Top Posts Tagged with #bc the other day my mom texted me and my sisters to say shes added another cancer to her repertoire | Tumlook (2024)

...

HELLO

Please PLEASE make a fic about the songs church- chase Atlantic!!

It's my latest obsession, next to enha ofc

leading you on | l.hs

♱ plot: from the shy boy you first met at church camp who your parents once adored to their biggest f*ckboy nightmare, you and heeseung reconnect on an online platform where you became a popular streaming duo together, leading to some steamy (and eventually forbidden) connections between you two…

loser!streamer!heeseung x fem!streamer!reader

♱ contains: SLOW BURN, swearing, sneaking out, mentions of bulges (multiple times), oral and fingering (f. r.), slight corruption kink, y/n stripping in front of a large audience (on camera), unprotected sex + virginity loss, y/n deliberately disobeying her parents, angst-ish, ft. other kpop idols, roughly 7k words

a/n: this is my first time writing a one shot all about Heeseung so hopefully I did our favorite loser boy some justice in this fic... have fun reading!

Heeseung. He was always just so... flirty with you.

Not emotionally, that is, but physically.

Leaving lingering touches on your thigh during Bible study, whispering dangerously close to your ear in that bedroom voice of his, or texting you random pictures during the day with his bulge obvious in almost every single one.

Two little voices battled in the back of your mind whenever you were around him, one voice wanting him to take things further while the other found it strange how he did such things so shamelessly.

The boy's got sex written all over him, your friends would warn alongside your Christ-converted step-sister Giselle who'd had her fair share of 'guys like Heeseung' in the past.

But you didn't see him that way. Despite his flirty tendencies, you figured those were just attributes that made him who he is.

Who you've always loved him to be.

However, those Holy, Holy, God Almighty church days were long gone by now, being no more than a distant ninth grade memory to you and most of everyone else who attended back then.

Everyone except Lee Heeseung, who could never shake his adolescent infatuation with you... ____, the girl who accepted his flaws and eventually stole his heart.

You and Heeseung reconnected a few years later by chance, the same day of your one year anniversary on your streaming channel.

Initially, your content consisted of one-hour long broadcasts where you'd just talk with random strangers, hearing out their problems and giving righteous advice.

However, Heeseung became a recurrent visitor on your streams, coaxing you to speak on topics more interesting than whether its modest to wear glam makeup or if kissing should be saved for marriage.

Your channel amassed a whopping 20,000 new followers in the first month of Heesung partnering with you, and its part of what led him to becoming an anticipated guest to your growing fanbase.

A dynamic duo, some commenters would call you two... and much to your parents chagrin, at that.

Off camera, things were the same.

You and Heeseung had grown closer than ever, sacrificing sleep to text each other all night, doing f*ck-all on your web streams for hours, and even considering meeting up in person for a broadcast after he shared with you that he still lived in the city.

But then... something changed.

Or more accurately, your overly controlling mother put her foot down.

|Messaging| 💬

Heeseung: So we're not allowed to hang out together this Friday ?

You: Not alone... and honestly, not on the streams anymore, either...

Heeseung: Don't tell me its bc ur shyyyy

You: Nope… pArEnTs ^^

You'd say your mom had it out to get Heeseung more than your dad ever did, resenting the mere mentioning of his name at weekly church gatherings.

"That daughter of yours has gained quite the audience on social media," one womann would say, "too bad she seems to be losing her Faith to that poor Heeseung boy..."

"Such a shame," another would agree, adding to the heat-bubbles boiling in your mother's blood-

"Our faith teaches forgiveness and kindness," you defended yourself, just as your mom gave you maybe her third lecture this week on why you should cut ties with him.

"It also advises caution and wisdom when it comes to who we allow into our social circles," she hummed back, taking a sip of her morning coffee, red lipstick staining the rim of the white mug, "I'd be no better than a fool to sit here and support this meaningless friendship between you and that... man."

You internally rolled your eyes at her words, thinking of something, anything to say in order to change the subject right now.

"Well, I have plans with some friends from church tonight, if you don't mind-"

"Will Heeseung be there?"

"What? No," you lied, and not for the first time, either.

It helped you to feel less guilt whenever you blamed it on the little voice in your head, "Just me and the girls," you clarified.

"Mhm," she smiled facetiously before continuing, "I'm afraid I still can't trust you to go, though... especially not after that little stunt you pulled online..."

Your hand halted at the kitchen countertop as her words settled in your mind, "What stunt?"

FLASHBACK

It all started with a picture.

A stupid picture you got dared to leak by an anonymous tipper who offered a $1,000 donation in exchange for a steamy photo of Heeseung.

Chelbear03:God, he looks so THICK

Chelsea, one of your viewers said in the streaming chat, practically moaning at the photo of Heeseung, biting her lip as if she could feel him inside her just by looking at the screen.

Chelbear03:PAINFUL 😩

pucca_princxss:Need a tissue for your drool, Sea-Sea? 🧻

Danielle, another fan joked.

Chelbear03:Okay, FIRST of all, I have drool coming from TWO holes rn-Secondly, I'd rather just have him lick it up 😔

Chelsea typed back, a nuance to her words that you couldn't tell was meant to be either comical or serious.

"Lick up what?" a curious voice asked from the screen.

That's when your hand flew to cover your mouth, eyes going wide at the sight of Heeseung coming back into frame after saying he'd be "afk for a bit while showering."

His hair was still a bit damp from what you could tell, a towel draped lazily around his neck as your eyes unfortunately fell to the lump hiding behind his pants.

Oh God-

"N-nothing! Uhm... it's not important," you chuckled dryly, only adding to the awkwardness everyone was starting to feel from behind their screens.

pucca_princxss:OOPspeak of the papi-

Chelbear03:Please forgive me, Hee-man 🧎‍♀️ ... bc I am disrespectfully foaming at the mouth as we speak-

Chelbear03 has left the stream

A notification of Chelsea having left the stream popped up in the chat almost immediately after she sent that message.

"What was that all about?," Heeseung smirked with confusion, looking between both you and the server comments displayed on his screen for an answer that never came.

"Fine then, keep your secrets... its not like I can't just rewind the stream highlights anyway," he added, just as you felt frantic emotions overcome you.

"Heeseung, you really don't wanna do that, just let me explain-"

His jaw dropped, not necessarily in shock, but with intrigue, the raunchy photo of his semi-hard co*ck through his sweatpants being displayed on the screen, right before his glossy deer-like eyes.

The same picture he'd only ever sent to you.

"I guess this is my mini Drake moment then," Heeseung chuckled to himself, a heavy sigh escaping your lips at his fortunately chill reaction.

"I did it for 1k, Heeseung, I'm sorry," you whined, pulling your knees up in your chair before burying your face behind them.

"Don't be... everyone already knows I'm your slu*t at this point," he said in a deeper voice, making you freeze once again as your eyes shot up to view the screen, almost in denial that such words even left his mouth.

anonymous tipper:worst thousand $$$ I ever spent...how abt I multiply the price by two for a sexy picture of the lady ?

yxstar3ject:ooo, but i was thinking maybe a double feature instead ? would luvvv to see how she treats this little slu*t of hers 🤭

Heeseung snickered so loud, you almost felt it on your skin, watching his facial expressions change with each suspicious message that filled the chat box, throughly entertaining him

"Guys, cut it out before I end the stream," you giggled shyly, revealing your full face that looked a little less flustered than earlier, "Heeseung isn't my slu*t either, okay? Just a good friend, I swear..."

pucca_princxss:you two need to stream in the same room one day bc this long distance sexual tension thing is so not the vibe :|

"Maybe one day..." Heeseung's voice faded off as he turned off the lights in his room, getting ready for bed...

"Maybe~~," your mother repeated in a mocking tone at the memory of your "filthy fest" of a stream that day, disgust displayed all over her before she took the last sip of her coffee as if it'd soothe her.

"Hope that refreshed your memory sweetie, but either way, my answer's no. Not with that slu*t on the streets and especially not without my supervision..."

“If you’re referring to Heeseung with that vulgar comment, I’m sorry to correct you, but it’s not right to just bash him with words like that,” you went on, leaning your elbows over the counter.

“Please, any guy who sends raunchy dick pics, let alone to a girl he’s not even dating, is a slu*t, ____,” your step-sister Giselle voiced while walking into the kitchen, dressed in athletic wear as she filled up her water canteen with a lemon flavored electrolyte packet, “not to mention those other weird things he says about your relationship on the stream.”

Despite how much your family claimed to dislike Heeseung, they had no problem with bringing him up every five seconds in a conversation.

You glanced at her through a side eye, shaking your head at the fact that she was just eavesdropping on your conversation, “That was hardly a dick pic, and you should know that better than me, ji*zz-elle,” you retorted, putting extra emphasis on the first syllable of her old nickname.

“Yeah, real mature, ____… you can slu*t shame me but not your little online boyfriend?”

“Ladies!,” your mother raised her voice slightly, pursing her lips at the tension built up between you two, “that’s enough of this discussion…”

You noticed the way your mother’s eyes lingered on your step sister for a moment, “And where do you think you’re going?”

“To the gym,” she answered shortly, walking past your mom and out of the kitchen with haste.

You scoffed out loud, “Not gonna interrogate her like you did to me?,” you said, laughing as if humored when it was really just a way to mask how irritated you were.

“No,” your mom said with a delayed reply, “Giselle is not my blood… I must take her word for what she says to avoid conflict with your step-father… you, on the other hand, will—”

“—abide by your rules… got it,” you finished for her, knowing better than to continue going back and forth with her in this matter.

You left the kitchen, going up to your room and plopping yourself on the bed, staring at the ceiling as you entered into a deep thinking space.

One in which you'd strategize on how to successfully sneak out of the house to hang out with Heeseung tonight.

|Messaging| 💬

You: So, you want me to meet you where again ?

Heeseung:Just take a hard right past the first stop sign from your place and a few steps past that one brown house(pls ignore my Dora ass instructions rn 🗿)

You: ok ok 😭, smart tho !! … that way, none of my neighbors will see your car :D

Heeseung: Exactly. U sure u still wanna do this, tho ?

You: Yeah, ofc ! Had enough of my mom nagging me all day ☝️ I need a release BIG time

Heeseung: Haha, okay then ! I’ll see you at 10:30pm

You: Cya ! 🐒

THE LAST TIME you and Heeseung met in person was back when you were both young teenagers, navigating hormones and puberty while aiming to keep God at the center of it all, so to speak.

You didn’t know what to expect from meeting up with him, and especially not under such circ*mstances.

Still, you had a pretty good feeling that all this trouble wouldn’t be for nothing.

It was currently 10:34pm as you turned off all the lights in your bedroom, wearing an all black outfit to ensure you weren’t seen.

You double checked to see if you had everything with you before leaving: phone, spare cash, and a well-rehearsed story in case you got caught.

Opening your bedroom window, you stuck out a leg, suddenly feeling thankful for your step-dad giving you the bedroom on the first story of his home.

Both your feet were on the floor now, your hands finding the window sill as you closed the window back, careful not to accidentally lock it back so you would be able to get back in later.

You then followed the instructions Heeseung outlined in your texts, walking a few blocks down and taking a right turn once you reached the stop sign.

That’s when you caught sight of his dimly lit side profile under the lights of his car and through the tinted windows.

His eyes were on his phone until your figure blocked the streetlight that shined in his car, drawing his attention to your face as a smile spread over his own.

His eyes lit up like you were the candle to his soul, stepping out of the sleek black car to come around and give you a hug.

“Oh- hi,” you chuckled shyly, hands hesitating to wrap around him before he pulled away, looking you up and down while bracing your shoulders.

“Hi,” he smiled back, “I was just about to text you when you showed up at my window… nice black fit, by the way.”

“Thanks,” you said in a playful voice, watching as he opened the car door for you to get in.

“Would it be wrong of me to assume your panties match, too?,” he asked teasingly, joining you in the vehicle before pulling out of his parked position and cruising out of the neighborhood.

“Wow, you’re really representing this slu*t persona of yours, huh?” You teased back, putting on your seatbelt.

“Mostly because I can’t help it,” he shrugged, flashing you a smile before looking back at the road, “the fans ship us anyway, so we might as well commit to it, right?”

“Righttt,” you answered suspiciously, poking his thigh before looking back out the window, “gosh, this is crazy…”

“What is?”

“How long we’ve known each other and still happened to maintain a solid friendship despite the distance.”

“Yea,” he agreed, turning down a lane decorated with flowers that somehow still shined in the dark of the night, “We’d be fools to give up this bond we share, though… fools not to explore it further.”

He pulled into his driveway a few minutes later, showing you around his place before leading you to his bedroom, a familiar sight to you thanks to the streams.

“Oh- you’ve still got your monitors and mic set up?,” you asked curiously, noticing how the screen of his computer was on the streaming website.

“You remember what Danielle said on our last live? About us broadcasting in the same room together sometime…” he started shyly, pushing out another gaming chair for you to sit in.

“You really think it’s a good idea to stream right now?,” you rationalized, watching as he joined you in the nearby seat, “I mean, I’m obviously down for it, but what if my mom sees it again? Or Gisel—”

“I’ve already blocked your mom's account, ____, we should be fine,” he smiled, “and… if not… I’ll exchange another photo with your anonymous tipper for some forgiveness cash,” he shrugged, pouty lips making you melt a little inside. "Deal?"

You always knew that Heeseung was cute, but you didn’t think it was possible for him to get any better looking from behind the screen.

“Okay then,” you agreed with a sigh, hoping that your nerves would calm down once the broadcast started.

Almost instantly, 100 viewers joined when Heeseung pressed the “stream” button.

You both began with greeting everyone, trying to get past the chat’s excitement about finally getting to see you two in the same room together.

yxstar3ject: OMFG YALL ACTUALLY DID IT ❗️ this is the moment we’ve all been waiting for 🤧

Chelbear03: holy f*cking f*ck, how is she so CALM NEXT TO HIM 😩

mrloverl0ver: everyone in favor of them playing truth or strip for us, spam the chat with W’s

pucca_princxss: hoon, you raging perv-WWWWWWWWWW XD

Chelbear03: ✨ W ✨

laylaspapi: Wno hom*owait, why's my name pink now ;-;

yxstar3ject: I took orange the other day ~ sawwy JakeyW <3

You watched as the chat box started to flood with W's and other random comments, feeling Heeseung sat a hand on your thigh as if to make you feel more comfortable.

"Alright peeps, chill out with the chat spamming, we see it," Heeseung said, laughing off some of the tension, "It's not like you guys didn't get a free show the other day, anyways," he added.

"I don't know..." you started, voice and logic trailing off as more letter W's filled the screen, "it might be fun?"

"____," Heeseung said more seriously this time, "it's a pointless game, y'know? We're honest with the fans... they already know most of secrets, so its silly to do truth or strip..."

"Great. That'll only make it more challenging for them to get our clothes off then," you smiled, suddenly feeling excited about playing, a bit of your competitiveness rubbing off on the initially cautious boy.

"Fine then... we'll do it," Heeseund said, eliciting a few viewers to send gifts to your broadcast, "I'm gonna need a drink for this first, though."

Heeseung was doing a good job of making it seem like he wasn't totally down for this, even though on the inside, he was mostly concerned with making sure you felt comfortable, too.

He left the room for a moment before coming back with two canned co*cktails in his grip, placing them on his desk in front of you two.

"I'm guessing you don't drink much," he said, popping open a can of sugary fizz with his teeth while making eye contact with you, "so take it slow with this, yeah?"

"Sure, dad," you joked, taking a sip from the can, hoping that the alcohol would maintain your fleeting confidence, considering that you'd just agreed to strip in front of hundreds of people online.

