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flwrstqr · 2 months

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CALL ME YOURS !! (LHS - 이희승)

SYNOPSIS: ever since you broke up with your ex, choi jiho, who cheated on you with another girl, you have always wanted to get revenge. when you meet jiho again at school, to prove you were over him and had met a better man, you told him you were meeting someone. you lied and told him you were meeting a random guy who you pointed at on your school's bulletin board for being the top student in the whole school. coincidentally, that guy was lee heeseung, known for his quiet and smart personality. then jiho demands to meet him in real life, hand-in-hand with you, which now you have a huge problem. first, you have to find heeseung, and next, you have to date him.

pairing: topstudent!heeseung x popularstudentfem!reader

genre: fake dating, s2l, romance, high school au, sunshine x cold

warning(s): reader + heeseung being in denial, your ex cheated, kissing, inspired by a k-drama (i forgot which one), two of them being awfully awkward at first, swearing, grammar errors, party, lots of love confusions, does say that winter is dating beomgyu, punching, fighting

word count: 7k

AN: guys im back with a long au, i never really write long aus, so this is slightly new to me. i did proofread it but not super thoroughly so if i made any mistakes, my bad for that .

taglist: @yenqa @mylstserenade @jlheon @naespas @jooniesbears-blog @erehkinnie30 @wonifullove @miumiuisme @shawnyle @dimplewonie @beomluvrr @jiaant11 @teddywonss

ALL YOU WANTED WAS REVENGE. Sweet revenge against your idiotic ex, Choi Jiho.You remember the moment you walked into the girls locker room to go deliver something to your PE coach, only to find the room “empty”. It hit you like a ton of bricks when you stumbled upon Jiho, locking lips with your “supposed” best friend, Kim Haeun, in the girl’s locker room Lip on lip, eyes closed, moving in sync. Heart shattered, tears streaming, you bolted, tripping over a basket of equipment and scraping your knees quickly catching attention of Jiho. His voice trailed after you, calling your name as you fled into the distance.

Losing both your best friend and your boyfriend cut deep. Being single was one thing, but being unable to find anyone who measured up to Jiho was another.

"YN, your standards for men are too high!" Karina remarked from the bleachers during PE.

You shrugged. "They've always been high." For the past 4 months, no one was your type compared to Jiho, the perfect boyfriend in your eyes: tall, handsome, a football player, rich, and occasionally nice.

"It's because of that disgusting asshole," Ningning scoffed.

"He isn't disgusting!" you retorted.

"YN, you need to get over him. This is just becoming toxic, plus you dumped him in front of the whole school ," Giselle chimed in. She was right. You vividly recalled the moment, twenty minutes before the bell, eyes swollen from crying all night but disguised behind makeup, replaying yesterday's scene you witnessed in your mind.

"YN!" Jiho's voice snapped you back to reality, his figure rushing towards you.

"Can we talk?" he asked, breathless.

"Talk about how you fucking cheated on me? Fine, I'll hear you out," you yelled, drawing everyone's attention.

"Can you keep it down, YN?" Jiho snapped.

"Sure I’ll quiet it down when I want to. Go to your girlfriend, Haeun. Why does she have to be my best friend, out of all people?" you glared.

"YN, let's talk inside," Jiho groaned, irritated.

"No, we're done. I never wanted you anyway, you asshole. Just fuck off," you spat, the words stinging even as they left your mouth The next thing you knew the scene spreaded like wildfire at school.

"Are you okay?" Minjeong asked as you sobbed at the lunch table.

"Listen, YN, Jiho wasn't worth it. You saw what you saw," Karina tried to console.

"I don't know... it's just over now," you murmured, head in your hands.

"Maybe it's a sign to find someone better," Ningning suggested.

"I don't know..." you whispered, feeling lost, unable to move on.

“I’m for sure there’s someone way better than him.” Giselle added (biggest lie you ever heard).

MONTHS PASSED AND YOU FOUND YOURSELF IN THE LIBRARY, lending a hand to the librarian in organizing books before school started. As you went about your duties, dropping off books and preparing to fetch more, the one and only, Jiho, stood by the school bulletin board waiting for you. It had been months since the breakup, and yet, the wound was still fresh, a constant reminder of the pain (really yn..)

"I wanted to say a word," Jiho awkwardly mumbled, eyeing you for a reaction, his hands in his pockets.

You reluctantly agreed, "Fine, make it quick. I'm busy."

"I broke up with Haeun," he stated, the words hanging in the air.

"What?" Your eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"I ended things with Kim Haeun," he said more firmly. His words sank in, but confusion lingered. But why was he telling you this now? Then it hit you—he wanted you back. Yet, on a day when you missed him, you suddenly felt nothing. He had left you for another girl (well, technically, you dumped him), betrayed you, and now he came back because you were his second choice?

"Why are you telling me this?" You managed to maintain calm.

"I still like you, YN LN," he confessed, causing your eyes to widen. You bit your lip, before you could accept his confession like your 5 minute ago self would. Your heart didn’t thump like it did when you were around him. Your hands weren’t sweaty like they were when he looked at you before. Your mind wasn’t racing like it was when Jiho confessed to you for the first time, months ago. It was nothing like any of that–you just felt empty and cold.

"I'm seeing someone," you blurted out, realizing the lie you had just said. Crossing your fingers, you hoped he wouldn't ask about the identity of your "so-said boyfriend"

"Who?" he inquired, raising his eyebrow. Desperately searching for an excuse, your eyes landed on the bulletin board, displaying a list of top students and their ID photos.

Rushing over, you pointed at the first photo and name you saw, "That guy," you said, reading his name, "...Lee Heeseung! I'm dating him."

"Oh, really?" Jiho cast a skeptical glance between you and the photo, a smirk playing on his lips. "Then," he leaned in closer, "how about you introduce me to him, hand-in-hand, next week? I want to see if he's worthy of you." Panic rushed in you, and your throat went dry. You forced a smile and nodded in reluctant agreement.

"Sure," you replied.

"Great, see you next week," Jiho said, turning and walking away. You were officially doomed. Now, you have to find this Lee Heeseung and give him a deal.

YOU WANDERED DURING LUNCH, TRYING TO FIND HEESEUNG. You only heard about him because he got a perfect score on the hardest SAT exams, but you didn't really pay attention.

"Heeseung? Sorry, I don’t know who he is," a girl replied when you asked her about Heeseung.

"It's okay," you smiled politely and left, feeling frustrated.

"I'll never find him," you groaned to Karina, who was with you while you asked everyone about Heeseung.

"Why did you lie to Jiho then? I thought you weren’t over him. Last night, you were giggling at how cute Jiho is and how much you want him back," Karina asked, taking a bite of her apple.

"I don’t know. He was just using me. I knew it because he and Haeun broke up," you explained, letting out a soft sigh. "He saw me as a second option, and I got into this mess because I lied to him about having a boyfriend who's probably some ugly nerd."

"I told you he was using you the entire time! But you didn’t trust me!" Karina scolded you.

"Sorry, I was just blind back then," you mumbled.

Before your last attempt, you walked up to a boy and asked the same question you’d been asking everyone.

"Do you know Lee Heeseung by any chance?" you asked. The boy's eyes widened, and a big grin spread across his face.

"Yes, I do! For what reason?" the boy quickly replied. For the first time, someone knew who he was.

"Do you know where he is then?" you inquired, hoping he could help.

"I do. I’m close friends with him. Come, I’ll show you where he is," the boy replied as you followed him, waving to Karina goodbye.

As the two of you awkwardly made up the long staircase, you arrived at the rooftop of the school. When the boy opened the door, a lonely figure sat by the table, reading a book.

"Heeseung!" the boy called out, causing the figure, supposedly Heeseung, to turn around.

"What, Jungwon?" Heeseung raised his eyebrow, quickly glancing at you and then back at Jungwon.

"YN was looking for you," Jungwon quickly said, nudging you to speak. Heeseung obviously knew who you were, known for dating Jiho and your soft-delicate visuals.

You walked towards him awkwardly, “Uhm…can we talk privately?” Slightly glancing at Jungwon, signaling him to leave quietly. As Jungwon left quietly, you cleared your throat.

“So…” you started off a bit nervous, “I need some help?”

"What help?" Heeseung answered a bit coldly, “If it’s anything studying related, I’m not interested-”

"I need help dating," you blurted, realizing what you had just said.

"What?" Heeseung gave you a puzzled look, "Dating what?"

"I lied to Jiho. Okay, I don’t have interest in you or even Jiho. I lied to him saying that I’m meeting you," you spilled the news. Heeseung had an empty look on his face as you tried to read his expression.

“Why me?” Heeseung arched his eyebrow.

“You were the first name I saw,” you explained, “So can you fake date me? I need it, please,” you pleaded, hoping he would accept your request.

"No, I’m not interested," he turned around, quickly getting his book to start reading again. Your jaw dropped, no one had ever rejected you like that.

"What?" you spat, feeling terrible that you got rejected for the first time.

"I’m not interested in you or in dating. So, I strongly believe that I shouldn’t do it," he said, quickly focusing his attention on his book.

“I’ll do anything!” you begged, feeling desperate.

"Anything?" Heeseung quickly averted his attention to you, dropping his book slightly to make eye contact with you.

"Yes, anything. I’ll do anything," you replied, hoping he would accept it.

"Then introduce me to her," Heeseung answered. You looked confused.

"Who's her?" you raised your eyebrow.

Heeseung’s cheek slightly blushed, it was the first time you saw him so embarrassed. “Karina,” he mumbled under his breath. Suddenly it clicked—he was interested in Karina, your best friend.

You gave an eager look, “Deal! I’ll introduce you to her after all of the fake dating.” You pulled out your hand.

"Deal," Heeseung replied, shaking your hand.

A FEW DAYS LATER, YOU FIND YOURSELF in the convenience store, an unexpected place for someone like you—a popular girl to be at. Your outfit was simpler than usual, baggy gray sweats and a white tank top, with your hair thrown up in a messy high ponytail and an oversized jacket completing the look.

You scan the snack aisle, contemplating your choices, when the doorbell chimes, signaling a customer had entered. Your heart thumps as you recognize the last person you expected to encounter—Heeseung. He's dressed in simple gray sweatpants and a black hoodie, his messy hair somehow adding to his charm.

Your eyes lock momentarily before you both awkwardly shuffle towards each other. "What brings you here?" you ask, surprised to find him in a convenience store at 2 am.

"Why are you up so late?" he counters, swiftly turning the interrogation on you.

"I couldn't sleep. What's your excuse?" you reply.

"Studying," he responds matter-of-factly, grabbing an energy drink before swiftly checking out and leaving. You hurry after him, catching up as he strides down the street.

"Studying late? That's a first," you mutter to yourself, gazing up at the night sky.

"I don’t want to flunk my classes, unlike you," he retorts, avoiding your gaze.

"I'm not that hopeless," you roll your eyes.

"Yeah, you are," he quips, taking a sip of his drink.

"Hey!" you playfully threaten, pulling back your arm as if to hit him. But then something unexpected happens—you catch sight of Heeseung's smile, genuine and endearing. You quickly shake off any wayward thoughts; after all, you're just his so-called “girlfriend”.

"Where do you live?" you inquire, trying to change the subject.

"Stalker much?" Heeseung teases.

"Shut up," you retort, rolling your eyes.

"I live in the house near the college," he answers, disposing of his empty can.

"Do you walk to school?" you ask, trying to prolong the conversation.

"Yeah," he replies.

"Then... do you want to walk together tomorrow?" you suggest, stopping in the quiet and empty streets.

"Walk together?" he repeats, surprised.

You nod and quickly add, "Yeah, you know, for you know..."

Heeseung considers for a moment before agreeing, "Sure."

"Great! I'll come by your place at 7 am since school starts at 7:30!" you smile, remembering to ask for his number. He inserts it into your phone, adding, "Don't blow up my phone."

"I'm not that obsessed with you," you retort.

"I think you are," he jokes.

"In your dreams," you shoot back.

YOU FOUND YOURSELF STANDING OUTSIDE Heeseung's door, feeling an awkward knot tighten in your stomach as you waited, fingers fidgeting nervously. After what seemed like hours, the door swung open to reveal a woman, likely Heeseung's mother.

"Hi, who are you?" she inquired, her eyes curious but welcoming.

"I'm YN LN," you replied, managing a warm smile despite your nerves. "A friend of Heeseung's."

"Heeseung's friend?" Her expression softened into a delighted grin. "I didn't realize Heeseung had such a pretty friend. I'm Heeseung's mother. Just call me Mrs. Lee."

"Mom..." Heeseung's voice interrupted, his presence suddenly beside you as he quickly shuffled to put on his shoes.

"Heeseung, she seems like a sweet and pretty girl," Mrs. Lee remarked before Heeseung darted, closing the door behind him before his mother could say anything else.

"Your mother seems really nice," you commented, attempting to ease the tension.

"Mhm," Heeseung mumbled, his attention already diverted to his book that he quickly pulled out from his backpack.

With a pointed look, you reached out your hand, silently urging him to remember.

Heeseung sighed, rolling his eyes in mild exasperation, but he relented, tucking the book away and clasping your hand in his. The touch sent a jolt through you, a feeling you couldn't quite grasp.

"So..." you began, eager to break the silence. "Where's your class?"

"Class 3-B," he replied shortly, his gaze fixed ahead as if unwilling to meet your eyes.

"Mine's right next door." you exclaimed, hoping to inject some enthusiasm into the conversation. "Perfect! Do you know what this means?"

"What?" Heeseung's response was clipped, his tone guarded.

"That I can come over to your class during lunch!" you declared with a wide grin, trying to lighten the mood.

"I eat on the rooftop, alone." he added, emphasizing the word alone.

"Ah, I forget you’re a loner," you teased gently.

"At least I'm productive with my free time," he retorted.

"Well, today we're together!" you suggested brightly and then with a smirk you whispered, "And I can introduce you to... Karina." The mention of your best friend's name made Heeseung blush slightly.

"Shut up," he groaned, moving to cover your mouth with his free hand just in case you would say anything else.

"Like I want to-" feeling a sudden hard squeeze in your hand "Ow..."

"Now shut up before I squeeze harder," Heeseung warned, though there was a hint of genuine threat in his tone.

"You're no fun," you muttered. Eventually, you arrived at the school, fingers still intertwined as you drew curious whispers from the hallway.

"YN and Heeseung, dating? No way..." you heard a girl whisper by the lockers, causing a flush of embarrassment to color your cheeks. When you reached Heeseung's classroom, you reluctantly released his hand, noticing the tension in his posture as he leaned against the doorframe.

"See you later?" you asked, "I'll be on the rooftop during break."

"Alright..." Heeseung's response was hesitant, but then came an unexpected word that caught you off guard. "...baby." The pet name hung in the air.

"R-right... anyway, bye..." you stammered, feeling a rush of different emotions. You'd been in relationships before, but you were never so flustered for such small things like that. Could it be... you weren't falling for him, right?

HEESEUNG SETTLED AT THE EMPTY TABLE on the rooftop, his gaze drifting across the school grounds. The rooftop held a special meaning for him, offering a quiet place to read, barely visited by others.

“Heeseung!” Your voice sliced through the silence, drawing his attention. He glanced up to see you approaching, two lunches in hand.

With a bright grin, you placed the meals in front of him. “I brought lunch!”

"Thanks," Heeseung replied , his tone cool as he examined the homemade kimbap. As you both sat down, awkwardness settled between you, by the avoidance of eye contact.

Summoning his courage, Heeseung brought a question that had lingered in his mind for months. "Why did you like Choi Jiho?"

Your eyes widened at the unexpected, catching you off guard. You paused, hesitating with how to respond.Memories of Jiho flooded your mind. You had forgotten about him for the past 4 days due to Heeseung being on your mind 24/7.

You cleared your throat, summoning a bitter lie to your lips. "I... uh, he was nice, I guess."

"Did Jiho even like you back?" Heeseung's question cut through the air. That’s when you realized something. You remembered the way Jiho would never defend you in any moment or barely spend time with you. And the time when he did? He would always be on his phone. You realized how stupid you were as you thought the moments where he just wanted attention from the public by kissing you or flirting with you meant that he loved you.

"I... I don't know," you admitted. Deep down, you knew the painful reality—that Jiho had used you.

"Oh, okay..." Heeseung responded, sensing the weight of your words. "So, let's change the top—"

"I know he didn't like me," you interjected, your gaze drifting to the sky before meeting Heeseung's gaze. "I know he was the worst boyfriend I could ask for."

Confusion flickered across Heeseung's features at your sudden confession.

"I was blind. I regret it," you murmured, your gaze falling to your lap. "But it's in the past."

Heeseung regarded you with his usual stern and cold look. "Then why did you tell Jiho you were meeting someone else?"

"Because... I wanted to prove I was happier now," you muttered, grappling with your tumultuous emotions.

"Are you?" Heeseung's gaze bore into yours.

"I... I think I am," you replied

"You 'think'?" Heeseung pressed, his tone firm.

"I'm happier than before," you insisted, though the vagueness of your answer hung in the air.

"That's not specific," Heeseung challenged.

"I can't be specific," you confessed, frustration simmering beneath the surface. "Because I don't know, at all."

"Are you sure?" Heeseung persisted.

"Heeseung, it's my feelings, yes I'm sure," you asserted.

"I'm just physically and mentally curious, so it allured me to—" Heeseung began, but you cut him off.

"Okay, I think that's enough. The bell's going to ring soon. Text me later!" With that, you rose abruptly, snatching your lunch bag and offering a quick wave before descending the stairs back to class.

HEESEUNG LAY ON HIS BED, staring up at the ceiling. He knew he should be studying, but your words about Jiho lingered in his mind. "I'm happier than before." Why was he even pondering such things? Lost in thought, he was jolted back to reality by a faint buzz from his phone. Retrieving it, he found a message from you.

YN LN: heeseung!! all my friends rejected me to go to the mall TT, so wanna go together?? ><

Heeseung paused, a moment of surprise flashing across his features. You were asking him to go to the mall with you? It felt almost like you were asking him out. He composed himself and replied:

Heeseung: Sure. Send location and time, I’ll be there.

Putting down his phone, he realized the weight of his agreement. He had just agreed to go on a date with you. And now, he needed to get ready. Hastily, he rummaged through his closet, seeking out a suitable outfit. Opting for his lone stylish varsity jacket paired with jeans, he ran his fingers through his hair in an attempt to tidy it up.

Rushing to the mall, he found you leaning against a store wall, your attention fixed on your phone. As he approached, a cupid seemed to strike him with an arrow as his cheeks flushed. The simplicity of your outfit and the gentle cascade of your hair rendered you utterly captivating.

You looked up, catching sight of Heeseung's slightly stunned expression, and greeted him with a warm smile, gesturing for him to join you.

"Hi," Heeseung muttered, still awestruck by your beauty.

"Hi!" you returned the greeting with equal warmth. "I just need to buy some makeup for my friends, or maybe myself, and possibly shop around! Anything you need?"

"Not necessarily," Heeseung replied, scanning the mall.

"Okay then, follow me," you said, seizing his arm and leading him to the nearest makeup store. Arriving at the lip product section, you perused the selection of lipsticks, lip glosses, and lip tints. Grabbing a random lip tint, you turned to Heeseung.

"Can I try it on you? I need to see if it looks good on a person," you suggested.

"What? When did I sign up for this?" Heeseung sighed.

"Please," you pleaded, giving him your best pout. "I can erase it right after."

"Fine."

With careful precision, you applied the tint to his lips. The warmth of his breath brushed against your cheeks and neck, sending a flurry of sensations through you. Your heart raced as you admired his perfectly shaped lips, now tinted with color. After smoothing out any unevenness, you stepped back to admire the look.

"Hmm... I think this works," you concluded, grabbing the new tint to go check out and pay for it.

YOU SAVORED THE SWEET TASTE OF vanilla ice cream as you took a bite, sitting side by side with Heeseung on the bench outside the convenient store where you first met. He listened attentively as you shared stories about your friends and family.

"And then Giselle told me—" Your sentence was cut short as Heeseung's fingers delicately wiped a smudge of ice cream from the corner of your lips.

"Mhm?" He hummed softly, encouraging you to continue. Your heart fluttered at his touch, beating rapidly in your chest.

"...y-yeah," you stammered, trying to regain your composure, your gaze drifting to the hues of the sunset painting the sky in shades of blue and orange.

"Are you done with your story?" Heeseung inquired, to which you nodded hastily. You weren't finished, but another word might turn you into a flustered mess.

After a brief silence, you suggested, "How about we go for a walk by the Han River?" Heeseung agreed with a nod, and soon you found yourselves strolling side by side along the riverbank, the gentle sound of water trickling in the background adding to the peaceful atmosphere.

Unexpectedly, Heeseung asked, "Are you going to the dance?" It was a question he wouldn't normally ask.

"The dance?" you raised an eyebrow, caught off guard by his inquiry.

"Yeah, the school dance?" Heeseung clarified, his expression tinged with skepticism.

"Oh, well, yeah," you replied, feeling a pang of disappointment as you remembered his feelings for Karina. He didn't like you, so why did you allow yourself to hope for something more?

"Is Karina going?" Heeseung continued, and you struggled to find your voice, your throat suddenly dry.

"O-oh, uhm, I think she's going..." you managed to say, the reality of your situation crashing down on you like a wave. Foolish fantasies had consumed you for the past five days, but now you bit your lip to stave off the embarrassment and tears threatening to surface.

"I think I'm tired. I'm gonna go home now. Bye, Heeseung," you forced a small smile before turning away, walking in the opposite direction. Heeseung watched you go, a confused expression clouding his features as you moved farther and farther away.

LEANING AGAINST THE WALL, you found yourself lost in thoughts of Heeseung, the person who was on your mind day in and day out. Why did it bother you so much if he had feelings for your best friend, Karina? Why did his presence hold such sway over you?

"YN?" Winter's voice broke through your trail of thoughts,snapping you back to reality.

"Oh, sorry, I was zoning out," you replied, trying to shake off the distraction.

"You've been distant all day. Is everything okay?" Ningning's concern was evident in her voice.

"Just tired, didn't get much sleep last night," you reassured them with a forced smile, hoping they wouldn't press further.

"Are you sure?" Giselle's skepticism lingered, her gaze searching yours.

"It's nothing, just life being complicated," you offered, trying to reassure their worries.

"If you need to talk, we're here for you," Karina chimed in, her comforting touch on your hands a familiar gesture she usually did. How you longed to confess and tell them about Heeseung and the jumble of emotions you felt and fought with, but the fear of ruining your relationships with both him and Karina kept you quiet.

At that moment, it came to you: you were in love with Heeseung. It had to be a mistake right? You could never like someone like Heeseung. The way your heart thumped when Heeseung did small actions like hold your hand or even wipe off anything from your mouth.

Yet, you couldn't shake the fear, the fear of history repeating itself with someone like Jiho, selfish and foolish. What was the point of falling for someone who didn't accept your feelings and liked someone else

HEESEUNG HAD REHEARSED EVERY WORD, every breath, for the moment he would finally summon the courage to ask you out for dinner. With trembling fingers, he reached for his phone, his thumb hovering over the call button. The weight of his nerves pressed down on him as he prepared to take the risk.

As the phone rang, his heart raced, the sound of your voice on the other end sending a jumble of emotions through him "Hello?" you answered, your voice like music and beauty to his ears.

"Hi..." Heeseung replied, his voice betraying his unease.

"Why did you call me?" you asked, curiosity tinged but yet your voice sounded heavy and drained. Heeseung couldn't help but notice the change in your tone for the past days, wondering if he had somehow caused it. Had he done something wrong?

"I was just wondering if... uhm... you wanted to go get dinner tonight together?" Heeseung's voice faltered slightly, the weight of his question hanging in the air.

"Dinner tonight?" Your voice held a hint of confusion, but there was also a spark of interest. "When and where?" you inquired.

"At the Japanese place down the block, at 6?" Heeseung suggested, hoping you would agree.

"Sure, I'll see you at 6 then," you replied, your voice brightening slightly.

"Right, anyways, bye!" Heeseung quickly ended the call, a rush of happiness coursing through him. He had done it. He asked you out for dinner.

With a sense of pride, Heeseung flopped onto his bed, his phone resting on his chest as. a wide grin spread across his face. He replayed the conversation in his mind, excited for the evening of day.

Meanwhile, on the other end of the line, you couldn't contain your excitement. Heeseung. Lee Heeseung. had. Asked. you. out. to. dinner. You, YN LN. You couldn't help but squeal with delight into your pillow.

Eager to make a good impression, you jumped out of bed and rushed to your closet, rummaging through your clothes in search of the perfect outfit for the occasion.

HEESEUNG SAT NERVOUSLY, tapping the table as he waited for you to arrive. Within minutes, you rushed in and quickly spotted him.

"Hi!" you greeted with a smile, settling down at the table.

"Hi," he smiled back (inside you felt a flutter at how cute his smile was). You both looked at the menu and ordered as the waiter approached. After eating, you quietly walked outside, enjoying the cool evening air.

The dark, cloudless sky revealed a glimmering array of stars. You admired the view, unaware that Heeseung was watching you, captivated by your beauty.

"The stars are so pretty," you remarked in awe.

"Mhm," he replied, still focused on you. Suddenly, you felt his fingers gently tuck a stray hair behind your ear. Your face flushed as butterflies fluttered in your stomach.

"I have a question, YN..." Heeseung began, and you turned to him, curious.

"Do you... want to go to the dance?" he asked. Your heart raced, your stomach churned, and your head spun. He had just asked you to the dance.

"T-the dance?" you stuttered.

"Yeah... I mean, just as... you know, for visual purposes," he tried to clarify.

"Right..." you nodded, agreeing. "I'll go with you." Heeseung's face lit up with a big grin as you accepted his invitation.

"That's great! I'll, um... see you at the dance then," Heeseung said with a small smile and a wave as you both went your separate ways, heading home with a light heart.

As you walked home, your mind buzzed with excitement. The thought of going to the dance with Heeseung made your heart skip a beat. You couldn't help but replay the moment he asked you, feeling a rush of happiness each time. It was like a dream come true, and you couldn't wait for the night of the dance to arrive.

WEEKS FLEW BY, each one filled with anticipation, excitement, and a series of dates. Finally, the much-anticipated day of the dance had arrived. It had been six weeks since you eagerly marked this date on your calendar. Reflecting on the past four months since you met Heeseung, you knew deep down that you were head over heels in love with him. The moment he asked you to the dance, those feelings intensified.

"Do you think this dress is pretty enough?" you asked, twirling in your knee-length black dress adorned with delicate lace details, a sweetheart neckline, and spaghetti straps. The dress hugged your figure perfectly.

"It's gorgeous," Ningning complimented, deftly assisting with your hair.

"It's perfect, just like you," Winter reassured, adjusting your dress with care.

"Easy for you to say, with Beomgyu as your date," you teased, prompting laughter from your friends.

"And you have Heeseung," Winter smiled, smoothing out the fabric of your dress.

"You two are so cute together," Giselle teased, earning a blush from you.

"I love you guys," you said, feeling grateful for their support as you shared a group hug.

"Even if I'm dating a man, you'll always be my number one," Winter jokes, lightening the mood as you head to Karina's car.

Upon arriving at the dance, the lively atmosphere was perfect. Laughter, music, and chatter filled the room as people talked, danced, and enjoyed themselves. Spotting Heeseung entering the room, you felt a rush of excitement.

He looked perfect in his suit, his hair perfectly styled. Rushing over to him, you greeted him with a beaming smile.

"Heeseung!" you exclaimed. Heeseung looked up, his eyes lighting up at the sight of you. I

"You look amazing, YN," Heeseung complimented, his smile genuine.

"Thanks, but you're the one who looks stunning," you replied, feeling your heart flutter as you took in his appearance. "Come on, let's grab some snacks and go have fun!"

The next two hours were filled with laughter, dancing, and cherished moments spent with Heeseung and your friends. However, it was until you excused yourself to the bathroom, to then meet Jiho.

"YN," Jiho's voice cut through the noise, sending a chill down your spine.

"What do you want, Jiho?" you asked, your tone laced with irritation.

"Are you here with your 'so-called' boyfriend, Heeseung?" Jiho taunted, a smirk playing on his lips.

"Yes, and what's it to you?" you retorted, your patience wearing thin.

“Yeah there is.” his smirk widened, “Don’t act stupid, I knew everything.”

“God I hate you Jiho.” you spat, feeling your anger rise.

"Come on, YN. Admit you still love me, and everything will go back to normal," Jiho sneered.

“I don’t even like you anymore, Jiho.” you said firmly, trying to keep your composure.

"Oh, really? Maybe this will change your mind," Jiho said, leaning in closer. You felt his fingers slip into your waist, his grip firm and tight. You felt his face leaning closer to yours. You quickly stepped back and pushed him aside.

“Are you fucking crazy?” you yelled.

“YN, why are you so pissed? Not like you like anyone.” Jiho's eyes bore into yours, a smirk playing on his lips.

“I don’t want to fucking kiss you,” you glared, “Now fuck off please.”

“Why is it because of Heeseung? Your fake boyfriend? God, he probably doesn’t even like you YN. He only likes you because you're popular.” he laughed. Your heart sank at his cruel words. The words stung as you heard each word. Heeseung was just a stupid fake boyfriend you had. The two of you had never had a real relationship. A real love. Was Heeseung just playing with your feelings? Did Heeseung even love you like how much you loved him?

"I hate you, Jiho," you whispered before leaving the party alone, your heart felt heavy.

YOU SPENT HOURS lying in bed, staring out the rain-splattered window, your cheeks damp from the relentless stream of tears. Days had passed since the dance, and you hadn't mustered the strength to leave the confines of your home.

"YN, you've been here for hours," Karina's voice broke through the silence, her concern evident as she entered your room.

"Why didn't you text me?"

"Phone died," you muttered, burying your face deeper into the sheets.

"Tell me what's wrong," Karina urged gently, taking a seat beside you.

"I don't know," you confessed, your voice barely audible.

"Come on," Karina coaxed, her comforting presence offering a glimmer of solace.

"Okay, fine," you relented, the words tumbling out in a rush. "Jiho said some awful things to me at the dance. Now I'm a wreck, and I can't face Heeseung. I'm in love with him, and it's tearing me apart."

Karina's eyes widened at the torrent of emotions pouring out. "And you kept this from me all this time?"

"Karina, I didn't know what to do," you admitted, your voice choking with emotion. "I thought Heeseung felt the same way, but then Jiho made me doubt everything."

"How does Jiho know anything? He's not Heeseung," Karina retorted, frustration evident in her tone. "He's just trying to mess with your head."

"But what if he's right? What if Heeseung was just pretending all along?" you sighed, a heavy weight settling in your chest.

"YN," Karina's voice softened, her touch gentle as she sought to comfort you. "How do you know Heeseung doesn't like you? Have you talked to him?"

"I haven't," you admitted, uncertainty clouding your thoughts.

"Then how can you be so sure?" Karina questioned, her eyes searching yours. "Heeseung cares about you, YN. He was worried sick after the dance. He searched everywhere for you and even left the party early out of concern."

"Are you serious?" you asked, a glimmer of hope flickering in your eyes.

"Dead serious," Karina affirmed, her sincerity unwavering. "Talk to him, YN. You'll see."

"But what if I'm wrong?" you hesitated, your fear holding you back. "Just trust me on this," Karina reassured, squeezing your hand gently. "Talk to Heeseung. You'll thank me later." Karina offered you a reassuring smile before enveloping you in an embrace.

HEESEUNG WAS SERIOUSLY DEAD WORRIED about you. He thought you were possibly hit by some car or even worse kidnapped. His thoughts wandered as he tried to think of all the possibilities you were. You stopped even coming to school for weeks.

The memory of the dance replayed in his mind like a broken record, haunting him with unanswered questions. Your sudden disappearance after excusing yourself to the bathroom left him questionable and restless. Desperately, he asked your friends as your friends only left him shrugs and quietness making him uneasy of the situation.

When you finally returned after a week-long absence, Heeseung couldn't help but notice the change in you. You awfully looked tired and you had eyebags. And the most important change, you were avoiding Heeseung. Was it something he had done to mess things up?

Heeseung sat at his usual spot on the rooftop, gazing out at the view, trying to get his thoughts out.

"Look who it is, Lee Heeseung," a voice pierced through the silence, pulling Heeseung from his reverie. Turning, he found Jiho leaning casually against the stairway exit, a smirk playing on his lips.

"Heeseung's girlfriend, huh?" Jiho taunted, his words hitting Heeseung like a sudden blow.

"What did you do to YN?" Heeseung's voice was edged with a mixture of anger and concern, his gaze sharp.

"Nothing much, just a little truth-telling," Jiho chuckled, his demeanor full of arrogance.

"What truth?" Heeseung's tone was laced with urgency, his fists clenched in frustration.

“Just a few things that need to be said. Like how you guys are just dating, nothing more than that.”

Heeseung's jaw tightened as the weight of Jiho's words settled in, his mind reeling with disbelief and anger.

"Do you even know why YN hates you?" Heeseung spat, his voice seething with contempt.

"Why don't you tell me?" Jiho's smirk widened.

"Cause you’re truly an awful person” Heeseung retorted, his patience wearing thin.

“Oh really?” Jiho teased, “I didn’t know.”

Jiho's mocking laughter only fueled Heeseung's rage, his frustration exploding into action as he delivered a swift punch to Jiho's jaw.

"You're really undeserving of her," Heeseung's words echoed in the empty space.

“You could punch me as many times, I don’t care.” Jiho smiled.

“I would but actually I don’t want to see your ugly face, so fuck off.” Heeseung stormed out of the rooftop leaving Jiho alone on the ground.

IT WAS 1 AM WHEN YOU FOUND YOURSELF at the convenience store, clad in your most comfortable clothes, not even caring if people saw you. The rush of cold air from the conditioner greeted you as you stepped inside, scanning the assortment of snacks. The scent of sweet delights filled your senses, tempting you to buy more. You reached for a snack when the chime of the door signaled someone's arrival.

Looking up, you were met with the sight of Heeseung standing across the store, his gaze fixed on you. It felt like deja vu, reminiscent of the first time you laid eyes on him. Your throat went dry, memories of Jiho's words echoing in your mind: "He probably doesn’t even like you." Anxious, you bit your lip as Heeseung approached.

"Can we talk outside?" Heeseung's voice broke through the tension. With a quiet nod, you followed him out of the store.

"YN, what's going on?" Heeseung's concern was evident as he confronted you, hoping you would answer honestly.

"Heeseung, it's nothing," you lied

"It's not nothing," Heeseung persisted, his tone firm.

"Okay, fine, I'll tell you. I fell in love with you, but then Jiho made me doubt everything. I thought you probably didn’t even like me, maybe you liked Karina instead. What was the point of being with you if I'm only going to hurt myself?" The words spilled out in a rush, leaving you empty.. Heeseung froze at your confession, disbelief in his expression.

"You like me?" Heeseung's eyebrow arched in surprise.

"I know you don't like me—" Before you could finish, Heeseung silenced you with a soft kiss. His lips were soft and perfect.You felt his fingers sliding into your waist, pulling you closer to deepen the kiss. Your lips were moving in sync, in the same passion, kissing each other back. You felt his fingers intertwined with yours, drawing soft circles on the back of your hand.

Pulling away, breathless, you attempted to speak, but Heeseung beat you to it. "I like you a lot, YN. I was in denial of my feelings for months, but I realized I was actually in love with you." You widen your eyes at his confession

"Heeseung, you're not lying, right?" suspicion tinged your words.

"Do you think I would ever lie to you?" Heeseung chuckled, tucking your hair behind your ear, a gesture that he would always done

"No, but it all seems non-real," you confessed.

Heeseung's laughter, the sound you cherished the most, filled the air. "Then, will you be my real girlfriend, YN LN?"

"Of course, any day I'll choose you," you smiled, leaning in for another kiss.

MONTHS HAD PASSED and you found yourself in a state of bliss you never imagined possible. Seated on the rooftop with Heeseung, your fingers intertwined, you gazed out into the view before you, the cool breeze enveloping you in a sense of serenity.

"Look how far we've come," you remarked, a smile gracing your lips as you watched Heeseung absentmindedly draw small patterns on your palm.

"Yeah," Heeseung nodded, his touch gentle and comforting.

"I love you, Heeseung," you whispered softly, your words carrying the weight of your affection.

"I love you more," Heeseung replied in a tender whisper, his warm breath tickling the sensitive skin of your neck as he leaned in to press a series of delicate kisses along its curve.

"Heeseung, that tickles!" you laughed, squirming slightly at the sensation.

"This is your punishment for getting a 60% on the exam," Heeseung teased, his tone playful yet teasing.

"Hey, I'm not some nerd like you!" you retorted, playfully poking his side.

"Nerd?" Heeseung chuckled, his eyes sparkling with amusement.

"A cute nerd," you amended with a grin, your heart swelling with affection.

"And you're my cute princess," Heeseung declared, pressing a sweet and tender kiss to your lips, his love for you shining brightly in his eyes. You truly were in love with Heeseung, and you weren’t going to deny it.

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simplyholl · 1 month

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Hunted

Summary: Hydra hosts a training exercise for their super soldiers. You can run, but you can't hide from the Winter Soldier.

Pairing: Dark Winter Soldier x F. Reader

Warnings: Smut. 18+ Only. Minors DNI. This is a dark fic. Non con. Death.

See my Masterlist Here

You ran as hard as your feet would carry you. You were terrified, shaking so hard you were surprised that you could even move. Footsteps approached quickly, your breath hitches as you make a decision. You could run, but the super soldier could easily catch up to you. Or you could stay where you are and pray that you are hidden well enough that he won't find you.

Last month, Hydra caught your uncle's company trying to take them down. They killed all the men that worked there and captured all the women. They brought you all to cells under their headquarters. They fed you three meals a day, stating you all would need your strength for what they had planned.

This morning, you learned what they had meant. You were all brought out to the edge of the woods. The man in charge told you that they were training their super soldiers today. They would be practicing their hunting skills. A large van pulled up, and out came ten super soldiers. You looked around, counting the women who were with you. There were twenty-three of you. A second van halted to a stop beside the other. Two large men drug out another.

He was chained up, arms behind his back, black mask almost like a muzzle covered his mouth. His dark, shoulder length hair was messy, piercing blue eyes locking on you. You felt like you were going to faint. The Winter Soldier was the most brutal of all the super soldiers. A skilled assassin, he was sent on Hydra's most important missions. He did all their dirty work.

The Hydra leader who brought you outside explained the rules to the prisoners and soldiers. They were going to give you all an hour head start. Your job was to hide from the men. If they found you, they could do whatever they wanted with you as a reward. Bile rose in your throat, turning the contents of your stomach sour. Some of you wouldn't come out of this alive. But if you were fortunate enough to make it until sunrise, you would be free.

The footsteps grow closer, you close your eyes hoping he won't notice the footprints you had left in the mud. Then you see him, the man was tall, blonde hair shaved off. He walked toward the bushes you were hiding in. Your hand flies to your mouth to hide your cries. To your dismay, one escapes anyway. The soldier's head whips toward the noise, across the way from you.

You realize it wasn't you who cried too loudly. The soldier smiles wickedly, reaching for the poor woman who just gave up her hiding spot. He flings her out of the bushes onto the hard ground. More tears fall when you notice that it's Claire, the secretary from your uncle's failed company.

The soldier begins pawing at her as she tries to fight him off. It's no use. He holds her down with one knee on her torso, as he strips off his clothes. "You're my second one today." He brags. "Let's see if you're luckier than the last one. I choked her too hard." His evil laugh echoes through the quiet forest. When he rips Claire's clothing from her shaking body, you take the opportunity to run.

He looks up when he hears you leaving your shelter. "I'll catch up to you next!" He yells after you. The sun has started setting, you take a precious minute to catch your breath. You know if you stop for too long, you'll lose your momentum, or someone could catch up to you. You hear the screams and cries of your fellow prisoners as you make your way further into the woods. You search for a new place to hide, since it would be dark soon.

They could have at least equipped you with flashlights, you think to yourself. That was the whole point of all of this, wasn't it? You weren't meant to survive. Hydra expected the super soldiers to kill most of you. The women who survived would be brought back to the prison, probably made to work for them now that their spirits had been broken.

It was almost too dark to continue, so you took shelter in a cluster of bushes, shrinking yourself as small as you could underneath it. Night fell, and you laid on the cold ground, the horrendous sounds of the others getting caught filled the air. Finally, you rested your eyes. You needed the rest if you were going to make until the morning.

