, relax, and enjoy!

“But mother-”

“No, Y/N. You need to attend your classes like everyone else. Just because you’re the princess, doesn’t mean you can’t get an education like the other children in the court.”

You groan as you drag yourself into the library where several other children of royal court members are. Mrs. Reid’s face lightens up when she sees you, “Y/N, dear! Wonderful! We’re just about to start! Take any available seat and we’ll get started.”

You sigh as you trudge over to an empty seat near the back next to a boy who doesn’t look like a he’d be a child of the court, “Who’re you?” the young boy is startled when you address him and pushes his glasses up his nose, “I’m, um, Spencer. Spencer Reid. My mom’s the teacher.”

“Are you even allowed to be here?”

He nodded, “Yes, uh, the Queen, your mother, said it was alright. Do-Do you want me to move, Princess Y/N?”

You sigh and shake your head, “No, it’s okay. And you can just call me, Y/N.”

“Oh, okay, Y/N.” Spencer mumbles and goes to pay attention to his mother’s instructions. Throughout class, he sees you looking sad, dejected. So while his mother is helping another student, he leans over, “Are you okay?”

You shrug, “Not really fond of going to class.”

“How come?”

“I don’t think it’s very interesting. I’d rather be learning how to defend myself with my father and the Royal Guards.”

“Well, if you’re going to be queen someday, it’s important for you to know this stuff. The geography of our kingdoms and surrounding kingdoms, the history of our country and your family, how to speak publically, appear proper, all of that stuff.”

You look at him a little confused, “You’re not even a court member’s child. Why are you here? It’s not important for you.”

He shrugged, “I like to learn new things, plus, I’ll be taking over teaching when my mom gets too old. So it’s better to learn stuff now rather than later. I remember all kinds of stuff.”

You hummed, looking down at the books in front of you, “Think you can help me then? Since all of this isn’t my kind of thing?”

“S-Sure.”

It was during class and the extra tutoring on the side that you and Spencer ended up getting close. From when you were seven year olds up to when you were eighteen, he’d been by your side. He’d read while you attended your fencing and archery lessons. He’d wait for you while you shadowed your parents during court meetings. He was there when your father died due to an unknowing heart attack. He was there for it all until...

“You’re leaving me?” you looked at him with saddened eyes.

“It’ll only be for a few years. I want to travel around and learn as much as I can before I come back and take my mother’s place as the court’s educator.” his hands rest on your shoulders and you look down in solemn, “It’s not forever, Y/N.”

“But we’re always together, Spence. You’ve been there for everything and-and-”

“Do you want me to stay?” he asks softly. You look up at him and he asks again, “Y/N, do you want me to stay? If you do, then I’ll stay.” you search his eyes and see that he’s completely serious. But you also see the yearning in his eyes, the need to explore and learn more.

“I do, but I won’t ask you to say. I can’t be selfish with you, Spencer.” you sigh and choke back a sob, “You’ll write to me, right?”

“Every chance I get,” he says with a smile and he pulls you into a hug, “I’ll miss you, Y/N.”

You hug him back with a sigh, “I’ll miss you too, Spencer.”

3 Years Later

Spencer leans against the carriage watching landscape and farmlands pass by. It’s been seen he’s left his home. In the three years he’s earned higher levels of education, learned so many new things, met so many new people. And then when his three years was up, he was going back home.

He was so anxious to be home again. In a good way and a bad way. Good because he gets to see his mother again, bad because, well, he’ll be seeing you again.

Within his first year abroad, you and Spencer exchanged letters. When the second year rolled around, the letters lessened. Eventually, the third year, he received no word from you. He didn’t know if something happened or if you just no longer wanted to keep contact. Either way, he didn’t send a letter back to you, not wanting to be a nuisance.

Growing up by your side, a love blossomed within Spencer. A love for you. Yes, you struggled with your lessons, but the more Spencer helped, the more you were able to get it. Eventually, you didn’t need him to tutor you anymore, but you still wanted him around. You two played with each other, read in the library. You tried to teach him fencing, but that didn’t go well. Despite your differences, you found friendship within one another. And for Spencer, he found love.

He was fourteen when he realized he loved you. You and he were in the gardens. He sat under a tree reading while you went around collecting flowers. He didn’t look up until he heard you giggling.

He saw the mischievous look in your eyes, “What are you up to?”

“Nothing. I have a gift for you.”

“What is it?” from behind your back, you pulled out a flower crown you’ve woven together of branches and flowers, “That’s for me?”

“Yup!” you bend down to rest it on his head, “There. You’re the king of the gardens now!” you giggled, sitting beside him and resting along the trunk of the tree.

Spencer looks to you and he feels his breath hitch when he sees that soft smile on your lips. You looked so pretty, so happy. He imagined leaning in and kissing you, but that wasn’t right. You’re the princess and he’s just the son of your teacher. You could never be.

From then on, despite his ever growing love for you, he kept his feelings hidden. And it broke his heart when he told you that he was leaving. It broke his heart even more when you stopped exchanging letters with him.

But all of that must be pushed aside. He has a job to do now.

__________

“This is so unnecessary,” you groan at the big poofy dress you were currently trying on. Your friends, Emily and Jennifer, or as she liked to be referred to as JJ, both snicker at you, “Tradition is tradition,” Emily jests and you roll your eyes.

“Once I’m queen, to Hell with tradition,” you grumble, causing your friends to snicker more, “No more poofy dressed or corsets forced upon me or any lady of the court!” Your bedroom doors swing open and you dive behind the changing screen with a yelp. You peek from behind and see Penelope rushing in.

“Oh, it’s you, Penelope,” you step out from behind the changing screen.

Penelope practically stumbles over to you, slightly out of breath, “I-I-You-You need to-” she stops, clutching her sides, “Hold on,” you, Emily, and JJ smirk at each other in amusement and Penelope straightens up, “You will not believe who I saw!”

“Do tell, my analyst friend.”

“Spencer Reid!” she exclaimed with a squeal.

Emily and JJ sat up, “Spencer Reid? As in our teacher’s son?” JJ asked.

“The Spencer who attended lessons with us and the one that Y/N was sooo in love with when we were children?”

You scowled at your friends, marching over to your bed and whacking them with your pillow, “I wasn’t in love with him!”

“Yes, you were!” the three women, proceeding to giggle at your frown.

“Whatever! We haven’t exchanged letters within a year and a half. I don’t owe him my presence and I don’t expect him wanting to see me.”

Your door begins to open again and, with another yelp, you dive back behind the changing screen.

You hear your mother’s voice as she greets the three ladies in your room and then she addresses you, “How does the gown fit, Y/N?”

You frown when you come out from behind the screen once more, “I hate it.”

“As did I when I was your age.”

“So why do I have to wear it?!”

Your mother sighs and shakes her head, “Y/N, this dress has been passed down for decades. Many women from the royal family wore this dress on their twenty-first birthday. It has a special significance in this family. And since you’re part of this family, you’re wearing it.”

You mumble out a, “Fine,” and your mother nods, “Perfect. Now change out of that and hang it. Also, someone would like to see you in the gardens. Don’t keep them waiting.”

Your mother leaves and once she’s gone, Emily, JJ, and Penelope help you out of your gown and corset.

_____________

Spencer has never felt so unsure about himself. Despite your lack of contact, he never once stopped thinking about you, never stopped caring about you. Maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe he shouldn’t have requested your presence at all. He slips your birthday present back into his satchel and he’s ready to leave, but he hears your voice and it makes him freeze.

“You requested to see me, sir?”

He turns around and he’s taken back. In the three years he’s been away, you’ve grown into a beautiful young woman. The day that your day gown hangs around your body, the way that the sunlight hits your skin, it creates this glow about you that makes you seem...ethereal.

“S-Spencer,” you practically whisper.

He approaches you but still keeps some distance away, “Hi, um, Y/N-Princess-Princess Y/N?”

You can’t help the giggle that escapes you, “Y/N is still fine, Spencer.”

“Oh. Okay, um,” he opens his satchel and digs out your present, “Happy birthday.” he holds it out and you see that it’s a book with a ribbon of your favorite color wrapped around it.

You take it, undoing the ribbon and flipping open the book. You see Spencer handwriting and your name written out - Dear Y/N...

You flip through other pages, seeing your name at the header and he proceeds to tell you what he’s done throughout his day, what he’s learned. You see little doodles, pressed leaves and flowers within the pages.

You close the book and look back at Spencer, “What is this?”

“After our letters stopped, I-I don’t know-I felt the need to continue to write to you so I started a journal. Telling you everything about my time away from home.”

“Why?”

“...Because I missed you.”

“If you missed me, you shouldn’t have stopped writing me back.”

Spencer looks at you with confusion, “I didn’t stop writing you back. You stopped writing me back!”

“No, I didn’t!”

“Yes, you did! I sent two or three letters within weeks of each other and I never heard a word back! You just stopped replying!”

“Princess Y/N,” you look back to see Lady Strauss looking at you with a stern gaze, “You’re needed at court.”

You clench your jaw and look back to Spencer, “I need to go,” you push the book back to Spencer and pick up your gown, walking away from him. You pass Lady Strauss with a nod and she watches you head to the court room.

Lady Strauss then turns to Spencer, “Know your place, boy. She’s a princess. You’re a teacher. You’re from two different worlds. It’s not meant to be.” with that, the older woman leaves, leaving Spencer to feel confused and dejected.

____________

“The audacity of him!” you gasp when your handmaidens pull at the strings of your corset, “He really thinks that I stopped replying to his letters? Why would I? How could I? And erase our years of friendship together? I can’t believe him!” you gasp again and your maidens apologize, “It’s alright. These things are just....horrendous,” you grumble.

It took hours to get you ready for your birthday ball, but you were ready. You waited for everyone to enter the ballroom, standing by your mother’s side. This was supposed to be a happy event, but you just felt so sad and angry.

“Smile, darling. It’s a joyous occasion,” your mother mumbles before the doors swing open for you two to enter the ballroom. You put on a fake smile and entered the room, everyone bowing as you passed them.

“Everyone, please enjoy yourselves!” your mother announced. The band started up again and you immediately went for some wine.

“Already?” you hear as you gulp down an entire glass. You turn to see JJ and Emily smirking at you.

You roll your eyes, “I’ve had a long day.”

“So...how was seeing Spencer again?” JJ asked with a smirk and you narrowed your eyes at her, “What? Word travels fast!”

You took another glass of wine, gulping that down, “I swear, Jennifer, you’ll turn out to be likes these gossiping hags,” you muttered, causing Emily to burst into laughter.

“If it wasn’t your birthday, Y/N, I would pour wine over that hideous dress.”

“Please, do.”

You smile at your best friends as you hook your arms around theirs, “Now let’s go mingle, ladies.”

______________

After dinner, your mother stood up, wine glass in hand, “Everyone. I’d like to thank you again for coming tonight to celebrate my Y/N’s twenty-first birthday. Not only does this year signify you finally becoming a woman, Y/N, it also means that this will be the year that you will find a husband.” you nervously gulp as your mother raises her glass up, everyone, including you, doing the same.

“To Princess Y/N!”

Like earlier before, you gulped down your wine, excusing yourself for some air. You move to a balcony that overlooks the kingdom. The cool air refreshes your face. The music and festivities continue inside while you’re trying to calm yourself outside.

“Are you okay?” you jump, hearing a sudden voice.

You look over your shoulder to see Spencer. He’s in a white button-up with black slacks. It’s not as luxurious as what the other men are wearing inside, but you had admit he still looks good.

You look back out to the kingdom when you ask, “What are you doing here? I don’t recall you being invited.”

“My mom was invited and I’m her plus one,” he states as he joins you at the stone railing of the balcony. He lets out a deep breath and rests his drink onto the platform, “What happened to us, Y/N?”

“You stopped-”

“I didn’t. But apparently neither did you, so it begs the question: who stopped our letters from reaching each other?”

“Princess Y/N,” you both turn around to see Lady Strauss, “You should really be mingling with your guests inside instead of this peasant boy.”

Spencer’s jaw clenches and nose flares in anger. For the second time today, Lady Strauss has interrupted you both and has insulted Spencer. Again, you excuse yourself from Spencer’s presence.

“What did I say-”

“She looked upset. I was just checking on her, that’s it,” he sneers and moves to leave, but Lady Strauss grabs him tightly by the wrist, “Stay away from her, boy. You can never be together. What do you have to offer her? A sickly mother and an annoying array of knowledge? You have nothing to provide for a princess. So whatever silly feelings you had for her growing up, get rid of them,” she sneers and let’s go of his wrist.

Spencer rubs his wrist as he goes back to his mother. How does Lady Strauss know so much about him?

________________

Spencer allowed his mother to continue teaching until the end of the month. In the meantime, he’d be refreshing up on information in another part of the library, while also doing a secret project on the side. The librarian and historical analyst, Penelope, aided him whenever he needed. Penelope had a certain set of skills that were very helpful on finding certain information.

“So what Sir Derek from the Royal Guards told me that he heard from Lady Emily that she heard from Lady JJ that she-”

“Penelope-”

“Right! So, Strauss assigned some men to interfere with your letters. According to whoever our sources may be, she didn’t like how you two got very close, thus ruining her plans of getting our dearest princess wedded to her son.”

“It was her behind this all along. That-That-That hag! Because of her, I’ve lost my friendship with Y/N and now I may never get to tell her how I really feel!”

“Well, my knowledgeable friend, our dear princess will be coming in soon to read to some of the court’s children. You can tell her then!”

Spencer liked the idea but he shook his head, “I can’t. Despite my anger towards Lady Strauss, she’s right. Y/N and I are from two different worlds. If she did return my affections and we did end up together, I’m to be king alongside her. I’m not king material, Penelope.”

The analyst shrugged, “You’re kind, loyal, caring, logical, strategic. Sounds like a king to me.”

“But I can’t protect the kingdom if need be. I never found interest in swordfighting or archery.”

“Y/N does, so that means you don’t need to worry about that.”

“But still Y/N. I’m...I’m not enough.”

“Let me decide on that,” Spencer heard your voice and looked up to see you standing there some distance away.

“Y/N!” he stood up abruptly, “I-uh-”

“Uuuuhhh coming!” Penelope cried out and scrambled away from the two of you.

You slowly approached him and he gulped, “H-How much of that did you hear?”

“Which part? The part about Lady Strauss being a scheming hag? Or the part about you having affections for me and being afraid that I won’t return the sentiment?”

“Y/N-”

“I was so heartbroken when your letters stopped coming in. I thought-I thought you no longer wanted to speak to me, that you found comfort in someone else. I loved you and I felt my heart shatter when I didn’t hear a peep from you. And now it turns out that one of my mother’s advisors was behind my heartbreak and not you. It’s...overwhelming.”

“You loved me?” Spencer asked in disbelief and you nodded, “I thought it was obvious, honestly. How I always wanted to spend time you, how I barely entertained being the presence of other boys.”

“I thought it was because we were best.”

“No, it was because I loved you. And seeing you again on my birthday, despite me being upset with you, everything came rushing back. I don’t think I ever really stopped loving you, Spencer.”

“Neither did I,” he breathed out, hands coming up to cup your face, “May I-May I kiss you?”

“Please,” you whispered, leaning in for your lips to meet his. The kiss was soft and gentle and everything you always imagined a first kiss to be.

When you both pull away for air, you’re both smiling and chuckling, relishing the feeling of being in each other’s arms.

“Marry me,” he murmurs.

“What?”

“We’ve loved each other since we were children. And I can’t promise that I will be a good king, but I’m willing to learn to be, as long as you’re by my side.”

“Do you mean it?” you ask with such elatedness.

He nods, “Yes. So, will you?”

“Yes! Oh god, yes, I will marry you!” you kiss him again, but pull back with a gasp, “What will my mother say?”

“She will say that you have her blessing,” you see your mother standing there beside a nervous Penelope.

“I’m-I’m sorry, Y/N. She was looking for you and she’s the queen and I didn’t think you two would be-well-”

You chuckle out, “It’s okay, Penelope.”

Your mother walks towards the both of you, hands clasped in front of her, “I always knew you two were meant for each other, ever since you were children. It doesn’t surprise me that you love each other and want to be with one another.” she has a fond smile on her face as she glances down at your intertwined hands.

“You really give us your blessing, mother? Even if Spencer isn’t part of the court?”

“Well, you always said that some traditions need to die out. Might as well start now,” she smiles widely and you throw your arms around her, whispering, “Thank you.”

_______________

Months later into the year, you’re standing beside Spencer wearing a beautiful red and gold dress while he stands before you wearing the most regal uniform you’ve ever seen. Your wedding, a month previous to this, was a beautiful one filled with love, tears, and kisses.

The officiant holds out the crown above you, “I now pronounce you Queen Y/N and King Spencer. Long live the king and queen!”

With crowns donning your hands, you and Spencer stand, hand in hand, while everyone proclaims, “Long live the king and queen!”

#spencer reid #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid imagine #criminal minds #criminal minds imagine #criminal minds au #royalty au

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theinvisibledreamergirl · 3 years

Text

Has everything changed?

Pairing: Ethan Ramsey x F!MC (Klaw Craig)

Words count: ~ 2.5k

Category: Angst

A.N: Sooo I know that I’m late but with everything that happened in the first episode of OH Book 3 I decided to do some changes. I know you’ll hate me. Waiting for your thoughts!

MASTERLIST

———————————————————

The third year of residency began for our doctors of Edenbrook Hospital. Sorry BloomBrook Hospital. Oops again it’s Bloom Edenbrook ladies and gentlemen. Mistakes happen please.

More like a broom which has cleaned all of what the old hospital looked like.

And it had cleaned people’s character too.

And she knew this was going to happen one day. Before she would sleep her mind would go in the most irrelevant thoughts and think about what rich people can do to the other category.

The middle classes and the poor ones.

Of course she was part of the rich people but never spent her money for her pleasure nor she did accept her parents money to live. Because she wanted to be independent and to show that she could do everything on her own until the day of being a doctor came.

Her friends were the most excited ones to see the big changes of their new (as she would call) “tourists attraction” hospital and the facilities that were put in every corner like it was a casino’s place or a museum with advanced technology equipments. She didn’t share the same thoughts with them. When Jackie, Bryce and Rafael invited her to the massage place she refused it and said the same thing to Elijah for playing ping pong. While Sienna was enjoying the new coffee machine Aurora saw her leaving the rest room with a concerned look.

“Hey.” She took her arm gently. “You okay? You seem to be lost on yourself.”

“Do I really give that impression?”

“Well if we don’t see you carefully then it is obvious. Look... I know that your tensing and I can imagine what’s like but I think we should try to fit into this kind of-“

“Change? No thanks. I don’t think I will... I just need to go Aurora and please tell the others that I’m in an operation room.”

“Sure...as you wish Klaw. But if you need to talk again I’m here. We are here.”

She only nodded with a smile.

Klaw wasn’t mad about this. Of course she wanted the best for the hospital and in many others too. To provide everything in need for the patients. But the thing she worried about was the fact that Leland would be always sneaking into the diagnostics office and reminding her team to work about his wife’s case. She didn’t know how someone like him can be such a deliberate and a money maniac to take over a hospital which he didn’t have any idea how to actually handle it.

Klaw had a fear that his stubbornness and insistence will give serious affects to all of the medical staff and all of this façade would break down (that she really hoped) one day and someone else would direct it.

She was thinking of someone who knows all the struggles, all the concerns and all the medical training staff.

The one and only.

Dr. Naveen Banerji.

He was the best option for her to be not only the chief but the boss of this building. One of the most hardworking doctors in his forty years of experience in the field of medicine- who else could surpass him?

But he was nowhere to be seen and Klaw started to worry if Bloom had done something to him. She could feel a pang on her chest that something wasn’t right.

All of this glorious and masquerade day would be soon vanished and then the real face of Leland Bloom would appear and no one- not even the bravest doctors could face him if he or she didn’t want to lose their jobs.

She had to find the answers.

Ethan.

She opened the door of Diagnostics Office where she finds unexpectedly Harper Emery seated comfortably on her chair, Ethan the same too and also a never-seen-such pensive Baz staring blankly at a point. She could understand his condition right now and she wanted nothing more than to give him a friends comfort hug.

It was really strange to see Harper in the diagnostics team but in the same time she was glad for her presence as with her intelligence could help the team solving the cases. In fact she was hoping if Jackie or Aurora would join the team because they both have worked hard for the place she was holding now. But maybe because June was an attending it had to be replaced by another attending considering that Harper wasn’t anymore the Chief of Medicine. She congratulated her, gave a hug and then began with their first case.

Ethan could feel that even behind of that smile and reasonable face of his resident was something doubtful that he knew very well. Maybe it was about Harper’s appearance. He knew that she wasn’t jealous and never would be. Klaw had such an ego that sometimes had scared him and many times he thought that if her character was really like this. He should’ve told her before Harper would join the team and felt somehow guilty about it considering now that their past was gone for good.

In the meantime a voice interrupted them which definitely made them annoyed. Especially her.

“Well here’s our best diagnostics team working along fighting to beat the impossible things!” He saw their hardened gazes as he leaned on the door. “Am I interrupting something doctors?”

Klaw’s chest was rising and falling from his scrutinised face that asked such a dumb question and couldn’t even hold herself. “Yes you are interrupting us. Are you happy now?”

“Ouch Dr. Craig.” He acted as if he was hurt. “That was really mean. I expected better from you and your leaving during my speech gave me a slight concern.” His voice was playful and didn’t seem to care that much what the young resident just admitted.

Yes- she left. When he grabbed the microphone standing in the center of everyone up in the railway and giving his speech of the new Edenbrook she couldn’t stand it and walked away while digging fingers on her palms whereas her friends were still standing there listening.

Her debate with Bloom when he gave the cheque- that day was still imprinted on her mind and couldn’t forget it. She ripped it without thinking twice. Not even taking her friend’s or Ethan’s opinion because she knew the game of the rich: ‘Once you give your palm, they take your arm.’ And she knew he remembered too- the scene in front of her still fresh on her mind.

“I will never and ever make compromise with someone like you because I know how you are going to treat us. Firstly you’ll just do some cocktails party and you’ll build all the facilities the hospital needs until everyone would be gawked by your marvelous project. Then after seeing these the doctors and the nurses will forget their duties and start to have much more fun with their high wages that a hell knows what will happen next and then all this thing of yours will turn not into a hospital- but into a circus. And you will be the main clown.”

He then admired her witty response and said it was just a testing for her but she could tell that he was pissed off when she left his mansion.

By the way Mr. Bloom your constant trying to make the impossible to possible will be a failure. I suggest to you to spend your time with something much more valuable.

And she hoped he would give up. But no.

“You should be worried.” She replied angrily not breaking her glare.

“Dr. Craig.” Ethan reminded again and gave her a stoic expression to not continue it anymore because it wasn’t worthy. She silenced herself letting him handle it. “Yes Leland do you have any issues that you came here suddenly?”

“Oh nothing at all... just wanted to see how your team selects the cases.”

Is he serious?

“Simple. I review the available cases and select the ones most needing our attention. Why? Are you planning to ‘overhaul’ that process as well?”

“Oh not at all! Your team’s reputation is stellar, so you’re clearly doing something right.” Said with a chuckle. “Rest assured, I want to make sure you still choose cases that interest and challenge you. That part won’t be changed.”

Ethan nodded in agreement or almost in agreement. “Right as I was saying-.”

“I only have one request. I want this team to run more democratically... horizontal leadership if you will. In my experience, hierarchies are the death of good ideas.”

Klaw narrowed her eyebrows to a shocking-but-composing-himself Ethan knowingly as if giving him a message.

‘You wanted to deal with him? Here he is. Right in front of you.’

Harper saw her hardened gaze fixated to Ethan as they exchanged quick glances. She knew they were both stubborn people but never thought Klaw would react such in that way towards Leland. It wasn’t her. Harper knew her limits and she needed a bit of comfort later.

“But...why?” Baz finally asked and it was weird to Klaw that she was hearing his voice now. This was a strange feeling. “Our team has worked perfectly with Ethan’s leadership... and if you’re impressed with your results...”

