ILY FP 258

I can't believe we're actually passed episode 250 lmao I Love Yoo is truly the never ending story (affectionate). I appreciate how much of the story we really get to dig into at this pace and while I know a lot of people have long-since dropped it, I imagine the rest of us (those reading this post because why else are you here?) also appreciate it. And that's what is even more refreshing about this episode - if refreshing is even a word we can use to describe it. Getting the extra scenes from other characters, a look at their lives and from these glimpses, what we can glean in the unsaid between the lines.

Can you believe I used to prey on Kousuke's downfall? There's so many posts of me talking about him from a different view, believing that the only way he could grow and develop and make the changes necessary to make him a better person was for him to crash and burn, to fail so significantly that he would be forced to pen his eyes to reality. But here we are, me, fervently swaddling him up like a baby and shoving him into my pocket because GOD he needs to be protected.

I don't even remember when it was, that my view on him began to shift, when I went from "he's interesting but awful" to "GOD THIS IS MY SON AND I WILL FIGHT EVERYONE YOU HAVE TO GO THROUGH ME" but.... lol there's no going back!

That's enough rambling, let's jump in.

There is something so painfully devastating about every time ILY confirms to us something we have long-since known or suspected through nuance, foreshadowing, reading between the lines, etc: That Kousuke isn't Rand's biological son, that Shinae was at the formal for Gun Kim, that Kousuke has been manipulated his whole life. Nothing in this episode regarding Kousuke is actually new to us. We have known, and talked about, for months and months long before the confirmation reveal that Yui drugs Kousuke - that he has been manipulated by her his entire life, that she orchestrated his life to manipulate him into situations she could take advantage of. It's the way she spoke about Rand's affair around Kousuke, the way she commodified Rand's love so Kousuke became convinced he'd never earned his father's love, the way she spoke of their family vs others and convinced him from such a young age that everyone was out to get them, to destroy them, and that he couldn't let them get close, couldn't let them near - and how Nol was very much a target planted in his mind.

But it's the fact that he is speaking of this and acknowledging it! Until now, Kousuke has heavily lived in denial. Again, we know this. We talk a lot about the chasm between reality and the reality he believes in. We talk a lot about how Kousuke couldn't face reality, even though on some level he knew everything he believed and was told was not quite true not quite real, but that he was so afraid of the truth, he couldn't do it. Kousuke admitting that he's been driven by fear and envy explains everything about him, and why he could not accept the only unwavering unconditional love he was offered.

A few weeks ago I saw a video on instagram of this father talking about a conversation he had with his daughter, who was feeling a little uncomfortable with her friend group. A new girl started to play with her and her best friend and she said she wasn't exactly jealous, but that maybe it was that she was afraid that there wasn't enough love to go around. Her dad had to explain to her that love is not like a pizza - it's not finite, a limited amount that could be taken and hogged by someone else. But Kousuke never learned this. His father's love was commodified and he was made to fear this other kid who he mistakenly believed knew a version of his father he'd never been privy to. He never learned that love is finite, that Rand could have enough love for the both of them, and feared that Nol would hog it all - that he WAS hogging it all because whether or not it was good or bad, Nol received more attention that Kousuke did. And that speaks VOLUMES about how Kousuke sees Rand, what he thinks of their relationship. In his mind, he is still unworthy, that he's not noteworthy enough.

This part gets to me so badly. We, as omniscient readers, know that Rand has tried his best, but that Yui runs a spectacular interference with which he can't compete, largely because of the roles their family have placed them in - Rand the busy businessman, Yui the mommy homemaker. But no matter how hard he tries, it isn't good enough. Rand tries to reach Kousuke, but the manipulation and paranoia are so far gone that the times Rand does have the chance to convey his feelings, Kousuke can't even believe it, because he thinks he's not good enough to deserve that love, that he hasn't fully qualified for it yet. And despite that, Nol, who Kousuke feels hasn't done half of what he has to deserve Rand's love, gets the attention. It doesn't matter that it's negative attention, that Rand barks at Nol, that Nol feels Rand hates and regrets him, because ultimately, it's still more than Kousuke receives. And worse, to him, every time Rand is busy reprimanding Nol, he turns away from Kousuke to do it.

I want to make it clear that this is a deep trauma point of Kousuke's. He's never learned healthy love and the only person who gave him healthy love was someone he was set to fear and fight. Something I think about a lot is the flashback to Kousuke, in the bushes, watching Nessa and Nol's display of warm affection, before Yui appears literally looming before him. In that moment, he witnesses something he's been deprived of. "We're not like other families"'. He's told from a young age he shouldn't compare himself to those healthy families, to warm and affectionate relationships that he will not cultivate in this household. From such a young age it is normalized, that they aren't like others, that they are cold and distant. From a young age, he's made to stuff down his feelings, his tender wants and desires, in order to earn them. To be a good little boy who makes his parents proud. To make his father look his way.

There's also something about the way he says "I've been a good boy" that echoes Shinae learning she's been manipulated by Yui, devastated and angry and yelling about how she's been a good girl so why do these things keep happening to her, all she wanted to do was help her dad. Two people who, from a young age, felt they had to be so obedient, so good, to not be a burden, and despite following the rules, despite doing as they were told, despite trying to be whatever version of "good" they believed in, the world still beat them up and mistreated them. The world still punished them.

As Rin in our discord server pointed out, though, to some degree, Kousuke is very much a person who can - and does - act out, when he's emotionally high-strung. He's a volatile man, and it's largely to do with the fact that he's been drugged to placate him for so long. He never learned emotional regulation, he never learned how to deal with high-stress situations or to face conflict or to own up to things. This is something that some readers who hate Kousuke and expect him to act a certain way because of his age are missing. You don't just learn these things with age. You learn them with experience and Kousuke was deprived of the opportunity TO have those experiences. He never had to learn these behaviors, and now as an adult he cannot function when overwhelmed.

Idk this whole episode is just heartbreaking. It's devastating. I remember when I was someone praying on Kousuke's downfall and now I want to take it all back ;___; I always believed he had to crash and burn to be able to see the world for what it really was and to face his fears, but this is somehow so much worse.

And even though he's drunk, I don't think he's going to forget all of this in the morning. Rather, I think what he's voicing are things that have been plaguing him since waking up in the hospital. From that moment, we saw him wary and distrustful of his mother, we saw his concern for Nol rising above everything else, but grappling with the understanding that he doesn't deserve to stand in front of Nol anymore. These aren't epiphanies coming to him just because he's drunk; it's more like he's only voicing them because he's drunk. But even when he sobers up, he will probably still be haunted by these fears, these agonies, these truths, this understanding.

How does he face his mother after this? How does he face anyone? He may not even feel like he can trust Jayce - who while very kind to him, is still employed by his family. He may not even feel like he can trust Hansuke (though I really hope that's not the case).

He's so miserable and it genuinely hurts to have him lay it all out for us - everything we've known and suspected, like how it was so painfully clear he WANTED Nol's friendship, their brotherhood, but feared it, didn't believe that there was enough love to go around, that there could only be one of them and that even if it was for good or bad reasons, Nol cast him in the shadow. And all these years, watching as Nol, as Yeonggi, grew into this person who sounded so very much like this unknown version of their father, someone funny who makes others laugh, someone goofy, someone so boyish in the ways Kousuke was never allowed to be. Watching as he gathers friends, while Kousuke, so unlikeable, is wanted only for his money, for his status, for the clout.

He doesn't even know WHO HE IS! Questioning his own traits he's believed of himself, wondering if this is even him, if these parts of him are real or does he just act it, say it, pretend it, while trying to fulfill a role he was shoved into. That makes me feel SO deeply sad, because it's something I've been anticipating for so long: Kousuke wondering WHO he really is, how much of him is real and how much of it is the result of manipulation.

And that moment that he catches himself and says no no that's offensive and rude you can't be like that. ;AAA;

For him to admit how much he envies others, how much he craves the kind of connection others have, the kind of family others have, to feel that love and warmth that he's been deprived of, forced to endure this solitude because, as he believes, he didn't get the good parts of Rand. And what will happen when he learns that Rand isn't his father? That he never stood a chance to inherit any of those traits. Kousuke has operated on this belief that, if he tries hard enough, he can earn the things he craves, but I fear learning about his parenthood will make him think that no matter how hard he tried, he would never earn that, because none of it was ever him, could have gone to him.

I think this is where Shinae, in the future, will come in. I feel so very strongly that she will be someone who helps Kousuke to see that this isn't true, that these kinds of personality traits aren't something inherited, but rather something learned. For him to one day realize it's the paralyzing fear that holds him back, not his genetics. Of course, I acknowledge this will still take a lot of therapy but...

Something else very remarkable to me is the way Kousuke recognizes Shinae in Shinhye, because their eyes "feel the same" and he opens up to her - on some level, whether or not he is consciously aware of it, Kousuke knows, or maybe just wants to, that he can trust Shinae. That she is someone who is safe. He even knows how she feels about his mother. I don't think we'll see a lot of Kousuke and Shinae's friendship until we're passed our timeskips, but it makes me feel a little hopeful about it, that she'll be able to reach him, because she feels like someone who is safe. It's the way he sees Nol in her and wants to try to have that do over, a relationship with someone who  has unconditional love for him. It's the way he knows he mistreated Nol, that it was wrong, that he took it all out on this kid he was so afraid of because he had no other outlet, and he wants to do better but knows that there's nothing to salvage anymore.

But also, it just makes me hope more and more that in the future we WILL see a reconciliation between the brothers. As I say every time, it doesn't mean they have to become brothers or friends, but I just want them to see each other fully. Kousuke knows what he did to Nol. He doesn't deny it, even if he might not say it out loud unless he's drunk. But Nol is still so in the dark. Yujing is trying to tip him off and make him aware of it, but I hope one day when Nol realizes it, when he finds out that Kousuke, too, was Yui's victim, that he wasn't the only one, that Kousuke was made to fear Nol's love, he might.... understand. I'm saying understand here loosely because I don't want people to get the idea that I mean Nol will forgive him and Kousuke will be justified, but rather that Nol would be able to understand why Kousuke felt that way, and move on. But I can't help but hope that it will lead to an understanding, a reconciliation, where maybe they can try to be in each other's lives.