You woke up, sensing someone was nearby. You silently prayed that it was just another prisoner and not a threat. You release the shaky breath you were holding when they leave the area. The dark sky turns reddish - pink and you sigh with relief. It shouldn't be long now. Sunrise was so close you could almost taste your freedom.

You close your eyes, hoping that when you opened them the next time, this torture would be over. Your few moments of peace were interrupted when the blonde super soldier from earlier reached down into the bushes, pulling you up by your hair. Your scream rips through the woods, the soldier slings you back onto the ground, kicking you. "Shut up, bitch. I told you I was coming for you. You're my sixth, and from the looks of it, my last." He gestures to the sky.

He rips your shirt from your body. You try to cover yourself, but he moves your hands away. A metal hand wraps around the soldier's neck, a sickening crunch filling your ears as The Winter Soldier snaps it with ease. The soldier slumps over, his lifeless body landing with a thud.

"Mine." The Winter Soldier states, blue eyes locked on your exposed bra. A cold metal finger slips under the bra between your breasts, tearing it from your body with no effort. "No please! I almost made it. Please don't do this!" You cry, pleading with him. His hands find your breasts, squeezing roughly. His eyes land on your peaked nipples, taking them between his fingers.

He twists and pulls too roughly. When he's finished his assault on them, he reaches for his face, removing the black mask from his mouth. He's beautiful, you think for a split second. His blue eyes and pouty, full lips seemed like they didn't belong on the same man who was trained to kill. "Like what you see?" He smirks, when he notices you staring at his face. He pushes your breasts together, face lowering toward them. He runs his tongue from one pointed nipple to the other. Chapped lips taking one between them, sucking harshly.

He bites down, pulling your nipple with his teeth. You cry out, hands on his face trying to push him away. He chuckles, as you fight him, biting down your torso to your pants. He pulls them down along with your panties, discarding them immediately. One thick finger runs through your folds, disappointment evident as it comes out dry. "You're not even wet for me? We can't have that. I won't fit if you're not ready."

You shiver at his words. You didn't want to know how big he was. You had studied the super soldier serum enough at your old job to know that the serum enhanced everything. He brings his mouth down against your core, lips brushing your clit. He swirls his tongue around it, metal arm hooking under your legs to bring you closer. His full lips tug on your clit, you can't help but moan for him.

"That's it, good girl. If you're good for me, I'll convince them to let me keep you." You spit at him, kicking your legs, to push him away. "Why would I want that?" He smiles, because Hydra's gonna kill anyone left in these woods when this is over." You gasp, you should have known. "You didn't really think they would just let you go? You know too much. They will let me keep you as my little plaything though. All I have to do is say the word."

You didn't doubt him for a second. “Stop fighting." He commands, lowering his face again. His nose brushes your clit while he works his tongue inside you. You try to fight back, but he misinterprets your movements. He thinks you're enjoying it now. "That's it." The Winter Soldier suckles your swollen clit, hot tongue lapping up every drop of arousal. You bite your lips so hard; it bleeds trying to keep a moan in.

He grabs your chin, jerking your face towards him. "Do not hold back from me, kitten." His warm tongue drags over you slowly before his plump lips suction around your clit. Your thighs close against his ears as he draws a forceful orgasm out of you, legs trembling as you flood his face. Your moan rips through your throat, earning a satisfied smile from the soldier.

He spreads your legs with one hand, his other freeing his hard cock. You were right about the size of it. You were so fortunate that he got you wet first. You'd be lucky if he didn't split you in half. He plunges inside you, you squirm from the painful way he entered you. "Hold still." He says, holding your stomach down. "I can't, it hurts too much." You whine. The Winter Soldier rolls his eyes, lifting you like a rag doll.

He sits on the ground, lowering you onto him. This position was worse for you. He hit even deeper than before. But he could hold you better this way. His metal arm snakes around your waist, holding you close. He bounces you on his cock, your arms wrap around his neck. His fingers dig into your hips as you get used to it and start to grind on him.

Your clit brushes his dark curls as you ride him. "I knew you would be worth it." He grunts. "I wanted you the moment I saw you this morning. I found you immediately. You're not great at hiding, you know. But I waited. I knew it would be better if I let you think you could escape." He chuckles, "You should have seen those other broads, they would piss themselves when they saw me. But I only wanted you, so I left them for the others."

His dark pants rub against your thighs as he fucks into you. You roll your hips, trying to get this over with as quickly as possible. "You feel incredible." He moans into the crook of your neck. You scratch at his leather clad back, as the Winter Soldier's mouth latches onto the exposed skin of your neck. He sucks harshly, making sure it will leave a mark. You clench around him as he cums inside you.

His metal hand reaches between you, icy digits colliding with your heat. His thumb circles your clit, causing you to unravel. You shake in his arms, too exhausted to move as he pulls you off him. He takes his shirt off, handing it to you. "Put this on. I don't want anyone looking at my little doll." You take it, looking up at the sun coming up in the distance.

Tags

@cindylynn @wheredafandomat @multifandom-worlds @loz-3 @megharat-barnes-reid @kats72 @crimson25 @mochie85 @cakesandtom @lokidokieokie @theallknown213 @alexakeyloveloki @tmilover1993 @yeaiamme2 @pigeonmama @yeehawbrothers @lokischambermaid @fictive-sl0th @nomajdetective @goblingirlsarah @foxherder @weirdothatwritess @silver-tongue-taken-to-bed @freegardenbanananeck @lamentis-10 @jainaeatsstars @queenshu @justsebstan

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mrs-kmikaelson · 9 months

Text

Our Song and Dance¹

Pairing: Finnick Odair x reader Summary: You'd grown used to dancing the same dance over and over again, the victor's dance, but then you start dancing with Finnick Odair and you feel things you never thought you'd feel. So you let yourself enjoy the dance, even though you knew that every song inevitably came to an end. Warnings: super-duper-duper long, exploitation of minors, forced prostitution, unrequited love, complicated relationships, violence, death, mental health issues, canadian spelling lol, and i make up some names (lmk if i missed smth) Words: 19.7K

Masterlist | Part 2

a/n: i alr have this finished, but it was way too long to post in one part (as you can see) so i split it up into three parts. this one goes from pre-hunger games to right before the quell. had this idea in my head as soon as i finished thg, so i hope u enjoy!

Y/N Y/L/N, victor of the 67th Hunger Games. You were from district 4, one of the youngest victors that not only your district has ever had, but also all of Panem. Of course, you weren’t the youngest; that title belonged to none other than Finnick Odair.

A man you hated with a passion and, frankly, a man who didn’t like you very much either.

You could still remember the night you met.

Snow was droning on and on, giving a speech about something you couldn’t care less about. It was all lies, anyway, and you were only gonna end up in some rich man’s bed tonight, so you’d prefer to go through that interaction as drunk as you could be. With that thought, you downed the rest of your flute.

“Ah, careful, Princess.” Before you even saw the person, you knew it was him. His voice was so easily recognizable, even though you had never met, not even after living in the same district, then the Victors’ Village, or even at these little Capitol parties.

Finnick.

You turned, a faux smile on your face that he fully reciprocated. “Snow wouldn’t want the Capitol’s pride and joy to be under the influence,” he said, teasing but with an undertone that put you off.

You didn’t give a damn what Snow thought, but you weren’t gonna say that, especially not in his own home. Instead, you gave him the smile you gave the rest of Panem and directed the topic of conversation away from the President. “I won my Games, Finnick. Trust me, I’m not a lightweight.” Oh, but you wish you were. You wish you could get so drunk that you’d forget who you were entirely.

A part of you felt bad: twenty-three other people died while you walked out of the arena, and yet you wanted nothing more than for your life to end. A part of you wondered if the great Finnick Odair ever felt this way, either, but it wouldn’t be good small talk to ask.

Finnick’s grin only widened. “Pleasure to meet you, Y/N.”

Your eyes just so imperceptibly narrowed. “Likewise.”

He started to walk away, but he suddenly paused like he forgot something, leaning closer to you. Your breath got caught in your throat when you felt his on your neck. Your eyes locked, and all of a sudden, you wondered how it was possible that you never noticed how beautiful his eyes were.

“May the odds be ever in your favour, darling,” he whispered, and then he walked away without giving you another glance.

That night, Finnick didn’t leave your mind. It wasn’t until there was a resident of the Capitol lying on top of you that you stopped thinking about him. When you were in that position, you stopped thinking about everything, really.

When you walked out of your hotel room, done with your little job, Finnick was brought back to the forefront of your mind as your eyes met his. He looked like he was in the same state as you, also having been leaving a room. He looked surprised to see you.

You stared at him for a moment, but then you let yourself disappear down the hallway before he could say anything.

You knew what that meant; you knew it wasn’t his own room that he was leaving. When you got to your own room, you realized you were much more alike than you thought. You supposed that you couldn’t be surprised; Finnick was desirable, so of course Snow would put him up for sale.

You were in the exact same boat.

Since that night, you saw him in a different light.

You two didn’t talk when you got back home, no, but at your next Capitol event, you decided that you’d refuse to leave him alone, to leave someone who was going through the same thing as you to their own devices. That’s what you told yourself, but deep down, you just didn’t want to suffer in silence, either.

So you went and found him after a night with another Capitol pig. Standing outside, hands in his pockets, he looked so calm, but you saw a storm brewing in his eyes that only few could ever decipher.

You went and stood next to him, even though it was freezing cold out. He glanced over at you, and then his face became surprised, not surprise at you being there, but at you being there with him. Neither of you said anything; it was either that you were too afraid of a jabberjay overhearing or of yourselves. You just stood there in a comfortable silence.

You’d learn that, with Finnick, sometimes doing nothing could mean everything.

The two of you went on to do this every time you were there until, slowly, you graduated from just silence to holding each other. Oh, Finnick Odair was a cocky asshole, but when you were in the Capitol, he wasn’t him and you weren’t you. You were just two people that needed comfort, and that was enough.

You still didn’t talk, though, and when you were at home, you didn’t communicate at all. That was why you were surprised when you answered your door to see him standing on the other side.

Finnick went back to being Finnick, striding into your home without so much as an invitation. This caused you to roll your eyes, but they suddenly widened at his words. “Caesar Flickerman is on TV, saying that we’re dating.”

If you were drinking something, you would’ve spit it out. “What?” An incredulous look was painted onto your face.

Finnick, on the other hand, was a little more stoic, not exactly the charmer he was on television or in Capitol balls, but you could easily guess why—and if you hadn’t, then he was gonna tell you, anyways. “You know what this means.” He looked you in the eye, jaw clenched. “Two of Snow’s best—the Prince and Princess of Panem—dating? It’s the last thing he wants.”

“Finnick-”

“No, he won’t be able to sell us if we’re together, and if he can’t sell us, then he’ll start killing the people we love.” This was the first time either of you were even acknowledging the situation you were in.

You felt stung for some reason, even though you didn’t love Finnick—and he didn’t love you. But, deep down, no matter how much you tried to repress it, you knew there was something between you, so hearing him speak to you this way, like you were just nothing, hurt.

However, you got over your feelings quickly, the same way you always had. You moved your thoughts away from your heart and started thinking with your head. You were quiet for a second until you let out a soft gasp, like a light bulb went off in your head.

This time, you made eye contact with Finnick effortlessly. “What if this is exactly what we need?” You asked, a glint in your eye that he hadn’t seen before.

The blond scoffed. “I don’t see how our families dying is exactly what we need, Y/N.”

“No- no, Finnick, you already said it.” You grabbed onto his shoulders. “The Capitol- hell, everyone already thinks we’re the Prince and Princess of Panem. If we give them what they want, then- then we’d be unstoppable.” You paused to let him weigh in, but he only stared heavily at you, not a trace of what he was thinking on display, so you continued, “Snow and all of those Capitol motherfuckers will eat this shit up, Finnick. And then we’ll be free.”

You were trying not to show any emotion, either, but you couldn’t help it. At the mere thought of freedom, something you never thought was possible, you felt so many different things at once. While you were holding your feelings on your sleeve, Finnick was less easy to read.

But, in seconds, you knew exactly how he felt.

“We will never be free, Y/N.”

He walked out after that, leaving you alone in your living room. He’d never know it, but you stayed in that same spot for three hours, staring at where he once stood. His words had awakened something in you, the part of yourself that’d been thrown into the Hunger Games at only fifteen-years-old.

At the time, you thought you were going to die. You were hopeless, but after you won, you realized there was hope after all. You could still make it. Even as Snow allowed your body to be violated, your mind to deteriorate, you still had hope. But Finnick’s words brought back that frightened little girl in you that you thought died.

You’d later realize just how lucky you were that he buried her again. He came back and told you that he’d do it, and as easily as he brought that little girl back to life, he drowned her.

It wasn’t easy at first, pretending to be in love. You didn’t know the first thing about it, but Finnick helped you as if he’d been doing it all his life.

“C’mon, Y/N, it’s gonna be fine-”

“No, it’s not gonna be fine. Caesar’s gonna call us out immediately- and if he doesn’t, then Snow will-”

“Y/N.” Finnick cut off your nervous ramblings with a stern calling of your name. Even him saying your name was still weird to you. You weren’t used to so much conversation with the victor, but now you were gonna have to pretend to love him. “We’re gonna be fine.”

You weren’t convinced, and he saw that with the twitching of your fingers. You knew Finnick was a great actor, and normally you were, too, but this situation was unlike any other that you’d ever been in. It was foreign territory for you.

“Look,” he grabbed onto your hand, “whenever you get nervous up there, you just hold my hand, alright? You’re not alone in this, okay? I’m right here.”

If you didn’t know any better, you’d say your heart skipped a beat. If you didn’t know any better, you’d even say you felt a spark when his skin met yours.

For a second, you pretended that you weren’t pretending. You pretended that you were holding hands because you were two kids in love, not because you had to survive. You pretended you were never in The Games, that you never killed so ruthlessly just to live without truly living. You pretended that you weren’t you, and Finnick wasn’t Finnick, and you were holding hands just because, not because you were about to go on TV and lie.

But that second ended far too quickly as you pulled your hand out of his grasp, nodding. “Okay,” you took a deep breath, repeating his words to yourself, “we’re gonna be okay.”

“Of course, we are. Now tell me again how we met.”

When the time came for the actual interview, you never let Finnick’s hand go.

The experience became more familiar to you as you went on. It was the same as any other show you’d put on for the Capitol. When you were younger, you dreamed of being a storyteller.

Now, you told stories of a life of yours that’d never existed.

Finnick and you were thrusted into the public eye, reciting the same stories day after day. It almost felt like it was actually real, and sometimes, you wished it was.

He’d look at you with a look of love in his eyes in front of all of the cameras, touching you tenderly. Oh, he was a wonderful liar. He even made you believe it for a second, too. But you knew that no such thing would ever happen.

Finnick Odair would never fall for a girl like you. Even if you were slowly falling for him.

During nights alone, you’d marvel at the turn of events. Finnick was once a man that you hated, but now look at you. You didn’t even know if you were faking it anymore. But it is fake, you’d remind yourself. He doesn’t love you, and you won’t love him.

You weren’t gonna let yourself love him. Truth be told, you were never gonna let yourself love anybody in the first place. Loving someone only made a new liability, a new weakness for the Capitol to exploit, but you could not love Finnick.

You’d been through a lot; your heart had taken many blows and survived, but you knew loving Finnick would only one day break it into a million little pieces. Still, it’s not like he made it easy.

You were lying in your bed- your shared bed with Finnick. Since announcing that you were dating, you moved in with him. You both decided it’d be easier to hide it all that way, easier for the public to believe, too. Sharing a bed was his idea—“just in case,” he’d said.

You wanted to object, but what would you even tell him? That you were afraid of falling in love with him? You would never even put the mere idea into his head. So you went along with it.

It was funny, though: you never went to bed alone, but that’s still how it felt. Being next to him, under the covers… it didn’t make you as warm as you hoped it would.

He didn’t live with anyone else. From what you gathered, Mags, your shared mentor, was his only family. His parents died of sickness early on; Mags took him in and kept him alive, all the way up until he was sent to The Games. Finnick didn’t get sappy with you often, but you knew that he couldn’t lose her.

What he was doing for Snow, he was doing for Mags. You thought Mags was the only person he cared about, but you learned that this wasn’t true. There was one other person who he was close to, who he’d do anything to keep safe. That person was Annie Cresta.

You met her once. She was beautiful and sweet, so you understood immediately why Finnick was in love with her. He never talked to you about her, but you could tell just from how he looked at her that she was the light of his life, even if she herself wasn’t aware of that.

Annie was good, the perfect girl for Finnick. She didn’t come with all the baggage you had, she wasn’t as rude, and she always knew what to say. You would’ve wanted them together, too, if it weren’t for the fact that Finnick was becoming your Annie. He was becoming your person, and so it killed you to know that not only was he in love with another girl, but he was also unhappy.

He’d never be happy with you. While you wished you could spare him the torment and just let him be with her, you had people you cared about, too, and he was now also on that list. So your job was to keep you all alive, not happy.

The door to your bedroom opened, interrupting your train of thought. You faced away from the entrance, but you knew it was Finnick. He had perfected soundless footsteps, even though you weren’t in an arena anymore. But you supposed you were still fighting for your lives, anyway.

He climbed into bed, letting out a big exhale when his back hit the mattress. You didn’t greet him, nor did he greet you, even though he knew you were awake. You’d gone through this whole song and dance already. You had to pretend in front of the cameras; you weren’t gonna do that in here, too.

The two of you were silent. This wasn’t a silence like before when you stood together in the Capitol after those horrible nights. This was a silence that was suffocating.

Things were never the same after you decided to go through with this charade. Maybe you were almost friends before, but now you were allies at most, just there to help the other survive. Oh, you wished you could be friends, but life was never so kind.

As if he could hear you begging for companionship, he whispered, “Y/N?”

Your breath hitched. “Yes?”

There was a beat of silence before his response. You wondered what his face looked like, but you wouldn’t dare turn around. “Can we- can we just be together tonight?”

Out of all the things he could’ve said, that didn’t even make your list. You sharply inhaled. Finnick didn’t sound like Finnick at all. He sounded small, and vulnerable, and scared, all states that he’d never let you see him in. But he was.

“What do you mean?” You didn’t turn around. “We are together.”

So unlike Finnick, he stammered, “No, I mean- can I- I want to hold you.”

If this were the dance you compared it to in your head, then you’d be stumbling over your own feet. He’d never asked about anything like that before. In fact, Finnick never even seemed to like you or this predicament much. Sure, you interested him, and maybe you were friends, but you knew that if he could’ve pick anyone else to dance this dance with, he would’ve.

You wondered what brought him to this point. Maybe it had something to do with Annie, but at that moment, you couldn’t bother thinking about it. He’d never know it, but you could never say no to him.

So you turned around and let him wrap his arm around you. But little did he know, you obliged not just to comfort him, but also yourself.

You’d fall asleep in Finnick’s arms every night after that.

You’d always been so independent, so alone, that you forgot what it felt like to lean on someone, even if it was just for a little while in the dead of night. But when Finnick held you, sleep came easier and nightmares came less.

He had no idea that he became your knight in shining armour; he never meant to, but he did. Soon after you started “dating,” Snow left you alone. You still attended Capitol parties, still mentored kids every year, but you no longer found yourself in bed with members of Snow’s cabinet, and neither did Finnick.

It was easier once it stopped, but you still had to grapple with the pain of what had already happened to you; all of this didn’t even take into account The Games. Sure, you were done, but you still had to come back once a year and prepare a kid to kill or be killed. Nothing dredged up old memories like that did.

Doing it with him was what got you through it. When you lost a kid, Finnick was there to hold you and reassure you and himself that it wasn’t your fault, that you couldn’t have done much more to stop it. At times like those especially, you had to reel yourself in and remind yourself that, yes, he cared for you, but he wasn’t in love with you.

There were times that every bone in your body told you the exact opposite, that Finnick’s actions told you the exact opposite. Sometimes, he’d kiss you for the cameras and made you fall for it, too.

God, you were a team, such a great team. Would it be so horrible of you to assume you could be more?

You’d later realize that, yes, it was.

Because at the reaping for the 70th Hunger Games, Annie Cresta’s name was called and your little fantasy of a relationship with Finnick was shattered to pieces.

His usually calm demeanour was broken as he ran toward her as soon as you both got on the train, engulfing her in a hug and soothing her while she sobbed. You just watched from the sidelines, a frown on your face. You wished you were frowning because your dear friend Annie was just chosen to be in a fight to the death, but you were frowning because Finnick had never hugged you like that.

There were no cameras here; this wasn’t for show. He never looked at you like that when there weren’t any cameras around.

You felt like you were intruding on a private moment, even though you were just standing there, even though you were supposed to be his girlfriend, not Annie. A girlfriend would’ve probably cleared her throat, interrupted the interaction, but you couldn’t find the courage to do that.

Instead, you waited for the moment to end and walked over to her yourself when Finnick stepped away, giving her a tight hug as if she hadn’t just brought you to the brink of tears. But that didn’t matter. Annie could possibly die, so your little feelings for Finnick were pretty insignificant at the moment.

You tossed those very feelings to the side, directing all your attention to preparing your tribute. Finnick was trying to explain everything, but he was too worried, so you took over for him, pushing forth all your efforts while he focused on the boy that’d been reaped from your district.

You always tried your best with the tributes, always, but this wasn’t just any tribute. This was Annie Cresta, your friend and the love of Finnick’s life. You needed her to make it out of this alive—Finnick wouldn’t survive without her.

You gave her every piece of advice you could think of during that trip, digging through your memory for things you might’ve even forgotten. You wished you could help the boy in the same way, but there could only be one victor in these Games, and it had to be her.

Remember that these are games, Annie. Don’t worry about the killing once you’re in the arena; you need to treat it like a game, like the other tributes are just pieces that need to be knocked off the board, you told her. You hated every word that came out of your mouth, but she needed to hear it. She needed to overcome the shock now so she didn’t get choked up during the actual Games like you did.

When the time finally came for you to send the tributes off into the arena, you hugged yourself, taking deep breaths to try and calm down. You imagined that it was Finnick’s arms that were around you, but you weren’t gonna ask him to comfort you. He was the one that needed comforting, but you knew he wouldn’t accept it, so you didn’t offer.

Instead, you worked your ass off to get Annie sponsors, to get people to like her as if they didn’t already. You didn’t sleep for days, and neither did Finnick until he accidentally fell asleep for a few hours one day.

You both watched as she took the tips you’d given her, using them in her own way. She was small, but she was smart and she picked up on how to play the game quickly.

Only when the last tribute was dead did a sigh of relief finally leave you. Your shoulders slumped as you sat in front of the TV. Finnick’s muttering fell upon deaf ears as static filled your brain. She made it, you thought. She’s okay.

But that didn’t make life any more okay.

After all, nobody ever really won The Games.

“Annie- Annie, it’s alright-”

“No, it’s not!” You heard something break, like it had thrown it to the ground. When you walked further into your house, your guess was proven right. Finnick and Annie stood in your living room, the former worried and the latter frantic, pieces of a broken vase all over the ground.

“Nothing is okay, Finn! Nothing! Do you hear me- nothing is okay!” The redhead was pacing around with your so called boyfriend trying to stop and calm her down. They were both so panicked that neither of them noticed you, and you didn’t announce your presence, either.

You only stood from the side, just like on that Capitol train. The Annie that went into that arena was innocent. She was eighteen, but she was still more of a child than either of you ever got the chance to be. Now that she won, she didn’t look so innocent anymore.

She wore a look that was so familiar to you. She was alive, but Annie had never looked more like a ghost of herself.

“Annie, please-” Finnick’s voice cracked mid-sentence. He kept trying to get close to her, but she moved away every time. The tears in his eyes made yours watery, too. You had never seen him look so broken, not even as you stood in the Capitol together those cold nights after being used.

If you weren’t sure of how much Finnick loved Annie, you were now.

“No, no, nothing is okay!” She screamed, tears streaming down her face. She suddenly stopped, letting out a sob before collapsing onto the ground. Finnick ran to her right away, pulling her close and rocking her as she repeated the same thing over and over.

You hadn’t even noticed you were crying until you felt the tear falling onto your cheek, wiping at it immediately and turning around to walk away as quietly as you possibly could. You weren’t gonna just stand by and do nothing while Annie fell apart and Finnick cut himself trying to put the pieces back together. You couldn’t.

You found yourself in the kitchen, putting a kettle on the stove to distract yourself. Your eyes zeroed in on it as you tried to block out the sound of Annie’s crying, trying not to cry yourself. At one point, you succeeded, because you couldn’t hear anything anymore.

You don’t know how long you stood there, but you were eventually broken out of your trance by a hand reaching out in front of you to turn off the stove, moving the kettle. It was only now that you realized how loudly it was whistling.

You turned to see the hand belonged to Finnick who now poured the hot water into your expensive tea cups. They were a gift given to you by a patron of the Capitol, an old man with kids and a wife. He was somewhat of a regular of yours, and so he gave you that tea set to try and make himself feel better for what he was doing, along with many other gifts.

You never told Finnick any of this. You wondered if he would so readily pull them out if he knew where they came from.

He wordlessly put the tea bags into the cups, sliding one over on the island to where you stood. Then he brought the cup to his lips, taking a sip of the scalding liquid like it was nothing. You ignored your disbelief and the rational part of your brain, picking the cup to do the same thing.

When the tea met your tongue, it burned, even as it went down your throat, but you still went back in for a second sip, anyway. This pain was able to distract you from all the thoughts bouncing around in your head, and so that made it feel like it was worth it. You wondered if this was Finnick’s logic, too.

You didn’t say anything for a long while, didn’t ask about Annie or where she went. You knew he must’ve known that you heard what happened, but he didn’t mention it, either. You assumed that she fell asleep.

You wished you could fall asleep so easily, too.

Your song kept playing as you both danced around the same topics, standing together silently as your world crumbled. You danced, and danced, and danced, until your tea cups were empty, but the song was still playing.

Finnick’s voice cut through the silence of your music effortlessly, even though he was still so quiet.

“Sometimes, I think she would’ve been better off if she died.” You slowly brought your head up to meet his eyes, but they were aimed at the cup in his hand. He looked nothing like the Prince of Panem, the charming man who always had something witty to say. No, he looked beaten down, just as lifeless as Annie. Maybe you looked as lifeless as you felt, too; maybe you were all so unaware of how broken you seemed.

You didn’t know what to say to his confession. So you didn’t say anything at all.

You’d never know where that conversation would’ve went, because in seconds, Finnick collected your cups, put them in the sink, and then he left you standing there.

His words from before echoed through your head. We will never be free, Y/N.

And maybe he was right.

Annie was back home, but she never really came back from that arena—none of you did. Hell, you were thrusted into a life you never wanted, a victor’s life, as soon as you were out. You thanked God that Annie wasn’t gonna have to go through what you did; the way she was spinning out made her undesirable. At least a good thing came out of her losing it.

Oh, you were starting to find a silver-lining with everything. You had to—otherwise, you’d lose it, just like Annie. You had to find some sort of good in this situation because, otherwise, what was the point?

Time supposedly healed all wounds, but you felt like you were still bleeding. You just learned to conceal it better than others.

Before The Games, you had friends. Now you really only talked to Finnick, and you two didn’t talk much, either. Every now and then, you’d see Annie and Mags, but they weren’t your people. And your family… well, how close could you be with them after what happened? You weren’t the same girl your mother raised.

She could barely even look at you anymore.

But you couldn’t think about any of this. If you did, you’d fall apart, and you couldn’t do that. You had a role to play, an image to protect—for your safety, for your family’s safety, for his safety.

You couldn’t afford to break down like that in your living room and throw things. You wanted to, so badly, but you didn’t have that luxury.

So your song kept playing, and you danced along with it.

Finnick’s walls went back up, too. His charisma was like a light bulb that briefly flickered, but it was back now. He was dancing, too. But, without even realizing it, you both held each other tighter at night, as if you were trying not to lose the other to the tornado that was your life.

However, when you woke up, you both pretended the tornado didn’t even exist.

Annie wasn’t one for pretending. Oh, she got wrapped up into the tornado the second she was declared a victor and there was no saving her anymore. Yes, she would’ve been better off dead, maybe you all would’ve been, but if you thought about this for too long, if you let the song stop, then you’d get caught in the cyclone, too.

You pretended for a year, attending Capitol galas with a smile on your face, getting interviewed right next to Finnick with his hand in yours, acting like you were the picture perfect couple. He spoke about you like he knew you like the back of his hand, but truth be told, he didn’t know you at all; he barely ever tried to. You didn’t blame him, though; it was hard to try to talk to someone when the music was so loud.

Then came the 71st Hunger Games, and you were mentors again. Meeting the tributes, it was almost like the music stopped- almost. The girl was quiet but angry, and she reminded you so much of yourself. The boy kept cracking jokes that she didn’t laugh at, jokes that were probably inappropriate for a time like this, but you knew he wasn’t doing it to be an ass. This was his way of coping.

He reminded you of Finnick.

Looking at these kids was like looking into a mirror. On the last day of training, he finally got a reaction out of her, made her smile with a faint blush on her cheeks. Oh, these kids should’ve been laughing together in the diner back home, not on their way to die.

They were too young and too innocent. It makes you wonder if things would’ve been different if you and Finnick had met before The Games. Would that have made soothed the heartbreak?

You didn’t know. But when you saw that boy crying as he held her in that arena, blood pouring onto him from her stab-wound, you knew that heartbreak was what he felt.

Too young. They were too young.

The boy died too. He didn’t even put up a fight.

These kids were just kids, and they died young.

Just like you and Finnick did.

You sat in your room at the Capitol, swirling your scotch around in your glass. It was a crystal glass so beautiful you knew it could’ve only been crafted by hand, but you didn’t want to admire it; you wanted to throw it at the wall.

Their names were Delta and Aalto. Aalto was the more talkative one; he said he dreamed of opening his own bakery one day, right in the middle of the district with food that everyone could afford and enjoy.

He’d never get to do that now.

And Delta- she didn’t know what she wanted out of life yet. She never got the chance to figure it out.

It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair at all.

The door to the room opened, making you look up from the liquor in your hand to see Finnick walking into the room. He looked defeated. Of course, he was better at hiding it than you were, but you knew how to read him better now, after all these years.

The bed dipped as he sat down next to you. You held your glass out, almost like a peace offering, and he took it without much thought, downing it in one go.

You sat there together the same way you had many times before, not saying a word. But this time felt different. It felt like there was something you were supposed to say. So you turned to look at Finnick, trying to see if he felt the same weight, only to see that he was already looking at you.

You could tell just by his eyes that he felt it, too. He opened his mouth, then closed it like he’d lost his train of thought. When you met him, you never thought you’d see the day when Finnick was speechless.

Look at how wrong you were.

You opened your mouth after a few seconds, wanting to articulate your feelings in some way, but Finnick’s lips slammed against yours before you get anything out. Without thinking, you kissed back; it felt like second-nature to you.

This wasn’t the first time you’d kissed, but he had never kissed you like this, so passionately, not a camera in sight. He was kissing you like you were air and he’d been holding his breath for so long, like you were the treasure he’d been searching for and he didn’t want to let go.

It felt like nothing you’d ever experienced.

When you eventually pulled away for air and opened your eyes, you were brought back to the real world. There was something you were supposed to say. But you quickly disregarded it, pulling him back in for another kiss before he could notice the way you were looking at him.

Yes, there was something you were supposed to say. But you couldn’t put it into words.

So you hoped that this kiss said everything that you couldn’t.

You were both grieving, and you were both there. And you knew that Finnick didn’t like you like that, so you weren’t gonna get your hopes up. This meant nothing, even if it felt like everything for you when it was happening.

He was the only person you’d ever done anything like this with before. You did things with those people Snow set you up with, but that didn’t count. You were doing this because you wanted to. You didn’t know if this was his first time or not, but you weren’t gonna ask. You did everything but talk for the rest of the night.

When you woke up, it was still dark out and Finnick was still asleep. You stared at him for a few seconds, his fluffy blond hair that you messed up, his swollen lips. He looked so peaceful like this; you couldn’t bear to wake him up and ruin that, bring him back to this nightmare.

So you got up as quietly as you could, wrapping yourself in a robe and closing the door to the bedroom, walking into the living room. The rooms the Capitol provided the victors were beautiful, but never beautiful enough to make you forget about the ugly reason that you were here.

You sat on the couch, exhaling and leaning back. You were gonna sit there in silence, but your song kept playing, and the record was skipping, and you were starting to get a headache, so you turned on the TV.

Without having to change the channel at all, you were immediately met with the news, Caesar Flickerman’s face on the flat screen. It wasn’t long before you realized why he was so excited: the Hunger Games were over. Someone won.

Caesar’s attitude made your mood go sour. He was behaving like twenty-three children weren’t just killed. It didn’t matter if they died of starvation, dehydration, an animal, or actually another tribute—it was all murder, and the Capitol was the perpetrator. It disgusted you that there were people who found enjoyment in watching these Games, Caesar Flickerman included. They’d pretend to be sympathetic, but at the end of the day, you were all just circus animals to them.

The victor’s face came onto the TV, and you immediately recognized her from the rankings. Johanna Mason. Caesar kept talking, explaining how Johanna had managed to cause so many people to be enamoured of her, and you suddenly felt sick.

Snow was gonna jump at this opportunity. He was gonna use her, too.

You turned off the TV, going back to your room and getting back into bed like you’d never left. Your song came back on, and you went back to preferring to listen to it instead of your own thoughts. You weren’t gonna think about Johanna much longer; there wasn’t any point.

There was nothing you could do.

The next time you woke up and it was actually morning, you were surprised to see that Finnick was still there. While you were sleeping, he managed to snake his arms around you.

You didn’t get up, even though there were Capitol duties to attend to.

You stayed in bed and pretended that you were a normal couple, that maybe Finnick actually felt something for you, that you weren’t in the Capitol right now, that the world wasn’t so fucked up, that you weren’t so fucked up. But you didn’t pretend for long, eventually getting up and facing the world that you didn’t want to be apart of but had been sucked into.

He didn’t tell you this, but he was pretending, too.

You both went to the gatherings you had to go to, talked to the people you had to talk to, kept smiles on your faces, and shook Snow’s hand, even though it made you want to puke. You endured it all—you both did. The Prince and Princess of Panem…

You realized it was true what they said, heavy is the head that wears the crown. This figurative crown was weighing you down; you wondered if it’d be so coveted if people got the chance to feel how you felt.

Then you went back home, even if it didn’t really feel like a home to you. It was still all you had. But Finnick kept surprising you.

Your dance suddenly changed. The song was still playing, but the dance was different, almost like that night you’d spent together had actually meant something.

You started having dinner together every night. Before, you often forgot to eat, but now how could you? You were beginning to look forward to your daily dinners; there wasn’t much more to look forward to in the life you led.

He made it hard for you not to fall even more in love with him.

You two still didn’t talk during dinner, but it almost did feel normal, like you were a family- like you could be a family.

And then the dance changed again, and that dream felt even more real.

You pulled your chair out at your dinner table, sitting down across from Finnick. You were both dressed “down” in more comfortable clothes, but you knew there was some people in the district that still couldn’t afford them. That bothered you, but when you had dinner, most of your worries were pushed to the back of your mind.

When you two had dinner, you just enjoyed the dance.

You were a few minutes into dinner when you noticed that Finnick wasn’t eating but he was staring at you. He hadn’t stared at you like that since when you first met, so curiously, like you were a secret he wanted to be let in on.

You couldn’t ignore his stare, even if you tried. However, you tried to act nonchalant. “Is there something you want to say?” You quizzed, twirling another bite of pasta like you were unaffected by his gaze.

Finnick responded in the same beat, so much like the Finnick that was charismatic and lively, not the quiet one you normally lived with. “Something I want to ask you, actually.”

“Oh,” you said, immediately kicking yourself at how stupid you sounded. “Well, ask away.” He didn’t need to be told twice.

“What’s your favourite colour?”

You were caught off guard by his question, blinking like you were trying to figure out if you just imagined him saying him that or if he really did. He blinked back at you but never faltered.

“What?”

He repeated himself, slower this time. “What is your favourite colour?” You blinked again when you realized he was being totally serious. “You know, colours, like a rainbow-”

“I know what colours are, Finnick.”

“Ohhhh.” His eyes got big as if he thought you actually didn’t know what a rainbow was. “Sorry, you were just looking at me like I had said the most absurd thing you’ve ever heard. So what’s your favourite colour?”

You couldn’t stop the corners of your lips going up as his grin just got wider. God, you hadn’t seen him smile like that in so long. It actually looked real.

You thought about it for a second, looking right into his eyes when you came up with an answer. “It’s blue, not really dark or light either. Sort of green- it’s close to grey, too.”

He looked at you for a few seconds before blurting, “Y/N, that sounds like the least vibrant shade of blue I’ve ever heard of.”

You laughed. “It’s vibrant to me!” He laughed, too, shaking his head like you were crazy. That shade of blue that you described was more vibrant than any other blue you’d ever seen. You could never tired of looking at it whenever you looked into Finnick’s eyes.

When the laughter died down, you asked him the same question. “Okay, now what’s your favourite colour?”

He shrugged. “Don’t have one.”

You scoffed, “Oh, come. on. You have to have a favourite colour; you can’t be that boring.”

“That boring? I’m not boring at all,” he argued, a look of faux offence on his face.

You snorted. “I beg to differ.”

“I can make you beg a lot more if you don’t take that back.” Your eyes immediately went wide and, against your will, a faint redness spread on your cheeks.

“What?”

“You heard me,” he said, crossing his arms. He looked pleased at the reaction he got out of you. “Take it back.”

You scoffed again, but you weren’t sure if it was because of your stubbornness or because you wanted to see how far you could push him. “I’m not taking anything back.”

He just stared at you for a few seconds before flashing that famous smirk of his, dimples appearing in his cheeks. “Really?”

You crossed your arms, too, nodding. “Mhm.”

He chuckled. “We’ll see if you still feel that way in the morning.”

And then he spent the rest of the night showing you just how boring he wasn’t.

The day after, you didn’t wake up dejected but instead with a smile on your face. You didn’t get out of bed at all, staying in Finnick’s arms. You felt giddy, like a school girl. There were no thoughts of his lack of feelings for you, Annie, or The Games. You just laid there and enjoyed the moment.

It didn’t even feel like you were pretending.

When Finnick woke up, you did it all over again. You ended up staying in bed all day together, cancelling your plans.

And when the time came to get out of bed, to go back to the real world, the music didn’t go back to normal. It was more upbeat now. You kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, for the beat to drop, but it didn’t.

Finnick didn’t pretend like you two sleeping together never happened. In fact, you two kept doing it almost every day. You actually had conversations during dinner. You learned basic things about him that you hadn’t known in all of the time you were living together.

He made you laugh often. You stopped crying so much.

Is this what happiness feels like? you wondered. If it was, you never wanted anything different. Whatever Finnick felt for you, it didn’t matter. As long as he kept making you happy, it didn’t matter.

You were so in love with him that it stopped mattering if he reciprocated your feelings. You didn’t want anything to ruin this, what you had. Your relationship was the most special thing you’d ever had, even if you didn’t know what to call it, so you were gonna do your damn best to hold onto it.

The things he’d say in front of the cameras felt real, then the things he did when you were alone made you believe it even more. Whatever this was between you, it felt real.

So real.

You were stirring something on the stove when two arms snaked around your waist, tickling you, making a squeal fly from your lips. “Finnick!” You screeched, trying to suppress your giggles as you turned around. The culprit (who was shirtless) didn’t look guilty at all, a shit-eating grin on his face. You shoved his shoulder. “I am trying to cook us breakfast.”

He snorted. “Yeah, trying and failing.” You shoved him again, causing him to laugh. “I’m sorry, you can’t cook!”

You crossed your arms and narrowed your eyes. “I’ll have you know, I can cook very well, actually.”

He wrapped his arms around you again. “You know, you’re cute when you pout.”

“I’m not pouting!” You exclaimed, but a blush still arose on your cheeks that Finnick noticed right away. It was almost like he was always watching for those types of things, always trying to say or do something to get you red.

“You’re even cuter when you blush.”

Your blush worsened, but you weren’t gonna give him the satisfaction of your defeat. “I’m not blushing. We’re in a kitchen, and it’s hot.”

He pulled you closer to him, grin widening. “Don’t lie to yourself, sweetheart, about your blushing or your cooking.” He glanced behind you. “Oh, look, burnt food.”