“Ahh but what if those results could be even more impressive? We can’t know without at least running a test.”

Ethan scratched his beard in thoughts. “I see your point. You’re saying that every team needs its own leadership.” Maybe that wasn’t such a bad idea to him he thought even though he didn’t want to agree with everything he said.

“Exactly! I’m glad you understood it! So your votes are-?”

“Obviously I vote for yes. I think there’s no one else who could say no.”

“I’m with Ethan since he’s the expert here. Baz what about you?” Harper asked.

“Oh me? Uhm... yeah I vote the same way.”

“Wha-“

“What about you Dr. Craig?” This time it was Leland who was asking while cutting Harper to do the same. Harper tried to smile even though she was annoyed too.

That seemed to get her attention back to reality. Because she was pretending to not listen to them even though it was disrespectful and she didn’t care.

While they were talking she got a message from Edgar that Naveen hadn’t been in the hospital today altogether with Zaid and Simon. What the hell was going on? Have these men been dusted from Bloom or what? Whatever the reason her suspicions were going to form the puzzle inside of her mind. And she hoped it wouldn’t be an unsolved issue.

“I vote for... No.” She said indifferently catching everyone’s attention. Ethan’s especially while he was parting his lips. “I don’t think that we are prepared well enough to form new leaderships in our new teams. We need to do a lot of training for interns and residents who want to be part of this kind of programme and I think is going to take a lot of time.”

“I see...Well sorry to say it but the most wins Dr. Craig.” His expression was in an amusing way. “And I think you should agree with the new...changes.”

“Of course I will Mr. Bloom.” She said with a plastered smile but surely was cursing under her breath.

With that he left the office when his phone rang giving them now the space the doctors needed. They discussed the case and set the treatment but the resident was not so much interested on it as that rat face wouldn’t get out from her mind. Harper and Baz had already left and she was about to do the same but his voice (as always) stopped her.

“Can we talk a bit?”

“For what? About how I seem to you right now? Jealous to Harper?” She scoffed.

“What? I didn’t say anything and my discussion is n-.”

“You didn’t but yet I can see that. Your eyes are telling me that you still think I am that clueless intern girl right?”

“How can you even think about this? I’ve never called you clueless and I know that you’re not jealous about Harper.”

She looked like she wasn’t believing him and it worried him as how was possible that she had lost it? Did she lost his trust? Then before he could add something else she didn’t let him speak again.

“How could you agree with him?” Obviously the question was for Bloom and Ethan was thinking for mere seconds if she heard his words before or not.

“It was the only way.”

“You think by siding with him everything would go as flowing as it was?”

This was already too much to him. Enough was enough.

“And with your behaviour you think you can solve anything?” He spit back.

“Excuse me?” She frowned shockingly.

“Yes- your snarky, ironic responses are not helping us and we’re just losing our time instead of doing our job!”

“So you think that just because I didn’t agree with you and with the others my opinion doesn’t matter? Oh wait I forgot you are my boss and I should do as you please huh? Well if you are wrong then you are Dr. Ramsey so I won’t shut up my mouth when there’s injustice here!”

“This is not about injustice here! It has been since in the ancient times and no one has ever stopped it!” When he saw where the debate was going he decided to ease it a bit. He didn’t want to fight with her. “Look I’m worried too as much as you are but you don’t have to act like this.”

She said those words before she could stop them. She regretted so much. “Oh you care about me so much don’t you!”

That behaviour.

That cold demeanour.

That selfish character was back and was slapped at Ethan’s face.

He thought she had changed a bit.

From what he remembered from her first year her behaviour was only because of avoiding her feelings but this- was entirely something else.

Egoistic. Which he didn’t except that.

He clearly was disappointed given after everything they’ve been through these past three years.

Something was for sure- she would never change and felt a pang on his chest that now it wasn’t his fault about this.

It was hers.

“Get out.”

“What?”

“I said- GET OUT!” His anger was raised so much that made her jolt. That authoritative voice was back again and her heartbeats accelerated. “Until you don’t get your shit together don’t even try to step in this office!”

She knew she had crossed her limits by her words. She had hurt him so badly that there was no excuse of making up with him so instead she walked out and slammed the door behind it.

He knew he had crossed his limits too. If he could analyse it overall she was right in a way. Leland was trying to be everywhere and meddling with his theories about how a medical team should work and how the medicine should be which was completely out of his league.

Both of them were madly in love but this time the scars of the past seemed to not leave them alone.

-----------------------------------------

P. S: Ouch this was damnnnn. Thank you for reading folks. And guess what? Now I have downloaded tumblr on my phone which gives me much more time to edit and write fics. If school gives me time of course 🙄 And if you have seen emojis from me lately yeah it’s because of new iphone 😂😂😂 And do you want a 2nd part of this? Let me know!

TAGS WILL APPEAR IN A REBLOG!

PART TWO

#open heart fan fiction #open heart choices #open heart fan fic #ethan ramsey #my mc #klaw craig #ethan ramsey x mc #klaw x ethan #my writing #OH book 3 rewrite

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dragonologist-in-the-making · 4 years

Text

A Second Chance at Love

Pairing: Sirius x reader

Request: Can you do an older Sirius x reader, (she's in her 20s) and they're both in the order and he starts to fall in love with her?she's a badass but also quiet and a sweetheart and brings him so much peace bc older sirius deserves happiness🙄

Hi! I’m sorry if it sounds weird, but I’m honestly in love with this idea! Sirius and the reader have been together for like two years while at Hogwarts and then they broke up and started hating each other. They both join the Order and they have to go on a mission together and it’s like really dangerous. They have to fight Death Eaters and she jumps in front of him to protect him and she gets hurt and they make up, please? I love lovers to enemies to lovers so much!! Thank you, lovely!! (by @i-padfootblack-things)

A/N: Hope you don’t mind that I put these together! I spent sooo long writing this, hopefully it’s actually good haha (pls feedback is very welcome). Thank you for the two requests, this was my first time writing for older Sirius and I hope it went well!! Also, what was the Headquarters in the marauders era? Was there one? Was it Grimmauld place?

Wordcount: 2.4K

The atmosphere in the room was extremely tense, not a breath to be heard as the two old lovers glared at each other across the table. Nobody spoke, wary of what the outcome would be.

Finally, she broke it, pushing herself back from the table with a sigh and a shake of her head. “I’m not doing it.” She insisted, and with that the silence snapped, and shouts echoed around the room.

“Y/N you’re the best two people for the job, you have to!” Lily called at her.

“We can’t be the best two people, we don’t work well together.” She insisted, feeling the anger bubble up at her that someone even suggested she work with him.

“You always used to work flawlessly together.” She pointed out, a defiant look in her bright green eyes.

“Yeah, well, we used to love each other.” Sirius spoke up, the first time he had since Dumbledore had given them both the mission. “Now I think we’re in the exact opposite mindset.”

y/n felt a slight stinging at his words. Did they hate each other? She didn’t think so. Sure, she was uncomfortable when they were alone in a room together, and she found herself rolling her eyes at almost everything he said. But, she still looked for him first when she walked in a room, she listened out for what he was saying, and then agreed with the opposite, no matter what it was just to gain his attention. No, she didn’t think she hated him at all, the animosity she had felt towards him had faded into a mild tolerance, even if he clearly didn’t feel the same about her.

She sat back down in her seat, covering her face with her hand and sighing as everyone else went quiet. She peeked out from behind her hand at Dumbledore, who had remained perfectly silent and perfectly calm throughout the whole exchange, even seeming slightly bemused.

“There’s no other way?” She asked quietly, knowing his answer and wishing it could be something else.

“As I said, you two will be going on this mission together. It shouldn’t be a long one, or too difficult, if that puts your minds at ease.”

“Trust me, I’m going to be doing everything I can to make this as short as possible.”

…

She walked into Grimmauld Place, the soft leather jacket on her arms protecting her from the permanent cold of the house. She walked through the hallway into the kitchen, where Sirius was sat, looking at a small piece of parchment.

He was wearing his old leather jacket, too, the one that he’d been wearing since their days at Hogwarts, the one he would drape over her shoulders when she got cold on their midnight walks, just the two of them. It hung looser on him now, she noticed, likely because he didn’t have a whole kitchen of house elves making him three hearty meals a day, but one house elf, who didn’t much care to give his master anything at all.

“Hey.” She spoke softly, announcing her entrance. “You ready to go?” he nodded, standing up from the table and waving the parchment in his hand.

“This is the address for where to apparate.” He told her, and she nodded, looking over at the paper and seeing an address she didn’t recognise at all. For ten galleons she wouldn’t even have been able to say where in the country it was. Sirius noticed and gave the smallest of sighs, holding his elbow out begrudgingly, offering it to her.

She took it, holding onto the material of the jacket rather than his arm underneath it, closing her eyes as she felt the familiar squeezing sensation of apparition. She opened her eyes again when she felt her feet land on solid ground, jarring her knees slightly, and quickly let go of Sirius’ arm, looking around at the street they were on. She didn’t get to look at the surroundings for long, however, as they heard footsteps approaching and quickly had to dive into a dark alley to the side, hiding themselves from view.

The footsteps grew louder, and voices began to float with them. Sirius looked at y/n, rolling his eyes at the familiar voices from their ex-fellow students. As she heard them speak, she began to pick up on who was there. She could hear Nott and Avery, talking loudly, almost asking to be heard, immediately making her suspicious. She grew even more suspicious at the next voice, but she didn’t have time to voice any of this to Sirius.

“Now that we’ve taken care of that idiot Potter and his precious girlfriend, we can track down Lupin easily enough. Yes, I think we’re making our way through this precious Order quite nicely.” She knew as soon as she heard Bellatrix, and as soon as there was a threat of his friends being hurt, Sirius would be impervious to all reason. She didn’t even get to try, however, he was storming out of the alley to confront them before she had even turned to him, and she scrambled to follow, cursing under her breath at how this was supposed to be an easy, non-combative, mission.

“Stupefy!” He screamed as he burst from the alley, aiming the spell at his cousin who was clearly expecting it, shielding it easily as the horror dawned on the two of them that they had walked straight into a trap, and they were hugely outnumbered.

Numerous curses were immediately fired at y/n and Sirius, and they immediately sprang back to back, shielding them and firing as many as they could in the spare seconds they had.

“I swear to god, Black.” She grunted, throwing up another shield to protect from a curse Dolohov had thrown at her. “You just had to storm out here. Petrificus Totalus!” She allowed herself a brief smile as someone – she didn’t pause to see who – fell down, before another hex was aimed at her and she refocused.

“I’d like to see you sit there and listen about how your best friends have been murdered.” He returned, a sweat breaking out on his forehead from the fight. Although, there were less and less curses being aimed at the both of you, slowly making your progress through the Death Eaters.

“I did, Sirius. They’re my friends too. And they must have known we were coming, they clearly said that just to draw us out.” She saw him turn towards her out of the corner of her eye, saw how he wasn’t paying attention to anyone else around them, even for this briefest of seconds, and saw the red light flashing towards him, heard the accompanying curse, and knew there was no way Sirius could deflect it in time. Instinct made her push him to the side, self-preservation non-existent, as the curse hit her instead, and pain exploded through her whole body.

She felt pain like nothing had ever hurt her before, fresh waves of it rolling through her body and a blood-curdling scream tore itself from her throat to accompany it. All she knew was the debilitating pain, and then blackness.

Her eyes fluttered open, and she was greeted with the view of a dark ceiling, one which could be cleaner, and the faint smell of damp. So, she was back in Grimmauld Place. She pushed herself up, the blanket which had been gently laid over her falling slightly, and saw there was one other person in the room with her, whose long hair was falling in his face, but who looked relieved to see her, for the first time in years.

“You’re awake.” He said, as he stood up and walked to the couch where she was led. She pulled her legs up, creating a space for him to sit in, which he did. “Kind of wish I wasn’t.” She joked, chuckling dryly as she felt the ache in her bones, the remembrance of pain.

“Why did you do it?” He asked, and she knew this was the reason he had been waiting for her. The curiosity burned in his words. “Why did you take an Unforgivable Curse for me?”

“Don’t let your ego inflate too much, I didn’t intend to be in the way too.” She laughed, dropping it quickly as he looked at her. “I don’t want you to be tortured. I haven’t forgotten, you know, what it was like for you to live here, and how hard it must be for you to be back. And even without that, just because we dated once doesn’t mean I want you in pain, now. I still care about you, of course I do.” She spoke quietly, unsure if she was saying too much,

He didn’t answer her, instead he sat there in silence, staring at her. He was looking at her, seeing her in a way that he hadn’t in a long time. He saw the way that her y/h/c hair was falling into her face, and was surprised that she hadn’t tried and failed to brush it away yet, knowing how much it irritated her. He saw how softly her y/e/c looked over him, and he knew that she meant it when she said she never stopped caring. He felt the guilt rise in his chest, though he wasn’t sure what exactly he was guilty for. “I’ll, um, I’ll go tell everyone you’re awake.” And with that, he walked out of the room, his head now swirling confusingly.

Over the next few months, the rest of the Order noticed a dramatic change in the way that y/n and Sirius acted towards each other. When he came back from the store and had brought donuts for everyone, he had one for her, too. Instead of closing the front door loudly and disturbing Walburga’s portrait in the hall, she made a whisper of a sound as she tiptoed through the halls, trying to be as silent as possible. She had begun to frequent the headquarters more, not dashing off as soon as meetings were done or joining Remus when he would pop in for a cup of tea. He had even defended her in an argument, which had ended it quickly, the shock manifesting itself into a silence.

“Come on, y/n, it’s like we’re back at school.” Lily teased as they walked into the – thankfully empty – kitchen. “I thought I was done looking at your sappy eyes for each other.”

“Lily, I do not have sappy eyes.” y/n insisted, sitting on the table and putting her feet on the chair in front of her. “Just because we don’t fight as much anymore doesn’t mean we’re in love with each other.”

“I don’t think you’re in love with each other because you don’t fight.” She rolled her eyes. “I think you’re in love because I watched this happen all those years ago, and I’m watching it happen again now. Sirius talks about you to James, you know.”

“He does?” She started, not expecting that. She couldn’t help being surprised that Sirius was talking about her, and she couldn’t help the butterflies that rose in her stomach as she thought of it. “Aren’t you supposed to be meeting James for lunch?” she reminded Lily, thankful for the excuse to change the topic.

She checked her watch and squeaked, grabbing her bag and running from the house, leaving y/n alone to unpack the shopping and start working on some lunch. She was mid-way through cooking, softly humming a tune to herself to fill the silence, when she heard footsteps heading her way.

“Enough there for two?” she heard his voice before she could see him, but soon his crinkling grey eyes and wide smile were a few metres away from her, leaning against the side.

“Of course.” She answered, smiling back without thinking, quickly turning away as she thought of Lily’s words. “It’s nearly ready.” She finished cooking in silence, Sirius setting the table for the both of them. They sat down, starting to eat, and she didn’t know what to say to him, trying to analyse both of their feelings.

“So, James reckons I’m a teenager again.” Sirius brought up, laughing although he sounded more anxious than happy to her. Her chest constricted, wondering if he’d just been having a similar conversation to her.

“Again? I wasn’t aware that you’d ever grown up.” She teased, but her smile was tight and forced.

“Well, he seems to think that I might be in love, again. With you, again.”

“And what do you think?” She asked, forcing herself to look into his grey eyes, nervous for his answer as the truth dawned on her that she might be about to lose him all over again.

“I think he’s wrong.” And there it was, the blow that seemed to tear her heart in half, for the second time in her life. Before she could come up with some witty retort to play away her pain, he had carried on talking, his gaze still fixed on her. “I don’t think I’m in love again. I think it was easier to hate you than to realise I wasn’t over you, and I didn’t realise that until you took an Unforgivable Curse for me. I’m not in love with you again, because I don’t think I ever stopped.”

She felt like she was about to pass out from the mix of emotions swirling in her head, unable to hold on to one of them for longer than a second. It was decided for her, however, once Sirius’ lips were on hers – how they had gotten there she couldn’t remember – and she felt the pure happiness of love light her up. The kiss was familiar, something she had been missing without knowing, but there was a new edge to it, a resolve to never miss this feeling again. He broke away, settling on his knees between her legs, holding her hands in his, things not changing so much that they didn’t engulf them anymore.

“What do you think?” He mirrored her earlier question, a nervous smile on his face despite it all.

“I think it’s high time that we take James and Lily’s crown and become the best couple.” He laughed, leaning up and pressing a gentle kiss to her lips.

“I couldn’t agree more.”

#harry potter #harry potter fic #sirius black #sirius black fic #sirius black x reader #sirius x reader #padfoot #padfoot x reader #marauders #marauders era #marauders x reader

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eleanorbloom · 4 years

Text

When You’re Ready Ch. 11

Pairing: Bryce Lahela x f! MC (Eleanor Bloom) x Ethan Ramsey.

Word Count: 4.5k

Warning: Angst and cursing.

A/N: We are already halfway through this journey and things are finally getting interesting, so thank you all so much for all the support I’ve received and for stuck with me till this point. ❤

Taglist: @utterlyinevitable @binny1985 @shanzay44 @choicesficwriterscreations @laiba-the-person @starrystarrytrouble @lahellacute @lucy-268 @aylamreads @cinnamonspongecake @romewritingshop @angela8756 @bratzlahela

Let me know if you wanna me added or removed from the taglist!

Enjoy!

_______

Chapter 11. Don’t Start Now

Don’t show up, don’t come out

Don’t start caring about me now,

The following weeks were calmer than previous. The conversation Eleanor had with Ethan seemed to work because, since that day, he stopped directing his anger toward her, and instead, he did what he was good at in second place: ignore her.

Eleanor didn’t mind, obviously. If she confronted him in the first place, was because she was tired of his childish attitude and knew very well that his next obvious reaction would be ignoring her like he did the past months. She needed peace and that was the only way to get it.

Still, she couldn’t deny that the situation was painful. She never expected to spend the first months in the Diagnostics Team in such a bad position with Ethan, when it had to be the best time to learn from him, learn from his mentor, the person she had idolized since she was in high school. And all because he was jealous.

The silver lining in all this was that it soothed things with Bryce. As she didn’t rant about Ethan with him, the next weeks were very sweet and calm in the company of Keiki. For some reason, Eleanor clicked very well with her. Perhaps it was the fact that she had many similitudes with Bryce, even if they hadn’t lived together for ten years, and Eleanor thought she was undeniably attracted to that, so it couldn’t be any different with Keiki.

Some nights a week, she would stay with the Lahelas and have sleepovers in the living room to talk and watch movies until they would fall asleep on the mattress of the new bed Bryce had bought for Keiki. Some other nights they would play cards, or just talk about the day and about life.

Eleanor would even chat throughout the day with her too.

“Wait, my sister is sending you memes?”��Bryce asked, really offended while they were taking a break in the cafeteria—"Why she doesn’t do that with me?”

“Because she likes me more than you.”

“But I’m his brother!”

“Hey, take it as she has the same good taste as you do. Another thing you two have in common.”—She winked at him and Bryce couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Mmh you’re right. Spending so much time with me it’s getting on you, uh?”—He whispered proudly, leaning to her to kiss her in the cheek.

“Couldn’t be any other way”

“She’s really disappointed when I get home and you don’t show up. It hurts my feelings.”

Eleanor released a hard laugh at his pouting lips and his puppy eyes just like a Golden Retriever.

“Ohmygod, finally I’m seeing your Golden Retriever side. Are you jealous of attention?”

“What do you think? Keiki came for me but only wants to see you.”

“She just enjoys my company, a female presence, that’s all. But what she really needs it’s her brother. You have nothing to worry about, Goldie.”

She stroked his cheek and a second later, he furrowed his brows.

“Goldie?”

“That’s my new nickname to you when you’re behaving like a Golden Retriever, just like now.”

“Excuse me? You still have no pet names for me, but I got a freaking dog nickname? Seriously, Bloom?”

“Bloom? You think you can offend me by calling me like that?”—She grinned—"We talked about this. I’m not comfortable enough to use pet names yet, Bryce. But it’s a step, don’t you think?”

“It is a pet name after all”

“God, you’re impossible.”—Eleanor sighed, getting up from the seat with the empty paper cup in her hand.—“I gotta go”

“Don’t ignore me.”

“See? You’re such a Goldie.—She laughed again.—"Gosh, you’re sooo cuteee”

Eleanor placed a hand over his hair and patted him softly, just like she would do with a real puppy. Bryce scowled her, feigning to be offended.

A moment later, she leaned close to his face and looked at him tenderly.

“I love you, Goldie.”

Then she kissed him, a soft brush against his lips that made him cackle before she parted her lips from him.

“Goddamn, you know how to manipulate me, don’t you?”—He stood up from the chair and pulled her in a tight embrace—"Love you too, princess.”

“Good boy.”—She praised, hugging him back before untangling herself from his arms and dragged him outside the cafeteria so both could get back to work.

Eleanor was snuggled to Bryce, deeply asleep when she heard a knock in her bedroom door. It took her a while to wake up and go to see what it was. She didn’t even think about how poorly dressed she was. Just a rose satin tank top and her panties.

“This better be important”—She murmured opening the door mid-third knock, only to find a tall figure with deep blue eyes in front of her—"Oh!”

Ethan was standing on the other side his face impassive. He tried to focus on her face, but he couldn’t resist roaming his eyes over her body for a few moments.

“Oh, uh good morning.”—He greeted, returning his eyes to her face, only to notice someone behind her, under the sheets of her bed.

“What is it, babe?”—He heard a husky voice and then he saw Bryce stirring under the sheets and looking in their direction with a drowsy expression.

Babe.

Eleanor saw how his face disfigured hearing that single word. And obviously, the fact that Bryce was in her bed, sleeping. Ethan glanced at her stoically, but she could decipher the disappointment when his eyes betrayed him for a split second.

“It’s Dr. Ramsey”—She murmured looking back at Bryce, her cheeks flushed.

“Ramsey?”—Bryce sat up, startled, waking up in an instant.

Ethan followed his gaze.

“Good morning to you too, Dr. Lahela.”—He scowled at him briefly, evidencing how much he was hating that he was there.—"I’m sorry Dr. Bloom, I didn’t know you had company.”

His words sounded like an iceberg that made her shiver even if the room was warm with the morning sunlight filtering through the curtains.

“What are you doing here?”

“We have a case, I need you to dress up and go with me.”

“But is my day off!”

“The Team doesn’t have days off, Bloom. Wear something nice, the board is desperate to impress this patient”

“Okay.”

“Hurry up, I’ll wait outside.”

Eleanor closed the door and looked at Bryce biting her bottom lip, guilty.

“I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t worry. You better finish this case soon, so you can come back to me.”

“We planned this for weeks. It’s your birthday.”—She pouted, sitting over the edge of the bed, beside him.

“Baby, we celebrated last night.—He took her hands and caressed her palm softly—"I slept with you, I woke up with you, and I have my sister here in Boston, what else can I ask?”

“Well, if you put it that way…”

“Just hurry up and go to my place once you’re done, okay?”

“Okay, promise.”—She leaned to kiss him and then got up to look for a formal dress in her wardrobe until she found a navy-blue corporate dress that had been saving for that kind of occasion.

Bryce chuckled suddenly.

“You saw his face? Oh, man. I know this is cruel, but it was some kind of birthday present to me.”

Bryce crossed his arms behind his head with a satisfied smirk over his face, while he was staring at Eleanor stripping from her clothes and putting on clean underwear.

“What do you mean?”

“His face when he realized I was sleeping in your bed. It was like his eyes were just about to jump out of his face and strangle me.”

“I want to know who thought it was a great idea to let him pass knowing you were here.”

Eleanor unfastened the dress, stepping into him one leg at a time.

“Maybe that person did it on purpose.”—Bryce speculated, standing up from the bed—“C’ mere”

Eleanor took a few steps and turned her back to him so he could zip her dress up.

“I bet was Jackie. She is such a troll and would totally do that.”—She turned to him—“Thank you.”

“If it was her, I have to thank her.”

Eleanor scowled him.