I think it's also interesting that Shinhye was somewhat honest, even if she wasn't very forthcoming, with Kousuke about her own family. It sounds like her mother has been gone for a long time, that she's been on her own the whole while, and I think it reinforces the idea that she believes both that Simhan is her father and that he rejected her, that he didn't want anything to do with her. It lines up, too, with how she feels that he wouldn't react well if he saw her (although I think she credited that to looking like their mother). In the same way that Shinae has felt abandoned and cast aside by their mother, Shinhye probably thinks their father never tried reach out, to find them, to maintain a relationship with her. Or perhaps it's that her mother fed her lies about him, made her believe him a different type of man, made her believe there would never be anything of their relationship to salvage. And given that she's the one who Kousuke opened to, it makes me think that there must be some kind of parallel there; the way she mentioned her own mother feels like maybe her mother, too, was a manipulative - or at the very least, dishonest - person.

I don't speculate a lot on Shinhye because frankly I don't think I know enough about her to really try to talk about her, but I do think that it's very likely there's some kind of connection between Shinhye and the Hirahras or Gun. To be clear, I don't believe she's working with Yui at all. I think it's more like... Alyssa isn't the only girl who has been trafficked by Gun. What's the likelihood that Shinae and Shinhye's mother was? Given her history, the gambling addiction that was so egregious her reputation haunted Shinae and chased her to a new neighborhood and school, was she seeking money somewhere else, somewhere more dangerous? Is that part of why they had to change their name? There's so many questions left about them, and I look forward to learning more about her, but, much like with Alyssa, I think it will take time and be dropped in little tidbits like this - things to read into and try to glean something from.

And maybe we'll see more of this duo in the future? It would feel a little weird to give them this one single run in, but I'm not entirely sure. Quimchee likes to keep us on our toes. After all, Minhyuk and Shinhye have also had only the one run in. Still, I think it would be interesting to watch, if Shinhye ever felt.... I want to say maybe compelled? to dig in more to Kousuke, ever feel a kind of kinship. I don't think she'll open up to him at all, but rather, maybe she'd keep going back because a. he's wealthy and there's more she can nick from him (assuming he doesn't realize she stole anything while in his apartment, if he even remembers any of this) and b. wanting to gather more intel.

Like I said though, she's hard to read so I don't want to cling too hard to any ideas and, instead, sit back and enjoy the show.

Title: coward :: old friends Pairing: Y/N x Miya Atsumu Genre: angst, romance, and very slow burn [ex to lovers au] Warnings: Cursing, alchohol, mentions of unprotected sex, unplanned pregnancy, and mentions of abortion

Synopsis: Your kids openly hate Miya Atsumu and the appearance of an old friend stirs up mischief and unwanted memories of the past. [ft. aomine daiki from knb] notes:

i probably cant stress this enough but thank you so much for all the love T-T it means a lot <3 like 118 followers in a span of two weeks? That’s just shhddhbdbx anyways i hope enjoy another buttload of angst! remember to always stay safe and wash ur hands!!

i find it funny when people point out atsumu to be a player or a fuckboy because this guy looks like a one-woman (or no woman lets be honest) type of person, his whole personality revolves around volleyball i guess and being straightforward to everyone with an idgaf attitude ksksks

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“You haven’t even wiped your sweaty backs and you both think you’re good to go?” you narrowed your eyes at the two boys who sheepishly gave you a smile as you lightly scolded them for not taking care of their health, the boys had decided to join a mini sports club after class where you could play for an hour any sport you’d like in the gym. They had promised it wouldn’t affect their studies. 

Bending down to their level, you signal them to turn around. The pair furrows their brows, not wanting to be coddled by you in public, when you noticed that they were about to complain, you cocked a brow at their actions and tighten your lips. Begrudgingly they slowly turned around, not wanting a lecture from you.

You first wiped Yuuto’s back and handed him a t-shirt he could change on. As you were wiping Youta’s back with another towel, he suddenly spoke out, “Kaasan, that Atsumu-guy’s looking at you again.” he frowns.

Yes, apparently Miya Atsumu had the time to lounge around at a kids sports club and accompany his friend Hinata who would occasionally be there to help around because he was bored and they were ordered to rest (judging from your past conversations with Hinata these days, you noticed that the young man did not know the meaning of what resting was). 

You thought that the little scene at your workplace would be the last time you saw him but these past days, you saw him a lot. It seemed to be getting too frequent to the point where you wondered if it could even be called a coincidence at all, “Do you want me to spike at him, kaasan?” the oldest twin asks as he turns to you, a small pout on his lips.

“Now, now, do you remember the story I told you about the bully last night?” 

“Don’t throw stuff at people?” He blinks innocently.

You let out a soft and gentle laugh, the one only reserved for your boys, “Yes, Yo-chan. Don’t throw stuff at people.” you leaned in to give him a peck on his nose in which he immediately moved away and wrinkled his forehead in disgust.

“Stop doing that, kaasan. I’m a big kid already!”

“Hai, hai.” You patted his head and stood up while handed him his t-shirt, “Hurry along and change now, you big baby.”

Atsumu watches the bizarre interaction from afar, he’s never seen you this soft in public. Even when you were dating back then, the most public display of affection you two would have when you were dating was just you playing with his fingers and drawing small circles on his thighs unknowingly under the table (save for that one time where you wiped blood off his nose in public but then again you guys weren’t dating that time so that didn’t count) yet seeing you laughing, wiping the sweat out of the little boys back, and even giving a small peck on his nose was a very different sight to behold.

Daresay, it suited you.

“You’ve been staring at her for quite some time, Miya-san.” Sugawara comments as he puts the last grade-school volleyball on the cart. Atsumu jumps on the spot and rubs the back of his head nervously making Sugawara laugh in reply, “Funny, isn’t it? Whenever I talk to L/N-san, she’s always like ‘okay.’, ‘that’s nice.’, ‘good.’ yet when she’s with the kids, she’s the softest person ever.”

“Yeah…” The blonde mutters, “definitely funny.”

“Heard from Hinata that you and L/N-san used to be together back in college.” 

That damn orange haired snake-

“Yeah, two years.” Atsumu clears his throat, “We, we fell out of love though.”

‘You fell out of love.’ he corrects in his head.

“Oho,Fates a fickle huh? Anyways, Me and Hinata are actually planning on inviting Y/N and the boys for dinner, do you want to come with us?” 

“I have a girlfriend.” he replies in defense. 

Sugawara looks at him, completely baffled by his reply then immediately bursts out into laughter, “I doubt Y/N would care, really…” He paused, “No offense.”

“None taken.” the blonde deadpanned.

You don’t know why you ended up at a chinese restaurant that night with one kid animatedly chatting Hinata Shoyou’s ear off while the other was openly glaring at Miya Atsumu, “Youta please swallow your food before talking.” you frowned, taking a napkin to wipe the rice off the mouth of the younger twin.

The blonde kept glancing at you but whenever he did, he’d receive a very harsh glare from Yuuto, “Hey watch where you’re looking at, jiji.” Yuuto suddenly spat out loud, catching him in the act this time as he stabs his chicken with a fork.

Sugawara sweat drops at the interaction unfolding in front of him while you try to tell your oldest son to be more kind to the man sitting in front of him, “Yeah. Listen to your mom, brat.” Atsumu frowns, in which the child retaliates with a tongue out.

“Yuuto, eat your food and stop disturbing Miya-san.”

Yet their stare-off seemed to continue as soon as you turned away from the pair  and Sugawara had to intervene before Yuuto would pounce at the professional volleyball player across the table, “You should be nicer to him, Yuuto-kun. You want to be a setter right? He’s a better setter than I am.” Sugawara tries to ease off the tension between the two.

“He’s not,” Yuuto frowns, “I don’t even know why Kaasan says you’re the best setter in the whole wide world, Adler’s Kageyama Tobio’s obviously better!”

You feel yourself freeze up at Yuuto’s innocent babble, Atsumu seems to be taken aback by it too but he immediately regains himself, “Your mom’s got taste that’s all.” He leered at the six year old boy, not daring to back down from the brat’s challenge. Sugawara pales when the tension rises even higher and tries to get Hinata to ease it up but the orange-haired is too engaged into the conversation with the other twin.

“Baby, just eat your veggies and stop disturbing Miya-san.” You snap back to your senses as you evenly try to get him to calm down once again but he refuses, another trait he got from his father.

“Hey troll, the jiji won’t stop staring at kaasan!” he calls for his twin, trying to get him to back him up, “I told ya he was a crackhead!”

Your eyes widen at your son’s attitude and his uncouth table manners, “L/N Yuuto, that’s it!” You suddenly raise your voice, Yuuto’s scowl deepens as he crosses his arms. Everyone in the table turns silent by your outburst. 

Anger, Miya Atsumu realizes how many different emotions you manage to muster out today. It was a lot more than what he had experienced with you, he’d usually take these emotions by crumbs back then since it was rare but it seemed that these boys had it easy with you. You were so open to them, so vulnerable.

“We’re going home right this instant after you apologize to Miya-san.” 

“I don’t wanna.”

“Yuuto…”

“Y/N, it’s alright-” Atsumu tries to ease up the kid's burden, suddenly feeling bad since it was his fault in the first place and the kid was probably just trying to protect you.

“I said I don’t wanna!” The oldest twin immediately stands up and runs away, you grab your youngest son by the hand who was sadly saying goodbye to his idol as you placed the payment for your meal on the table. 

“He’s not usually like this.” You bowed your head, “Sorry Miya-san, I really am.”

He watches you dash away to the direction where your younger son ran off to, Youta trailing behind you as he waved goodbye to his two favorite men and a tongue out to Miya Atsumu, signaling that he too, like his brother, hated him.

“Way to go, atsumu-san” Hinata grimaced, openly judging him for picking a fight with a kid as he munched on his sweet and sour pork.

Later that same evening, you stood outside your sons room, regretting how you handled the situation. Of course, Yuuto was wrong to say that but you should’ve been more mindful with your tone and words. You were their mother and an adult for crying out loud!