Your eyes went wide, immediately turning around. You groaned when you saw the brown eggs and the trail of smoke coming from them. “It’s all your fault, Finn, you distracted me.”

He gave your head a kiss, rubbing his hands up and down your arms. “Sure, darling, whatever you say.” Luckily, you were turned away from him so he couldn’t see how your cheeks reddened. You still weren’t used to the pet names, even though Finnick seemed to adore them. “Let’s leave the cooking to me from now on.”

You lightly scoffed, “Whatever.” He kissed your cheek before you started walking away, planning to sit on the couch while you waited for him to cook the food. You didn’t have to look at him to know he was probably smug.

“Who messes up eggs?” he muttered under his breath once you were a few feet away.

“I heard that, Finnick!” you shouted, but he only let out a loud laugh.

You shook your head at him, plopping down onto the couch in the adjoining living room and turning the TV on, but it was really just background noise. You found it much more enticing to watch Finnick cook. The way he moved so swiftly looked effortless; he knew what he was doing, that was sure. And it didn’t help that he was shirtless.

You discreetly stared at him for a while—or, you thought you were being discreet. Without looking up from what he was doing, he teased, “You know that I can feel you ogling at me, right?”

You went red as a tomato. “Shut up, Finnick!” you shrieked, turning back to the TV as if you even knew what was playing. His laugh boomed and you turned up the volume to tune it out, only causing him to laugh even louder.

Even though you were thoroughly embarrassed that he’d caught you staring at him, a smile still found its way onto your face. Around Finnick, it was hard not find a reason to smile.

You’d be content if you didn’t do anything for the rest of your life but wake up to him every day.

You spent many more mornings like that together, and lunches, and dinners, and everything in between. You exchanged jokes and playful banter constantly. Finnick really did make your cheeks hurt.

But he knew when to be serious.

There were still nights when you’d wake up from nightmares, and he’d comfort you back to sleep every time. When you caught him in a nightmare, you’d try your best to repay the favour, even though that didn’t happen often. He rarely wanted you to see him like that, so he hid his nightmares, but you did everything you could to keep him happy while he was awake to make up for it.

When you went to the Capitol, all of the darkness crept back in, squeezing in through the cracks of the walls that you’d built—for both of you. But you kept each other grounded. You weren’t alone.

Once, he had to talk you back from the edge as you had a panic attack in the bathroom. He locked the door and stayed there with you until you calmed down. You told him that you saw someone you hadn’t seen up close in a while, an old patron, and that just opened the floodgates. You saw his hands ball up into fists; he tried to hide the anger on his face, but you saw it and you understood it.

He was angry at the Capitol, and so were you. He’d been through the same things you had, and that made it so much easier to cope, to have someone that understood. He understood for you and you understood for him, and so when things were bad, they at least became more okay. As long as you were there for each other, things were okay.

Meeting Johanna Mason at a later event nearly brought you right back to the brink. Her family was dead, she’d told you. And you wished you hadn’t understood so fast. You wished that none of you ever had to understand these things, that you could’ve stayed kids for longer before childhood was ripped away from you.

It’s not fair, you cried to Finnick. He killed her family. She said no, and he killed her family.

He let you cry on his shoulder, rubbing his hand up and down your back as he whispered, I know. It’s not fair, I know. But it was the world you lived in, and, unfortunately, neither of you had the power to do anything about it, even though you were the so called Prince and Princess of Panem.

So you did what you could. You were there for Johanna like how you were there for Finnick when you still didn’t know him. Both of you were there for her, teaching her the moves to your dance so she could dance with you while you were all at the Capitol together.

She was brutally honest, maybe even rude to the average onlooker, but it was what The Games did to her. Finnick and you understood that, and that led to you both forming a friendship with her. Coping with other people, people who understood, was the best painkiller that not even money could provide.

The Games were the hardest, but you went through that together, too. You trained those tributes with everything you had. You tried your best, but sometimes, not even that was enough to keep them alive. Finnick and you would grieve together. At times, he was more rational than you, reminding you that it wasn’t your fault, that these were games made to kill.

Whatever you went through, you went through it together. The good days, the bad days, the laughs, the tears—you were together every step of the way.

Things went like this for years. You really were a team, and nothing could convince you otherwise this time. You loved him more and more each day, but you never told him that; you didn’t need to, and you didn’t need him to love you, either. Being there, being together was good enough.

Your song never got old. You were so in sync as you danced. Oh, you never would’ve thought that Finnick Odair of all people would not only make your life bearable, but also joyful.

You were fake boyfriend and girlfriend, and yeah those lines started to blur, but you also became best friends over time.

Finnick and you lied together in bed, the TV going on in the background. Your head was on his chest as he pet your hair. It was your seventh time doing this mentor thing, but it never seemed to get easier.

Your tributes were promising, but they still died early on, even though you both got them as many sponsors as you could. Mentors were usually down in the lobby, talking to sponsors and watching The Games with everyone else, but after your tributes died, there was no point.

So you went upstairs, and you both just lied there. It was one of those times where neither of you had to say anything. You were together, alive together, and that was enough.

Listening to Finnick’s heartbeat could calm you down in any situation. You must’ve been doing something to help him, too, because his heartbeat was steady. You stayed like that for a bit until he moved a bit, murmuring under his breath, “What?”

He sat up, making you sit up, too, while he grabbed the remote, turning the volume up. You glanced at it and the scene immediately caught your attention. You heard the last bits of what the announcer was saying, that a rule about two victors was being annulled. Your brows furrowed; you must not have seen the part where any such thing was declared.

You recognized the tributes who you quickly realized were the last people left standing. They were the kids from district 12, the Girl on Fire and the boy in love with her.

You scoffed. “Of course, they want the star-crossed lovers to battle to the death.” You were about to turn away, refusing to indulge in the Capitol’s bullshit, but Finnick grabbed onto your arm.

“Wait.”

You stopped, turning back. The girl, Katniss, had a bow and arrow in her hands. Peeta was a few steps away from her. They were both staring at each other, Katniss looking like she didn’t know what do, but Peeta looked like he already accepted that he was going to die.

You didn’t want to watch this, watch two people fall apart on television, but for some reason, this had captured Finnick’s attention.

One of us should go home, he said. One of us has to die; they have to have their victor. Katniss was already shaking her head.

No. She dropped her arrow to the ground, walking forward. They don’t.

You tilted your head, but you understood what was happening when she pulled a handful of berries from her pocket. “Holy shit.”

Peeta grabbed her hand, rejecting the idea immediately, but she whispered, Trust me. He must’ve really been in love with her, because he did. She poured some berries into the palm of his hand, making you lean closer.

“You don’t think they’re gonna…” you trailed off, puzzled. There were people that’d killed themselves in past games, but this had never happened. There was always a victor.

Peeta hesitated, but looked sure when he looked back into Katniss’ eyes. Together? he mumbled.

She repeated his words. Together. She looked up for a second, and then you suddenly recognized the look on her face. This was a bluff.

They counted down from three, and just as they were gonna bring the berries to their mouths, the announcer frantically cut in, Stop- stop! He cleared his throat. Ladies and gentlemen, may I present the winners… of the 74th Annual Hunger Games.

Relief flooded into Katniss’ eyes as she embraced Peeta in a hug. Shock flowed through you, and Finnick’s expression was no different.

Once you had processed the information, you couldn’t help the grin that grew on your face, disbelief and pride filling you at the same time. “They just screwed the Capitol.”

You turned to see him smirking. “Hell yeah, they did.”

And this made your Hunger Games experience just a little bit better.

Neither of you were surprised that Seneca Crane was found dead days later. He made a grave mistake, letting two victors win. Snow wouldn’t have that, and you could guess why.

What Katniss and Peeta did was causing chatter, sparking hope. People in district 4 were more hush-hush about it, but outlying districts, like 11, had gone into revolts. The Capitol must’ve been stressed, and knowing that brought you some sick form of comfort.

Katniss and Peeta were spinning their actions, making them out to be this act of love, like they couldn’t bear to live without each other, but you and Finnick saw right through it. After all, if there was anyone who could spot a fake relationship, it was you two.

However, the two love-birds flew from your mind when you got home. You were brought back to your little world, living life alongside Finnick. The urge grew to ask him what you were, if you were still in a fake relationship just like Katniss and Peeta or if this was real, as real as you felt it was, but you didn’t wanna mess up the one good thing you had going.

The truth was, you don’t know how long you would’ve made it without him.

Finnick was your lifeline, and he had no idea.

The next time you were at the Capitol, you were in the Presidential Palace for the so called biggest party of the year. It was always hosted right before the Hunger Games, so being there gave you many things to be anxious about.

But, like always, you concealed it, smiling and shaking hands with the people you came across, even as you were disgusted. Some of these people, the very people who paid for your body at sixteen, were there with their families. You wondered how they could have children and still do what they did.

You were a child, too.

Normally, Finnick would be there to calm you down, but he snuck off somewhere without telling you.

You were wandering around, trying to find him when a head of brown hair streaked with red came into your view. “Hey, Princess.”

A sigh left your lips, both out of relief that you found someone you knew and discontent at the nickname. “Hey, Jo.” You would usually make conversation with her, but you were pretty distracted, glancing around behind her. “Have you seen Finnick anywhere? I’ve been looking for him for a while now.”

When you looked back to her, a look you couldn’t decipher flashed across her face, but it was gone in an instant. “No, can’t say I have.”

For some reason, you got a weird feeling from her. It was almost like she knew something that you didn’t.

“Hey, why don’t we go grab a bite while we wait for him?” She suggested, gesturing to the buffet. “I’m starving.”

You shook your head, dazed. “I’ll catch up with you- I’m just gonna go to the bathroom.”

She perked up. “I’ll go with you.”

You were quick to decline. “No, that’s fine; go eat. I’ll be back in a sec.” She was hesitant for reasons you couldn’t fathom, but she eventually nodded, agreeing to meet you later.

You walked through the halls, passing the bathrooms and not even sparing them a glance. You didn’t really know why you lied about where you were going, but in that moment, it felt like instinct. You trusted Johanna, but you were catching the same weird vibe from countless other people. All you wanted was to find Finnick and have him tell you everything was alright.

You didn’t have to look long before you found him, outside along with many other partygoers. But he wasn’t alone. Standing next to him was a man you’d just recently seen on TV. You just couldn’t remember his name.

You made your way over to them. They cut themselves off as soon as they saw you, not letting you overhear a single detail of whatever they were talking about. You stifled the reappearance of that weird feeling that was starting to feel a lot like suspicion. “Sorry to interrupt, gentlemen.”

Finnick waved you off, “No, it’s fine, sweetheart.” He pulled you into his side, kissing your temple. “This is Plutarch Heavensbee.” A lightbulb went off in your head as you looked to the man.

He was Seneca Crane’s replacement.

What the hell was Finnick doing talking to him?

“It’s an honour and a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Y/L/N,” he greeted, holding his hand out. There was something about him that was throwing you off, not just your revelation of who he was, but you still shook his hand.

“Pleasure’s mine, Mr. Heavensbee,” you replied, smiling your umpteenth fake smile of the night. But you had an inkling that no one in the Capitol was as genuine as they seemed.

Plutarch didn’t try to stay and make small talk like the rest of the people you encountered at the Capitol, bidding you both farewell and wishing you a good night. Something told you his departure had something to do with your arrival.

Once he was out of earshot, you turned in Finnick’s arms. “Was that the new head Gamemaker?” He nodded, but didn’t offer any explanation. You furrowed your brows. “What were you talking about?”

Finnick shrugged nonchalantly, but for some reason, he seemed tense. “He wanted to meet the youngest victor of The Games.”

You found that hard to believe, holding back a scoff. “Well, he didn’t seem too interested in meeting me.”

A smile arose on his face as he wrapped his arms back around your waist. “That is because you, darling, are not the youngest person to ever win.”

This time, you did scoff, but the tense atmosphere dissipated. “You’re a dick.”

“You love me.” Your heart nearly stopped, but you kept your composure. You did love him, more than he’d ever know.

You shook your head, acting unaffected. “C’mon, Johanna’s waiting for us by the buffet.” You tried walking away, but your faux façade of annoyance was broken by Finnick latching onto your hand and walking forward with you, chuckling.

And then the entire matter of everyone’s weird behaviour was pushed to the back of your mind.

Returning home from the Capitol was always peaceful, like a weight being lifted off your shoulders, but this time was unlike any of those other times. When you got home, the so called peace that the Capitol so delicately crafted was ripping at the seams.

The chatter from before, from when Katniss and Peeta defied the Capitol, was louder than ever. They had just gone on their victor’s tour, right before you left for the Presidential Palace, and they had apparently sparked a reaction in just about every district they visited, yours included.

You found out that district 4 had been in a revolt since Everdeen and Mellark came and gave their speech. The people were outraged. The news talked about seafood shortages due to bad weather, but the Capitol just didn’t want to let Panem know what was going on, that people were refusing work, that Peacekeepers were murdering innocent people left and right for the smallest of incidents.

When you were all caught up with what had happened, you were furious, too. You wanted to march out onto the streets and give the Capitol the finger, but Finnick pulled you back.

“What are you gonna do, Y/N?” he questioned, not even giving you the time to answer. “You don’t even know.”

Your voice was vicious as you responded, a tone you’d never given him. You were angry, and you both knew you weren’t thinking clearly; you just didn’t care. “I don’t know right now, but I’m gonna do something, Finnick.” You tried pulling your arm away, but he was much stronger than you.

“I’m not gonna let you go out there and get yourself killed.” You could tell by his demeanour that he was angry, but not for the same reasons that you were.

You shook your head. “You of all people should understand where I’m coming from.”

His eyes went hard. “You must not know me well if you think I’d let my girlfriend kill herself.” That shut you up.

His girlfriend.

He called you his girlfriend.

You got over the shock and, suddenly, you were even more angry than before. While you could pretend all you wanted to that you lived in candy-land, the cruel reality was still there. Finnick didn’t love you. He was only playing with your emotions.

Tears built up in your eyes: sad tears, angry tears—they were everything tears. You felt everything. “I’m your girlfriend now?”

He scoffed, “Oh, come on, Y/N. You can’t be serious right now.”

“I am so serious right now.”

At your deadpan, he finally let go of your arm, running a hand through his hair. A part of you felt bad that he was so stressed, but you were stressed, too. He looked like he was trying to figure out what to say when he looked back up at you. His voice was no longer harsh, but small. “Y/N, please.”

You swallowed.

“I’m just asking you to trust me.” He grabbed onto your hands. “Please just trust me.” He was begging you.

“Trust you to do what?”

“I just need you to trust me, Y/N, please.” He held your hands tighter. “Trust me.”

Oh, it didn’t matter how angry you were, if your thoughts were set in stone. Finnick would still be able to mold you like clay. Every time.

“I trust you.”

There was something different about him, but you were too distracted to try and figure it out.

There were so many things going on.

You were with Annie when it happened. Oh, that must have been some cruel joke from the universe. You were walking through the town square, on your way to Victors’ Village with pastries from the bakery in your hands. You were slowed down by the all of the people congregating together, watching the screen.

President Snow was announcing the third Quarter Quell, and they were eating it up. You weren’t gonna do that, entertain his lunacy. You’d go the Capitol and play your role, but you weren’t gonna watch these broadcasts anymore. You weren’t gonna play along.

Finnick could explain it to you later so you’d be able to prep your tributes. The Quells were always made out to be the hallmark of The Games; they were always harder. You felt for whatever kids would have to go through them.

You felt a lot more once you realized who these tributes were gonna be.

You weren’t listening to what Snow was was saying, but his words cut through any sort of mental block you had. “On this, the third Quarter Quell Games, the male and female tributes are… to be reaped from the existing pool of victors in each district.”

Your stopped walking as if you’d hit a wall, the stuff in your hands falling the ground, but it was almost like you didn’t hear it. You stopped hearing anything, not Snow explaining the condition or everyone’s gasps. Your ears rang. Everything was muffled like you were underwater.

You were done. You were supposed to be done. You went through those Games, you won, and now you were supposed to be done.

He was gonna make you go through it all over again.

You were so shocked that you pinched yourself, like you were a child and this was some nightmare, and even though you didn’t wake up, even though you knew you were awake, you were still caught in a nightmare that you’d have to die to escape from.

Your senses came back to you and you spun around, pulling Annie into a tight hug the second you saw the tears streaming down her face. She muttered the same thing over and over into your shoulder.

“This can’t be happening, this can’t be happening, this can’t be happening.”

She couldn’t go through this again. The Games broke her beyond repair. She couldn’t mentor because of it; she could barely ever attend any of the Capitol parties you and Finnick frequented. She would die in that arena, either mentally or physically.

You couldn’t let that happen.

Your song played on a loop in your mind, making the decision for you. You were reminded that, even though your dance may have changed, Finnick didn’t love you. He loved Annie, and he would be destroyed if she died.

You couldn’t let that happen.

You couldn’t let Mags go back into the arena, either. He needed her. These were the only people he cared about; you couldn’t let them go through this.

Then and there, you decided your fate.

You were gonna be the one to go back into the arena, and no one was gonna stop you.

When you and Annie had made it to your house, ignoring all of the looks of pity thrown your way, Finnick looked just as beaten down as you, but not surprised. You didn’t have time to analyze that.

He hugged Annie first, shooting you an apologetic look, but you didn’t understand what it was for. You knew what Annie meant to him.

You weren’t so deluded that you’d believe you came before her. Besides, she needed to be consoled more than you did. You were calm. Annie was lost right now, but you knew exactly where you were headed.

That night, once Annie left, your clothes came off, and you and Finnick had the softest sex you ever had. It was gentle, and you let yourself feel loved one last time. You let yourself be selfish and have this one thing, just one last time.

You knew that the odds of coming out of that arena were slim, so you kissed Finnick like you were gonna die the very next day. I just might, you thought. And then as you fell asleep in his arms, you pretended that everything was alright. You pretended that your dance wasn’t gonna end so soon, that you weren’t gonna sign your life away when you woke up, that Finnick really loved you, that he loved you just as much as you loved him. You pretended one last time.

The next day, you and all of the other victors walked to the Hall of Justice, escorted by a dozen Peacekeepers. There were so many male tributes. As terrible as it sounded, you were praying that it’d be one of them that was chosen, not Finnick. If he was, then you would throw away any chance you had of winning.

If he went in with you, then he’d be the one walking out.

Cassia Locke stood in the middle of the stage, in between the male and female victors. You found it funny, almost: you were victors, but now the Capitol was gonna rip that refuge away after they’d already taken everything from you.

Cassia was just another mutt in your eyes. She was district 4’s Capitol escort; she was meant to be an advisor, but she didn’t do that well, not for you or the other tributes you mentored. But you supposed you couldn’t be too surprised. Her job was to make spectacles, not survivors.

However, she almost looked human for a moment, glancing at the women sympathetically before she pulled out a folded paper from the bowl. You stood on edge; there were only three of you. Unbeknownst to you, Finnick also stood straighter in trepidation.

She cleared her throat, announcing, “The female tribute for the 75th Annual Hunger Games and third Quarter Quell is… Annie Cresta.”

Annie’s face fell, but you quickly stepped forward. “I volunteer as tribute.”

“Y/N, what are you doing?” Annie whispered, putting a hand on your shoulder, but you brushed her off and ignored her.

Cassia nodded. “Very well, then.” She moved back to the bowl. “Now for the males.”

You glanced over to see that Finnick was already looking at you, an unknown emotion written all over his face, though you realized what it was quickly. Betrayal.

You were confused why. If anything, he should’ve been relieved.

“The male tribute for the 75th Annual Hunger Games will be…” she unfolded the paper, “Finnick Odair.”

Your heart dropped. That wasn’t supposed to happen.

The universe must’ve hated you.

Finnick’s mask was back on. Any trace of emotion on his face was erased and replaced with the cocky, charming façade that he’d perfected. He smirked as if he wasn’t just chosen for the most brutal “game” there ever was, like there was nothing to be worried about.

He was so good at pretending. Maybe even better than you.

You both walked toward the centre of the stage simultaneously, routinely. You’ve danced this dance before.

“Ladies and gentlemen, our tributes for the Hunger Games.”

Right after that, Peacekeepers came from the side, trying to grab at your arms, but you shook them off. “We know where to go,” you said. You don’t know if it was the your tone of voice or the look on your face, but they actually listened.

You were escorted into an inactive chamber, the same one you were brought to for your first Games. Memories flashed through your mind before you shook them away. You couldn’t get PTSD right before you went into this.

Finnick was stoic as he stared you, but before either of you could say anything, Mags and Annie came rushing into the room. Annie took you by surprise, immediately engulfing you tightly.

She was still crying, but manage to blubber out through her tears, “Why- why would you do that?”

You rubbed her back. “Annie-”

“Why would you do that for me? It was supposed to be me. Supposed to be me, supposed to be me.” She kept repeating herself over and over, shaking in your arms.

From the corner of your eye, you saw Finnick and Mags watching you. “It’s gonna be okay, Annie,” you told her, but you knew it was a lie. “I’m gonna be fine.” You weren’t.

As if she knew this, she only cried harder. You didn’t know what else to say, so you just kept rubbing her back, hoping that she’d calm down. Eventually, she stopped shaking, but tears kept flowing from her eyes like a waterfall. She tried to wipe them away, but they just kept coming.

She sniffled, going over to hug Finnick, then hugging you one last time before she left. “Take care of each other- please,” she asked, and you weren’t thinking of doing anything but.

You nodded, assuring her that you would do just that. Mags hugged you, saying the words she couldn’t express through her gaze. You could tell that neither of them wanted to leave, but they had to.

Only one of you was gonna come back, and that was gonna be hard to come to terms with.

They left, and then it was just you and Finnick. The music kept playing, and playing, and playing, and you weren’t sure you could take it anymore. You didn’t want to hear this song ever again if it could be your last time listening.

If you could have it your way, you’d dance together until the end of time. But forever was never promised, not in the world you lived in.

The silence, however, felt like it lasted a forever in the moment, so you broke it. “Can you say something?” Finnick just kept staring at you in a way he had never looked at you before. The music got louder. Tears came to your eyes. “Please.”

Maybe he took pity on you, because he did say something. You just weren’t sure if it was any better than the silence. “Why would you do that?” His voice was cold.

You felt cold.

You swallowed. “Finn-”

“Why would you volunteer?” He stepped closer to you, so much venom seeping through his tone that you thought you were gonna be sick. “Annie was going to go-”

You cut him off, throwing your hands up. “You saw her, Finnick. She’s a mess.”

“She was going to be fine-”

“She can’t go through The Games again!” You shouted, losing it. Why was he berating you as if you didn’t just save the love of his life? “It would kill whatever part of her is left.”

“She would’ve been fine. You would’ve been fine-”

“God, why do you care about what happens to me? Annie’s gonna be okay—you’re gonna be able to come home to her and build the family you’ve always wanted-”

He snapped. “You’re my family!” You recoiled like he just hit you with his words. It was like you’d been doused in cold water. Finnick sighed, running a hand through his hair. There was a beat where neither of you said anything, letting his revelation soak in.

But you didn’t know what that meant.

When he spoke up again, his voice was quieter. He didn’t look like the Finnick that smirked up on that stage; he looked defeated, not triumphant. “You’re my family, Y/N. Don’t you get that?” He looked back up at you. “I could’ve protected Annie in that arena, and you would’ve been safe, here—not there with me.”

You shook your head. “There is no protecting someone in an arena- you and I know that best.” You let a tear fall, smiling sadly. “You’re gonna come home, Finnick-”

“Stop.”

“You’re gonna come home and you’re gonna live a long life with Annie-”

“Stop it.”

“You have people to take care of. I don’t.”

“Y/N, stop it.”

Another tear. “You deserve this-”

“Stop it.” Finnick grabbed onto your shoulders. You didn’t even know he got so close. “I’m not gonna let you die in there. Do you hear me? You’re not dying.”

“Only one of us is coming back, Finn. It’s gonna be you.”

You don’t know if your eyes were just really that blurry or if there were actually tears in his eyes, too. “No, you are coming home-”

“Finni-”

He grabbed you tighter. “We are both coming home.” The dam in your eyes broke, and all of the tears you were trying to hold came flooding down your cheeks.

Why was he saying these things? He knew it was impossible.

“We are both coming home, Y/N, I swear,” he promised, but these were promises he couldn’t keep. These were things he couldn’t control. Why was he lying to you- why was he lying to himself?

You wanted to say all these things, to scream, to tell him that it wasn’t true, that you were going to die. But then you remembered every other time you lied in bed together, every time you kissed and held each other. You’ve been lying to yourself all along, pretending you could have a future together when, deep down, you knew that wasn’t the case.

So you held everything in, pulling Finnick to you and hugging him with everything you had. You were gonna let him pretend, just this last time.

You were gonna dance together one last time.

You spent the entire train ride in each other’s arms, only getting up to eat and go to the bathroom before getting back in bed. You didn’t have mentors—you were the mentors. You’d been here before already, and that was surreal in and of itself.

You thought you already won. But nobody ever won, did they?

Those games killed everyone, victors included.

The press was insane, but just as you expected it. You were the Prince and Princess of Panem; they didn’t want to watch you die. Turns out, people in the Capitol did have hearts; clearly, they weren’t all too functional.

This visit, in more ways than one, was completely different from any other time you’d been in the city. Instead of the graceful show you normally put on, waving and smiling, you were much more mute. You were gonna die, anyway, so what was the point of continuing to be a puppet?

Finnick was still his usual self, smirky and arrogant, but even his anger snuck through the cracks of his act. All of you were angry, all of the victors. You could tell just by the mere glances you’d gotten of them, by the news coverage. Nobody wanted to go into an arena and kill people, not even the Careers (who you’d admit were pretty crazy).

However, this was all still a show to the Capitol, with you as the unlucky cast. And the show had to go on.

You and Finnick were separated to be prepped by the “glam teams.” The first time around, you remember being scared, but now you were just bored.

You were sitting idly in the dressing room, waiting for your designer when a man walked in, making you raise a brow.

This was a designer, but not your designer.

“Wait, I know you.” You tilted your head as his face became more familiar to you. “You’re Cinna- you designed those outfits with the fire.”

Cinna nodded in a way that you perceived as both humble and prideful at the same time. “It’s wonderful to meet you, Princess.”

This elicited a bitter chuckle from you. “Please, call me Y/N.” You then stood up to shake his hand when your curiosity sparked. “Aren’t you Katniss’ designer?”

“Yes, but I’m also going to be designing your outfits, as well,” he replied. “The head Gamemaker requested it. You are the Princess, after all.”

The corners of your lips went up. Most people you met at the Capitol would beat around the bush, but this guy didn’t seem shy. It was refreshing. You teased, “Ah, and since I’m a princess, I get Panem’s best to dress me?”

Cinna chuckled a bit under his breath, but didn’t confirm or deny your comment. He dived straight into his plans, explaining what he wanted to for you with a twinkle in his eye that you noticed most artists had when speaking about their work. “I want to stay true to the district 4 theme, but I want to make a statement.”

“Yeah, I had a feeling.”

He smiled. “We’re gonna show the Capitol that they can’t control you.”

And then your little smile turned into a grin.

Cinna did not disappoint. You were in a golden, long-sleeve, grid shirt with holes where the squares were supposed to be; your velvet skirt was a dark blueish-green, skin-tight; and atop your head was a golden crown, decorated with blue jewels.

Of course, it wasn’t a normal outfit, but you were gonna save the theatrics for the parade.

Finnick was around somewhere, likely causing trouble while you were walking around, looking for Johanna. However, you ended up running into someone else.

“Peeta,” you called, and he turned around. He immediately reminded you of Finnick, a mask of charm hiding him. Although Peeta had only been at this for a year, he already knew how to play the game, unlike Katniss who was rather unapproachable.

“Y/N,” he greeted. He scrambled for something to say for a few seconds. “I heard about how you volunteered for that girl. It was really brave.”

You hummed, almost sarcastically. “You don’t have to suck up to me—it’s not like I bite.”

He got red, making you stifle a laugh. “That’s, uh- that’s not what I meant-”

“It’s fine, I get it,” you waved it off. “It’s probably intimidating to be here around all of us, just a year after you won.” He didn’t say anything, just awkwardly smiled. “You know, you don’t have to be scared. You have a lot of power ‘round here; you just need to learn how to wield it.”

He gave you a confused look, so you elaborated, “There’s power in the masses, Peeta. The people here love you.” You paused. “Use that.”

A look of realization crossed his face, and so you decided that you said all you needed to say. He thanked you, but his mind looked to be elsewhere. You nodded, then walked off to find your carriage.

Sure, the Capitol could try and treat you all like pieces on a chess board, but if you got rid of the board altogether, then there would be no game to play. You spoke to Peeta to help him realize that. It didn’t matter if you were all meant to be on different sides; until you got into that arena, you were all one team, and you were gonna try your hardest to stop The Games before they began.

If that didn’t work, then you would just have to concede. One way or another, you would make sure that Finnick made it out of that arena alive. Peeta reminded you an awful lot of him, and while you would otherwise be rooting for him, you would choose Finnick if it came down to it.

You met Finnick at the chariot not long after leaving Peeta. He was shirtless, wearing a skirt similar to your top, rope around his wrists like bracelets. If you weren’t about to go into this stupid parade, you would’ve probably been making out already, but you were far too worried to think about that.

You had Cinna to thank for calming your nerves, giving you something to look forward to. Once the parade had started and you were coming through, you pressed the button of the device he had given you and then your top went up in flames, disintegrating until you were just in a black bralette, revealing the swirls of blue they painted on your arms, resembling waves. The rope around Finnick’s wrists caught fire, too, burning up until there was nothing there.

The crowd cheered, chanting your names. The faintest of smirks grew on your lips, but you really had to stifle your enjoyment when you saw Snow staring your carriage down.

What you did symbolized freeing yourself of the shackles of the Capitol, of these stupid Games. They could try, but they wouldn’t control you.

You would’ve usually felt some sort of fear- hell, you were never so defiant just in fear of what they would do to you. But what more could they do to you? They were already going to kill you. You didn’t care anymore.

After the parade, you ran into Johanna who gave you a good laugh as she told you how she stripped in the elevator. You would’ve paid good money to see it, that was for sure. You also talked to a few other victors on your way back to your suite.

You’d been friends with many of these people for years and now the Capitol was just gonna try and pit you against each other. None of you were looking forward to that—you were friends. But that didn’t mean you couldn’t make any allies.

Alliances didn’t last forever in the arena, but they lasted long enough. Considering your status, almost everyone wanted you and your “boyfriend” as allies; they certainly didn’t want you as enemies.

The next day was spent at the training centre, a brand new one made specially for the Quarter Quell. The thought made you roll your eyes. The Capitol would spend their money on things like this and yet there were still kids out there starving. What kind of world was that? One that you were okay with leaving, so long as Finnick would remain in it.

On your way in, you passed Cashmere and Gloss throwing knives at holograms. They were good, you noted, but not better at it than you. Johanna was off practicing by herself—though you were sure that she was doing it more so to release her pent-up aggression. Wiress and Beetee, Nuts and Volts as Jo called them, were by themselves, much less violent than everyone else here and much more strategic. Finnick was tying knots, looking more bored than anything. And you… you weren’t doing anything.

You leaned back on a wall, watching the other tributes instead of joining them. You didn’t care about the rankings or making yourself look dangerous. You didn’t have anything to prove; you did that already, and you really didn’t need to “practice,” either.

You’ve danced this dance before.

However, not everyone was so aware of just how well you danced last time.

“Not practicing?” You turned your head, seeing the newest victor walking up to you, donning her famous hairstyle. The corners of your lips quirked up in amusement.

She must have been told to make friends. You couldn’t imagine it was working out so well if she was coming to you.

“Don’t need to, Everdeen,” you replied, shrugging. “I don’t need the spotlight; got enough of that.”

She lightly snorted. “Yeah, I know what that’s like.” And you didn’t doubt that. Katniss had definitely captured the attention of Panem with her actions, and she certainly acquired the attention of the Capitol. Snow couldn’t have been her biggest fan.

In another life, you could picture you and her being friends, but you knew it wasn’t gonna happen in this one.

“You’re lucky, you know,” you said. You knew she didn’t see that way, and maybe it was a little bitter of you to say that, but it was true. At least she hadn’t been under the spotlight long enough for it to burn her like it’d burned you.

She scoffed, “How so?” The girl had restraint, you’d give her that. She clearly wanted to say a lot more than that, but she was smart. She knew better.

You shrugged again. “You just are.” And you left it there. If she wanted all the dirty details about you, she could try her luck with one of the other victors, but you doubted she sensed the real meaning of your words. She hadn’t been dancing long enough to even hear the song yet.

A dramatic sigh then escaped your lips. “Ah, though I suppose even your luck can only run so far, Girl on Fire. So sorry about your wedding.” The sarcasm in your voice was toned down just enough that it wasn’t so evident but evident enough to make your point.

She gave you a tense smile, although you weren’t sure if any of Katniss’ smiles ever weren’t tense. “Thanks,” she responded with zero sincerity in her tone. “I’m sorry you and Finnick never had one, either. Would’ve been a real royal occasion.”

You hummed, smiling your royal smile back at her. The Kat has claws, you thought. But you didn’t really feel like standing here and trading subliminals with her all day; you’d have enough of that with everyone else, anyway.

You left it at that, going to walk away before pausing as if you’d forgotten something. “Tell Haymitch I said hi.” You gave her a once over. “He’s done a good job.” And then you walked away.

Finnick’s voice rang through your head: May the odds be ever in your favour, darling. You almost felt like recycling that line and repeating it to Katniss, but you had already messed with her enough.

Your demeanour was in stark contrast of how you normally behaved. You may have been more agreeable or kind at home, sweet on cameras, but in this territory, you had an entirely different reputation. Sharp, cunning, unpredictable—ruthless. That’s the way it needed to be if you wanted to survive, or at least survive long enough to do what you needed to do.

So, you supposed that you had a mask, too.

You all did.

When you got back to your suite later in the evening, Finnick informed you of Katniss’ display with her bow and arrow, how she had renowned victors quaking in their boots, but people were even more scared of you, and you hadn’t even done anything at training.

You basically had the entire pool of tributes to choose from for an alliance. You were choosing Johanna, of course, and Finnick already had his mind made up on his pick.

Making his way over to you, he tossed you something that you swiftly caught before sitting down on the armchair across from the sofa you were sitting on. You looked down, opening your hand to see a golden pendant, a medallion with a rose in the middle.

You raised a brow. This wasn’t a present. “A rose?”

“They’re a Capitol favourite.” Precisely why you hated them.

“Alright, and why are you giving it to me?”

Finnick brought his wrist up, showing you a golden bracelet made of vines while wiggling his fingers. “They’re gifts,” he told you, “from Effie Trinket and Haymitch Abernathy.”

You were familiar with both people. Effie Trinket was crazy, but that wasn’t the dominant thought on your mind. “Gifts for what?”

He answered, “They’ve brokered an alliance with us on behalf of Katniss and Peeta.” At that, you groaned, but Finnick readily cut you off. “This will be good for us, Y/N.”

“They’re brand new to this,” you countered. Sure, you liked the spark that the Girl on Fire had, and Peeta was quite the catch, but they only won a year ago. The Careers would be a better pick, even though you didn’t exactly like them, either.

“Yes, but they’re good; you’ve seen them. And the Capitol’s gonna love it, the two pairs of lovers together. C’mon, you know all this.” You did. You knew that this was one of the best avenues to take, but something in you was against it.

Maybe it was just that Peeta reminded you of the man you were in love with, and Katniss reminded you of yourself. But right now, you had to remind yourself to think with your head, not your heart. You needed to disregard your feelings and do whatever it took to win this.

To you, winning didn’t mean surviving this. Winning meant that Finnick did.

So, with a sigh, you surrendered, agreeing to this little deal. “So, these accessories are, what? Bargaining chips?”

He smirked. “No, they’re symbols. Katniss and Peeta have theirs, too.”

You chuckled, shaking your head and mocking, “So we’re in a little golden alliance, then?”

“It appears so, darling.”

After a little more conversation, Finnick and you headed off to bed, even though neither of you could really sleep. You held each other, though, and so the insomnia was bearable. He told you to stow the necklace away, that you were saving the objects for The Games. Apparently, Katniss and Peeta still needed a little persuasion for this, especially the former.

She was smart not to trust you, but she was equally as naive for the same reason. If you wanted to, you could be judgemental all day, but you didn’t have the time for it, so your mind didn’t linger on the subject.

When you were waiting to be assessed the next day with the rest of the tributes, your mind didn’t really linger on anything. You felt numb: not pleased, not sad, just numb. If you could pin-point an emotion, it had to be anger, but that feeling hadn’t left you since your first Games.

Finnick, on the other hand, looked no different, maybe even a little amused by the tension in the room, too amused for somebody who had to go back to the arena. But Finnick was always one to look a challenge into the eye and, instead of looking away, give it a wink. That was his persona while you were here, in the Capitol, so you’d let him indulge in it if that’s what made him feel better.

You’d do anything for him, even if he didn’t love you back.

He went into the room first. You didn’t know exactly what he was gonna do, but you knew that you were all basically doing the same thing. Plutarch Heavensbee may have been new, but even he knew who you all were. You’ve all shown your skills already, been here already, danced this dance already.

The song was getting old.

You were all giving your own personal fuck you to the Capitol.

When Finnick walked out, he flashed you a smirk that almost made you laugh. You stifled a smile as you walked into the room yourself, but it was quickly wiped off your face as memories played in your head like a movie.

You remembered the first time you did this, coming in and saying your name, scared out of your mind but ready to win, ready to impress the sponsors.

Now, you didn’t have to say your name. You caught their attention as soon as you walked in. You were the Princess. You needed no introduction.

It was funny, though, how that imaginary crown couldn’t save you from this.

The thought of your inevitable death was what fuelled you. You were known for your abilities with a sword, but that wasn’t what you reached for. You reached for the jug of gasoline and a lighter, immediately opening it and pouring in a circle in the middle of the room before stepping into it.

Then you looked right up at all of them and their confused faces, and threw the open lighter to the liquid in front of you, igniting a circle of fire around you.

You stared right at the head Gamemaker as you did it, expressionless. His expression told you that he got the message, or at least your hostility.

You would burn this place to the ground if you had to, even if you got burned while doing it.

When the flames got smaller, you turned and stepped over them, walking out of the room without another glance or word to the Capitol mutts. As far as you were concerned, they weren’t worth your time—you were running out of that, anyways.

Once the assessments were over, all any of you had time to do was get ready for the show. Caesar wasn’t exactly a face you wanted to see right now. Maybe he saw his enthusiasm as a way of “calming the tributes down,” but it was really just his lack of empathy. You didn’t need him cheering and practically gossiping about your death before it happened.

As much as the people in the Capitol liked to think of these Games as games, they weren’t. They were your lives. But you really could spend days obsessing over it, days that you didn’t have.

It was time to dance, and there was nothing you did better.

You were backstage, standing with Finnick and Johanna, waiting your turns. Cinna had made you very pretty. He was good at what he did.

You were wearing a dark blue dress with wide straps tied into blue bows at your shoulders and a sweetheart neckline. The bottom half was pretty fitted, but it was covered by a sparkly, golden, A-line, hoop petticoat made of the same material as your top from the parade, gridded with holes like before. And of course, your crown sat atop your head—Cinna insisted.

He really wanted to nail the whole Princess thing, milk it for all it was worth. And you let him, because his designs were great. Part of you wished you could’ve gotten more into fashion; now you’d never get the chance to.

You couldn’t blame Katniss for being so stand-offish. You’d be intimidated, too, if you were new to the club, watching from the sidelines. You, Finnick, and Johanna didn’t really seem all too approachable right now, either, even the ever so charming Odair. They were exchanging jokes and laughing at the interviews, mocking them, while you were rather stoic, observing the interviews watchfully.

Cashmere and Gloss went first, of course. They did theirs together since they were brother and sister. It was odd to you, how two siblings managed to get reaped together out of all the victors district 1 had, but you were paying more attention to the act they were putting on.

Casmere was sobbing. She’s a much better killer than she is an actor, you thought, but the people in the audience clearly bought it. You’d give her credit, though; you were all trying your best to get this thing cancelled, even if that was highly unlikely.

Next came the two crazy Careers who made Gloss’ acting look world class. Then Beetee went on stage, using logic as a tactic rather than emotion. Smart, but logic wouldn’t sway President Snow’s wishes. The Capitol sent innocent kids off to die every year in a televised event to pay for something that happened years before any of them were born—logic was obviously not their strong suit.