Chelbear03: alr, first question heheh, starting easy !! :)))when was the last time you got upset and why

Chelsea was the first to initiate this little "truth or strip" questionnaire. Heeseung read the question out loud before humming to himself in thought.

“Hmm... maybe when I overcooked my ramen this morning?”

"Who eats ramen for breakfast?" You asked with a dry laugh.

"Don't judge me because I have good taste, ____," he replied, shoving your thigh with his knee a bit, "and you're dodging the question..."

"Oh- right," you chuckled shyly, thinking of what to say and whether to be honest, until you remembered the consequence would be to remove a piece of clothing.

“It was um... over some stupid things my stepsister was saying about a friend of mine… also this morning...”

"Does that friend so happen to be me by any chance?," Heeseung asked knowingly, giving you a look that you quickly brushed off.

"Moving on, next question!"

anonymous tipper:name the last person you hooked up with$100 donation on the line here, btw...plus someone's modesty 🙈

Oh God, you thought to yourself, dreading how this anonymous tipper knew you'd do almost anything for money.

It was really a bad trait of yours...

"Wow, just jumping to the extremes, aren't we?," Heeseung mumbled between a sip of his drink, the wet condensation drawing your attention to his glistening digits for a quick second.

How were you just now noticing how thick his fingers ar-

laylaspapi: uh ohsomeone looks nervous ...

pucca_princxss: mission accomplished 👹👹👹

In all honesty, you didn't really have an answer to that question, but to avoid coming off as prudish, you opted to take a pair of clothing off instead, lifting your hips in your seat to pull your pants down.

"____, what the-" Heeseung started before choking a bit on his drink, not just at your sudden boldness, but at the sight of your lace panties hugging the natural curves of your hips, pants getting bunched up at your ankles before you kicked them off under his desk.

yxstar3ject: 😭😭😭😭DEFINITELY wasn't expecting that, oml-

Chelbear03: your turn, hee 🙏🙏🙏

Something about how frazzled your usually calm and collected best friend became at the simple act of you undressing before him gave you a feeling of exhilaration.

By now, your top barely covered the flesh of your thighs, a few commenters saying things about "wanting to take a bite" before Heeseung cleared his throat, hoping that they'd stop making things worse for him.

"Well uh, I'm not willing to strip a layer just yet, plus I could use the $100, so I'll be honest..."

The chat stalled momentarily as if everyone watching paused in eager anticipation of who and what Heeseung was going to say.

"It's been a while, I'll admit," he chuckled dryly, staring off as if envisioning it behind his sparkly eyes, "but it was around a year and a half ago... with a girl I'd rather not name, but she was a bit older than me..."

"Oh?," you accidentally said out loud, a strange feeling of happiness washing over you now that you knew he hadn't been with any girl since you two met reconnected. You're not sure why this information made you happy... or maybe you're just not ready to admit how you truly feel about him to yourself yet...

"How'd you two meet? Wait- why am I even asking that," you cringed at your own inevitable curiosity, Heeseung taking delight in how his timidness somehow rubbed back off onto you.

"Nah, it's okay... I'm sure the viewers wouldn't mind a little storytime-"

He adjusted his posture in the chair, eyes scanning a few new comments before he spoke, "I met her during my bad boy stage, I guess you could say... we bonded over the fact that we were both born in October until we eventually started smoking together at a friends house of mine every now and then... she and I were both going through some divorce drama with our parents and uh... we thought f*cking would be a good emotional outlet? I don't know, maybe it was more of a distraction, I guess..."

Heeseung didn't expect himself to ramble the way he did, but he wanted you to know the main details, even though he left out a few parts for another time and conversation.

Chelbear03: what would it take for me to be that girl ? just for one night 😔

maindancertypesh*t:pretty sure Hee just confirmed he's into older girls, Chels ...and ones with daddy issues at that-

You nearly snorted at the sudden comment, up until you realized who the last one came from.

"Excuse me, but what the hell is a toddler doing on this stream?" Heeseung asked sarcastically, obviously referring to Niki.

pucca_princxss: LMAO, looking for his mommy ofc 🤱 (😏)

maindancertypesh*t:ayo, wtf???so dani's allowed but I'm not?? hmph >:{

maindancertypesh*t has left the stream

You sighed while laughing slightly, taking a sip of the drink as water droplets now dripped unto your thighs, Heeseung's eyes doing a terrible job of not staring.

"I say we do one more round before ending the stream," you offered, looking at the time as you knew you'd wanna spend more private time with Heeseung before having to run back home.

yxstar3ject: BOOOOOOOO :(

Chelbear03: im too pressed abt riki rn to give a damnbro did NAWT have to dish me the truth like that 😭😭

mrloverl0ver: ok ok, let's make this last question worth it thenhmmm ...

Sunghoon typed in thought, just as the bulb in Heeseungs side lamp suddenly shattered, the loss of light coupled with it's piercing sound making you jolt in your seat, half of your canned co*cktail spilling on your shirt and chest.

"sh*t," Heeseung swore under his breath, happy that none of your drink or any glass from the lightbulb got on his streaming equipment.

That's when he noticed you shivering a bit, the cold liquid contrastingly with the warmth of your body.

"C-can you grab me a towel please?," you asked softly, Heeseung taking the can from your grasp and leaving the room with haste to grab a damp and dry cloth for you.

"Here," he offered when he came back, hooking his hands at the hem of your top and pulling it over your head in one swift movement, making you gasp out loud.

You were now half-naked in front of your best friend, not to mention the tons of people watching from their digital screens.

"Heeseung, what're you-"

He was now taking off his own shirt, holding it in one hand while he wiped your chest down with the cloths he held in the other.

There was something about the way his eyes looked while wiping down your boobs, coming off as romantic despite the awkward nature of the situation.

"Put this on," he whispered so quietly you almost missed it, snaking your head through the head hole of his T-shirt while he flicked the ceiling light on, your mind running in a hundred different directions in this moment.

You're not sure if it had something to do with the alcohol, but your skin still tingled in the spots where his fingertips grazed your flesh... just like old times...

You don't think you ever put on a T-shirt faster in your life, wanting to cover up as fast as you could despite how everyone had already gotten a free show from the both of you.

laylaspapi: B👀BS ?!?!?caught in 4k? just like that !?!??!????

mrloverl0ver: guess that means the games over now since y'all started stripping regardless ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

pucca_princxss: I think Heeseung's house might b haunted :'0

Chelbear03: HEESEUNGS f*ckING ABS RN-IS HE TRYING TO KILL ME !??!?

yxstar3ject: 👁👄👁

The chat was going crazy at this point, their flood of comments honestly being the last thing on your mind as you sat bottomless in Heeseung's gaming chair, wearing his T-shirt as he searched for another shirt somewhere behind you.

A billion emotions were coursing through your veins, still trying to grasp how you went from sneaking out your bedroom window, stripping in front of an audience, and getting flustered from the mere presence of Heeseung now.

"Alright guys, this was fun but we're gonna call it a night for now," Heeseung said as he came back into frame, not even bothering to sit back down as his right hand found the mouse, moving it towards the end stream button.

"Yeah, I think my streaming career might end here," you added jokingly, making Heeseung chuckle a bit at your words, his bright smile doing nothing but make your stomach flutter all over again.

What was going on with you?

"Who knows? Maybe we can work on starting an OnlyFans together ..."

"Heeseung-"

"I'm kidding," he laughed again, looking at your face from the screen, not even aware of how he bit his lip before speaking, "you look pretty on camera though, for what its worth."

The all-too familiar tune of the livestream ending rang in your ears, the screen displaying stats of the broadcast engagement, which surpassed any and every stream you've ever filmed before.

"Wow," Heeseung marveled, just as he shut his computer off.

"I know," you added, stretching your back while sitting, "we don't even reach stats like that in a week..."

"I wasn't talking about the ratings, ____," he returned, the room seeming much more quiet now that the computer was off, even though it's been this way the whole time.

"Enough about that, though," he started again, taking your hands in his to pull you out of the chair, "I haven't been a very good host to you this evening... making you work first thing before properly treating you... allow me to make up my lacking..."

"I mean... you gave me a nice seat and something to drink... you even lended me one of your shirts after I made a big mess of myself," you replied while giggling, feeling silly as he held both of your hands while speaking formally all of a sudden.

"Yes, yes, but I'm serious," he continued, now guiding you down to the rug lying in the middle of his bedroom floor, "you still like candy, right?"

ALMOST ANOTHER HOUR had passed and it was somewhere around midnight give or take, you and Heeseung hardly feeling tired as you sat on the mat together, alternating between eating orange slices and gummy bears.

You were propped up on your elbows, a glow still present on his face from the laughter you've shared together so far, even though there was something less innocent you wanted to get off your chest.

You were feeling completely reckless already, and you figured it wouldn’t hurt for you to push things a little further.

Besides, it’s not everyday that a girl like you gets an opportunity like this just placed in her lap.

It's just like Heeseung said, you'd be a fool to give up this bond you two share and not explore it further...

Plus, you weren't sure how much longer you could hide behind the good girl act.

Giselle was right: Heeseung had sex written in full length parables all up and down his six-foot-something body, and you'd be lying if you said it didn't turn you on.... if you said it didn't reel you in, like a burning desire to explore what's corrupted.

To be ruined.

"Heeseung," you started, making him look down at you as he sat with his legs crossed, hair messy from the amount of times he ran a hand through it, "can I ask you something?... It's... kinda personal..."

He popped another strawberry flavored gummy bear into his mouth, "As long as it isn't about your period, I should be good to help you then," he chuckled slightly.

"And what makes you think that I need help with something?"

"Hmm… maybe just that way that your nails keep picking with my wrist watch right now," he answered quietly, drawing your attention to your fingers which tend to get busy whenever you were nervous.

"Oh- I... I didn't even realize...," you laughed at yourself, shying your hands away before sitting up and hiding them in your lap.

"Well go on," he urged, looking back at you with warmth in his eyes, taking off his glasses and setting them aside, "What'd you wanna ask me?"

You let out a breath, clenching your thighs a bit as your sight fell between his legs.

f*ck, did he just laugh? God, he definitely noticed your peeking... you f*cking perver-

"I don't really know how to word this but..." you chewed on your lip in thought, "Sometimes... when it's just you and me alone like this... even when we're just video chatting... I feel," you looked up at the ceiling as if it'd help you divulge, "I don't really know what to call it."

He blinked at your words, adjusting his sitting position on the ground, "Are there certain things I do or say that make you feel... whatever it is that you can't explain?" He asked, tilting his head at you, just as his hand inched closer to you on the rug, but not quite touching your skin yet.

"Its a few things, actually-"

"Like what?" His hand was now on your thigh, eyes glued on your shaky figure even though you avoided eye contact, lost in the veins that trailed the pretty skin of his arm.

"When you touch me," you whispered so quietly, the only reason he heard you was because he read your lips, thinking in his own mind what it'd be like to taste them, "like that."

"Speak up for me, I can hardly hear you," he urged, almost as if cooing at you.

"I can't," you said shakily, chest expanding slightly with each heavy breath you took in and let out.

Your idea of being bold was starting to backfire... if only you could stop being so awkward about this for one second-

"It's just me, ____," he whispered with a slight chuckle this time, your hands finding the fluffy rug beneath you as your skin still stung from where he'd last touched you, "be as honest with me as you need."

"Maybe it's best we just pretend I never said anything," your voice trailed off, regretting having looked into his dark eyes that stared back at yours because you felt as though your shield had faltered, his energy coaxing your mind to wander.

"Would you mind if I took a guess?," Heeseung offered with an expression you couldn't read, but you nodded anyway, just as his hand traveled further up your thigh, your breath hitching in your chest as you felt his finger tips meet your core.

"You feel something in here, don't you?," he whispered again, "Hurts, doesn't it?"

Like hunger pains, you answered in your head, finding his shoulder as half of you thought to push him away while the other half just needed to touch him.

You nodded shyly in response, thankful that he didn't move any further so you could catch your breath, already too effected by his actions.

"I feel it sometimes, too. The aching... but I'm sure you're old enough to know there's only one way to get rid of it."

You didn't even have to ask to know what he was implying, feeling tempted to give in to whatever this urge was.

He was right though. It did ache, and so badly, your own core tearing up with a need you never intended to entertain.

That's when his touch creeped closer to your core, your thighs closing around his hand as you struggled to think clearly.

You almost couldn't in a state like this.

It baffled you how the energy was starting to change, but it was only a matter of time that you'd be able to sit bottom less in front of Heeseung looking the way he does before something sexual would happen.

"Are you willing to let me help you?" He asked, gripping your flesh between his hands as a shy sound fell from your lips.

You were having second thoughts.

"As much as I'd like to, Hee, it just doesn't seem right anymore..."

Even though this was all your idea to begin with-

"But doesn't it feel right?" he pressed, feeling his hands gently pry your thighs back open, but its not like you were putting up much of a fight either, "Besides, you wouldn't have told me if you didn't want me to do something about it..."

In this moment, you couldn't care less about maintaining that fleeting sense of virtue all the elders in your life harped on growing up.

You were simply young, horny, lovesick, and in need of a release.

Before you knew it, your legs were parted for him, your back against the rug as his head got comfortable at your heat, fingers barely grazing over your now bare c*nt before he started leaving plush kisses against your sweet spot.

The ache was definitely still there, but having him this close to you made it feel better.

Almost too good, honestly…

“Heeseung-” you cried out, clamming your thighs around his head as you felt his thick and warm tongue enter you.

Hooking his hands at your knees, it helped to open you back up for him, feeling your stomach tighten as he continued to lick you down.

“I’m still here, baby…” he cooed, looking back up at you, just as your phone started to ding, "relax for me, alright?"

It was a few random messages here and there, you being too pleasure-drunk to give a damn as he continued lapping at your slick, alternating between one and two fingers as he teased your hole, only making you want more.

“f*ck…s- someone’s calling me,” you whined, propping up on your elbows with tired eyes as you reached for your phone, seeing none other than Giselle's contact number as Heeseung left your core, getting on his knees and unbuckling his belt.

"What're you-"

Your words were cut off as he leaned closer into you, his bulge resting in between your folds as he looked into your eyes and said, "Answer it."

He was already rocking against your puss* as you struggled to stay focused, his boxers being covered in your slick just from how wet you'd gotten, even though you nodded no.

“You want me to help you, don’t you?” He continued, completely aware of your stalling and hesitance as the phone continued to ring, your breathing only getting heavier as he kept grinding against you.

You bit your lip, clenching around nothing as his fingers cascaded over your sensitive spot. Heeseung practically drooled at the sight, your tight little c*nt all slick and messy for him.

"Hello?" Giselle asked over the phone, "where the hell are you right now?"

f*ck.

You watched nervously as Heeseung pulled his boxers past his hips, his thickness springing up now that it was finally free to breathe.

"What're you talking about, I was just in my room," you lied terribly, watching Heeseung with pleading eyes as he lined himself up with your entrance, bracing a hand on you lower abdomen while glaring back at you, a glint of playfulness in his doe eyes.

Oh, the way you wanted to smack him across his pretty face right now-

"I wasn't born yesterday, ____. I checked your room an hour ago and you're still not here. Tell me where you are," she continued, voice cracking a bit as you winced through a bitten lip, thanks to Heeseung somehow having slid his thickness inside you.

Well, most of the way, at least...

"____?"

"Y-yes, I'm listening, just- don't worry about me, I'll be back in a bit-"

"That still doesn't answer my question, ____..."

Thud.

You accidentally dropped your phone beside your head once Heeseung pushed all the way in now, leaving a few kisses along your neck to help you calm down.