“Yuuto?” You knock on the twins shared room, “Baby? Would you mind opening the door for a sec?”

“Kaasan, Yuuto says he don’t wanna!” Youta replies in his older brother's stead.

“Okay,” You calmly reply, expecting that,  “Then can you tell Yu-chan that there's a glass of milk on the counter? I know he wants to drink some after that heavy dinner.”

“He says big boys don’t need milk, kaasan…” Youta paused,  “But he says he’ll drink it later since we shouldn’t throw food.”

“Okay, goodnight boys.”

You slowly head to the couch and lay there, basking in the silence of your apartment and waiting for your son to come out of his room to be ready to talk. As you hear the door creak open, you see Yuuto slowly waddle his way towards the table where his milk was on, “Yu-chan? Can we talk?” you ask, your voice is soft as you slowly made your way to the oldest twin, bending down to his level so you could see him eye to eye, “Oh, baby...Kaasan is so, so, sorry…” You apologized, taking his small hands and resting your head on top of it.

“I don’t like yelling.”

“I know.”

“I had to protect ‘kaasan,” he frowns, his nose wrinkling, “He was looking at you badly.”

“Kaasan deserved it.”

“No one deserves to look at you badly, kaasan!” he exclaims, “You’re the bestest, kindest person in the whole wide world!”

You wondered if they’d still say that when they’d find out you were lying to them about how their father was just right in front of them tonight.

“ ‘Kaasan had hurt miya-san really bad before,” You try to explain to your son in words he could understand and digest as you run your hands through his silky black hair, “That’s why he’s like that…”

“B-But…” he tries to stammer out an explanation but you cut him off with a kiss on his cheek.

“You’ll understand what ‘kaasan means when you’re older,” you smile, slowly standing up and handing him his glass of milk, “Sometimes we hurt people really bad that even saying sorry can’t fix it.”

“W-was it really bad, ‘kaasan?” the boy asks, taking the milk to his small hands and drinking it slowly whilst trying to discern what you were saying. After placing the glass down, he asks,  “Did you break his favorite toy or something?”

“Mhm,” You hummed, picking him up as he stifled a yawn and slowly nuzzled on your neck,“ ‘Kaasan broke something so important, she couldn’t fix it with just saying sorry.”

“Babygirl, aren’t you looking better these days?” 

“You call me that one more time and I swear I’m disemboweling you.” You deadpanned, meeting his dark eyes. Aomine Daiki lets out a boisterous laugh right after when he sees your blank expression, “Still the same as ever, Y/N-chan, you really love breakin’ my heart.” he teased, clutching his heart in fake pain.

“Tch,” You clicked your tongue at the tall basketball player, “Tell that to the women you play around with.”

“I take it the boys are at school today?”

“They begged me to skip it since they heard you were back in japan.” You replied, recalling the twins fake sickness this morning just so that they could see the navy blue-haired giant.

“I’m surprised you even took the time off to see little ol’ me.”

“Don’t kid yourself.”

“Hn,” He hummed, leaning in closely as he rested his head on his palm, “I got news by the way, I was at our hometown and I bumped into obaasan.”

You cross your legs and lean back on the chair, the mere mention of your mother had you automatically on edge and annoyed.

“What did she say?”

“She asked me a favor,” He shrugged, taking in a sip of his banana milk, “Says that she wants to meet up with you… She mentions that ojisan’s gonna make time too, I think they’re going to try to make amends with you.”

“That’s nice.” You dryly remarked, clearly you didn’t care about their apology or their willingness to ‘talk’ it out.

“Don’t shoot the messenger,” Daiki frowns, raising his hands in reply, “And judging by the look on your face, you’re not going to see them?”

Flashes of your childhood and the event that transpired six years ago wormed its way back to your head, it had been so long but its had severely affected and haunted you to this day, “I don’t think I’d ever want my kids near them, who knows what they’ll say around them.” you responded truthfully.

Daiki’s gaze turned soft as he noticed how tightly you were holding the coffee cup, “You got overtime again, right? How about I’ll take care of the boys in the meantime? You know how much they love the huge fridge and pachinko machine in my apartment... I’m also sure they miss their favorite ojisan.” 

“Just make sure you hide your porno magazines.” 

“That was one time, Y/N.”

You and Aomine Daiki go way back the tall boy lived right across your house and had been your companion since you were the tender age of six. He knew what went around your house, why you were so quiet and expressionless most of the time. At some point, the tall man tried to cross the line of friends to lover but he was only met with the very familiar blank gaze and harsh words of, “I don’t think I’ll ever see you that way.”

The man had no choice but to accept the scraps he was given, he couldn’t really blame you though. After the messed-up emotional trauma you experienced growing up, he knew you wanted nothing to do with the idea of families or lovers.

Yet one winter night while he was in the middle of his training for the national team, he received a phone call from you with two words he never expected to hear from you at all, “I’m pregnant.” 

It’s been three years since he last saw you that time and he’s puzzled, who took advantage of you? Where was that asshole so he could beat him to a pulp? Why couldn’t the father be a man and face you? He becomes even more confused because apparently you knew this man very well and you had an intimate relationship with him, something he never imagined from you,  “I broke up with him.”

“W-what?”

“I broke up with him,” you repeated, clutching the ultrasound picture on your hand tightly, it probably looked unrecognizable at that point, “I told him I never wanted to see him again.”

“You didn’t tell him?” He bellowed, he placed his hands on your arms and held you while shaking you lightly, “Y/N are you out of your mind? How are you going to raise a kid in this state? You may have graduated early but you’ve got student loans and yourself to fend for! How are you going to do it? Your parents disowned you for cryin’ out loud!”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know? What do you mean? Do you want to have it aborted, Y/N?”

“I don’t know.”

Daiki lets out a frustrated sigh as he lowers his head, realization slowly dawned upon him at that moment, you were running away. Your defense mechanism had always been to run away. Ever since Aomine Daiki met you, he always noticed that whenever you had problems, you’d run towards the opposite direction and never meet them head-on.

They’d pile up to the point that he was worried you’d burst one day.

It had happened once before and it was something he prayed he’d never see again.

“You know you can’t keep running, right?” He manages to croak out softly, looking at you dead in the eye, your face was blank but your eyes held so much emotions in them; grief, anguish, misery, and what pained him the most was that you drowned yourself in these emotions that you probably didn’t know how to express them anymore because you were used to it.

“I can try.”

“You have to tell him, what’s his name? Where does he live? Y/N-”

“Don’t.” You replied, contrasting to the blank tone you were using moments ago, your voice was now soft. He notices that you’re inching closer to him and he observes you as you melt on his arms just like that moment eleven years ago, you’re shaking uncontrollably,  “Please don’t tell him.”

“Y/N-”

“I-I- you-shouldn’t- can’t tell him, please just this one time,” You stammer, begging him with whatever strength you have left, he feels his jacket getting wet. He holds you tight, not knowing what to say anymore, whoever this jackass was, you must’ve really loved him because he’s never seen you this scared before, “just this one time, let me run away from this again.”

Miya Atsumu feels a tick on his forehead when a very tall, dark, and daresay, handsome man appeared to pick up the boys during the club activity today. He wouldn’t openly admit it but he wanted to talk to you after that little fiasco that he had with that brat but when this guy appeared out of nowhere instead of you.

He was beyond annoyed.

He couldn’t pinpoint where he actually saw this guy but he was very familiar.

“Oh, is that Aomine Daiki?” Sugawara gasped, completely surprised by the tall man’s presence.

“Wow, He’s way too tall to be japanese.” Hinata pointed out, “Is he a volleyball player? I wanna match him!”

“Shoyou no, he plays basketball for the NBA.” Sugawara comments, “I didn’t know Y/N knew him, he’s pretty big internationally and in japan too.”

Atsumu clenched his fists as he watched the brats easily cling onto him and ask him if they brought some gifts for them from abroad, judging by their body language, this guy must’ve been with you since the beginning.

“Oh, ninja shoyou was it?” The tall man suddenly exclaims, going up to Shoyou eagerly with no shame, “I watched some of your matches while I was in Brazil! I’m Aomine Daiki.”

Miya Atsumu wished this guy was an asshole but he was nothing like that, in fact, he looked like an excited kid when he started talking to the little orange-head, telling him how good he’d fit in at basketball with his jumps, “You must be the teachers?” he glanced towards Atsumu and Sugawara, the latter nodded but the blonde didn’t seem that amused by him.

“I’m Hinata’s teammate.” he said through gritted teeth, offering his hand to shake, “Miya Atsumu…”

“Nice to meet you, pal.”

“Daiki-ojisan, jiji’s an old friend of ‘kaasan back when she was studyin!” Youta exclaims randomly, Atsumu wants to snap at the brat for calling him jiji once again but he holds it back because he was still at odds with the other one and he didn’t want to strain whatever he had left with the excited one.

Daiki, on the other hand, feels his body stiffen at Youta’s random fact outburst. You had never told him who the father was until today, all he knew was that he was with you in Tokyo university and that you were very much in love with him.

Did this guy perhaps know who the boyfriend was?

“Friend, huh?” He laughs, taking his hand and shaking it, trying to lighten up the mood, “I heard she even got her first boyfriend there.”

The trio fell into silence at what Aomine said while the two kids tilted their heads at the new word they heard. The basketball player felt confused by the sudden silence and when he noticed the red ears of the blonde in front of him, realization finally dawned on him.

“That…” Atsumu clears his throat, ears tinged red by the man’s forwardness, “That would be me.”

Aomine’s eyes widen, no fucking way, “Wow,” he throws his head back, howling in laughter, were you a masochist? How could you lounge around the father of the kids without him knowing jackshit about what happened and still be alright? He immediately regains his composure, this poor blonde bastard was probably confused since he heard you just ghosted him and left him out of the blue, “You definitely get my respect, Miya-san.”

Atsumu doesn’t know why the man in front of him is so amused or why he’s taking out a scratch paper on the kids notebook to write his number on it, “I hope we can be friends, it's definitely an interesting story to hear how you two got together. Y/N never entertained me and I’ve been chasing her since we were thirteen.” he grins, as if he just hadn’t nonchalantly revealed that you had rejected him more times than Atsumu back in college.