Wiress went next, and that’s basically when you tuned out. She was pretty out of it, not really saying much. Finnick was going after her. That’s what occupied your thoughts.

“Hey, you alright?” Your were snapped out of your daze by the very man you were thinking about, as if he was reading your mind. Those blue eyes that you loved so much stared down at you, concern swimming through them.

Those ocean eyes. You could drown in them.

You cleared your throat, straightening your shoulders. “Yeah, I’m good.” He continued to stare down at you like he was completely unconvinced, but before he could say anything, they were calling his name.

He cursed under his breath then placed a soft kiss on your temple before having to walk out on stage, that famous smirk on his face. He was so good at that, at going from hard to soft so easily, cursing to kissing you.

He was good. He was real good, and he was a much better actor than any other tribute here. He was so good that he could make even you believe his performance.

You watched them from the TV backstage. “Finnick,” Caesar started. “As I recall, the last time we spoke, it was with your other half, who is here today.” The crowd cheered.

Finn nodded, smiling tensely, which you were sure he did on purpose. “That’s right.”

“You and the Princess have so graciously shared your love with us, and we have fallen in love with you both, perhaps as much as you love each other.” You and Johanna simultaneously rolled your eyes. Finnick, though, smiled to the cheering audience, mouthing thank you’s that no doubt made them swoon. “None of us know how to deal with the fact that you are both going into The Games- I certainly haven’t come to terms with it. Tell us, how are you dealing with this?”

You scoffed. If there was something the people of the Capitol liked to do, it was pretending that your tragedy was their own. They didn’t know even half of your pain, any of yours.

Caesar practically shoved the microphone in Finnick’s face. He looked down, like he was thinking, but you knew he probably had this bit down pat already. “If I’m being honest, neither Y/N nor I have come to terms with it, either.” He now looked right to the camera. “What I do know is that I will do whatever it takes to protect the woman I love.” The crowd cooed as you looked straight at the TV, as if Finnick was staring into your eyes. “And if I… if I die in that arena, then my last thought will be of her lips… and how lucky I was to have met her and have had the opportunity to give her my heart.”

The crowd went wild and Caesar said something in response, but you couldn’t hear it. You were stuck staring into Finnick’s eyes, the eyes you fell in love with. Oh, he was so good. He could dance the dance so much better than you. Because everything he said, he almost made you believe that he meant it.

You blinked the tears in your eyes away when Johanna shook you, telling you they were about to announce your name. You put the mask back on, and it was your love for Finnick that made you do it. You were doing this for him.

An exhale left your lips as you waited for your cue. “And now, ladies and gentlemen, as our Prince exits, I have the honour of welcoming his counterpart to the stage. The winner of the 67th Hunger Games. The Princess of Panem. Y/N Y/L/N!”

The doors you stood behind opened and you walked onto the stage, a stellar smile on your face as you waved to the roaring crowd. You just had to play the role, and everything would be fine.

When the cheers died down, Caesar gave you a sympathetic look, or at least a look that he thought was sympathetic. “Now, Y/N, it is lovely to see you. You look stunning.”

“Thank you, Caesar. It’s always wonderful to see you. I just wish it was under different circumstances.” You glanced to the crowd, catching their pity. For once, that was the exact emotion you wished to inspire.

“Yes, I think I speak for us all when I say that this is not easy.” You tightly smiled, even though you really just wanted to flip him off. “We just spoke to Finnick, he has been quite expressive these past few days in the Capitol, but you, Y/N, you have not been as revealing. Please, we’d like to know what’s been on your mind.”

If Caesar really heard what was on your mind, then he’d be appalled. That wasn’t your goal, even though you’d greatly enjoy that. Instead, you had a different play.

The audience was very quiet in anticipation of your response. You sighed, keeping the tired smile. “I, um… I’ve had a lot on my mind, really. Finnick and I, we thought we had more time, time to get married and even have kids, but now it’s like that time has just been… stolen from us.” Collective awes resounded throughout the crowd as Caesar brought his other hand to his chest, like your words moved him. “It’s- it’s just not fair, simple as that. But I love him, and that love will survive, even if I don’t.”

The audience let their dismay be known while Caesar shook his head. “Oh, my dear, I have seen your love- we all have, and I know that it will never die.” You nodded in agreement, listening to everyone else agree with you.

The acting was easier than you thought it’d be. Maybe that was because it wasn’t all acting, not for you. You knew your role, and you knew it well, but your love for Finnick was not something you had to fake. It was perhaps one of the only real things you had left.

“Now, we are all in for an emotional night, so I’d just like to lighten the mood a little- is that alright?” You nodded again, though you wondered how he would’ve reacted if you didn’t. “Okay, now we all saw your display at the parade- isn’t that right, everyone?” He paused, letting them applaud. “Yes, it was magnificent. Would I be right in assuming that you have something similar planned tonight?”

“Oh, you’d be correct,” you responded, flashing a grin at the whooping crowd.

“Please, please.” He stepped back. “Go right ahead.”

You glanced at Cinna sitting front row before pressing the button of the device he gave you. The golden petticoat then went up in flames, seemingly “ejecting” the skirt of your dress, sending it from above your knees to your ankles as it went from skin-tight to flowy. The very bottom faded into a teal colour, like the sea.

The crowd’s cheers got louder than you thought possible. Caesar wowed, then raised his voice. “Ladies and gentlemen, the Princess of Panem!” You gave the crowd one last wave before making your way up the stairs to stand with the rest of the victors.

You were standing next to Finnick by the time the next tribute was called out and the attention was on them. To your surprise, he grabbed your hand, holding it tightly. But what really surprised you was the slight tremble you felt.

You looked up at him to see him already staring down at you. His mask fell a little, and instead of the at-ease Finnick you just saw, you were looking at a much more serious, stern version. You were confused by what could’ve brought this on, but then he leant down slightly, whispering in your ear, “I told you. I’m not letting you die.” When he pulled away, he didn’t look any less serious.

Oh, what a great liar he could be. There he was, making you believe in things that couldn’t possibly be true. You were going to die. You knew that, and you’d accepted it already. But Finnick hadn’t accepted it at all. He looked like he was believing his own lie.

You don’t know why this had shaken him so badly. Maybe he felt obligated to you, maybe he felt bad for you, but whatever it was, you weren’t gonna make it worse.

You could be a good actor, too.

For him.

You nodded, whispering back, “I know.” This looked to have calmed him down a little. He kissed the side of your head, and then the mask was back up. He kept his tight hold on your hand, and you let him.

You never know when it’d be the last time you held hands, and so you were gonna enjoy this while it lasted.

Even though this was an “emotional night,” as Caesar had dubbed it, you still got satisfaction out of everything the victors were pulling. When Johanna came on stage, she had a totally different approach than all of your sad acts and Beetee’s logic: she said what you all really wanted to say, giving the Capitol a loud fuck you.

You and Finnick had to stop yourselves from laughing amidst your shock. Caesar definitely wasn’t expecting that. You knew Snow definitely wasn’t expecting that, either. You hoped he was watching this right now, and you hoped that all of Panem could feel your outrage.

But if you were surprised by anything, it was the so called star-crossed lovers from district 12. Katniss’ wedding dress was a nice touch; she could’ve convinced even you that they were in love, if you didn’t know any better.

You weren’t the only one with a message to send to the Capitol with your attire. She spun around and her white dress was engulfed in flames, transforming into a midnight blue dress similar to yours. And when she lifted her arms, wings were revealed, and the smile on your lips widened.

“It’s a bird,” Caesar stammered in awe. “It’s like, a- it’s got feathers- it’s a bird- like a-”

You murmured at the same time as Katniss spoke up, “Like a Mockingjay.” You looked up to Finnick, seeing him already smirking. Everdeen was a lot ballsier than you thought.

“Your stylist certainly has outdone himself this time, hasn’t he? Bestowing not one, but two just astonishing looks upon us! What theatricality.” The attention was drawn to your designer. “Cinna! Take a bow.”

You were growing to like this man more and more, knowing that the Capitol must have hated him.

When the cheers died down and Katniss came and joined you all, the event was almost over with just Peeta left. You remembered the advice you gave him; you had high hopes for him, and he did not disappoint.

He claimed he and Katniss had a secret wedding, reeled them all in, and then he added the cherry on top. “You know, Katniss and I, we’ve been luckier than most. And I wouldn’t have any regrets at all…” he paused, choking up, “i-if, if it weren’t… if…”

“If it weren’t for what? What, Peeta?”

“If it weren’t for the baby.”

Hook, line, and sinker.

The audience clamoured. You slapped a hand over your mouth to hide the upturn of your lips, feigning horror. Finnick was in the same boat, stifling a laugh.

Golden boy was smarter than he got credit for.

People in the audience stood up, shouting while Caesar tried to calm them down. They were calling for The Games to be stopped, exactly what you’d been trying to achieve all night. Caesar whispered something to Peeta away from the microphone, and he walked up the stairs to the rest of you, hugging his apparent wife.

Then suddenly, you were nudged by the person next to you, looking down to see their hand outstretched. You quickly realized what was going on and grabbed it. And then amidst all the fury, you brought your hands up together. Yes, they wanted you to kill each other, but you were all united in the same fight first.

It became obvious that Caesar couldn’t contain the crowd’s indignation any longer, so the anthem played, increasing in volume to try and drown them out, but your actions were still so much louder than words.

That’s when the lights cut out.

But it would be a lot harder for the Capitol to snuff out the spark you all lit.

While you all did your best, your efforts appeared to be futile. Snow wasn’t against killing children, so you supposed that you all should’ve known better than to think that he’d cancel The Games for Everdeen’s baby.

However, it wasn’t completely useless. You had the public’s support. Sponsors wouldn’t be hard to get, so at least that was something. But all in all, The Games were still happening. One winner. Twenty-three of you would be dead, and you were going to be one of them.

Your last Games, you were relentless, selling your soul to stay alive. And you were gonna do it all over again, but this time, your objective wasn’t staying alive at all. It was making sure Finnick could make it home to Annie.

Lying there in Finnick’s arms that night for what could possibly be the last time, you realized that you would die without ever having been loved by someone. You were with Finnick, and you loved him, but he didn’t love you back.

These last few days, you had been consumed by fire, knowing that you would burn everything down if it meant your lover would be safe, but it was like it was just hitting you that you’d been warming yourself up with a flame that wasn’t ever really yours.

You knew without a doubt that Finnick Odair was your soulmate.

But you weren’t his.

Tears pooled into your eyes at the thought, and so you quickly buried your head into his chest before a panic attack could came on. You calmed down to the sound of his heartbeat, the heartbeat that you personally would make sure didn’t stop until he was old and his hair was grey.

The next day was a blur between the hovercraft, having the trackers injected into you, and then being separated from Finnick. The only thing you really could remember was how he kissed your cheek before he left.

And then you were in the tube, rising up into the arena. You couldn’t get a good look at it. Every time you blinked, your Games flashed before your eyes. Sun, cold, dirt, blood, screaming, murder.

You inhaled deeply, closing your eyes as the announcer counted down. Pull yourself together, Y/N, you thought.

And then The Games begun.

Taglist: @honestlycasualarcade

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exhaslo · 7 months

Text

Ghostface!Miguel x Reader PT.1

A little drabble until the poll is done~

Warning: Minors DNI, murder, drugs

It had been a long day and you were ready for some R & R. At least, you wanted to. It was Halloween and you would have loved nothing more than to go home, shower, and watch Halloween specials while munching on some candy and popcorn. That would have been your dream night after a long day of work, but those plans had derailed. One of your dear friends had invited you to a Halloween party. And what's better?

Apparently, your long time crush, Miguel O'Hara, was going to be there.

Now, Miguel was your friend. Had been for years since college. He was as fine as fine could be. You went from good friends to touching yourself to wet dreams of him every night. You had wanted to confess to the man, but he had girls all around him. Miguel was smart and stern. It was like he never took a day off to relax. You wanted to be his stress reliever.

"I can't imagine him at a party. Let alone a Halloween one," You mutter under your breathe as you put your costume on, "I hope this isn't too slutty."

You arrived at the location of the party, growing more worried by the second. This place seemed like those frat parties back in college. Miguel avoided those like the plague. You hesitantly grabbed your phone and noticed an unknown number calling you,

"Um, hello?"

"Hello, (Y/N)" The voice on the other line whispers. You tense slightly,

"Sorry, do I know you?"

"You tell me."

"Look, it's really loud and I'm super nervous right now. I can't even remember if I locked my own door, so I can't say who this is." You admitted, still hesitating on entering the party.

"Why are you so nervous?"

You gulped, "I was told the guy I like would be at a party and, well, it isn't somewhere he would be at...normally. That, and I feel so self cautious with my costume," You admitted.

What harm was there to let your heart out? It did make you feel better.

"Then call him and find out." The voice said in a demanding tone. You sighed softly,

"I was going too, but then you called. Anyway, you are you?"

"Someone willing to spare you."

The call dropped. You stared at the number in confusion, trying to think of who would call you like that. As you finally entered the building, you suddenly recalled the recent murders on the news. The only connection that was made was a random phone call from an unknown number. You heart rate spiked as you immediately called Miguel.

"(Y/N)?" Miguel answered. You bit down on your nail,

"H-Heeeey, so, super random. I was told that you were coming to this party uptown and well....I'm like freaking out because I got this strange call and you know how my brain leads from one thing to another and-"

"(Y/N), I need you to breathe. I'll be there soon."

-----------

You felt relieved when Miguel told you that he was coming. That was about twenty minutes ago. Time was going by slowly and your anxiety was rising. You were on your phone, googling everything about the Ghostface murders. He wouldn't attack you in a public place like this. Right? You were so focused on the news articles that you failed to notice some guys spike your drink.

You tried to calm down by drinking the thoughts away. You had a few shots, plus your tainted drink. Another ten minutes had passed and you were starting to feel woozy. You couldn't focus and decided to head to the bathroom in case you needed to throw up. As you stumbled, your phone rang again with the unknown number.

"Miguel?" You slurred, leaning against the wall.

"..." The voice was quiet at first, "You sound different from earlier."

"I don't feel too good. Migueeeeel," You groaned lowly. The voice grunted on their end,

"Don't hang up on me."

"Hey there, miss. Why don't we take you home?"

Your vision was blurred, but you could see two figures hovering over you. You tried to push them away, gripping onto your phone for dear life. The two men took it upon themselves to take you outside through the back alley door. The phone was taken out of your hands and tossed towards the concrete ground. You tried to complain, but they had covered your mouth.

"Don't think we can wait for the car-"

Before they could even finish their sentence, Ghostface appeared and started to stab them repeatedly. You slumped to the floor, unable to register what was happening. All you saw was red. You tried to come to your senses, barely registering that Ghostface was killing the two men before you. He didn't match the reports. Ghostface was supposed to be a calm and silent killer, not a stabbing maniac.

"(Y/N)! Are you alright?"

All you could do was whimper as you faded to black.

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

PT.2 Will be in a bit!

#miguel o'hara #miguel o'hara smut #miguel o'hara x reader #miguel spiderverse #spiderman 2099 #miguel o’hara x reader #miguel spiderman #atsv miguel

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paradiseprincesss · 12 days

Note

Omg omggg I love having people to talk about our favorite supervillain!!!🥹🥹 I want to talk about this concept!! Hehe

Jonathan Crane would sooo love having an innocent gf, like just imagine Y/n being a family friend of Rachel’s, she’s a student teacher (studying to be a kindergarten teacher) and is living with Rachel through her collage years and meets Jon when some of Rachel’s court paperwork gets mixed up with Y/n’s teacher ones, like imagine she’s rushing to get them to Rachel and literally runs INTO Jonathan but gets knocked over and the papers go flying because he is a TALL man lmao. She’s profusely apologizing and Jonathan just has his eyebrows raised in confusion and a frown, which then turns into a smirk when she says she’s looking for her friend Rachel (Jonathan sees an opportunity to use Y/n to get to Rachel) Omggg but like imagine Y/n being oblivious to the danger and is just so sweet and adorable to Jonathan that he can’t go through with it🥹

His court look🔥🔥🔥

Who allowed him to be this gorgeous (and insane) WHO????

tattooed heart - jonathan crane x reader

masterlist

notes: i did not specify the readers major sorry sorry! but i had tattooed heart on repeat while writing this and i was like that song is jonathan cranes gf coded.

word count: 5.9k

summary: you're rachel dawes's college-aged childhood best friend and roommate, and one day your lecture notes get mixed up with her court documents. in a rush to bring the correct papers to her at the courthouse, you bump into none other than doctor jonathan crane.

warnings: smut 18+ mdni, swearing, kissing, p in v, creampie and general smut lol

as you were getting ready for the day, you applied your blush in the mirror, cheeks all rosy and pink, matching your soft pink nails. perfect, you thought to yourself as you added the final touches to your makeup, and looked through your closet for something to wear.

rummaging through your wardrobe, you settle on a white and pink floral print mini dress, perfect for summer, and pair it with some white stilettos. you did your hair up in your favourite hairstyle, and sprayed yourself with your favourite perfume.

you were getting ready to go to brunch with your girlfriends as it was a gorgeous day outside, and the girls from your college were planning to have a little get together. as you were grabbing your purse, your phone started to go off. looking at the screen, you notice it was your long time friend, rachel.

you were currently rooming with her since you were in college full-time, and the two of you were super close - inseparable, honestly. she had told you that you could move in with her, as she had a two bedroom home but she lived there alone.

the two of you go way back - she used to babysit you when you were younger, as her mother was best friends with yours. despite her being almost a decade older than you, you guys got along wonderfully. you had known each other ever since you were young, and the longstanding friendship between you two was something you both cherished deeply.

“hello?” you say, answering the phone.

“hey, so please don't hate me," she whines over the phone, "but i accidentally grabbed your papers instead of my court documents, i must've gotten them mixed up this morning."

"shoot - uh, okay. i'll be there in like twenty minutes and i'll bring them to you. where are they?" you ask her.

"the dining table, or somewhere in the kitchen - gotta go, see you in a bit. love you, your the best!" she says, hanging up.

sighing, you collect her stack of papers from the dining table, and grab your purse as you head out. the drive to the courthouse luckily wasn't too far off from where you were supposed to meet your friends, as the restaurant was only about a five minute drive from there.

putting your car into park, you grab her belongings along with yours, and step out your car, locking it behind you. as your high heels clicked against the ground, you looked around to see if maybe you could spot her. the inside of the courthouse was busy, and you were trying to find her as quick as possible since you knew this was a time sensitive matter.

you look through hallways and doorways, but didn't see rachel anywhere. you continue to pace up and down the halls, peering into empty rooms, trying to spot her. finally - you saw her standing at the end of a hallway near the back of the courthouse, and you rush over to her in your stilettos.

suddenly, with an "oof," you felt the wind get knocked out of you as the papers went flying. luckily, you didn't fall or anything, but every single sheet of paper did. as you glanced up, you noticed a very tall, (and very handsome) man in a suit and tie with glasses - and intoxicatingly blue eyes. the man stood at a good height of around six foot three, and managed to tower over you even with your high heels on.

"i-i'm so sorry." you say, flustered.

the handsome stranger raises a brow at you, seemingly irritated. he didn't appear to be too friendly, and he spoke sharply after you apologized. "you should really be more careful." he says to you, leaning down to help you grab your papers.

"o-of course," you stammer as he hands you the papers, "thank you, i'm sorry again. i was just in such a rush to get these to my friend, rachel, over there." you point to rachel, who finally noticed you, and ushered you over.

"miss dawes?" he asks, his tone shifting to something more curious, "you're a friend of hers?"

"she's known me ever since i was in elementary school. she mixed her papers up with my lecture notes this morning, so hence why i'm here bringing these to her." you say innocently, holding up the court documents. "i'm sorry, again."

he eyed you curiously for a moment, before smirking slightly. "that's quite alright. i never got your name, actually."

you tell him your name, and he responds to you once more, but his tone seemingly shifted into one much softer than before. "beautiful name, really."

before you had a chance to react, who you presumed to be another lawyer had rushed over to the two of you before speaking to jonathan.

"doctor crane, you're needed in the courtroom. mr. zsasz's legal team would like a word." he says in a hushed manner, before making his way back into the courtroom he came from.

"wait, you're jonathan crane?" you ask him with surprise.

you'd heard a lot about his work, it was phenomenal. he had made multiple headlines with his breakthroughs in psychology and psychopharmacology. his name was plastered on papers and articles, and he was very well-known in gotham for his achievements in his field, especially at only thirty-two years old.

"indeed i am." he says softly, and you could've sworn you saw fight back a smile.

"'i've heard about your work, it's incredible what you're doing." you tell him, to which he simply shakes his head.

"i respect the mind's power over the body," he says to you simply, "it's why i do what i do."

for a moment, you swore time stopped as the two of you locked eyes; his electrifyingly blue ones staring right into yours. however, that moment was cut short as a voice you recognized called out behind you.

"there you are!" rachels voice brings you out of your thoughts, causing you to turn around, "i told you to come over there, carl wanted to say hi." she points to carl finch, who was waving at you from a distance before returning to his conversation with someone else.

"right, sorry. i accidentally bumped into jonathan." you say with a smile, glancing at him, but rachel doesn't seem too happy to see him.

"doctor crane." she says as she acknowledges him unenthusiastically, clearly unimpressed with his presence.

"miss. dawes." he says back, just as annoyed, before changing his tone back to sweet and soft as he looks at you. "i'm afraid i have some matters to attend to, however, it was lovely meeting you. perhaps be a little more careful on your way out - don't want you bumping into anyone else." he said almost teasingly, before swiftly going back to where he was needed.

you smile to yourself, staring at the tall man as he walked away.

"don't tell me you bumped into jonathan crane of all people." rachel says, and you raise your brow.

"what? he seems nice, honestly." you tell her, but to that she scoffs.

"nice? god, no. i'm surprised he didn't rip you to shreds for bumping into him." she tells you, clearly irritated at just the thought of him. "i find it strange, you know. every time i try to get one of falcone's thugs locked up, he somehow gets the court to agree that their insane, and puts them into arkham."

as she was telling you this, it was going in one ear and right out the other, as your mind was too busy with the racing thoughts of doctor jonathan crane. his intoxicating smile, his baby blue eyes, everything about him was gorgeous - not to mention his height!

now, jonathan on the other hand, was thinking of you for an entirely different reason. yes, he found you to be pretty - beautiful, actually, he thought you were stunning, but that didn't stop him from seeing you as a means to get to rachel. jonathan crane was an opportunist, he was already plotting the second you told him you and rachel were practically sisters.

he figured that if he got close to you, he would get closer to rachel - meaning it would be easier to take her down and get her to stop sniffing around. he wasn't entirely sure how he was going to do it yet - though he had a few plans that he'd thought of. his first idea was to threaten you, scare you into giving information over about her, perhaps if he scared you enough, you would tell rachel to stop meddling with his plans.

but that didn't seem airtight enough. however...there was another idea that struck him - and it seemed to be the safer (and smarter) option. he would make you believe that he was falling for you, get you to trust him - and then once he had your heart in his hands, use you as leverage to get rachel to stay out of his way.

it was simple, really. he wasn't going to seriously harm you, just kidnap you once you let your guard down, then use you as ransom (hm, more like hostage) to persuade rachel to step down from any current and future cases where he had to act as an expert witness.

"are you listening?" rachels voice brought you back to reality, and you nod while she looks through her papers. "yeah - sorry, i'm late to this thing i have with my friends. i gotta go." you say, waving goodbye to her and checking your phone, realizing you needed to leave.

you swiftly drove over to brunch with your girlfriends, and the whole time, you found yourself fixated on the thought of jonathan. there was something about him, something that made your heart swell. perhaps it was his gorgeous eyes, or maybe it was that stunningly chiseled face - whatever it may be, he had a hold on your heart, that was for sure.

after saying your goodbyes to your friends after brunch, you headed off to the grocery store to run some errands. the sun was shining brightly, and the weather was gorgeous, so you decided to spend as much of your day outside as you could. as you were grabbing some apples from one of the produce bins, you turned around and-

ugh, not again!

you felt your body collide into someone else's, and you internally slapped yourself; why twice in one day?!

as you were about to start profusely apologizing, you noticed that you were eye level with a very familiar suit and tie - looking up, you see none other than jonathan crane; and this time, he's actually smiling.

"clumsy one, aren't you?" he teases, and you blush.

"i just can't seem to escape you, i guess," you say back, your pink blush accentuating the apples of your cheeks, "i didn't expect to literally bump into you again so soon."

"i had to run some errands, figured i'd do it after the whole court thing." he says. "actually, i never had the chance to ask you for your number."

when he said that, you started to actually blush profusely, and you managed to stammer out a response. "o-oh, yeah, right."

"yeah so, can i grab it from you?" he asked teasingly, with a small smile.

"o-oh, yes totally." you say, flustered, and he gives you his phone to put your contact information into. after taking it back from you, he asked you a question. "are you busy at all tonight? i know it's a long shot, but..."

"i'm not, actually," you say back, "i don't have any classes for the next few days, it's a reading break."

"well, in that case - how about you join me for dinner tonight?" he asks softly, and you could feel your heart racing.

"yeah, that works. just text me the details then?" you say.

"will do," he says, shamelessly checking you out once more, "try not to bump into anyone else, seriously." he playfully teases, and you laugh softly.

that same evening, you had finished getting ready for your date with jonathan. you opted for a classy, but sexy, look for tonight, and threw on your favourite heels. with your hair freshly done and your makeup on point, you felt pretty - you looked pretty.

spraying on a few spritz of your favourite perfume, you grab your purse and head outside of your place to meet jonathan, as he had texted you that he was here. you felt your stomach do little flips on your way to his car, and even though you were a grown woman, you still felt like a silly school girl with a crush around him.

you spotted his car parked outside your apartment building - a brand new, 3 series bmw with blackout tinting, and gun metal coloured paint. stepping to the passenger door, he reaches over and pushes it open for you, and you get in.

"wow," he says softly, "you look gorgeous, darling."

his tone (and words, duh) made you blush, and you notice he's still in a suit - just a slightly different one, and this time, no sweater vest. "thank you," you say sweetly, "you look really good, too."

"ah, i appreciate it, darling." he tells you, smiling as he speeds off onto the road, driving ever so recklessly - which you thought was hot.

the night went flawlessly, jonathans plan was definitely working out the way he had hoped. the two of you talked endlessly over multiple glasses of wine and dinner, really getting to know each other on a personal level.

he told you all about his time in college, and why he chose to work in the field of psychology, which you found fascinating. you had always liked a mature, well spoken, and intelligent man. you'd told him about your current major, the classes you were taking and your passion for it, which he found endearing. he thought you were absolutely intelligent and found you extremely well spoken for someone your age.

you were just so...sweet. so kind, affectionate, and innocent. again, even if you didn't look that innocent, your personality shone through your exterior - and my goodness did he think you were adorable. your kindness was unmatched.

now, jonathan had originally set this plan into motion to take rachel down (obviously), but he found himself getting slightly distracted with you. sure, he wanted nothing more than to get rachel dawes to stop sniffing around his rather illegal and criminal activities, however, you were far more interesting than he had originally thought. yes, he thought you were jaw-dropping, stunning, gorgeous, angelic (the list just goes on...) when he first met you, but he simply thought you were a pretty face and nothing more.

but boy, was he wrong. you were so much more than that, you were magnificent in his eyes. he was wondering how the hell you didn't already have a boyfriend, as it seemed someone like you would have men lining up just to have a chance with you.

you were thinking the same thing, unbeknownst to him. it was insane, really. he was undeniably handsome, and my goodness was he smart - a man dedicated to his job and passions, so brilliant and ambitious, but yet he didn't have a woman in his life. you thought surely the universe was on your side when it caused the two of you to cross paths.

it had been approximately a month since you and jonathan had gone on your first date - and many more followed. the two of you were enamoured with each other, unable to leave one another alone. he was a busy man, he worked a lot - but he made exceptions when it came to you. he'd never done that before.

he mentally cursed at himself for acting like a lovesick fool, but fuck, he couldn't stop himself if he tried. for a man with such self control; he lost all his inhibitions when it came to you. he was so cold, so calculated and cynical...was he not? well, not around you. his cold, frozen heart was melting, and he hated it - sort of.

he hated that you happened to be the one person he was going to use as a pawn in order to get to rachel - but on the other hand, he couldn't deny how he felt. he always thought love was a waste of time, why be in a relationship when there is no use for such a thing? hm, well - you changed his mind on that, too. he wanted so desperately to be your man, the one for you. the one who got to hold you at night, for you to be the one he came home to after a particularly stressful day at work, the one with his last name - ugh, he was turning soft! and of course it had to be with you of all people.

tonight, jonathan had been working late when suddenly, a guard had knocked on his office door.

"yes?" he asked curtly, "what is it?"

the officer sighed as he opened the office door, "miss dawes from the DA's office is here to see you. she has more questions."

"tell her that i do not have the time for any more silly questions-"

"she brought that girl you always talk about with her."

"...i will be there shortly." he says, sighing as he puts his glasses back on.

okay so, jonathan may have let it slip that he was going out with you to his coworker a few weeks ago. this one coworker had asked him if he could help file a report, but jonathan had a date with you that night, so he had casually said something along the lines of "no, i've got a date with this girl," and the coworker was shocked.

jonathan crane was going on a date? and he was telling people about it? that was huge news, and it soon turned into workplace gossip. jonathan was seething but i mean, he did it to himself, and this was the exact reason why he always kept his personal life separate from work.

jonathan made his way down from his office to go see rachel and you. he wasn't sure why you were here, but he didn't care. it didn't matter as long as he got to see you.

"miss dawes," he says, walking up to her, whilst softly smiling at you. however, once he looked back at her, his stone cold demeanour returned. "this is most irregular - i have nothing further to add to the report i've filed with the judge."

"i have questions about your report." she says nonchalantly, and you watch the interaction between the two of them.

you had driven her here, as her car was currently at the mechanics for maintenance, you had offered. that's what best friends do, after all. you'd insisted that you wait in the car for her, as you didn't want to come off as intruding on him at work, but she said it wasn't safe for you to wait all alone, in the dark, in gotham at an asylum parking lot. you couldn't lie - she had a point.

"uh, i'm just going to wait in the car, i think." you say to them both quietly, but rachel shakes her head. "nonsense, i'll only be a minute. like i said, i have questions, doctor crane."

"such as?" he asks.

"isn't it convenient for a fifty-two year old man who has no history of mental illness to suddenly have a complete psychotic breakdown just when he's about to be indicted?" she sneers, and he stares at her with a cold, emotionless stare.

"well, as you can see for yourself, there's nothing convenient about his symptoms." he says smoothly, and you notice behind the glass window, who appears to be carmine falcone is on a medical bed, incoherently mumbling to himself.

the two of them continue their little verbal quarrel, and you couldn't help but feel a little out of place, and perhaps, a little awkward as well as you watched the man you were falling in love with and your best friend argue over this.

eventually, rachel had threatened him saying she had paged another doctor at county general to go over falcones toxicology report, as she wanted to know exactly what crane had put him on. jonathan looked like he was holding his tongue, and you could tell he was getting irritated - you could see it in the way he was clenching his jaw silently.

he softly looked over at you, saying your name sweetly. "would you care to join me downstairs, darling?" he says, then turns back to rachel, looking annoyed. "perhaps we should discuss this another time, miss dawes."

"she is not going anywhere, especially with you." rachel sneered, and you huffed.

"okay, enough. i think we should all just take a breather, and just chill for a second. i'll be back, okay rachel? i told jonathan- er, doctor crane, that i was intrigued about his work here. he just wants to show me around; i asked the last time i saw him." you tell her, looking between her and jonathan.

rachel knew that you had been seeing him, and she was supportive (well, as best as she could be) since she adored you, but she despised him. she just couldn't wrap her around how someone as diabolical as him could get along with someone as sweet as you.

"fine, okay." she sighs, and jonathan softly takes your hand in his, leading you to an elevator that looked to be quite old and rigid, but you pushed it aside.

he took a key and turned it, as wherever he was taking you was clearly a restricted access area, and the two of you stood side by side, hand in hand as the elevator went downstairs.

yes - this was all part of jonathans plan to cut rachel out of the picture, to get her away from his criminal plans and secret toxins that he had been putting into gothams water supply. he was going to gas you next, as he knew rachel would come looking for you, then hold you for ransom (again, more like hostage), until rachel agreed to stop getting involved and dropped her involvement in any cases he worked all together.

as the elevator dinged, he stepped out first, leading the way with his hand resting gently on your back; the feeling was electrifying. his hands on you - it was driving you crazy. jonathan wasn't a very trusting person, so the two of you had gone on countless dates - but he didn't ask you out yet, ask you to be his, and you guys hadn't actually had sex yet, which you found a little endearing, if you were being honest. it seemed like he respected you and wanted more than just a quick hookup.

"this way, please." he says, his voice saccharine as he talks to you. as you follow his lead, he then takes your hand in his once more, and pushes a large, heavy, metal door open. you followed him, hand in hand, and continued to go along with whatever it was he was doing. you didn't think twice about it; you never felt a sense of danger near him.

glancing down from the top of a cascading staircase, you see what appeared to be inmates or patients of arkham asylum, in their jumpsuits, working with various chemicals and pouring them into some sort of water supply - a sewerage of some sort, maybe? you blink a few times, but eventually you look over at him with an innocent and adorably confused expression.

jonathan pauses for a moment, looking down at you and your small frame in comparison to his, and takes note of how cute you truly were. god, you were so pretty. sighing, he continued, trying his hardest not to let you affect him in any way. "this is where we make the medicine," he says, "perhaps you should..."

he trailed off before he could say "have some," unable to finish his sentence, and you look at him with that adorable pout that you had many times before.

he couldn't go through with it. this was the final part of his plan! he was supposed to hold you hostage! how else was he going to get rid of rachel dawes and stop her from meddling? you were like, his last resort, or something along those lines.

sighing, he shook his head. "no, i can't do this to you." he says, his voice soft, matching his expression.

"what are you talking about?" you ask innocently, as if you were oblivious to the scene around you. one thing about you was that you tended to see the good in people; even if others found them distasteful, you managed to see their best qualities.

therefore, when jonathan took you into some kind of illegal, criminal chemical distribution and production centre for his fear toxin, you innately looked past it - a typical you thing to do. they do say that ignorance is bliss, right?

jonathan eyed you curiously - were you serious? "do you know where you are right now?" he asked, tone still soft as he spoke to you.

"yeah, arkham asylum." you respond cutely, and he almost laughed. you were so adorable - so sweet.

"no- like, where we are right now, as in where we're standing." he clarifies, hoping you would understand.

"a lab?" you ask hopefully, and he nods, looking at you with a small smile.

"something like that, yes," he laughs softly, "you don't see the problem here?"

you tilt your head to the side to really emphasize your confusion, and jonathan feels this strange sensation in his chest - almost like there were butterflies flying around freely in there. "well, should i see a problem with this?" you ask innocently.

"yes," he says, "yes, you should. does this not bother you at all?"

"not really, no."

"but why?"

"cause i like you." you say, and he goes quiet.

you like him? you like him? you like him. for some reason, this makes his heart beat about a million miles a minute, and he gets flustered - nearly choked up. jonathan crane of all people wasn't one to ever be at a loss for words, but love changes us in ways we wouldn't dream of.

for a moment, you thought you'd really fucked up this time. he was quiet for so long, you thought perhaps you should take it back - save yourself before it was too late; confessing your feelings when they weren't mutual was one of the most embarrassing things that you felt could happen to you. but, before you could take back your little confession, his hands were on your waist, pulling you close to him.

his expression was something you'd never seen before, almost like he was searching your eyes for any trace of a lie, really trying to see if you were being honest with him. vulnerability didn't come easy to jonathan, and his walls were up so high - they were almost unbreakable.

almost.

as he pulled you close, his hands rested on your waist gently, pulling you flush against his body as he looked down at you. "you have feelings for me?" he asked quietly, and you nod.

"of course i do, i thought it was obvious..." you say just as quietly, your eyes trailing over his pink, plush lips.

suddenly, he was pulling you into a gentle kiss, which you immediately melted into, letting yourself fall into him. neither of you fought the fall this time, especially not jonathan.

"i need you," he whispered against your lips, "i think i-" he stopped himself, his heart skipping and his brain short circuiting from the thought of finishing his sentence.

"hm?" you ask cutely, pulling away from the kiss.

"i think i love you." he says quickly, and you smile sweetly at him. "i know i love you." you reassure him, and he smiles back at you. "darling, you truly are something else."

before you knew it, the two of you were sneaking away as if you were teenagers again. he took you through the staff only parts of the asylum, and eventually led you to the underground parking garage. the two of you were laughing amongst yourselves, acting like two high school students in love.

you had asked a security officer to hand the keys to your car to rachel, so that she could drive home, and shot her a text that simply read: "i owe u, pls dont hate me ok ily bye."

she sent back the following: "ughhh fine"

like jonathan, she also had a soft spot for you, even when you did things like this - you were like a baby sister to her, she adored you even if you were trying to sleep with the "enemy." well, her enemy anyways.

it was quite cold on this particular night, even though it was the middle of summer. as the two of you walked through the parkade, jonathan noticed that you were shivering slightly, and he quickly took off his suit jacket. wrapping it around your shoulders, he pulled you close, placing a few chaste kisses on your neck and behind your ear, as the two of you rushed to get into his car.

jonathan and you swiftly got in his car, his hand on your thigh as the two of you sped off to his place. the minute you two got out and stepped into his apartment building, the both of you were pressed up against each other. the two of you sharing sloppy kisses as you tried your best to hurry up and get into his apartment from the elevator, wanting nothing more than to get your hands on each other.

as he closed his apartment door and locked it behind him, you pounced on him, locking your lips with his in an instant. he needed you - and you needed him. both desperate and needy, you make out feverishly, hungry for more. it was meant to be - it must be. the way the moonlight shone through the big, glass window of his bedroom, illuminating you both as you made the moment yours.

you rush to help him out of his clothes; sloppy, hot kisses being shared between the both of you. he pushes you back onto his soft mattress, and he tugs your clothes off of you, pawing at your breasts through your lacy bra. once you were in just your lacy bra and matching lacy panties, he groaned at the sight.

"fuck, look at you, darling." he groans, and you feel your cheeks heat up from his words. "i've wanted you for so long."

his hands travel up your body, reaching for your bra clasp before undoing it, your perky breasts out for him to see. wasting absolutely no time, he slides your lacy panties down, too. you could see the tent in his boxers, and you smirked to yourself.

"please fuck me, jon. i wanna feel myself getting stretched out by your cock." you say to him, looking up at his face as he crawls onto you.

jonathan was almost at a loss for words - for someone so sweet and so innocent, your words were so filthy.

"yeah, is that what you want, darling?" he asked, pulling his boxers down to reveal is hard cock, dripping with pre cum. "d'you want me to fuck you stupid, hm? until you can't walk?"

his words made you moan, you were unbelievably turned on right now. you felt the tip of his cock line up with your drooling entrance, and you snake your hand down to your clit, teasingly playing with it while he watched. you moan, and he takes a hold of your hand. "you're fucking naughty, aren't you?" he asked, pinning both your wrists above your head as he forcefully thrusted his cock into your tight, warm cunt.

"jesus, you're fucking soaked." he groans, setting a fast and brutal pace as he fucked you. you arch your back at the feeling of his cock hitting your cervix already - so deep you couldn't decipher whether it actually hurt or not.

"f-fuck, so good, ugh-" you moan, the sound of your voice mixed with his cock sliding in and out of your dripping cunt filling up the room.

"y-yeah?" he asks, moaning your name, "darling, fuck. this cunt is all mine, understood?"

you nod frantically, feeling his thick, fat cock sliding in and out of your spongy walls, stretching your tight little cunt out. "mm, uh-huh. o-oh, jon..!"

he continued to fuck you mercilessly, pounding your pretty pussy with such force, you knew he wasn't kidding when he said you wouldn't be walking tomorrow. you were a mess under him, screaming his name at this point, and he loved it. oh, how he loved seeing you fall apart underneath him.

"j-jon, baby," you moan, "i-i'm gonna cum."

"drench my cock, darling," he says, still fucking your soaking cunt with his thick cock, "show me, fuck- show me who you fucking belong to."

his words sent you over the edge, your mind going blank as you screamed his name out over and over, your legs shaking as he fucked you into oblivion, your release crashing over you like a wave. your soft walls enveloping his fat cock even more, tightening up around him.