“What? She did you a favor. You didn’t want to tell him, fine. He just found us.”

She stood in silence for a couple of seconds, thinking.

“Yeah, it’s kinda relieving, actually.”

Eleanor conceded, before going to brush her teeth in the bathroom. Even if he had had his suspicions and this was nothing surprising, still she didn’t know how Ethan would react from now on. And what could unleash in her.

When she returned to the room, Bryce was already dressed up.

“Hey, you don’t need to leave. Sleep for a couple of hours more.”

“Nah, I prefer to go home, Keiki has been too much time alone.”

“Well, that’s true.”

Eleanor collected her things, cellphone, keys, and purse, and both left the room.

Once they opened the building door, they found Ethan leaned against a red mini cooper. The moment Ethan exchanged glances with them, he turned around to get in the car. Eleanor stopped a few feet away from the vehicle and smiled at Bryce, her cheeks blushed.

“Well, that’s me. I hope this ends soon.”

“I hope so too. Have a great day, babe.”

“You too, birthday boy.”

She kissed chastely in the lips and then turned to get in the vehicle.

The first consequences of what had happened were seen a few blocks away for her apartment. Ethan started to call her out because if they were doing home service to patients now was only because of her and her decision to pursue wealthy patients to save the Team. But she didn’t waste energy in replying. Instead, she decided to simply turn a deaf ear to any of his outbursts and ignore him the whole ride.

However, when his anger risked the possibility to compete with Mass Kenmore to cure Leland Bloom, one of the wealthiest men in the country, Eleanor decided to speak up. She didn’t brook up for weeks his hurtful words just to let go of a wealthy patient that could probably help to solve two and maybe more patients that don’t have the resources to be treated in any other hospital.

As Ethan left the house after declining the competition Leland Bloom had offered, without consulting with his colleagues, Baz, June, and her followed him outside to talk some sense into him.

“Ethan”—Spurted Baz—“Please, we need this. You know we need this.”

“No, I’m not going-”

“Could you please surgically remove your head from your ass for one second and consider that this is for the Team?—Eleanor interrupted, employing the same words he had used last year when Declan Nash was denying to even have a conversation with him about a possible treatment for sepsis. She wanted him to know how stupid and irrational was being at that moment.

“Excuse me?”

“You’re behaving like a goddamn diva, a freaking a spoiled child, you know? Do you think your ego is bigger than the needs of the Diagnostics Team? How unprofessional of you, seriously.”

Ethan’s face disfigured at words, exposing his embarrassment and mortification. After a few moments, he glanced at his colleagues apologetically.

“I, uh… Spoiled child seems to suit the occasion. And unprofessional. I owe you all an apology.”

Baz and June seemed clearly surprised by the bold words Eleanor had used on him and how she got to tame his anger in just a few seconds when Ethan had been punishing her for weeks after what happened with Gwyneth. When Ethan wasn’t looking at them, Baz raised his thumb, nodding amazed.

After the meeting with Leland Bloom, the team returned to Edenbrook to discuss the possible diagnosis with the information provided by the patient.

“The results will be ready this afternoon, so I’ll be doing rounds while I wait for them”—Eleanor informed after ordering the exams in the Nurses’ Station.

Ethan nodded imperceptibly but didn’t say anything, making Eleanor sigh.

She needed to talk about this. Her colon couldn’t support another day or another week avoiding the topic and hearing his outbursts just like that day. Now that the truth was out, there was no point in avoiding facing it. She looked around to check if there was any sight of June or Baz near, but the hallway was absolutely deserted.

“So, you stopped acting like a spoiled child, but you’re keeping the unprofessional act?”—She asked, standing in front of his desk, arms crossed and serious glare.

“Excuse me?”—Ethan took off his glasses, visibly offended.

“You are clearly pissed off with me because you saw me this morning with Bryce, and if you are bringing personal stuff to our working relationship, let me tell you that you’re being pathetically unprofessional, Ethan.”

“Watch out your tone, Bloom.”

“Watch out your reactions, Ramsey.”—Snaped her, instantly—"You have scolded and snubbed me for weeks just because I’ve ignored all your insinuations, and you can’t keep being like that.”

“Insinuations, what are you talking about?”

“Oh, please. Don’t act like you don’t know it. Since you came back from the Amazon you have waited for me to make a move on you, even if you said we were over for good. And when you realized that I wasn’t gonna play that game, you started to act like an ass just like before you left.”

“Clearly ego issues are contagious, and the scalpel jockey infected you badly.”

“Oh. So why the hell you’ve been acting this way with me, then?”

“Because you went behind my back in contacting Gwyneth Monroe.”

“No, it started before her. When we visited Evelyn Vega’s art exposition you were already acting weird. The fool’s act doesn’t work with me, Ethan.”

He stared thoughtfully, trying to suppress the words that were about to come out of his mouth. He didn’t want to say it. It was against his nature and against the decision he had made. But like everything that involved Eleanor, he was about to act against all his self-control.

“Four months ago you were so… persistent about us being together, and now you’re dating him?”

“A lot of things can happen in four months, you’re smarter than that, Ethan. And should I remind you that you were the one who ended things and only wanted a professional relationship?”

“No, I know that.”

“Then tell me, why is all this fuss really for? We broke up whatever we had four months ago, so clearly my personal life it’s not your concern, and yet it’s messing with our working relationship.”

“I just don’t understand why you’re with him.”

“What do you mean by him?”

“He’s shallow, annoying, egocentric, a scalpel jockey, and you deserve more than that.”

“Don’t you dare to talk about Bryce like that, Ethan.”

Ethan stopped, eyes wide opened, surprised with the almost visceral reaction she had had at hearing his words.

“I’m wrong? Do you know what’s behind all that skin-deep beauty and ego?”

Ethan knew he was more than that, but still, he wasn’t enough for Eleanor. He needed a sharp mind, someone, that challenges her. Someone like him.

“Of course I know him, why the fuck do you think I’ve been with him for three months?”

Since the first moment her intention wasn’t to hurt him, but god, he was being so mean that somehow now she wanted to throw all over his face how much time she had been with Bryce, so he knew this wasn’t an insignificant relationship and that she didn’t spend two whole months crying for his absence. At least not physically, but emotionally, she did.

“D…”—Her words were like a punch in the face. Three months.—“Don’t you see he’s not for you? You deserve better than that, Eleanor.”

Eleanor took a deep breath, containing all her anger. She didn’t want to make a scene. She had to be an adult, but it was difficult when Ethan was acting this irrational and stupid.

“I don’t know who you think you are to talk about someone you clearly don’t know. Not even your status as a second-best diagnostician in the country gives you the superpowers to know a person without really talk or spend time with them.—She took another breath—"That said, I’ll inform you that Bryce has been all the transparent you never were with me in all this time. When I was about to be suspended by the Committee, he was there to give me moral support. When you left for the Amazon, he started inviting me out because he couldn’t stand to see me sad. He saw my pain and did something to relieve me, not like you, that every time you saw me drowning, you preferred to ignore me because it’s easier than to deal with my emotions and yours. When I’m sad, when I can’t deal with this whole situation with you, he is there for me, to supporting and listening to me. So, do you really think I don’t deserve someone like him?”

Ethan felt how his ego was taking hostage of his body, he hated to be this way, but that question had been wandering her mind since the moment he saw Bryce in her bed.

“Do you still love me?”

That question took her by surprise. She knew he would ask her at some point, but not now. Still, she didn’t have intentions to deny it.

“Unfortunately, yes. But it isn’t important, actually.”

“It is.”

“It’s not.”

“Eleanor…”

“Why do you care now?”—She interrupted before he could say anything that could trick her mind.—"You were very clear to me that nothing can happen between us, you ignored me for two months when you left for the Amazon, and now that I’m doing my life you suddenly care? The bollocks, Ethan.”

“I never thought you…”—He stopped mid-sentence.

“That I would move on? That my life would keep going after you? I can’t believe you’re this selfish Ethan. And this egocentric.”

“I don’t mean it like that…”

“I don’t care. Whatever you have to say, save it. You had your chances, and you preferred the easiest path. Punish me and ignore me, and I don’t deserve that.”

Eleanor left the room, her heart racing really fast. She was angry, scared, sad, anxious, guilty. All the stupid feelings Ethan always managed to make her feel, now were invading her mind and heart, threatening to explode inside her. She ran to the nearest restroom she found and once there she locked herself in the cubicle, releasing a sob.

All that had been holding up these weeks since Ethan was back in Boston, was now free. All that had been holding up because of Bryce, because she wanted things to work, but she wasn’t going to make Ethan a regular topic in their relationship. She had shared with Bryce the whole fight and how of an ass he was acting but never told him how she really felt. How devastated she was with the fact that he was ignoring her and scolding her because she had moved on. Never told him how difficult it was not even looking at him in the eyes because she was afraid that she would surrender to her most deep desires. Never told him that this whole situation was unfair because that was a moment to be learning from him, not avoiding him. Instead, she was receiving the worst of him as a person and as a doctor as he was throwing all outside the window because he was jealous.

And now she was feeling angry and more disappointed than ever. She never expected that Ethan would question her choices, especially the person with whom she had to move on. And never expected him to be this prejudicious. That he would suggest that Bryce as her partner was synonymous with insult and indignity.

She felt sick at realizing how blindly selfish he was. And for a person like that, Eleanor couldn’t spend another tear, so after a few deep breaths, she wiped the tears from her face and started to wander around the hospital to find something useful to do.

Half an hour later, she was informed that the results couldn’t be ready that day, so she went back to the office to inform Ethan, in the hopes that she could leave early to spend the rest of the afternoon with Bryce and Keiki.

“Dr. Ramsey, the lab has informed me that the results couldn’t be ready today, there was a problem with previous analysis that had to be made again and that is on top priority, but they’ll be ready tomorrow morning.”

“Alright. You’re discharged, then.”

“Thank you.”

She was about to grab her purse when Ethan stood up from his chair.

“Eleanor, wait.”

She turned to him, her face emotionless.

“I need to understand why.”

“Why what?”

“Why you… moved on so fast when you… you said you love me. How could you leave what we had in the past just after a month? Was all you said a lie?”

Eleanor felt heartbroken. She sensed his pain and how subtly he was acknowledging that after all this time he still couldn’t move on, but at the same time, she couldn’t believe he was questioning her feelings when he had been the one who broke everything they had.

“How… How can you doubt my feelings, Ethan? How?—She said as her voice was breaking—"I was honest with you the whole time. The whole time you were ignoring me I opened up my heart to you, I ridiculed myself in front of you every time I tried to make to your senses. You really think that all that was a trap?”

“No, but…”—Ethan walked towards her and stopped a few inches away as he sensed her discomfort.—"How could you do it so fast and…. with someone so shallow, you deserve better than that. You’re brilliant, you need someone who comprehends your sharp mind…”

“Shut up!”—She roared—"I’m tired of this shit, Ethan. Don’t ever talk about Bryce like that, you hear me? You have no idea…”—A sob escaped from her throat. It really affected her how bad he was treating Bryce—“…how wonderful he is and all the things he had done for me. If you knew, you wouldn’t be saying this bullshit. You should be grateful to him instead.”

“Why you say that?”

“Because he cleaned the mess you made. You were the one that broke me into hundred pieces, and not just when you left, but every time you ignored me and pretended that I didn’t exist, every time you didn’t answer my calls or emails, even when you started to punish me for moving on. You have spent months breaking me, Ethan. In million pieces. And you know who took all the broken pieces of me, who is putting them all together? Him. Like the brilliant scalpel jockey he is, he has been stitching every single piece of me with love, dedication, with patience, with a lot of patience. He has shown me how real and selfless love is by being a good friend, inviting me out, making me laugh, putting me on top of his priorities when not even I was putting myself first. And he had never hurt me, you know? So don’t ever say that I don’t deserve him, because he’s precisely what I deserve after all the hell you made me live.”

Ethan couldn’t say anything, and after a few moments, Eleanor turned to leave, but before she could take her belongings, he spoke.

“Do you love him?”

She faced him, bravery in her entire body even if she was still crying.

“Yes”.

Eleanor could see how his life fell apart, how she broke him with just a single word.

“But you said that you…”

“I love him but I’m not in love with him, yet.”

“You’re still in love with me, then?”—He said with a hint of hope.

“Yes, but that doesn’t change anything between us.”

“It does. Eleanor, I wanted to make things right, but I was afraid.”

“Don’t you think I wasn’t afraid too? I exposed myself in front of you a hundred times and I kept doing it even if you rejected me ninety-nine times before.”

“You have always been braver than I am.”

“Yes. That’s why I asking you to please end all this crap for good and let me be happy.”

“I … I don’t know if I can.”

Suddenly, he heard a hiss and before he could direct his eyes to the source of the noise, an imponent and categorically voice filled the air.

“Enough. ”

Ethan and Eleanor turned to the voice, startled, only to find Bryce standing in front of the sliding doors, his face frozen in a cold glare.

“Enough of your stupid game of making her feel guilty for the shit you created, Ramsey.”

“Bryce…"—Eleanor said in a tiny voice, clearly surprised of his attitude, but grateful that he had interrupted that tortuous exchange.

"This is not of your concern, Lahela.”

“If you are making her feel like shit, if you are making her cry like she is now, of course it’s my concern and I won’t let you do this to her anymore, you hear me?”

“Are you threatening me?”

“No, I’m asking you to behave like a decent human being and stop torturing her with your mistakes. She has paid more than enough for them, and it’s not fair you keep doing this. So, if you really, really care about her like you’re trying to show, take a step back and leave her alone.”

Ethan was speechless. He never thought he would see Bryce this serious and commanding, and that he would call him out like this. His eyes were now burning with fury and was standing a few inches ahead of Eleanor in a protective way, waiting for anything Ethan could throw at her or him and respond.

When Bryce understood that Ethan wouldn’t say another word, he turned to Eleanor.

“Come on, babe, let’s get outta here.”

“Okay.”—Her voice was barely a murmur.

"You have your purse here?”

“Yeah, it’s…”

“ Got it"—He said when he localized the black leather bag hanging from a chair in the circular table. Once he was standing beside her again, he held her hand and together walked out of the office, while the examining eyes of Ethan followed every movement of them.

The last thing he heard before the doors slid shut was a soft "It’s okay baby, I got you” after a few sobs, while through the windows he could see how Bryce was holding her in his arms, her face deep buried in his chest. Then, total silence. His hammering head full questions and guilt had deafened him.

___

A/N2: So, with this chapter, I officially declare that Bryce is Leo cusp Virgo in my AU, thank you very much.

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lesserpandeu · 4 years

Text

Around The World in 17 Days | Day 1: Toronto

day 0; day 1

fandom: Seventeen

genre: Fantasy + Angst & Fluff

pairing: Chan (Dino) x Reader

words: 6,547

summary: Suffering from a condition that causes you to randomly end up in almost any place in the world, your life was a little chaotic, to say the least. When a solution seems to arise, you are more than happy to try it out. In order to heal, you need to meet the several people you are connected to by the red string of fate. And if this situation couldn't have gotten more ridiculous, one of them was your soulmate.You just don't know who.

Your first day on your mission dropped you in the big Canadian city, Toronto. You meet one of the first 'soul-bros', Chan. While you stress over how exactly you're going to fulfill your purpose with him, you end up doing it so naturally you barely even noticed.

A/N: so this has actually been out for a good year now on my ao3, but I forgot to post it here, so yeah. here. woops. ALSO I PROMISE DAY 2 IS COMING SOON I PROMISE. These things are tough because I research a lot about the cities so I get tired of working on this fic pretty easily. So it takes a lot of time, and I get lazy sooo that’s a really messy combination. Thanks for everyone who has stuck around though! You guys are amazing and believe me your comments make me want to work harder, haha.

Day 1: Toronto

As you began to regain your conscious steadily, you instantly felt an intense difference in the general comfort of your surroundings. The bed you had fell asleep on was replaced by incredibly hard surfaces. Your back was laying up right on a wall of some sort, pain generally coursing through your spine. I should’ve seen a chiropractor before I started this shit, you thought as you winced at the pain when you began to process it. Arching your back, resulting in a cracking noise, your stretched out your arms and legs. Your left leg winced and started when it hit something, causing you to hurriedly open your eyes.

A dumpster. Briefly taking a glance at your surroundings, you saw you were in a narrow alleyway. The buildings you were between were fairly tall, maybe 4 or 5 stories, and made of brick. Your best guess was that they were apartments. You next paid attention to the heat that had bothered you the instant you woke up. It was summer here still, so that wasn’t unusual. You reached for your pocket, turning on your phone. As you looked down, you started. After the brief panic, you observed closer what had spooked you.

A thread from the one tied around your finger led across the alleyway, turning around the corner. Scrunching your eyebrows, you turned your hand around. It didn’t get tangled and when you reached with your other hand to touch it, your hand just went through it. It took a moment for you to think of what it might’ve been. One of the red strings of fate? You assumed that was it. Maybe it lead you to a soul bro? You nodded to yourself, slightly skeptical. How else am I supposed to find them? You reasoned. A jingle came from your phone, making you turn your attention towards it. It booted, showing you the time from your original timezone before swiftly switching to what you presumed to be the current timezone. 8 A.M. That was about normal. Your ability usually meant you’d wake up at about that time no matter the timezone, maybe earlier or later depending on how severe the difference was. As you dismissed all the notifications (nothing important, at least for now), a sun graphic appeared on one side of your phone showing the number “78 F” and underneath the word “Toronto”.

Toronto, huh? It wasn’t too far from the Canadian-American border, if you remembered about the location. Near Lake Ontario? You slightly rose an eyebrow. Wasn’t Canada supposed to be cold? Maybe it just wasn’t this time of the year? Clearing your mind of the minor questions you had, you looked back up to where the string was pulling you. You supposed the best way to start was to follow that string somewhere until you could maybe come up with some sort of game plan. Or a money exchange or ATM. Maybe you’d try to go penniless the whole day? The grumble in your stomach disqualified that thought as quickly as it came. Maybe you’d look for breakfast first.

Getting up and dusting yourself off, you began to follow the string. I wonder how far away they are? You wondered as you turned the corner. Your attention drifted from the string and to your surroundings. The surroundings were quite urban, a block away in the direction the string was leading you were office-like buildings much taller than the other buildings. More life appeared on this street than the one you had woken up on. The corner that the string directed you to turn at was what appeared to be a restaurant, advertised by a large sign. It would likely be lit up, blinking, and flashing if it were dark. The rest of the block had a few stores, some more plain looking residential places. It was a pleasant city, similar to other cities you had been to when transporting place to place.

Your stomach twisted inside of you yet again, enough to make you wince a bit and look down at it with a glare. “Be quiet,” you scolded it. It growled back at you, as if refusing to be silenced. Sighing at its persistence, you looked back up at the restaurant. As far as you knew, you only had one day in Toronto to meet the person you were tied to. But you still had to eat, right?

That being said, you figured to stop in. Just before, you slipped off your jacket, tying it around your waist. One essential thing about transporting was wearing layers. You never know when you’ll need it.

Walking into the restaurant, you were surprised to see a fairly large amount of people. There were just as many enough that you even thought that they were full. Maybe I should just find another place, you thought. Arriving at that decision, you were just about to turn around and leave when a waiter had come up with a smile.

“Hello, just one?” Well it was too late now. Sure, you could simply explain that you had changed your mind and wanted to leave, but that would be awkward for your uncharismatic self to explain. ‘Hi, no, too many people here, I have anxiety haha.’ So you just caved in.

“Yes,” your voice cracked a little. Jesus Christ, you winced inwardly at yourself. This was going to be a long day.

“Is the bar alright?” Did people even have breakfast at the bar section? You were positive they didn’t, but looking quickly back at the crowded area, you guessed it was because of the capacity. Who even goes out to eat this early in the morning? you kept reminiscing, ever so slightly agitated.

“Yes,” you nodded, a bit quieter than the last time. Despite what you believed to be an awkward interaction, the waiter didn’t seem to care, grabbing a napkin wrapped snugly around some silverware and briefly telling you to follow them. You did so, rubbing your arms, surprised at how cold it was in the restaurant compared to the outside. The waiter sat you at the bar, handing you a menu and leaving you.

Legs hanging above the ground, you leaned your elbows on the bar counter, looking briefly at the menu. Becoming disinterested fairly quickly, you took a moment to look around. To your left was a woman, body completely turned away from you conversing with her partner. On your right was an empty seat and what you were somewhat convinced was the last one available in the whole restaurant. In front of you, obviously, was the bar, with various taps of beers, other liqueurs, and whiskies stacked on the shelves on the wall. In addition, there was a TV playing some sort of morning show program. Although you took awhile to watch it and the delayed subtitles, you couldn’t recognize it or anyone hosting it.

The menu was a typical breakfast diner’s menu. Omelettes, pancakes, toast, the usual. You became uninterested in it fairly quickly when your phone started to buzz with the sound of your face call ringtone. You should’ve guessed he would try to contact you. Looking around quickly to make sure no one would try to take your order or judge you for face chatting in public (?), you pulled your phone out of your pocket and answered it.

“Good morning,” you answered when Rowans far too close to the camera face loaded, only illuminated by the screen on the phone. It didn’t necessarily mean it was dark in your timezone, but he refused to use any other sort of light in his dark tent besides candles or lanterns. Electrical lighting “tampered with his work”, or at least that's what he insisted.

“So where are you?” he asked, becoming minimally aware of his ridiculous angle on the camera and tried to fix it a little. It didn’t do much anyways.

“Toronto,” you gave a bit of a forced smile. “But the heat makes me doubt that.”

“Ontario? Oh it's hot this time of year,” he said. “Remember my son, Jacob?”

“Yes, the author,” you did your best to quickly let him know you remembered him, lest he go on to tell you his life story from the moment he was born again. “He lives around here, right?”

“Yes, I’ve been up there a few times to see him,” he laughed a little. The glimpse of the man’s softer side helped you crack a smile. It was short as he went straight back to business. “Did you find them?”

“No,” you admitted, looking at the string. It was leading you out the entrance of the restaurant. “I needed breakfast first. I just got up.”

“You do realise you only have a day to complete your purpose?” Anxiety flooded through you, mostly in your arms that held the phone.

“Yes,” you sighed. “I have no idea what I’m doing.”

“It’s up to you if this ends up working or not,” he sipped some of his tea. Though you couldn’t see it, you heard it. Rowan made a subconscious effort to make a sound when he drank.

“I know,” you groaned. “I just don’t know how the hell I’m going to do this.” A short silence came after you, as Rowan set down his tea with a clink.

“I’ll tell you what,” he shifted himself in his seat and the camera. “This isn’t just some stranger whose life your trying to fix.” Except that’s exactly what this is, you rebutted in your head. “This is a soul you’ve been connected to since before either of you were born. The two of you have a connection. Every person you meet this next week or two is connected with you in some way. Fate predetermined that these people could have their lives changed forever by you or that your life would be changed forever by them. Fate is going to be doing all the work for you.” He was probably right. But considering how odd and confusing the situation was for you, you didn’t know if that helped much at all.

“Well,” you paused. “I should probably get the breakfast in me and get out there as soon as possible. Time waits for no one.”

“I wish you all the best of luck,” he told you in his naturally grandiose way. You told him a soft “bye” before you hung up, just at miraculously the same time that a waiter came to take your order from behind the bar.

“Hello, welcome to-” the waiter had begun telling you a customary greeting as you put your phone back in your pocket. He paused suddenly just as he had started, making you quickly look up at him to see what he was doing. He was looking over you, a smile quickly spread on his features as he spoke somewhat louder to somebody behind you.

“Well, I’ll be, it’s Dinosaurus Rex. I thought you were supposed to be gone for the summer like everyone else!” You supposed he saw a friend and you awkwardly looked away from him and back at your menu, like you were trying to memorize all of the pancake toppings. As much as you tried to not be any part of the conversation, you couldn’t help to at least overhear.

“Please stop calling me that, that’s not even a real dinosaur,” the voice that responded was somewhat quiet with a hint of annoyance. “And I thought I mentioned that I was staying for the summer.”