His hips were still, but for some reason, your breathing remained shaky beneath him, your step-sister still awaiting your reply on the other side of the phone.

"Call you later," you said in a squeaky voice, reaching over to hang up the phone as Heeseung started to move again, your legs trembling a bit as the nerves in your mind traveled through your whole body.

"Now that wasn't so hard, was it?" He asked sarcastically, hand following a trail from your waist, over your boob, then to your neck, goosebumps sprouting on your skin as you suddenly felt cold, your body internally shivering.

"Hee," you said with a whimper, feeling his grip loosen around your neck before he started thrusting into your walls, your slick providing just enough lubrication for him to slide in and out easily.

You couldn't even think in your mind at this point, his actions already becoming more than you could handle given how new everything was.

How nice he felt.

"C'mon, don't get quiet on me now, baby, I just started," he teased, slamming his pelvis against yours to hopefully reel a moan out of you, which obviously worked, your hand flying up to grip the fluffy rug over your head as it became harder to hide your sounds.

He hissed at the feeling of you clenching around him, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth as he looked into your eyes.

"So either you like it when I'm rough with you or when I call you baby..." he started in a low voice, "which is it?"

"M-maybe both... now can you stop trying to turn me on with your words for one f*cking second?," you asked with labored breaths, feeling your org*sm creep up on you a lot sooner than anticipated.

Sure, this was your first time, but you were glad he didn't treat you like a baby during the whole thing.

There was just something about the way his voice sounded in this moment, the way he was rutting into you like a horny teenager that took you over the edge.

And he was being such a tease, trying to make you talk knowing that your sentences would be broken and whiney thanks to how rough he was going.

He wanted to hear you falling apart underneath him.

He let out the most attractive chuckle you'd ever heard at your words, "But I can tell it's working," he smirked, bracing himself against the floor so you could wrap your legs around him better, "now quit your complaining and keep taking me like a good girl, alright?"

You're sure your cl*t started doing backflips at the pet-name, coupled with the pretty sounds he was very intentionally humming beneath your ear.

He found your wrists on the rug, sliding up to your hands and interlacing his fingers with yours,

“Stop trying to act tough, I can tell this is all new to you…. don’t even know what to do with your hands, huh?” his said, watching as your eyes get lost in the view of his shaggy hair.

He snickered, “you can touch it if you want…”

f*ck, you thought to yourself. You don’t know why you felt the need to put on some act for him… maybe it was because you assumed a competition between yourself and other girls he’s been with, even though in reality, you’d been the only girl on his mind for a while now.

“I…,” you started with a stutter, “I can’t.”

Your fingers were still interlaced with his, but your inability to touch him had less to do with the fact that he had you pinned down, and more so to do with your nerves.

As badly as he wanted to keep toying with your head in this moment, he could you were getting closer from how your breath kept hitching, so he didn’t have much time to play.

Releasing his grip from your hands, he brought a thumb to your chin, tapping at it for you to open your mouth, “I’m gonna speed up now then, okay?”

He choked out, his own head becoming a little fuzzy as you parted your lips obediently for him, the sight of your tongue laving at his fingers being enough to make him feel like cumming.

He knew you had to get home quick now, but he still wanted to give you the best org*sm of your life.

Once he collected enough of your spit on his fingers, he slid his hand down, circling your swollen bud while looking into your eyes, your hands automatically flying to his shoulders to brace yourself.

“f*ck, Heeseung~,” you cursed with furrowed brows, whimpers that almost sounded like high pitched hiccups falling from your lips as you felt your hips chase his.

There was so much energy coursing through both of your bodies that it could charge your dying phone on the floor right now.

“It’s okay baby, you’re almost- sh*t, you’re almost there,” he grunted weakly as he continued f*cking into your walls with his fingers at your cl*t, his own eyes closing at how good your tightness felt around him.

You never heard yourself sound like this before, getting all whiny just as he whispered the words “Come for me” against your neck, sealing the space with a kiss and retreating his hand from your core, holding you in place as your org*sm hit like a flood.

You were squirming so much, walls pulsating like a drum as he kissed you down, your hands finally being brave enough to grip at his hair while he rode out your high.

You could tell that he didn’t finish inside you, but he was nice enough to slow down and not f*ck you completely stupid.

“I can’t even believe we just did that,” you mumbled mindlessly, eyes staring back at him as he started to gently caressed your cheek.

“Wasn’t too bad for a quickie though, right?,” he asked jokingly while still inside you, not quite yet ready to pull out of your comforting warmth.

To say goodbye to the you he brought out in this sex-filled space.

“No… it wasn’t bad at all,” you smiled back, words sounding somewhere in between a shocking realization and sincere compliment.

“Then I guess that means we can look forward to doing this more often-”

“Heeseung-”

“Kidding,” he whispered softly, meeting your lips in one last kiss before leaning back up to adjust his pants, “now let’s get you cleaned up and ready for home before your mom has me crucified.”

“Okay,” you said while laughing slightly until he pulled out of you, your legs trembling a bit from the missing fullness.

From the feeling in his chest, Heeseung came to fully accept that he was 110% in love with you, not giving a flying f*ck about the naysayers who’d disapprove of your now-even-more-complicated friendship.

You on the other hand, came to realize that Heeseung was worth much more than being judged by a bunch of hypocrites, and that you now had the courage to make a lot of your own decisions now, even if they’re solely for the sake of pleasure.

”Still,” you continued, watching as he stood up from the ground to grab a pack of wipes from his desk, “I just remembered that I locked my bedroom window when I left.”

“That’s a good thing, right?” He asked while parting your legs, wiping your sweaty thighs down with your panties hunched up in his other hand.

You admired the view of him cleaning you up with adoration flooding your heart, your limbs letting themselves relax as feathery words fell from your lips, “It means I might have to spend the night at your place for a little longer…”

Fin…

♱ Thank you beyond words to everyone reading this right now! I teased the release of this fic a while ago but ended up changing almost everything that I’d originally written because it was kinda sh*tty 🥴 but hopefully you all enjoyed this fic anyway! Also, masterlist is here !!

♱ tag list: @fakeuwus @adeoluhh @zerasari @anonant @yaatrickyaaa @depressedandobsessed666 @woninluv @moonshoon @imjakes-wifeofc1 @heesbee @kaykay11sworld @wannieepisod @ilikekpop-c @heesoo11 @idkdykilr @seungjiseyo @nctislifue @ro-diaries @heesushiii @jakehooni @babygirlmarshmellow @jaysdze @princeseung @flowerbe0m @skzenhalove @rayofsunshineeee @wonsbaer @namdeyuoi @tasnim10 @cheruluv @squoxle @nikisvanillaccola @wonbinisbabygurl @addictedtohobi @yourmomsc*ntis2tighy @ashgonedash

Game Of Hearts

| 1 |

↳ Summary: Your life is in monotonous tones of grey, day in, day out. Nothing matters besides your sister, the only thing you remember is seeing fireworks before waking up to Tokyo abandoned . Soon enough you are properly introduced to the deadly Borderlands where you must fight for your life in Games to survive. When things can’t possibly get worse soon division arises and rivalries are made. No matter what though, you are constantly plagued by a blonde who, no matter how hard you try, just can’t seem to go too far without.

↳ Pairing: Chishiya/Reader

↳ Genre: Angst, smut, thriller

Word Count: 11k

___| Next

Trigger Warning: ⚠️ much like the manga/Netflix adaptation this will be a dark fic which includes mentions of prostitution, attempted murder, child ab*se, sexual harassment, heavy grief and attempted suic*de among other things. Additional warnings will be added for chapters when triggers are brought up. Please read with caution if these are triggers for you or just skip all together!

Side mention: This could be considered a prequel to the current Alice In Borderland. I’m writing based off the Manga bc I was a glutton and couldn’t waitno spoilers will be present as of...

Escapism

noun

the tendency to seek distraction and relief from unpleasant realities, especially by seeking entertainment or engaging in fantasy ♡

You had known all about this during your short lifespan, as a child you’d often play pretend with your sister that you were movie stars living in a five star hotel rather than the sh*tty busted up apartment on the wrong side of town. Escapism came in, many forms. It was often a way for people to cope psychologically, simply because sometimes, facing the reality of your situation can be too much for one person to handle mentally.

Or at least, that was the topic of your lecture today in class. The human mind always fascinated you. Even at the young tender age when your mom died and you watched your once cozy little family fall apart piece by piece until nothing was left in its wake.

It was your fascination that drove you now for most things, why? Why, why, why? You always wondered what the motive was behind someone’s actions, not only thing but you wanted to understand them better, to try and sympathize. You were already fairly intuitive in nature. It wasn’t difficult to read people. In fact your line of work made it easy, you’d watch a man who would be excited to be with you reach for his left finger as if used to touching something. A wedding band perhaps?

The lowlife cheater was fairly common in a whor* house after all. Or the man who had been pissy this morning behind you in line because you had decided to try something new on the menu and you weren’t fast enough, obviously because he was tardy and woke up late, his shirt unbeknownst to him was button the wrong way and his tie loose and even the way his hair fell were all signs of being late to work.

It was the little things you noticed in people’s facial expressions, the way they moved and spoke. You could read people like a book, and sure sometimes it was useful. But you often wished you weren’t so perceptive. It drove you mad knowing when a potential love interest was no longer interested through a simple text or a friend not wanting to talk by their tone. Sometimes you wished you could just blot it all out, still, you lived like this day in and day out, you were used to this kind of thing and honestly. Friends? Love? Your gaze dropped a little to your feet, the pumps you were wearing a jet black and the heel too high for any respectable woman to ever wear.

...It wasn’t like you ever had any of those in your life and you had struggled to come to terms with the fact that you could survive without that kind of support. Still...it made you envious, the couple happily holding hands on the sidewalk. The group of friends all laughing at a table while they studied. Oftentimes these feelings are muted, but when you’re faced with something you’ve always craved, those muted feelings suddenly become hyperactive in your mind.

It’s pathetic, honestly.

“How dare you! You disgusting slu*t!”

In this moment however, you were brought back to reality at just what was happening, you squeaked loudly as you dodged the shoe the woman had thrown at you. This was all a regular occurrence, you had a lot of regulars who weren’t the most amazing people but hey, money was money. But along with them they also left a trail which their wives and girlfriends always followed. And then they always blamed you instead of their partner for leaving them for a prostitute despite you never having agreed to anything such as that.

It really wasn’t your fault, you were just trying to make a living while juggling with keeping up your own education, paying your fathers debts, rent and still somehow getting food on the table. What part time college job could provide that?

Prostitution wasn’t a job you would’ve gone into willingly but given the past and your trauma that was already laced in it you had been learning that sometimes because of the trauma we experience, sometimes people go back to that same trauma and actively participate in it as a way of feeling like they’re in control.

That whatever happened before, would never happen again if you were in control. You weren’t sure if you qualified under this category, trauma came in many forms but the one most used as an example in your class was that a study showed that women who were assaulted often develop a kink for consensual non consent as a way of coping with what happened, except this time, it’s in a controlled environment where it can end the moment they want it too.

Again, you weren’t sure you fell into this category, but you often wondered if your line of work was intertwined with your earlier memories when you were younger, if anything it brought comfort to you. Much of it, blotted out now simply because your mind couldn’t take it. Trauma expressed through amnesia was also much more common than many thought, and it’s so small, so easy to miss. After all how can you be aware of something if you have no memory of it anymore?

“Security!” Your manager screeched, two of the bodyguards were already between you and the feral woman who was ready to gut you clean as she screamed hysterically, her husband...your regular....at her side trying to get her to calm down only for her to come to her senses and slap him clean across the face. You didn’t condone violence, but he did have it coming...

You weren’t about to justify cheaters, you couldn’t imagine the hurt someone had to feel that not only did their partner cheat on them, but it was with someone...like you...You had been trying not to put down your job occupation, sex workers were just as valid as anyone else...you knew you would’ve thought this way if it was anyone but you in this position.

You sighed as you ran your hands through your hair, watching the couple get dragged out of the tight space of the brothel, “Jesus christ....didn’t you say you stopped using perfume because of this?” Miki, your manager sighed as she crossed her arms. You didn’t want to say your manager was your friend but she was the closest you had as you’d often complain to her about most of your problems. Sex work often attracted broken people, it wasn’t something she wasn’t used to.

“Yeah, but apparently he never got around to washing his clothes…” You wiped your mouth on the back of your hand, “Lipstick stain,” You glanced down at the ruby pink color that stained your skin now, “f*ck...that did hurt.” You rubbed your sore cheek that was still throbbing from where she had first slapped it when she ripped the door open of the room where she got to see with her own eyes you riding her husband.

It had happened so many times now you weren’t even embarrassed about someone walking in let alone a partner. Miki gave you a lopsided smile as she patted your shoulder, “Guess that just pays for being one of the best here. Did you at least get paid.”

You nodded, “Yeah, I always make them pay in advanced but I was hoping to get a tip afterwards...He was a lawyer so you know he had good money.” You sighed, crossing your arms, you were well aware of his partner because a lot of the time he didn’t even come in for sex anymore. It was funny how humans work.

He often felt his wife was overbearing and you had suspected some sort of verbal abuse by the way he talked about her constant screaming. Truthfully, you don’t think he ever intended on cheating with her. He just wanted someone to talk to without being judged, you could relate with sympathy to that, but he unfortunately chose to walk into a brothel instead of a therapy clinic and this truly was the only inevitable outcome. Still, you hope if for anyone’s sake, he gets that divorce for himself.

“Hey I think I’m gonna call it a day. I need to get back to Nanami, she was wanting to talk to me about college applications.” You sighed as you rubbed your neck, ever since she had graduated high school she had been chomping at the bit to start applying for college, maybe to just get out of the house and into a dorm. You couldn’t blame her and if she did that it would lighten your load a little.

Guilt washed over you at the thought as Miki chuckled, “They grow up pretty fast huh? My brother was the same way, except the moment he found out I was a sex worker was the moment he called me a whor* and we haven’t talked since. That was probably about five years ago,” She crossed her arms as she sighed, “Crazy how the things we do for the ones we love, never appreciate our effort...I’ll see you tomorrow then?”

“If I’m not bruising.” You offered a weak smile as you nodded at her before going back to your room to get changed. Truthfully, you much like anyone else, often wished you could go to a world where reality wasn’t a concept any longer. Where you could lay out in the sun for the whole day and just soak up it’s rays with no worries or trepidations.

But sooner then later everyone had to face their fears. Even you, you supposed. But no matter how hard you fought your demons, they always came back tenfold. Again, you supposed your story was no different from tens of thousands, and yet you all live on regardless. Maybe it’s you who should be the one seeking therapy. Pulling on your jeans and the cropped top over your head before pulling the jacket over your arms and grabbing your bag.

The walk home was as quiet as ever, your hood over your head and earbuds any unwanted attention, it wasn’t too late at night, only eleven PM and your work had just been getting started but that had ruined the night for you and besides, you had already failed a test today, you could use the sleep tonight.

Occasionally you’d hear the sirens of a cop car passing by or a bystander shout, nothing out of the ordinary in this neighborhood. Walking up to the apartment complex you pulled the key from your bag as you unlocked the door. Quietly stepping insides as you shut the door before locking it once more. Your nose wrinkled at the smell of stale air mixed with rotten...something…

If anything, you were always lacking in something, you had been so busy most of the day that you never had time to clean anything leaving the house in a horrible state. Not that you thought this was much of a house.

Walking down the narrow hallway you opened the rickety door with a missing lock as you gave a brief smile to the small clump of bedsheets. Your sister was curled up and on her phone, eyes darting to the door with a hint of fear before she jumped up, “Y/n! You’re home earlier from night shift already!?”