"god, you're unbelievably tight-" he moans, "m'gonna fill this pretty pussy up, darling."

you started to babble incoherently, lost in the moment. "mm, f-uck- i love you." you gasped, the words coming out of your mouth before you could stop them.

your saccharine, desperate voice sent jonathan into overdrive, and he was certainly starting to lose his composure. "i love you more." he groaned while painting your walls white with his cum.

he stayed on top of you for a moment, the both of you catching your breath and processing what just happened. eventually, he rolled off of you, and immediately pulled you into his embrace. you snuggled into his arms, your head laying on his chest; listening to his heartbeat as bliss consumed you.

jonathan subconsciously knew he couldn't go through with his plan as soon as he fabricated it, as you'd captured his heart instantaneously. you were so sweet, so oblivious to the fact that he was so imperfect, so dangerous. maybe you knew, he thought, or maybe you just chose to see the good in him, he wasn't entirely sure. he wasn't a saint, and he definitely wasn't a good man by any means, but for you; he would try to be better. he promised that to himself.

you'd dozed off while he was lost in his thoughts, and he looked over at you, snuggled up in his arms as you slept peacefully, and he held you a little closer - a little tighter. he never wanted to let you go.

your name had been tattooed onto his heart from the moment he had met you - permanent and forever there.

my taglist has been giving me issues so i apologize if it doesn't notify you when i've tagged you, as for some reason tumblr won't allow me to tag more than 5 blogs unless theres a space between them lol

my taglist (join here!):

@kpopgirlbtssvt @bloodandglitter207 @humbuginmybones @futurefamousdeadmusician @jonathancraneslittlepet

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@aprilsfrog05

#cillian murphy #cillian murphy x reader #cillian x reader #cillian fic #cillian murphy fanfic #cillian murphy imagine #cillian x fem!reader #jonathan crane x reader #jonathan crane x f!reader #jonathan crane #jonathan crane x female reader #jonathan crane x y/n #jonathan crane smut #jonathan crane x you #jonathan crane fanfic #dr jonathan crane #jonathan crane x fem!reader

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partycatty · 3 months

Note

thinking about young mk11 johnny being a bad boyfriend then you meet him again years later when he’s mature and he REGRETS IT SO BAD

i have so many ideas but i can’t get them out recently so ur account gives me life lol <3

OUGH it aches in the bones

older!johnny cage > as the day you left

notes: oooghuig "in another life" trope hurts so BAD.

[ masterlist ]

• a military job wasn't in your grand plan, but a position opened for equipment maintenance it was hard to turn down the potentially heavy paycheck.

• you were buried in your paperwork, taking quick strides to your office to make sense of your diagnostics and order the proper parts for one of the on-field machines when you slam into what feels like a brick wall. just as the force of the blow sends you backward, a hand grabs your arm and suspends you mid-fall.

• you don't even have time to properly react to the scene, only opening your harshly clenched eyes to meet your savior.

• "sorry, i wasn't looking where i—" your apology was cut off when you properly processed just who was in front of you. even with the tattoo peeking through his shirt, you knew that face from anywhere. "johnny?"

• you expected johnny to not even remember you, maybe take a second to realize you weren't just a fan. this expectation is torn from you when he replies with your name, loud and clear. his eyes are wide. gently, he lets go of you to allow you to regain your footing, pulling away as if you were a glass doll bound to shatter.

• he looked the same as when you walked out, perhaps a little more weathered but glowing with charm and personality just as he did twenty odd years ago. thankfully, you thought, he never lost that puppy-like shine in his eyes.

• the moment was lost to him the second he locked eyes. just like that, a torrent of memories flooded back to him. you two were young, too young to be serious in his eyes. johnny was in his acting prime and he couldn't help but flaunt it. all those smiles and sparkly outfits for the cameras but as soon as you were behind closed doors you were nothing more but exhausted.

• "i can't keep living like my life is under a microscope," you huffed, shrugging off the luxury shawl johnny went through hell to make sure you'd have for the red carpet. "would it kill you to just settle down, slow down? i want kids, johnny! i want to go to the store without paparazzi up my ass, i don't need stalkers on our property, i don't need the gold and glamor all the damn time!"

• "well, that's on you for choosing a megastar!" johnny shouted back, undoing his tie in one harsh tug. "all you've ever done is complain when you are literally living large! mansions, super cars, money! and you're complaining."

• you spin around, a horrified expression on your face as you unpacked his wording. "i didn't choose a megastar," your voice drops, so angry you couldn't bring yourself to shout. "i chose john carlton. where the hell is he now, because all i see is a narcissistic child that refuses to grow up."

• you slide your engagement ring off and you slam it into the ground. johnny's eyes widen as he immediately drops to his knees, trying desperately to grasp at the ring as it rolls and spirals out of grasp. he curses to himself, then at you.

• "look at yourself," you grit your teeth. "you care more about a rock than your fiancée. we're done, johnny. you can go tell the media that, too, since that's all you care about."

• johnny blinks once, then twice. he swallows thickly.

• "i'm sorry," is all he can mutter out. god, how he wishes he could say more, but time felt nonexistent when looking at your face. you, however, didn't quite understand his meaning and brushed yourself off.

• "no, it's fine, really," you try to shove past him, anything to break this eye contact that feels as if it's pulling you apart piece by piece. as you think you're out of the weeds, his hand finds its place on your arm once more.

• "please look at me," he pleads, voice barely above a mumble. "i-i haven't seen you in..."

• "—twenty six years," you blink up at him, straining yourself so hard to not break down. "forget it."

• "i'm sorry," he emphasizes the phrase again. "i... i was an asshole, an arrogant, self-centered—"

• "johnny." you cut him off, face stern but voice soft. "it was so many years ago."

• "i know, i know, but — fuck — you've... you've been on my mind this entire time. you never left. god, when you left it felt like my entire... everything fell apart."

• you want to interject, stop him from this spiral, but you can tell he had it bottled up for so long, you'd be cruel to deny him of it now. that, and you had an unfortunate tendency to hear people out and forgive those who don't need your forgiveness.

• "when you walked out i realized just how good i could've had it. you were the only sane person in my world, you tried so hard to keep me in track but i was so afraid of being nothing that i... chose my priorities wrong. you know, i've kept your contact information, even... just in case."

• "i changed my number years ago, johnny. to stop the media from bugging me for a comment."

• "just another thing i fucked up," he runs a hand through his hair. "sorry, i don't mean to be all self destructive." he pauses, and eyes you down. you yourself aged well too, fine lines and trickles of grey hair peeking through your uniform hat. johnny chuckles dryly as his eyes focus on the little details. "you look just as beautiful as the day you left me."

• "don't do this," you quietly plead, eyes now feeling wet and face feeling hot. "not now. not after all this time."

• "i..." he swallows again, now averting his eye contact. the pause is long, and you almost considered walking away before he speaks up again. "i got married, by the way, though i'm sure you saw... in the news."

• "i haven't." johnny shoots a dubious look at you, then realizes you probably avoided his name like the plague in news articles.

• "my wife runs the army. my daughter is commander."

• "daughter?" now it was your turn to frown.

• "cass... cassandra?" johnny explains, though you sense a hint of shame in his tone. "cassie."

• "didn't strike you for a family man." the irony stings when it slips past your lips.

• "i didn't either," he wipes his face. "but i realized... far too late... that what i wanted more than a legacy for myself was a legacy for my family. i wanted my efforts to mean something. i wanted to better the world with more than just shitty movies."

• just as your turn rose to frown, now you couldn't help but let out a chuckle yourself. "your movies weren't shitty," you reply, smiling weakly. "i liked them."

• "no you didn't," his grin is teasing, and you notice just how deep his smile lines were. "no need to lie."

• "honest to god," you hold a hand up, swearing. "they were a nice escape from reality."

• his lips turn into a fine line. maybe your choice of wording was more painful than intended. his fists clench and unclench and you watch his mouth fight to get more words out.

• "i wish..." the always confident actor couldn't bring himself to look at you. "i wish i had grown up sooner, you know." johnny could be digging a dangerous hole, but he didn't care in the moment. he felt young again, nostalgic. "we could have had a life like this together, like you want... wanted."

• "you have that now," you get defensive, trying to put a barrier between his words and your heart. "a wife, a kid, a good job. you got what you wanted."

• "but it's not with you."

• whether it was dread or excitement, your heart flutters. was it really true that after all this time, he still wanted you, missed you like you missed his mature self? your thoughts of what could've been claw their way into your mind, and you feel hazy. your eyes wander around his form again, taking in his impressive physique, kind eyes, mature outfit... stopping at the ring finger. your breath feels sucked from your lungs when you pull yourself back to reality.

• "maybe in another life," you propose, a weak shrug tugging at your shoulders. "but i hope you know i don't... i don't regret what we had. our story, though, ended twenty six years ago, johnny. you're in a new chapter, enjoy it, okay?"

• the rejection at his desperation feels like a gunshot to the chest, like he could just die then and there. yeah, he had roots here, but if you had just asked him to run away with you, lord knows he'd consider it. but you wouldn't ask him to do such a thing, when he's finally got his shit figured out.

• another coworker enters the long hallway, entranced in their task that tears both of your attentions away from the heavy conversation. you know even still that his reputation is important, on screen and now off, too. so, you abandon the conversation as it stands, not giving johnny a chance to agree to your request and spin on your heel, returning to your own assignment and leaving him to his own. your head is down as you hug the papers, wishing to forget that you work with your ex-soulmate. it's an impossible task, really, when you catch his lingering cologne and scent on your body from his hold. that scent didn't change, either.

• johnny feels frozen in place, afraid to move and lose the moment where it stands. he watches you until you turn the corner, and listens for your footsteps until there isn't a trace of them anymore. his heart feels... heavy.

#mortal kombat #mortal kombat x reader #johnny cage #johnny cage x reader #mk11 #marley writes ☆

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ah-ga-seven · 2 years

Text

The Naked Neighbor (I)

Pairing: Fem!reader x Choi Soobin

Word count: 17k

Genre: Smut, Comedy, Fluff, lighthearted Angst.

Synopsis: Life is dull, until a new neighbor moves in across the street. His name was Soobin, a mysterious loner who lived in his own bubble and was incredibly hard to get close to. One night, as y/n was in her bedroom, she saw Soobin through the window, freshly out of the shower in full view, which accounted for a series of interesting events as she notices a pattern in his nightly routine.

Warnings: mature contents regarding sex and especially voyeurism. Further mentions of drugs and alcohol. This story will also contain mentions of broken homes, parental issues and verbally abusive fights.

What is life right now?

No seriously. What is it? Because still living at home in the same boring old small town where you wake up in the same bed; to go to the same school, with the same group of friends every single day is not how you imagined your early twenties to be.

Most of your friends are in committed relationships, some stayed with their high school sweethearts and others fucked around until they found the perfect match but men mostly disgusted you so fucking with strangers was never your forte.

You repeated the morning routine you always did, quickly chowing a bowl of way too sweet cereal down after getting ready before leaving for school.

College was only a 30-minute drive away, so living on campus never really made sense to you. Especially since your single mother was barely ever home doing god knows what; it always felt like you had your own place anyway.

You pull up to your best friend’s house like usual, staring down the same street like any other day, waiting for him to come out so you could go to college together.

He was late once again so you impatiently hit the horn on your steering wheel multiple times, making a rather frazzled-looking Beomgyu open his front door as he scrambles for his last belongings in the hallway.

You give him an unamused look as you see him throw his bag over his shoulder while he jogged his way over to your car, opening the door to your backseat to throw his bag inside before getting in the passenger’s seat himself with a corny smile on his face.

“Look what the cat dragged in,” you tease him as you take the car out of park mode, checking your rearview mirror before you swiftly drove onto the main road again.

“Pfft, good morning to you too, cranky ass. I was up all night working on that report, and I still look better than you so shut up,” he stuck out his tongue at you and you roll your eyes at him.

…the hard part about that statement was that it isn’t a lie. Beomgyu can run his fingers through his long locks and look like the main lead of an anime without any effort and it was super annoying to say the least.

He eyed you carefully, his eyes softening as he saw you bite your lip. “More shit with your mom?”

“She didn’t come home all weekend and only texted me last night that she’d be staying with a friend.”

He pouted at you. “…You know you can just live with me if need be.”

“I’m fine, I just wish she wasn’t so fucking selfish. Sometimes it feels like I’m the parent.” In the split second, you make eye contact with Beomgyu to see his saddened facial expression, his eyes widened, leaning forward to grab your steering wheel, giving it a hard yank.

With an alarmed facial expression, you quickly regain composure, tightening the hold on your steering wheel to avoid collision with the car in front of you but in doing so you drove onto the curb and into a random pole which made you hit your forehead on the dashboard.

Your breathing started to intensify as you sit motionless in your seat. Beomgyu had his hands tightened around his seatbelt, unbuckling it in the next second as he checks on you.

“Y/n are you okay!? Fuck.” He put his hand on your cheek to make you look at him but you were in a state of fucking shock, unable to register how this could’ve happened.

“Switch off the car, let’s get out, quick.”

You do as you’re told, walking towards the front of the car to see the dent that had formed in your license plate. “It’s not that bad…” Beomgyu tries to calm you down, dusting off the paint that had come off to see the damage more clearly.

You bite your lip, suppressing the urge to cry. Why can’t anything go your way for once?

You looked ahead with glassy eyes, seeing that the black SUV you barely missed had parked on the side of the road. A tall figure got out of the car, and for some reason, you were scared of confrontation.

Beomgyu followed your gaze and straightened out his back immediately as he saw some guy approach the two of you, protectively taking a step closer to you, just in case the stranger would be angry.

“Is everything okay here?”

The low timbre in his voice reminded you of the voice of a radio host and when he got closer you got a good look at his face. He wasn’t angry, he was worried.

His eyebrows were furrowed with concern as he smacked his heart-shaped lips in confusion as to why you weren’t answering but honest to god you forgot how to speak…he was a little too pretty and though you could recognize anyone in this town, you’ve never seen him before. He looked about your age, handsome and tall as can be. His raven hair was perfectly cut, he looked like a model off duty in his denim jacket and casual clothes. This guy didn’t need extravagance to make him look elegant. Simplicity made him stand out which is exactly why you forgot how to form normal sentences.

“I-I’m sorry.” You stutter, which made Beomgyu sigh. “We didn’t hit you right?”

“No, no…but I saw what happened and- hey…are you sure you’re okay?” he didn’t finish his sentence as his eyes traveled from Beomgyu’s to yours again to catch you fully disassociating. Your head started to hurt and you unknowingly rubbed the affected area as you stared at the damage on your car.

You look up, pulling your mind out of its depths as you make eye contact with this stranger again at the sound of his voice.

“Y-yeah just a little…shocked. Again, I’m so sorry,” you say lost in thought as you make eye contact.

“It’s okay really. Nothing happened. I guess it’s one way to start my first day” He shrugged, averting his attention from you to Beomgyu as he spoke. “First day?”

“Yeah I just moved here, I’m starting college in the middle of the semester so that’s something.”

“Wait? College?” Beomgyu beamed, sensing that he could possibly be making a new friend here. Pretty people hoard together, and it looked like Beomgyu deemed Mr. model dude hot enough to be his friend.

“Yeah, Penwood University.”

And that’s when your eyes widened involuntarily.

“That’s our school! We were just on our way. I’m Beomgyu.” Beomgyu excitedly held out his hand for the guy to shake and he shyly smiled back at Beomgyu, taking a hold of his hand softly.

“I’m Soobin.” He says, letting go of his hand to check on you once again and your eyes couldn’t help but register his hand size as he did so.

“And you are?”

You snap out of it once again, giving him a faint smile to assure him that you’re perfectly fine.

“I’m y/n.”

You got home after a tiresome day that felt completely out of place. Ever since the minor accident from this morning, all you could think of was the complete rush of adrenaline that you experienced and also…Soobin.

Even though he attended the same Uni, you hadn’t seen him all day and for some reason, you were wondering why. Something about him was so mysterious, yet so warm and inviting that you wanted to get to know him better….but how.

You take off your shoes in the hallway and make your way to the kitchen where you see your mother in an apron. She was dressed in a cocktail dress that hugged her perfect figure, still in her hooker heels from the night before with her hair pinned up as if she had just returned from Vegas.

“Mom?”

She turned around and with complete shock on her face. She launched forward to squeeze you in her arms. “Oh honey, Beomgyu called and told me what happened.” She cupped your face, squeezing your cheeks together as she kissed your forehead. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine…Beomgyu called you? That’s why you showed up?” You untangled yourself from her hold trying to nonchalantly create some distance.

It surprised you that she cared enough to come right back but when you peeked on the kitchen counter you saw all types of baked goods and that could not have been a coincidence.

“Well…I was…not exactly. I was already on my way back. We have new neighbors moving in across from us and I wanted to give them a warm welcome with my famous cupcakes.”

You raise your eyebrows. You should’ve known.

“The first impression is what matters the most the rest is up to interpretation.” She argues when she sees your judgmental face as she wipes her hands on her apron.

“That’s horrible,” you comment scrunching up your nose as you play with the spoon full of frosting.

“No, it’s a form of unharmful bribe, you’ll get it when you’re older.” She says booping your nose with a content smile on her face.

You can’t even remember the last time she cooked you dinner, so you can’t help but roll your eyes. There must be a single dad moving in across the street cause otherwise, your mom would’ve never gone all out like this. You stare at the red velvet cupcakes and milk bread and feel your mouth water while your mind starts to wonder why your mom was such a master in the art of seduction.

If only she could’ve made your dad stay with her damn cupcakes because she’s been overcompensating for it ever since he left. But maybe the fact that she had you at 16 didn’t really help either. It’s like she was trying to win back her younger years now that you were grown, but being the girl with the young, hot milf mom to all of your male friends was embarrassing; so you weren’t going to let her make matters even worse for your family.

“Hey, tell you what. I’ll take these…baked goods to the neighbors, you’ve worked hard enough.” You say rubbing her back to fake concern.

“Oh, honey it’s okay I’ll go-“

“No. I’ll go.” You were determined to say the least.

You packed that shit in a random Tupperware container so fast, that she didn’t even get the chance to object any further.

After sliding into your shoes, you hastily make your way across the street and ring the doorbell in silent anticipation of whoever was going to open the door. You bite your lip, suddenly feeling anxious about meeting some stranger for the first time and that’s when you spot the black SUV from this morning

…It can’t be.

The door opened with a dramatic swing and your head immediately snapped back to the front door.

A rather confused-looking Soobin stared back at you with an equal amount of shock as he removed his Airpods. “…Hey…how do you know where I live?” his tone was soft, sweet, and yet kind of spooked. “I didn’t. I swear.”

Oh my god…this must seem so…fucking weird. He noticed how your eyes grew in size which made him awkwardly scratch his neck. “Uhm, so?”

“I-I brought cupcakes and milk bread. I mean I didn’t…my mom did. She made them.”

“…Okay…” Soobin carefully took the box out of your hands and inspected it. “I…uhh…I told you the thing from this morning was no big deal this…really wasn’t necessary. But thanks anyway…I love bread.” He shrugs.

And that’s when it hit you. “Oh my god, no.” you ramble. “This is a complete coincidence. See that house over there, I live there.” You say pointing back at your home.

Soobin raised his eyebrows in surprise, but he was more pleasantly surprised than anything else. “Really? Wow, that’s…”

“My mom bakes all the time.” Hah, no she doesn’t. Also, why are you rambling this much? Shut UP. He already thinks you’re a nutjob.

“I swear it’s no big deal. We just wanted to welcome you to the neighborhood, that’s all.” You give him a coy smile, and he smiled back at you, about to open his mouth until an equally tall man emerges from behind him.

It would only make sense for him to be Soobin’s dad…the resemblance was uncanny.

“Hello, who is this?” the man spoke with a warmhearted smile, and all you could do was smile back until you noticed how Soobin’s body language changed.

He stiffened, immediately getting tense and the sudden shift in atmosphere made you dizzy. Soobin straightened out his back, his eyes turning dull. “This is y/n. Our neighbor. She brought pastries to welcome us to the neighborhood.”

“Oh, that’s so nice. My wife will love them.”

Wife. Hmm? Sorry, mom. But you will certainly mention the fact that this man is cuffed at the dinner table later tonight.

“Oh, well I hope your mom will enjoy them just as much as you.” You tell Soobin with a soft smile, but he didn’t smile back at you.

“She’s not my mom,” Soobin replies coldly, and then it clicked. Ah…a stepmonster.

You blink a couple of times, confused as to why Soobin was so tense all of a sudden. “Thanks for these,” he says holding up the box. “I guess I’ll see you at Uni,” he mumbles before leaving you and his dad to it at the front door while he disappears up the stairs.

What…just happened.

Your eyes follow him up the stairs in confusion and that’s when his dad spoke again. “Don’t mind my son. His mother passed a few months back…we were separated for years before that but he’s still…hurting.”

“…Oh…it’s really none of my business.” You politely reply with a smile, because it really isn’t. But god…something about Soobin made you so god damn curious it was infuriating.

His dad sighed, deciding to open up some more for whatever reason that may be. “Initially he’d move into the dorms of the university alone, although I figured it’d be best for the family if we all went together.”

Ahh, there it is. He doesn’t even want to live here…not with them at least. Suddenly you feel bad for him. Even if you’re strangers you already feel closer to him because of the fact that you both come from fucked up households.

Maybe you’ll be able to confide in each other? No one really wants to be alone…right?

“Well…we go to the same college so…I’ll keep an eye out for him.”

Soobin’s dad’s shoulders fell in relief, showing you his pearly whites with a big thankful smile. “Thank you so much. And thank your mother for me, will you? That’s a really thoughtful gesture.”

Hmm. Yeah, so thoughtful, you think to yourself.

“I will, have a nice day sir,” you say with a textbook smile.

“You too, y/n, take care.”

“He’s married?” your mom asks wide-eyed, disappointment evident in her dilated pupils. You look at her a little funny while you play around with your fork. Dropping it on your plate to give her your full attention to get the message across.

“Well, technically he’s a divorced widower who got married for the second time.”

“And you got all of that from delivering cupcakes?”

“What can I say…I learned from the best.” You roll your eyes, but you knew your mother loved that remark when she started smiling at you knowingly.

She chuckled. “So, he also has a son?”

“Yeah, he attends my uni.” You say picking up your fork again to avoid eye contact but alas, your mom knows you a little too well.

“Is he hot?”

“Mom, oh my god.” You whine, rubbing your forehead in agony.

“Not for me, for you! When’s the last time you had sex?”

“Mom seriously!? What makes you think I’d talk to you about that?” you were glaring back at your mother with a scowl on your face but she was having way too much fun with it as she crosses her arms over her chest with yet another devious grin.

“Well, at least I won’t have to worry about you getting knocked up anytime soon. Wouldn’t want you to relive my past.”

“Trust me I’m not planning on it,” you mumble under your breath.

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. You go get that college degree for the both of us.” She says getting up with her plate in her hands, giving your temple a quick kiss before grabbing your plate to then disappear into the kitchen.

You took that as your sign to escape and made your way up the stairs and into your room, your mind still spinning with the way your mom saw right through you.

Fuck. Why is it THAT obvious you’re into Soobin?

Why are you even into him? You barely knew him.

You thought you were never the shallow type, but any and all attraction you had to him was based off of his physical appearance…cause other than his ‘Ok’ reaction to you nearly driving him off the road, he was moody as fuck at his front door this afternoon.

You didn’t bother to switch on your light and let yourself fall flat on your bed. You were just laying there with your face buried in your sheets, your limbs spread like a sea star in pure darkness.

It’s not even that big of a deal…you didn’t embarrass yourself THAT much and you’re sure you’ve got plenty of time to redeem yourself given the fact that you and Soobin were…well…neighbors. You try not to beat yourself up over how awkward that encounter just was, but how could you not? He must think you’re actually insane.

You sit up in your bed, staring out your window which just so happened to have the perfect view of the Choi families’ house, and spotted a light coming out of the window right across from yours.

Your eyes widened when you noticed there were no blinds or curtains. Literally, everything in that room was visible to the point where you saw several unpacked boxes in what seemed to be a men’s bedroom.

So if it's not the master bedroom, with a similar layout to yours….then…it belongs to…?

And that’s when you laid eyes on him, not suspecting a thing as he casually walked into the room. He was wrapped in nothing but a towel as his skin glistened from the assumed shower he took seconds ago.

Your mouth went dry, knowing that whatever you were seeing was absolutely intrusive and wrong but-

Plop.

His towel was on the floor, as was your jaw.

His bare bao-shaped buns were fully mooning you as he sprayed on some deodorant, fixing his wet hair in the mirror without suspecting your eyes on him from afar.

Shit, shit, shit. What were you doing? QUICK. Look away, or no. Don’t? Look some more!

You realized you were holding your breath. Trying not to make a sound which was absolutely ridiculous if you think about it. You literally lived in a different house…on the opposite side of the street.

You watch him mindlessly retrieve his underwear from his dresser across from his bed, gulping when his full dick comes into view.

What the f u c k. “What in the Godzilla dick is THAT” you clasp your hand over your mouth as those words leave your lips and try to sit as still as humanly possible.

Your mouth unwillingly started to water at the sight, lust taking over your senses as you watch him gently touch himself to adjust his (not so) little friend in his underwear. You squeezed your thighs together, sliding down the bed to sit on the floor, making sure he wouldn't spot you if he did decide to look out his window and into yours.

He proceeded to put on a shirt and threw himself onto his bed. He still didn’t suspect a thing as he put in his headphones to mindlessly scroll through his socials while listening to music.

Your heart was still racing as you decide to quickly close your curtains in the dark, praying to god that he didn’t notice or see…

Beomgyu nearly choked on his sandwich with big mischievous eyes and a coy smile. “HE’S YOUR NEIGHBOR!?”

“Not just any neighbor, he’s my naked neighbor,” you whisper, looking around the cafeteria to make sure he wasn’t around

“Your what now?” Beomgyu questions confused as ever.

“You know, a naked neighbor. It could be the single mom in her scandalous bathrobe every morning, the neighbor who accidentally flashes you taking out the trash, or some careless person who doesn’t close their blinds…Everyone has one, and if you don’t have one you are one.”

Beomgyu was way too intrigued by your observation, quickly thinking if he is one or has one…and he definitely is one now that he thinks of it. He quickly pushes that thought to the depths of his already empty mind and averts his attention back to you. “So….which one is Soobin?”

“…The one who forgets to shut their blinds.” You admit, avoiding eye contact as you play with the food on your plate.

Beomgyu’s mouth hangs agape with raised eyebrows and a wide smile. “NO!” he exclaims, earning a few glares and stares from students around.

“YES, now shut up you’re drawing attention,” you say trying to calm him down, but he was already giggling uncontrollably.

“So, you saw him? Nude?” he asks wiggling his brows.

“Front to back.”

He gasped with yet another shit-eating grin on his features. “Fuck dude…that’s…the most action you’ve gotten in ages.”

“Shut up.” You hiss, landing a punch on his shoulder.

You stiffen as you feel two firm hands on your shoulders and before you could turn around to see who it was he was already sitting beside you, giving you a confident smile similar to Beomgyu’s. “Hey, I heard you’re having a get-together this Friday?” Yeonjun, one of the popular kids who you’ve just so happened to grow up with asks with a soft smile showcasing his pearly whites.

You guys were friends, but it’s not like you were besties. Everyone in this town was somewhat civil with each other, and though you might’ve grown apart, you still hang out from time to time. “I am?” you ask shooting Beomgyu a glare since there could only be one culprit.

“I uh…might’ve invited some people over to your place because your mom is never home anyway, she’ll be cool with it.”

You glare at him. “Dude, how about if I'm cool with it?”

“You’d say no” he pouts and that just about sends Yeonjun, he’s losing it in laughter, wrapping an arm around your shoulder for god knows what reason, and of course right at that second Soobin spots you as he walks into the cafeteria. He froze for a split second, eyes scanning the tight hold Yeonjun had around your shoulders, but he seemed to not really care as he passed by.

Beomgyu tried waving at him to get him to come over but he didn’t notice. “Hmm, he’s such a loner.” Beomgyu huffs in disappointment, feeling the probability of becoming close to Soobin slip away.

“Leave him alone, this whole move is probably kind of hard on him,” you comment coming to his defense.

Wait. Why are you coming to his defense?

“On who?” Yeonjun was suddenly interested, looking at the two of you in anticipation.

“My neighbor, we met him yesterday. He’s new here and his name is Soobin.”

“Oh, I think I have a few classes with him, he’s cool. Quiet though.”

You all nod, neither of you really knew what to say next.

“We’ll get him to loosen up this Friday” Beomgyu comments, which made you squint your eyes at him. “Who said he’s coming?”

“Don’t be selfish, he’s literally your neighbor. Invite him, parties are the best way to get to know people.” He shrugs.

Hmm. He had a point.

“You said it was a get-together?” you glare at Beomgyu, but he didn’t seem to be shaken by the venom in your eyes.

“Party, get together, the same thing,” he argues waving his hand around.

“Okay, well. If you two are done with bitching about vocab, I gotta run. I’ll see you guys around though.”

Yeonjun got up from the table, leaned over to bro-five Beomgyu, and kissed your temple as he stole one of your fries. “Oh, by the way, I’m bringing a few friends Friday.”

Your eyes widened, trying to stop him from walking away. “Choi, I swear to god.”

“Yes, yes. Friday! See you!” he waves at you cutely as he disappears from your view, making you slouch in your seat in defeat.

“Come on Debby downer, it’ll be fun,” Beomgyu says trying to lift your mood.

“A party?” your mom says with wide eyes as she’s busy in the kitchen once again.

You sighed, of course, she’s not cool with it. Why would she be?

“My daughter is finally a social butterfly? Oh my god. Of course, have the whole town over I don’t care.”

And….you should’ve known better.

“Who’s idea was it? Yours?”

“No…Beomgyu’s”

“Oh, finally that boy is having a decent influence on you.”

Is he now? What type of reverse psychology is this?

“So, you’re cool with a bunch of Gen-Z kiddos invading your house for the night?”

“Sure, I’ll be out of town anyway, oh, and maybe invite Soobin? You can ask him tonight. It’ll be a good opportunity for him to get to know everyone.”

“Why is everyone-“ your eyes widened once you realized something. “Wait? Tonight, what do you mean tonight?”

You quickly look around the kitchen realizing your mom is cooking up a feast. “You didn’t think all this food was just for you right? I invited the Choi’s over for dinner tonight”

You froze, staring at your mom like a crazy person. “MOM! YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO TELL ME THESE THINGS.”

She looks at you funny, finding it cute how you panicked but she seemed unfazed by your raised voice, booping your nose to then shove a plate in your hand. “I just did, now set the table would you sweetie? They’ll be here in an hour.”

[Y/N, 6:05 PM]: My mom is cool with the party.

[Beomgyu, 6:05 PM]: Ahh, see I told you. She the real MVP

[Y/N, 6:05 PM]: No the fuck she’s not, she invited Soobin and his parents over for dinner tonight

[Beomgyu, 6:05 PM]: 👁👄👁 as an empath I’m sensing this is rlly bad.

[Beomgyu, 6:05 PM]: Doesn’t she know about the messy relationship they have right now? You told her right, the thing with his mom passing?

[Y/N, 6:06 PM]: Yes. I did. I don’t know what she got up her sleeve, I’m just hoping for a minimum amount of embarrassment tonight.

[Beomgyu, 6:06 PM]: Fuck. Tell me if you need an escape, I’ll come get you.

[Y/N, 6:07 PM]: Thanks…I’ll call you once it’s over with.

[Beomgyu, 6:07 PM]: You got this ❤️✨

[Y/N, 6:07 PM]: 😭

You hear the doorbell ring and quickly put your phone in your pocket. You hated forced social gatherings, especially ones with handsome next-door neighbors who you’ve seen completely naked in the first hours of knowing him.

Your mother opens the door in her skintight black dress, she made you change from your sweats into ‘something more presentable’, and thank god you did because everyone else was dressed nicely.

“Hi, I’m Isabelle. Thank you for inviting us to your lovely home.” Soobin’s stepmom spoke as she entered, your mother and Isabelle exchanged three kisses on the cheek, as she did with Soobin’s father. You watched your mom’s hand linger on his upper arm and squinted your eyes at the sight, and that’s when you laid eyes on Soobin, who was giving you a soft smile to greet you.

Wait? So, he does like you? Or is he putting up a façade to please his parents?

“Hey,” he says lowly, giving your shoulder a nudge.

“Hi, uhm…just so you know I had nothing to do with this.” You whispered as your parents made their way to the dining table.

He huffed with a side smile, nodding to himself as you both arrive at the dinner table. He suddenly took out a chair for you, motioning for you to sit and you comply awkwardly, helping him scoot the seat closer to the table.

That was…nice?

Your mother gave him an approving look, as did his dad before they all sat down. But Soobin didn’t seem to notice any of it as he took the seat next to you, looking around just like his parents; probably noticing the lack of a male figure in your household.

“This looks amazing.” Soobin’s dad remarks as he looks at all of the food. “Your husband won’t be joining?”

You stiffened in your seat, which Soobin noticed. He looked at your fallen facial expression with a frown on his own face.

“Dad..” he whispered in disapproval at his father’s blunt comment.

“Oh, he hasn’t joined us for dinner since y/n turned 9 years old.” Your mother straightforwardly comments back. Earning raised eyebrows and a cough from Isabelle.

“…I’m sorry.” Soobin’s father quickly apologized with a charming smile, making your mother smile back at him as she waved the moment of awkwardness away.

“It’s ok, it’s just me and y/n.”

You lifted your head to smile at the family and soon enough everyone had assembled their plates to start eating.

“This is really good.” Soobin compliments your mother’s roast chicken as he chews with fervor, it made you giggle, and your mom’s eyes softened at the way he seemed to enjoy her cooking.

“I thought you didn’t like roast chicken?” Isabelle asked with genuine question marks in her eyes and that’s when Soobin swallowed the food with big eyes, looking at her directly as if he got caught with something

“I uh. I like this one, it's seasoned.”

Oh my god.

The chicken wasn’t the only one being roasted, cause his stepmom was NOT happy about that comment.

Isabelle bitterly smiled to herself and his dad gave Soobin a warning glare but Soobin didn’t seem to care. Your mom however was intrigued by him. “So Soobin, y/n told me you two go to the same school? How is that?” Soobin looked from his father to your mother and smiled at her warmly. “Yeah, the school is fun. The people are nice, as are the teachers. I’m enjoying my time there. Kinda wished I lived on campus though.”

His father's jaw visibly clenched at that comment and Isabelle’s eyes traveled from your mother to Soobin’s as well.

“How so?” your mother pries some more, acting all innocent when she knew better than anyone why that is.

“It’s hard to get close to people. I joined in the middle of the semester and was forced to live at home so…” He was decent enough to tell half-truths, not really feeling like getting into the whole I’m forced to live with my dad 'cause he’s worried about me since my mom died thing.

“Forced?” your mom asks dropping her cutlery and that’s when you knew you had to jump in to make sure this conversation didn’t go south any further.

“I-I’m having a party here this Friday. You should come, I’ll introduce you to everyone.”

All eyes were on you, as were Soobin’s who was staring at you with parted lips. Your eyes wandered for a second, but you immediately looked back into his eyes.

“Is it your birthday soon?” his dad asks.

“N-no, it’s just…random.”

“Do you have parties at random a lot?” Isabelle asks and you quickly shake your head. He rolled his eyes at his step mothers’ attempt to condemn the situation. Regular college parties in a neighborhood as peaceful as this one is not something the family signed up for when they moved here. But lucky for them, it’d just be a one-time thing…possibly.

“I’ll come.” Soobin smiles at you sweetly, picking his fork back up to continue eating, as did everyone else which made your shoulders fall in relaxation.

This could’ve gone a lot worse.

“Will you be there too?” Isabelle asks your mother which made her snort to herself. “No, of course not. Why would I crash a college party?”

“For supervision?” Isabelle questions as serious as ever.

“…My daughter is a responsible adult. I know most of her friends since they all grew up together. It's a small town, no one’s doing crack here Isabelle.”

Soobin and yourself snort at that comment. Your mom lets a lot fly past her head, but people judging or doubting you is something she doesn’t do well with.

Soobin’s father and Isabelle tried to laugh at the comment your mother made away as a joke and Isabelle quickly tried to redeem herself. “I was just curious that’s all. It’s not every day that parents give their blessings for college parties.”

“Well, I’d rather have her do it under my roof and for me to know about it than her doing it behind my back.”

“Point taken,” Soobin’s dad says which made Isabelle glare at him.

Your mom was making herself seem like mother of the year right now, which was far from the truth but something about the way Soobin’s dad was looking at your mom didn’t sit quite right with you.

He liked her. It was evident in the way his eyes twinkled at her independence, wittiness, and well…her tits pressed against each other in that goddamn dress weren’t making matters any easier for him either.

Soobin slouched in his seat with a smile on his face, looking from his parents to your mom as they quietly ate their food. You looked at him, softly kicking him under the seat to say something in order to lift the mood. He seemed to be okay with the awkwardness, but you weren’t.

He looked at you knowingly, shrugging his shoulders as he took another bite and it made you roll your eyes at him…which he also smiled at. He was clearly enjoying all of this.

“So.” Soobin starts, looking at you, which made everyone’s eyes land on you once again. “You done eating?”

You give him a confused look, looking from your empty plate to him. “Obviously.”

Soobin looked from you to your mother. “Can we be excused? I want to talk to y/n about…school stuff.”

Your mom crossed her arms over her chest, leaning back in her chair as she poked her tongue in her cheek.

“Soobin, I’m sure that can wait” His dad starts, but your mother smiled at Soobin. “School stuff? Well if it’s school stuff it must be really important.” She winked at him and he smiled at her, getting up from his chair to then look at you impatiently. “You coming?”

You raise your brows at him, getting up from your seat, and give his parents an apologetic look. “We’ll be right back.”

Soobin subconsciously guides you out of the room by putting his hand on your lower back, but the feeling of his slender yet large fingers ghosting down your back sent shivers down your spine. What could he possibly want right now?

Your mind started going into overdrive but before you knew it you were out of the dining room and into the hallway right next to the staircase. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothings wrong, I felt like we both needed a breather from the awkwardness at that table. Let’s go for a walk?”

You look up at him, your eyes searching for sincerity in his own, but you couldn’t quite tell if he was joking or if he was serious. He stepped aside to make room for you and grabbed his jacket which you took as a sign to grab your own as well.

While you walked down the block, you didn’t know what else to do other than apologize for your mother's behavior.

“…I’m sorry, my mom she’s-”

“She seems fun.”

“She’s not,” you state firmly.

Soobin raised his brow at your bitter tone, realizing that he can’t just judge your family dynamics off of one simple dinner, but he couldn’t help but like her after she put Isabelle in her place multiple times. He decided not to go against you for it, given the fact that he’d hate it if you tried to tell him his dad ‘wasn’t as bad as he seemed.’

“It’s what she wants you to think,” you mumble to fill the silence.

“Sorry.” He quickly apologized, putting his hands in his jacket pockets for his lack of knowing what to do with them.

You glanced at him as he walked quietly beside you. The silence that followed was comfortable yet awkward. There were so many things you wanted to ask him, but your mind only seemed to replay one particular moment…the naked moment.

“S-so tell me about you.” You stammer, glancing at Soobin as you tried to look just the right amount of interest in him. Mystery was your charm…so you decided to stick with it.

Soobin snorted, a side smirk upturning the edge of his heart-shaped lips. “What do you wanna know?”

Fuck. You should’ve known he wouldn’t just start blabbing about his life. The whole ‘mysterious’ concept you wanted to stick with somehow also transferred to Soobin.

He looked at you, waiting patiently for you to say something as you sighed the deepest sigh ever, but then you figured out what to ask to get him to speak.

“If you hate your dad so much, why do you live with him?”

Well…this is a low blow on your part. You knew full well that his mother passed…but the thing is that Soobin didn’t know that you knew.

He swallowed harshly as his shoulders fell and suddenly you felt like an ass.

“….Y-you don’t have to-” you stammer with a sorry expression on your face.

“My mom died a few months back, of cancer.” His voice was stable, but his eyes held a pained gaze. You stopped in your tracks, which made him stop too to look back at you with question.

“I shouldn’t have asked, I’m sorry.” Your eyes were big with regret and his shoulders fell as he bit his lip.