The blonde setter is confused as the navy blue-haired man slaps a phone number on his palm, “Call me when you need a drinking company, alright? Let's talk, I’d love to hear how you ended up together.” the smile on his lips turning wider by the minute.

taglist [closed]

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@misosamu  @Etherynaw  @ryaaaax  [hi, i can’t seem to tag u guys, i think you need to open your tags uwu]

About my abandoned fic “The truth of you”

@eu-nao-sou-um-chapeu​ I’m so sorry for dropping the ball. Thanks for the compliments ♥

Since I am a terrible, terrible person who failed her readers:

Oh my. It’s been a while. But here we go, from what I remember:

Over weeks

Marinette exchanges more emails with crimson.8, trying to set up a meeting with them

Adrien spends more time with Marinette, since she is in a bit of a crisis with the soulmate situation. He realizes he likes her very much.

Chloé and Sabrina's friendship seems to collapse

Adrien notices that Chloé is acting weird, and wears enough bling on her wrist to hide half her palm, AND makeup underneath. So he suspects she got her mark at roughly the same time as Marinette

Marinette investigates Nathanaël, who is acting weird around her.

Adrien catches his father and Nathalie acting like VERY GOOD FRIENDS, standing close to each other to talk, with Nathalie's hand brushing Gabriel's cheek and things like that. I am gabenath filth.

Eventually, the plot thickens.

Marinette sets up a meeting with Crimson 8 at the park, which Chat decides to spy on just to make sure she is safe. Crimson 8 does not show up, but Nathalie does, telling Marinette she is looking for Adrien. Gabriel arrives a bit later to fetch Nathalie. Crimson 8 sends an email to Marinette saying he had an emergency and could not come.

Nathanaël admits to Marinette that he saw her mark and figured out who she was, and that he won't tell anyone. But he is not Crimson 8.

Chloé admits to Adrien that her soul mark is a diamond, and that her soulmate is Sabrina (because diamonds are a girl's best friend). Sabrina noped out because she realized that living the rest of her life with Chloé and her behaviour was not acceptable.

Newspapers imply that Nathalie and Gabriel are soulmates after a paparazzi with a drone takes a picture of them kissing, and it ends up in tabloids.

Then we get to the end:

Marinette sets up another appointment with Crimson 8, who promises he will be there. She tells her friends, and Alya and the girls wait nearby the place to see if it all goes well, while Chat spies from a rooftop.

It turns out they were very right to watch, because it's Volpina who shows up, and kidnaps Marinette, using an illusion to make the others believe Marinette is talking to some teenage boy.

Alya spots Volpina dashing away with the true Marinette, and raises the alarm. Chat gives chases.

Meawhile, Volpina has taken Marinette to a secluded location and tied her up, and is taunting her about how Ladybug will HAVE to come rescue her "soulmate" and surrender her Miraculous. Chat comes to beat her up.

While Chat is busy fighting Volpina outside and much to Marinette's horror, Hawk Moth joins her in the hideout. And instead of talking about "Ladybug, your soulmate", his first words are "Checkmate, Ladybug," as he goes straight for her earrings.

Marinette is not an idiot, so she is NOT wearing the Miraculous, but plain plastic earrings. So Hawk Moth is about to have a fit of rage and great villain soliloquy, but Chat is done with Volpina and kicks him in the face. He frees Marinette, who runs away and gets her Miraculous out of her shoe so she can transform and go kick some supervillain ass.

Once Volpina is deakumatized and Hawk Moth forced to retreat, Ladybug hurries to go detransform and cower behind shrubbery as Marinette. Then she waits for Chat to retrieve her.

As she exits the bushes, she bumps into Nathalie, who was, for some totally non suspicious reason, cowering behind a tree, in the middle of a workday, streets away from her workplace. Nathalie leaves in a hurry.

Marinette thanks Chat for the rescue. And he answers "Thanks for lending me a paw" so she can figure out he knows her secret by now.

When she checks her phone, she discovers messages from Crimson 8 asking her, in order:

where she is

if she knows that Chat Noir is in a fight with an Akuma

If she is okay

She doesn't answer, pretty suspicious about Crimson8 by that point.

She ask a little chat with Tikki about the soul marks and how they work.

Now.

I must remind you that the Kwami (especially Nooroo) are NOT fans of the 'soul marks' and think it's the work of an idiotic god with too much pride.

Nobody is entirely sure how it works. Nobody knows which god started the damn thing.

So Tikki admits that there is no way to be certain that it is triggered by "love", because *of course* if someone believes someone else is their soulmate, they will make every effort possible to have a good relationship.

Which leaves Marinette wondering if she is bound to Hawk Moth. Marinette is a smart cookie.

Meawhile, Adrien goes home and hears Nathalie and Gabriel argue loudly in Gabriel's office, something like "You took things too far" from Nathalie and Gabriel arguing back louder. So he runs off to his bedroom and waits for the storm to pass.

When he comes back downstairs after things have calmed down, he finds Nathalie with her arms wrapped around Gabriel. Both of the idiotics grownup jump away, make lame excuses and run away in separate directions. Adrien is like "I SHIP IT".

Two days go by.

Crimson8 emails Marinette again, telling her that "Obviously, this whole soul mark business is not going to work out," and that he is getting a dark tatoo sleeve to hide the mark so it cannot cause problems anymore. He wishes her "a lot of happiness with much more suited partner Chat Noir". She goes scarlet at that comment, but is quickly distrated by the feeling of tattoo needles stabbing her hand.

Chloe and Sabrina somewhat make up.

Gabriel admits to Adrien that he is considering dating Nathalie.

Chat Noir visits Marinette's balcony and asks her on a date be cause he really, really likes her in all shapes and forms by that point.

Adrien never gets a soulmark. He doesn't care. He found his soulmate just fine on his own.

The end.

Notes:

The fic is a subversion of the soulmates trope, based on the fact that everyone assumes that the mark means people are bound by “true love”, and conform to that because of societal pressure. 

What it actually does is mark people who are bound by fate. So, of course, Ladybug ended up bound to her supervillain nemesis, who is kind of an important character in her personal story.

Jungle Park [15]

Chapter 14 - Chapter 15 - Chapter 15.5 OR Chapter 16

➜ Words: 5.6k

➜ Genres: Fluff, Light Humour (?), Slice of Life, Workplace Romance!AU

➜ Summary: The equation is simple. Hoseok needs to hire someone. You need a job. Except like any actual equation, it’s not fucking simple at all! Not when you have to add the fact that he was forced to hire someone he doesn’t want in his office, he has little respect for your job in general, and oh yeah...once upon a time you might have—*CENSORED*.