You offered a smile as you set down your bag and nodded, sitting down on the mattress that laid on the floor as you replied, “Yeah, a coworker needed the extra hours so I let them cover for me tonight. Besides, you wanted to talk about college applications?” Your sister was under the impression your late night job was bartending at some hole in the wall downtown, where in all actuality you just went there to drink a few days and talk to the loud and sometimes obnoxious, but good hearted bartender who loved talking about his nerdy underaged friends that couldn’t do anything beside stay and drink soda.

It wasn’t that you didn’t think your sister would accept you, if she knew what you were actually doing. Fear, most times came in many different forms and this was one of them. You simply didn’t want to be judged, even by her. So nobody in your life truly knew who you were, and therefore, how could you hold the expectation for people to accept you into society if you were already self sabotaging yourself?

All philosophy aside, you were simply a lost soul, looking for your way in the cruel reality called life.

“Yes!” Nanami was chipper as always as she squealed, clapping her hands, “I…! I was thinking about applying to the university you attend! Maybe I'll get a grant and move into the dorms there? I already applied for several jobs, I’m just waiting on a callback!”

You offered a small smile as you hugged your knees to your chest, “I think you’d like it there, there’s lots to do around campus. But what will you go in for? The only advice I can offer is be sure it’s what you want to do.”

Nanami’s face faltered a little as she hummed, “Well...I thought maybe working with animals? I’d love to be an assistant surgeon in veterinarian? I know it’s a pretty...sad job but...I really like the idea of being able to heal such innocent things.” Your smile tugged into a gentle one at your sister. She was too tender for this world.

It had been your goal sense the day your mother died that you took care of your sister, it didn’t matter what happened to you. You could rot for all you cared at the end of the day, all you wanted was to look up and see your sister's smile and her happiness in life blossom. She more than anyone deserved it.

“I think you’ll be great at it.” You encouraged as you rested your chin on your hand, always happy to see her bounce in excitement as you yawned, your body was used to your demanding schedule but it was always more than happy to welcome a few extra hours of sleep.”

Hearing the door loudly slam close caused you both to jump, Nanami hurriedly crawled back in bed, pretending to be asleep as you frowned. Your dad must’ve come back home from wherever he was.

“Y/n! Just stay here! Can’t you talk to him later?” Nanami looked scared, she always did when he was around. But you weren’t about to stand down to the bastard any day of the week, you offered a weak smile as you replied.

“It’s fine Nami, I’ll be just a few minutes.” You replied, you knew that she knew, that was probably a lie. But you’d try your best, for her sake at least. But somebody had to put this guy in his place occasionally and it was always you. It results in a lot of screaming sometimes, other times he’d break down in tears or on a bad occasion you’d get shoved to the ground, a few times hit. Nothing major.

Walking out of the room you leaned against the wall of the entrance of the hallway watching your father stumble around in the living room, “Did you finally talk to the loan company?” You called out as you asked, not in a forgiving mood tonight. He had said he’d do this for two weeks in a row. The company that sank your whole family into the ground. The reason your mother couldn’t take it anymore and put a blade to her wrist.

Your father stood up, looking a little wobbly, obviously drunk, “Now listen here little girl I don’t have sh*t to own to you or anyone else.” You sighed as you tucked your tongue into your cheek, annoyance flowing inside you as you straightened up. You weren’t going to be bullied into being scared of this guy.

“Actually you do,” Your smile twisted into something more sharp, more bitter and sinister as you walked forward, “See, if you hadn’t of gotten involved in something shady like loan sharks we wouldn’t be drowning in debt and mom wouldn’t have killed herself because of you and both your daughters wouldn’t hate you. I know you drink away all our money in some pathetic attempt to escape from the cold reality that you f*cked up your whole life and watched your family slip from your fingers while not even trying to do anything other then put us in further sh*t,” You closed your eyes as you tilted your head, “But the least you could do, is admit that. You owe us at least that for being a total f*ck up.”

You opened your eyes to find pure rage brewing in your fathers eyes as you smiled once more, this time a false sense of sickly sweet tone to it as you shrugged, “Or you could live in denial, at this point, there really isn’t anything you can do to get anyone back ♡”

You had turned around, planning to tell Nanami that maybe she should go sleep over at a friends house today but you never got the chance, suddenly being slammed into the wall and flecks of spit hitting your face, “I am your f*cking father! I deserve respect from you and your worthless sister! Do you know how much I provide for you both?”

Anger splintered through your veins as you grabbed onto his wrists, his fingers digging into your neck as you squirmed, “Like f*cking what!? A sh*tty broken down apartment that your vacant from because you’re too f*cking ashamed of yourself to even look at us sober!?”

Much like years in the past you weren’t surprised to hear Nanami cry as she rushed out of the room at the sound of you both screaming, “Stop!” She cried out, trying to break you both up, “Stop! Don’t fight! Why…! Why can’t we all just get along!” She sobbed only for your dad to shove her down making her curl up in defeat.

Alarm bells were triggered in your head at the sight of Nanami on the ground, she had never actually gotten hurt while in your sight and it was triggering something deep inside you as you watched him stalk up to her. Your hands shaking and rage boiling in your mind as you grabbed the closet thing you could find. An empty beer bottle on the table.

Your vision blurred and you don’t quite remember what happened other than glass shattering over his head and the brute force of you shoving something before blood was stained on your hands.

How did you end up sitting against the wall? Why was there….blood on your hands…? Your fingers trembled at the metallic sticky substance. All you could hear were Nanami’s sobs and cries as she frantically pushed herself away from the body slumped on the ground.

“You…! He…!” Nanami’s eyes brimmed with tears as you heard a loud boom making you jump, your eyes darting to the open window where….fireworks, big and bold crashed and crackled before you felt like you were sucked into a vortex making your whole vision black out.

Your head felt fuzzy and there was ringing in your ears as you groaned, curling up into yourself as the darkness beckoned you closer before you forcibly opened your eyes. You were laying against the hardwood floor. Beams of light streaked through the window and you could see dust particles in the air against the shower of sunshine that streamed in.

...Wait...Light? The thought had perplexed your head enough to make you push up from the ground, memories pulling into your mind as your breath became shallow, suddenly looking to the side where...you slumped against the wall. It must’ve just been a bad dream….your eyes flickered to Nanami’s curled up figure...a really vivid dream…? Something wrenched in your gut as you rubbed your eyes. What happened? “Nami…!” You whispered, forcing your muscles to move despite their protest as she whined.

After another moment she reluctantly opened her eyes, flickering around before she suddenly scrambled up, taking a deep breath as if realizing what had happened before, looking towards where your dad once was she frowned, “...I...What…” She seemed just as perplexed as you and if her face was anything to go by, last night had obviously happened, “Is dad…” She looked at the absent place of the floor.

Leaning against the wall your eyes darted around the room, “I guess so…” You silently felt relief at knowing your dad was still very much alive as you leaned back as you closed your eyes, trying to remember what had happened before everything went dark...oh..! The fireworks...had it been a celebration last night? Your brows pinched together, something felt...off...getting up you opened the door to the apartment walking out.

“Y/n? Y/n! Hey! Where are you going!” Nanami called out, quickly chasing after you as you frowned, cars were parked odd and there was no one out on the street...as in...at all...Something was very wrong and you couldn’t figure out what.

“Wow...it..must be a slow day…” Nanami felt a sense of discomfort at the lack of life as you both walked down the side walk, it didn’t just feel like a slow day it felt, apocalyptic. As if humanity just left on it’s own leaving nothing but an empty city behind. Cars were parked on the curb and a few even left in the street.

“No, it’s like everyone vanished...This is really weird.” You wrapped your arms around yourself as you frowned, looking around as you came closer to where typically it would be a booming part of the downtown but it was empty, just as everything before.

“Well, maybe it’s a national holiday?” Nanami rubbed her head, trying to make sense of the situation just as much as you, surely everyone wasn’t...gone...right? She looked around as she bit her lip, second guessing herself at all the cars that were vacant, “Hey Y/n.”

You paused as you looked at your sister, curving an eyebrow as she offered a weak smile, “What if everyone got raptured away like they talk about in christanity?” Your expression flattened as she giggled, obviously getting a rise out of you as you crossed your arms.

Raptured? Where? To heaven? “Wouldn’t it be fire and brimstone then if that was the case?” Nanami pouted at your words as you shrugged, snickering yourself at her expression, the tables now turned as you sighed, “I don’t think there’s anyone left in Tokyo...I mean, it feels like...we’d have seen someone by now...right?”

“Well…” Nanami frowned once more, a little disturbed at your words as she spoke, “There’s no way everyone could be gone I mean, where would they go? And how could we miss something like that...Maybe the police found us and now we’re under some weird simulation.”

Chills spilled down your spine as you shoved her making her whine, “Don’t say that! That makes me feel all weird…! I didn’t…!” You cut yourself off, you didn’t what? Murder your own dad in cold blood...you looked down at your hands, they were free of any blood but it still felt like something like sin lingered. Like no matter where you went, it would always be stuck to you.

You didn’t like this, not one bit. Briefly you felt the urge to go hunt down your dad, he was a deadbeat but you would never...you’d never kill him....Right?

“Well…” Nanami hummed her eyes scanning ahead before they jumped to the mall that was up ahead, “Hey…! If nobody is here...maybe we could make use of it! Come on! Let's go!” You yelped at her grabbing your arm before dragging you ahead. Cars were all parked and yet not a single person exited through the mall's entrance. Something just felt off! You wrapped your arms around yourself as you warily looked around the empty mall, “Nanami I really don’t like this!” You looked around, concern bubbling inside you as she ran ahead into the store, digging through the section of clothes as she giggled.

“Relax! I doubt any of this is real and even so…! Who’s going to stop us!?” She shrugged as she bounced in excitement, “Oh my god! I had dreamed of something like this happening! Now we can do whatever we want! Go wherever we want! Y/n!” She gasped with a smile, “Now we don’t even have to worry about money!”

“We don’t even know if this is permanent.” You looked around warily, not partaking as she began plucking off the racks, “Regardless of what this is, I don’t like it. I want to go back home, our home. This just doesn’t…” You shook your head, “This just doesn’t feel right.”

“Well you can feel that way!” Nanami clacked her tongue as she gave a childish smile, “But I’m gonna go through this whole store and get a new wardrobe so feel free to sit on the bench and tell me what you think looks good!”

Looking away you sighed, unable to pinch the anxious feeling you had away as you sat down reluctantly as Nanami went into the changing room. Well...at least she was smiling and she was happy...With each outfit Nanami tried out and giggled, you giggled with her and maybe things weren’t so bad after all…

“What a perfect day.” Nanami hugged you close as she sighed, yawning as you looked up at the sky in awe, you had seen a single star while living in Tokyo before, but now it was filled with constellations and millions of stars that stretched for miles. You could stare at it for days and days. The sun had just set a little over half an hour ago and you were ready to retire and find something to eat at the apartment.

You and Nanami had tried going to the food court but much to your dismay everything had been...rotten...soiled and ruined, meaning there was no point in trying to find anything there and you were getting really hungry despite devouring bags of chips you had both got at the convenient store, another thing that stood out to you was that there was no electricity...at all..

Looking back up to the sidewalk something caught your eyes...was that…! Light!? “Hey! Nanami look!” You shook her making her squeak as she looked up ahead, “It’s the hospital! They have electricity there which means there’s other people! Of course! Why didn’t we think to check essential areas!? Come on! Lets go! I wanna figure out what happened.”

“Alright! It sucks that this is already over but at least I can finally charge my phone, the battery is pretty low.” Nanami nodded in agreement as you both made your way up the road.

The walk wasn’t too far and you felt excitement fill you at the sight of the hospital all lit up as you walked into the entrance, a frown slowly setting on your lips once more as you walked past the receptionist desk and…! Oh there’s other people!

You felt relief wash over your as you ran up, there were at least seven other other people here at least! “Hey! Guys oh my god. I thought everyone was gone! What’s going on?” You asked, smiling bright in relief that you and Nanami weren’t the only ones left behind. Was this some kind of evac point or…?

Silence ensued and you slowly began to frown as you felt everyone stare at you as if you were insane, “Um…” You wrapped a hand around your arm, suddenly feeling as if everyone knew something you didn’t, “What’s going on…?” You furrowed your brows as you tilted your head, unsure of why everyone was looking at you like this.

Somebody looked like they were going to talk to you, a guy relatively around your age but a woman stopped him- his girlfriend maybe? “Stop, the less that know the better chance we have.” She said quietly though you still heard just enough. Fear twisted inside you as you took a cautious step back...The...the less you knew?

“Wow, you guys are assholes,” A girl suddenly whistled out, she was sitting in a waiting chair, a cowboy hat on her head paired with distressed jeans and...a bikini top? Strange but you’d roll with it if it meant getting answers. She stood up as she offered a smile, “Akari, nice to meet ya’. You folk must be new to the Borderlands huh?” She jutted her bottom lip a little as you frowned.

“Um I’m Y/n and this is my sister Nanami...?” You introduced yourself despite feeling confused as you raised a brow, “Borderlands…?” You echoed, what was that supposed to be? Other than Tokyo?

Akari gave a nod as she let out a brief chuckle, as if amused by your confusion but you sensed she had no real ill will unlike....your eyes checked to the couple that stood off in the corner on their own, “That’s what they call it here,” She nodded in affirmation as your eyes darted back to her in confusion, “To be frank with ya’, I don’t have a damn clue what's going on. Nobody does. But ever since you crossed the threshold there’s no going back, so I’ll be brief. We’re all considered outsiders here and we participate in games at venues such as this to extend our stay.”

Nanami and you looked at one another confused as Akari waved you over to the table in front of a TV, “Here, you’ll wanna put these on, it’s for the game.” She explained as you carefully picked up the metal bracelet, something about it felt ominous as you reluctantly put it on, jumping at the way it latched together and there was no getting it off now, “Word of advice, just don’t panic and you probably won’t die.”

“What?!” You screeched as Akari smacked your back, panic evident in your voice as you turned around to face her making her laugh again, this girl was insane! She had to be! “You’re…! You’re joking!”

Akari wrinkled her nose as she tilted her head, “Ah sh*t, I wish I was- Oh…! There’s the last player!” Just on que everyone turned to look at who had arrived, someone heaving breaths with their hands on their knees as if they had sprinted. You were mildly worried at why he seemed so scared but you had a feeling that was the least of your problems right now.

“Y/n what’s going on…?” Nanami frightened grabbed your arm as she hid a little behind you due to all these immensing strangers that looked like they were ready to feed you to the sharks, literally.

The guy walked past you both as he put on his bracelet, your eyes sharp as you watched it latch together automatically, your gaze jumping to everyone's wrists to notice you were all now wearing one. The TV suddenly lit up.

Game

You squinted your eyes a little at the sight of the screen, just what were you about to unwillingly participate in…?

Difficulty: 5♣

“The game you will be participating in is, Monster under the bed.”

A playing card? Monster under the bed? Your brows furrowed as you looked at Nanami who shrugged a little despite her concerned expression, looking just as confused as you. You could’ve made a joke out of this, surely it would’ve been easier. Maybe everyone would bust out laughing and you’d be at the end of a poor joke but...somehow you felt that wasn’t the case. Thus paying very close attention to whatever was on this screen,

“Everyone will be sectioned off into pairs by the number chosen on your bracelet, when the doors to the ward open you will have three rounds ten minutes each to figure out who is the monster under the bed that must be returned to its own, once the ten minutes is up you must hide before you are found. If the selected pair that is the monster is chosen correctly it’s a Game Clear. If the monster is not found by the end of the third round or if the pair fails to hide it’s a Game Over.”