“I get ya, gotta work those loans off,” the waiter seemed to shiver. In that brief moment, after you became less interested in your perusing, your attention was caught by the string. It had definitely moved in the time that you had sat down to this moment. The fact that it was moving gave you an eerie, nervous feeling. Maybe you should’ve just skipped breakfast and went after them?

Your mangled feelings had then left just as urgently as they came, and your eyes shot back down at the string. As you held your breathe, the string rotated to your right, at a steady pace that seemed to match the sound of the footsteps as they passed behind you. You heard an airy sigh as in the corner of your eye, a silhouette appeared to hop on the bar stool next to you. After a moment of utter disbelief, you carefully tilted your sight from your ring finger to the person now next to you. Following the bright red string that only you could see, its path ended at his crossed arms. You caught sight of the end on the ring finger of his right hand, tucked beneath his left elbow.

The revelation paralyzed you and your gaze, unable to look away. Your mind realized that if you continued to gawk at him, you would raise suspicions and give off the worst first impression ever. But your body seemed to refuse to listen, as you took in everything about the first “soulbro” you had ever met.

The bottom layer of his dark brown hair was short. His top layer curled towards his face with a wave to it. He wore a somewhat oversized black graphic tee. His face was young and his eyes were sharp, but they had a small, kind droop to them that you could miss easily at a mere glance. As he continued his conversation that you had muted out, his smile shone not only on his lips but in his eyes.

The amount of time that past with you looking at the boy become well over uncomfortable when you attempted to get your wits together just in time for you to look back at the waiter, looking back at you. Panicking, you supposed he had come back to you for your order.

“Oh, uh, eggs, sunnyside up, and bacon. And an orange juice.” You looked away quickly, but back at the waiter again briefly when you swear he was giving you a look drowning in suspicion. With a modest amount of shame, you looked down again, menu extended and lips pursed. You were too embarrassed to look up again as he took the menu, saying the typical “i’ll be right back with your drink blablabla”.

“I’ll have the usual,” your soul bro told him casually after you placed your order.

The waiter left, leaving you completely stiff and nervous, the prescence of the person next to you making you incredibly uneasy. In attempt to calm yourself, you exhaled. Okay. Calm down. Like Rowan said, everything is going to be fine. There’s a reason this guy’s connected to me. I can do it. Just make small talk, get to know him. It shouldn’t be that hard, right? As your nerves returned to a healthy level, you shyly looked at him again. It appeared he still wasn’t paying much attention to you, currently you were just a person he happened to be sitting next to in a crowded restaurant. You thought of what to do, trying to think of anything casual to discuss. What did Canadians talk about?

Without any critical thinking from you whatsoever, you turned your torso towards him as you asked him:

“Hey, did you see the hockey game last night? Pretty intense, right?”

IMBECILE. COMPLETE MORON. YOU FUCKING SOUP CAN. your brain called you names as you realized how stupid you just sounded. You had successfully concocted the lie that you watched hockey while simultaneously just assuming the now bewildered looking boy watched hockey because, oh, we’re in Canada.

He did a double-take, completely taken aback. He hadn’t realized at first that you were talking to him. Or he did, but he just took a moment to actually process the weird and confusing moment. “Uh, What?” was all he could respond with. Understandably. Petrification hit you yet again, causing your gaze to fumble around and words and thoughts jumble into a complete mess as stutters were all your mouth could formulate.

A laugh sounded from him afterwards, stopping the mess you were experiencing as you looked at him again. It wasn’t like a small “ha” or “hahaha?” laugh, he was cracking up. Maybe you should’ve felt bad like “oh, he’s laughing at me im such an idiot”, but it somehow didn’t feel like he was shaming or embarrassing you at all. As he gradually recovered to form sentences, he wiped his eyes and looked at you with a quirked brow.

“Your visiting, right?”

“Uhm, ah, yes,” you almost mumbled.

“Well, first, welcome to Canada, and second, hockey season doesn’t start until the fall,” he informed you gently. You gave a small “oh” sound, shifting awkwardly in your seat.

“Where are you from?” he asked curiously, still smiling kindly. You told him where, which he hummed to in understanding. A very brief silence loomed over, causing the panic to set back in your body. “How long have you been here?”

“Oh, maybe a couple,” you paused, almost quickly about to say that for all you knew, you had only been there for at the most an hour. “Late last night, I haven’t gotten the chance to do anything here yet.”

Well if you couldn’t get any more suspicious than asking someone seemingly Canadian if they had seen the nonexistent hockey game the other night, you had just changed your answer for how long you had been in the country mid-sentence. If this guy was an immigration officer, you’d be fucked.

He at least pretended that he didn’t seem to mind and nodded. You tried to ease into a conversation again by looking over your shoulder at the crowded seating.

“Is it always this busy at 8 in the morning?”

“No,” somebody else answered. You looked back across the bar to see the waiter, setting down your iced orange juice, with an orange wedge squeezed onto the rim of the glass and a little hot pink umbrella. He then put glass of an iced dark drink which you presumed to be coffee, black, towards your “friend”. “We got a U.S. tour group stop by for breakfast this morning. Could’ve warned us about it, but they just came out of nowhere.”

“I was about to ask, its way too crowded for this time in the day,” the soulbro nodded. He looked back at you and quickly arched his brows and “oh”ed before uncomfortably putting his arms in front of him in a shy/defensive gesture.

“Excuse me, my name is Chan Lee. I forgot to introduce myself.” You swiftly told him it was okay and introduced yourself next.

“And I’m Jack. Just call that guy Dino.”

“That’s not my name,” you watched Chan roll his eyes.

“Sure it is! You look like a dinosaur, so why not?”

“I don’t look like a dinosaur, Jack.”

“You’re not gonna admit that if you squint really really hard, you kind of look like one?”

“Jack, Table 10’s order is ready!”

“Shouldn’t you be going now?”

As he hurriedly left, he yelled back, “THIS ISN’T OVER!”

The interaction made you laugh, turning Chan’s attention back towards you. You both took sips of your drinks as the conversation steadily became more casual.

“So… Dino?” you started back up. He groaned.

“Just a name my friends call me. It’s not my favorite.”

“Well…” you squinted at him a bit. You saw it.

“Yeah, just forget it,” he waved it off, with a skeptical face. Your grin widened and a laugh left you.

Taking a sip of your orange juice, you felt a shiver run through you. It was hot outside, but that seemed to instantly mean intense cooling inside as always. As you set your glass down, you looked back at Chan. “I thought Canada was supposed to be cold.”

“It is, in the winter. Summer gets pretty hot in Toronto though,” he explained between sips of his own drink. You nodded, Toronto wasn’t incredibly North.

As the small talk continued, you were surprised by how easy it was to get to know him. It turned out Rowan was right after all. This wasn’t incredibly difficult. But even though it wasn’t hard to converse, you still couldn’t place exactly what you were supposed to be doing to help the guy out. You knew one of the people you were going to meet would be your soulmate, as much as that terrified you. But you couldn’t just assume everyone was going to be the “one” or whatever. You figured you had to dig deeper. But that was going to be tough, or at least you thought. How were you supposed to potentially change somebody’s life in one day?

“So, what do you do?” you asked. You were almost surprised by your own “boldness”. Well, bold for you.

“Hmm?” he seemed to momentarily leave and enter back in the discussion, setting down his coffee. “Oh, I’m a student in medicine at University of Toronto.” You nodded.

“Medicine, eh? What do you want to be?”

He chuckled hesitantly, seeming somewhat fake. Oh?

“Yeah, I don’t really know yet.” Oh. That’s when you thought: Maybe he’s one of those students that don’t actually know/like what they’re studying? Medicine seemed like one of those fields where students would enter to satisfy some sort of familial standard. Not necessarily because they themselves wanted it. You hesitated as you stirred your juice with your straw. Should you ask?

“Your orders!” the waiter, Jack, slipped from behind the bar with both your orders. Even though you hadn’t come together. He slid your platter towards you and then Chan’s. Your glimpse at his food showed you a stack of pancakes doused in cream and strawberries. Nice.

Naturally, the conversation was interrupted as you had now received your food, conversation becoming relatively minimal. Thankfully, after he finished his meal first with you close behind, the conversation stayed.

“Any plans for what your doing while your here?”

“Ahh,” you paused. Maybe this was your chance to spend the rest of the day with him? But how to do so without coming on too strong and scaring him away? ‘Lmao, you’ ‘How bout YOU show me the town tonight, big boy ;)))’ ‘Greetings soulmate, allow me to follow you for the day and reveal your deepest, darkest emotions so I may heal you’ ‘I have come from afar to change your life’.

“... nothing?” before you realised it, you were taking way too long to think of an excuse and Chan had caught on to your speechlessness.

“...no, haha?” you smiled nervously. Your smile must have been contagious, as he then reflected it.

“Well, some people like to go down to the TU campus-”

“Are you here alone, though?” Jack had leaned against the bar from the other side, more liberated to socialize now that the tour group he complained about earlier had left.

“Yeah, just me!” you nodded towards him.

“That’s no fun,” he groaned. He beamed up and leaned over the bar, towards you. “Want me to show ya around?!”

With all due respect to Jack, you had shit to do. Specifically with Chan. You tried keeping a straight face while you looked away, pretending to consider the premise. Before you could gently turn down the offer, you looked over at Chan as he spoke up.

“I thought you said you were busy today?” he seemed annoyed.

“When did I say that?”

“When I asked if you wanted to hang out today last night,” Jack had a face that seemed like he was searching his brain for answers when he “oohhhh”ed.

“I forgot,” he seemed distraught and mildly upset. “I’m covering Wendy’s shift today while she’s at her friend’s wedding…”

You gave a small laugh, “It’s okay, I’m fine.”

“No, it’s not,” he groaned. “Sightseeing by yourself is, like, boring as fuck.”

“Some people, believe it or not, like having that kind of time to themselves,” Chan defended.

“Blah, blah, that’s bullshit,” Jack argued back, almost like a toddler. He then gasped and yelled, “YOU CAN SHOW HER AROUND!”

“JACK,” he simply stated.

“C’mon! Don’t you want a real local to show you around?” the question was directed at you. Chan also hesitantly looked at you, awaiting a response.

“Uhhh, I mean,” you hesitated. “It sounds nice, but I wouldn’t want to impose on anyone-”

“Meh, Chan had nothing to do today, anyways,” he shrugged. “It’s not a problem, right?” He directed his question towards Chan.

You shyly looked at him, when he met your gaze he quickly looked away, flustered and struggling to find his words. “Uhm, well no-”

“PERFECT!” he hopped over the bar counter (who the fuck was this dude) and pulled you both up from your seats by your arms. “Chan’s been needing a date.”

“A d-date?”

“Now, GO HAVE FUN,” he dragged you out towards the entrance and pushed you both out the restaurant.

Did you just get kicked out?

Now it was just the two of you, awkwardly standing on the sidewalk at the entrance to the restaurant, standing by the side to not impede pedestrian traffic. A brief silence filled with awkwardness, confusion, and tension swept over as you looked at him in confusion.

“We didn’t even pay?”

“Y-yeah,” he scratched his head, looking back inside. “Well, it’s coming out of his check.”

“Ah…” you awkwardly pulled at the bottom of your shirt.

“Yeah, so…” he rubbed his hands together. “I’m so sorry, about all of this. Jack is… unusual. He means well, though. I wouldn’t want to intrude on your stay here, so you totally don’t have to do what he says, I can give you a few places to go, tips, recommendations for food, photo ops-”

You breathed deeply as you watched him talk. His looks were nothing to sneeze at, and him rambling on made you tune out as it only drew you more towards his face. He made eye contact, making you flinch, unnoticeably perhaps as he just looked away and kept talking. As much as you tried to not think about what Rowan said about the soulmate, you couldn’t help but at least wonder. Well, it was more like daydreaming.

Before you could finish admiring him and tune back into what he was telling you, you found his mouth stop moving and his face look towards you, waiting for interaction on your part.

“Oh, uhm, ah,” you not so charismatically brainstormed to find the words you were looking for. “Actually, I was… uhm…” You folded your arms across in front of you in an instinctively defensive manner. “I would appreciate being shown Toronto by a local, kind of like what Jack said. That is, if you actually wanted to, I don’t want to force you into something you don’t want to do, after all-”

“Okay, I can do that.” You stopped dead in your sentence when he said that, trying to suppress the light fluttery feeling of happiness that welled up inside of you. You smiled wide, only slightly embarrassed by your probably red cheeks.

“Really? Oh, thank you so much-”

“Don’t mention it,” he laughed, scratching the back of his neck. “Besides, I think we get along pretty well, anyways.”

--------------------------------------------------

To start, he took you down to University of Toronto’s campus where you could see a few people, young and old, laid out on blankets. Some were having picnics, some were just enjoying the day, all in the shade. The temperature had gotten higher from when you first woke up, to a point that you couldn’t ignore it.

Nervously, Chan asked if you would like your picture taken there, which you said yes to. You posed cutely along a tree for a short few minutes, before the heat began to set and he proposed going to cool down in the visitor’s centre. As you did so, you thought to bring up the topic of what he was majoring in.

“Medicine, huh?”

“Hmm?” he set down his can of coke that he got from the vending machine. “Oh, yeah.”

“Do you… like it?” he didn’t make any eye contact as he just sat staring at the can, tracing the rim with his finger.

“Can’t say,” he said. “It’s not the worst thing, I don’t hate it. I think the idea is cool, and the stuff I’m learning isn’t all that bad, but…” he took a deep breath. “I have no idea of telling if this is what I was meant to do.”

Silence overtook the both of you for awhile. You definitely understood. You didn’t know what you were going to graduate with a degree in when you first went to college, either. That part of your life was so hard, you remembered. Leaving home, living by yourself, starting your journey to the rest of your life. It was terrifying. It was lonely. No matter the amount of support you got, you still didn’t have what you thought you needed. Someone, something, anything to tell you what to do.

Afterwards, he decided to take you to the Toronto sign with the fountain. You took the trolleys, falling in love with the idea at first and soon realizing it was still public transport and wasn’t some Cinderella carriage. It was pretty busy to, the two of you were packed in, and while the AC was doing its best to keep up, it just wasn’t made to withstand the heat. It was up to about 96 degrees, you overheard some other people saying who were complaining about it.

“It’s so freaking hot,” he groaned as he shook his shirt, trying to create some sort of flowing air. “You came on a pretty bad day. I mean, it’s not Canada day, but still.”

“Yeah, the heat is killing me,” you laughed, fanning yourself. “At least I got to meet you, though!” You stated a little too enthusiastically. You could’ve sworn the person you were standing over looked up at the two of you, as if watching some sort of drama or crime taking place.

Nonetheless, Chan became shy again, scratching his hair a little as he smiled and awkwardly looked out a window. As he did, his eyes shot open as he then stated “crap” and grabbed your hand as he pulled you off the trolley at the stop that the trolley was just about to leave. Once you both were out of danger of being crushed by the doors, he instantly spurted out a bunch of apologies, which you needed to quelm.

He calmed down, and after he let go of your hand in a silly, flustered way, you headed to the fountain. Along the way, you stopped and asked if you could get some ice cream, to which he happily obliged. Hopping into a sweets shop for a moment, you both got your respective favorite flavors in cones. You paid, after much arguing on both of you insisting you would cover it, Chan threw in the towel after witnessing your aggressive assertiveness to pay.

“I’ll just have to pay next time!” he ended with, handing you your cone after holding them while you fumbled with your bag, which still seemed suspiciously prepared for whatever you could need. You smiled a little, almost solemnly. You thought about staying in contact, but you remembered the reason you were there with him in the first place. To fulfill some sort of purpose you were meant to do with him, and go on to the next one. This day was technically supposed to be the only one where you would spend time with him at all. It’s not like you could come to Toronto, or wherever your “soul bros” were whenever you felt like it. You had a busy job that worked you as hard as it could within the legal (though you had your doubts at times) limits.

You made it to the sign, and it was crowded. And hot again. The ice cream helped minimally, and you could hardly stand the heat. The photo op was ruined quite a few times by kids who were climbing around the sign, but you did manage to get a nice picture with the second ‘T’. Someone offered to take a picture of the two of you, which Chan hesitantly complied to. You understood nearly instantly why, as the minute he stood by you, you realized how weird it was going to look. In a brave attempt to prevent the weird picture you came closer and wrapped an arm around him, posing with a peace sign. You didn’t catch his reaction, smiling at the person who was taking your picture with Chan’s phone. You heard the faint shutter click over the noise of a thousand demons (commonly known as children), as the stranger then put down the phone and came up to Chan and gave him his phone back. You said thank you, followed by a hurried one from Chan, who seemed flustered. You turned to look at him, seeing his face was flushed, maybe just due to the heat, but the rush of heat that you felt the second you came in contact made you think otherwise.

“You guys make a nice couple!” the stranger complimented with a genuine smile before he left. Oh, boy.

“How’d it turn out?” you asked as you tried to peak at the photo. You saw yourself smiling, fairly brightly, while leaning on a surprised Chan who was looking at you as opposed to the camera. The ‘T’ was practically illegible, as well.

“I blame the photographic technique,” you playfully patted his shoulder. He chuckled, and then groaned.

“I suck at posing for pictures,” he stated. “I think I have one good selfie I’ve ever taken. I had weird hair then, too.”

“Let’s take a better one, then!” you suggested.

“I’d rather be done with my complimentary sweat soak first.”

“Good point,” you giggled. “Any plans on what to do?”

“Hmm,” he seemed to think, though only for a brief second. “We could go to the aquarium. I’ve never been and I’d think it’s air conditioned.”

“Sounds like a plan!”

Oh, it was a plan. Maybe not one where you weighed the pros and cons of, but a plan. Everything was fine until you got there. It appeared as if everyone else in the city had the same plan as you did. The line for tickets was enormous, and the aquarium itself was packed.

You stayed regardless, at least it was cool. You started by walking through some more isolated halls with fish tanks. All sorts of colorful fish from yellow, blue, and red swam aside you, back and forth. You’d point out a fish you thought looked nice every once in awhile, or one that was doing something funny.

Chan tried to take some pictures of the fish, to which he voiced some disappointment of because the glass hindered it. As you went further in, more kids started showing up and running around, bumping into the two of you. As minimally irritating as it was, at one point a little girl came running full speed and crashed into Chan. She fell down, and he had suddenly pushed into you a bit.

Before you could understand that was what happened yourself, Chan crouched down and asked if she was okay. You watched them as the girl got up and looked down at a scratch she got.

“I think I hurt my knee,” the girl spoke shyly.

“Uh oh, do you want to get a band aid for it?” he asked gently. She nodded silently. You smiled at how he handled the situation with care. Several college students would be angry as all hell if a kid ran into them. You commended his patience.

“I think I have one with me,” you kneeled down to the girl and started searching your backpack. You pulled out one and took the packaging off, applying it as she let you.

“Thank you!” she beamed. She turned to run off again but paused, turning around and waving. You both waved back before getting back up on your feet.

“I see you, Doctor Lee. You’d nail the pediatrician vibe if you went that way,” you mildly teased him. He laughed, scratching the back of his head.

“Yeah, I guess that would be cool.” You hesitated a moment before you began walking further into the aquarium.

“I don’t know if my career is what I’m meant to do, either.”

He looked at you quickly enough for you to feel a minitare draft hit your face. You continued.

“Working is hard, no matter what your doing. My mother always told me to never pick your favorite hobby as your career. Then that hobby becomes your job. And I think there is some truth to that…” you stopped at a dimly lit jellyfish tank and stared at the purple tentacles.

“But I also don’t see the problem with loving your job. Yes, it becomes a job, but doesn’t that just make you love it all the more?” You took a long pause, sneaking a glance at Chan. He was staring at the tank, as if thinking about your words.

“Even if your job isn’t your favorite, why can’t you learn to love it anyway? Someone’s gotta do it. Your role matters. Medicine is so important in that regards. You get to make people’s lives better, longer, and less painful. You can give them the chance to find the meaning that we are all searching for in our little lives. Maybe some people feel that sense of what they’re meant to do. And maybe some need more time to figure that out.”

Your monologue finished, leaving you two in the silence of the one place in the aquarium that wasn’t loud and bombarded with people. For awhile you both stood there, just staring at the slow movements the jellyfish made. Something about the moment made you feel that you had done what you came to do.

“... Thanks,” Chan broke the silence. You smiled and looked over at him.

“It’s no problem.”

After the aquarium, you realized how late it was. The evening produced the wash of orange and yellow that was starting to light up all the street lamps. It only seemed to encourage younger people out to enjoy the night on the town. Traffic seemed worse and more people were out on the streets.

“Hey, (y/n),” Chan initiated as you slowly walked down the street together. “Today was lots of fun. Seriously. I really enjoyed it.”

“Hey, I did too!” you replied.

“I just wanted to say thanks. I thought I was gonna stay in all day and do nothing but this was so much better than that. Like, I don’t wanna be cheesy or anything, I feel like we were almost meant to meet in that stupid diner.” You chuckled to yourself. If only he knew.

“I get it, I felt the same way.”

You kept walking together like that until you came to a park and decided to sit. The two of you kept talking and talking until somehow, in your exhaustion, you managed to fall dead asleep on his shoulder. Though you didn’t notice, Chan surely did as his cheeks grew red and his lips curled into a smile, looking back up at the painted sky.

#reader-insert #chan x reader #chanxreader #dinoxreader #dino x reader #seventeen imagine #seventeen #seventeen imagines #dino imagine #chan imagine #chan lee #dino

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samslosthoe · 4 years

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astrology of j2 and wives, Ackles edition.

This is an interesting one. I expected to be a little thrown off by it in one way or another, and you should get why if you read my whining about Jensen’s Pisces. This isn’t one of those relationships where you look from the outside and kind of understand it. I will say that I expected fewer positives than I did wind up seeing, though that’s to do with my own personal biases (about Pisces in relationships as well as D herself) and not the actual compatibility of the chart.

I want to point out that before I do these deep-dives, I don't really look at the charts beforehand. Anything I said before I actually look has been an assumption on my part, based on what I already knew. For instance, I didn't know a thing about Danneel's full chart before doing this and based most of my assumptions on her sun sign and what I know about Jensen's chart. Also, as I go on and do more of these, I get better. The first ones were experiments, and as I gather more information, I have more to say and consider. So I may revisit the original posts and add on later.

So, let's take a look at the Ackles' chart.

For the first go-around of these, I want to say that I'm looking at the charts at face-value. What I mean is that we're putting the tin hat aside and analyzing the chart as if it were the relationship we've been presented with. I may or may not go back later and put said hat on to analyze it that way.

This time, we're gonna start with the positive aspects.

Not unlike the Pads, these two have serious sexual chemistry. It comes up a lot in this chart but isn't all that the relationship is hinged on, unlike said Pads. Since their attraction shows itself in multiple ways, there's also a level of danger with this passion, meaning that when it blows up, it blows up in a big way. This is absolutely common among people with a connection like this--big fights and big sex. I don't find this at all surprising.

What did come as a surprise was that this chart indicates that they tend to lift each other up creatively and they work on joint projects together well. It shouldn't have surprised me, considering that there is evidence to support this, though it is argued amongst the more critical fans how much involvement these two have in the Family Business Beer co. At face value, if you take what they tell us and what they say to the media, the two of them clearly created something that works well and is profitable. The nuance is a discussion for another time, but on paper, this checks out.

Let's touch on some gray areas. I'm the kind of person that takes a basic chart like this one and adds in the situations of reality and tries to make sense of it. In the positive column, it mentions that if they have children, they'll have a happy childhood, and there's a reason why I personally see it as gray.

This isn't a criticism of the couple's parenting; you're not gonna get that here from a childless, anonymous person on the internet. What I WILL say is that every child is different. This chart is saying that as parents, these two will be fun and fantastical, and that playtime comes easy. I think adding in the reality of Jensen being gone for so long, so much of their childhood, and this chart not accounting for the children's charts themselves, this isn't enough information to declare a "happy childhood." To add a bit of my personal bias here, my father is like SUPER dad, right? Well, when I was a child, he worked sooo much and I barely ever saw him. I wound up with plenty of issues surrounding that, despite my memories of actual time with my dad being amazing. Do you see why this is in the gray category?