“The work you do going forward will not only affect you, but the lives of the people all around you. From your law partners to your clients…” The speaker at the front drones and on and on, his voice booming around the grandiose courtroom. You imagine a wedding ceremony could take place here or a nationwide criminal court case that you often see in the movies.    Jungkook is sitting dead center in the crowd of other articling students, wearing gorgeous black silk robes with a white shirt underneath it. “The most important advice I can gift to you today is to enjoy the journey and not just the destination. You will find in your life that often times—”   His parents are sitting in the front rows, beaming with pride while his older brother is snapping a million photos with his giant Canon camera, embarrassing Jungkook and making him all the more bashful. The entire firm is sitting behind them, watching and proud that the little student was finally being called to the bar.   The judge speaks quietly, calm and composed as he delivers a few jokes here and there while making his own inspirational speech. You listen in before leaning over to Hoseok and lowly whispering, “Is there something on my face?”   “No.” His brows furrow and he takes a glance at you. “Why?”   “I don’t know. You’re the one who keeps looking at me,” you murmur at a barely coherent volume. “Is there something wrong?”   Hoseok sits straight, leaning back on the hard bench and scanning the premise to see if anyone has noticed. “No, no. It’s fine.” The lawyer brushes you off and you have no choice, but to disregard it like it was part of your imagination.   The ceremony continues and everyone watches until the kids stand up together, turning towards the woman who reads the official oath from the open book. Her hand is held in the air and as she reads line by line, the crowd of almost-lawyers repeating after her, being sworn in as they promise to uphold the dignity of the law to the best of their abilities.   As it ends, there’s a massive round of applause and you see Jungkook emerging from the horde to land in his mother’s arms, hugging the older woman while she tells him how proud she is. It’s an endearing sight, especially when his dad gives him a bouquet of flowers to congratulate him and he has tears in his eyes which his brother makes fun of.   “Congratulations, Kook!” Jimin takes five strides outside of the building, walking against the flow of people leaving to smother Jungkook in a hug, even when the younger is larger in built.   “I can’t believe our little Jungkook has finally made it!” Sunyi smiles softly, catching the eye of a few other older lawyers who pass by. She’s wearing a bright yellow sundress that is reminiscent of sunflowers, having gone to a garden party with her grandma before rushing over here and making it on time. Yoongi seems to notice the prying eyes of strangers and stands in the way, blocking her from other people being able to ogle.   “I’m so proud!” Taehyung declares in the meanwhile, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand and sniffling dramatically. “I feel like a father who just watched his son grow up.”   Jungkook laughs, his nose scrunched and his cute bunny teeth showing in his grin. “You’re not my dad.”   “Does this mean we can give him the Yoo case file?” Yoongi suggests in a light voice, lifting his volume to be louder than the noise coming from the different crowds.   “I hope you’re ready, Jungkook.” Naul grips the strap of her bag, closed toe heels stepping together. “You’re going to be in court on Monday by yourself arguing for our client.”   Immediately, the boy’s smile falls. His doe eyes widen as large as saucers, features contorting into blatant fear. Jimin nearly falls onto his knees in laughter. “Give him a break! He’ll go on Tuesday.”   But that still does little to comfort the new lawyer. “T-T-...Tuesday?”   “Don’t tease the poor kid!” You step in with a laugh, saving the day before he can have a mental breakdown. “Come on, we can talk about this later. We should get back to the office.”   “Everyone, listen to Y/N. She’s the boss now.” Jimin announces with a smile and the entire firm walks off not to crowd up the entrance and block people from exiting. Jungkook’s parents and brother join as well, but you shift around slightly when you notice that he and Hoseok linger.   “Good job, Jungkook.” Hoseok wraps his arms around the younger’s shoulder, hugging and squeezing him while swaying side to the side.   The boy blinks a few times before melting into a sheepish smile. “Thanks.”   Hoseok plants a fat kiss on his head, on top of his hair, and Jungkook makes a disgruntled noise, moving back to avoid further smooches. Hoseok laughs and you smile before turning away.   //   The party is rather modest and much less chaotic than the end-of-the-year holiday celebration, but there’s still catering and everyone is able to get a nice lunch. Music plays in the back while people mingle together, but the main attraction seems to be the slideshow of Jungkook from when he was a baby until now. You’re glad Jimin insisted on making it and that you contracted his parents to find the photos. It warms your heart and he’s downright adorable. You feel proud that he came such a long way.   “You were so cute as a toddler.”   He’s shy and flustered, scratching the back of his head. “Thanks.”   “I was going to get you a bouquet of flowers too, but I didn’t know what you would do with them.”   “It’s okay. All of this is more than enough.”   “At least let me treat you to a meal some time, okay?” you insist, feeling way too guilty when it seemed like everyone else had some sort of present for him. “It’s my way of saying congratulations.”   Jungkook nods with a bright grin. “Okay.”   It doesn’t take a single second later before Lisa is shrieking at the top of her lungs. “Oh my god!” The both of you whirl your heads over to find the slideshow beginning Jungkook’s puberty years and his face drains of colour all at once. Jimin, Taehyung, Seokjin, Namjoon, and Seulgi all burst out into laughter, unable to contain themselves.   “Look at how cute he is!” His mother coos at the photos, a sense of nostalgia overwhelming the older woman.   “Mom! Oh my god. How do we turn this off?!” He groans, walking over and trying to do damage control. But more pictures of Jungkook’s fourteen year old self dressed as Goku and other various characters from Dragon Ball Z comes up.   “This was ingenious.” Hoseok approaches with one hand in his pocket and the other holding a glass of nonalcoholic champagne. He stands side by side with you, looking straight ahead at the projected screen.   “Thanks. It was Jimin’s idea though.”   “Still a good job on your part.” He steals a glance, but never looks you in the eye. “Jimin has a thousand ideas every day. Doesn’t mean they can all be executed.”   “Mhmm…” you hum a note, watching everyone chatting. Jungkook is still the center of attention and scrambling to save face in front of his colleagues and superiors. It’s loud and noisy all around you, but between you and Hoseok, it’s quiet. “You know….you don’t have to tiptoe around me.”   He turns to look at you in surprise and you smile, using his own words against him. “I’m not.”   “You seem uncomfortable. If it’s something I did, then let me know so I can fix it. You don’t suit being nervous and unconfident.”   There’s a beat of silence before he’s scoffing with a laugh. “You didn’t do anything,” he lies easily. “It’s because of work. Things are beginning to pick up and soon enough, we’re going to be busy around here.”   “If it’s stress then you can always come talk to me if you want.” You nudge him playfully. “There are a ton of stress relieving methods I know about and I might be able to give you a stress ball or two. But you should hurry. I have reason to suspect that Jin’s going to claim all of them soon.”   Hoseok laughs. “I’ll pass.”   “Your call.” You shrug. “You’re the one who hired me, so you should use me to your full advantage.”   “If I used you to your full advantage, you wouldn’t last a single day.” There’s a streak of mischief that glimmers in his eyes.   Now you’re the one scoffing. “What’s that supposed to mean?” And to your dismay, the lawyer only shrugs and giggles again. It’s nice to see him relaxed and at ease, able to joke around with you and look you in your eyes. Things have returned back to normal…..at least temporarily.   //   Although you have no clue what is a lie and what is a truth when it comes from his lips, Hoseok isn’t wrong when he told you that things were about to become busy….because things become hectic and out of control. If the phrase ‘shit hits the fan’ could be personified, you suppose this is what it would look like.   “Namjoon, Namjoon.” Yoongi’s walking with his briefcase and coat in tow, a quick pace that the poor legal assistant can barely keep up with. “I need you to come with me. Bring me Mr. Ji’s case file.”   “Okay.” The male’s glasses nearly fall off his face with how quickly he whips himself to the left, grabbing his jacket and belongings.   “We’re meeting with his wife’s attorney. Apparently he took the kids with him and she wants to press kidnapping charges.” The both of them run out of the office like their pants are on fire.   In the meanwhile, on the other side of the floor, Seulgi and tech-savvy Dahyun are on the carpet trying to fix the copier. The photocopier jammed an hour ago while the other copier is failing to connect to any computer whatsoever. It’s an outright disaster with Inyoung taking Dahyun’s place at reception, catching up on all the phone calls, technicians being contacted to fix the machines. Seokjin left to the courthouse to print the necessary documents needed for later files.   At least Taehyung and Jungkook managed to escape the madness that was spiralling wildly. They drove to the next city over, dealing with a case at a different courthouse. Naul is also meeting with a client somewhere outside the office. It leaves only a few of you left at the actual firm, notably Jimin and Sunyi who are in the middle of mediation in the conference room. Half an hour ago, the wife came in and angrily demanded that things be resolved today. The appointment was pushed up, the soon-to-be-ex husband dragged in, and it ruined the schedule completely.   You feel useless. There’s nothing you can do to help. Legal professional privilege doesn’t allow you to assist in matters between a client and a lawyer, and when you tried to help fix the photocopier, you dragged them down with your confusion. You’d bask in the simpleness of your job if it wasn’t for the way guilt worms its way beneath your skin.   The phone rings suddenly and it snaps you out of your trance. Inyoung is on the other line, sounding a little more nervous than usual. “Ummm...Y/N...have you seen Hoseok?”   “No, I haven’t. Did you try calling his cell?”   “He’s not picking up. I didn’t see him exit either.”   “Is there something wrong?”   “No, there’s someone here to see him, that’s all. But I’ll tell her to wait.”   “Okay. Tell me if you need help with anything.”   “Alright.”   You resume working on the staff handbook, completed three quarters way through. You’re finally finished the section about discipline policies and about to begin writing about rules regarding company equipment and computers. But as you stand to stretch your legs and make your way to the kitchen for a coffee refill, on the way there, you run into someone in the waiting area.   “Wendy?”   “Oh! Y/N!” The beautiful woman with her light pink blouse and black pencil skirt stands with a smile. She fixes her honey coloured hair to drape her backside. “It’s been a while!”   “Yeah, it’s been a long time.” You linger for an awkward moment, not sure what to do before you motion down the hall. “Would you like to come into my office instead of waiting out here?”   “Sure.” She grabs her bag and follows your lead.   “I’m sorry. We don’t know where Hoseok is at the moment, but we should be able to reach him soon.”   “It’s fine. I don’t mind. It’s not like I have anything else to do. I’m actually quite free these days and it’s nice to be around other people. Less lonely that way.” As she walks down the corridor, her brown eyes does a sweep of the premise. “You guys must be busy around here.”   “Yeah, it’s been a bit hectic this week.”   “I’m glad Hoseok’s business is doing well.” She has a soft smile while entering your office. “This is so cute!”   “It’s nothing much.” You’re embarrassed at your poor excuse of an office. There are lame posters on the wall, tiny plants at the window sill, but it’s still a closet no matter how hard you try to make it better. “Just making do with what I have.”   “No, it’s cozy.” She takes a seat from across your desk. “Trust me, I once had a massive office and just useless furniture. Made me feel worse since it was so empty and lonely.” Wendy sighs, “I’m so glad it’s over.”   “Over?”   “I’m selling my office and the entire firm actually.” She leans back in the comfortable armchair with her arms crossed. “I owned the firm with my husband, built that business from the ground up. We were partners, but now that we’re getting that divorce, we’re liquidating it all and splitting the money.”   “It’s funny, huh? How you can invest yourself and your future so much into another person, but something just happens and all your plans get ruined.” It’s like a pressurized geyser has exploded the minute you took off the lid and she spills all the beans of her life. “Well...I’m just happy to get away.”   “That’s good then.” You’re not so sure if you should be hearing all this, such private matters that are usually kept hidden from you, but Wendy tells you casually like she doesn’t mind, like she’s reading from the Sunday paper, like you’re a friend.   “You’re giving me that look.”   “What look?”   “That fearful look that tells me you’re scared.” The corner of her red lipstick-stained lips tugs upwards and she flicks a piece of dirt from underneath her fingernail before bringing her attention back to you. “Don’t worry. Not all marriages end like mine. Some end worse. Some end better. A lot don’t end at all.”   Without taking a breath she continues, “They always tell you not to shit where you eat...if that man,” she spits the word out with disdain, “and I were not partners, it probably would’ve made this a lot easier. I would still have a job at least. But you know, my seventeen years of marriage was great. The three after that were alright and then the last two were horrible. If you were to ask me if I would do it all over again….maybe. For seventeen years, I had everything I could’ve wanted, a partner, a husband, a companion.”   A wistful sigh leaves the seams of her mouth and she gestures with her hand tiredly. “I think I’m rambling, but I don’t want to scare you off.”   “What do you mean?” you ask, not sure what she’s implying.   There’s a chance that she doesn’t hear your question and a chance that she straight out ignores you. She never once clarifies herself. Instead, Wendy switches the topic of conversation. “How’s Hoseok?”   “Hoseok? Y-yeah...he’s doing fine. Busy.”   The fifty-one year old lawyer who appears stunningly twenty-five reaches out and takes the stress ball on your desk that looks like Earth. She squeezes and watches it come back to life, relaxing in the chair and fiddling with the toy. “That boy is always busy. He’s very passionate about his work. But outside of it, I swear to god, he’s a clown.”   You burst out laughing. “I would say he’s more like a cheerleader.”   “Yes.” The woman snaps her fingers. “That kid has a handful of good traits, encouraging, cheerful, but his energy can be downright burdensome. Not only that, but he is so meticulous and I’ve seen him run this office enough to know he secretly enjoys tormenting his employees.” Hoseok’s former mentor laughs again and shakes her head. “He keeps your hands full without you even realizing.”   “No one really knows that side of him around here.” You take a brief glance outside of your office door. “Everyone is either scared, intimidated, or they just don’t like him. He thinks being respected and being loved are mutually exclusive.” The timbre of your voice drops down into a whisper. “It makes me sad.”   “But he seems brighter these days,” the woman from across your desk points out while watching you carefully.   “Does he?”   You hope so. Sometimes you worry that he feels too alone. You know that Hoseok is completely aware of the rumours about him and how people actively avoid him. And he doesn’t want to make anyone feel uncomfortable, so he leaves this office later or earlier to avoid taking the elevator with his employees. He doesn’t speak freely to people who aren’t Jimin and Yoongi. He eats lunch by himself in the office, pretending he’s too busy to join everyone else. He rarely displays his affection, rarely shows no restraint. He focuses too much on being firm and professional. He doesn’t mind being labeled at the mean and angry one. And it makes you sad.   Jung Hoseok makes you worry too much.   “Yeah.” Wendy’s gaze softens. “And I think it’s because of you.”   “Me?”   “Hoseok is very careful with the people in his life. Despite his good nature, he’s a man of serious commitment and loyalty. I know that much.” She nods as further confirmation of her convictions. “And I can tell that the two of you are very close.”   “We...we aren’t that close,” you deny. “It’s just that we used to go to school together, that’s all.”   But the female’s perception is too sharp for you to fool. “I think you’re underplaying the truth here.” Another smile appears on her visage. “There’s nothing wrong with admitting you care about another human being.”   “I just….” You don’t know how to explain yourself, how to reveal a past that cannot be spelled out in mere words. “We tried. A long time ago. We tried to be something more. And it didn’t work out. At all.”   She hums, setting down the stress ball and looking straight at you. “I think sometimes things aren’t meant to work out...but that doesn’t make the time spent together any less meaningful. Sometimes and only sometimes...I think there are things in the world that are worth trying over and over again.”   Your mouth opens, but before something more can be said, someone else appears at the door. He’s panting a few breaths, black hair made amok, suit slightly wrinkled like he jogged here. “I was in the bathroom.”   “There you are!” Wendy lifts herself from her seat and gives a quick hug to the lawyer.   “Sorry for making you wait.”   “No, I was having a nice chat with Miss. Y/N here. Very pleasant girl.”   “Alright…?” Hoseok glances at you, a bit amused and skeptical. Then he looks at his former mentor and now client. “Should we get going?”   “Of course.” Wendy turns to you. “I’ll speak to you some time, Y/N.”   You smile at her. “My door’s always open.”   //   The woman muses how much darker Hoseok’s office is compared to yours. While he has more space and a much larger window, there are blinds pulled a quarter way down and his furniture is a lot darker, mahogany wood or polished black surfaces, a modern aesthetic. In contrast, your tiny space feels like a sunroom, a lighter colour scheme with plenty of sunshine that makes it a lot more breathable. It’s certainly interesting to compare your spaces and tastes, and how they could potentially complement each other well and strike a good balance.   Hoseok is preoccupied flipping through stacks of papers, writing things down. On the other hand, Wendy is sitting across from his desk, legs crossed over one another, bored.   “That girl is sweet.” There’s silence and she fiddles with the zipper of her expensive purse. “She’s very earnest, I can tell. Her heart’s in the right place.”   “She’s naive and trusts too easily,” he mumbles from the corner of his mouth.   “That’s not necessarily a bad thing,” she points out. “I heard you used to know each other back then.”   “Uh-huh.”   “You dated?”   Hoseok finally lifts his head, meeting her eyes. “She told you that?”   “She said it didn’t end up working out.”   “Oh.”   “Do you love her?”   “What?” Hoseok’s eyebrows shoot up to his forehead, getting whiplash at how she went in for the kill without beating around the bush. He scoffs and barks out a laugh, returning to his paperwork. “Don’t be ridiculous. Y/N is my employee.”   “It’s not illegal.”   “It’s unethical.”   “She technically doesn’t even work under you or take orders from you,” Wendy says in a curt tone, never one to back down when she knows she’s right. “She runs her own department and does her own thing. I don’t see any problem in it.”   “Can we please stop talking about my business and get back to yours?”   “I’m always talking about my issues and problems. It gets boring when you have to constantly discuss the doom of your love life, alright, kid?”   Hoseok ignores her and clasps his hands together on top of his desk. “So you really decided to liquidate the firm? I thought you were planning to split it.”   “No. We agreed to just sell. There would be too many problems with figuring out who gets what client and which employee we would take with us. It’s better and faster to do it this way. Plus, I don’t think I have an interest in pursuing law anymore.”   “What?” He frowns, jaw becoming slack. “What are you planning to do then?”   “Travel. See the world. Maybe write a book.” Wendy shrugs. “Do all the things I couldn’t do when I was married and working full-time.”   “But will you ever return to practicing law?”   “Probably not. I’m at the age where I can retire early and have enough money to last the rest of my life.”   Hoseok shakes his head, reeling from unadulterated shock. Wendy is a great lawyer, a role model, someone he looked up to, and he can’t understand why she’s throwing it all away. “I just don’t…”   “Get it? Yeah...sometimes I wonder how this all happened.”   “Just…” Hoseok sets his pen down and looks at her. The woman has always looked younger than her actual age, an impressive feat created from hard efforts, genetics, and expensive creams. While many people, men and women alike, have been impressed with how well she takes care of herself, Hoseok never cared much for it. But right now, up close, he can see her wrinkles and the deep set marks of age, exhaustion, how life has taken its toll on her. She looks more tired in the past year than she has her entire life. “Where did things go wrong?”   But at the same time, she appears wiser.   “You know, Hoseok—” Wendy’s legs uncross and she sits straighter. “—I loved Mark very much. I know he was your mentor too and you respected him greatly. You were around us when our marriage was at its highest points, so I understand why you’re surprised when I first came to you about this.”   He can’t hide how hurt he is anymore. It was never his marriage, but they always symbolized his hope. “You were both so in love. I could’ve never expected…”   “This outcome? For us to think it’s easier to just end things? Yeah...” She smiles meekly and gently whispers, “me either. But it happens and it’s okay. We both just fell out of love. We both fought. We lied. We cheated on each other. We merely tolerated one another. It was ugly. And I hated myself.”   He’s heard the same story a million times over. No one ever gets into a relationship believing they’ll break up or get a divorce. It’s unplanned. In every single case he’s worked on, every story he’s read, there were always the high moments. There was always love at some point. There was always happiness. It’s just that no one ever expects for it to crash and burn and become so hideous.   Happiness. Family. Children. Love. Anger. Infidelity. Abuse. Deceit. It happens all with the same people. There are years spent sharing bedrooms, falling in love, creating families, raising kids. And there are years drawn out screaming across the courthouse, cursing each other to death, grabbing any assets, letting pettiness get the better of logic, trying to win as if it’s some kind of game.   “I think being a divorce lawyer has made you jaded, Hoseok,” Wendy comments.   “How could it not?”   “You’re right. It doesn’t always work out, but sometimes it does. And I think the feeling of love, of companionship, is completely worth the risk.”   His mouth lifts into a timid smile. “Since when did you become such a hopeless romantic?”   “Since I saw you and that girl together.”   Hoseok scoffs yet again, brushing her answer off. “You’ve seen us twice together. That’s it.”   “And that’s all I need to see,” Wendy snaps back, unyielding. “If you’re a good mentee then you would just listen to what I have to say. I’ll tell you the same thing I said to her — just because things don’t work out, doesn’t mean the time spent together is meaningless, and sometimes it’s worth trying things over again.”   She stares straight into his eyes, dead center like his pupils are the bullseye of a target. “You will learn from other people’s mistakes, from my mistakes, and you will face what you want rather than running away.”   “Just because you see love fail every single day, doesn’t mean yours will fail too, Jung Hoseok.”   //   The rest of the day simmers down at a better pace. Taehyung and Jungkook return earlier than expected and help Jimin and Sunyi catch up on their schedule that they were behind on. Naul and Seokjin are in good condition while Yoongi and Namjoon call to let everyone know the problems have been resolved.   The copier gets fixed miraculously and Dahyun returns to the phones and Inyoung goes back to her position as well. But by then, the work day is over and everyone bids each other goodbye. You stay a few minutes later, finishing typing up the paragraph for the day before grabbing your belongings and your coat.   You’re about to leave, but you notice Hoseok’s office door is closed with the lights still on. Wendy had left hours ago and the receptionists are gone. He’s not having a meeting with anyone, and it’s this relentless curiosity that causes you to knock on his door three times.   Your knuckles rap on the surface of the wood. But with no sound responding, you carefully crack the door open. The sight of Hoseok’s mouth wide open greets you. His head is knocked back, neck on his chair, slumped, and snoozing away.   You smile, approaching with three strides and calling him quietly. “Hoseok...Hoseok?” Your hand lifts to gently shake his arm. “Hoseok.”   “Hhm? W-what?” He slowly blinks awake, sitting up again and looking around as if he forgot where he was. “What...what happened?”   “You fell asleep. It’s time to go home.”   He stretches his arms up in the air and yawns, glancing at you and becoming embarrassed. Hoseok puts on his coat slowly, arms pulling through the sleeves, and you wait for him. “I didn’t realize I was so tired.”   “It’s okay. I won’t tell anyone.” There’s a cheeky grin on your face. “I know things have been hectic around here, so it’s okay if the boss gets a little nap time.”   Hoseok scoffs lightly and turns to look at you. You’re ready for this cue to leave this office, but when he simply stares, you’re forced at a standstill, feet rooted in the ground, swallowing hard as your heart rate begins to pick up speed. “Y/N, can I ask you a question?”   Your head tips. “Sure. What is it?”   “I know this is inappropriate and unethical. It might be deemed as sexual harassment too. I don’t want to impose on you in any way. Just tell me if you’re uncomfortable and we can pretend this never happened—”   “What is it?” you interrupt, unable to contain your amusement when he’s acting so oddly frantic.   “Can I...can I have..a hug?”   There’s a pause before you answer.   “Okay.” A slow grin spreads across his face, giving him permission by opening your arms up and motioning him over. When Hoseok stays hesitant, you take a step closer and casually wrap your arms around him. He embraces you back after a delayed moment and it goes quiet.   “I’m sorry.”   “For what?”   “I’m your boss. I shouldn’t be doing this.”   “It’s really not that big of a deal. It’s just a hug. I thought it was something much worse.” You giggle quietly, trying to ease his tense muscles that seem to be shriveling up in your embrace. “Did you know hugs can be part of stress relief? I’m just doing my job.”   Hoseok smiles, reminding you of the sun as he leans down, pulling you closer to accommodate for the slight height difference. “This is definitely not part of your job description.”   “I like giving out hugs, so I definitely wouldn’t mind if it was.”   “You’re beginning to sound like Jimin.”   “Why didn’t you ask him to hug you instead?”   He snorts, laughter bubbling from his throat boyishly, voice moving in a childish pitch and you can practically hear his pout. “I’d rather hug you for a million years than hug him for one second.”   You have to remind yourself over and over again that this means nothing. Hoseok just needs emotional support. He just craves platonic physical contact. He’s friendly. This means nothing more. It means nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.   “I don’t know about that. A birdy told me you kissed Jimin a lot,” you tease, keeping your mind off of unnecessary thoughts that are beginning to plague you.   “On the forehead.” Hoseok melts into your arms, smiling harder. “It means nothing.”   “Yeah...I know. I know.”   It’s quiet. There’s an absence of all sounds, of white noise, of the busy concrete jungle that surrounds the building you’re in. In Hoseok’s office, you can’t even hear the buzzing of the fluorescent lights above you. All you take in is the sound of his soft breathing, the noise of your running pulse playing in your ears, the scent of fresh linen coming from his crisp clothes, the slight tinge of expensive cologne, how firm yet soft he is wrapping himself around your frame.   It’s an invasion of privacy, how easily he can sneak himself and affect your deepest emotions. And yet, you have no nagging doubts, merely savouring his warmth and finding peace and comfort in his touch.   “I help end marriages every day. I see the end of relationships all the time,” he murmurs, barely coherent as if afraid to ruin this moment. “I...don’t think I believe in love, Y/N.”   “Me either,” you admit.   “Why?”   “Because...my love wasn’t enough.” It hurts. You shut your eyes tight as if you can stop the barrage of memories, prevent tears from soaking down your cheeks. “And I think I lost my chance.”   He swallows hard and holds you closer, tighter, without any regard for where you are or who the both of you are. “Whoever hurt you was an asshole.”   “Yeah.” Your hands curl around the fabric of his coat, bunching it in your palm, grasping onto him. “He was.”   The man becomes sleepy, blinks heavy as his heart feels. He should let go of you, but he doesn’t want to. It’s like his senses have told him he once let go of you before when he never should’ve. But eventually, enough time passes that you stir. “Hobi, are you okay? Is there something you want to talk about?”   His entire body freezes up, muscles becoming rigid, and he pulls away, brows knitted together. “What did you just call me?”   “What?” You blink. “I said Hoseok.”   “No, you didn’t.” He hasn’t heard that nickname in years. His parents don’t even call him that and he knows for a fact that he isn’t going crazy, that his ears aren’t deceiving him.   You step back and pull him away. In one breath, you’ve closed yourself off, drawing into your own body, uncomfortable. “I said Hoseok,” you insist with a sigh. “But can we go now? I’m going to miss my train.”   He nods and you walk ahead of him, going straight towards the elevators. Hoseok is left staring at your lonely backside and he wonders how he could’ve been such an asshole, what he exactly did to hurt you so much, who you exactly mean to him.