Rules:

Once the doors are open you and your partner must find a hiding spot by the time limit

Both partners must be hidden. If one is exposed to the monster it’s a Game Over for both partners

There will be an X marked on the ground to place the monster of your guess onto.

You will have three rounds of ten minutes each to find the monster.

Any attempt to remove bracelets results in a Game Over

If the monster is not found by the third round a Game Over.

The only Game Clear condition required is for the monster to be returned by the third round.

What…

What!?

“Now the game will commence, you have five minutes to figure out who you have been paired up with before the doors open.”

Your mind was blanking as you watched everyone look down at their bracelet, hurriedly you lifted your arm as your mind blanked 2 looking back at Nanami her lips were already quivering as she sniffled lifting her arm in defeat as your lips dropped open, 5.

“Hey! Guess you’re my partner!” Akari grinned as she wrapped an arm around Nanami who sniffled, “Oh…” She looked between you both, “Oh! Oh don’t worry! We’re not the monster so I’ll make sure your sister lives! You should go find your partner.”

Your hands trembled unsure of what to do before you went to hug Nanami, “Whatever happens just stay calm okay! I need to go find my partner now!” You whispered, kissing her cheek as she sniffled while nodding.

Everybody was shuffling around looking for their partner now, you passed by a few people, 4, 1, 3...did you even have a partner…? You scanned around, your throat tightening a little in panic, there had to be a mistake! There were only 8 people surrounding you- you yelped at the tight grip that suddenly held your arm forcing you to turn around to be met with a white hooded figure, a lollipop handle hanging and earbuds in before sighing, “So it appears I’m stuck with someone useless.” The man concluded as he stood up making you back away a little as your lips parted somewhat indignantly.

How...how rude! You looked up, unable to fully make out his face but you could tell you didn’t like him one bit, “I’ll…! First of all I’m not useless! I’m just trying to understand what's going on! This is insane! We aren’t actually going to die from this, are we!?”Pushing his hood down you were immediately met with a snide gaze and cat eyes that leered at you like you were nothing more then dirt beneath his feet, long blonde hair pushed behind his shoulders and his bangs hanging low, suddenly a viscous side smile appeared on his lips, “Apparently so, otherwise I wouldn’t have watched half my last game get their brains blown out and the other half hung.”

You reeled a little away from the blonde, your face dropped in semi horror, unsure if this was just a sick joke or he was serious. You searched his face a thousand times over, but for the first time in your life, you couldn’t figure out what his goal was. You couldn’t figure out anything about him, except he was exceptionally cold, “Well I don’t suppose I have much choice to doubt you,” He said with an annoying sing song tone as he rattled his wrist that showed the bracelet with a matching 2 on it, “My name is Chishiya, just stay out of my way and we’ll both live.”

How arrogant! You scoffed as he walked past you, not the least bit bothered at your offense as you whipped around, glaring at his back. How come out of everyone you got stuck with the most…! Pompous! Arrogant! Ugh! You crossed your arms as you followed behind him, stilling secretly sending daggers into his back with your eyes as everyone shuffled into the ward.

Hospital beds were scattered around the room, a few closets and one large vent at the bottom right corner of the room ahead.

“Wait, what is this?” The first person to speak was a fair thin older gentleman, he appeared friendly as he observed the room around him, everyone looked around in confusion as you noticed what he meant.

Any possible hiding spot was covered by either sheets of metal or locked tight...How were any of you supposed to hide if…!? The rules mentioned nothing about solving puzzles to gain access to a hiding spot!

“Forget that,” Another man said with a sneer he was broad and a bit older, well into his late twenties at least, perhaps a gym coach? Or maybe a wrestler of some sort? He looked like he could break you and nearly every other person in this room like a twig, “We need to figure out who’s the monster. “ He cracked his knuckles as you leered a little away and nobody spoke for a second.

Of course, who would out themselves as the monster, more importantly, how does one even know they’re the monster? You could immediately feel tension rise as the previous, more patient man spoke, a little more collected, “How about we just check one another's’ watches! If anywhere it would show us on that! One pair should work on solving these puzzles here so everyone has a place to hide”

“Unless the monster is among us and it sabotages us so we all die by the time limit.” The girlfriend crossed her arms as she darted her eyes around. Truthfully you didn’t know what to believe, the wording on the soundbox was rather confusing as to just what were you looking for. Was the monster supposed to be in the group or it’s own entity?

“If that were the case it would’ve showed up on our watches, which it didn’t. So that won’t work.” Chishiya spoke matter of fact, his tone cool as his eyes gazed across the room before he walked away from the group inspecting various hiding spots granted you didn’t think he was about to help anyone but himself, if anything you were at least lucky that him securing a hiding spot meant it was one for you as well.

You looked at everyone in confusion, some arguing while others scattered to look for a hiding spot as the clock ticked down. You breathed in relief at the sight of Nanami and Akari both going for a bed to hide under. Your gaze finally found Chishiya’s form before following him, unsure of what you were supposed to do, if anything outside trying to figure out just what the monster even was.

You glanced up at the digital clock that stood above the entrance you had just come in from, it was already a minute in before you searched the floor where you found a red X in the center of the room, that must’ve been the...what? Offering spot? You cringed a little at the idea. Looking forward you peered behind Chishiya’s shoulder deciding to not think about that, it seemed the metal sheet that had wrapped around the bed and was sealed to the ground was locked by some sort of metal device…? Contraption? Lock?

“Isn’t hiding under a bed a bit obvious…?” You frowned as you crossed your arms, unsure as you looked behind your shoulder once more to where accusations were already being thrown in the group.

“The vent is a decoy to make you waste time, I already checked,” Chishiya replied, his fingers nimble as they rattled the metal, “And even if someone were to accomplish it in the time limit it’s the most obvious spot the monster would first check. Next would be the closet given it’s at eye level and the first thing one is drawn too when they walk into a room.”

Your lips parted a little in surprise at his assessment...obviously he wasn’t just overconfident, “And why this spot?” If he had really thought about all this in less than a minute then...did he have a reason for this spot? You now found yourself, slightly less annoyed and a little more curious as to what was going on in his mind.

“If the monster were to check a bed it would be after his eyes are drawn to the closet. Next in that line of sight would be the vent directly across it, which would be his next place to look if not his first and vice versa. The beds are all staggered throughout the room making them less conspicuous compared to the other hiding places, the bed on the far end of the room would be no good.”

Your brows furrowed in curiosity at his assessment as you watched Chishiya blow a piece of hair from his face, wiggling out one piece of the knotted metal, “It’s too far from the entrance where as the one in the middle is by average the one most people would start with, where as the first? It’s almost too soon in the start to look there thus making it the safest.”

“It’s them! They’re over there conspiring!” You both twisted around to watch the broad man point an accusing finger at you both as your eyes darted from him to the clock on the wall, which read at six minutes. A few other pairs, relievingly so was your sister had started working on a hiding spot while a few others stood around and argued.

Your face coiled a little as you replied, not appreciating the accusation to such a baseless accusation, did they not realize the longer they argued the less time they had to secure a hiding spot? “Someone who’s terrible at playing the minority would often be the first to point fingers. There’s only six minutes left before the first round is over and we need to hide. But if you want to talk about this then sure,”

You stepped closer as you crossed your arms, scanning over him before continuing, “Let’s talk about the chances of you being the monster, ever since you first came in you’ve been all twitchy and acting like something is wrong. Even when we first got paired up, you seemed a little panicked. Anyways,” You turned around as you spoke, “How do we know one pair is a monster and not one single person?”

“Eh,” Akari sat on the bed that her and Nanami chose as Nanami fumbled to work out the puzzle, she had always been good at those! You felt assured as your heart beat frantically at the idea of them not being able to get a hiding spot in time, “Let’s all calm down,” She gave an awkward laugh, “This isn’t a hearts game, we shouldn’t divide our trust. This is a team building after all which means this game should be making us work together, the last thing we need to do is throw that away on our own accord.”

“...Team building?” You frowned as you murmured having not been aware that this was some sort of game category...Hearts? Clubs? The memory of the playing card flashing on the screen appeared in your mind again, right...was that to stand for some kind of game genre? If Clubs stood for team building then...there should be no reason that the monster is any of you. Why would they even suggest that to begin with?

Then...what was the monster?

“One minute remaining.”

The lights suddenly began flickering, “Got it.” Chishiya yanked the last piece of metal undone as he pulled the sheet of metal off, everyone was now scrambling and the few who had not done their puzzle were now panicking. Getting down you crawled under the bed, your back flat to the ground as you inhaled sharply as you noticed the lights beginning to dim, “This is...uncomfortable.” You mumbled, trying to ignore being pressed shoulder to shoulder with a man you didn’t even know besides him having a god complex, “We should’ve went with the vent.”

“By all means, if you want to try and get yourself killed already. Go for it.” You turned to look at him, dark endless cat eyes meeting you as you harshly glared at him, why was he so condescending!?

You were about to snap back something before you realized it was completely dark and the door slammed open causing you to jump. Was your heart always this loud? You could see the heavy boots step against the ground making you unsteadily inhale, swallowing as you closed your eyes. You could only place your trust that Chishiya hadn’t picked a horrible spot.

More importantly your mind was plagued with worry for your sister, you had been so caught up you hadn’t even tried to help her yet...did she even…! You heard a sudden loud scream from two people causing you to stiffen as you looked up at the bed frame lined with wooden planks. You could only cower back down at blood suddenly painting the floor.

Your stomach suddenly churned as you covered your mouth. So he wasn’t lying. Chishiya however looked just as nonpulsed as he did when he first told you himself, his eyes blankly staring up at the bed frame as if this was just a regular game of hide and seek as people screamed as they were torn apart.

Or that’s at least what you assumed it was.

After an agonizing few minutes the doors finally closed and the lights flickered back on making you breath in relief as you waited a moment, could you even bear to face what was waiting on the floor? You winced a little before something caught your eye. What was with all this extra wood stuck in the frame?

Chishiya had already gotten out from under the bed and before you suddenly heard a few girls scream, your sister among them making you puff and breath as you scrambled from beneath the bed.

Standing up your mouth agape at the horrid sight of the female and the broad male that had been too focused on accusing others, they didn’t have...enough time...it looked like they had been completely mutilated, blood pouring on the floor and the smell made you want to gag as you looked away.

“Well, now what do we do.” Akari scratched her head, also not looking phased that two people had just been brutally killed. Your eyes stayed placed on the bodies before they slowly trailed to your hands, the memory of blood staining them still fresh in your mind.

“Well we have to figure out where the monster is?” The girlfriend of the couple spoke up, she looked around somewhat suspiciously, “But I’m not sure where we could find it? Maybe it has to do with the bracelets? Maybe there’s a clue hidden.”

“Oh what about in the cabinets?” The collected man from before offered as he went to search the cabinets, your frown furthered as you glanced around. Everyone was now getting along, still on edge but along at least.

Chishiya only leaned against the wall, his hands in his pocket as he rolled the lollipop in his mouth, his gaze the same steely one it was before as if he had done his job in securing his temporary salvation and was now done.

Or maybe he just didn’t know what to do? It was obvious his strength didn’t lie in teamwork, clearly. But then again, you weren’t sure what was going on, you couldn’t get a read on him. Crossing your arms you stayed beside him, your eyes briefly washing over your sister who was working Akari to dig through a desk together.

“Cabinets and drawers are too obvious.”

Chishiya’s eyes flickered to your figure, his expression just as cold if not...a little smug maybe? He said nothing in return as you continued, “If we’re looking for a monster, it’s obvious it’s a metaphor for something. Inanimate most likely,” Your eyes flickered around the room, inhaling sharply, why did it feel like the answer was right in front of you?

Think…! You glanced at the clock, only six minutes left. The rounds were really short…! “It’d be something small and inconspicuous, something that’s in plain sight….but easy to miss...and the game said it was a pair which means there’s more than likely two.”

“Three,” You glanced at Chishiya as he spoke, pulling the lollipop from his mouth, that permanent smug look on his face as he answered, “Two is what they want you to think and if you spend a round searching for each like they hope it’s game over by three.”

You rubbed your neck as you frowned, “It’s already the second round and we haven’t even found one…” You glanced around before you suddenly perked up, “Wait…!” Getting back down on the floor you laid on your back as you pushed yourself under the bed, “Chishiya! Help me get this thing out!”

Within a moment the blonde appeared as well, his eye sharp and keen as they noticed straight away what you were tugging at, “You think this is the monster?”

You looked at him as you raised a brow, “We have less than four minutes left on our second round, you have a better idea?” Chishiya said no more but helped regardless, successfully with the both of you maneuvering it around from beneath the wooden boards you managed to get it out.

Holding it up you looked at it, “It’s a poppet doll.” You turned to face him as you smiled in accomplishment, “They’re typically used as curses to place upon people in folklore. If anything is a monster, this would be it.”

Excited at your first victory you pulled out from beneath the bed as you waved it up, “Hey guys! We need to start looking for something similar to this! If not a replica.” Everyone huddled around you examining the doll before the microphone sounded, “One minute remaining.”

Everyone had immediately scrambled back to their hiding place as you ran to the red X, placing the poppet on it, that's the reason that had to be there right!? You’d just have to see, hurriedly you ran back to your spot under the bed. Making it just in time as the lights flickered off.

The door slamming open once more as you slowly inhaled, it had to work right? If not...then you were at a loss for what to search for and you were utterly screwed.

The boots stomped against the floor past the bed as you closed your eyes, unable to calm yourself. After a moment you heard a screech and something rip open before screams followed making you jump. Chishiya’s eyes were on the feet that stood by the closet that had been obviously ripped open.

You heard the sound of something wet and a gurgle before a body slumped to the floor and you could hear begging before something got snapped in half causing you to close your eyes once more...Did you make it angry!? Was that not it? f*ck. You had never felt this stressed before as it roamed around, passing in front of your bed as you tensed.

Was this your last moment alive? Truly?

Much to your relief, the door closed once more before the lights followed, flickering on, relaxing a little you sighed as you reluctantly got out from underneath the bed with Chishiya to see what had happened. Much to your horror it was the man who had been so kind this whole game and his partner.

The monster didn’t check anywhere in the first round, yet he did this round? You tried to block out the bodies slumped in the corner as you glanced at the red X, the poppet doll gone.

“Why- why were they killed!” Nanami’s eyes began to water as she grabbed her head, “This makes no sense!”

“If it accepts the doll that means we only need two more. What happened to them is irrelevant.” Chishiya stuffed his hands back into his pocket as you glared at him sideways, not appreciating his careless tone. You could deal with it, but you didn’t want your sister dragged into it.

Grabbing your chin you thought about it for a moment, “Well...the game said to return the monster to its own and…” You glance down at the X, was there some kind of unsaid rule that if you didn’t get all three of them on the first try that it would start hunting down players? “How would a mother feel if they only returned one of its children?”

“This thing doesn’t have feelings,” The girlfriend of the partners replied coldly, her eyes like steel of her own as she clung to her boyfriend, “It’s as he said,” She waved to Chishiya, “It doesn’t matter, we’ll be like them if we don’t figure this out.”

You glanced around the room, “Tell me this, if it doesn’t matter, then why did they give us all these different hiding spots?” Everyone was silent, all eyes on you as if your question didn’t make any sense, your eyes flickered to the clock that was nearing eight minutes, you didn’t have time to monologue, “No think about it. The monster never intended to look for us- that was never stated in the rules. So why did they give us all of these choices if we only needed one per pair? My point being, if we found one poppet in our hiding spot then...You get where I’m going with this? Chishiya.”