I'm also gonna add that physical-based attraction in this gray area because many of the other aspects mention how this isn't an intellectually stimulating match. This may also be personal bias, hence the gray, but I don't think you can have a truly longlasting relationship based on physicality. Even when you're as hot as Jensen.

We're onto the challenging aspects of this pairing. This particular interaction in the chart follows up what I said in the previous paragraph: while the connection may be instant, it'll be difficult to maintain. These two people are bound to grow apart unless it's something addressed between them. If they're not careful to check-in with each other, they're likely to wind up with nothing in common anymore.

This next bit really intrigued me and I'm not putting my hat on, but if you know, you know. So here we have Venus square Neptune, which tells you that Jensen (Venus in this case) is very likely to misunderstand D, and he may wind up feeling like he is really the only one in love in this pairing. It says that D may be unfaithful or feel like she has to lie to keep Jensen happy and that Jensen may be seeing things with that romanticized view he has of the world, aka not what's really happening. This is a HUGE danger zone for them, and unless they have effective communication (spoiler: doesn't look like they do), this could be really awful.

We've got another challenge here with this next bit: criticism. If you read my Jensen chart, you'll know a Pisces is going to be reeeeaally sensitive to criticism. Well, they're both Pisces. And what happens when you feel criticized when you're very sensitive? You either lash out or close off. These two are likely to do the latter, which is honestly going to drive a bigger wedge between them than if they blew up in each other's faces. There's another aspect that links to this one in terms of problems, where Jensen will feel like Danneel finds his ideas bland and rigid and he'll find that hard to tolerate from his partner.

I find this next aspect really interesting, given that, as far as we know, Jensen is going to be more home-based after Supernatural unless he has a sneaky project up his sleeve we're not aware of yet. This aspect was taken care of when half of their marriage was spent apart, but if Jensen stays within the home as much as your "average" husband would, they may run into some problems. They're both independent spirits and may find each other very stifling if they spend too much time together.

So in general, what do I think? I think this one really depends on their communication and how hard they're willing to work on themselves to better fit each other. This is where the private nature of Pisces is screwing with my perception: there's just not enough information. And you know what? That's what they want. I really think they'd both hate this kind of analysis, probably for different reasons. The thing is, it's going to be hard enough for them to know what the other is thinking and feeling, and they're married, so I have very little odds of cracking this open when they probably struggle themselves.

Removed from these two, I find Pisces to not do well with another Pisces. It's a slippery mess of emotions and things unsaid but "I shouldn't have to say it, you should already know." Pisces needs someone to pull them out of themselves, to get them out of their heads and into the world so they don't wind up living in an inner prison. Putting them together just perpetuates that, like putting two drug addicts that don't want to quit together. They can bring out the worst in each other.

Pisces as friends? Sure. There will be a creative exchange, they'll have fun dressing up and showing out together, won't feel vulnerable together, and maybe have fun. But that's, in my opinion, an unfulfilling prospect of a relationship and marriage that's supposed to last a long time.

But I'm not a Pisces nor a psychic, so what do I know?

#astrology #j2 astrology #spn astrology #jensen ackles #jensen ackles birth chart #danneel #semi #tinhat #sort of #not really #pisces couple #i wrote this in word so now you have capitalization #is that good or bad #i don't know

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cakesunflower · 5 years

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The Viridian [C.H. One Shot]

sooo this is over 20k words of something i really enjoyed writing omg. if you’ve seen Good Trouble, the spin off of The Fosters, this may remind you of it based on the communal living situation. but yeah. i hope y’all enjoy it omg. happy reading!!

“It’s a glorified dorm. That is what you’re subjecting yourself to.”

Parker Hayden rolled her eyes at the words of her best friend, Sage, who had just dropped a box of Parker’s medical books on the wooden floor with a loud thud. Focusing on her task of hanging her clothes in the closet, Parker responded, “There’s nothing wrong with communal living, Sage.”

There was a scoff from behind her as the metal of the hanger clinked on the rod she was hanging them on, the closet space slowly but surely filling up with each additional hanger. “Maybe when you’re in college,” came her best friend’s unconvinced response. “Not when you’re a prodigal, badass trauma surgeon in one of the top hospitals in the country.”

Parker’s lips quirked up at the compliment, ignoring the prodigal part of the sentence. She was quite young for someone in their third year of residency, only at twenty-five when most people graduated medical school at twenty-six. But Parker was smart and made her way fast by herself, without coming from a family lineage of doctors, and had the sociable personality to never let anyone doubt her. Turning around to raise an eyebrow at Sage, who was getting ready to put the sheets on the bed, Parker walked over to help and teased, “I thought I already was a badass trauma surgeon? Have you been lying to me this whole time?”

Sage rolled her eyes as she grabbed onto the edge before letting the rest of the sheet fly across the mattress so Parker could grab onto it. As they tucked the teal colored sheets in, Sage retorted with a small smirk, “You’re a trauma surgeon living in a commune. That’s not entirely badass. Or very prodigal of you.”

“You’re just jealous I get a pool.”

Sage’s movements stopped, straightening as she stared at Parker with dark eyes narrowed in disbelief. “This place has a pool?!” she demanded, hands finding her hips indignantly as her lips parted at the newfound fact.

This time Parker smirked, continuing to fit the sheet on the mattress before snickering, “Not so subjecting now, is it?”

With a dismissive scoff, Sage went back to making the bed as she grumbled, “Whatever. Almost everyone in L.A. has a pool.”

Parker’s blue eyes sparkled against the sunlight streaming through the large window panes behind Sage, whose dark skin was practically glowing against the late afternoon golden rays. They put the pillows on the bed, and Parker grinned. “Everyone but you.”

Sage was quick to toss a decorative pillow at Parker’s face, their laughter ringing through the surprisingly open space of her bedroom. Despite all of Sage’s teasing and comments, Parker was looking forward to living The Viridian. She never really had a problem with living with strangers; she dormed with strangers all throughout college and then in a shared apartment through med school where she met Sage. The two of them lived together during their intern year, but the more Sage and her boyfriend got serious, the quicker Parker realized she was going to have to find another place to live because the apartment they shared was under Sage’s name. The neuro surgeon would never kick Parker out, would’ve forced her boyfriend, Xavier, to be okay with the fact that he would have to live with his girlfriend and best friend. But Parker wanted them to have their own space, would’ve felt like she was intruding despite Sage’s protests, so she found The Viridian, and was excited to stay.

Part of Parker knew that Sage’s comments stemmed from her desire of hopefully getting Parker to move back in with her, but Parker wasn’t going to budge. She was happy for Sage and Xavier for taking that big step forward in their relationship, and she didn’t want to put herself in a happy time that Sage should just have with her boyfriend. Plus, Parker loved meeting new people, had to do so every day at work, and while she understood that living in a place like this meant sharing it with a bunch of complete strangers she’d have to see every day, she was still excited.

The rent was cheap, and the place was quite spacious. The gated elevator would come up to a hallway, glass doors right across that opened up into a wide foyer with grayish-blue walls with a coat closet on the right along with the doorway to the communal bathrooms. There was a row of sinks in the middle of the bricked room with mirrors, the left side where the showers were—sealed only by curtains—and the right side with toilet stalls—though those were actually sealed by proper doors. Parker was used to sharing bathrooms with men when she lived in the apartment during med school, though she knew she would have to get used to stepping out of the shower in her towel and having to see one of her male housemates standing at the sink brushing his teeth or something.

Then again, she was a surgeon. The human body didn’t really leave her flustered.

“Oh, hi! You’re here already, good!” Parker and Sage paused in their way towards the main doors leading to the elevators in the hall, watching as Roslyn, the building manager and just a few years older than Parker, entered with hands carrying bags filled with clinking bottles of alcohol. Lots of alcohol. She offered a friendly smile to Parker, green eyes bright yet apologetic. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t here, I had to run some errands and—”

“Oh, no, it’s fine, really,” Parker immediately placated with a light laugh, waving her off with a smile. “One of the guys let me in—uh, Luke, I think?” she tried to recall with a furrow of her eyebrows, recalling the exceptionally tall blonde that had greeted her downstairs with blonde hair tied back into a bun and blue eyes that put her own to shame. He’d been startlingly handsome, rendering Parker dumbly speechless for a moment before remembering her ability to speak.

“Good, good, Luke’s a sweetie,” Roslyn smiled in relief, blowing a lock of dark hair away from her face. She reminded Parker of a cute cartoon character, animated in the way she spoke and acted, a happy glimmer in her emerald colored eyes. “Have you had the chance to meet the others?”

Parker remembered the pretty Italian girl with the dirty blonde hair who had greeted her in a hurry as she ran past Parker’s new room, stopping to say hello before running off to a work function she’d been running late for. “Carina,” she answered, laughing lightly as she thought of their brief meeting.

Roslyn nodded along, curls bouncing as she did so. “Well, you’ll meet the others tomorrow night at the party. Calum and Ashton should be back from their trip by then.”

Sage raised an eyebrow, bumping Parker’s hip with hers as she crossed her arms over her chest. “You’re having a party and didn’t tell me?”

Shaking her head, Parker parted her lips to deny her knowledge of any party, which she truly had no idea about, before Roslyn cut in with a laugh. “Oh, sorry, I forgot to mention it! We throw a party at The Viridian on every first Friday of the month, it’s kind of a tradition.” With a smile at Sage, she said, “You’re more than welcome to come! It’ll also be a housewarming party for Parker! Invite as many friends as you want. There’ll be plenty of liquor,” she assured with a giggle, holding up the bags that were weighed down by the bottles inside. Her grin widened, moving around the two other girls to go into the kitchen as she chirped, “Prepare your livers!”

Sage exchanged a look with Parker, her smirk returning as an approving look flashed across her face—the first one since she’d stepped foot into The Viridian. “I like her.”

*****

When Parker shut the glass door of the foyer behind her later that same night, it was around two in the morning. A couple of hours after completely moving into her new place, she had to go into the hospital because there had been a ten car pile up, so her presence was demanded in the E.R., which was her area of specialty, with the Head of Trauma. They’d been lucky; no lives were lost in the accident, but the E.R. had been crazy and there hadn’t been a moment’s rest, and no matter how many times Parker thought she was used to being on her feet all the time, the thought was thrown out the window by the end of the day when all she wanted to do was chop off her legs.

It was quiet in the loft, almost eerily so, the only light being on was the one above the stove in the kitchen, providing a soft and dull glow while most of the living room was shadowed pieces of furniture. The large window panes on the opposite side of the foyer in the living room showed the darkened city of downtown Los Angeles, some lights scattered about to showcase a bit of life that still remained awake at this hour.

Silently, Parker wandered into her bedroom, clicking the door shut behind her as she switched on the light and toed off her shoes by the door. As she approached her bed while undoing the button and zipper of her jeans, Parker caught sight of a bottle of Sutter Home white Moscato sitting on her bedside table, her eyebrows shooting up at her favorite wine that she most definitely hadn’t bought, picking up the little card that was leaning against it.

Just a little housewarming gift for you. Welcome to The Viridian, Parker! We’re so happy to add you to the family!—Roslyn

A smile quirked at the surgeon’s lips at Roslyn’s loopy handwriting, perfectly fitting her personality. Parker felt touched at the warm gesture, vaguely recalling how Roslyn had asked her about her favorite kind of drink when Parker had met up with her for the first time about the empty space she was hoping to rent. The fact that Roslyn went out of her way to buy the wine for her as a gift was so sweet, and only strengthening Parker’s resolve of wanting to live her—as if she’d even doubted it.

After changing into a pair of night shorts and an oversized Stanford shirt, Parker found herself not really too tired to fall asleep. She sat on the edge of her bed, eyeing the bottle with a thoughtful twist of her lips. She wasn’t as tired as she thought she’d be, but she was thirsty.

So with her phone in one hand and the bottle in the other, Parker slipped into her flip flops and left her room, walking into the kitchen to pull out a wine glass, rinsing it in the sink before her eyes drifted to the stairs. There was no second floor, with all the rooms on the same level as hers, but the stairs led to the roof she’d only gotten to see when she first met with Roslyn to check out the place. It was spacious and open up there, with a pool in the middle and chairs around it, as well as a space that had turned into a makeshift bedroom with three glass walls anyone could look into.

Parker recalled Roslyn saying that was Calum’s bedroom, one of the two guys she had yet to meet, and seeing as he wasn’t here, Parker quietly made her way up the twisting stairs that led to the door.

It was beautiful out, warm with a calming breeze, as Parker stepped outside, eyes going to the buildings towering around the one she lived in. They provided optimal light for her to navigate her way around the roof, as did the lights in the pool, as she walked around it towards the bricked railing to lean against it, setting the glass on top of it as she poured some of the wine into it.

There was a sense of tranquility that washed over her as she sipped at her drink, arms folded on top of the cool brick as she gazed out at the city, the buzz of cars driving around incessant and never ending. Everything seemed so alive around her, even at this late hour, the occasional blaring of horns reminding her of the millions of hearts beating around the city. She was always around death, trying her hardest to save lives instead of lose them, that the strangest reminder of the life around her was always welcomed. It eased the somewhat erratic rate of her heart after a trying day and steadied her trembling fingers, reminding herself that not everyone’s life was in her control. That she was going to lose people despite her best efforts.

Parker took a sip of the wine before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, inhaling the dull smoke of the city and the chlorine of the pool, her lack of sight making her aware of the sounds around her. Like the gentle rattling of the fairy lights hung around the roof, unlit. Or the distant bark of a dog somewhere below.

And then there was a splash.

A startled gasp escaped Parker, grip on her glass tightening as she swiveled around jerkily, widened blue eyes on pool where the previously undisturbed water were rippling violently, watching as a warbled figure moved underwater. Her pulse was racing, she could acutely feel it, eyebrows shot up and breath still as she waited for whoever the hell it was to show their face. She hadn’t heard anyone else step out onto the roof, too lost in her thoughts, and frankly assuming that everyone was asleep to join her out here.

A few moments passed, with Parker impatiently watching with furrowed eyebrows, not wanting to look away from the pool just yet as a light breeze tickled at her skin. She chewed at the corner of her lip, breath hitching when the person finally decided to break through the surface—right in her direction.

A dark head raised from the water, soaked and sticking to glistening brown skin. It was a man, whose eyes Parker couldn’t see since they were closed, but could make out tattoos marking the skin on his collarbones and arm, water splashing and dripping as he raised his hands push back the hair that matted his forehead. Parker couldn’t tear her eyes away, admiring the way the lights in the pool reflected against him animatedly, watching as his eyes finally opened and she caught sight of dark brown irises and full lips with water dripping from them.

He was probably one of the most gorgeous men she’d ever laid eyes on, she decided then and there, unable to look away even when she was aware of the confused, almost glaring, frown furrowing at his thick eyebrows when he noticed her presence. Two strangers watching each other, lost in thought and confusion and admirance, yet neither daring to just yet break the silence existing between them. For a moment, Parker imagined how he’d glow under the fairy lights if they were on, if his brown skin would appear more golden in the warm yellows.

“Who are you?”

His voice was deep, not uncomfortably so, carrying a bit of a rasp and a hint of an accent in the cautiously curious tone he spoke with. He eyed her suspiciously, dark eyes taking her in, from her mint painted toes to up the length of her exposed legs to the top of her blonde head. Yet somehow, Parker didn’t find herself bristling under his scrutinizing gaze, despite feeling the intensity roll off of it in heated waves, nor did she find it leering. He looked at her as if she couldn’t be trusted, floating away from her slightly, as if the already existing space of water between them wasn’t providing enough distance.

Parker tried not to be offended, not entirely used to people not trusting her right away; as a surgeon, gaining her patients’ trust was always something she excelled at. She swallowed, feeling the remnants of the wine in her throat, as she answered, “Parker Hayden. I, uh, just moved in today.”

A vague recognition flashed across the guy’s face, lifting his chin as droplets of water raced down his neck and collarbones before disappearing back into the pool. Parker did her best not to follow them. “You’re the one who moved into Mike’s room,” he stated, more to himself than to her, his words not entirely having an effect on her. She didn’t know who Mike was, didn’t really care to ask when she found the availability for the room. A place to live popped up and she’d grabbed it. Though, judging by the disenchanted way the guy spoke, it seemed as though he’d rather she hadn’t.

She offered a single, slow nod, grip on her glass tight as her gaze remained fixed on the man in the pool. Parker wasn’t sure if it was the shadows of the lights of the buildings and the pool, but she could make out some definition in his arms, the left one tattooed, biceps glistening with water. “Guess that’s me,” she confirmed, raising her glass to her mouth, taking a sip after questioning, “Who’re you?”

Instead of answering right away, the dark haired man swam towards the far end of the pool before using the steps to climb out, and Parker’s traitorous eyes followed his every movement. They took in the way the muscles on his back rippled as he went, the water melodically dripping down his body as the black trunks stuck to his strong flexing thighs with each step. Parker held her breath, watching as he picked up a towel from a nearby chair and wiped at his face and rubbed it through his hair, dark eyes finding her blue from the distance as he rubbed himself down.

All the while, Parker was forcing herself not to let her gaze linger on his body. His tattooed, brown skinned body with a delicious amount of muscles in all the right places as his dark hair stuck up in places haphazardly. He took her in, as if he was memorizing every part of her, and for the first time Parker found herself flushing under his gaze, wondering what he was thinking as he took in her legs and beach wave hair and makeup free face that showed off the hundreds of freckles decorating her. She refused to shift her weight on her feet, only ever wanting to feel judged by her teachers at the hospital, not by some half naked guy who was making her feel more warm than the wine she was drinking.

And as scrutinizing as his gaze was, it was also lazy, hooded eyes and full lips parted ever so slightly in thought as he regarded her. For the few moments he was staring at her—though, they felt like hours—Parker hated that he was so easily, so effortlessly, driving her crazy in wondering what he was thinking as he looked at her.

Then, he wrapped the towel around his neck, holding onto the ends with both hands before he turned around. Parker blinked at him, affronted that he wasn’t even going to bother introducing himself after she had given him that courtesy. But then she took a soft breath as he took a step up on the platform that led to the only bedroom on the roof, realization striking her a second before he opened the door and answered with a name that sounded like a goodbye to end the night, “Calum Hood.”

*****

The Viridian was flooding with people by the time Parker arrived with Sage and Xavier. She’d known she’d get back when the party was already started, having stopped at Sage’s place after work to change into more appropriate wear consisting of heeled boots, a tight black leather skirt and a royal purple colored bodysuit with spaghetti straps and tight to accentuate her breasts in all the right ways. They had heard the music blaring halfway up the elevator ride, the sound louder and clearer as they stepped out in the hallway where a few people were lingering before entering the large loft.

The smell of booze and weed hit almost instantly, and Parker raised her eyebrows at the amount of people gathered, dancing to a remixed version of Sicko Mode playing throughout the loft. But before letting herself get lost in the party, Parker quickly went over to her room, smiling in relief that the door was locked before pulling out her key to unlock it, toss her bag inside, and pocket her key with her phone after locking the door behind her so no one would enter.

She heard an excited squeal over the music as she found Sage and Xavier in the kitchen, pouring themselves some drinks. “The guest of honor has arrived!”

Parker turned to look at a grinning Roslyn, her cheeks flushed which told the surgeon that the green eyed girl was already slightly drunk, letting out a laugh. “No, no, I’m not the guest of honor. Please don’t say that.”

Roslyn clicked her tongue, waving her off with her free hand as the other held a cup, before gesturing to a guy that she’d pulled along with her. Parker looked up at him, just now noticing the tall man who had a dimpled smile and red hair that put her lipstick color to shame. “This is Ashton!” Roslyn introduced loudly, hugging the man sideways as he chuckled and draped his arm around her shoulders. “His room’s the one next to yours. Ash, this is Parker, our new roomie.”

“It’s great to meet you,” Ashton smiled, shaking Parker’s hand as she returned the friendly grin. “I was hoping to meet you this morning but Rose said you were already out.”

Smile turning slightly apologetic, Parker let out a short chuckle. “Yeah, sorry—I’m a surgical resident over at St. Ambrose so I’m always running out at odd hours,” she informed him, leaning her hip against the stoned counter where all of the bottles and cups were laid about for people to help themselves to.

At her words, Ashton’s eyebrows shot up as he tilted his head. “Oh, really? That’s cool as shit,” he grinned in admiration. “What’s your, uh, specialty?”

“She’s a kickass trauma surgeon,” Sage’s proud voice cut in, widening Parker’s grin with a scoff as she felt Sage’s arm drape around her shoulders. Ashton and Roslyn both looked at her with smiles quirking at their lips while Sage held her cup, not so humbly adding in, “And I’m neuro. Saving people’s lives—it’s what we do.”

Parker rolled her eyes, laughing out a muttered, “Oh, God,” as Sage introduced herself and Xavier. The two of them then conversed with Ashton, while Roslyn looked around before huffing to Parker, “I want you to meet Calum too, but I don’t know where he is.”

“Oh, that’s fine,” Parker shook her head, turning to the counter to grab a clear plastic cup to make herself a margarita as she spotted the ingredients around. “I, uh, met him last night, actually,” she added, feeling her throat dry just a little bit at the image of the shirtless, soaked man that flashed through her mind.

“Mm, really?” Roslyn questioned excitedly after swallowing a sip of her drink, stepping up next to Parker as she made her drink. The high volume of the music practically made the stone counter vibrate under her touch. “What’d you think of him?”

Intense. Hot. Drop dead gorgeous. “Uh, we didn’t really get to talk much but he seems. . .”

A small, knowing smirk quirked at Roslyn’s lips as she raised her eyebrows, tilting her head slightly. “Quiet? Broody? Like he would rather get hit in the head twice over than have a conversation?” Her quick words had a startled yet amused laugh escaping from Parker, eyebrows shooting up as she glanced at the building manager, catching the grin spreading on Roslyn’s lips. At least Parker wasn’t the only one who got that kind of vibe from Calum. He did seem like the type to keep to himself, but she just figured that was because they were literally meeting for the first time at two in the morning, when neither of them were too in the mood to hold a proper conversation. “Trust me, he’s a real nice guy once you get to know him. He just keeps to himself most of the time.”

Parker nodded along as she brought her cup up to her mouth, taking a sip of the margarita and enjoying the perfectly bittersweet taste of it as her gaze just happened to look over Roslyn’s head. What she caught sight of, through the dancing people, had her eyebrows raising as she chuckled to Roslyn, “He definitely looks like the type to keep to himself.”

Roslyn’s eyebrows furrowed at her statement, turning around to follow Parker’s gaze. When she caught sight of what Parker saw, Rosyln let out a snort of a chuckle. They were both currently looking at Calum, seated on the couch with a cup in one hand while his left arm was wrapped around the shoulders of a leggy dark blonde, a flirtatious smile on her lips while he talked into her ear, whatever he was saying only making her grin widen and lean into him more.

“He is,” Roslyn responded with a dismissive roll of her eyes, looking back at Parker with a shrug of her shoulders. “That’s just Violet, his flavor of the month. By the time the next party rolls around, it’ll be a different girl.”

Lips pressing together, Parker nudged them downwards at the information, acknowledging it with a thoughtful hum. But when her eyes flickered back to the sight across the room, all the way on the other side, she felt the faintest twists in her stomach as she watched Calum’s finger graze up and down Violet’s arm, still speaking into her ear as if he was sharing a deep secret. They looked comfortably lost in their own bubble, no acknowledgment to the party around them as her right hand reached up to touch the side of his face as his lips remained by her ear.

Parker blamed the fact that the guy was so ridiculously attractive, because there was no other justifiable reason as to why she recognized that twist in her stomach as jealousy.

She felt her heart stop as Calum pulled away from Violet and, through the people moving between them, his dark eyes met her blue. Their gazes locked, and Parker felt the breath catch in her throat as he leaned back where he sat, Violet occupied by talking to some girl, and Calum’s attention seemingly focused on Parker.