Frank Longbottom | 28 | Gryffindor | Pure-blood | Order of the Phoenix | FC: Manny Jacinto|

Date of birth: 1950., England

Occupation: Auror

Ship: Alice Fortescue

Biography:

CHILDHOOD

Herbert and Augusta Longbottom wanted nothing more than a child of their own, and after years of trying, they were finally granted their first and only. Frank was a happy baby who was loved beyond words-perhaps a bit too much. Herb, an auror, was often assigned long undercover missions in the muggle world which left Frank alone with his mother Augusta. Worried about her husband, Augusta made up for her anxieties by being very overprotective when it came to her son. As Frank grew, so did his bond with his mother, and by the time he was ready to leave for Hogwarts both of them cried. His co-dependency on Augusta was cause for teasing among the local children in his neighborhood, resulting in Frank being a rather reserved, quiet boy-perfect for showing off at his mother’s tea parties but not well apt to making friends.

HOGWARTS

All of that changed, however, when the moldy old hat shouted “Gryffindor!” Frank had honestly been surprised-he’d overheard his parents discussing what to do if he was going to be placed in Hufflepuff-but the bigger surprise was the built-in friends his newfound identity brought him. Arthur Weasley, Alastor Moody, Molly Prewett, Cleona O’Dempsey, none of them seemed to mind that he was close to his mum. In fact, the girls thought it was sweet. Frank’s first year brought him out of his shell, and suddenly, he never wanted to go home ever again. That changed, of course, when McGonagall summoned him at two in the morning one night close to the end of Spring term. Still in his pajamas and dressing gown, Frank was told gently and firmly while standing there in Dumbledore’s office, that his father had been killed in the line of duty. Bare feet freezing on the stone floor, Frank felt an intense grief settle over him that stayed for nearly two years. The rest of that year and his second are a blur in his memory, and it’s frankly amazing he passed his classes at all. But as much as Frank felt alone, he never was, not really. His friends closed ranks around him, Arthur and Al taking turns to stay up and finish Frank’s homework in addition to their own, Cleona threatening (and twice following through) to curse anyone dumb enough to poke fun and Molly constantly gifting him her first attempts at knitting-Frank still has a pile of the later dubbed ‘sympathy scarves’ in the back of his closet, and whenever he finds them Frank is filled with a now familiar warmth. That warmth, towards the start of his third year grew into something more. The more he watched and got to know Molly, the more he became convinced that he was in love with her-that her silly little crush for Arthur would go away and she’d eventually realize Frank was for her. Then again, the more Molly talked about her silly little crush on Arthur, the more Frank...saw her point. He didn’t have the vocabulary at the time to know what ‘bisexual’ meant, but all he knew is that when two of his best friends started dating in year four, it hurt like hell. He’d never been the jealous type, and any idiot could see how perfect the eventual Weasleys actually were for each other, but even now in adulthood, occasionally, seeing their perfect life together still stings. Then Cleona and Moody made things even more complicated by starting their dramatic tumultuous love affair in sixth year, leaving Frank as the permanent fifth wheel on one of those muggle ‘cars’ Arthur never shut up about. Despite the drama in his (lacking) personal life, Frank was an exceptional student. Though his mother was hard on him when it came to grades, Frank surpassed her expectations by getting enough OWLs and NEWTs to get any career he wanted. But it didn’t matter.

Frank Longbottom had some pretty big shoes to fill.

YOUNG ADULTHOOD

The Auror training program was one of the loneliest times of Frank’s life. The long hours meant that he barely had time to see his friends. Alastor was in the program with him, but his recent break up with Cleona meant the normally distant man had become downright surly and threw himself even harder into his work than Frank thought possible. Still, even with the exhaustion and the toll it took on his emotions, Frank left the program knowing he was doing what he was born to do. The job, weirdly enough, has its fair share of groupies, and Frank has dated several of them-men and women alike, since taking the position nearly ten years ago, but he still hasn’t found someone he can see himself settling down with. Frank’s married to the job, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. His work has made him an exceptionally skilled dueler and incredibly quick with his wand. He enjoys breaking in new recruits by going toe to toe in the dueling ring, almost always winning with a smile on his face and a hand to help them up. Forgetful, it’s not uncommon to see Frank hurrying off to a meeting with a trail of paper and objects behind him, zooming into his pockets as the elevator door closes. His smile, however, comes quickest of all. Though serious about his work, Frank is rarely serious about life, and he’s known for always being able to look on the bright side when things in the department go awry. That being said, sometimes Frank feels himself put on a front for everyone else, not wanting to let anyone down by letting them know what he’s really thinking.

Frank has also become an ambassador of sorts for the department, having recruited defunct Quidditch player Benjy Fenwick pretty much straight from St. Mungo’s and typically being the go-to partner for new recruits. There was a running joke that whenever Longbottom went to the hospital, he’d come back with a new partner, and Frank always went along with the joke and had never minded-that is, until Alice became his partner. Spunky, smart and hilarious, Frank couldn’t help but immediately like the impressive (and young) new recruit. That warmth, that dangerous (and stupid) feeling of a crush forming, creeps into his mind sometimes when he’s with Alice after a long shift, unwinding at a pub. Or when they’re on the brink of breaking a case and she smiles at him, proud when he compliments her. Or when he catches her laughing at a joke he’s told. Or when you know, she exists. Frank’s got it pretty bad for his partner, but he knows under no circumstances should he follow through. At best, he’d start a relationship with someone nearly ten years younger than him that could risk everything he’s worked his entire life for, and at worse?

He’d have to tell someone his feelings for them. Frank goes to work every day willing and ready to risk his mind, his soul, his body-but his heart? Not on your life. The office isn’t the place for affairs, and while Frank knows this, each time Alice touches his arm or looks at him a little too long is another crack in the hard outer shell of the positive, responsible Auror he’s worked so hard to become.

While Frank’s stance on workplace romances might shift, depending on circumstance, his stance on the war and who he’s fighting for never will. Frank joined the order the second he heard about it. While Dumbledore assures him that his work as an auror does more for the Order than he could ever imagine, Frank can’t quite shake the fact that his old headmaster underestimates him. Frank Longbottom isn’t the scared, barefoot, grief-striken eleven year-old anymore, and it’s time people learn it.

Frank’s grown. He’s trained, he’s studied, he’s fought. He’s proved himself.

And here’s hoping, one of these days, he’ll find himself.