He glanced up at you acknowledgement as you curved a brow, your lips threatening to tug into a smile as you tilted your head, “How confident are you in solving that vent?”

He glanced back down and for the first time, you watch a co*cky wide smirk twist onto his lips, “You’re lucky to have someone as smart as me here to be able to open it.” You tucked your tongue into your cheek as in annoyance as he sauntered over to the vent already getting to work, “As for everyone else, we need to open up as many of these as possible to find the other two.”

Everyone immediately scrambled to get to work, with only seven minutes on the clock this was...going to be difficult. First Nanami and Akari searched all the opened spots as you worked on another bed. Rubbing your head as muttered, “sh*t...I never was good with puzzles.” You awkwardly hung your head in defeat temporarily, briefly letting your eyes shift to Chishiya who was fiddling with several locks, his gaze sharp and you couldn’t even imagine all the calculations going on in his mind. You were somewhat envious of what it would be like to be that perceptive to anything adhering to logic and solution.

“Aha! Found one!” Akari yanked the poppet from the top of the closest as Nanami covered her mouth, looking like she was gonna throw up being so close to so many dead bodies. You ignored the grisly sight at the second victory of the poppet doll. Akari quickly placed it on the X as you began to work on the puzzle once more, looking up at the clock. Oh no...Oh no there was only three minutes left!

“Chishiya! Hows that puzzle coming along.” You called out, trying not to sound alarmed but you could see the clear cut annoyance on his face as he continued working through the locks, “If you’d like to help while struggling on a novice lock feel free.” He replied condescendingly, not appreciating the pressure.

You rolled your eyes with huff as you finally managed to get it undone, feeling triumphant as you searched under the bed but there was no luck, “There’s nothing here!”

“Or here!”

Several people called out as well as you rubbed your head, standing up, “If the only other place that hasn’t been searched is the vent then maybe there’s only two? It did say a pair.” You felt a lump of anxiety well in your chest at the sight of the clock ticking close to a minute and half.

“Should we really take the risk?” The boyfriend asked as he rubbed his neck, concern on his face as he looked around, “If we’re wrong then we’ll all…”

You hadn’t even thought of that…

“...! Hey.” You turned to Chishiya who seemed to be trying to get your attention making you immediately come over, if he was asking for you it’d have to be for something important given there was nearly less then two minute on the clock, “Hold this right here.” He immediately pushed your hand onto the lock right where he wanted it, “This is a two handle mechanism meaning that there needs to be two people unlocking it. Push down and out at the same time.”

“Hide! Everyone needs to hide now!”

The lights were beginning to flicker as everyone scrambled to hide, stress evidently put on your shoulders now more than ever. You could only hope he was right with your life on the line, “Now!” You pushed down on your side, the lock sliding as you pulled out, pulling a piece of metal holding up the lock directly out as Chishiya did the same with his side.

The lock fell off as well as the metal of the gate of the vent, you immediately with no hesitation leaned inside it was dark and hard to make it out anything besides the steep drop off. So he was right, this was a waste of time for a hiding place.

Looking down you caught sight of wood before laughing in relief, “It’s here! Wait sh*t! Chishiya! It’s too far down in the vent, you’re gonna have to lower me down to reach it. Time?”

“Forty five seconds.” You felt unfamiliar hands on your hips lifting you up as you were lowered down, “We have time.”

You squinted trying to see as you reached down, “Lower me further! I’m not quite in reach,” Your muscles began to ache in your shoulder as you reached harder, growling in frustration, “Time!?” You were lowered a little further, the wooden poppet brushing against your fingers.

“Thirty seconds! Could you go a little faster?”

“Could you lower me a little quicker- Ah! Hey did you almost let go!?” You snarled back, grabbing the poppet doll, giving a good yank as it lodged in between the crevice it was in, “Get me back up! I got it. Time!”

“Twenty seconds.” Chishiya called back, pulling you up as you gasped, pain from the metal jabbing into your stomach evident as you were met with a darkening room. Setting your feet firmly on the floor your eyes flew to the flock fifteen seconds and your spot was all the way across the room….!

“Where are we supposed to hide!? We can’t get all the way there in time!” You hissed out running to the X as you dropped the poppet down. The lights shut off as the final five seconds counted down and before you could do anything you were shoved to the floor as you squeaked. Your body throbbing in pain and your mouth immediately covered as you were met with the coverage of a bed but neither one of you were bold enough to try and scramble beneath it as the doors slammed open.

f*ck.

Your whole body was tense as your eyes squeezed shut, you were just a little ahead of the X here, if this is all the poppet dolls...they’d have no reason to go further into the room...unless...Your hand squeezed tight around the wrist of the hand that covered your mouth as you tried to calm yourself at the loud thudded footsteps.

It was quiet for a moment before you heard more walking before the doors closed.

“Game Cleared”

The lights turned on as you fell limp against the side of the bed, Chishiya’s hand removed from mouth as you pushed your hair from your face, closing your eyes as you breathed in relief, “Holy sh*t.” Was all you could mutter to yourself, you had never been more grateful to breathe air in your whole life.

“I guess you weren’t that useless after all huh.” Chishiya clacked his tongue as you turned your head to look at him, raising your brows as your face contorted into something between insult and amusem*nt.

You’ve only known this man for a half an hour and yet...something about his words, if you dug down deep past that smug expression of his, was this a compliment? Looking away you pressed your tongue into your cheek, trying to keep from smiling, “Yeah, and you’re still conceited and arrogant but, I guess you have a good reason to be.” You glanced back at him again but you could hardly hold his gaze, something in that brief moment was electrified between you both as you laughed somewhat sheepishly, closing your eyes as you looked away once more.

What the f*ck was even wrong with you? If this was back before today you would’ve totally kicked this guy in the balls and went about your day.

“Y/n!” You straightened up at the sound of Nanami’s voice, your expression brightening as you stood up, quickly running to her as you hugged her tight, “I can’t believe that just happened…” She whispered to you as she pressed her face into your neck. You couldn’t either but, you were thankful you had survived this game. Whatever it was.

“Come on, let's get out of this room.” You tugged on her arm, no longer wanting to be in this death room despite knowing it was all over. Pulling her out you paused at the sight of the TV and a...register…? You bracelet unlocked as you took it off, tossing it on the table as you tilted your head.

“Congratulations Game ''Clear ``.''

“...Now issuing visas to those who survived the game…?” You furrowed your brows as you glanced at Nanami who rubbed her head in confusion. You grabbed the receipt as you looked it over with a frown before picking up the 5 of clubs playing card along with it. Odd.

“It’s how many days you’re allowed to stay now! Almost a whole week, that's a good score for a first game!” Akari called out as she patted your back making you jump a little.

Almost a whole week…”Until we have to play again to...continue our stay?” You raised a brow, deciding not to ask what happens if you refused. While you had many questions, you had a feeling you knew the answer to that one.

A part of you couldn’t even believe this had happened, or was it all still a dream.

“Hey…! Sorry for all of that in there,” You turned to see...oh…! It was the boyfriend of the partner, the gifrlfriend stayed behind looking brooding, “I’m Ryu and that’s my girlfriend Hiroko I was...ah…” He faltered a little, rubbing the back of his neck as his gaze flittered to his girlfriend who was glaring him down, “You should stop by the Beach-I...I think you guys would make good additions! Bye!” He hurried not even finishing his original sentence before scurrying off making you furrow your brows at what he even meant.

“The hell?” Akari raised a brow as she watched the guy run off, “Seems to me he wanted to chat more…guess we know who's really pulling balls in that relationship.”

Nanami suddenly snickered, covering her mouth as she giggled, “Hey Akari! Why don’t we stay together! We did really well in the game together!”

“Awh sh*t, if you guys really want me too!” Akari offered a quirky smile as you laughed, you had no problems with someone staying behind with you. Looking past Akari your smile faded a little at the sight of a white hoodie exiting the entrance.

“Hey- I’ll be right back!” You pushed past the both of them who paid you no mind as you pushed out of the exit and down the stone steps, not sure why your feet were making you chase after such an egotistical man but…!

“Chishiya!” You called out, making the man pause, he turned around, pulling the earbuds out as he glanced up from his hoodie, raising his brows in acknowledgement, “Um…” Why did you even chase after him…? You stepped down the last step as you wrapped your arms around yourself.

It was silent for a moment as you berated yourself internally for why you seemed so speechless all of a sudden. Chishiya however didn’t seem to mind, his eyes absent now as he stared up at the hospital, “I used to do my clinical rotations here.”

You were broken out of your silent thrashing of internal humiliation as you raised your brows, lips parting in curiosity as you asked, “You were a doctor?”

“No,” Chishiya snorted, that amused calico look of his on his face once more as he looked down at you, “I was a medical student. Training to be a doctor but that obviously didn’t happen…” His lips curved into a frown, his eyes cold once more as they looked back up at the building, “I came here tonight to see if anyone I knew would be here.”

“Oh…” You looked away, feeling somewhat awkward and unsure of how to reply to him as silence took over once more beside the occasional rustling of the wind in the tree’s, the urge to speak overtaking you to the point you couldn't resist, “Chishiya...I…” You looked away, feeling somewhat bashful, “We...made a really good team back there.” You forced yourself to look up at him as you offered a bright yet subtly shy smile, “If you want...you could stay with us…?”

Chishiya pulled the lollipop stick from his mouth, letting it drop to the ground as he spoke, “No thanks.” You turned to him in surprise as you frowned a little, you shouldn’t have expected anything less…

“Oh...I understand.” You offered a weak smile as he turned his back on you and began to walk once more, “I just have one more question,” You called out causing him to pause, “...Do you by any chance know about a place called the Beach?”

Note: Whew...! As a lurker in the Alice in borderland fandom I saw a lot of people complaining about the lack of Chishiya fics so I decided to volunteer myself and take on for the team to write a series for this little blonde f*cker so PLEASE let me know your thoughts and I hope you enjoy!! Also

I’m struggling so much financially and honestly just wanted to vent somewhere. I’ve always lived in poverty and I think in my whole life I’ve had maybe 2 years where I didn’t have to stress about money and not be able to buy groceries or pay rent or be put into collections for not being able to make payments etc and that was when I was in college. For at least the past 5 years I’ve been struggling but I never talk about it. I don’t even know where to start haha I don’t even know what it’s like to not stress financially and be in debt. I’ll just start with the first things that come to mind with what I’m owing maybe. So it’s Dec. 23 and rent was due yesterday because we moved into this small suite attached to someone’s house on Nov. 22. It’s $1200 which is so expensive, but also the average price for BC if not even cheaper for a one-bedroom with a yard, utilities included. and no first and last, no pet deposits, etc because this is just short them for 4 months until the end of March because i reached out and asked and they said yes.

After 1 month I already remember why we went into the trailer almost 2 years ago and it’s literally because we can’t afford any other lifestyle. I think that’s the difference between us and some people that live in trailers, vans, etc. like we lived in a mouse & mouse sh*t infested trailer for 6 months breathing in their feces and urine and having it all over all our belongings. i literally had to take my whole life to the dump and we officially have no food storage because they ruined it all. there were at least 50-60 mice because a few birth cycles happened in the ceiling. I could write a whole post about my experience of living with field mice, but now isn’t the time so for rent,i only had $600 yesterday so that’s what I gave them. thank goodness they were okay with me asking for a few more days to make the other half. but I don’t even know when that’s going to be :(

my etsy shop veganveins has been doing so bad lately for more than one reason, most of my orders are just postcards and stickers, and while I’m grateful for them, that $1-3 profit isn’t going to keep my business going. and it’s so hard for me to work lately. the wifi doesn’t work sometimes for hours and I always get distracted by shawn and the dogs working from home in a small space. I need to get better at my time management. I got up at 8:30 today which is actually early for me so I’m proud of myself. I’m chronically ill and I really need to go get a blood test and see what’s happening because I haven’t gotten one since being diagnosed with graves disease again 1.5 years ago. anyways. i switched to a print on demand method this year for veganveins for some shirts and sweaters because i couldn’t afford to keep ordering shirts in bulk, and it’s honestly been so, so expensive and i barely make any profit. I’m currently owing my t-shirt printer $999 on one invoice (it was originally $2196 so I’ve at least paid half of it) but that was 2 weeks ago and I still need to pay it. Mario, my t-shirt printer has been with me since I started veganveins and I’m so grateful he gives me extensions on paying the invoices. every other t-shirt printer I’ve ever asked has said no. in addition to the $999 there’s going to be another $2200 invoice I’ll be receiving this week for my last order. I think because of the holidays he’s going to give me some time to pay off that too, but the problem is when I have outstanding invoices he doesn’t print new orders for me. He’s closed now until Jan. 4 so I just need to somehow make that much before then.

btw I don’t have a credit card ($8500 all used on veganveins and it got put into collections last march) and I had a fully used $5000 line of credit but I got a debt consolidation loan for $16,000 1 month ago and my payment for that is $167 a month. it fully paid off and closed my credit card and line of credit + $3000 overdraft which is nice. but now I don’t have any extra money except for what comes in. my credit is only 640 which is really bad in canada so I won’t get approved for a new credit card or loan until I build that up, which is going to be a few months of regular payments. so for regular payments, the $167 for the loan is due on Dec. 27. Yesterday the trailer loan which is literally unliveable from what the mice did until we renovate it came out for $260, that’s how much I pay once a month for it on the 22nd. I didn’t have $260 in my account so it got rejected and I got charged a $48 NSF fee. omg if anyone is reading this long i’m shook. i’m genuinely just writing this for myself to process my feelings and in case anyone was curious about my financial situation here you go haha. maybe some of you can relate, maybe some can’t. anyways. so now I somehow have to get $260 in my account for that for when they try to take it out again in the next few days.

another payment that was supposed to come out yesterday but hasn’t, but I’m sure will come out today is our truck loan. they deferred it for 8 months because of covid which was so nice, but we started paying it again 2 months ago. for both those months I called and made my payment a later date and that helped, but there’s barely any service here so when I called 4 times yesterday to try and change the date the payment comes out, I was on hold for 20-30 mins then my phone would disconnect and hang up. so that’s $586 and it will come out today, I have $0.46 in my account right now so it will get rejected and I’ll get charged another $48 NSF fee. this is why being poor always costs more and the banks are always harsher on those who don’t have money. today I’ll try calling again to see if I can ask for it to come out on a different day like january 10 instead, so I can first have time to pay rent and the trailer and also our $190 truck insurance which got rejected from my account 3 days ago, which was another $48 NSF fee. oh and something else i’m so stressed about is CIBC is going to put me into collections on December 28 if I don’t pay $1000, $700 of which is purely their fees. I have a $300 overdraft which they said i have to cover by then and the $700 is literally their $48 fees added up over the past 3 months. I got a text from them today saying my account is over and it’s because an amnesty international $11 monthly donation came out and obvi there’s no money in there, so that’s another $48 they charged. they’ve already given me a month to pay it and don’t want to wait any longer :(

I owe everyone in my family money, my sister $1650, my mom $700 and my brother also lent me $700. none of my siblings have money either and my mom definitely doesn’t so I hate that i had to borrow that much, and it’s literally been months. thankfully they’re so patient but i can’t wait to not owe them that

omg and i can’t even think about the amount of money shawn’s grandma has lent us. she’s genuinely the only reason we haven’t been completely homeless. but it’s a lot. like i don’t even want to say the number on here. she let us use it from her line of credit over the years and we’ve been slowly paying her back, but she lets us go months at a time without making a payment which i honestly hate doing, but have no choice. i’ve felt a lot of shame and guilt about this, but I also know that she genuinely would rather help us than see us suffer.