“No, It’s ok.” He chuckled. “How else are we supposed to get to know each other if we keep avoiding subjects.” He shrugged, tugging your arm to make you walk with him again. Your feet started to match his pace automatically; not even realizing how he made you snake your arm through his own.

“I’m fine. Grief is a process, and I’m really lucky I got to properly say goodbye to her, but these big changes are hard. I was hoping to move away alone but my dad insisted on the whole family sticks together thing.”

“…And that’s bad because?” you were trying your hardest not to judge, but having a parent who cares was better than having none, right?

“Because he left us first to start a new life with Isabelle. My mom got sick soon after that and he just…lived his fucked up fairy tale as my mom fought for her life on her own. I won’t ever forgive him for it. He’s a hypocrite and he’s trying to make amends in the worst ways.”

You swallowed harshly, as did Soobin, soon realizing he was opening up to you faster than he thought he would or wanted to for that matter.

“I think both of our parents have a way of putting themselves before us and making up for it when it’s too late. It’s a hard burden to bare and an even harder reality to accept. It sucks cause it basically means we had to grow up too fast.” You say thinking about your own situation back home.

“Yeah.” Soobin sounded absentminded as he listened to you attentively. Realizing that you two might have more in common than he thought.

“Being alone isn’t always the answer you know. Don’t hesitate to reach out to me or my friends.” you were looking at the pavement as you walked, not realizing his eyes burning into you.

“Your friends?”

You quickly look back at him to then look away again. “Yeah they’ve been trying to get close to you but you’re such a fucking loner. I think Beomgyu will pee his pants out of excitement if I tell him you’re joining for lunch tomorrow.” You giggle as you are reminded of your best friend and Soobin’s eye smile returned as he chuckled. He nudged you ever so gently which set your whole body on fire. You hated the effect he had on you. It was starting to become annoying.

“Will your boyfriend be okay with it?”

“Boyfriend?” your eyes widened as you look up at Soobin, taken aback by how close he was to your face.

“The guy that kissed your cheek at lunch today.”

“That’s not- Oh my god. No, that’s Yeonjun…he’s just…touchy that’s all. I’m not dating anyone.”

He laughed at your little panic attack and nodded. “Relax, I was just curious that’s all.”

Why was he curious? Was he...interested?

You quickly take your mind out of the gutter as you both cross the street, back to your house. You pout your lips forward, contemplating what to say but you decided to steer the conversation back to the previous topic.

“I’m serious. If you need an escape my door is always open, my mom is never home anyway.” You rolled your eyes at the latter part not noticing that Soobin looked at you in surprise at how sweet you were.

He gave you a cute smile at which your heart clenched in your chest. You beamed back at him, now realizing how close the two of you were as you walked arm in arm. You tried to nonchalantly detangle yourself from him, but he noticed how flustered you were, and it made him smirk to himself contently.

“Thank you y/n.” he stopped to look you dead in the eye as he spoke, making a shiver run down your spine at how deep his voice was. You averted your gaze from his lips to his eyes and smiled coyly, giving him a playful shove to create some distance.

“Don’t mention it. We should head back before my mom does something stupid.”

It wasn’t long after the two of you got back that Isabelle was ready to leave, and well…you couldn’t blame her.

After thorough interrogation from your mother during the dishes about your walk with Soobin, and a quick shower, you finally got some peace and quiet as you walked into your room. Ever since you met him, per usual your thoughts were filled with Soobin, but tonight was different. Tonight, you actually had real-life dialogue to analyze. You thought about everything he’s done and said as you dried your hair, trying to read between the lines and figure out if you were just being delusional or if the look in his eyes implied there was something more than friendship.

You didn’t mean to peak or anything, but as you walked over to your window to close the blinds you noticed how Soobin STILL hadn’t put up any type of curtains. A small light was switched on atop of his bedside table, but Soobin himself was nowhere to be found.

You sighed, biting your lip. Your mind involuntarily played the images of his casual nakedness from the other night and just as you snap out of it, Soobin stepped into his bedroom…in boxers this time.

You gulp, hiding behind your curtain but peeking through the net curtains that separated you from his direct view if he were to look in your room’s direction.

His physique is incredible…not only did he have slightly sculpted abs but the muscles in his legs, arms, and shoulders were defined just right through his milky skin…what you would’ve given to be able to trace your fingers over the curve of his biceps right now.

Your eyes grow in size as you watch him position himself on his bed, he was laying on top of the sheets, staring at the ceiling before he closed his eyes. His fingers slowly slid down from his lower abdomen to his crotch and that’s when you noticed the unmissable large bulge showing through his underwear.

He cupped his hardness with his right hand, his hand slowly massaging the outline of his member before he slid his hand into his boxers.

What you were seeing was absolutely sinful and you had no idea how long you had been standing there at this point. It was wrong to keep looking but it's like you were frozen into place. You felt your mouth grow dry as you press your thighs together, watching him play with himself as his face contorted in pleasure. The silence however was torturous. Not being able to hear his pretty moans as he touched himself left you frustrated, but the sight alone had you pooling down there.

His pace was intensifying, and you watched him twitch from pleasure as he pumped himself harder and faster. His eyebrows knitted together as he bit his lip, jolting forward to prepare for his orgasm, and then it washed over him like waves crashing against the shore as white spurts of liquid covered his abdomen. His breathing got heavier and heavier, but he clasped his free hand over his mouth to keep quiet as he slowly pumped out his high.

You gulp, quickly closing your curtains before your knees grew weak. Your legs gave out right after, clutching your hand over your chest to feel how fast your heart was pounding.

“Shit.” You cursed under your breath while you found the strength to get back up, throwing yourself on the bed to then stare at the ceiling, your pupils nimbly darting back and forth as your mind went into overdrive. Did he fantasize about you? It’s not even that much of a far-fetched assumption if he felt the need to rub one out just moments after the two of you spent time together.

You bite your lip, pinching your eyes closed as the sexual tension and frustration start to become uncomfortable, and before you knew it your fingers started to dance around the hem of your by-now soaked panties.

His pretty face and the way he looked so desperate as he twitched and jolted during his private session were spurring you on to reach the same highs just as quickly as he did. You weren’t sure if it was your name that he moaned when he came undone, but you sure as hell did moan his as your body started to involuntarily shock against your fingers.

“You never called,” Beomgyu says, pulling you out of your daydream of last night's events as he sits down next to you in the cafeteria.

You try to act nonchalant and scoot to the right, making more space for him on the bench. “Yeah, it was a pretty ok night actually,” you vaguely state trying to occupy yourself with your phone so you wouldn’t have to go into detail about things, but you could already feel Beomgyu’s eyes burn into your skull.

“What’s pretty ok? Did you talk to him at all or?”

“Mmmhmm we actually bonded a bit…” …in more ways than one.

“Oh well, that’s good. Do you think he’ll join us for lunch?” His eyes lit up with expectancy. It was actually pretty cute how badly Beomgyu was trying to get close to Soobin, but to no avail yet.

“I don’t know…”

Your thoughts and conversation were interrupted as Yeonjun and his clique planted their asses at your table.

“Hey babes” Yeonjun greets the both of you in a way only he could and immediately starts to ramble about his new flame.

“Wait? What’s her name again?” Hueningkai asks as he takes a bite of his apple.

“His name is Felix and they’re actually leaning more towards they/them.” He snarkily replies rolling his eyes.

“Sorry I asked,” Hueningkai says with widened eyes, turning away to avoid Yeonjun’s glare.

“I don’t know why you bother asking anyway, Yeonjun finds a new hole to entertain every other week” Taehyun remarks which made everyone at the table burst out in laughter except for you because you noticed a certain someone walk into the cafeteria.

Soobin was actually looking around for you but when he locked eyes with you he noticed how crowded your table already was. You observed how he hesitated as he redirected his feet to another table, deciding not to join you just for the fact of being too introverted to do so.

He shot you an awkward smile and walked over to a table with fewer people who you all recall to be from his class.

You were visibly disappointed yet didn’t even get the time to mope about it before Beomgyu noticed by following your gaze.

He sighed, kicking you under the table so you wouldn’t get caught staring at Soobin. Just before you could bitch at Gyu for doing so, Yeonjun was already on to the next subject.

“So, partner, when were we meeting up again?” he asks cocking his head to the side to catch your attention.

You snapped out of it, giving him a confused stare. “Partner?”

“Yes. We have a project together for Mrs. Young’s class. Did you forget?”

“Oh, no. I figured I would just end up doing all of the work again, you know…so you can entertain your weekly hole.” You bite your straw with a sassy smirk which had Yeonjun scoffing with a dumbfounded look on his face.

Taehyun choked on his drink, giving you a high five for stretching out his joke as you both giggled. “Well if I keep letting people do my work, I won’t be able to write my own thesis so, what do you say? Today? After school?”

You raise your eyebrows in surprise at his sudden maturity and nod, pouting your lips forward.

“Yeah sure, we can do it at my place, my mom’s not home.” You shrug, not meaning anything by the latter part of your sentence. They already knew you were basically an orphan.

Yeonjun smirked. “You sure you want me there with no one around?”

You knew him well enough to know he was just joking, but sometimes you got confused if the flirtiness in his tone and body language were fake or not.

“Didn’t you just say you were dating someone?” you ask cocking an eyebrow.

“Dating is a big word.” He says with a smirk on his plump lips, giving you the chance to roll your eyes at him once more.

“You’re disgusting,” you huff, making the rest of the guys laugh at your banter.

A/N: you are now halfway through the fic.

Soobin got home around 6 PM that same day, mentally abusing himself for the fact that he didn’t have balls big enough to just walk up to you and your friends, but honestly; who wouldn’t be intimidated?

He did get a follow request from that Beomgyu guy and accepted it on the way up to his room as he lazily stalked his profile. He noticed a few pictures you were in and zoomed in on them to analyze your features a little. He caught himself smirking a little too hard when he got to his bedroom and locked his phone to snap out of it. Soobin threw his phone on the bed just for the device to completely miss the cushiony surface as it hit the hard wooden floor with a loud thud.

“Shit,” he curses as he clumsily jolts forward to pick up his phone. He got up; facing the window to his bedroom and suddenly noticed one brightly lit room on the opposite end of the street where you lived.

His eyes widened, noticing for the first time how clearly he could look into your bedroom when the lights were on, but just as he was about to look away; he noticed a male figure sitting on your bed.

It was that Yeonjun guy. He was typing something on his laptop, resting his back against the headboard of your bed, and for some reason, it irked Soobin.

You kicked your bedroom door open with your foot, carrying a tray of snacks and drinks into your room for the two of you to enjoy during your study session. Yeonjun quickly got up from the bed to help you out which made you smile at him.

“You act like this huge dick, but you’re the softest bean, I just don’t get it.” You say as you snack on a biscuit. Yeonjun crossed his legs on your bed, stealing the packet from you to retrieve one for himself, and sighed. “It’s not an act, you just know It’s not who I really am because you’ve known me for so long,” he mumbles shoving the cookie into his mouth.

“I just don’t want you getting hurt that’s all.” You sigh, looking away for a second but when you looked back at him he had a soft side smile plastering his lips. Yeonjun patted your hair in endearment, leaning back onto your bed to open his laptop again. “You don’t have to worry about me, I’ll be fine. Now let’s do this thing so we can go to sleep at a decent time yeah?”

You nod, biting your lip to then scoot closer to him on the bed to see what he was doing so you could follow along before you opened your own laptop, but all it looked like was a Netflix and Chill situation to Soobin.

Soobin was glued to the floor as he looked at the two of you until he was called by Isabelle for dinner. He was confused as to why he was so bothered. Did you lie to him when you said Yeonjun wasn’t your boyfriend last night? Or is he reading into things too much?

He sighed, turning back around to go downstairs, flipping off the light to his room before he made his way downstairs again.

Yeonjun, who somehow felt eyes on him, noticed how a light switch off followed by a tall figure closing the door behind him in the house across from yours. He froze for a second, giving you a look. “Yo, I think someone was looking at us.”

You blankly stare at him, leaning over the other side of the bed to retrieve your own laptop. “Huh?”

“…No like…seriously.” He got up walking towards your window to have a closer look into the bedroom across the street and that’s when it clicked to you. “Over there.” He said pointing into Soobin’s room.

“Uhm, I…it’s probably nothing.” You say avoiding eye contact with Yeonjun, but he couldn’t quite let it go.

“Y/n if some creep is peeping at you through his damn window then that’s fucked up. They don’t even have blinds or curtains up how obvious can it be.” Yeonjun was getting worked up as he crossed his arms, staring into Soobins bedroom with an angry duck pout on his lips.

“Yeonjun, let it go. Please. Let’s finish this thing.”

“No.”

“Yeonjun.”

“No, he’s a pervert.”

You sigh closing your eyes and your laptop while reaching for your forehead in annoyance.

You walked over to your window to close your curtains, standing just inches away from Yeonjun who still wasn’t budging,

“He’s not a pervert.”

“How do you know that? You’re so fucking naïve sometimes I can’t-“

“Because it’s Soobin’s bedroom.” You say cutting him off, and that’s when Yeonjuns ears perked up with widened eyes followed by his mouth falling agape.

“Y’all peep at each other through the window?” he quietly asks with a mischievous grin on his face. “Oh my god, y/n. That’s so scandalous even for you.”

You laugh, shoving his arm which made him lose balance for a second before he stepped back to regain his composure. “I’ve…seen him a few times but he never seemed to notice me before. He’s pretty oblivious.”

“Really? What did you see?”

“….Nothing,” you say bashfully avoiding his stare as you looked at your feet.

“Oh, stop lying.” Yeonjun laughs.

He sat back down on your bed, giving you a coy smile. “Do you like him?”

“…I…” you thought about lying but honestly, if you knew anything about Yeonjun is that he’d keep your secrets to his grave. “Yes.”

He smiled a tender smile, looking at you with a certain sparkle in his eyes until he suddenly realized something as his face turned blank. “…He just saw us on the bed”

Your eyes widened “What…do you mean?”

“I’m pretty sure he saw us together, he might think we’re…”

“Not this again” you groan. “He already thought you were my boyfriend because you kissed me on the cheek at lunch?”

He blankly stared at you “…He thought we were dating because I kissed you on the cheek? What is this guy? A nun? I kiss everyone.”

“He’s definitely not a nun,” you mumble.

Yeonjun’s eyes lit up again, noticing how your body involuntarily shook at the memory.

“…What did you see,” Yeonjun says with playfulness in his tone, stepping closer to you to get answers out of you.

“Yeonjun, fuck off.”

“Oh my god just tell me, nothing ever happens in this boring town.”

You pause for a second, not knowing why you’re revealing this type of sensitive information but honestly, you were dying to talk about it with someone. “I saw him jack off,” you admit under your breath, biting your lip as you awaited Yeonjun’s response.

“OH MY GOD,” Yeonjun yelled, followed by an incoherent string of giggles as he doubled over to catch his breath. “You little shit, he’s not the pervert, you are!”

“Shut up.” You feel heat rise to your ears, which made Yeonjun laugh at your misery once more. “Oh, that’s amazing, I can’t wait until this fucking party of yours, what did you do when you saw it? Did you touch yourself?” he cockily asks licking his lips.

Your eyes widened in mild panic “You-” you took a step towards Yeonjun, practically standing inches away from him in hopes to intimidate him. “I will kill you if you tell anyone.”

“So it TRUE!? My god. Well, you don’t have to worry about that, you know me.” He winked at you, putting his hand on your shoulder.

Your mother who came home without you even noticing was standing at the door opening of your bedroom. She didn’t mean to pry, but when she walked over to the laundry room and saw you inches away from Yeonjun’s face she couldn’t help herself and stayed to lean on your doorpost.

“Hi kids,”

Her voice made the hairs on your necks stand up straight and you immediately distanced yourself from him.

“Yeonjun sweetie, it’s been a while, hasn’t it? What brings you here?” she asks. Once again she was skimpily dressed, which made Yeonjun hold eye contact with her for the life of him. You could tell he was fighting demons not to let his eyes wander to her chest.

“Oh…uh…a project.” He awkwardly scratched his neck, giving you a look.

“For what class? Sex ed?”

Noticing the sour and venomous look on your face, your mom put on a wide smile on her lips, casually laughing off her horrible joke. “I’m just kidding kids, eat first yeah? I brought dinner. There’s enough for everyone Yeonjun, you’re welcome to join.”

He was hesitant but given the look on your face that screamed please don’t leave me alone with her, he decided to stay.

Dinner actually wasn’t as bad, Yeonjun made himself lovable per usual and the two of you even facetimed Beomgyu so he could virtually join you for dinner. Your mom was acting weird as always but was uncharacteristically quiet throughout the whole thing. It’s like she was trying to figure out what was going on between the two of you.

After dinner, Yeonjun insisted on helping with the dishes, but since you needed a moment alone with your mom, you told him you were going to make you guys some coffee to get you two going throughout the night since you were going to have to pull an all-nighter anyway.

As you turned on your coffee machine, your mom wiped the counter, checking if Yeonjun was already on his way to your room. She gave you a look, snapping her fingers so you’d look at her which caught your attention.

“I don’t want you with that boy he probably has some form of chlamydia.” She says in a hushed yet concerned tone.

“MOM.” Even you were at a loss for fucking words at this point

“What? You know I love him, he’s been around since you were kids but…why can’t you date someone who’s cute and sweet like…like that Soobin guy from across the lot.”

“I’m not into Yeonjun, and he’s not into me. Now, please. Leave us be, we have a project to finish.”

“I just want what’s best for you.”

‘What’s best for me is if you’d just stay out of my business, even if I did like Yeonjun, you have no right to talk about him the way you just did. And stop pretending to know me, you’re never here anyway.”

You didn’t know where your snarky tone was coming from, but honestly, you were done with your mom’s popping in and out of your life with her judgment whenever she wanted. You were never really one to speak out against her, always just ignoring whatever she had to say but today you’ve quite literally had enough.

You grabbed your coffees and stormed upstairs, leaving your mom at a loss for words in the kitchen.

Soobin was headed out for an early morning jog to clear his head. His situation at home was worsening by the day. He kept being the subject of stupid fights between Isabelle and his dad, which made him snap at both of them during dinner. He hasn’t said a word to them since then and was dying to talk to someone about all of this.

Of course, you were the first person to pop into his mind, but he also wanted to respect your boundaries. Soobin was pretty sure that whatever was going on between you and Yeonjun was complicated enough for you to tell him that you weren’t dating so he was hesitant to even talk to you again.

Soobin turned the corner, taking a look at your house as he jogged to his own garage and that’s when he noticed your front door open. He stopped for a second, pretending to stretch and that’s when he saw Yeonjun walk out of your house at 7.30 AM.

Well fuck.

Yeonjun who was about to get in his car with a sleep-deprived blank facial expression suddenly woke the fuck up when he felt Soobin’s eyes on him.

Shit. What does he do? Things were already sus as is.

“Hey man.” Yeonjun greeted Soobin with a wave which made Soobin awkwardly wave back at him with a friendly smile on his face.

“You coming to her party tonight?” Yeonjun asks leaning against his car.

Soobin straightened out his posture, walking closer to Yeonjun so they didn’t have to yell across the lot to hear each other. “Uhm, I’m thinking about it.”

“Oh just come it should be fun, also bring anyone you like she won’t mind. I mean if that makes you feel better”

“Hmm?

“I-“ Yeonjun stopped himself for a second, realizing that came off wrong. “I mean, I’ll probably…invite someone too.”

“Okay? Cool…I mean I’ll think about it” he coughed, stretching his arms to then lie a nonchalant lie. “I’m pretty busy ya know. With the move and all.”

“Oh well…don’t be a stranger.”

Soobin squinted his eyes, not knowing if Yeonjun was testing him as your man or if he was just being nice. “Yeah, for sure.”

“Well, I’ll see you at school man,” Yeonjun says with a smile before getting into his car, leaving Soobin utterly confused before he jogged back to his house.

Overthinking was Soobin’s favorite sport, so that’s exactly what he did during his shower. Today was the day he was going to talk to you and subtly ask for clarification. He couldn’t just torture himself like this any longer.

Even if it was going to be awkward, He had to know for sure if you were actually in a relationship or not because he can’t just keep jacking off to images of you in his head like the pervert he is if you were actually taken. I mean he could, but he definitely shouldn’t.

His clean-cut conscience wouldn’t allow him to.

He made his way from the bathroom to his bedroom and got dressed rather quickly, he was in a rush but didn’t fail to notice that his AirPods were missing from his backpack. He sighed, rummaging around his room at lightning speed just to find them in the windowpane. “For fucks sake.” He huffed, walking towards the window to pick them up and that’s when…

“OH MY GOD.” He yelped, turning his back to the window as he squeezed his eyes shut.

He didn’t mean to look.

He didn’t.

But he definitely saw you.

In your fucking bra and panties.

You were lazily getting dressed in front of your mirror, your blinds were open because you had hoped to see Soobin but you hadn’t spotted him all morning. He basically sprinted out of his room without a second look, his heart racing incredibly fast by now. It didn’t even take 10 seconds before he made it out of his house and into his car, ready to speed off to campus.

Soobin was mentally mauling himself, catching a glimpse of you standing in front of your window to open it as he drove off, though he wasn’t sure if you saw him...

Soobin’s brain was doing backflips as he got to school. You were occupying every inch of his brain and dick for that matter.

There was no way Soobin was going to approach you after that ordeal. Absolutely no way.

He had a quick flashback of the mere second he saw you half-naked, that purple lace bra perfectly cupping your goods. He had to snap out of it quickly before little Steve would wake up in class. A boner is the last thing you need during your first week at a new college.

He didn’t mean to look, he really didn’t. But his brain was already making up doom scenarios of you thinking he was a pervert, or worse. fuck, how was he going to resolve this?

He immediately took a mental note to ask his dad about what was taking so long with the god damn custom blinds he ordered for Soobin’s room, though he didn’t have much time to think about it because someone was blocking his view.

“Hey.” Beomgyu smiled at Soobin, taking a seat beside him in the auditorium. Soobin fixed his posture from being slouched in his seat, clasping his fingers together instead of biting at his nailbeds, and proceeded to give Beomgyu a friendly smile. “Hey.”

“I didn’t know we shared this class together,” Beomgyu says excitedly which made Soobin faintly smile at how cute Beomgyu was.

“Are you coming to y/n’s party tonight?”

“Oh…uh…I don’t know.”

“What why? She really wants you to come.”

Oh…he’s not so sure about that right now. “Me? Why would she.”

Beomgyu looked at Soobin a little funny, wondering if he was actually that oblivious or if he was just playing dumb. But watching the two of you steal glances from each other during lunch and the constant ‘Soobin this, Soobin that’ conversations he had with you made him want to help push things in the right direction between the two of you.

“You’re kidding right?” Beomgyu says opening his notebook right before the lecture started.

“What?”

“It’s obvious you two are into each other.” Beomgyu shrugged, averting his attention from Soobin to the lecturer which made Soobin’s brain go into overdrive.

HUH?

A trillion different things were running through Soobin’s mind right now. Into each other? Meaning you’re not dating? Wait…was it that obvious to Beomgyu? Does that mean it’s obvious to you too?

Ugh. Now what.

You were making your way out of the lecture hall on the east side of campus, texting the group chat to ask for some assistance to set up for the party tonight. You sigh as you send the message, putting your phone in your back pocket and adjusted your tote bag on your shoulder as you walked towards your next class until you spotted a tall familiar figure in the distance.

It was Soobin, walking out of the lecture hall you had to be in with a lazy unamused strut. You raised your eyebrows, contemplating if you should go talk to him but before your brain could even process your thoughts, your legs were already speed walking towards him.

“Hey!” you catch up to him in no time, tugging at his arm from behind. He turned around in complete bewilderment, removing his AirPods from his ears in shock to see you standing there.

“Oh, hey y/n” he smiled at you awkwardly.

“Did you see?” you ask, cocking your head to the side.

“Huh, what? No. I mean…see what?” Soobin stumbled on his words, obviously thinking about seeing you practically nude this morning while trying his hardest to maintain eye contact before his eyes could wander to your chest.

You raise a brow, a smile tugging at your lips at how nervous he was being around you. “The invite to my party tonight. I sent it to you via text.”

“Oh! That, yeah I-uh I don’t-”

“No, come on. Just come. All you do is play games or scroll through your phone. I know it’s scary to meet all of these people but if not now then, when-”

He interrupts you this time. “Wait…how do you know that?”

“Huh,” Shit y/n. you and your big ass mouth. “Just a guess,” you lie.

“Right.” He raised his eyebrows in suspicion, starting to wonder if you were able to see him just as clearly as he was able to see you through your window.

You give him a playful shove to snap him out of his thoughts which made him immediately straighten out his posture. “I’ll come.”

Your eyes lit up, cutely clasping your hands together which made Soobin’s heart clench in his chest at the sight.

“Really? Okay, cool. I’ll see you tonight then.” You beamed at him which made him reciprocate your friendly smile. You quickly checked the time, realizing you were running late for your lecture, and hastily excused yourself before running off, leaving a jittery and suspicious feeling Soobin by himself.

“Is this where you want it boss?” Hueningkai asks you as he and Taehyun move your dinner table to the side to make more space.

You look over your shoulder while holding decorations for Beomgyu to attach to your ceiling giving them a satisfied nod. “Perfect.”

Beomgyu got down from the ladder as well, giving your head a quick pet before he found his red cup to take a sip of his beer. “Where’s Yeonjun?”

At that, the doorbell rang, which made Taehyun get up and waddle over to open it. It was Yeonjun and…someone else.

“Speak of the devil,” Beomgyu utters with a smirk.

“Hey babies, what did I miss,” Yeonjun says giving everyone a quick hug.

“Nothing, we’re still setting up, people should arrive in like 30 minutes,” Hueningkai states giving you a confused look after looking at the dude Yeonjun brought with him.

That’s definitely not the guy he told you guys about at lunch the other day.

“This is Changbin,” Yeonjun says introducing him to the bunch, you were sure everyone was thinking the same thing, which made you all seem a little uptight.

“Hi everyone.” Changbin smiled at all of you as he clung to Yeonjun.

“What happened to Felix?” Taehyun says with his unfiltered mind, making you hold your breath as you watch Yeonjun’s eyes widen. “I don’t know who that is,” he says rolling his eyes which made everyone snicker to themselves

“Okay, clear; let’s get you both something to drink.” You suggest leading them both to the table filled with bottles upon bottles of liquor. You gave your friends a quick confused look over your shoulder before disappearing into the kitchen with them.

Tae, Kai, and Beomgyu all looked at each other, bursting out in laughter.

“Pay up” Hueningkai cackles, pulling Beomgyu towards him by his shoulders. “I told you he moved on from the last one.”

“I didn’t think it could happen this quickly” Beomgyu moped, pulling a 20-dollar bill out of his wallet. Hueningkai snatched it from Beomgyu with an evil smirk, which made Taehyun laugh as well.

“Well,” Taehyun says raising his cup, making the others do the same. “Cheers to an even more eventful night.”

Soobin had a gift for running late, even if he lived right across from you he totally lost track of time as he was contemplating what to wear. The party was fully going judging by the cars lined up next to the driveway and the number of people that walked in and out of your home, he was sure the house would be packed by now. He stood in front of his mirror, adjusting the collar to his white button-up until he was satisfied.

Soobin bit his lip with anxiety and walked over to his window to close it, stopping for a second to look inside yours but the curtains were closed, making him sigh to himself.

He’s gonna have to find a way to get into your room to look out of your window to know for sure.

He left a light on near his bed and sped down the stairs, hastily grabbing his keys from the dinner table. He saw his dad in the living room, stopping himself to be a decent son for once and say goodbye.

“Hey, I’m heading out,” Soobin announces.

“Oh, that’s fine son,” His dad was on his phone, not really paying attention which made Soobin look around him.

“Where's Isabelle?” Soobin asked fidgeting with the keys in his hands.

“Girls trip.” His dad sounded bitter, making Soobin nod to himself, not asking any further questions. “Okay well…see ya.”

“Yes, have fun son,” he says making eye contact this time.

Soobin knitted his eyebrows together in concern as he put on his shoes, but decided not to really think about the way they have been arguing lately for the sake of having a good time tonight. He walked out of the house and towards yours. The front door was open so he let himself in, his eyes widening at the mayhem he was met with. He could already feel the bass of the music bounce off the walls from the entrance as chatter from at least a hundred people made his ears ring.

He hated parties but he had a mission, so he took a better look around this time.

People were chatting amongst themselves in their intoxicated little bubble, a few of them were dancing and the rest were immersed in different drinking games. His eyes were searching for you as he walked through the house and when he came into the familiar room of your kitchen/dining area his eyes widened even more. Yeonjun was fully making out with some dude on your kitchen counter.

Yeah, that’s definitely not your boyfriend.

“Ohhh shit, look who it is!” Beomgyu yelped drunkenly leaning on Soobin’s shoulder. “Here shot it.” Soobin couldn’t even resist as the shot glass was basically shoved past his lips. The gasoline-like liquid burned his throat as he swallowed it. Ew. Tequila.

He shook his head, his bunny lips flopping around. “You got something that tastes less abrasive?”

“You mean lemonade?” Beomgyu says trying to regain balance by himself after letting go of Soobin.

“No, like Soju.” Soobin chuckled, rolling his eyes. He couldn’t put his finger on it but Beomgyu was both annoying and lovable at the same time.

“It’s over there with the rest of the guys, come on; everyone’s dying to finally meet you.”

You were pulled in a hundred different directions. Everyone wanted to either film a TikTok with you or take pictures; so you didn’t have much time to breathe. By now Soobin had fully given in to your friend group. They were a lot more fun than he thought they were which made him mentally kick himself for not trying to befriend them sooner. It might’ve taken at least two bottles of Soju to loosen up, but at least it worked.

You stumbled into your living room, finally finding the time to breathe and that’s when you spot him sitting on the edge of the couch with a big smile on his face as he watched Taehyun and Beomgyu’s heated discussion about something random. He was holding a half-empty bottle of Soju as he grazed his fingers through his dark hair. His loose-fitted blouse was unbuttoned just enough to leave room for imagination. He was looking good enough to eat, licking his lips before attaching them to the bottle he was holding as he took a big chug of it.

Fuck. Frustrated was the only word to describe your emotional state because every single time you were able to lust over Soobin was with a good distance between the two of you. Literally.

“Oh y/n there you are.” Hueningkai beamed at you with a cute smile. Soobin’s ears perked up at the mention of your name and snapped his head in your direction.

Damn, you looked good.

“Can you tell them to stop arguing?” Hueningkai pouted, but you were too occupied with Soobin's hungry stare on your body and outfit to really pay attention.

“Y-yeah, stop arguing.” You say with zero conviction as you wave your finger in their faces, making Soobin pat the empty spot on the armrest of the couch when he noticed how you were holding eye contact with him, telling you to sit down next to him.

Beomgyu and Tae gave each other knowing looks, but Hueningkai was just lost at this point.

You sit down sideways, crossing your legs. “Are you having fun?” you ask Soobin whose gaze was still fixated on you. He nodded with an amused glint in his eyes as they wandered to your bare legs.

He was loving your skirt.

“You look really good.” He compliments you with confidence, flustering you in the process.

So, alcohol equaled confidence with this man. Noted.

“Thank you, so do you,” you shyly giggled.

“Go fuck already.” Beomgyu glared at both of you, which earned him a hard punch to his arm from Taehyun.

Your eyes grew as your ears heated up with embarrassment but you didn’t have much time to respond because you were already being called by someone else.

“Y/n baby, can you tell me where the other bottles are?” Yeonjun stood in the door opening motioning you to come hither with his index finger and your eyes immediately shot to Soobin’s in concern.

“I’m not his actual baby.” You clarified, which made Soobin’s lips curl up into a devious smile.

“I know. Don’t worry.” He patted your leg. “We’ll have plenty of time to talk, go on.”

You nodded at him, getting up rather clumsily as you stumbled over to Yeonjun who caught you right before you could trip over your own feet.

Soobin watched you disappear into your kitchen, taking another chug of his drink.

This is the perfect time to sneak up to your bedroom.

“I’m gonna go pee,” Soobin announces as he got up, making the guys nod at him in response.

“Okay, hurry back,” Beomgyu shouts after him.

Showing Yeonjun where the bottles were was a bad idea because he made you take at least 3 shots with him and Changbin for as far as you could count and on top of that it was like Soobin disappeared from the face of the planet.

You looked for him in the crowd and asked your friends who told you he left to pee and never came back. And to make matters worse, in your drunken state your house seemed at least twice as big as you searched every room except your own. You stand in front of your bedroom door, hesitating to open it.

There’s no way…right?

You hold your breath before twisting the doorknob, peeking your head through just to see him standing there, staring out of your window and into his own.

Oh…oh…shit.

“Soobin?” you had to check just to be sure because your vision was more than blurry right now.

He turned around with his arms crossed, squinting his eyes at you.

You couldn’t tell if he was pissed or not.

You close the door behind you, leaning against it as you erupt in silent drunken giggles. Pouting your lips forwards as he walked over to you.

“Well, the bags out of the cat, I mean, cat’s out of the bag.” You stutter incoherently.

He sighed with a smirk, shaking his head at you. “I knew it. You were a little too specific with your comment from this morning.”

You pout, crossing your legs, running your fingertips over his forearm, tracing the protruding vein that you were so attracted to. “You were too hot to look away.” You whisper, making him shudder in place, but he couldn’t let you take control just yet.

“You do know that window works both ways right?” Soobin smirked. “I see you too,” he whispered in your ear. Every single hair in your neck stood up straight as his deep voice did things to your entire nervous system. He had your legs become jelly as he backed you into the wall with his towering height, his hands trapping you on either side of the doorframe.

“S-soobin.” You were slurring your words in your drunken state, your brain not knowing how to make sense of the situation. This was your wet dream. But it wasn’t a dream.

Soobin’s gaze darkened upon hearing his name come out of your mouth in the form of a strained moan. He licked his perfect heart-shaped lips with a side smirk, brushing his hair out of his face to then create some distance between the two of you.

“I feel like you’ve been playing me a little too much.” He says as his fingers barely teased over the curve of your neckline. “I want you to know what it feels like to be that fucking frustrated.” He put some emphasis on his last words as his fingers ghosted from your neck to your chest. His fingertips barely even touched you as he hooked his digits through the strap of your tank top. Your skin was on absolute fire as you held your breath, not saying anything for the lack of finding the right words to say at the moment.

The silence that followed wasn’t awkward but heated. You couldn’t quite explain it but both of you understood the immense tension that was building between the two of you. Soobin’s large hands moved to your waist as he suddenly adjusted you in place rather roughly, making you look at him with big doe eyes.

He loved the control he started to have over you, given the fact that it used to be the other way around. He then decided to take it a little further now that he had you exactly where he has imagined you to be ever since he met you. Submissive and beneath him.

“Did I leave anything to your imagination, or did you watch me cum that one night?” Soobin asks with confidence. His shy boy image was completely out the door now that he had you alone, and the three full bottles of Soju he emptied were of great help at feeding his ego.

You swallowed harshly as you tried to press your thighs together, making him chuckle lowly as he noticed a change in your body language.

“I’m…y-yeah.” You stutter.

“Now, that’s not fair.” He says sucking his teeth, his breath fanning your neck again as his lips got closer to your ear, his right hand taking a hold of your chin to force you to look up at him. “Soobin you’re driving me fucking crazy.” Your voice came out in a pained whisper as you felt the grip on your waist tighten.

“Good,” he mused, pulling at your bottom lip with his thumb, and that’s when you just about had it.

Your hands flew up to cup his face as you eagerly connected your lips to his, you were hungrily making out by now, articles of your clothing flying around the room until you were left in your undies and that purple lace bra he saw this morning. He basically threw you on the bed before taking his shirt off. You watched him like a hawk as he did, finally able to admire him from up close. You waited for him to climb on top of you as he grinds his clothed core onto yours to create the friction you both so desperately needed. You let out a few breathy moans, the sound edging him on to waste zero time with you. He proceeded to bury his face in between your tits, licking and sucking a trail back up to your neck, lazily kissing and nibbling on your skin as he fondled your breasts with his large hands.

You threw your head back as he looped his arm under your thigh, pushing your knee up to your chest, perfectly demonstrating how he’d bury his length deeply into you when the timing was right.

“Soobin, more.” You were desperate to have him touch you, but he clicked his tongue at you, giving your thigh a rough squeeze as he basically ripped your skirt off. “Be patient, you might’ve seen me naked already, but this is my first time seeing you so let me take my time yeah.”

His comment had you giggling at how cute and wrong it actually was at the same time. He wasn’t even making a big deal out of the whole I’ve been watching you through the window thing, if anything it kind of…turned him on.

“Shit.” He cursed as he pushed both of your knees up to your chest so he could have a full and unapologetic look at your glistening core as he slid your panties to the side, his mouth watering at the sight. Even though you were pretty confident, a position like this with your crush hungrily staring at your cunt would have even the most confident person in shambles. You tried closing your legs but he pushed them back open, giving you a confused look.

“Now you grow a conscience?” he smirked, licking his lips to then lower his face to your core. He kissed your inner thighs, making you shake in anticipation at how close he was to the place where you wanted him most.

“Your skin is so soft.” He mused, caressing your thighs as he positioned himself in between your legs, lazily kissing around your sex without actually coming in contact with it.

He was doing this on purpose and you knew it.

Soobin was making you feel how frustrated he has been all this time and wasn’t just going to reward you with stimulation this early on. Your hole was clenching around nothing as you felt his breath on your pussy, which has you groaning in torment as you laced your fingers in his silky brown locks. “S-stop teasing.”

“You’ve been having your fun with me, day in and out, watching me for your own pleasure without saying a word.” He shook his head and licked his lips before softly biting your inner thigh, making you squirm under him at the discomfort you felt. He grinned once more as he watched your body. “I think you deserve to be teased a little.”

He placed a kiss right on top of your pelvic bone before allowing you to shut your legs for a second. You watched him through hooded eyes as he started to play with the hem of your

panties, twisting it around his fingers to snap the elastic band back on your skin as he let go, followed by the stinging sensation at the point of contact. “Ah..” you moaned, turned on and confused at the same time cause no man had ever done that to you before.

“Like being toyed with?” He asks with a cocky smile, coming back up to look you in the eye. By now you had tears in your eyes, furiously shaking your head at his words. “No, No, I want you. I want you n-now.” You were pleading with him, putting on your best bambi-like ‘fuck me' eyes to get him to soften up and give you what you want but he just tutted his lips forward, shaking his head no which left you entirely too horny and well…pissed off at this point to keep your act up. “So needy and pathetic.” He degraded you, enjoying it a little too much.

Watching you squirm under his touch with every little thing he did was a fantasy becoming reality. He stood beside the bed, ghosting his fingers over your bare tummy, up to your breast to softly pinch your nipple. He softly smiled down at you, and your eyes traveled to the obvious bulge in his trousers, the image enough to make you pool down there more than you already were.

“Don’t you think they’re wondering where we are? Maybe we should head back…” he says lost in thought, trying to gauge your reaction with a slight smirk on his lips.

You propped yourself up on your elbows, furiously furrowing your eyebrows as you stare at him in disbelief. You grabbed one of his hands with both of your own, stopping him in his tracks before he could even attempt to leave you high and dry.

“Choi Soobin, if you don’t do something about the literal fire between my legs that you’ve ignited, then I will NEVER speak to you again.” You tried to sound firm, but your brain was mush by now.

He slowly lowered himself, kneeling beside you so he’d be on eye level with you, His left hand still holding onto yours as his right hand ghosted down your body once more. He was quiet, obviously pondering what to do next. You swore you were never this whiny, or desperate, but the tequila showed you otherwise “Soobin please, please stop teasing, I’ll do anything. Please.” You beg as you felt him push your panties to the side again, and that’s when his thumb finally rolled against your clit.

You squeezed your eyes shut, your stomach feeling jittery as your leg involuntarily twitched at the sudden sensation. “Right there?” he asks repeating his movements. You nod, burying your face in his arm as you squeeze his hand for dear life, but the action made him sigh. “Relax baby. It’ll feel better If you relax.”

“How the fuck am I supposed to relax, you’re…a literal menace,” you moan in between your sentence as his pace sped up. He grimaced, and you let go of him, letting yourself fall flat to your bed again. This time, however, he climbed back on the bed. Grabbing fistfuls of your hair, making you look down at your cunt with him as he made you rest your back on his knee. He was moving you around like a ragdoll, for him to control and play with.