She tried to look away, to tune into whatever conversation Roslyn and Ashton were having with Sage and Xavier, but she felt herself freeze in place, like Calum’s dark eyed gaze was rendering her unable to move. The music was pounding in her ears, her focused attention on Calum making everything sound muffled, like cotton was stuffed in her ears, fighting to take a breath as she watched Calum raise his cup and take a sip of his drink—all the while staring at her over the rim.

Parker didn’t know him well enough, and it was driving her crazy that she couldn’t tell what he was thinking as he looked at her. Was he even thinking of her, or were his thoughts occupied by something else while his eyes decided to settle on something mundane in the meantime? It was unnerving, her body’s reaction to just his gaze, akin to what she had felt the night before when he just stared at her. Silent and observing and intense. And as he lowered the cup, lips parted ever so slightly as his jaw worked, still fucking looking, Parker forced herself to look away. To sip on her margarita and join in on the conversation going on right next to her. Anything to distract herself from the weighted stare of a man sitting across the room.

There was a party going on around her. That should be enough of a distraction.

So Parker drank and danced with her friends and housemates, meeting their friends and new people—including Michael, the guy who used to live at The Viridian and whose old room was now Parker’s, and his girlfriend Crystal, both of whom were sweet and friendly and down to take shots whenever anyone suggested them.

“Viridian fam! Gather ’round!” Roslyn’s voice shouted over the music at some point during the night, her loud voice clear and effective as while everyone else at the party did their own thing, the current residence of The Viridian gravitated towards her in the kitchen. Parker stood between Carina and Luke, just slightly tipsy, as she saw Calum approach leisurely, standing opposite of her as they all looked at Roslyn. Parker tore her gaze away from the dark haired man, looking at the dark haired girl, who was balancing a tray of shots despite not being completely sober. Some club remix was playing through the loft, screwing with Parker’s ears, as she watched Roslyn grin. “Alright! We’re gonna toast to the newest member of our lil’ family here, to welcome Parker to The Viridian. Grab a shot!”

Both Ashton and Luke let out boyish whoops, and Parker felt her face flush slightly at the unnecessary but sweet gesture as she grabbed one of the shot glasses, filled to the brim with some kind of vodka she knew would burn her throat. Everybody was all smiles, grabbing a glass and standing in a circle, and Parker’s gaze happened to flicker towards Calum once more as his ring clad fingers grabbed a glass.

Unlike everyone else, he wasn’t wearing much of a smile, and Parker’s analyzing mind couldn’t help but wonder if it had something to do with her—something personal that Calum held against her. He stood tall, in an all black ensemble complete with a leather jacket on top—she didn’t understand how he could wear that, since her entire body felt flushed with heat—but he just looked so good. And unlike when she first met him getting out of the pool, his dark hair was set perfectly atop his head in curls that brushed along his forehead, and not for the first time that night did Parker feel the desire to run her fingers through them.

He stood there, effortlessly stunning, his mere presence capable of catching everyone’s attention. It had been difficult, trying to avoid him throughout the night, seeing as he demanded to be noticed and everywhere Parker looked her eyes seemed to find him. And sometimes, she’d catch him staring back, face clean of any type of expression that would give away his thoughts, that only left Parker tightly frustrated. His lack of reactions only made her feel as though he didn’t want her there. And while the thought was discomforting—she didn’t even know why she cared what he thought—she tried not to let it get to her. Too much.

Even as everyone raised their glasses in the middle to cheers, Calum didn’t even bother with a smile, looking perfectly stoic. And even when everyone exclaimed, “To Parker!” Calum’s lips barely moved, his eyes remaining on the glasses as a way of making sure his gaze didn’t wander. His mouth was pressed together, jaw tight and the muscles moving, with eyes looking void of any emotion that she couldn’t help but think was too intense of a non-reaction than the situation called for.

Parker tried not to let it get to her. Tried not to feel too affected to some guy’s indifference towards her because it didn’t matter—no matter how confusing and annoying and nagging it was. Instead, she clinked her glass with an appreciative smile on her face for everyone else around her, swallowed down the vodka that burned her throat, and tried to have a good time.

Even if one of her housemates was making it painfully obvious she wasn’t entirely welcomed.

*****

Calum rinsed out his mouth, spitting out the water after brushing his teeth as he stood straight in front of the mirror, eyes on his reflection. His cheeks were ever so slightly flushed from the hot shower he took, dark strands messily sitting on his head as he reached up to fix them as best as he could. One of the showers behind him was still running, though the sound was almost calming, being the only thing he could hear in the quiet of The Viridian. Almost everyone was already out for the day, Calum was sure, save for whoever was in the shower. No matter how long he lived here, he never made it a point to converse with anyone while in the shower or toilet—some moments were just meant to be private.

But then the shower cut off as Calum rubbed his hand down his face, scratching at his stubbly chin as he considered shaving. However, his thoughts only last a second, because the shower curtain right behind him slid open, the rings on the rod zinging in the quiet of the bathroom, and Calum felt his heart stop before feeling it drop to the pit of his stomach when he caught sight of the woman in the reflection.

Throat drying, Calum remained perfectly rigid where he stood, watching as Parker froze with one arm still holding the curtain when her eyes landed on the only other person in the room. The blue of her eyes was bright under the lights of the bathroom, blonde hair appearing darker as the wet strands fell just a little bit past her shoulders, and Calum felt an unknown lurch in his chest when he took in the freckles that decorated her prettily flushed face. So many all over, and he didn’t understand where the sudden urge to take his time and count every single one of them came from.

Parker stood there, just in a peach colored towel wrapped around her, showing off the milky, freckled skin of her collarbones and neck, just as unmoving as Calum was, yet the overhead light still glinted against the thin silver nose ring she had pierced. But she could notice the way his dark eyes trailed the length of her figure just through the reflection, noticed the clench of his jaw as he did so, and Parker felt her cheeks flush even more than they already were from her hot shower. Not because she was shy about a guy so openly checking her out—but because she was pretty sure her and Calum were at some type of odds yet the look in his eye said the opposite.

Swallowing the dryness from her throat, Parker approached the sink to Calum’s left, two already in between them as she grabbed the bottle of lotion she had kept there before hopping into the shower. She kept her gaze from drifting over to him, standing in front of the mirror with pursed lips and hyper aware of the man to her right as she rubbed the floral scented lotion on her arms. It was difficult to ignore him; not when he stood tall with straightened shoulders and tattoos inking his golden skin while the only thing both of them were wearing were towels.

But above all else, what was bothering Parker the most was his attitude towards her. She hadn’t been able to shake away the image of him looking at her during the party, like he didn’t want to welcome her the way everyone else living here did, and it kind of stung. Parker didn’t care if people didn’t like her—as a surgeon, she implemented the belief that as long as she saved a life, she didn’t care too much for the patient’s opinion of her—but most people did return a smile when she offered one. Most people didn’t just seemingly dislike her for no reason. And that’s exactly what Calum, in her opinion, was doing.

“What’s your problem with me?” Clearly, she didn’t care much for having a filter in this moment, turning to face Calum as she crossed her arms over her chest, mindful of the towel tightly wrapped around her. Calum merely glanced at her from his peripheral, not even a proper look. Parker’s jaw tightened briefly, eyebrows drawing together. “I barely know you and have rarely seen you in the two days I’ve been here, but whenever I do, you look like I’m some kind of intruder here. What’s the issue?”

She had a bit of a habit of being straightforward and blunt. Right now, though, Parker wasn’t entirely sure if that was a trait she was proud of.

The muscle in Calum’s strong jaw worked as he looked down to put on a silver bracelet on his left wrist before picking up a necklace resting on the sink and putting it around his neck without needing to unclasp it. “The issue here, sweetheart,” Calum spoke up, clear and condescending as he finally turned to face Parker, unimpressed and bored. “Is that you basically are an intruder. Everyone can welcome you with open arms and say you’re part of the family, but just because you occupy a room, doesn’t mean you are. You’ve got to earn your place.”

His words brought a frown to Parker’s face, insulted and hurt. She understood the people who already lived here being close, they obviously knew each other a lot longer, but it wasn’t like Parker arrived with the motive of trying to break into their group. All she wanted was a place to live, that’s it. They were a tight knit group, she got that, but Calum’s indifferent hostility didn’t seem warranted in Parker’s eyes.

“Earn it?” she repeated, letting her own irritation seep into the mild disbelief in her voice, scoffing as she raised an eyebrow. She almost laughed. She couldn’t help but think how ridiculous and juvenile this was. It wasn’t even that serious if everyone else who lived at The Viridian had given her a warm and friendly welcome—it was just Calum who had a problem. And she didn’t see why. The mocking tone slipped into her voice as she gave a tilt of her head. “Would you like me to complete some kind of rite of passage?”

Something changed in Calum’s dark eyes, just then. She saw it in the way he narrowed them ever so slightly at her, his tense posture relaxing ever so slightly as his chin lifted. And just like that, the air in the room shifted, a different kind of tension mixing in with the slight humidity as Parker felt a delicious kind of twist in her stomach as she kept her gaze fixed on Calum. On the way his tattoos were in bare view for her to admire, on his damp dark hair that he had tried to push back but left a few haphazard strands to do their own thing, and on the faint trail of hair going from his belly button and disappearing under the dark blue towel wrapped around him.

Parker’s skin suddenly felt hot, knowing that he was watching her exactly in the way she was watching him, eyes drinking in everything they could, and as smart as she was, she couldn’t figure out how quickly the air in the room changed.

Especially when Calum’s raspy, taunting voice hummed back, “That’s exactly what you need to do.”

Her heart jumped, his words stirring something right in the pit of her stomach as her throat worked, trying to quickly adjust herself to the heat in the room that no longer emitted from the hot showers they’d taken. “Which would be what?”

The suggestive tone Parker’s voice took wasn’t lost on either of them, only serving to add to the newfound tension in the room. Her words were accompanied by her taking a few steps towards Calum, slow yet purposeful and laced with intent. Her blue eyes never left Calum’s brown, and the intensity and fire she could see in them so clearly only fueled the desire running through her veins. It was dizzying how the aura around them changed, how the clench in Calum’s jaw went from seemingly being aggravated with her to something so much more animalistic. The same kind of pining that was incessantly drawing Parker closer and closer to him as the distance between them decreased.

He gazed down at her, dark eyes eating her up as his figure loomed over her. It was just them, right here, right now. And neither were ready to walk out of the room without getting what they both suddenly, so intensely, wanted.

Calum’s lips quirked in the subtlest of smirks, gaze flickering to her mouth suggestively. “Surprise me.”

Oh, she didn’t even hesitate.

Her lips met his heatedly, pouring every bit of intensity her body was tight with yet it still didn’t ease as Calum instantly kissed her back, their lips moving together frantically, desperately. Parker’s hands found Calum’s face, pulling him into her as the sharp lines of his jaw pressed into her palms and his hands tightly gripped her hips through the obstructive material of the towel, chests pressed together as Calum didn’t hesitate in slightly biting down on her lower lip. He drew a quiet moan out of her, just like he wanted, using it to his advantage to allow his tongue to deepen the kiss.

Hearts were beating wildly within chests to keep up with the fiery desire they kissed and grabbed at each other with, and Calum could already feel his head spinning in the best of ways at the floral scent of Parker’s lotion washing over him. They weren’t close enough, his lust driven mind decided, and knowing the layout of the bathroom like the back of his hand, Calum used his grip on Parker’s hips to walk her backwards. She easily complied, trusting him to guide her, gasping slightly when the towel around her body was roughly pulled away and her exposed back was being pressed against the cool tiles of the shower wall, bare chest against Calum’s own warm one.

She gasped against his mouth, arching her back off the wall slightly as she quietly hissed, “Too cold.”

Calum chuckled against her, the sound low and throaty, though he kissed her fervently, one hand leaving her now bare hips and Parker heard the zing of the shower curtain closing. And then, a moment later, the beginning hiss of the shower before pleasantly hot water cascaded down on them, a surprised breath hitching Parker’s throat as she was, once again, under the shower. A soft moan muffled against Calum’s lips as his fingers dug into her skin, their bodies impossibly close, feeling the lack of his own towel against her as the hot water instantly, gloriously, warmed her up more than she already was. Parker’s hands greedily ran across his body; up his arms and sides and back, feeling his smooth wet skin against hers as the soft yet greedy touch of his lips on hers left her dizzy.

The spray of the shower drowned out the sounds of their gasps and groans, Calum’s lips leaving Parker’s as he trailed hot kisses down her jaw, her eyes remaining closed at the sensation of his stubble scratching at her skin. She preferred the burn of that over the burn of the water as Calum’s lips worked on her neck, feeling his smirk on her skin when he felt her racing pulse under his mouth.

When his lips found hers once again, the water heating up their bodies, Calum brushed his lips over her kiss swollen ones, right hand teasingly sliding up the inside of her left thigh and slowly getting close to where Parker needed him desperately. “Your heart racin’ for me, doll?” Calum whispered, lips brushing against hers with each word, watching her with hooded eyes as she leaned her head back against the tiled wall.

Parker’s blue eyes, dark with desire for him, remained on Calum’s lips, chest moving steadily, quickly, at each drag of his fingers towards her anticipating entrance, other hand gripping her hip and keeping her against the wall. The rasp in his voice twisted Parker’s stomach, gaze flickering up only slightly to see the way his dark hair stuck to his forehead under the water, noticing droplets run down the curve of his sharp jaw and glitter against his supple lips.

She was reminded, in that moment, of the first night she saw Calum, getting out of the pool and soaked to the bone. In front of her right now, just as soaked, but completely naked and bare, had electricity sparking in her veins once more, had her fighting for air because of how ridiculously gorgeous she was. So Parker raised her right hand, index and middle fingers wrapping around the necklace he wore before using her grip on the chain to pull him even closer than he was.

Lips curling into a smirk, Parker murmured, “My heart’s racing because it’s not pumping enough blood.” Her words were quick to register in Calum’s head, his previous expression melting into one of understanding amusement, the mirth dancing in his eyes as he let out a scoff through his own smirk. Parker’s nose brushed against his, unable to keep her smirk from transforming into a grin, the surgeon in her jumping out just to tease. “Tachycardia is no joke.”

Calum’s chest sank with the heavy, amused breath he let out, giving a shake of his head as he breathed, “Shut up, doc,” before silencing her mouth with his.

All jokes flew out of Parker’s head as his tongue met hers, moaning into Calum and nails digging into his shoulders when his finger slid inside her without warning. Calum groaned against her, whether it was because of the way her nails were marking his skin or feeling her around his digit, Parker didn’t know, her heart stuttering when added another one while continuing his motions. The drag of his fingers was enough to curl Parker’s toes, breath shallowing as she was hyper aware of only Calum; the minty taste of him, his wet skin against hers, long fingers intimately grazing her to entice her closer to the edge.

“Not yet, doll,” Calum muttered against her lips, minutes later, when he could just feel Parker beginning to lose any sense of control. He enjoyed the complaining whine that left her as she felt him remove his fingers, breath stuttering as she watched him lick them clean and taste her mixed in with the water. The sight was sinful, with his tongue making an appearance between plump lips and eyes never leaving hers as he enjoyed the taste of her, and Parker’s desperate breathing was replaced by a choked gasp when his fingers swiftly grabbed the back of her thighs to lift her, the excited not in her stomach never ceasing. His movements were quick yet careful, not wanting to slip under the spray of water, as Calum wrapped Parker’s legs around his hips and moved her so her back was against the back corner of the shower. His eyes met hers just then, questioning as he tried to restrain himself long enough to breathlessly ask, “Can I—”

Parker’s hands gripped his biceps, finally being able to feel the muscles under her touch as she responded, breath just as stolen as Calum’s, “On the pill.” She let out a blissed out laugh, the sound easing Calum’s heart more than he cared to admit as she added, “I’m a doctor. I’m prepared. Please.”

She was driving him crazy in the best way.

They were still under the water, slightly so, as the sounds of their satisfied groans mixed in together sinfully when Calum eagerly slid in. Parker’s eyes squeezed shut, head tilted back as Calum admired the part of her pretty lips and the droplets of water running down the column of her throat and line of her jaw. He stilled, giving her a moment to adjust, to get used to the delicious stretch of his cock as he felt her left hand dig her nails into his shoulder. She felt good, so fucking good, and Calum could’ve collapsed from the aching need to move if she hadn’t finally let out a needy, breathy hiss of, “Please, fuck, do something.”

He needed to feel her lips again, mouth slanting over hers in a sloppy kiss as his hips snapped into hers, finally being able to fuck the frustration that burned him into her. The frustration of thinking about the softness of her lips and the blue of her eyes and the smoothness of her skin and how fucking good she must feel against, around, on him. And he was finally feeling it because he couldn’t fucking keep it together. Because he’d let himself give into the instant attraction he’d felt for Parker despite his decision of rejecting it, rejecting her, harshly.

Her teeth teasingly, greedily, bit into his lower lip and Calum could feel himself losing it. He was losing himself in her and for now, he let it happen.

Right hand still holding her up with the support of the wall behind her, Calum never ceased the movements of his hips, each drag of his cock between her walls throwing him further and further into the thought of Parker. And so his left hand grabbed her right, pulling it up above their heads, fingers lacing together, grips tight, as he held her arm up against the cold wall, feeling his bracelet slide a little lower on his wrist, and completely gave himself to her, just like she was doing with him. For now, he lost himself in her intoxicating kisses, in the sounds she made that were prettier than any song he’s ever heard, and in the way her skin deliciously burned against his that made him tighten his grip on her hand and made him frantically want more.

The aftermath was something he’d concern himself with later.

*****

“Hey!” Parker’s gaze wandered to the kitchen where Carina’s voice sounded, rounding the counter to get a better look at Parker, who just entered through the foyer. She noticed the green eyed girl was dressed in a cute baby blue colored bathing suit, in her hand a bag of Lays. “If you’re not too tired, everyone’s hanging out on the roof. You should join us. We’ve got drinks and snacks,” she added in a melodic tone as a way of enticing Parker, both girls letting out a few giggles at that.

A dip in the pool actually did sound like an amazing idea, the mere thought of the cool water on her overworked body seeming heavenly. Her shift had been long, though Parker had managed to sneak in a nap in one of the on call rooms between surgeries after making sure her interns were on top of things, so she wasn’t that tired to crash into bed. Besides, the sun was high up in the sky and it was warm out, perfect for a swim that she couldn’t pass up.

“I’ll be up in a few,” Parker smiled at Carina, who let out a cute “yay!” before running up the stairs to head back out. Entering her room, Parker put away her things and used the bathroom before changing into a bathing suit of her own, throwing a cover up over the black bikini before going up the stairs. The closer she got to the top, the clearer she could hear music playing, mixed in with the sounds of everyone talking.

Stepping onto the roof, Parker grinned when she heard a chorus of greetings, waving back at her housemates who were either lounging on chairs or the ledge of the roof or in the pool. Settling herself on the edge of the pool after kicking her slippers off, Parker dipped her feet into the cool water as Ashton, who stood by a makeshift bar, called out to her, “Do you want a margarita, Parker?”

She looked at him over her shoulder, grinning, “How can I ever say no to that?”

He giggled in response, a sound Parker didn’t think she’d ever get tired off, as she moved her feet around in the water. The sun felt nice on her skin, the music playing through a speaker drowning out the sounds of L.A. traffic from below as Parker watched Michael, his girlfriend Crystal, Roslyn and Luke play a round of volleyball with an inflatable ball in the pool. However, as she watched, Parker��s gaze wandered across the pool, right to the glass walled bedroom that was currently hidden from view because of the drawn curtains.

Calum’s absence was something Parker noticed almost immediately upon stepping out onto the roof, missing amongst her housemates. It was unnerving how, after that morning in the bathroom, she couldn’t stop herself from thinking about him. Only three days had passed, but Parker’s body was physically yearning for his touch once more. Aching to feel his lips against hers, on her skin, to taste him and feel the muscles of his body press against hers deliciously. His touch had burned into her, leaving imprints of where he’d been, of where she wanted him again.

Parker could barely focus, as if all she could think of was feeling him again. So instead she distracted herself with surgeries because in the O.R., the only thing she focused on was the patient. Nothing else. Especially not Calum Hood.

She’d only told Sage about what happened, about how she and Calum somehow lost every sense of control and could only think of losing themselves in each other. Her best friend had been proud of her antics even though Parker said it was only a one time thing. Sage very much doubted that, which only served to fluster Parker. She had no idea what Calum’s mindset was; spending most of her time at the hospital provided Parker some distance from Calum, though she wasn’t too sure if she was grateful for that or not. She yearned for his touch and it was unsettling how much of an effect he had on her after just one time.

He was mesmerizing, addictive. Parker had gotten a taste and she craved for more; she missed the softness of his lips and scratch of his scruff and the delicious way he fit into her so perfectly. How was she expected to just not want more?

Tearing her gaze from Calum’s room with a deep breath, Parker smiled at Ashton as he walked over to where she was sitting and handed her the glass of margarita. The cold drink felt good as she listened to everyone around her chattering and watched the volleyball game in front of her. The bittersweet taste wonderfully tickled her throat, lightly kicking her feet in the water as the game ended and cheers erupted from Luke and Roslyn over their victory.

“You feel good, champ?” Parker grinned at Luke, who pushed himself out of the pool to sit on the edge next to her.

He laughed, dimples appearing as his body glistened and dripped with water. Pushing the blonde hair away from his face, Luke answered with a puffed chest, “Hell yeah. I’m the king of volleyball, you know.”

Michael, who’d heard Luke’s statement, scoffed loudly from where he still was in the pool. “Winning one game doesn’t make you the king!” he exclaimed through a bemused laugh, not even hesitating to call Luke out on his bullshit.

Luke kicked a leg out in hopes of splashing Michael, though the green eyed man was too far away by the other end of the pool as Parker snickered at the childish antics. She engaged in a conversation with the blonde then as he asked about her job and she told him about the last tie she was in charge of running the E.R., which he thought was pretty awesome. Which it was—but also intense and exhausting, especially if it was overrun with patients who needed immediate assistance.

It was easy talking to Luke; he was all smiles and bright eyes, and Parker mentally made it a point to talk to him and her other housemates more. Being a senior surgical resident kept her busy, spending most of her time at the hospital, and while she’d moved into the Viridian a week ago, there was still room for her to get to know the people she was living with more.

Just as her thoughts began trickling into the dangerous territory of reminding her of just how well she’d gotten to know a certain roommate a few days ago—as if she could ever forget—Parker noticed the door on the other side of the pool open and out stepped a familiar leggy dark blonde. An uncomfortable twist in the pit of Parker’s stomach hitched her throat at Violet’s lazy smile and marked up neck and bikini clad body, looking far too satisfied, looking just like Parker probably had the other day for the same delirious reason.

But the discomfort in her stomach didn’t compare to the breathtaking dread that clogged Parker’s throat when Calum walked out behind her, fingers running through unruly curly hair as the sun rays reflected against his skin in a heavenly glow, only dressed in swimming trunks as his necklaces rested against his chest. He nodded in greeting once, directed at everyone, bare feet padding on the ground as his dark eyes took in who all was there. Parker’s grasp on her glass tightened when his brown eyes met her blue, his already leisure pace slowing down just a fraction, so subtle, when their gazes locked.

Parker’s throat worked, deaf to the world like there was cotton in her ears, noticing how, even from this distance, Calum’s jaw worked. His expression was unreadable, blank, as he continued walking and broke their gaze, not even a polite smile as he followed Violet to the makeshift bar where Ashton was.

But then Calum walked past where she and Luke sat, his gaze sliding over her head as some of the blankness from his face erased, softening into one of casualness as he lifted his chin in a quick nod to Luke. The action was accompanied by a greeting, “Hey, man.”

Luke returned the greeting, and Parker watched as Calum’s gaze went from his friend before shifting ahead once more as he continued his pace. And she was left, staring after him in indignant surprise, because he wasn’t even going to acknowledge her? Just stare from a distance and then if he was near her, she ceased to exist? Parker had never been treated so rudely before, no ounce of respect thrown her way, and she hated that it hurt. Hated that it stung that she wasn’t given something she was desperately seeking against her better judgement.