so i’m gonna talk about a big reason I’m broke this month especially - saving a pig named buster. his rescue cost me $1850 out of pocket that I didn’t have. but otherwise he was going to be killed in 2 days, he was my baby and I loved him so I had to do it. I somehow made $1350 that went towards it but I’m still owing $500, which I just asked for an extension for today until the new year. i’m not really supposed to talk about it but everything I’ve ever posted here has stayed here, so that cost was literally just from me buying the pig off the farmer. myself along with everyone else ive talked to is disgusted that he charged that much, but he wasnt budging and if that’s what it was going to take, of course I’m going to do it. I wouldn’t think twice about doing it for my dogs and Buster was smarter and more affectionate than them. i love him and I’m so happy he was saved. a non-profit organization transported him to a sanctuary and it was my biggest wish come true and the happiest moment I’ve had all year. my eyes are literally tearing up haha i love him so much. i could write a whole post about his neglect but basically he hasn’t had fresh water in weeks, he was only being fed handfuls of mixed nuts, he was constantly dirty in a muddy enclosure with an electric fence that he was always getting shocked on. he never got true love or affection except for when I gave him it. i posted an instagram story about him and asked people to message me and that i needed help, 2 people donated $111 and $120 each, and 2 other people donated $15 and $12. Someone also e-transferred me $20. These 4 donations equaled almost $300 ($277) and I was so grateful for those people wanting to help me help buster. if anyone else wants to help me with the cost of his rescue i still do need help and would appreciate it so much. this feels really weird and vulnerable for me to do and i’m sorry if anyone is annoyed by this post, I just genuinely am struggling and figured if someone does have extra and wants to help, there isn’t harm in that. but i do feel guilty for asking because i know there are so many other people struggling out there that need even more help than i do :(

i haven’t talked about it publically but i guess I will now, this farmer that I bought buster off of is the owner of the organic vegetable farm i was living and working at this past spring and summer. we worked really hard all summer to be able to stay there and park for free in the winter, but this past fall he told us no one was allowed to stay at the farm anymore, including us, so we had to find a new place to bring our 14ft trailer in to live. so that was an unexpected bummer and if we had known we wouldn’t be allowed staying there anymore (despite doing the labour of $1200 a month for free harvesting organic kale, for an off-grid spot he told us was worth $350 a month to park) we wouldn’t have driven 8 hours with the trailer and we would have stayed in the snow in northern BC and sucked it up and lived on the land we got the opportunity to rent this fall. Donna, the woman who is renting the land to us has been the biggest blessing in my life this year. I love her so much. Basically, she’s letting us live on 170 acres for $600 a month. letting us do whatever we want on the land (building a cabin, setting up rainwater catchment systems, having a solar passive greenhouse and a huge garden) LIKE WHAT. we could even open a farm sanctuary if we had money, i wanted to so bad but obviously that dream didn’t even come close to being reality.opportunities like this literally don’t exist in canada, especially not in BC. i cant even process my gratitude, i cry everytime i think about it. when we go back in the spring it’s going to be the beginning of the rest of our life :) i want to rescue so many senior dogs. everything we’ve always wanted to do we’ll be able to do, assuming we have money haha. but i want to have an organic farm and grow veggies to donate to families in need, especially since we live on stolen indiginious land and I see how the goverment actively restricts their access to fresh healthy produce. but anyways by then it was too dangerous to drive 8 hours back hauling a trailer in the snow and it was just easier to stay in the okanagan until the spring. i know the farmer probably doesn’t realize this and he’s also probably struggling financially but not being able to stay at the farm for the winter months we worked for, and buying buster for that price is a big reason I’m in the financial stress I am now so I figured i’d talk about it.

anyways. i think this is long enough and i think anyone reading this gets the point, i’m drowning in debt, my small business is almost costing me more to run and i’m not making nearly enough profit to live, the past few months ive been living off grid (not by choice) and just focused literally on surviving and not freezing and getting water etc and not having service or internet has affected me negatively. there’s internet now in the suite I’m in, it works really good in the morning and not as well at night, like for example tumblr doesn’t work past 5 pm for me to post photos. but ive been in a bad sleep schedule since i got here that i need to change. im sick and i need to heal myself. tomorrow i’ll set my alarm for 7:30. hopefully i make some money today. i got a social media managing job and it will end up being $1000 a month once i do the 3+ hours a day of work which im already feeling like i barely have time for my own basic life tasks. but i can do this.

if anyone reading this wants to help me out a bit, my paypal email is [emailprotected] or http://www.paypal.com/paypalme/veganveins

and my e-transfer email is [emailprotected] i have auto deposit so you won’t have to ask a question :)

this is my first time in 7 years i’ve made a post like this or asked for help. i won’t do it again but figured i have nothing to lose. if you read up to here i love you a lot and thank you so much for being here <3

Lil Bro Muscles Up, Finale added

Eighteen year old Jimmy looked in the mirror. Damn he looked good, he thought. Broad shoulders, nice muscles, damn handsome, if he said so himself. “Those Boston College girls won’t know what hit‘em,” he growled. His beat up Corolla was all packed, all that was left to do was say goodbye to his lil bro, Roy. He felt a bit guilty leaving town for college. Nerdy Roy, only fifteen but going into his junior year since he skipped Grade Four, couldn’t count on the protection of his big bro anymore. He felt worse about leaving Roy to fend for himself than he felt about leaving Cindy, his girlfriend. She was hot, but he was going to be playing the field with college girls, he couldn’t stay attached to a high school senior.

“RoyBoy!” he yelled at his little bro as he stood at the front door. “Gonna miss you, bro! You gonna be okay?”

“Don’t worry about me, Jimmy,” his lil bro smiled. “I’m gonna use your weights in the basem*nt to get big and strong, like you!”

Jimmy looked at the scrawny limbs of his shrimpy lil bro. He grabbed his upper arm, which was so thin, Jimmy’s fingers touched when he closed his hand. Those little dumbbells in the basem*nt might not be up to the task. “Alright, RoyBoy, I wanna feel some muscle here when I come back for Columbus Day weekend.”

Roy winced. “You know they’re calling it Indigenous People’s Day on college campuses now, right, bro? Maybe it’s me that needs to worry about you, dummy!”

Jimmy laughed and picked his lil bro up and threw him over his shoulder, then spun in place like a helicopter. Roy giggled and yelled. “Put me down you big goof!”

Jimmy dumped him on floor and towered over him, flexing his biceps. “That’ll teach you to call your big bro a dummy.” Roy grinned and stood up, losing his balance. Jimmy righted him by putting his hand on his skinny shoulder. So thin, he thought.

“Okay, RoyBoy, I’m outta here. You do your workouts and make sure Mom feeds your skinny ass.”

He stuck out his hand to his bro, and Roy looked at it funny, but then shook it. They’d never shook hands before, and Jimmy noted that weirdly, his hand was only slightly bigger than Roy’s.

“You hear me?” Jimmy warned with a grin.

Roy squeezed Jimmy’s hand and co*cked an eyebrow. “I’ll make you proud, big bro.”

Jimmy pulled up into the driveway at 11 PM after a five hour drive had turned into an eight hour drive due to an accident on the interstate. He was irritable that he missed dinner with the fam. He’d been more homesick than he expected going to college. He was looking forward to hanging out with his lil bro and folks, and maybe even calling up Cindy. With his good looks, he’d scored a lot of sex in his first month on campus at BC, but it all felt kind of empty. He realized that he’d had more of a connection with his high school girlfriend than he thought. He hadn’t texted her though, he thought they should talk in person.

Jimmy opened the front door with his key and all was dark and quiet inside. He walked into the kitchen where his mother had left a plate of food and a note:

“Welcome home honey! Too tired to wait up. Reheat this 2 min on high. Guest bedroom all made up for you. Sleep well and see you in the morning! xoxo”

Jimmy put the plate of food in the microwave and then looked at the note again. Guest bedroom? Is that what they were calling his bedroom now? Geez, he’d only been gone six weeks. The microwave dinged and he tested the food but it was only lukewarm, so he put it in another two minutes and then picked up his duffel bag and went upstairs to drop it in his room.

As he opened the door he practically gagged at the smell. The room reeked. Jimmy covered his mouth and nose with his hand. He looked around and saw that the furniture and posters on the walls were those of his lil bro Roy. “What the hell?” he thought.

There were dirty clothes strewn everywhere, as well as wadded up balls of tissue paper. Gross! He picked his way across the cluttered room to open the window. At least now there was some flow of air.

“Jimmy, you’re home!”

He turned to see his lil bro Roy at the door. Before he could say anything Roy had crossed the room in an instant and hugged his big bro tight.

“RoyBoy! It’s good to see you!”

Roy’s hug was so touching, Jimmy couldn’t be mad at him for taking his old room. Roy’s head was plastered against Jimmy’s t-shirt and his sweaty arms wrapped around his chest.

“But, man, lil bro. You stink!”

Roy let go of his tight hug and looked up into his big bro’s eyes. His face was sweaty and his brown hair was soaked.

“Ugh, I know, sorry Jimmy. I just ran all the way from Cindy’s.”

Cindy’s place was at least six miles from here. “What were you doing there?”

“We’re doing a school project together.”

Jimmy frowned. “But she’s a senior.”

“Oh yeah, I guess you wouldn’t have heard. I’m skipping Grade 11. That sh*t was just too easy for me.”

“Language, RoyBoy!” Jimmy was amazed and proud of his lil bro’s news, but he’d never known him to swear.

“Haha Jimmy you’re funny. You look good, big bro, you still working out?”

Jimmy laughed. “Of course, kiddo, it’s a lifestyle y’know.”

“Show me, big bro!” Roy gripped Jimmy’s right upper arm and squeezed.

“Oww, quit it!”

“Sorry big bro, did that hurt?”

Jimmy pulled his arm way. “Of course not, smelly! I just wasn’t flexing.” Jimmy put his hand around his lil bro’s arm. He could still make his fingers touch. “And I thought you were going to put on some muscle yourself while I was gone. You slacking, lil bro?”

“As if, big bro. It’s just that...”

In a flash, Roy pulled off his red t-shirt.

“...I wasn’t flexing!”

Jimmy stepped back and looked at his lil bro. He still looked skinny, but it almost looked like he had abs now. Then Roy flexed his arms and the muscles popped out.

Jimmy smiled. “Good for you, bro, you got little biceps!”

Roy grinned. He relaxed his arms and then flexed his right biceps right in Jimmy’s face. Was it Jimmy’s imagination or did it peak a little higher? “Feel it bro.” Roy said, excited.

Jimmy hesitated. The stench from Roy’s armpit, which had a tangle of dark hair in it now, was overpowering. “Nah, man.”

Roy suddenly looked angry. “I said feel it!” His voice this time was deeper, and insistent.

Jimmy immediately put his hand to his lil bro’s arm.

“What the f*ck.”

Roy smirked. “Language, Jimmy.”

“Dude that is solid as a rock.” Jimmy couldn’t believe what he was feeling. Though it was small, Roy’s arm was all hard muscle. He couldn’t so much as dent the peak of the little biceps with his fingers.

Roy raised at eyebrow at Jimmy’s efforts. “Try both your hands.”

“Smartass!” Jimmy brought his other hand up, and pushed both his thumbs into the top of the muscle, while gripping the rest of his arm with his fingers. But Roy didn’t cry out as Jimmy expected. He just grunted and flexed harder, his face reddening. Jimmy started to sweat from the effort of trying to crush his lil bro’s muscle with both hands. Finally he felt a cramp in his hand and stopped.

Roy beamed while Jimmy shook out his hand. “I told you I was gonna make you proud, big bro!”

“That’s pretty great, bro.“ Jimmy said weakly. “You know, I’m beat after that long drive, let’s catch up more in the morning.”

Roy’s face broke out into a grin. “Sure thing, Jimmy! Let me take your bag to the guest room.” Roy dropped his t-shirt amid the smelly detritus on the floor and picked up Jimmy’s big duffel bag with one arm. He hauled it over his shoulder, and turned back to his brother. Now Jimmy could see he had triceps and well as biceps, and his dark pit hair was shiny with sweat from his six mile run. From my ex’s place. Jimmy remembered.

Jimmy gulped. “Thanks bro.”

Roy crossed the hall and opened the door to his old room, which their mother had done up as the guest room. Jimmy stepped in and frowned. The whole bedroom was pink. “Are we getting a little sister, or something, bro?”

Roy laughed. “Naw big bro, Mom just went a little overboard with the re-decorating.” He tossed Jimmy’s duffel bag on the taffeta bedspread. “See you in the morning big bro, sweet dreams.”

“Thanks bro, it’s good to be home.”

The door closed and Jimmy looked around the utterly unfamiliar room.

He took off his t-shirt and sniffed at the pits. Despite eight hours sweating in the car all he could smell was his deodorant. Then he put his nose lower down the side of the shirt where Roy had hugged him with his sweaty arms. The stench was awful.

Jimmy looked up and and said out loud:

“What the f*ck is happening?”

Jimmy insisted to his family that he was “too busy” to make it home for his lil bro Roy’s sixteen birthday, and made the same excuses for Thanksgiving. It was only on the long drive home for Christmas break that he really thought about the Columbus Day weekend visit and what it meant to him. He had always been the Golden Child in the family. First born, a good-looking athletic blond kid who grew up to be a handsome leader and Prom King in high school. Then to find coming home after only six weeks away to see his lil bro had taken over his old bedroom, and was spending time with his ex-girlfriend. Even if it was just for a school project, that seemed awkward, and Cindy had completely brushed him off when he’d tried to contact her. Admittedly, Jimmy had dumped her, so he had no right to expect she come running when he called. But, Jimmy had never begged a girl for sex in his life; he had sex thrown at him almost daily by horny undergraduates.

And then there was that weird thing with Roy’s hard little biceps. Jimmy had gone around to all his gym buddies after he got back to campus and made bets that he could crush their biceps. Most of them he could make cry out in pain with just one hand, let alone two hands, and none of their muscle felt as diamond hard as Roy’s had felt. The whole thing still weirded him out two months after the fact.

As he pulled into his suburban neighborhood, off the main road, his car died. Damn, Jimmy thought, this visit is off to a great start. After the long drive, he didn’t want to have to deal with tow-trucks and mechanics tonight. He phoned his Dad and asked him to come down the road and help him push the car the half-mile or so to the driveway.

“I’ll send Roy,” his Dad said.

“Well, I don’t think Roy’s going to be able...” Jimmy started to reply, but his Dad had already hung up.

Jimmy sat in the car as the temperature within started to drop, with no heater to keep the cold at bay. He began to shiver. Tired, he closed his eyes briefly as he thought. What’s taking him so long?

He was woken up by a rap on the window. Jimmy rolled the window down and his lil bro Roy’s face appeared, with a big smile. Wearing a Santa hat and a ski jacket, he leaned his arms onto the window sill.

“Merry Christmas, Jimmy! What’s up bro? Car trouble?”

“RoyBoy! It’s so good to see you!” Jimmy felt his irritation melting away as he stared at his lil bro. His smile seemed to light up the inside of the car, and Jimmy realized that he’d missed him despite all the weirdness of the last visit. “Yeah, this damn Corolla is on its last legs.”

“What a coincidence, today is leg day!” Roy said, and Jimmy looked puzzled. “Put her in neutral.” Jimmy did so and then reached for the door handle. But Roy put his hand on the sill. “No need, I got this.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, it’ll take the two of us to push.”

“But there’s a turn before we get home, you’ll have to steer.”

“Well then you get in and steer.” Jimmy said, he pulled on the door handle, but the door didn’t budge.

Roy stared at him, smirking. “Bro, I said I got this.”

Jimmy figured the door must be frozen shut. He sat back. “Okay,” he said, “I’ll steer, lil bro.”