“You like to watch right? So watch.” He demanded, inserting two of his large fingers into you without warning. You inhale sharply, a choked-out moan leaving your lips as he started to finger you with deep and fast strokes. You grabbed onto his forearm for a bit of leverage on reality as you watched his arm muscles and veins tighten with every thrust of his hand. He was too attractive. His mouth was watering at the sight as he kept his eyes on you, studying how your body moved and felt around him. He felt your wetness pool around his digits and was pretty sure that you were about to cum on his fingers.

You were completely domified by now, tears prickling the brims of your eyes as you couldn’t make sense of anything. You’ve never heard yourself moan this incoherently. Sounding nothing like yourself as he fastened his brutal pace some more. “Come on baby, come on. Just like that.” The palm of his hand was rubbing against your clit as he fingered you, alternating between friction and penetration in a perfect pattern.

“S-Soobin I’m-” Soobin was fighting you to keep you down with one hand as your body started to shock. You couldn’t even finish your sentence, your words getting caught in your throat as you finally let yourself go. Your thighs were trembling as you both panted loudly. He buried his face into your neck, sweetly pecking your lips to then place calming kisses in your neck to slowly bring you back to earth but you were still exhausted.

Shit, that orgasm was a whole exorcism.

Soobin’s shy demeanor returned shortly after, removing his fingers from your dripping hole in pure awe of what he just did to you. “Wow.” He muttered, rubbing his thumb against his index finger to spread around your slick on his digits but you caught him off guard when you wrapped your arms around him, hugging him tightly as you buried your face in his chest to hide how vulnerable you felt. He sweetly rubbed your back with one hand and massaged your thigh with the other in hopes to relieve some of the aches you were experiencing.

“Are you okay?” he asks, knitting his eyebrows together with concern.

You nodded with your face still buried in his chest, trying to regulate your breathing some more before looking up at him. His lips were glistening and swollen from all the kissing, his hair was a complete mess and his skin had a sex glow to it as he looked at you through hooded lids. He looked good enough to eat. More than usual.

You bashfully nod, giving him a shy smile that he reciprocated and sealed with a sweet peck on your soft lips but you pulled him down with you, fumbling with his belt to get it off of him.

He was surprised to know you still had it in you to go further, although he needed to know for sure. “y/n. you don’t have to return the favor-“

“Please, you’re doing me the favor here.” You huff, not caring how eager you seemed to him.

He snorted once you got his dick free from its confinements, gauging your reaction to his length springing free. “Shit.” You sit up, it’s even better in person. You gently grabbed it with both hands, and let a string of saliva fall from your lips and onto his dick to lubricate him some more.

He exhaled sharply, watching you like a hawk before he stopped you by grabbing your jaw. Soobin wasn’t sure how long he was going to last, but he had to make himself last inside of you for as long as possible.

“Blowjobs can wait.” He states, which earned him a confused look from you. “I mean, I need to be inside you as soon as possible.”

You giggled as he pushed you back down, taking one of your legs over his shoulder as he rubbed your slick between your folds with his tip. You closed your eyes in anticipation but he teased you like that a few more times before gently pushing himself into you.

You both moaned in unison, you could tell he was being careful but you were more than aroused enough to take him. “Shit.” he cursed once he was deep inside of you, feeling your walls clench around him oh so perfectly. He caressed your cheek, bending down to kiss your temple sweetly which actually surprised you.

It was a sweet gesture you didn’t anticipate. Maybe it’s because the basis of your relationship was built on lust…you didn’t even stop to think if it could become love at some point in the future.

“Hey.” You stop him for a second, which made him basically freeze in place. “What? Am I hurting you?” his face was ridden with concern but you quickly shook your head.

“This isn’t one of those one-time things where you go back to ignoring me right?” your eyes were big and insecure but it made Soobin feel relief somehow.

“What? No. Of course not.” He assured you, planting a kiss to your lips.

“This is just the start of it sweetheart.” He caressed your cheek again, and your lips curled into a soft smile.

“Well in that case...” You sit up, which earned you a confused look but you ignored him, proceeding to push him down on the mattress so you could climb on top of him this time.

“Where were we?” you say before leaning down to kiss him some more.

Still cock drunk and well, regular drunk; you try to discretely walk down the stairs with Soobin tailing behind you but everyone in that house knew exactly what you were up to.

Soobin looked at your behind, noticing how your skirt was ridden up, and quickly pulled it down, giving you a reassuring nod.

“Well. I see you’ve taken my advice.” Beomgyu says approaching you two.

“No.” you blatantly deny it, trying to sound sober.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Soobin tried with a side pout and an unconvincing frown, but Beomgyu could see through your bullshit. “Yeah, yeah. We’re almost out of drinks.”

You raise your brows. “Already?”

“Yeah, a lot more people showed up than we anticipated,” he shrugged with a pout.

Soobin sighed, leaning against the doorpost of the hallway entrance. “We can check my house? I’m sure we have some stuff laying around.”

“Your dad won’t mind?” you ask.

“I don’t think he’ll even notice,” Soobin says with an exhausted sigh, thinking about the situation back home. You noticed his drop in energy and took a mental note to ask him about it later. You grabbed his hand and laced your fingers through his, which earned you a shy smile from him. “I’ll come with.”

Beomgyu raised his brows at both of you with a side smirk. “Go on love birds,” he teases shooing you both away.

You didn’t know why but everything was extra funny to the two of you right now. Like two lovestruck teens you walked over to his house still hand in hand, giggling as you stumbled past his front door.

Soobin clasped his hand over your mouth from behind to stop you from waking his dad with your giggles, but it was of no use as he tripped over a pair of heels in the door opening. “Fuck.” You tried to muffle your laughter at his clumsiness and helped him up by his arm but both of you were alarmed by noises coming from the living room.

“Shhhh,” Soobin says pulling you into him as he placed a finger over his lips, signaling you to be quiet, which you cutely imitated.

Are those…moans he’s hearing?

Your eyes widen and you try to shake your head no. You were not about to walk in on his parents having sex. Absolutely not. But Soobin stood frozen on his feet with furrowed eyebrows, looking at the shoes he stumbled over. Even if you didn’t notice whose feet those high-ass heels belonged to, he sure did. Because Isabelle didn’t wear these types of heels. Ever.

Soobin looked at you with concern making you look back at him in distress, and that’s when the moans started to become louder.

“Let’s leave! What are you doing!?” You whisper, trying to pull him back out of the front door but he wasn’t budging, in fact, he walked straight past you and into his living room.

Is he insane?

You had a mini panic attack as you weighed the options on what to do in the next second. Do you run after him or run back to your house?

The little soberness left inside of you decided to run after Soobin judging by how upset he seemed and just as you passed the corner with him, you wish you hadn’t.

Because you saw your mom…on top of his dad…on the couch.

“MOM!?” “DAD!?”

You both shouted out in unison before turning around to stop seeing whatever was going on.

There is no fucking way this was really happening.

Part 2

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chrysanthemum9484 · 10 months

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Danny is pissed. He has successfully been the king of the ghost zone for five years and then he gets sold by his ex-friends Sam and Tucker. And both of them looked happy when they checked over two cases with documents and money.

That was 20 years ago. He has no idea what has happened outside of the facility aside from the GIW no longer being a government agency and having to go underground due to a serious change in laws about four years ago.

It was exactly on the anniversary of him being sold out that the intruder alarm blarred loudly enough to make Danny think that it was comparable to his wail.

The agents running around were screaming about intruder alarm code alpha. Danny knew from all the rescue attempts that Alpha was the highest level of danger. That however didn't give him any hope. After all the majority of the ghosts here were captured because they were trying to rescue him.

But then he saw them. Humans. Dresses like comic book super heroes... With either some sort of superpowers or items kicking the buts of the GIW agents.

One in red spandex with a yellow lighting on the chest, static electricity from the high speeds at which he moves at settling down as he fiddled for a second with the lock of his cell. The door opened promptly and then next thing he knew Danny was completely free.

No more shackles. No more blood blossoms on the walls. No more ectoranium collar.

It was then that he sensed it. The one in front of him was blessed by Clockwork. The man in the bat costume was blessed by one of his knights. The man with the green skin and the man who was flying while looking like his human half were not from this planet. The woman with the lasso was his cousin.

Then the speedster stopped in front of Danny, munching on the last stem of the blood blossoms from his cells, "I should have brought some salt." He said a bit awkwardly, clearly unsure how his joke will be taken.

Danny let a small snort of laughter escape him before he went out and started opening the cells.

...

After the fighting was over the GIW agents were being rounded up by a man who Danny came to know as Green Lantern.

"I have to bring down the mood," Danny started, seeing as half of the heroes were making plans about celebrating, "however you all saving us does nothing to prevent the Infinite Realms from starting an interdimentional war. After all those bastards" Danny gestures to the GIW agents, "experimented on the king of the dead for twenty years. And the worst part? Sixteen of those twenty years were legal! So tell me... What reason do I have to not call for war?"

#chrysanthemum9484 #dpxdc #war au

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from-the-clouds · 1 year

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texas sun - joel miller x f!reader - vol. 1

series masterlist | series playlist | writing masterlist |

summary: When you let your new neighbor’s daughter inside to call her father from your landline, you never expect to be dealing with the fallout twenty years later. Series will take place before and after the outbreak, and is partially inspired by this request. Slow-burn(ish), eventual smut. pairing: pre-outbreak!joel miller x f!reader words: 6.4k chapter warnings: mentions of/encounters with a drunk person, references to absent parents, i imply that both reader (and joel) like pineapple on pizza. a/n: i need to get my shit together and make a proper masterlist/post for this series but i'm absolute garbage with photoshop/making collages so that is a project for another day!! for now, i wanted to get this first part out to ya'll. i watched a playthrough of the game too so ill be including some references to that throughout the series. this will be some hallmark-movie ass romance so strap in!! this chapter was super fun to write and i loved writing for reader and sarah, give it a read and let me know what you think!

-March 7, 2003-

“Excuse me? Ma’am? Excuse me?”

The voice behind you is so timid you don’t hear it right away, especially not when your phone is pressed to your ear with your shoulder as you sort through the mail, your coworker droning on and on…

“Ma’am?”

It’s a little more forceful this time, a little closer too, and that’s when it finally gets your attention. Turning around on your heel, you find a young girl standing behind you, one hand hooked in the strap of her backpack that hangs off of one thin shoulder, the other worrying about the butterfly pendant of the necklace she’s wearing.

You recognize her immediately as one of your neighbors, the girl from across the street whose name you didn’t know yet, because you only moved in about two months ago. You’d met the man who you assumed was her father – Joe? Or was it Joel?, you couldn’t remember – the first day you’d moved in, but there had been so much going on that you were too flustered to be engaged.

It’s a Friday, but apparently that doesn’t keep you safe from work calls after you leave the office, because you’re getting an earful of a whole lot of hot air, so much so that you’re probably unintentionally frowning at the girl in front of you while you try to follow the conversation.

“....I think you’re right, but they’re not going to budge unless we sweeten the deal somehow-”

“Can I call you back?” you blurt, ultimately thankful for the interruption. You don’t even wait for his response before you click off your blackberry, sighing, looking up. “Hi, yeah, sorry. Can I help you?”

“Uhm, I’m Sarah…..Miller….I live across the street?” her voice goes up slightly at the end of the sentence, like she’s unsure, even as she points to the home behind her, a two-story place that’s considerably bigger than your own, but maybe a little older. “I uhm…I locked myself out and I was wondering if I could use your phone…to call my dad at work? Please?”

“Oh, yeah,” you say. “That’s fine. Just uh..follow me I guess.”

Tucking the stack of mail in your hand under your arm, you wave her after you, your kitten heels clicking on the hard pavement of your driveway.

“Be careful here,” you warn her as you step over the middle step to your front porch that has rotted, and gives easily under any amount of weight. You’d learned about it the hard way, last week, and still had the bruise on your leg to show for it.

Your front door is open, and Sarah pauses to take off her shoes when you do, a pair of beat-up white Converse that have been doodled on in Sharpie.

“Here, phone’s right there,” you lead her into the kitchen and point to the landline. “Can I get you anything to drink?”

“Uhm, could I just get some water…please?” She stands rigidly in your kitchen, rocking back and forth on her heels.

“Of course,” you reach into the cabinet. Once the glass is filled and placed in front of her, you retreat to your front living area to give her some privacy while she makes the call, sitting on the couch and scrolling through unanswered emails on your blackberry. Sarah mumbles indiscreetly, until you hear her call out again.

“Uhm…ma’am…I’m sorry, Miss…uh-what’s your last name?”

“Oh,” you sit up, giving her your first instead.

“Okay….Uh, my dad wants to talk to you…could you-”

“Sure,” you stand, stepping back into the kitchen, and accepting the receiver from the girl.

“Hello?”

“Hey, this is Joel Miller,” you’re greeted with a low, gruff drawl. “You’re the new neighbor, I believe introduced myself a while back”

“Joel,” you repeat. It’s Joel. Joel, Joel, Joel, you force yourself to remember. Joel and Sarah Miller. “Yes, we met very briefly.”

“And it sounds like you met Sarah.”

“Yeah.”

On the other end of the line, you hear him hesitate, let out a long sigh. “Look, I hate to put you out, but she lost her key to the house, and she tells me the Adlers aren’t home. Do you think she could stay at your place until I’m able to get off work in a couple hours? I know it’s a big ask, but-”

“Of course she can,” you cut him off, peering over your shoulder at Sarah, who’s staring up at you expectantly with wide, terrified eyes.

“Really?”

“Yeah, it’s no big deal.”

“She’s probably got homework so I’ll make sure she stays quiet and out of your way. I’m so sorry, she should know better than this. It’s the second time this month this has happened, I keep tellin’ her-”

“Like I said, it’s not a big deal,” you cut him off, unintentionally, before wondering if it was rude you didn’t let him finish. It’s the native New Yorker in you, always in a rush and uninterested in drawn-out excuses. It’s an unfortunate instinct you’ve been trying to train yourself out of, particularly now that you’re living in the southwest. You soften your tone. “She can stay as long as she needs to, seriously. I don’t have anything planned.”

“Okay,” the voice on the other end sounds relieved. “Thank you. Thank you so much. I should be home by nine, I’ll call if anything changes. Thanks so much.”

“Of course, we’ll be fine. See you soon.” You hang up.

Sarah is still behind you when you turn around, clutching the glass of water she’s got in both hands like a vice. “You can stay here until your dad gets home,” you tell her.

“Did….did he sound mad?”

“Maybe a little stressed,” you’re honest. “But….not mad. I also don’t know him, so…”

“I bet he’ll be mad. This is the second time I’ve locked myself out this month because I forgot my key, and I already got lectured once that last time because he had to leave work early.”

“You made a mistake, people forget things…” you shrug. “I’m sure he’ll get over it.”

Her shoulders relax slightly, and she looks around like it’s the first time she’s actually registered where she’s at. “You have a nice house. It’s cozy.”

“Thanks,” you put your hands on your hips and look around too. “I’m still settling in, so not everything’s unpacked, but I could give you a tour if you’d like?”

“Yes ma’am.”

Ma’am. That tickles you. The address is still not something you’re used to hearing, even though you’ve only been in Austin a few years. “You can just call me by my first name, you know? Ma’am makes me feel old.”

“Really?” she grins, following you down the hall. “I can’t wait to be old.”

“You’ll feel differently someday,” you answer. “But…I guess it’s not so bad.”

Compared to the house you grew up in, your new house is nothing special, but it’s yours, and you couldn’t be prouder that you’d bought it all on your own. It’s a three-bedroom ranch, and you’d converted one of the rooms into an office for yourself. There’s a kitchen, living room, and den. But your favorite part is your large, screened in back porch that overlooks your yard. Now that it’s getting closer to summer, you sit outside in the mornings with a cup of tea and read the newspaper, listen to the birds.

“Can I do my homework at your kitchen table?” Sarah asks once you’re finished showing her around.

“Make yourself comfortable wherever,” you answer. “I could probably stand to get a little work done myself.”

Sarah sits at your dining room table, spreads out her books, and works quietly while you answer some emails and look over some contracts. You’ve got a big meeting Monday with a potential client, and a giant stack of term sheets to go through, but if you could manage to get some of it done tonight it might actually help you down the line. As much as possible, you try to avoid doing too much work outside of your office’s standard hours, but sometimes, it’s inevitable.

The subject Sarah has homework in is algebra, which renders you useless. Even when you have to do any accounting at work, you’re used to having a calculator nearby. It’d been awhile since you spent time with anyone as young as she was – in sixth grade, she told you – and it was starting to serve as a confirmation of your own dysfunctional childhood, because her carefree, sweet nature was so drastically different from anything you remembered feeling.

After about an hour, Sarah slowly starts to close her notebooks, zipping her pencils back up in plastic pouches. You look up from making revisions on a contract, the smell of blue ink heavy in the air around you. “I’m done,” she announces. “Could I sit on your couch and read?”

“Of course,” you answer. “Give me five and I’ll join you.”

It doesn’t take long for you to find a good stopping point, and you pack up your messenger bag, and join Sarah in the living room. “So…I’m starting to get hungry,” you tell her. “Are you?”

Sarah nods sheepishly.

“I could order us something,” you said. “What do you like?”

You aren’t much of a chef, though you can generally figure your way out around any recipe. However, cooking for one is notoriously tedious. If you had multiple mouths to feed, maybe you’d be tempted to hone your skills in the kitchen a little more. Most nights you usually treated yourself to a depressing, hastily thrown together salad, scrambled eggs, or a PB&J. Tonight, you had actually been planning to take yourself out to dinner – there’s a cute little French bistro down the street and you were hoping to treat yourself to a cocktail and a nice meal while you read.

Sarah closes her book, contemplating. “Could we….get a pizza?”

You think about it. “Sure, yeah. Pepperoni…cheese?”

“Can we get….one of both?” she tests.

“Yeah, we can do both,” You smile. “I bet your dad will be hungry, too, he can have some if he wants.”

“Maybe…he likes pineapple on his,” Sarah wrinkles her nose.

“He has good taste. I do too.”

“Gross.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll keep them separate,” you call over your shoulder as you retreat to the kitchen.

Once the pizza is ordered, you return to your living room and curl up on the opposite side of the couch from Sarah, who is engrossed back in her book. “They told me about 30 minutes. What are you reading?”

“To Kill A Mockingbird,” she says, showing you the cover.

“That was one of my favorites growing up.”

“I have to read it for school…but it’s pretty good so far.”

Your phone pings with another email, and you glance at it quickly.

“Is that work?” she asks.

You nod. “Yeah. It still finds you, even when you leave.”

“What do you do?”

“I’m a lawyer.”

“No way!” Sarah perks up. “Like on the tv shows? That’s so cool.”

You snort, shaking your head. “No, not exactly. I’m a corporate lawyer so it’s not as fun, actually, it’s just a lot of paperwork and meetings…”

“So…you don’t like it, then?”

“It’s….” you think about it. “....Fine.” Did you like your job? It wasn’t really something you thought about in that way, you’d always seen it as a means to an end. “I went to law school because my dad wanted me to…he wanted me to work for him someday. And…that didn’t pan out so…yeah. But you know…it pays well, and….”

“You get to wear cool outfits,” she gestures to you.

“Yeah, I guess I do. Although the heels do get a little uncomfortable.”

Sarah’s eyes shift behind you for a second to the hallway leading to your bedroom, then widen excitedly. “You have a cat?”

You turn around to see what she’s looking at, the white and gray ball of fluff that you’d found underneath a dumpster one late night in college.

“Yeah, that’s Martini.”

“Martini,” she giggles, and the cat approaches her cautiously. He’s notoriously shy and quiet, and not even particularly cuddly, but he likes to sleep at the foot of your bed and will sit next to you on the couch if you stay still for long enough.

The cat sniffs Sarah’s outstretched hand, then presses his face into Sarah’s palm so she can scratch him under his chin, his favorite spot. “He’s not usually a fan of strangers, he must like you.”

“I love animals,” she says. “My dad won’t let me get a pet because he says he’ll end up taking care of it.”

You chuckle. “Cats are pretty easy…at least, he is.”

Martini allows himself about twenty seconds worth of affection before he darts out of the room and heads to his food bowl.

“I’m gonna go change out of my work clothes, I’ll be right back,” you push yourself off the couch and walk down the hallway. Any other night and you probably would’ve been in pajamas awhile ago but that’s probably not acceptable, so you settle for jeans and a sweater, which is much more comfortable than the dress and tights you had been in before.

The pizza arrives and after you tip the driver, set it on your kitchen island and pull some plates out of your cupboard. You and Sarah are both long settled with full plates when you speak again.

“Wow….I forgot how good pizza is…” you say, staring at the half eaten piece in your hand.

“You don’t eat pizza?”

“Usually only when I’m drunk,” you say, then immediately realize you’re talking to an eleven year old. “Oops, I…probably shouldn’t be telling you that.”

She giggles. “It’s okay.”

“So, it’s just you and your dad across the street?” you ask. “Does your mom live with you?”

The second the question registers, you immediately regret asking. Sarah shrinks before you, her face dropping, shaking her head. “No I…I don’t really have a mom.”

“I’m sorry,” you say, softly. You just assumed she existed although you’d never seen her, and you feel guilty, racking your brain for something that might help make her feel better. “I understand, my mom wasn’t really around growing up.”

“She wasn’t?” Sarah asked, looking up.

You shake your head. “My parents got divorced when I was young, my dad took us, and she moved across the country, so….I didn’t see much of her.”

“My mom… she left when I was a baby.”

“I’m sorry.” You say again, staring at the girl in front of you.

For a moment, looking at her, you see yourself, and you wonder how a parent can wake up one day and choose to ignore someone that’s one half of themselves. Someone they made. If they really understood what that might do to a person’s psyche, growing up thinking that they weren’t wanted. You had always told yourself that your mother, your parents must have not understood, because if they did, and they still chose to do it…

“Are you married?” Sarah asks, and you’re snapped out of your train of thought.

Taking a bite of pizza, you shake your head no.

“So you live here alone?”

You nod, chewing.

“Do you like it?”

You nod, swallow. “It’s better than having a roommate, or living in the city.”

Standing up, you walk towards the fridge for a can of sparkling water. It hisses while you open it, and you lean over the counter while Sarah continues to drill you. “Do you ever get….scared? Like at night?”

“No….not really. I have locks. And this is a safe neighborhood. And uh, I may or may not have a nightlight still.”

Sarah giggles. “Me too.”

There’s a sturdy knock on your screen door, which you’d left open to let in the cool spring breeze, and you notice Sarah’s eyes widen. “I bet that’s my dad.”

As if he heard her, and maybe he did, the guest calls out. “It’s Joel!” It’s the same voice from over the phone, but much clearer.

“Come in,” you answer.

The screen door creaks open, the sound of boots shuffling inside. “Sarah?” It’s the same voice from the phone. Joel steps into the warm light of the kitchen.

When you first met it had been from a distance, you were carrying boxes and he was loading something into the back of his truck. It’s clear you hadn’t gotten a good enough look at him, wouldn’t have forgotten his name, because fuck, he’s kind of gorgeous…tan skin, dark wavy hair, and a sharp jawline covered in stubble. In the archway to your kitchen he looks huge, taller than you remembered.

“Hi Dad,” Sarah says. “Miss-“

You cut her off simply by saying your first name. “Nice to meet you…again.”

“It’s nice to meet you, too, and thank you so much for keeping an eye on her. We’ll get out of your ha-”

“We got you pizza,” Sarah pipes up, looking at him. You can tell that she’s trying to stall. Or at least, trying to offer him something that might soften the inevitable lecture she’s going to get. It’s a smart play, and definitely not something you would’ve been above trying at her age.

Joel looks at the three pizza boxes spread across your countertop. “You didn’t have to feed her, really, like I said, she should’ve known better,” he turns to look at her pointedly.

“I had to eat anyway. Please, help yourself. There’s a ton of leftovers,” You really did not want cold pizza in your fridge, because it’d be too tempting to eat as a late night snack or even breakfast on your way out the door in the mornings.

Reluctantly, he looks at you before taking a plate. “Thank you,” he turns to his daughter while he opens one of the boxes. “Did you get your homework done?”

Sarah nods. “And I got ahead on my reading for English.”

“That’s good.”

Joel turns back to you, settles in a chair with the plate of food in front of him at the island. You do the same. “I’m sorry I haven’t had the time to come over and properly introduce myself. Sarah too.”

You shrug. “I’m the new neighbor, that’s probably my responsibility anyways. It’s been kind of hectic settling in.”

“Where’d you move from?”

“Well, I’ve been in Austin for the past few years, but originally I’m from Manhattan.”

Joel nods. “Why Texas?”

It’s far away from my insane family, you think, and then settle on something else. “Work.”

Sarah is staring at her plate and tearing a piece of crust into tiny pieces. Joel eyes the slice of pizza he’s just taken a bite of.

“Pineapple?” he looks over at Sarah. “Are you tryin’ to bribe me so you don’t get in trouble?”

“It’s my favorite, too,” you offer, then wink at Sarah when Joel isn’t looking. She tilts her head down, her hair hiding the grin on her face from her father.

A buzzing sound cuts through the room before Joel can answer, and he digs in his pocket to fish out his cell phone. “Hold on, I gotta take this.”

When he steps out of the room, you begin to clear the empty boxes and plates off your kitchen island and bring them over to the sink. Sarah brings her plate over as well, stands next to you at the sink while you rinse them off and load them in the dishwasher.

“Thank you for dinner,” she says.

“Of course,” you answer.

“I just really hope he’s not disappointed with me.”

Placing your hand between her shoulder blades, you give her an encouraging pat. “I don’t think he is….” you hear Joel on the phone in the other room, his voice rising in volume. “....and honestly….it sounds like he might have bigger fish to fry…”

“Tommy…are you fucking kidding me? Again? How many times is this gonna happen? Okay…fine. fine. I’ll be there soon, but you can’t keep doing this shit.”

Sarah grimaces, and you both turn back to the sink sheepishly when you hear Joel’s footsteps returning. She bumps you with her elbow while you clear your throat.

You’re sure there’s still a residual smile on your face when you turn around to face Joel, who has his hands on his hips. “Alright, Sarah, we gotta get going.”

“Is everything okay with Uncle Tommy?”

“No, I’ve gotta pick him up at the police station.”

“Did he drink too much again?”

“Sarah!” Joel exclaims. “Please, it’s gettin’ late and you’ve got a soccer game tomorrow, you need to get to bed.”

You’re biting your lower lip so hard to keep from laughing you almost taste blood. It’s not funny, definitely not funny to Joel, who you can tell is having a rough night, but it’s objectively funny as an outsider, watching all their familial drama being put on blast by his daughter who doesn’t quite have a filter yet, and is first and foremost trying to protect herself from getting into trouble.

“She’s a lawyer, I bet she could help Tommy,” Sarah looks over at you. “Couldn’t you?”

Joel frowns. “That’s not how that works-”

“What’d they bring him in for?” you ask.

Joel runs a hand through his hair. “Public intoxication. Are you really a lawyer?”

“Well…I’m a corporate lawyer so that wouldn’t really be my specialty. But uh…I’ve definitely been able to talk my friends out of that kind of thing before.”

“But this is not the first time,” Joel says. “It’s probably useless.”

“Didn’t you say you can’t afford to keep-”

“Sarah, enough.” Joel’s voice is as stern as you’ve heard it, and he digs into his pocket, producing a keychain. “Go home and get ready for bed. I’ll be home in a minute.”

Sarah sighs, defeated. “Okay.”

Joel stands dead still while she shuffles to the door, cramming her feet in her shoes with her backpack slung over her shoulder.

By this point in the evening, you’d usually be curled up on your couch by the fireplace with your latest knitting project, moderately stoned, watching bad reality television and sipping sleepytime herbal tea. But your night has already gone drastically different from your expectation. Why stop now? “If you wanted…I could try to help.”

Joel shakes his head, looks at the floor. “I can’t ask that of you.”

“You didn’t ask,” you shrug. “I offered.”

He looks up, a soft smile breaks across his face, revealing a row of straight, sparkling teeth, the corners of his eyes crinkling. It’s the first sincere smile you’ve ever seen from him, and your knees feel a little weak at the sight of it. You think you might offer him anything just to see it again. “It’d be a huge favor. But….I’d appreciate it.”

“Alright well…” you look around, push yourself off the countertop. “I probably should change before we go. I don’t think I’ll be taken seriously in this.”

He chuckles. “Yeah, I need to make sure Sarah gets to bed alright, how ‘bout you meet me on my porch in ten?”

“I’ll be there.”

“Thanks again,” he raps his knuckles on the counter twice before retreating, and you stay in place until you hear the screen door close behind him.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

“I feel like you’re meeting us all at a very chaotic time….I promise, things aren’t usually like this.”

Joel’s not sure why he feels the need to clarify this to you on the drive to the police station. In fact, he might be saying it more to convince himself, because he thinks ever since Sarah’s mom ran off, things have never not been chaotic.

In some ways, he’s glad it happened. It was a doomed relationship from the start, they’d both been far too young to understand the consequences of their actions, so it was probably for the better that she was no longer around. But he was caught in a constant state of feeling like he could never quite get a handle on things.

Joel glances over at you in the passenger's seat of his truck. He decides that you look a little out of place there, dressed in a black pantsuit, a messenger bag tucked between your heel-clad feet. He can’t remember the last time there was an adult woman in his car. Three months, maybe? It had been a date, a third date, and subsequently, a last date. But right now the context is different.

Your head is tilted towards the open window, the breeze casting stray pieces of your hair around as the radio cuts in and out of an old Eagles song and then to static, and then back into music again. He needs to get his damned stereo fixed but unfortunately it hasn’t exactly been high on his priority list. His gaze travels down the slope of your neck, where your skin dips into the collar of your silky blue blouse, then back to your profile, your lips moving as you mouth the words to the song, but don’t sing.

I get this feelin' I may know you

As a lover and a friend

You stop when his words register, turning to look at him, and he averts his eyes back to the road. “No offense or anything….” you say. “But compared to the family I grew up in….this is all pretty tame.”

Joel ponders that for a moment, notices the way your eyes are narrowed, the corners of your lips quirking. “What, you got a problematic little brother, too? A precocious eleven-year-old?”

“No kids,” you answer. He didn’t think so. “But I do have a problematic older brother. And the stress he’s caused has definitely taken years off my life.”

At least you seem like you understand.

He’s shocked you’re in this car with him, that after entertaining his daughter all night, you’d offered to help him out with this Tommy mess. Though, he assumes you’re doing it out of guilt because Sarah made it sound like he was broke.

“You know for the record, I actually have the money to bail him out.”

“I figured.”

“Then why’d you come?”

You shrug. “I don’t know. My life has been pretty boring lately. I can’t remember the last time I did something exciting on a Friday night.”

“This is exciting to you?”

“It’s objectively exciting,” you sound assured. “Maybe more exciting than being the person who got arrested for public intoxication.”

Despite the stress of the evening, he can’t help but laugh.

“And whether you’re broke or not, bailing someone out of jail is no joke. If you can at least try to talk your way out of it, you might as well.”

Joel can’t argue with your logic.

“What is it you do again?” you ask, eyeing the protective glasses he has in the cup holder of his front seat. There are nails stuck between the rubber grooves of the mat beneath the seats, a pair of thick gloves resting on the dashboard.

“I’m a carpenter.”

“Makes sense,” you answer. “So you’re handy?”

“You could say that,” Joel lifts the can of flat, warm seltzer from his lunch break to his mouth, just to take a sip.

“That’s hot,” you say, and he nearly chokes when he hears it. Are you….flirting? Though, you can’t be, because when he looks over at you, you’re staring at the road, face neutral.

“What makes you say that?”

“I don’t know, I don’t make the rules of what’s hot and what isn’t….it’s just a fact. Everyone knows that.”

“Do they?”

“Uh-huh,” you respond. “I mean, I wish I was handy. I’m pretty much a lost cause in that department.”

“If it paid the bills, you’d figure it out.”

“If it paid the bills, I can tell you, I would not be living in our neighborhood.”

Joel puts his blinker on, preparing to pull into the police station. “You probably still could, it’s not that nice of a neighborhood.”

“Shut up,” you snort, rolling your eyes. “But in all seriousness, it is peaceful. It’s quiet.”

“See, but you still didn’t say nice.”

“It is nice. I like it.”

When he parks the car, you straighten up, unbuckling the seatbelt and exiting without a word. On the opposite side of the truck, he observes how you rebutton the front of your blazer, smooth down its lapels and shift your shoulders back before turning to him.

“You ready?” you ask.

He nods.

“After you.”

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

When Joel spots you again, Tommy is walking a few paces behind you. You turn your head over one shoulder, smirking at whatever he’s saying. From where Joel is sitting in the lobby, he can just make out the soft curve of your hips, the tops of your thighs over the barrier that separates him from all the desks of the officers and staff at the station. You’ve got an easy, relaxed gait and you give Joel a wink when he catches you staring.

He can tell it’s just meant to be celebratory thing, since both you and Tommy seem to be in good spirits, but he likes the sight of it anyways, the idea that you’re both in on some secret that no one else is.

Joel stands to greet you and his brother to get the download, but as he approaches, your group is intercepted by one of the cops that had been hanging around reception.

“Miller,” he says lowly to Tommy. “This better be the last time I see you in here.”

When Tommy doesn’t answer right away, you pipe up.

“I assure you my client will be on his best behavior.”

The cop turns to you for a minute, turns back to Tommy, contemplating. “You’re lucky you have a good lawyer…” he says. “Although I’m still not convinced you’re really paying someone to get you out of a public intoxication charge.”

“I-” Tommy opens his mouth but you cut him off.

“Alleged…intoxication,” you interject, stone-faced.

“He can hardly walk straight.”

You purse your lips. “But….you never did a sobriety test, so, would it hold up in court?” you grimace. “If I had to guess….probably not.”

The cop narrows his eyes at you. “Don’t push it, princess.”

Despite the infantilizing nickname, You respond with a polite smile. “Thanks again, officer. Have a nice evening.”

“Mhm,” he murmurs before backing away.

You turn to Joel, your smile fading, and Tommy cuts in. “We should get the fuck out of here before he changes his mind.”

“That’s it? You’re free?” Joel asks.

Tommy nods.

“Tommy’s right, we should definitely leave.”

It’s a mad scramble, the three of you settling back into Joel’s truck, and if he was feeling a little less angsty about the way the whole evening had gone, he might’ve even peeled out of the parking lot for dramatic effect. But at this point, his patience is wearing thin.

He’s back on the main drag, en route to Tommy’s place, with you on the passenger’s side, and his brother in the back, leaning forward with his elbows resting on your seats when his brother speaks up.

“Holy….shit!” Tommy turns to you. “That was fucking awesome, are you kidding me? Joel, where the fuck did you find her?”

He’s still drunk, words slurring together, and he shakes both of your shoulders ferociously. You actually giggle — the sound of it is fucking adorable and Joel wishes that these are not the circumstances for hearing such a noise. He rather it be because of something he said, but he knows Tommy has always been more charming, even when drunk

“She’s my neighbor, Tommy.”

“No way! How come I’ve never seen you around before?” Tommy asks, and Joel can’t stop himself from rolling his eyes.

“I’m kind of new to the area,” you answer.

“Dammit, oh my god, Joel, I wish you coulda seen it.”

Joel looks over at you, and is thankful that he catches your eye. “What’d you say?”

“Never underestimate your negotiating power when the cop you’re talking to’s shift ended over an hour ago, and he doesn’t want to fill out any more paperwork.” You cross your arms, look over your shoulder at Tommy, who is leaning back against the seat with his head in his hands, laughing, before looking back at Joel. “I told you, I have experience.”

“Oh my god,” Tommy pokes his head back between you. “How’d he even get you to come down here? What’d he have to do, offer to paint your house or somethin’?”

“It’s a long story.”

“Sarah got locked out again,” Joel explained. “And I was over at her place when you called. She’s a corporate lawyer.”

“Ah, that makes sense. You know, Joel’s always liked the smart ones,” Tommy starts, and Joel has to contain the urge to slam on the brakes and send his brother face first into the back of his headrest. Unfortunately, he can’t do that with you in the car. “Too bad he’s dumb as a box of rocks.”

“Okay, watch yourself!” Joel snaps, and he’s only halfway kidding. “You got off easy, but you’re on fuckin’ thin ice, and I’m still pissed that I’m spending my night bailing you out again.”

Tommy doesn’t even catch on to Joel’s irritation – or maybe he does, and has just decided that he’s going to be the Annoying Younger Sibling and see how far he can push it. “Don’t let him fool you, okay?” Tommy continues, and you’ve angled yourself towards him, amused. “It’s not always him lookin’ after me. Before he had Sarah, he was crazy.”

“Alright, alright that’s enough, Tommy.” Joel shoots daggers towards his brother in the rearview mirror, and he watches Tommy’s smile falter, finally deciding to back down.

“Is that true, Joel, were you really crazy?” you ask after Tommy grows quiet, tilting your head. “I can’t see it.”

“Well we’ve all have our moments, right?” he says sheepishly.

“We do,” you agree, and then it’s finally silent.

Joel is thankful to see Tommy’s driveway straight in front of him, and his car lurches up the curb. “Alright, alright, this is your last stop,” he says to his brother. “You’ll get in okay?”

Tommy takes a deep breath, settling himself after all his bravado and sinking back against his seat. “I’ll be fine. I’ll see you tomorrow morning at Sarah’s game.” He slinks out of the truck and slams the door behind him.

Normally, Joel would’ve chewed him out after something like this, but he knows being hungover tomorrow at a middle school soccer game, sandwiched between screaming parents and the ear-splitting whistles of the referees will be punishment enough.

“I’ll see you then.” He watches his brother stumble up the steps to his home, unlock the door, and give a wave before disappearing inside.

Joel’s left alone with you. “Should we get you home, now?”

“Yeah, we should.”

Joel puts the car in reverse, puts one of his arms over the back of the bench seat to look for cars behind him, and catches you staring. You don’t even seem embarrassed that he notices, either, you just shift your gaze away to outside the window.

He feels a little self-conscious about the first impression he’s probably made, which is a feeling he’s not used to…caring about what people think.

“Sorry about him, he’s….a good guy but a real piece of work.”

You giggle. “Like I said, I have a brother, too.”

It’s been awhile since he’s interacted with anyone outside of Sarah, Tommy, and his coworkers, and his day was exhausting. He wants to ask more questions, see if he can hold some kind of conversation, but words fail him, so you spend the short drive on the way back home mostly in silence. You’re so quiet that by the time he pulls into your driveway, he thinks you might be asleep. If you were, he doesn’t even get the chance to wake you, because you immediately sit up straight once the truck has come to a halt.

“Thanks for everything tonight,” he says.

“You’re welcome, it was no problem,” you get out of the car, sling your bag over your shoulders, and close the door. “Have a good night.”

Joel’s listening to the retreating click of your heels up the driveway when he rolls down his window all the way to speak again. It’s clear you’re tired, your shoulders are slouched, and he feels incredibly guilty. You worked all day and then had to put up with his entire crazy family.

“Hey,” he says. “How much do I owe you for the pizza?”

You turn around, still stepping backwards. “Nothing.”

“Look, you’ve done too much for me tonight to say that,” he says. “I’m startin’ to feel bad.”

You stop in your tracks then, the smirk on your face fading a little bit as you slowly step forward to where he leans out the truck window. It’s only a few feet, but you’re much closer now than you’ve been to him all night, and there must be jasmine in your perfume. It smells expensive, he thinks, as your hands lift to rest on the door next to his elbow. “You shouldn’t feel bad,” you say softly, voice low.

God, you’re fucking beautiful, he realizes, basked in the glow of the moon, a smile creeping along the edges of your lips. Of course, he knew you were attractive, had definitely registered it at some point before – maybe when he’d walked in on you and Sarah giggling in the kitchen. He was just too busy being worried to even notice until now.

This isn’t a date, but you’re so close he could kiss you, kind of wants to just to see what would happen, but he doesn’t. You’re his new neighbor, and if he’s reading this wrong, he doesn’t want to be reminded of the mistake everyday, first thing in the morning when you’re picking up your newspaper at the end of your driveway and he’s leaving for work.

“But uh…if it would make you feel better…one of the steps on my front porch is rotted. Maybe you could come over sometime and fix it? That a fair trade?”

Joel nods, and you stick out your hand. “It’s a deal,” he says, ignoring the jolt of energy he feels when your palms press together, like you’re a kid wearing a hand buzzer, trying to shock him.