Connections

Alice Prewett-Fortescue

Amelia Bones

Cleona O’Dempsey

Arthur Weasley

Molly Weasley

Benjy Fenwick

Kingsley Shacklebolt

Alastor Moody

Andromeda Tonks

Deadelus Diggle

Edgar Bones

Status: Open

Sherlolly and number 7

7. fake relationship au

| also on ao3 | the prompt list |

this is one big cheesy, cliché yuckfest but honestly #sherlolly mood

It started with flowers and chocolates, sentanonymously to her workplace; bouquets piled high with her favourite flowersfrom daisies to hibiscus and the finest Belgian chocolate. There may have beenno distinctive indication as to the sender but Molly was no fool. This was why,when Scotland Yard’s finest arrived that morning, she was huddled over a microscope,running all sorts of tests on a halved chocolate truffle.

“Everything alright, Molly?”

The pathologist turned to the Detective Inspector,a wild look in her eyes, “Greg, thank God. Look, I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’timportant. Could you run a check for me?”

Sherlock and John, who’d taken up position atthe consulting detective’s preferred microscope, paused to listen as Greg tookout a notebook.

“Yeah, sure, what’s their name?”

“Pete Truman. He…was arrested six years agoand was serving time for assault in Leicester. I just…I want to know if he’sout yet,” the way she was wringing her hands had Greg biting his lip, pullinghis phone from his pocket.

“I’ll run him through the system,” he saidbefore leaving the lab, his phone pressed to his ear as he spoke to hiscolleagues.

An awkward silence descended on the room.Molly turned back to her results, finding the chocolates clean; she wasn’tsurprised if she was honest. Paranoia. John was the first to address the elephantin the room.

“Er, an ex, Molly?”

After a moment, Molly took a deep breath andfaced her friends – it was for the best that she explained, they’d only worry.That, or Pete’s mangled corpse would end up on her morgue slab if she’d keptthe information to herself. Who knew when it came to them two.

“He was my lab partner in Uni. I thought hewas my friend but…that wasn’t how he saw things. When I told him I was movingto London for work, he was hell bent on following me,” as Molly explained, sherecalled her relationship with Pete – how overly sweet he was, how reluctant hewas to let her out of his sight. Towards the end, he’d virtually become her shadow.She continued, “I told him he’d misunderstood and he turned nasty. He gotdrunk, trashed my flat and got into a pretty vicious bar fight. After he gotsent down, he promised he’d find me and ‘make things right’. I haven’t seen himin years but if he’s the same person…he’d never have forgotten. He was neverviolent to me,” she hastened to add at the look on their faces; the morgue slabending was looking more likely the more she spoke. She ran a hand through her hair,“I can’t go through all that again. What am I going to tell him?”

“Tell him to sod off,” John nearly shouted,gesturing angrily, “you don’t owe him anything.”

Molly shrugged, “I’ve tried. He’s not the sortof man you say no to.”

“Tell him you have a boyfriend.”

Both Molly and John swivelled to stare insurprise at Sherlock; the two of them had almost forgotten he was there. He washuddled over his microscope, working on his latest case – Molly had simplyassumed her tedious problems were beneath him.

Shooting a confused glance at the army doctor,Molly answered, “I’ve tried. He never believes me.”

Silence fell once again, the detectiveapparently delving into his mind palace. John and Molly shared another glance,the former shrugging briefly. Minutes passed until, finally, Sherlock openedhis eyes and rummaged in his pocket, retrieving his phone.

“Angelo’s. Tonight, eight. Can you managethat?”

“Erm…” Molly blinked, taken aback by thesudden change of direction the conversation had taken, “why? What do you mean?”

Suddenly, he was on his feet and at her side,smiling almost triumphantly at her, “well…” in a matter of seconds, Sherlockhad cupped her neck and leaned down to kiss her tenderly, capturing the moment onhis phone with his free hand. Swallowing hard, Molly opened her eyes to findSherlock smirking at her, “you have a boyfriend.”

He swept away, leaving her gobsmacked…not thatshe was complaining. Not at all. John, however, took slightly longer torecover; he quickly closed his mouth and awkwardly shuffled after his friend,wondering what the hell had gotten into him.

Molly couldn’t stop staring at the Twitterpost Sherlock had made after the bizarre snogging incident at Bart’s. The image– on his account under the handle @consulting_detectiveSH – was accompanied withthe simple caption ‘smitten’ followedby an emoji of a heart. He’d even tagged her, @barts_mhooper, and added the affectionatehashtags bestsnog and workbreak. Smiling, Molly placed herphone in her bag and looked around the restaurant – happy diners milled about,chatting and enjoying their meals. Angelo’s staff flitted between tables,filling orders and conversing with customers.

Molly glanced at the door nervously, taking aswig of her glass of wine; she’d arrived early, having rushed home after hershift, changed into a simple red dress and hurried out. Sherlock was yet toarrive, or Pete for that matter, and she just hoped the former would make itbefore the latter. Thankfully, five minutes later, the detective strolledinside, with Rosie Watson balancing on his hip.

“Sorry I’m late,” he was saying, placing Rosieopposite her Aunt; the youngster looked pleased to see her, if a little tired.Molly was about to greet him in return when the coat came off; it wastremendously unfair that Sherlock Holmes managed to look mouth-watering atevery opportunity. He sat close to her, close enough to rumble into her ear, “anysign?”

Molly swallowed, finding it immenselydifficult to concentrate, “n-not yet.”

Rosie, who’d been contentedly sucking herthumb, pulled a menu closer and perused the options; it didn’t matter that she couldn’tunderstand the writings, Angelo had her usual order of bitesize spaghetti bolognesememorised. Molly was busy watching the windows, studying passing taxis for thefamiliar blond hair and- and…

“Sherlock…” Molly sighed breathlessly, her visiongoing blurry as Sherlock continued to suck at her neck in the most heavenly way,only humming his acknowledgement into her skin. She forced herself to focus, “w-whatare you doing?”

He mumbled something about keeping upappearances or having to make things look genuine, Molly didn’t really care.She just didn’t want him to stop. Somewhere at the back of her mind, she knewit might help if their intended target was on the receiving end of thespectacle. It didn’t take much for that thought to disappear for good, Sherlocknipping at the spot below her ear to be exact. It took all of Molly’s willpowernot to moan, or slide her hand up any higher from wear it was resting on hisknee.

Not even the clearing throat of Angelo’s headwaiter was enough to stop the detective’s actions, “would you like to…orderanything Mr. Holmes?”

“S’getti!” Rosie exclaimed delightedly,giggling as the waiter winked and made a gesture of disgust at the nauseatingdisplay of her aunt and uncle.

“I-I think you’ve made your point,” Mollyreplied in a voice that definitely didn’t sound like her own. Rosie waswatching them curiously, sipping from her glass of orange juice the waiter haddelivered. Sherlock finally removed his lips from her skin, raising an eyebrow.

“Do you want me to stop?”

NO!

“I have work tomorrow,” she said lamely, herhand still firmly in place on his knee; Sherlock merely chuckled and resumedhis previous ministrations as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

They were interrupted yet again not tenminutes later by the arrival of Pete, a tall, skinny, balding ex-con, a far cryfrom the long-haired blond student Molly knew in Uni. The woman on his arm wasshorter with should-length red hair, her eyebrows raised as she viewed the performanceSherlock was reluctant to cease. He had no choice when Molly stood to hug heruncomfortable looking former friend.

“It’s good to see you, Molly,” Pete smiledgenuinely, holding her hands gently between his own. He looked well and not atall what Molly had been expecting at all. He glanced at the neck-sucker and thebored child, smiling, “…looks like we’ve got a lot of catching up to do.”

They took their seats opposite, forcing Rosieto shuffle round and hide shyly behind the elbow of her uncle. Pete introducedthe woman as his fiancée, Martha Kirk; they’d met through the prison’s pen palsystem and struck up a relationship almost immediately. Relieved didn’t beginto describe how Molly felt.

“I’m so happy for you, Pete.”

The man smiled at his lady, intertwining theirhands before looking back at his former crush, “so, come on, what about you andyour…” he briefly glanced at the neck-sucker, who appeared in deep thought, “husband?Newlyweds if I ever saw it.”

Molly bit her lip, preparing to come clean, “well,not exactly…”

“Three years strong, actually,” Sherlock pipedup, linking fingers with Molly, meeting her gaze and brushing away a strand ofhair for good measure. He kissed her knuckles, adding softly, “everyday feelslike the first with Molly.”

Molly was sure her eyes were as wide assaucers when Sherlock had pressed his lips to her hand, but his final words hadrendered her completely speechless. There was something about him that told herhe meant it. Before she could properly function and tell him she felt the same,Martha reached over patting their still joined hands.

“Never lose that, love. It’s so rare.”

Sherlock caught Rosie’s eye and noticed theyoungster smirking at him as if she’d just won a bet; knowing her father, sheprobably had. At that moment, holding Molly’s hand as the waiter took theirorders, he couldn’t find it within himself to care.

“We didn’t have to lie to them,” Molly wassaying as they strolled down the street, clutching Sherlock’s coat tighteraround her shoulders. Sherlock said nothing, balancing his sleeping nieceagainst his chest. Molly breathed in his scent, smiling to herself, “he’sgetting married, right? It’s pretty clear he’s not interested in me in theslightest.”

“Mmm,” was the only thing he said and Mollyvowed to drop the subject until they’d reached Baker Street.

She was determined not to leave withoutanswers. They’d had a surprisingly pleasant evening, swapping stories with Peteand Martha, laughing and drinking like old friends. The thought and effortSherlock had put into each little detail of their supposedly fake relationshipwas far too detailed for her to simply forget about. He’d covered everythingfrom his crime scene proposal, private wedding and even the birth of theirnot-daughter, Rosie, who was thankfully fast asleep against her uncle’s arm bythen. When they’d reached Baker Street and handed Rosie back to her long-sufferingfather, Molly accepted Sherlock’s offer of a nightcap. Once safely inside, shedecided to have it out with him.

“Are you going to tell me what all that wasreally about?”

He stepped closer, removing the glass of winefrom her grasp, replacing them on the coffee table, “I think you know perfectlywell, don’t you?”

“Every day feels like the first…” she repeatedbreathlessly as he tugged her close, resting his forehead against hers.

“Always.”