She hated that she felt a suffocating weight settle on her twisting stomach at his reaction—or, as usual, lack thereof. Calum kept going, as if nothing had changed between them since she moved to the Viridian, as if he hadn’t had her pressed against the wall with lips muffling her moans as he drove himself deeper and deeper into her just a few days ago. With a tight throat, Parker forced herself to drink her beverage, fighting the urge to turn and follow Calum’s movements to the bar behind her, not wanting to appear as some kind of longing, kicked puppy.

The fact that his ignorance of her even stung bothered Parker. Perhaps she was justified—she would at least acknowledge the existence of someone she’d slept with, especially if they were living together. But then again, maybe she should’ve known better. There had already been some kind of tension existing between her and Calum—sleeping with him probably wasn’t the best and most effective of solutions. But it just happened. That’s all Parker could say to somehow justify it, if possible. What happened between her and Calum had just happened and it left her dizzy and wanting more—despite the fact that he continued to look at her the same way he had since she moved to the building.

“Kinda cold.”

Blinking back into reality, Parker turned her head to look at Luke, who’d been following Calum with his eyes before he looked down at Parker with an almost apologetic raise of his eyebrows. Parker blinked, her own eyebrows drawing together at that, realization coming slow yet not entirely sure if he meant what she was thinking. Hoping it wasn’t. “What?”

Luke ticked his head to where Calum was, eyes flickering to the brunette before looking back at Parker. “Him ignoring you like that after what happened. Not cool.”

Raising her eyebrow, for a second Parker considered Luke was maybe talking about something completely different, but she knew there wasn’t anything else. Honestly—she didn’t care who knew, although she didn’t want it to be made into a big deal. She had just moved into the Viridian and the last thing she wanted everyone to talk about was how she already hooked up with one of the guys. Knowing about it was one thing, but gossiping about it was completely different.

Luke didn’t look like he was judging her or anything, didn’t really look like he was viewing her in a different light. But that’s not what stuck to Parker—it was how he knew. She surely hadn’t said anything, and she knew no one else was in the loft when she and Calum hooked up, so there really was only one explanation.

Parker’s eyebrows shot up as she quickly put two and two together, glancing around briefly before leaning into Luke, her voice a quiet murmur as she asked in surprise, “He told you?”

He shrugged his broad shoulders while taking a sip of his beer, throat working as he swallowed and licked his lips before looking back at Parker, who was gazing up at him in taken aback confusion. For some reason, she didn’t think Calum would bring it up to anyone, unsure why she would think he’d keep quiet about it. Although, maybe it was because of just how much of a silent person he was. How he seemed to keep to himself—at least when Parker was around.

But they weren’t friends. And Parker didn’t really know him.

“He may have mentioned it,” Luke admitted with a nod, leaning back on his hands as his blue eyes remained on hers. When Parker’s eyes remained raised, nodding her head as if to get more out of him, Luke smiled apologetically. “That’s all he said, honestly. I would think he’d be more of a gentleman and not do it in the bathroom but I guess raging hormones were too powerful.”

Parker’s face flushed at this, pursing her lips together and hoping to suppress the flustered smile that threatened to tug at the corners. Part of her hoped that that’s all Calum said; that they hooked up, and that’s it. Maybe then it would justify why he’s just ignoring her at this moment. Even though Parker hated that she was even bothered in the first place that he was pretending as if it never happened. It was, annoyingly enough, kind of embarrassing.

Not to mention confusing. Utterly bewildering. She wasn’t even sure what to feel, what she was justified to feel. It had been a one time thing. And no matter how badly she wished for it to happen again, Parker would have to come to terms with the possible fact that Calum didn’t want the same thing. Not when he had Violet.

“It’s whatever,” Parker shrugged with a shake of her head, in that moment wanting to forget about everything. Her feelings were hurt, she understood, but it was her own fault for even having that seed of wonder of something more happening. They’d fucked, once, in the bathroom in a mess of breathless gasps and clinging fingers. Why would there be more after that? She offered a close mouthed smile to Luke, one she wouldn’t even believe if she saw, but Parker didn’t care enough to make it seem real. Or maybe she cared too much. She wasn’t sure. “Just a one time thing, honestly.”

Luke looked at her, blue eyes bright under the sun, a softness taking over his features that made him appear almost angelic. In a quiet voice, he asked, “Then why do you sound so disappointed?”

Parker pursed her lips, the smile diminishing as her gaze flickered past Luke and right to where Calum was. She didn’t understand why she felt so attached after a single fling, why it had to be Calum of all people she somehow couldn’t find herself moving past. She was a surgeon, for fuck’s sake; moving forward was what she was trained to do. But Parker’s eyes were on Calum, sitting at the end of a beach chair, legs spread so Violet could sit in between. The familiar twist tightened Parker’s stomach, watching as Violet’s hair was over her right shoulder and Calum, with one hand nursing a beer, mouthed at her neck as she leaned back into him with a lazy smile returning to her face.

It wasn’t normal, was it, to feel the burn of jealousy in her veins at the sight of a guy who she didn’t even think liked her, a guy who she hooked up with once, put his lips on the skin of someone that wasn’t her? It wasn’t normal to feel the yearning tightness in her chest at the desire of wanting him maybe once more, twice more? Why the hell was she so stuck on him?

Maybe because he was so outrageously handsome. Or that his lips were made for kissing. Or that the sex had been so mind blowingly fantastic that Parker had dreams about it, about the words he’d said and the sounds he made. Or that he was just so frustratingly intriguing that Parker couldn’t stop thinking about him.

Or maybe she was just an idiot of a masochist for feeling herself start to fall for someone she slept with once, who’d been an ass to her even after the fact, and she was doing nothing to stop it.

Suddenly dark brown eyes locked with Parker’s blue, and she felt the breath in her throat hitch sharply and a shiver from the cool water race up her spine at his blank, handsome face. She watched as Calum took a sip of his beer, eyes never leaving hers in the distance, watched as the ever so light breeze made the few curls across his forehead partake in a gentle dance. And then she watched, with blood frozen in her veins and a lump forming in her throat, the sight bothering Parker so much more than it should, as Calum slid one tattooed arm around Violet’s bare waist and pulled her even closer to him purposefully. His purposeful, daring eyes never left Parker’s.

Oh, wow. He was an asshole.

How he could go from being so attentive and giving like he had been in the bathroom and switching to an intentionally indifferent jerk was beyond Parker.

She looked at Luke, a soft scoff escaping her nose as a self deprecating smile tugged at her lips, lifting her near empty glass while answering his question with a defeated, “I have no fucking idea.”

*****

He kept looking towards the door. Or, at least, tried to since the view of it was a bit obscured from where he sat in the V.I.P. section of the club, booked by Carina’s parents in honor of her twenty-fifth birthday. He sat in the middle of the red half circle couch, left arm spread on the top while his right hand gripped his third glass of whiskey, holding it on his knee as he tried to look at the faces entering the club through the crowds of people and colorful flashes of light.

It was frustrating, how the moment he stepped into the club, Calum’s dark eyes were searching for Parker, hoping to catch sight of her eyes blues through the pleasant lighting of the club, grateful that it wasn’t too dark. The music was pounding in his ears and his chest, but Calum was too focused on trying to sense Parker’s presence to even acknowledge what song was playing that his friends were dancing and singing along to. So he just sat, feeling the alcohol course through his system and the warmth of the club stick to his skin, all the while waiting for Parker’s arrival.

“You’ve been sitting since we got here.” Violet’s pouting voice reluctantly dragged Calum out of his thoughts, forcing his gaze to break from the door to look at the girl sitting to his right. She wasn’t technically invited to Carina’s party, the birthday girl choosing only to bring close friends including her housemates, but Violet was there as Calum’s plus one. And for the first time, he was regretting her company. His eyes didn’t even take in the skin she was showing in her short tight dress which showed off her long legs and hugged her chest. Feelings for Violet never existed in Calum’s heart, but even so, the last thing on his mind was taking her home with him. That was different and unnerving. She gripped his arm, giving it a squeeze as she leaned into him and offered a smile. “Come on—let’s dance.”

He remained seated, teeth pressing together as his gaze dropped to Violet’s hand sliding down his arm towards his hand. Calum’s grip on the glass tightened as her fingers neared his wrist, knowing that she could feel his muscles tensing under touch. His breath was held in his lungs, almost painfully so, and it wasn’t until Violet’s fingers almost reached his around the glass did Calum force himself to his feet. The sudden action startled Violet, looking up at him with raised eyebrows, as Calum downed the rest of his beverage.

“I need another drink,” he excused gruffly, briefly wondering if his words were drowned out by the music, though not caring as he began walking to the bar on the other side of the dance floor. Calum didn’t even pause to hear what Violet said in response, taking a breath as he shouldered through people with pursed lips and a tense back.

He was basically running away from Violet and it was all because of Parker. Because for the past week, he couldn’t seem to get the blonde out of his mind, couldn’t seem to satiate the animalistic desire of wanting to press his skin against hers in any way. Violet was just a crutch, a familiar warm body in place of the one he’d been able to have once. Calum had thought maybe, if he eased whatever the fuck he felt for Parker just once, then it would be fine. That he’d be able to have a taste and that would be it.

The last thing he expected was to crave her even more.

Being unable to see Parker around the Viridian so much was both a blessing and a curse; whatever he felt for her seemed to calm when her presence wasn’t nearby, but as soon as she walked into view, it was like Calum couldn’t breathe because of the distance between them. The need to be near her, to hold her again and feel her lips on his was almost maddening, and it was fucking terrifying. Such an intense desire, need, yearning for someone had never been something Calum experienced before.

It was dizzying and perplexing and left Calum laying in bed staring at the grey ceiling of his bedroom at night, wondering just how Parker managed to get such an overwhelming grasp on his thoughts. How one moment—one tantalizing, blissful moment—had taken over Calum’s mind without warning. Work and sleeping with Violet didn’t do much to distract him, nothing did. And it was so damn frustrating.

He’d see her around the loft and he’d just. . . Lose his breath. It had happened right on the first night, right when he met her after getting out of the pool. Calum remembered the image perfectly, with Parker standing on the roof with a glass of wine in hand and blonde hair dancing in the light breeze, blue eyes bright just like the city lights around them. Part of him had hoped, in that moment, that she was some girl Luke had brought home and she’d just found her way to the roof. Because then, maybe, Calum wouldn’t feel the instant, snapping attraction that hit him so hard that he felt as though he was drowning in the very pool he’d just gotten out of.

Was that even possible? To take one look at someone and want them in that same moment?

With someone as beautiful as Parker, Calum didn’t doubt it.

Right hand splayed on the bar top, Calum waited for the bartender to give him his drink as he turned sideways, body involuntarily facing the door as his left hand ran through his dark curls, a heavy breath escaping him. He tugged at the curls at the back of his head, eyes washing over the faces all around him as they blurred together while hoping to find the one he’d been searching for.

What was he even supposed to do if he found it?

Mumbling a thanks to the bartender, Calum’s hand wrapped around the glass right when his eyes landed on exactly what he’d been looking for. He paused, the glass midway to his mouth, as he watched with a still heart Parker enter the club. Feeling his breath hitch in his throat, Calum’s eyes tracked her through the crowd, greedily drinking in the sight of the white crop top and leather skirt she wore, blonde hair tied up as her blue eyes searched for familiar faces in the busy club. Even from a distance, Calum’s throat dried at how gorgeous she looked, at the glow of her creamy skin against the lights, wanting to feel it under his fingers and lips.

Then those blue eyes met his brown, and Calum remained perfectly still. He watched the subtle raise of her shoulders as she took in a breath while looking at him, lips parting ever so slightly. Was she going to walk over? Did he want her to?

Why the hell did she confuse the shit out of him?

Parker walked from around one of the raised platforms where a couple of people were dancing and Calum watched as she headed in the opposite direction of where he stood. He knew he had no reason to be disappointed, that he’d been acting like a complete asshole to her and so why would she approach him? Yet still he felt his grip on the glass tighten, watching her go and feeling a discomforting twist in his stomach as she walked away from him. It was his own doing, Calum was aware, and not for the first time did Calum want to punch himself for it.

That desire got stronger throughout the night as Parker kept her distance from Calum, only staying with everyone else but him as she danced and drank and enjoyed her night without him. And all he could do was sit by and watch, letting the alcohol mix in with his blood while he stewed in a pit of irritation and jealousy because she was laughing and smiling with everyone else and it was his fault that she wasn’t doing that with him.

Calum found home against a support beam, using it to keep him upright as he sipped a beer in place of the liquor he’d been drinking throughout the night. He felt warm thanks to his drinks, head feeling heavy and eyes slightly hooded as he watched Parker like he had been throughout the night. It was creepy, he figured, to keep his eyes on her so intensely, but he couldn’t fucking help himself. But she was right in front of him, her hands holding Roslyn’s as the two girls danced together, hips moving to the beat of the music and a happy smile on her face. So easily gorgeous, and Calum probably fucked it up royally with her.

“Stop staring and just talk to her.” Rolling his head to the side against the pillar, Calum caught sight of Luke leaning against it on the other side, blue eyes trained on who Calum was looking at. His blonde curls were wild, cheeks flushed as he too kept himself upright. There was a furrow between his brows as he continued drunkenly, almost drowsily, “It’s obvious you like her. Why’re you acting like such a douche, man? Pushing her away isn’t going to push away your feelings for her.”

Blowing out a soft raspberry, Calum leaned his head back, eyes lifting to look at his taller best friend. He could acutely feel the music drumming in his chest, lazily gripping his drink. “I hate when you become all insightful when you’re drunk.”

Luke rolled his eyes, twisting his lips to the side before retorting, “I hate when you try to ruin things for yourself because you’re scared of your own feelings.”

Jaw slacking, Calum let out a scoff before turning so he could lean against the pillar on his shoulder to properly look at Luke. He felt affronted at the blonde’s statement, despite the truth even his drunken mind could pick up on. Luke was right, because Calum did self sabotage, particularly when it came to relationships. Becoming close with someone was never something Calum was too good at, the fear of letting someone else have a piece of him, a big piece, preventing him from giving anyone any part of himself. And he was fine with that. Hell, he was good at it—a professional, basically.

Which is why whatever he felt for Parker—this mess of desire and want and just as emotional as it was physical—overwhelmed him with confusion because how could it happen? One minute he was fine and the next she was taking over him without even trying. That never happened before and he just. . . Didn’t know how to deal with it. Why was it so hard? Why did he make things difficult for himself? Why couldn’t he just allow for himself a shot at potential happiness without trying to ruin something before it even had a chance of starting?

Calum hadn’t even responded to Luke’s words before the blonde commented, “That must’ve been some good sex if she caught feelings for you after one time.” Then he hummed thoughtfully after taking a sip of his drink. “Or maybe she just really wants to fuck again.”

For a moment Calum felt his thoughts freeze at Luke’s words, eyes widening ever so slightly as he finally choked out, “I—Feelings? What feelings? She’s got feelings? Did she tell you that?”

He sounded uncharacteristically needy, desperate, as the words tumbled out of his mouth and it irked Calum but, shit, he didn’t care in this moment. All he could care about was Luke’s words, the insinuation of Parker having feelings for him even after the shitty way he’d treated her, of that small spark of hope that jump started his heart and had him pushing off the pillar to look at Luke with shot up eyebrows and widened eyes. Feelings. Did Parker have feelings? Still, after how he’d treated her? His heart was pounding and, shit, when did he become someone who cared so much for this?

“No,” Luke scoffed, amusement dancing in his eyes as he looked at Calum, lips curling at the frown that took over the brunette’s face. Offering a shrug, Luke continued, “But it’s obvious. And it’s obvious that you like her too. You’re always making these eyes at each other and I can never tell if it’s because you wanna declare your love or jump each other’s bones.”

Calum’s lips clamped shut, pouting drunkenly and defiantly as he glared at Luke. He did not appreciate the observation, making him feel as though he was being watched. Like his friend was watching him continuously act like an idiot because he couldn’t get his shit together. Because both he and Parker knew there was something there but Calum was an asshole who was pushing her away and she was too good to allow herself that kind of treatment, so she kept her distance. He didn’t blame her. He just was so pissed off at himself for it.

Eventually he found himself at the bar once more, though this time he managed to order himself a club freaking soda rather than indulging himself in more alcohol. The dizziness from the alcohol had him leaning his temple against the palm of his hand, arm propped by his elbow as he kept his eyes closed and let the music drum through his mind.

It was close to two in the morning and Calum was tired, wanted his bed and wanted the girl, but he remained on the stool at the bar. His friends were enjoying their night and he didn’t want to leave them. So he stayed. And he watched Parker dance. And maybe even stewed in a bit of self deprecation and hatred.

“Hi, can I get a margarita, please?”

Opening his eyes, Calum blinked against the flashing lights before his gaze settled on the girl that came up next to him. Calum’s back straightened, watching Parker lean forward on the bar, hands rhythmically tapping on the bartop as she waited for the bartender to get her drink. There was the ever slightest, thin layer of sweat sheening her skin and she looked like she was glowing against the lights, cheeks flushed and just a few of her freckles surfacing across the bridge of her nose and speckled some on her cheeks.

He remembered the way his lips trailed the sharp line of her jaw, wanting so badly to do so again as he rolled his lower lip into his mouth. Calum’s throat worked, eyes drinking in the sight of hers, and then her eyes met his. And then, to Calum’s surprise, instead of frowning or scoffing or turning away, Parker smiled.

A breathtaking, pretty smile that showed off white teeth as she turned her body to face his. “You look like you’re having the time of your life,” she commented, a giggle in her voice as she leaned on the bartop with her arm while her left hand rested on her hip.

Hiding the way he felt off guard at her starting a conversation, Calum swiveled in the stool to face her. She was only a couple of inches taller than him in her heels as he sat, blue eyes looking down at him. “Waitin’ to go home,” Calum answered truthfully, slowly. Her eyes were so pretty. With a small shrug and smile, he added, “Don’t wanna ruin anyone else’s fun.”

Parker raised an eyebrow, tilting her head as she gazed at him. “So you choose to make yourself miserable instead?”

Calum took a soft breath, looking her over as if it was the first time. Because she was so gorgeous and he wanted to get to know her. Yeah. He wanted to know her instead of jumping into bed with her again. He wanted to know her and then go from there. “I tend to do that a lot,” Calum responded, his speech slow thanks to the alcohol. Was it possible for the sight of someone else to sober him up? Parker took a breath at his words and Calum found himself asking, “What took you so long? Getting here?”

“I had surgery,” Parker answered with a hum. “And then had to take care of post-ops. Busy, busy, busy-bee,” she added with a happy grin, thanking the bartender for her drink before lifting it to take a sip through the straw.

“What was it?” Calum asked, genuinely curious as he blinked away some of the drunk fogginess. “How’d it go?”

Her smile widened and Calum tried not to focus on the way her body seemed to move closer to his, to notice the way her thighs pressed against his jean clad knees. “Colon ischemia,” she told him, nodding along to her own words. “Had to remove dead tissue in a dude’s colon. He’s in recovery now.”

A small smile tugged at Calum’s lips as he looked at her, catching the glint in her eyes as she went into some detail about the surgery, the alcohol in her system not inhibiting her from talking about it excitedly. And he listened over the sound of the music, took in the excitement she felt when she talked about something she loved and was good at. It unloaded something in his heart, the smile easing as he looked at the amazing, pretty girl. ��You’re kind of a badass, aren’t you?” Calum admired, smiling, truthful.

There was a pinkness in her cheeks, probably matching whatever warmth he was feeling in his own at the sight of her. Fuck. She even made him blush.

And then she leaned in, hand gripping her drink and lips curling into a smirk. Even through the lights, Calum could pick out the freckles on her face under the makeup, could enjoy the glimmer in her eyes and whatever fruity scented perfume she was wearing. His heart was pounding in his ears, muffling the music, as his legs parted without thinking and she stepped in the space between them. Parker’s nose brushed against his and Calum breathed her in, shaky and unsure, wondering what the hell she was doing and knowing he wasn’t going to stop.

Her lips parted, pink and inviting, and she murmured, “I’m a superhero. And one of my superpowers is knowing you’re only talking to me because you’re drunk. Tomorrow, you’re gonna go right back to ignoring my existence, so I’m gonna walk away before you can hurt me more.”

Calum’s eyes widened ever so slightly, throat drying at Parker’s words that made his stomach lurch unpleasantly. He looked into her eyes, blue framed with long lashes, and Calum could make out the disappointment and hurt the supposed truth behind her words that weighed on her and he desperately wanted to get rid of it. Loathed that it was because of him it was even present in the first place.

So when Parker made a move to lean back and away from Calum, his hand found hers, fingers gripping her own as he held her in place, though his grip wasn’t tight. Just enough to keep her there but also so she could break away if she so desired. Parker paused, gaze dropping to their hands before looking back at Calum, questioning and reluctant. He could tell she was fighting her instinctive response of pulling away, lips pursing as she looked at him with a conflicting gaze. He hurt her with his behavior and Calum was still kicking himself for it. If she walked away right now, he wouldn’t blame her.

“I’m a piece o’ shit, I know.” Calum’s words were hasty, like he wanted to quickly get them out before she walked away but not lose any of the genuinity he meant his apology with. He stood to his feet, feeling just the slightest bit dizzy, as Parker’s eyes remained on his while she had to tilt her head back to maintain the gaze. Her throat worked as he towered over her, the minimal space between the stools on the bar forcing them to stand close together as the heat on their skin went from being caused by the buzzing club to their proximity. Looking down at her, Calum licked his lips, trying to put together the right, honest string of words while trying not to think too much about her hand in his. They’d held hands before, in the bathroom against the tiled walls of the shower, but it’d been different. “I’ve been actin’ like a dick and I’m sorry ’bout that, Parker.” The alcohol was making his words sound drowsy and slurred even to him, but Calum hoped the sincerity didn’t get lost. “’M not the best when it comes to dealin’ with certain things and I just—”

Parker pulled her hand from Calum’s, just as he had feared, stumbling ever so slightly as she took a step to her left and back from him. Her right hand gripped her glass, watching the defeat and disappointment that washed over Calum’s face against the light colored flashes of the club. The knot in his chest tightened at the loss of her skin against his, at the slight furrow in her eyebrow as she shook her head. “You’re apologizing because you’re drunk,” she decided after releasing a breath. “And maybe because you wanna fuck again and fill me with disappointment before you start ignoring me again.” Calum’s breath hitched at her words, eyes widening at the sting they snapped through his body as his body leaned back ever so slightly, as if she’d pushed him. Parker gave another shake of her head, eyebrows drawn together as she gave him a once over, a look filled with dismay and despondency. “Just—leave me alone, Calum.”

Then she was turning and walking away, disappearing into the crowd of people, and Calum was left with the aching desire of exchanging his fucking club soda with the harshest whiskey the bar had.

*****

“Fuck!”

Calum’s fingers instantly froze over the strings of the guitar, eyes widened in confusion flickering up to look at the glass paned wall of his bedroom, though his view to the outside world was obscured thanks to the curtains he’d drawn. For a moment, he wondered if he’d imagined the shout, fluttering unexpectedly through his mind as he enjoyed a quiet night with his guitar. And he’d have believed it, if it weren’t for the unmistakable sound of glass shattering that followed it—the sound that occured right outside of his room.

Getting up from his bed, Calum rested the guitar on the stand by the bedside table before approaching the glass wall, eyebrows drawn together as he strained his ears in hopes of hearing something else that would give him a clue as to what the hell was happening. Parting the curtain ever so slightly, Calum peeked a look outside, gaze darting around the empty roof under the night sky, wondering what it was that he had heard.

But then his eyes landed on the sight of Parker, hard to miss with her blonde hair, since that’s all Calum could see. Because she sat on the ground, back against the raised brick railing of the roof, forehead against her knees with her legs brought up to her chest. Under furrowed eyebrows Calum’s eyes narrowed as he tried to get a better look over the bright lights of the pool, back straightening and the creases in his forehead smoothening when he made out the shaking of Parker’s shoulders, of her body. Like she was crying.