“Great,” you step away. He’s about to put the car in reverse when you speak again.

“Oh, and Joel?” you ask, he looks back at you. Before you speak again, your eyes shift to the ground, like you’re mustering up the courage to ask him something, and when they return to his again, your expression is somber. “Go easy on Sarah….she’s a good kid.”

Joel nods, understanding.

“I know.”

volume ii

taglist: @yaskna @venomous-ko @lomljigg

#joel miller x reader #joel miller #joel miller x f!reader #joel miller imagine #joel miller series #the last of us #the last of us fanfiction #pedro pascal #tlou hbo #tlou fanfic #tlou series #texas sun

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yuquinzel · 1 year

Text

loving reo mikage is something juvenile— like i love you’ s on post-it notes, stealing sly and shy glances in class. like pebbles hitting your window at night and whispers in your backyard. and even after years, it hasn't really changed.

it's still evident in the way he's pouting right now, but at the same time, can't really hide his growing smile.

“accept defeat,” you smirk, “i won fair and square, reo.”

“no, you didn't. I sent the text first— fuck my wifi, I'm gonna sue that company.” he urges, flashing his mobile screen at you to emphasize on the fact that it was indeed him, that sent the “morning, i love you :)” text first.

it's a little morning routine of yours— a competition of sorts to see who sends the good morning text first. they get bragging rights and the perks of choosing what series to binge watch for the day. it's only valid if you follow it up with an “i love you”, though.

“ooh,” you coo, “sounds like a you problem.” you bring a hand to brush back the lilac strands reo lets free on mornings like these, he leans and melts into your touch out of instinct.

“this is really unfair,” reo sighs. this is going to be an unpleasant dent in his winning streak for the past three weeks. “i set my alarms for five minutes earlier to send the text first."

you would be lying if you said you were surprised. to reo, giving in the extra effort is only natural. it's one of a kind— something you can never capture the essence of in just words. he does it because he can. because he wants to.

you know because even when he's been winning for the past weeks, somehow the series he picks to binge watch are always the ones you have casually mentioned wanting to watch. reo doesn't seem to realise that you notice, but that's what's really charming, isn't it?

your heart skips a beat nonetheless, “looks like it was my day today, i get bragging rights.”

“yeah, yeah. brag away, you only have today.” but he's smiling, “i'm gonna set an alarm for twenty minutes earlier.”

“my goodness,” you breathe, “i didn't know you had such a huge crush on me, reo.”

he pouts, “i literally tell you that everyday.”

“that's embarrassing,”

“it may be embarrassing but at least I'm happy.”

“you're happy having to wake up at 5:40 just so you can send a text first?” you laugh.

he mirrors it, “best moment of my day.”

“you're down bad, mikage.” you roll your eyes.

“you're the same. otherwise, you wouldn't be sending me these texts at 6 am.” reo hooks his arms around you, letting his head fall on your shoulders. the way he holds you is always the same— with a sense of safety, firm and protective but warm like a second blanket. it feels like home.

“guess i am.” you smile, a newfound bliss in your eyes.

although reo hates losing, this time he feels like he's won.

@rinnahhhh / blue you have the craziest and most romantic ideas please never stop :')

this is purely self indulgent therefore super short because reo is the best boyfriend in blue lock fite me :P

#❛ ‧˚🪐 — the dusk renditions.#reo mikage x reader #reo mikage x you #mikage reo x you #mikage reo x reader #reo drabble #reo x reader fluff #reo mikage fluff #blue lock x reader #blue lock x you #blue lock fluff #bllk fluff #bllk x reader #bllk x you

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buckets-and-trees · 11 months

Note

Hehe I’m here with a dare 😏

So I’m such a sucker for angst but with a happy ending - I’d love to hear how you would go about writing a forced proximity meets the one that got away fic, from what I’ve read of your writing I feel like you’d really do those tropes justice

Alright, Em... let me stretch my fingers and get ready for this one...

I THOUGHT about this.

Ari Levinson

Modern AU - college and then mid-to-late-30s Ari

We're going to call this... er... maybe an "imagine-novella"? It kind of ended up being a 2500-word plot exploration. No content warnings, only some language.

You meet Ari in college. He’s tall and toned and tanned, always in a baseball cap unless forced otherwise, and he’s already sporting a full beard and looking good with it. He’s a couple of years older because he worked out of high school before for a couple of years - long enough to put enough away to pay for tuition without being a burden on his parents. When you meet him, it's when there's the huge club rush out on the quad your junior year. It's in the middle of campus in the first weeks of the semester so everyone does wander through by the nature of when and where it is. You see the table for the radio station on campus. Truthfully you don't even notice him at first. You're standing twenty feet away looking at the sign and thinking about whether or not it's worth it, maybe shake things up, you love music - you're that friend always making the playlists, discovering new songs and bands, dying to go to big music festivals, etc, and your campus has a radio station...

Someone else was talking to him as he's running that table, and they leave and then he sees you standing there, and, "Hey! You!"

It jolts you out of your thoughts and you're caught off guard for just a half a second, and go, "Me?"

He grins, "Yeah, you."

Your feet move before you even really think about it because ... that's just what you do when people call you over. It’s an instant crush for you but you try and reign it in, because he's excited that you're actually interested in the station, and you genuinely are excited about it. He's a Journalism and Communications major and the station manager, and so he gives you the pitch to come to an info meeting they're going to have, he'd love to see you there.

And you do go. Because... it doesn't matter that he's cute. The more you keep thinking about it, you decide it would actually be fun. You get a show, you make a lot of new friends with the other station people - some of them are total nerds, but they're all fun or nice or a little bit irreverent, and so station meetings once a month are fun. You're a good DJ. You have fun with your shows. Ari takes note - he appreciates it. The station is his baby. He puts everything into it. He's not outgoing, even though he's charismatic, but he can't help but gravitate to the people who really fucking love it like him. You don't get to know him super well that first year, but when it's time for him to appoint new directors to run the station the next year, he pulls you aside and says he loves what you've done with your show and wants you to think about applying for a director position.

You do. It's going to be your last year of college, the DJ gig hasn't been work, it's just been fun, and ... you love being part of the team, love to work on exciting projects, dig your hands into the dirt and make something great, so yeah. You throw your hat in the ring, because why not? And it could be an extra thing to go on your grad school applications.

Ari not only picks you for the team, he actually ends up picking you to be the director of programming, his number two, the one who oversees the DJs and putting together the roster for shows each semester. And that's what launches everything to a new level.

You lock down DJs that you want to come back the next fall, you both go away for the summer, but now you're texting somewhat regularly about ideas for the next year, things you'll work on, and the real working friendship develops. When fall semester starts and it's full speed on the ground, you and the team of directors really work to make the station great, but it's A LOT of you and Ari.

And to say he becomes one of your best friends senior year? Maybe. You tread that line because there's still that part of your heart that crushes on him, but the part that loves doing everything station and music and working on this big beast together? That's big. You let that be the focus. Because it's fun. And he's fun. And he's brilliant (like you, which is why he likes you) and ambitious (like you) and he's got this great, rich laugh that you get to hear a lot. And a lot of your other friends are busy with their senior years, too, and so are you, and so you don't mind any of the time you spend working on the station with Ari and the other directors and the DJs who are just this pack of a couple dozen people who come and go. But a lot of you and Ari.

And he doesn't date anyone. Not the entire time you know him. You heard/thought maybe there were some hook ups he indulged in during your junior year, but not that year before you both graduate. He clearly doesn't have time for a girlfriend and doesn't love anything more than the station, but you do think - just a little bit - just in the back of your head sometimes - that maybe you don't hear about him with anyone this year because... he's not going to date you - that would be unprofessional for you two and the station - but maybe it's because you are close. And maybe as you get closer to the end of the year... maybe he's going to make a move. He's always said he's already a confirmed old bachelor, but the way he smiles at you, the way he values your opinion, how often he says how amazing you are and how he appreciates you... you're going to be the girl who finally gets him.

But time is running out. And even though you both pour your hearts into the station together, there are never any late nights (those are given to studying, passing classes, etc). The last month, he says stuff like he's never going to see any of you again. Jokingly. You all laugh as directors because how could he mean it? He's made you all a family.

He makes more comments like that in the last weeks and days, and when he says he's going to shut down all of his social media, because he only had it to run and promote the station, you call him on his bullshit. And he says no. He's serious. He's going to go into journalistic photography, and he's going to create the network he needs where he needs it, but he's not playing the PR games to do it - the dream is wild nature photography, work in remote locations, never talk to humans again if he can help it. And it's so stupid. You tell Ari he's being ridiculous. He can't want to live so far off the grid.

"I'm sorry," he says, kindly but matter-of-factly. "But when we graduate, I'm never talking to any of you ever again."

You scoff. But this conversation is now just you and him in the station on a Saturday afternoon. But then you look at him for a half a second and really see his face. And you think he means it. "Ari, I did not give my fucking heart and soul into this station for the last year as your friend for you to never talk to me again. You at least owe me a lunch five years from now."

He smiles. "Okay. Maybe in five years. You find me in five years and I promise I'll take you to lunch."

And you graduate a week later, and he says goodbye, and you're not sad about it. Maybe just a bit wistful for what might have been. But after that specific "five years" conversation, you realize it was only you who was maybe a bit foolishly hopeful. He'd really never led you on. You never told him you had a crush (you had tried to keep it professional, because you did genuinely love the friendship) and he'd never given you or anyone else any illusion that he was there for anything other than working on the station and that bonding and camaraderie. If he had led you on, if there had been late nights, maybe you would've been hurt. But aside from being secretly hopeful, there really wasn't much harm done by your pining. But maybe in five years, you'll look him up for that lunch he agreed to.

He does fall off the gridl You take a busy summer job and then a paid internship in the fall, and you try and track him a bit, but you do just… get busy and move forward. You think of Ari a lot, but less and less as the time goes on. You know the name of the newspaper he was going to start off with right after graduation, and although he got rid of social media, he did have a beautiful website he set up for his photography. And you check that once in a while, but less and less. You get a fulltime job after the internship, and your life becomes even more full with the things that aren’t Ari, and sometimes you think about him, but most times you don’t.

When that five years rolls around, you start to think of him more again.

But you let it come and go.

You didn’t necessarily feel like you were living your best life, and if you were going to get one lunch to win over the one who got away and make him realize you were the love of his life… maybe you’d feel a little better – a little more accomplished, go to the gym more, be really something – in ten years.

Fleeting thought in ten years. Though you do think of him when you realize it’s that ten year mark. And you just kind of smile because ten years ago you was so wildly for him, and five years ago you was still a touch foolishly hopeful, and wouldn’t it be something if you did look him up now? But you really don’t need to anymore.

Then a couple of years later, you move to a new place, and without ever even trying, who else should somehow be living two doors down from you but Ari fucking Levinson?

And he sees you first. He’s just gotten home, opened the door from the garage into the house to be reunited with his good girl – a beautiful golden retriever who’s waited for him all day, walked with her trotting along at his side out to his mailbox, and looks down the street to see who’s just sending off the movers out of curiosity for who’s moving into the neighborhood, and he does a fucking double take because it’s you.

His god damn jaw drops and he laughs and then calls out your name.

You turn, hardly believing it but knowing that voice anywhere, and you laugh and shake your head. “Ari Levinson?”

You push the messy hair from the long day’s work of moving out of your face and are glad you’re not besotted for this man anymore, even if he does look like even more of an Adonis now, because you do know you look a mess, but you don’t even care. Having moved out of state for this dream job, you couldn’t be any more happy just to have someone from your past right at your new home base.

“’Of all the gin joints in all the towns in the world!’”

He meets you halfway, and he pauses a beat away from you because he’s not a hugger, but somehow there’s just this draw to hug you, and so he does. Only surprising to you for a second, but you’re so tired and it’s been a good day but a long day, and you were excited for this move, but you can’t deny a familiar face just feels good, so you melt into him just for the comfort of it for a moment. It’s just nice.

And when you pull back, the obedient but attentive dog draws your attention, lighting your face up with a beautiful grin. “Can I pet your dog?!”

But the two of you are already drawn to each other and bonding before he gets the, “Sure, of course,” out of his mouth.

He doesn’t wear those old baseball caps every day anymore, so he pushes his hand through his hair, and that move has practically made women drop their panties for him over the years, but you don’t even notice, too busy showering affection on his sweet golden girl while the two of you exchange the kind of words two of the oldest friends do when they haven’t seen each other in ages. Why is his chest so tight and warm all at once. Why does he have the thought cross his mind that you showing up here feels like home? Why are you falling in love with his dog and not with him? Wait, why did he think that?

This feels like a slippery slope.

But maybe he doesn’t fucking care.

When he is back inside his house, starting to pull something from the fridge to heat up for dinner, he remembers that he promised you a dinner.

It’s later than you two made the deal for, but… he’ll start there.

Just old friends who are new neighbors.

That night when he’s plugging his phone in to charge before bed, he remembers that he never did get rid of your contact in his phone. You might have the same number.

What he doesn’t know is that when he left the harbor, sure, you waited with that boat hopefully for a bit, but then you finally took your ship and sailed – everywhere really – and you may be eager to fall happily in love with his dog and genuinely grateful to know you’ll have someone in your corner on this new adventure, but you want nothing more than that good friendship in your life. He was one of your greatest friends all those years ago. But you finally got over that pining crush, and here’s no way you’ll be foolish enough to fall for him again, nor do you want to. You couldn’t ask for more than to have your old friend as your new neighbor, with his gorgeous golden retriever.

Ari does text you that night… just a welcome to the neighborhood again, and that he thinks he owes you a dinner, if he remembers correctly (he does, he’s just being casually clever), so he’s gotta take you out tomorrow night.

And it is still the same number, but you fell into the blissful rest of your bed, exhausted after move in day, so you don’t even see it that night. It will wait until you get to it in the morning.

Just like Ari will have to wait for what he wants. And work to try to even bring you around again.

Will he have waited too long and you’ll be the one who got away?

#ari levinson x reader #ari levinson imagine #aspen's extended anniversary sleepover #em/writing for marvel #sleepover dare

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science-lings · 7 days

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More info on the options below the cut

1- My guy just lost his job and has to live out of his old office there's no way he can be allowed to adopt Trucy immediately, but if he had a rich husband who lives overseas and lets them technically commit fraud by moving into his old apartment during social worker visits... that would be much easier. Edgeworth isn't against being a little underhanded in his methods with the law and he has witnessed Phoenix with the Feys so if an infamous attorney were to adopt a child left behind by a tragic trial, he'd be so glad it was Phoenix. That guy has been reeking dad energy for years. It's also important to note that no one doubted the authenticity of their relationship since they went to go sign the papers because most people who have seen them already assumed that they were together. They don't have to try to convince anyone.

2- The things they call each other are so important to me, as kids they're Miles and Phoenix/Nick, in court they're Mr. Edgeworth and Mr. Wright, outside of court but still in a professional setting they're Edgeworth and Wright, when they're flirting they're back to Miles and Phoenix, but when they're insufferably flirting, Pheonix is 'Mr. Edgeworth' and Miles is 'Mr. Wright' They do this before they get married, both legally and actually.

3- They would be so funny on a reality tv show or some kind of game show, if their motive is doing something better than the other, they will put their whole pussies into whatever that thing is, even if it's like the great british baking show and Phoenix is the only one who can kind of bake. If they get to work together they're insane, put these assholes in an escape room and they will fuck that shit up. With Miles, who learned how to pick locks, and Phoenix, who got used to puzzles when working with Professor Layton, they would speedrun an escape room.

4- idk Pheonix just seems like he gets super affectionate with the people he loves, he kisses Trucys forehead/head so constantly it's habitual for him to pop off her hat to smooch her scalp and replace it right after. I also think it would be funny if he was so unprofessional about his love for Edgeworth except when they're in court but that's because they have to stand like twenty feet away from each other. Edgeworth turns red every time but he rarely protests, at least not seriously.

5- I just think they should be each other's 'oh shit' moment because that is funny to me. Phoenix didn't really realize he was attracted to men, at least in that capacity until that newspaper article and Miles had accepted that he was aro until he caught feelings he thought he was immune to. They both deal with it so well... /s

6- Connected to my hc that lawyers in the AA universe get kind of a celebrity status, but both Phoenix and Miles are so offline that they are completely unaware of it. Maya and Trucy and Kay especially are definitely not unaware and they think it's so funny. They contribute to the rumors. There are Edgeworth and Phoenix fancams made from court footage set to kpop. Apollo had a Phoenix Wright stan account and he used to fight the PW haters on twitter before he actually met the guy. He forgot the password so he can't delete it and it's only a matter of time before someone connects the dots. Anyway they trend on twitter every time they meet in court like when a new season of a show comes out and the fanbase goes bonkers.

7- obviously they call and message each other but they both think it's nostalgic to send letters, and Phoenix likes having a reason to send physical pictures from when they were kids since Miles wasn't allowed to keep any of that in the Von Karma household. Edgeworth usually sends sweets from whatever country he's in for Trucy.

8- I personally think that Phoenix has more of that kitten look but I was recently reminded of how often in the of trilogy when ppl have to tell him to put those things away. He can weaponize his big brown eyes and Miles pretends to be unaffected but he's weak to it just like everyone else. He has that kitty vibe, he asks for things by looking really pathetic and sad and it works in his favor every time.

9- Phoenix is the type of guy to fall asleep during most movies if he isn't judging it intently or particularly interested and when they were kids they tried to binge more than one samurai movie and Phoenix fell asleep before the first one ended. That official art just makes him look like such a sleepy guy. Again the kitty energy returns, he's a big napper.

10- these bitches are so good at arguing, but they both want to win so it takes forever to decide on things that actually don't matter that much. If they can't decide on a restaurant to go to for a date they won't finish arguing their case about their preferred place to go until after they close. They never yell at each other or get too emotionally invested in a lot of things but they will draw that shit out and take out evidence and witness testimony if it helps their case. Sometimes it gets so extensive that they have to pull out the whiteboard/ corkboard. Just as long as it's presented like a court case it will be so well communicated between them so they take advantage of that because or else they kinda suck at talking to each other about their problems.

#narumitsu #phoenix wright #miles edgeworth #ace attorney #andromedas poll hell #i had thoughts about the sillies #lmk if you want me to make more of these hc polls about your faves #it is fun for me

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paradiseprincesss · 6 days

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I thought I would send this into your inbox hehe!💖🥹

Jonathan Crane x Rachel’s younger sister where after bumping into her at the courthouse (she’s not a lawyer, just a supportive little sister who wanted to see her sister at work, against her sister’s wishes for her to be kept out of it that is), he becomes very infatuated with her and feelings grow for her. When Rachel confronts Jonathan about his findings about Falcone, Y/n tags along with her for support (even thought Rachel really didn’t want her to), and Y/n did really wanna see Jonathan again (he was very charming to her and she also has growing feelings for him). Right before Jon sprays her sister with his fear gas, he drags Y/n towards him and shoves a gas mask on her so she would remain unharmed. Then when they’re waiting for Batman to arrive, he has her right by his side, still wearing the mask for safety. Jon being reallyyy soft with her, petting her hair, telling her how he won’t let anything happen to her. Omgg and at first Batman takes her away from him, but while Jonathan is locked up in Arkham, he has his men go grab her and bring her to Arkham, telling them NOT to harm a hair on her head. Omgg and he’s super comforting when they bring a very terrified Y/n into his Arkham cell (when they’re freeing him), but omgg if his men were rough with her and she did get hurt, ooooh boy would that not end well for them… but anyways… He brings her to his huge mansion for safe keeping while the whole plan with fear gassing Gotham happens😳

goodnight n go - jonathan crane x reader

masterlist

notes: if you don't know this song...you must. im putting u on so like, thank me later? also rachel is like in her thirties in the story making the reader like twenty something. anyway, hope yall like dis one.

summary: you're the little sister of rachel dawes, and one day while visiting her at work, you run into jonathan crane. the two of you are instantly drawn to one another, and when rachel confronts jonathan about falcone, he makes his attack on her - all while protecting you at all costs.

word count: 4.6k

warnings: 18+ mdni, smut, oral (f!receiving), p in v, creampie, kissing, swearing, fear gassing lol, reader has no morals and lowkey cray cray like jon

"you shouldn't have come here." rachel groans, looking at you with annoyance.

"i just wanted to come support you, i even got you your favourite coffee." you say, offering her a coffee that you got from her favourite coffee shop.

she sighs, taking it from you with a small smile. "ugh, fine - and thank you, i appreciate that. i'm just tired today, that's all." she tells you.

rachel dawes was your older sister, and she was currently working as an attorney, which you were so proud of her for. you were her little sister, younger by a almost a decade, and you were her biggest supporter. you were still in college, so you looked up to rachel greatly, as she was a hardworking, successful, headstrong woman who you aspired to be like one day.

"miss dawes?" a voice called out from behind you. turning around, you and rachel both answer with a "yes?" as you, of course, shared the same last name. as rachel looks over your shoulder, and you turn around, you were met with the most breathtaking man you'd ever seen.

he was very tall, extremely handsome, and had such gorgeous, blue eyes that took your breath away even from behind his glasses.

"sorry," you say, embarrassed, "force of habit."

rachel takes one look at the man with disgust, and she seems to be getting increasingly more irritated. "doctor crane, to what do i owe the pleasure?" she says, sarcasm laced in her tone.

"who might this be?" he asked rachel, gesturing to you, and completely ignoring what she had said. with a scoff, she shoots him a dirty look. "this," she says, taking a step closer to you, "is my little sister."

the man, who you learned was "doctor crane", had an amused smirk on his face after she had mentioned that you were her sister. "i wasn't aware you had a sister," he says to her, then turns to look at you, "i'm doctor jonathan crane." he introduces himself, and you smile at him shyly, introducing yourself back.

"it's a shame i haven't seen you before," he says softly, and rachel grimaces, "at least, i don't think i have. i surely would've remember if i saw someone as stunning as you around here."

"seriously?" rachel said with abhorrence, making jonathan smile with amusement once more.

"is something bothering you, miss dawes?" he asks her, to which she looks at him with disdain. "you have no sense of boundaries," she deadpans, "stop trying to flirt with my little sister."

"rachel," you interject, smiling a little awkwardly, "it's fine."

you knew how overprotective rachel was of you, but you didn't want her to start an argument with him, especially not in a courthouse of all places. your older sister had a tendency to be slightly...confrontational at times, so you tried to put out the fire before she started it. jonathan seemed to notice your shift in behaviour, as did rachel, and the both of them swiftly steered the topic of the conversation into all things work-related.

"you really think a man who butchers people for the mob doesn't belong in jail?" rachel asked, raising a brow at jonathan who remained stoic.

"well, i would've hardly testified to that otherwise would i, miss dawes." he says coldly, staring at her with a dead expression.

you stood there awkwardly, unsure as to what you could say in this moment since this conversation had nothing to do with you. you knew it was also none of your business. before you had the chance to escape the situation by silently walking away, rachel dismissed herself from the conversation, clearly fed up with him in just mere seconds.

"we'll see about that, doctor crane," she says, turning to you, "i have to get back to work. you should go, i'll see you sometime next week, okay? dad says he wants to do dinner with us or something on saturday. give him a call for me, please."

walking off with an annoyed huff, she left to get back to whatever work task she was working on prior to seeing you. "is she always like that?" jonathan asked you, his tone shifting into something much sweeter than the one he was talking to rachel with.

"she's just...confrontational, i think." you say, offering a sympathetic smile.

"hm, you don't take after her, i assume?" he asks with curiosity.

"not really, no. i do really look up to her, though." you admit, to which he gives you a small smile.

"i see," he says with a sigh, "i'm afraid i have to get back to work as well, my dear. maybe i'll see you around again - soon, i hope."

every time he spoke to you, your heart started to do little flips inside your chest, making your breath hitch as you stared into those sapphire pools that he had for eyes. "yeah," you say softly, getting lost in his eyes momentarily, "soon."

after he made his way back to the courtroom, you stood there in awe for a moment - he was just so attractive. you didn't know what to do with yourself. you weren't sure why rachel hated him so much; he seemed like a gentle soul.

the thought of him plagued your mind for weeks to come, the little fantasies of him that you conjured up playing in loops over and over in your head like a tape that never ended. his demeanour was magnetic and his aura pulled you in like no other. seven billion people on this earth, and yet, you'd pick him over all others - that's how striking you found this man. better yet, he was also extremely intelligent.

of course, jonathan was feeling the same way about you. he was thinking about you while he was at work, or even doing mundane tasks on his days off. he couldn't believe his luck, what were the odds that the universe that was so vast and filled with so many different people gave him the opportunity to run into someone as beautiful as you? maybe with luck like this, he should play lotto.

"please," you whined, "can i please come with you?"

"no, akrham asylum is for the criminally insane. do you know how dangerous it is? you're not coming." rachel tells you sternly, but you were determined to get her to agree to let you tag along.

"come on, rachel," you plead, "you shouldn't be going alone, then. since it's so dangerous, right?"

she rolled her eyes at your attempt to get her to change her stance on the matter, "i told you, he's dangerous," she warned, "i've seen the state some of his patients are in. i don't want you getting involved."

"i won't, i swear!" you say to her, whining like you were back in high school again and begging to go to some party after your parents had told you no.

"can you stop whining?" she laughed, shaking her head at your continuous attempts of tagging along to arkham asylum. "i know you only want to go because you want to see him again. if you like him so much, why didn't you, i dunno, ask for his number or something when you saw him."

"because i was nervous!" you exlaim, "and i thought you hated him."

"i do hate him," she says, a look of disgust flashing across her face before she changes her expression, "but hey, if you're okay with going to therapy for the next decade, he's all yours."

"he's really not that bad." you say, and in your defence, he'd never been rude to you.

"he's insane," she deadpans, "and you're insane if you think going after a guy like that will end in anything but flames."

"i want to go with you!" you whine again, and finally, she agreed.

"okay, fine, ugh. you can come. just stop whining - and stop talking about him." she groans.

happily, you make your way into her car as she drives off to arkham asylum, and you made sure to look your best for jonathan. you did your hair and makeup, perfecting it for hours, and threw on your favourite outfit. nothing too crazy, just something that said cute, but she's not trying too hard.

as rachel pulls into the parking lot of arkham, you feel your heart do that thing again - you know, doing little flips and making you feel short of breath. all at the just the thought of seeing him again. everything rachel had warned you about went straight over your head, and you were too busy with your head in the clouds to focus on a word that came out of her mouth unless it was jonathans name itself.

walking in, rachel tells the receptionist that she was here to see jonathan. the receptionist pages him, and you impatiently wait to see the man you'd barely known yet craved so deeply. finally, you saw him make his way down a hallway, walking straight to you and straight into your infatuated little heart.

"i didn't tell her to come, just so were clear. she wanted to see you or something, i don't know. but i'm here to talk about falcone." rachel clarifies right off the bat, making you blush. she wasn't supposed to tell him that.

"is that so?" he asked you with a smirk, "well, i did say i hoped to see you again rather sooner than later, so i'm more than happy you've tagged along."

"uh-huh," was the only response you could offer, his words causing your brain to short-circuit and your heart to go into arrhythmia.

"i'll take it you're glad to see me, too." he teases, but his soft, teasing tone and gentle smile disappear the moment he turns his attention to rachel. "and what exactly about falcone did you want to discuss, miss dawes?"

as soon as he gave her the green light to talk, she started to talk. she accused him of multiple things, like drugging falcone with unknown substances. she also accused him of saving falcones thugs with the insanity plea so that they could be under his watch, instead of the law. it was accusation after accusation - she was a lawyer, after all. it was just in her nature to act as such.

"i have something i think you should see." he tells her, expressionless as ever. "please, follow me."

he gestured the both of you towards an elevator that was clearly for staff only, and with the swift click of a key, the buttons lit up. he pushed one as the elevator started to ascend up, and rachel gave you a nervous look. you weren't worried, though. jonathan wasn't crazy...right?

as the doors in front of you opened with a screech, he allowed both you and rachel step out first. he followed suit, and he was guiding the two of you down a dingy, drab and dimly lit hallway which looked eerie as hell. hesitantly, you both followed him until you reached a huge door. jonathan pushed it open, and rachel kept you behind her just in case.

the room he had led you into appeared to be a lab of some sort, with a variety of inmates and patients in their arkham jumpsuits mixing away at some liquid chemicals and toxic looking substances.

"this is where we make the medicine," he says ominously, "perhaps you should have some. clear your head."

without second thought, rachel grabbed your hand and made a run for it back down the hallway. looking back, you saw jonathan hadn't moved - he was still standing there in the lab. rachel pushed you into the elevator, panicking as she slammed on all the buttons. as much as you should've been panicking, you didn't feel the need to. though, you couldn't quite place why you were feeling that way.

"i told you!" she exclaimed, but the elevator doors open again to what appeared to be jonathan with a scarecrow mask over his head. suddenly, he reached for you and pushed you behind him, putting a gas mask on you before a cloud of white surrounded all three of you. all you could hear was rachel coughing over and over, and then suddenly, a group of men were dragging her out of the elevator - leaving you unharmed.

jonathan gently took a hold of your wrist, dragging you along with the group of men as he waked back to the lab. after cascading down a flight of stairs (with jonathan helping you, of course), you reached an abandoned warehouse of some sort. his men placed rachel on some crates, and she was completely out of it. worried for your sister, you try to rush over to her, but jonathan wraps his arm around you softly, shaking his head.

gently, he leaned down slightly and removed the gas mask off of you. you looked at him with tears in your eyes, and he pulled you close. you could still see those strikingly blue eyes through the scarecrow mask, and it was oddly comforting. slowly, he started to pet your hair softly, keeping one arm wrapped around you as the other was gently playing with your hair.

"it's okay, darling," he said softly, "i needed to make sure she would stop interfering with my...plans."

"what did you do?" you whimper, clutching onto him.

"i just dosed her with some of my fear toxin, darling. not to worry, it was not a concentrated dose. she'll be fine and the effects should wear off within half an hour, or so." he says to you, hand still stroking your hair lovingly. "you don't seem too frightened."

"i'm not, i'm just worried about her. she's still my sister, jonathan." you say quietly, and he pulls his mask off swiftly. his eyes were even more electrifying now that his glasses weren't on.

"i know," he coos, kissing the top of your head, "she'll be fine, i promise."

"are you going to dose me, too?" you ask meekly, and he shakes his head, looking almost offended that you would think he'd even do such a thing to you.

"never, darling," he assures you softly, "i'd never let anything happen to you. you're always going to be safe with me."

"really?" you ask him with an innocent expression, looking up at him in a way that was so adorable, he felt his own heart rate start to stagger.

"my goodness, darling. you truly are too cute." he coos, pulling you into a soft kiss - much too soft for a time like this, but neither of you were thinking straight at this point. certainly not him, anyways.

after pulling away from the kiss, he laughs breathlessly. "he's here," he says under his breath, "the batman."

"what should we do?" one of his men asked, looking over at jonathan while he held you flush against him.

"what anyone does when a prowler comes around," he says, "call the police."

"you want the cops here?" another one of his men asked, loading up a gun.

"at this point they can't stop us." jonathan says, shaking his head.

the next moments unfolded in a blur. the whole time you were quivering in jonathans arms, and he held onto you tightly. he continued to place soft kisses against the top of your head and your cheek, telling you continuously that you were always going to be safe in his arms. eventually, the batman did show up to rescue rachel of course, and you were still wrapped up in jonathans embrace.

you were one of the few people that knew bruce wayne was batman, and as he approached you and jonathan, he stuck out his hand. "come," he said, "it isn't safe here."

"i-i don't want to." you whimper, clutching onto jonathans arm out of desperation, and bruce looked at jonathan.

"crane," he growled, "let her go."

before either of you could react, jonathan was being dosed with his own toxin, and bruce was grabbing him by his hair. he shoved you aside as to make sure you wouldn't get gassed with the fear toxin, but you instinctively tried to run towards jonathan. however, bruce being batman and all, was much too strong for you. eventually, the police poured in and bruce quickly grabbed both you and rachel, fleeing.

bruce took rachel to wayne manor, but you demanded to be taken back to your apartment, which was against bruces wishes. "he could've killed you!" he exclaimed to you, but you stayed defending the man who did quite the opposite. "he wouldn't hurt me." you say matter-of-factly, and bruce sighed. eventually, he did take you back to your apartment. you spent the next couple days reflecting on what had happened.

you were missing jonathan deeply, and you wanted nothing more than to see him. you resented bruce, as he had jonathan locked up in his own asylum, being an inmate at the very place he once was the chief psychiatrist at. you let your anger stir within you, but before you could react irrationally, there was a loud pounding at your front door.

cautiously, you open the door ever so slightly. to your surprise, two men who you recognized from the other night stood outside, armed. they said your name quietly, as not to alert the neighbours of what was going on, and told you to grab all your essential belongings.

"we have the others breaking him out of arkham," one of the men informed you gruffly, "and he has requested that we bring you, so grab whatever you need and lets go."

in a rush, you grab some essential belongings; your phone (obviously), a charger, and your wallet all stowed away in your little purse. you knew rachel would be pissed - but oh well, you were your own person, and this was your life, after all.

the armed men bring you to a blacked out car out back in an alley by your apartment building. all three of you get in hurriedly. the drive was quiet, your mind was preoccupied with the thoughts of seeing jonathan again.

soon, you were parked outside of arkham, and it appeared that all hell had already broken loose by the time you got there.

inmates and patients alike were screaming, running out of the building as police tried to keep everything and everyone under control - but it appeared they were failing miserably. the two men grabbed you, ushering you upstairs to what you assumed was where jonathan was. you were correct, as you saw jonathan in his scarecrow attire, the door to his cell busted wide open. he wasn't in a jumpsuit anymore, but back to his regular suit and tie, complete with the burlap scarecrow mask.

"my darling," he rushed over to you, pulling you close, "i'm so glad you're alright. i was so worried about you."

"i was worried about you, jonathan." you say, snuggling into his chest as he held you.

"we must go," he says, "there's no time. please, come with me, my love."

he takes your hand and intertwines it with his, and you happily allow him to. he wasted no time, though. within mere minutes, the two of you were back in the same blacked out car as before, and speeding off the lot so quickly, there was sure to be tire marks left on the pavement.

"darling," he breathes, taking the mask off, "i've missed you insanely."

giggling, you kiss his cheek. "i've missed you more, jon. where are we going?" you ask sweetly, and he swerves down a winding road on the outskirts of gotham.

"my place, nobody will find us. my men have this area surrounded." he says, placing his right hand on your thigh as he started to drive at a reckless speed.

"okay." you say cutely, leaning into his touch.

eventually, he threw the car into park on his driveway. helping you get out of the car, he wrapped his arms around you and walked you to the front door. you took a look at his home; it was breathtaking, quite like he was. the home was huge, a lonesome mansion standing tall in many acres of land far, far away from the dangerous city of gotham.

"this place is beautiful," you comment, hearing some birds chirping in the nearby forest, "it's so peaceful."

"isn't it?" he says, closing the front door behind the both of you, "i thought you'd like it. it's very you."

suddenly, he was pulling you close. he was getting handsy, touching the curves of your body softly as one hand came up to cup your face. "you have no idea what you do to me, darling." he whispered, the distance between you was getting smaller and smaller.

"i think i have an idea." you whisper, closing the gap between you and him.

his lips collided with yours, and within seconds, he had you pushed up against the wall in a hungry kiss. both of you were eager and desperate, not even a minute in your new home and you were already trying to get him to take you right now, against the wall. "bedroom?" you ask breathlessly, pulling away from the kiss. he nodded, picking you up with ease. you squealed and giggled, and he tossed you onto his king-sized bed.

he went right back to kissing you ravenously, the passionate act making you needier by the second. you wrapped your arms around him, kissing him like your life depended on it. he pulled away and started to trail kisses down your jawline and your neck, nipping and biting at the delicate skin. he was marking you up, claiming you as his without saying a single word. you moaned softly at the feeling, and he snaked a hand down.

"god, you're perfect." he mumbled against your skin softly, tugging at the waistband of your pants. he propped himself back up, and started to undress you hungrily, clearly getting impatient. the tent in his pants showed you he was. after he carefully shed you of your clothing, he took a moment to admire your body that laid underneath him. "you're truly a piece of art," he whispered, hooking his finger into the lace of your panties, "i'm gonna worship every single part of you, darling."

slowly, he sunk down between your legs, and you felt yourself losing your breath. teasingly, he pulled your panties down and the cold air made you shiver. tossing your panties somewhere in the bedroom, his mouth watered at the sight of your drooling cunt in front of him.

he dove in like he was starving, licking a fat stripe up your cunt, making you moan breathlessly. he continued to lick at your soaked hole, sucking your clit and peppering teasing kisses all over. "tastes so good." he moaned against you, teasing your cunt with his tongue, continuously licking and sucking in all the right places.

your back arched suddenly, feeling one of his fingers poke at your soaked entrance. slowly, he pushed a digit into your core which elicited a filthy moan out of you. pumping his finger in and out faster, he had you a moaning, withering mess for him in seconds. his tongue continued to lap a your pussy, and he sucked on your clit making your voice hoarse as you screamed his name.

"i-im gonna-" you panted, but he didn't stop, "fuck, gonna cum!" you squeaked, and he lapped up every last drop like it was the last thing he'd ever do. you came all over his tongue, legs shaking, and he took every bit of it proudly.

as your chest was heaving, he got back up and wiped your slick from his mouth with a dopey smile. "i need to feel you do that around my cock, baby." he groaned, unbuckling his belt in a rush while he pulled down his pants.

his cock sprung out against his stomach once he was out of his pants, veiny and thick, just begging to be buried in your warm, sticky hole. settling between your legs, he lined his cock up with your cunt, teasing your sticky folds with the tip.

"jonathan," you moaned, "m-mm, please."

with one hard thrust, he sank himself into your hole. the both of you moaned at the feeling, and he started to set a slow but deep pace. your back was arching out of habit, and you could feel him stretch you out completely. his cock twitched at the feeling of your tight cunt clenching around him, and he groaned your name.

"jesus, baby. you're so fucking tight- fuck-" he grunted, starting to fuck you at a faster, more merciless pace.

"a-ah, so full-!" you moaned breathlessly, feeling his entire length push up against your cervix, stretching you out to the point where the line between pleasure and pain started to blur.

"s'full, baby?" he asked, fucking you even faster, "feels good?"

"so good, o-oh my god!" you squeaked, feeling him split you open on his fat cock, pounding into you so brutally you were sure for the next week you'd be left sore and limping.

he continued to fuck your tight, soaked cunt. your warm walls sucked him in, and the both of you were moaning each others names repeatedly, the pleasure consuming you both. his hand reached down and started to rub circles on your clit, causing you to become an absolute fucking mess for him if you already weren't yet. he continued to snap his hips into you, cock plowing in and out of your aching hole as you took him balls deep.

"s-so fucking close, oh fuck." you moaned, feeling the familiar feeling building up in your stomach as he continued to assault your pussy with his fat cock.

"y-yeah? cum for me, pretty girl" he asked, glasses slipping down the bridge of his nose, "i'm gonna fucking fill this cunt up till you get fucking pregnant."

the threat had you clenching down on his cock, making him moan. the thought of him filling your cunt so deeply with his cum pushed you over the edge, and the threat of him knocking you up had you screaming his name as you creamed on his cock.

"f-fuck, just like that, baby-" he groaned, "gonna fucking cum in you."

as he let you ride out your high, his hips stuttered and with a few more shallow thrusts, he was filling you with every last drop of cum he had. after he came, he continued to give you a few more thrusts, making sure every single drop would fill your hole. he pulled out after he caught his breath, watching his cum trickle out your abused pussy.

"what a sight." he sighed, smiling as he watched you leak his cum. "i need to see this everyday, i think."

you giggled, and he came to lay beside you, holding you like you were a plate of fine china that could break at any given moment. "i didn't hurt you or anything, did i?" he asked softly, petting your hair as you pulled the covers over the two of you.

"not at all." you tell him, resting your head on his chest.

jonathan held you close to him gently, kissing the top of your head. "you're so pretty," he whispered, "i'm going to give you everything, darling."

"all i need is you, jon," you say, kissing him gently before pulling away for a split second, "now, how are we going to fear gas gotham city together?"

he smiled at you - in that moment, he'd fallen in love with you if he hadn't already. his crazy thoughts and your crazy heart were simply meant to be, complimenting one another in the most unhinged of ways.

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