He took a breath, pausing for just a moment as he considered what to do. But another look at Parker, at the way her entire body was trembling and how he had definitely heard something break just moments ago had him coming to a decision before he even let any other thought run through his mind.

Quietly, swiftly, he parted the curtains and opened the glass door of his room, stepping out with his slides on his feet as he cautiously made his way towards Parker. And over the hum of the cars in the city below, Calum could make out the broken, shaky sounds of Parker’s sobs, of her sniffles and choked breathing the closer he got to her seated figure. His heart twisted at the knowledge of her crying, walking around the pool to where she was, eyes catching the glint of glass and when he looked over, just a few feet away from where she sat, were different sized broken pieces of what he could make out as a wine glass. Or what was remaining of one, being able to figure it was that due to part of the handle that remained intact to a half broken base.

It was a bit chilly that night, the cool breeze raising goosebumps on Calum’s arms and legs, exposed to his T-shirt and athletic shorts as he hurried over to where the crying blonde was. “Parker,” Calum breathed, feeling something inside him crack at the clear sounds of her cries, crouching down to her right with his left hand against the brick wall and his right wanting to reach out to her, but unsure if he was allowed. Her hands were gripping knees, head bent and face out of his view, but visibly shaking. A bubble of panic started expanding in the pit of Calum’s stomach at the sight of her, unsure of what happened, unsure of what to do. “Parker, sweetheart, what’s wrong? What’s—” He shook his head, lost and wanting to help. “What’s happened?”

She kept crying. Kept sobbing into herself, either ignoring Calum or not even registering his presence. And that bubble of panic kept growing, a lump forming in his throat because the two of them hadn’t spoken in days but the absolute last thing Calum ever wanted was for Parker to be going through something so awful that she was crying like this. Crying like something terrible had happened. Crying like she’d lost some—

Oh. Shit. Calum hoped that wasn’t the case.

And then, a moment later, Parker’s thick, anguished voice finally said, “She was my first patient.” His heart stopped at her words, his fear being proven correct, as his eyebrows drew together in distress over her state and jaw clenched tightly. Parker lifted her head and despite the nighttime, Calum got a good look at her face, and he didn’t at all like what he saw. He didn’t like the redness of her nose or her eyes, the blue glazed behind pools of unshed tears as the rims of her eyes were lined red; raw and bruised from crying as hard as she was. The sight, undoubtedly, broke Calum’s heart, rendering him breathless from just how broken she looked, and how the only thing he wanted in this world right now was for her to not feel like this. The waves of her blonde hair framed her tear stricken face, lips trembling as her eyes met Calum’s worried brown. “One of my first days my intern year we—she needed an appy and I-I was given the first solo surgery to perform it. And she—she lived.”

The tears in her eyes and sobs in her throat had Parker stumbling over her words, voice scratchy and thick, having to pause to sniffle and catch her breath and Calum listened patiently. Listened with his lips pressed together and fighting the urge to pull her into his arms because she looked so heartbroken and he couldn’t stand it. And it was terrifying to him, how the sight of her was absolutely breaking his heart more than he ever thought possible, more than one would justify. But he couldn’t give a shit. She was hurting, and not for the first time, Calum wanted to make it better, whether it was his fault or not.

Parker blinked, looking away from Calum for a moment as she licked her lips, trying to get her thoughts together. “She—Joanna was my patient for three—” The last word came out breathless, like she ran out of whatever little air she had left, neck tensing as she regained her breathing, all the while looking out at the pool in front of her. “Three years and I was her doctor whenever she came in. One of her doctors but still. “I-I took out her appendix and—and treated her when she got in a car accident last year and helped deliver her baby yesterday and now she’s—she’s gone and we should’ve saved her. I should’ve saved her.”

She broke down. Completely, utterly crumpled in front of Calum’s eyes as the sobs that escaped her strengthened with the help of her heartbreak. Parker’s eyes clenched shut as more tears escaped, body shuddering with her cries and Calum instantly wrapped his left arm around her shoulders, pulling her in and letting her rest her head against his chest as his other hand buried itself in her hair.

He could feel every cry of hers just as well as he could hear it, holding her close and shutting his own eyes as her grief washed over him. Not as severely as she felt it, but Parker going through it was enough for Calum to feel a suffocating tightness in his chest and strengthen his own hold on her. And her understood, selfishly for the first time, that Parker probably lost people in her line of career, that there were just some that died on her watch and she could do nothing about it except for grieve and then fight to never make the same mistake twice.

And holding her right now, in this period of heart wrenching mourning, Calum rested his chin atop her head, the faint scent of her fruity shampoo washing over him, and let her cry into his shirt. He felt her fist his shirt in her grasp, felt her clutch onto him desperately as she ached over the loss of someone important to him. And he hated that he couldn’t do anything to help except hold her to him.

“Parker, you—” Calum cut himself off, unsure of what to say, unsure of what were the right words because he didn’t know if there were any. He opened his eyes, taking a breath as he looked up at the dark cloudless sky with a few stars glittering across. “I’m sure you did everythin’ you could’ve—”

“I should’ve worked harder,” she whimpered, shaking her head before pulling away from him, red eyes and red nose and flushed cheeks that were all breaking Calum’s heart further. How she managed to get such a tight hold on him, he had no idea, but he didn’t question it. Not right now. Her hands pressed against his chest, putting some distance as she continued, “Should’ve looked at her tests and should’ve picked it up sooner—”

“Parker, Parker,” Calum cut her off, his voice raspy in his own desperation as his hands found her freckled, tear splattered cheeks. His thumbs wiped away what he could, feeling the softness of her cry-blotched face as he got her to look at him, his throat working at the redness of her face. Ignoring the tickles of his own curls across his forehead, Calum cleared his throat lightly as their faces neared, holding her close. “You did everythin’ you could’ve,” he repeated, stronger and surer this time. He couldn’t be sure, he knew, but he believed it. “You’re in pain and you’re grieving and it’s just making you blame yourself. Please, don’t. You just—you need rest, okay? This isn’t helpin’ you. Don’t do this to yourself, sweetheart, please.”

She’d been crying for hours, he knew—could tell from the state of her eyes and the hoarseness of her voice—and so he wanted her to just stop for now. Wanted her to be able to take a breath and close her eyes and be able to sleep despite the heaviness in her soul. Even if she disagreed, even if she began shaking her head as she understood his words and closed her eyes, trying to pull away, but he kept his hold. “Sleep, please, it’ll—”

“It won’t bring Joanna back,” her voice cracked, shoulders sinking as she sniffled.

“Neither will this,” Calum told her, swallowing the thickness in his own throat, keeping his dark eyes on her blue. “Neither will sittin’ out here making yourself sick over somethin’ like this.”

She was quiet for a few moments, the only sounds coming from the still awake city below and the occasional sniffles she was trying to get control over, glassy eyes looking out at the pool as she considered Calum’s words. He looked at her, patiently and worriedly, chewing on the inside of his lower lip. And then her gaze dropped, looking at the length of Calum’s tattooed arm since his hands were still on her cheeks and then she spoke up. Her voice was a whisper, almost lost in the night, but Calum heard it. “I don’t wanna sleep alone.”

Calum’s expression softened, understandment washing over his features as he took a quiet breath. When her blue eyes met his brown, Calum felt something in his heart clenched and he nodded without hesitation. Despite their distance in the past however long, Calum was keen on not leaving her side. Because he’d hurt her enough and wanted to make up for it, but he hated that it had to be this way.

“Come on,” he murmured, soft and reassuring as one arm went around her waist. “Up you go.”

The walk to his room was a quick one after Parker wiped at her face, the door clicking shut behind them as he hesitantly let her go to close the curtains, the room a bit dark to the lack of light save for the single lamp on his bedside. When Calum turned, he saw Parker, red eyed and nosed, looking around his room, taking in a part of him she hadn’t been privy to until this moment.

He watched her take in the two bookshelves full of books and vinyls, the record player right by it along with the guitar, the TV set up on a table opposite of the bed. She took in the furry dark rug by the bed, the cushioned chair and covers of vinyl records he had taped to the wall above the bed. There was a doorway to a closet, as well as to a showerless bathroom to make things just a little bit easier for Calum living so far from the communal bathrooms. But the other trinkets and decorations around the room, they all screamed of Calum’s personality Parker wanted to know, and he realized, over the course of the past few days, that he wanted her to.

His hand lifting, running his fingers through his hair as he took a breath and licked his lips. The sight of Parker standing in the middle of his room, taking in everything around her, had his throat tightening. “You can take the bed.”

Her head turned to look at him, a delicate furrow on her eyebrows as she asked, “What about you?”

Calum offered her a smile, reassuring and sincere as he gestured to the comfortable chair by the bed. It was cushioned and soft, whoever sat in it would just sink into the material, and he’d already fallen asleep in it more than once. “I’ll sleep on that.”

Eyes darting to the chair, Parker’s frown deepened with parted lips, taking a disagreeing breath as she shook her head. “Wh—no. I can’t ask you to do that.” She swallowed, throat working as she added, “I’ll just go to my room. I shouldn’t even be bothering you with this.”

She made a move to walk towards the door, but Calum was in her way, his heart in his throat. “No—stay.” Parker stopped at Calum’s words, mouth pressing together as she stared up at him with wondrous, disbelieving eyes. She saw the corners of his lips quirk upwards in a hopeful smile. “You shouldn’t—I don’t want you t’be alone tonight. So just—stay, yeah? Please.”

If she really didn’t want to, of course Calum wouldn’t force her to against her will. But fortunately, he saw Parker’s resolve breaking, probably because of how late it was, how tired she was over her loss. It was quite the change both of them were faced with, going from him avoiding her to her avoiding him to him offering his bed to her. But the sight of Parker crying so hopelessly had shaken Calum, so much more than he ever thought possible, making it a sight he never wanted to witness again because it was awful.

Parker pulled her lower lip into her mouth, chewing it for a moment as she looked at him. They stared at one another for a moment, taking in the sight of his tattooed arms and curly hair and sincere expression that melted some of the tightness in her heart, and she relented. “Okay.”

They adjusted, with Calum taking one pillow and blanket from the bed for himself on the chair, settling into the comfortable furniture as he watched, just a few feet away, Parker take off her slippers and slip into the bed under the blanket, already in her pajamas. The glow of the lamp lit up her face as she lay on her side, facing it, facing where Calum laid on the chair nearby. He looked at her, cheek resting against his own pillow with the blanket at his waist also resting on his side.

It was a sight, having her in his bed, not exactly expecting it to be under these circumstances. But Calum didn’t care nor did he mind. He didn’t want to be alone tonight and if this was how it had to be, he was perfectly fine with it. So long as Parker knew that he would be there for her if she needed him to be.

They were quiet for a moment, the silence of the night settling over them in his room. He wondered if his pillow and blanket would smell like her in the morning, kind of hoped for it, prayed that she’d be able to get a good night’s rest.

“She had complications after delivery.” Parker’s voice was quiet, eyes unfocused and looking at something past Calum, maybe the shelves behind him, and he stayed quiet. “Postpartum preeclampsia. It—it’s a rare condition and we should’ve known because she had diabetes. But she just—” Parker stopped, voice shuddering, throat working as she remained laying on the bed. “She stroked out. And we were just—too late.”

Calum swallowed the lump that formed in his throat, feeling the pain in Parker’s voice and just how much this was affecting her. He couldn’t imagine that kind of ache she was suffering through, couldn’t imagine the weight of the guilt she was enduring over losing a patient she’d known for so long, someone she was meant to take care of. Having someone’s life in your hands—Calum couldn’t imagine it, and he realized that he admired Parker for the career she had. She saved people’s lives for a living. No doubt the loss of one she failed to help would eat away at her tremendously, especially if it was a patient she’d been treating for years.

He so desperately wanted to help her. Except all he could say right now was a soft and sincere, “I’m sorry.”

For everything.

Parker pulled the blanket up to her chin, blue eyes flashing to Calum’s brown, letting out a breath. She looked at him and Calum felt a shiver run down his spine because the way she was looking at him made him feel as though she was looking for something. He wasn’t sure if she found what she was looking for, wasn’t sure what she was thinking, as Parker reached for the hanging handle of the lamp and murmured to Calum, “I know,” before shutting it off.

Both spent most of the night thinking of each other, thinking of everything that’s happened, but never saying a word. Never reaching out to the person laying just a few feet away from them. But they thought of each other. Dreamt of each other. Hoped things would get better. And, eventually, fell asleep.

*****

Parker stood in front of the glass door, shuffling on her feet and wondering if she should just knock on the damn door. She’d been standing outside of it for about five minutes now, silently debating this, when she knew she should just fucking knock. But Parker was nervous and a little bit scared, if she was being honest, because last night Calum had been so kind and sincere with her that she was dreading the potential rude awakening she may have to face. That it had only been a one time thing because he caught her sobbing her heart out and felt for her in that moment, and now things were going to go back to the way they had been for weeks now.

Still, Parker felt bad. She had left early this morning, before Calum even woke up because she was being paged, and left in a hurry. Truthfully, she wanted to thank him for letting her stay in his room last night, because despite the way he’d been acting towards her leading up to last night, Parker still appreciate the kindness—even if it was simple, decent human behavior. But she’d never been one to take someone’s kindness and not thank them for it. Which is why she was here now.

So she knocked, knuckles rapping on the glass pane, throat working to swallow the nervous lump that had formed as she waited for him to answer. Parker played with her fingers, picking at her unpainted nails as she looked around the roof, the late afternoon sun providing a warm glow all over. Her admirance of it was cut short, however, when the door swung open and there stood Calum.

Her breath hitched at the sight of him, only in grey sweats and an oversized darker grey shirt, looking unfairly adorable with his messy curls and providing Parker with the sudden, ridiculous urge to just fucking hug him. He looked so comfortable in his clothes, yet so attractive with the tattoos inking his brown skin and the scruff he was sporting. It was dizzying, just looking at him.

“Hi,” she found herself greeting, voice expectedly a whisper as she offered a smile.

She noticed the slight raise in Calum’s eyebrows at the sight of her, hand going from gripping the door handle to the frame higher up, offering a small smile of his own. “Hey,” he responded easily. His dark eyes took in the sight of her, showered and in leggings and a tank top after returning from her shift at the hospital. Brown met blue as he surprised her by asking, “Wanna come in?”

Parker looked over his shoulder into the familiar room, not entirely expecting that offer. She’d been waiting for the cold yet blank looks and unfriendly nature, which may be unfair given how he’d acted the night before—yet still justifiable because of how he’d behaved every day leading up to it—right? Still, Parker felt herself nod as she answered, “Yeah.”

She got a whiff of his familiar, dizzying cologne as he stepped aside to let her in, mixed in with the faintest scent of nicotine as Calum shut the door behind her. The room was just as same as the night before, of course, only this time the afternoon sun sweeped in through the curtains and their was a glow in his room in place of the darkness from before. Turning to face Calum, Parker was once again playing with her fingers as she started, “I just, uh, wanted to thank you. For, you know, listening to me last night and letting me sleep in your bed.” She licked her lips nervously, heart leaping ever so slightly as she saw his eyes track the movement before unapologetically meeting her gaze once more. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“Yeah, I did,” came his immediate response, one corner of his mouth lifting up, as if allowing Parker to sleep in his bed was something he did all the time. Like it was no big deal. “You were going through somethin’ and I don’t—I didn’t want you to be alone last night.” Then Calum let out a quiet, raspy and breathy chuckle that screamed of self deprecation as he shrugged his shoulders and his left hand reached up to rub the side of his neck, silver bracelet slinking downwards. “You probably wanted to be with a friend or somethin’, but I, um, I wanted you to know that ’m here for you, too.”

Parker could feel her heart pounding in her chest and hear it in her ears, teeth pressing together briefly at Calum’s words, eyeing him for any sign of insincerity. But he looked genuine, sounded it too, along with disappointment in himself for even having to put himself in a category that wasn’t considered being friends with Parker. Yet he still managed to make her heart race, make her wonder if he wanted to be just her friend or something more. “Really?”

Calum’s hand dropped to his side, Adam’s apple in his throat working as he instantly answered, “Yes.” He released a sharp breath, sounding so loud in the comforting quiet of his room as he took two steps towards Parker as he said, “I’m sorry, doll, for everything. I’m sorry ’bout your patient—’bout Joanna. I’m sorry you’re hurtin’ and that I can’t fix it. And I’m—’m sorry for bein’ such an asshole and hurtin’ you just because I couldn’t get my own shit together and treated you so badly. I’m sorry for callin’ you an intruder when you first got here—” He almost laughed at how stupid he’d been.” Calum wasn’t sure if he’d apologized to one person so much before in his life, but he meant every word. Every fucking syllable. Hurting Parker ate away at him a lot more than he thought it would, the whole situation escalating out of his control, and it almost drove him crazy. It drove him crazy that he wanted her right away, drove him mad when he finally got to have her, and it drove him completely fucking insane that he was being such a shitty person to her when she’d done absolutely nothing wrong. Who was he to give her more crap to worry about than she already had to? Who the fuck did that? Especially to someone they liked? It was sick.

His throat felt dry, but Calum didn’t care as he now stood in front of Parker, his height towering over hers as their eyes never left each others; his genuine and honest and desperate and hers incredulous and bewildered and—dare he consider it—elated. It gave him a little bit of hope, a little bit of a push to keep going. “I don’t expect you to forgive me right away, or at all, but I really am sorry, Parker. I am. . .” He trailed off breathily, letting out a slightly incredulous laugh as he shook his head at himself. “I am so sorry that ’m absolutely terrible at tellin’ the girl I like how I feel because she deserves more than that from me. You deserve more than that.”

Parker wondered, right there, if Calum could hear the way her heart was hammering in her chest, how she could feel every nerve in her body electrify with every word he spoke. She was acutely aware of everything; of the strands of her blonde hair tickling the bare skin of her shoulders, of the complete dryness of her mouth Calum’s tenderly intense words created, of the glorious tightness in her chest that wasn’t caused by pain or hurt but by relief and disbelief and so much more her spinning head couldn’t quite properly focus on.

He liked her. He liked her and he was sorry for everything. He liked her and he completely meant it.

She could see the apology in Calum’s eyes, could hear it in the desperation of his words. They could, and would, have a much longer conversation about it all later. But right now, Parker didn’t want to hurt. He was trying to make up for it, was already succeeding at it, and she could give him grief over it later on. Right now, she just wanted him.

“You know,” she spoke up, a lilt creeping into her tone as she took a step towards him, the distance between their bodies closing up exponentially as her eyes never left his. Calum watched her, intensely and hopefully and longingly, and she felt her heart flutter. Parker was tired of all the bullshit. She just wanted to go past it. And, admittedly, she wanted Calum. Practically from the moment she’d met him. Her eyes flickered to his lips, full and pink and kissable, before continuing, “I’m getting tired of you deciding what I deserve. You can’t decide things for me and expect me to abide by them, Calum.”

His throat worked, eyes dropping to her own pink lips, adoring the freckles on her face and wanting to spend hours counting every single one. Maybe he could someday. “You’re absolutely right,” Calum responded, his voice unintentionally dropping to a raspy whisper, one that sent a pleasant shiver down Parker’s spine. His forehead dropped, pressing against hers, curls brushing against her skin. The small smile that had tugged on his lips faltered slightly, sighing softly as he admitted, “I definitely don’t deserve you, though.”

Parker couldn’t help but roll her eyes, leaning away ever so slightly as their hands absently found each other’s. “Again with the executive decision making,” she huffed out, only slightly joking, as she pursed her lips up at Calum. He rolled his own lips into his mouth, gaze dropping, and Parker shook her head, squeezing his hands as she felt the cool metal of his rings against her skin. With a kind, gentle smile, she added, “I forgive you.” His eyes met hers, disbelieving and confused, and her smile widened. “I do, because I spend way too much time in a hospital where people don’t ever say what they mean to those they care about and who regret what they didn’t get to do once it’s too late. I don’t—” Parker paused, worrying that she may be coming off too strong, relaxing only at the sight of the soft smile on Calum’s face and the reassuring squeeze he gave her hands this time. Her heart fluttered; she liked this side of him. Could definitely get used to it. “I don’t want to have any regrets, and I don’t want you to, either.” She smiled, pretty and honest. “Doctor’s orders.”

The last two words had a gentle, adoring laugh escaping Calum, one that widened Parker’s grin because it was a sound she wanted to hear more of. A sight, full of a wide grin and crinkled eyes, she never wanted to forget, as his forehead returned to press against hers. It was tender, he was tender, a complete change from how things had been between them, yet neither would have it any other way. Because even though it may only have been a few weeks, it felt like a lifetime where they spent avoiding each other, acting stupid and ignoring their feelings. And being there, holding each other’s hands and breathing the other in, strangely felt like coming home.

It was terrifying and nerve wracking and completely ridiculous to feel this way after only meeting just weeks ago. But, God, neither of them cared. Not when it felt this good and this right. Not when they’d gone through tedious avoidances and mishandled feelings.

“Doctor’s orders, huh?” Calum grinned, nose brushing against Parker’s, their foreheads still pressed together and the distance between them practically nonexistent. Their skin was heating up with the desire of wanting to be closer than they were, both eager to give in. Calum hummed approvingly. “I think I can follow those.”

Parker couldn’t help the grin on her face; wide and goofy and relieved as she stared into a pair of brown eyes that were more warm and inviting than she’d ever seen them. She tilted her mouth towards his, lips brushing together and sending jolts of electricity down both of their bodies. It was a wonder they didn’t close the gap right then and there. “You sure?”

She was teasing him. Calum could see it in the glint in her eyes and the lilt in her tone, and it only made him want to kiss her more. Made him appreciate Parker and who she was, and he couldn’t wait to get to know her more. In every single way possible. Trying to keep his distance from her when she first moved into the Viridian had been an idiot’s move on his part, which only backfired on him later on. But Calum knew, in that moment with her hands in his and her lips slowly coming to touch his, that Parker Hayden being the newest member of the Viridian had the potential of being the best thing that could’ve happened to him.

His lips brushed hers, a soft and honest murmur of, “Yes, doc,” escaping him, and the last thing he saw was Parker’s widened smile before pressing his lips to hers. They melted into each other, instantly and familiarly and finally. This time, the promise of there being more excited their hearts and slowed their kiss; soft and languid and savoring every movement of lips. This time, they allowed themselves to truly get lost in the other’s touch because they knew, deep down, they may have also found themselves in the other.

tags: @crownedbyluke @irwinkitten @glitterprincelu @softforcal @valentinelrh @hotmessmichael @meetashthere @astroashtonio @calumh-excess @hearts-to-the-sky @old-zeppelin-shirt @angelbbycal @captain-what-is-going-on @calumthoodsyonce @cathartichaoss @misskarynie @softboycal @soulmatecashton @babygirlcashton @cxddlyash @calumhoodless @wrappedaroundcal @calumculture @ohhmuke @fucking5sos @heavenlyhemminqs @cosmixcalum @invisiblexcth @gettingjillywithit @calistheloml @cliffordcntrl @asht0ns-world @hereforlukescruff @ghostofch @ghostsofhood @dxmncalum @bitchinbabylon @walkedhomealone @poppedpins @5secondssofssummer @calumsmermaid @booklove-2 @empathycth @checkeredcalum @lovelettercalum @kchillout @rosecoloredash @theagenderwhocriedwolf @cal-pal-cuddles @xhaileyreneex @calteahood @biwriting @2k17muke @sublimehood @tupeloohoneyy @egyptiangoldhood @x-valntyne-x @bloodlinecal @97britt @emma070900 @mmxiihood @monsteramongmikey @akacalciumhood @thebodaciouscth @5sos-stan4lyfe @lipstickstainfading @flannelpunkcalum @c-sainthood @inlovehoodx @all-i-want-is2b-loved-by-you @fireupthatthrone @lmao5sosimagines @isabella-mae13 @mysteriouslycali @teageowen @fallfrxmgrace @dontjinx-it @thewackywriter @caswinchester2000 @calntynes @post-traumatic-mess @kissmefree

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