Roy went to the rear of the car and Jimmy rolled up the window. He could tell that Roy had grown a little taller since he last saw him, and his face was leaner and more handsome. But even if he’d been working out (”Leg day” he’d said.) he’d never be able to push the car on his own. What was he thinking? Jimmy pulled out his phone to call his Dad again, but stopped dialing when the car started to move.

“I’ll be damned.” he said.

At first the car moved quite slowly, but it began to pick up speed. Jimmy looked behind him but all he could see was the red of the Santa hat. What a goofball, Jimmy smiled. He looked back to the front just in time to see the first turn coming up. He cranked hard on the steering wheel. With no power steering, it took some muscle. Took some muscle, he thought, mentally comparing the task of turning a steering wheel with his brother pushing a ton of steel and glass down a snowy road.

The snowy road. Oh sh*t. Jimmy realized, there was a stop sign coming up, and there were no power ABS brakes. Roy had got the car going at a good clip, and the brakes would no doubt lock. He tried the brakes, pushing down hard on the pedal, and that was exactly what happened. Jimmy panicked as the stop sign approached fast, and he saw a speeding truck coming from the left. If they couldn’t stop they’d be t-boned. Jimmy threw himself into the back seat and pounded on the rear windshield to get Roy’s attention. He saw Roy’s face pop up under the Santa hat and then suddenly disappear. In what he thought were his last moments alive, Jimmy was glad that Roy had saved himself.

Then the car stopped dead and the truck roared past.

Jimmy looked out the front windshield and gasped. He opened the car door and jumped out, not sure what he was seeing. Roy was at the front of the car, arms outstretched, hands on the hood, legs bent. He stood up, breathing hard. Jimmy realized with a shock that they were now the same height.

“That was close, huh? Good thing I wore my good boots.” Roy grinned.

Jimmy was stunned speechless. Roy had- had run to the front of the car and stopped it with his bare hands with a truck bearing down on them? How was that possible?

Roy guided Jimmy back into the front seat. “You’re in shock. Just get in, bro, I’ll take it from here.” Jimmy sat dumbly in the front seat as Roy pushed the car the rest of the way. When they got to their house, Roy opened the door. “Home sweet home, bro. Does your garage opener still work?” Jimmy nodded silently. Roy reached in his arm and pressed the device clipped to Jimmy’s sunvisor. Jimmy felt like he was sitting in a room in the back in his head and observing what was happening on a TV screen. Roy’s right arm turned the steering wheel and Jimmy was sure he could see the muscles of his arm working under the padding of the ski jacket, but he didn’t see how that was possible. Roy guided the car into the garage of the family home and then offered a hand to his brother.

Jimmy got out and stood in one spot looking around the garage. There was barely room for his car because the rest of the garage was filled with gym equipment. A weight bench, a squat rack, barbells and dumbbells, and lots and lots of iron plates. Roy closed the door and saw his brothers look. “Pretty sweet, huh, bro? Can’t wait until we can get a workout in together.” He slapped his brother on the back and guffawed. “Hey I guess we just did, right bro? I’m sweating like a pig.”

Jimmy huffed his breath, which formed a small cloud in the sub-zero chill. He started to feel a rush of blood to his ears as his brother zipped open his ski jacket and shrugged it off. He was shirtless beneath, and was so perfectly proportioned and shredded that Jimmy didn’t know where to look first. At his broad shoulders with their rounded delts? His pecs, two slabs of muscle like armour plating that were dusted with black chest hair. At his abs, which looked carved from steel?

Then, Jimmy saw it... The sweat from Roy’s exertion pushing the care was evaporating off his astonishing physique, visible in the chilly air of the garage.

His lil bro was so hot, he was literally steaming.

Roy stood there smiling for a minute until he saw Jimmy’s face, then he reached toward him. “You okay bro?” The motion caused his pectoral muscles to bounce.

“Oh God...” Jimmy said. Then everything went black and he fainted.

Jimmy had reached that point; he had brought his personal trainer Orlando to tears.

“I don’t know what you want! I’ve trained you for four months and there’s only so much I can do!”

“It’s not enough! It won’t be enough; I can feel it!” Jimmy raged.

“You’re more jacked than me! You’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever met! I jack myself raw every night thinking about your golden perfection! What do you want? The angels to weep in envy?”

Jimmy spat in Orlando’s face and walked away. “Waste of my f*cking time and money.”

But as Jimmy rode in the cab from the airport, he wondered. He felt up the heft of his pecs and the hard roundness of his delts. Would it be enough? He had certainly sacrificed enough. He’d focused so much on working out he’d failed his courses. With all his extra dough gone to supplements and Orlando’s useless personal training fees, he couldn’t afford to re-take his year and had to transfer to the state university and move back home. Meanwhile his brother Roy, and his ex Cindy, had gotten into MIT. He laughed bitterly. Guess I’ll get my room back.

As the cab pulled up to the family home, Jimmy got out, pulling out his bags. The garage door was open, and he stepped up to edge, but couldn’t bring himself to enter. The man in the garage was repping the bench press with one and a half times Jimmy’s personal best on the squat. Plus there were heavy link chains added to each side of the bar that clinked in the spring air. Jimmy allowed himself to wonder, for a tantalizing few seconds, whether this was a new bodybuilding neighbor, maybe his Mom’s new lover, anybody but the man he knew it exactly to be. Man. Jesus f*ck he’s only 16! He watched those pecs, covered in black hair, inflate from thick plates into rounded boulders at the top of the rep. He observed those deep armpits, each with more hair in them than he had on his chest. Yes, a man.

He turned away from the garage and went in the front door. He dropped his bags, keeping only his laptop bag and went up to the emasculating pink guest room, ignoring his mother’s question: “Jimmy is that you?”

He opened his laptop and logged into the wifi. He needed answers. Why? He suddenly remembered Abigail, that British chick who constantly talked about literature, and called out his name as she rode his co*ck. What was it she had said that time after they’d f*cked? Something about names? “Names tell you all. Your name it your destiny.” Huh.

He typed into Google: “Meaning of name Jimmy”

He squinted at the answer: “Diminutive of James.”

He typed into Wiktionary: “Diminutive”

Answer: “Extremely small, tiny.” f*ck.

He typed again: “Meaning of name James”

“English version of Hebrew Jacob. Examples from history: James the Lesser.”

He stared blankly at the screen. Eventually he typed:

“Meaning of name Hebrew Jacob.”

Answer: “Envious of hairy brother. Heel grabber.”

Jimmy nodded feeling a sense of relief. He felt his hands tremble as he typed, finally:

“Meaning of name Roy.”

***

Jimmy stepped into the garage. He stood calmly while his brother Roy rose from the bench. His body unfurled itself in its majesty until he was several inches taller, a foot wider and utterly superior in every possible way. Roy raised his arm to rub his neck as he greeted his bro, now clearly the “lil bro”.

“Hey bro.”

Jimmy leaned in slightly and sniffed, absorbing some of his brother’s testosterone funk.

Then he bent the knee.

“My king.”

The End.

[Inspired by @theobromic​‘s amazing commission!]

while the world ends around us (make believe with me)

5. We let the freckles on our faces make a million starsAO3

When Jens’s phone buzzed late last night, he ignored it, simply glancing at the brightening screen before looking away, back at the video game he was engrossed in. Lotte and his mom were both in bed, probably snoring, but he couldn’t fall asleep, hard as he tried.

It was almost midnight when he finally took off the headset and shut off the tv, rubbing his sore ears and blinking in the dim light of the hallway seeping into the living room after staring at the bright, fluorescent screen for so long. As he moved down the hallway, it was like the music and booms and crashes of the game were echoing, rattling around in his skull, clashing with the deafening silence as he cracked Lotte’s door open and gazed at her for a second, his phone, notification forgotten, in the pocket of his sweatpants.

He’d left his light off when he threw himself onto the bed, the door shut gently behind him. The windows were cracked open, the pale yellow curtains parted to let light from street lamps leak into the room, the quiet city just out of reach as he stepped between the window and his bed to grab his earbuds from the floor.

He fell onto the bed, causing a quiet thump and he buried himself under his blanket, hiding from the soft breeze sneaking into the room. He finally pulled his phone out, struggling for a second before managing to plug in his earbuds, and he opened his phone, flinching as it shone too brightly in the dark. His eyes caught on a notification as the phone opened too quickly for him to read it beyond a phone number he didn’t recognise. He let out a quiet “Oh,” as he swiped on the screen until his messages were open, remembering suddenly, his heart picking up its pace until he could hear it.

l: hey this is lucas :)

Jens smiled, hurriedly sending a hey whats up?? before adding the number as a contact, as lucas :). (He’d used a smiley face in the initial email, so maybe it was a Lucas thing.) Before he could leave the app to open his music, Lucas had texted back.

l: not much just staring at the ceiling

Jens had laughed lightly, rolling over so he was on his belly, propping himself up on his elbows with his phone in front of him.

j: oh same

He paused before typing again.

j: sooooo how are you liking antwerp

He watched as a bubble appears, and then disappears, and then appears again.

l: im sure if i went out into the city and actually did stuff i’d like it more

Jens had chuckled, tilted his head understandingly.

j: very valid

j: it’s not the same rn bc of covid but there are still some cool places to see

He watched the bubble again.

l: i haven’t really left my apartment since i got here :( but i do want to go placesl: my friends are pressuring me to be adventurous

j: when it’s safe for people to meet up i can show you around

j: we can go on some adventures

After hitting send he paused, biting his lip, wondering if it was too… forward, straight-up, blunt. If it was too early, too soon for a let’s hang out invitation. But then Lucas responded with his little :)and it was fine.

Jens started getting sleepy as they chatted, as Lucas told him about Utrecht and about what he did with his friends.

l: we used to get fries a lotl: too often maybe

l: no such thingj: so we’re getting fries when we meet up it’s decided

l: a man after my own heart

j: stomach

l: oh yea

He wakes up to shifting on his bed, and his eyes open, just a bit. It’s still a little dim out, too early for him to be worried about missing a class, too early for him to be worried about sleeping through an alarm.

It’s the first time he’s woken up in the morning without earbuds tangled around him. He sees them when he opens his eyes, a fuzzy, white, tangled mess on the edge of his bed like he placed them there (maybe he did), and a part of him says huh, seeming to forget that it’s actually possible to fall asleep without his head full of noise.

He glances down, still too tired to really move, and sees Lotte crawling up his bed, a little blurry. He moves his arm so she can climb under it, and realises his fingers are resting on top of his phone, also dangerously close to the edge of the bed. He pulls it closer and slides it up to a safe place before lifting his arm up more, feeling Lotte’s small hands pull at his bicep until it’s in the air, and she flops down next to him, narrowly missing his face. He scoffs and pulls her close, resting his chin on her head.

When he wakes up again it’s brighter, and there’s a jolt in his chest before he reaches up, around Lotte (the arm she’s laying on it filled with static but he’s careful not to move her), and snatches his phone, bringing it close enough to his face to read the time. There are only a few minutes before his alarm is going to go off.

“Lotte,” he whispers, and she just nuzzles her face into Jens’s chest. “Hey.”

She groans quietly and furrows her brows, a hand coming up and curling under her chin softly.

“Lotte, I have a class soon.”

“I don’t wanna go,” she mumbles, moving closer, and he sighs, running a hand over her hair.

“Will you stay quiet while I’m in class?” he asks after a second.

“Mm-hmm.” She nods, moving closer, but Jens sits up, pushing her away, and she ends up with her head on his leg, seemingly undisturbed as Jens bends around her to pick up his laptop and set it in front of himself. She’s snoring softly by the time the video call is open, by the time Jens’s glasses are on his face, by the time the teacher’s droning voice is talking about the homework Jens did last class, still with a few minutes before class actually starts. (Chemistry. Jens suspects Mr Claes is just about as done with virtual learning as the rest of them. Classes are quick, just attendance and instruction. The minimal amount of learning Jens does in this class is through the assignments: YouTube videos and Google Forms. Modern education.)

Jens ends up running his hand over Lotte’s hair, waiting until Mr Claes dismisses them with too much time left over like usual so he can go and make breakfast.

As Mr Claes is talking to Mathijs (“Why didn’t you do last week’s assignment?” Jens winces in sympathy for him.), Jens’s phone buzzes, back on his bed where he had put it before Lotte crawled in and he leans back, pulling it close and looking at the notification, a text from Lucas :).

i: i have dupont firstl: any advice

Jens opens the messages, skimming the ones from last night, that took up too much of the night, that are probably the reason Jens’s eyes are struggling to stay open this morning more than usual, and types a response, lifting his hand from Lotte’s head to do so.

j: never had him :/

Lucas responds soon after a second.

l: ughl: disappointing

Jens scoffs, glancing up as Claes starts discussing the day’s assignment.

j: my apologiesj: good luck

He sighs, leaning back as he waits for a response.

“So,” Claes is saying, his voice echoey. “It’s the same as last class, just make sure to turn it in before three today.” None of the other students have their cameras on, and Claes stares blankly, waiting for a response, reminding Jens of Dora the Explorer. After a second, he gives up and says, “Okay, guys, I guess I’ll see you Tuesday.” A pause. “Or I’ll talk to you next Tuesday, I guess. Email me if you have questions.”

Jens’s phone buzzes in his lap but he ignores it long enough to lean forward and unmute himself to say, “Bye, Mr Claes.”

He shuts his laptop quietly when he leaves the meeting, setting the assignment on a to-do shelf in his brain, and lifts his phone to read the text.

l: ok he’s just telling personal anecdotes about his cats i think he’s boredl: but i am too so what’s up

Jens smiles again, pushing his glasses up his nose and pushing his laptop away.

j: my sister is asleep on my leg and my teacher just dismissed usj: so i’m going to make breakfast or something

Jens yawns after hitting send, arching his back as he stretches and hearing it crack softly, taking care to not move his leg and bother Lotte, who’s still sleeping peacefully. One of her hands is under her chin, her fingers pressed between her face and Jens’s leg, making her cheek squish, and Jens gently brushes her hair back.

l: wait that’s so cute how old is shel: also what are you making can i have somel: also dupont just dismissed us, do you want to call bc i don’t have anything to do

Jens grins, quickly reaching up to push his glasses again (they fall when he looks down at his phone; tightening them has been on his to-do list for a while), and responding.

j: she’s eightj: eggs probably come on downj: yes i’ll call you in a minute

“Lotte,” he says softly, clicking off his phone and tossing it away. He touches the top of her head, rustling her hair gently, and she lets out a disgruntled groan, turning her face into Jens’s leg. He laughs, rustling her hair again.

“I’m going to make breakfast, but you have to get off me first.” She doesn’t move. “Do you wanna eat?”

Her eyes open and she glares at him groggily.

“You can stay here if you want, I just have to get up.”

“But you’re so comfy,” she says, nuzzling her face into his leg again.

“Well so are pillows and that’s what they’re actually for.”

“Ugh.”

She finally moves, rolling off of his leg and squirming around like a fish until she finds the pillows, and she clutches the end of the blanket and she buries her face in them.

“I’ll wake you up later.”

“Don’t,” she grumbles into the pillow, and he almost doesn’t hear her.

Before leaving, he reaches over her, snatching his earbuds and pressing a chaste kiss to her head.

As he makes his way to the kitchen, he struggles to plug the earbuds into his phone, lifting it closer to his face to see and bumping into the doorframe of the kitchen, wincing as his shoulder hits a sharp corner.

He calls Lucas, hesitating for only a second to take a deep breath, as he opens the pan cabinet.

“Hey,” he says when Lucas picks up.

“You said you’re making eggs?” Lucas says, sans greeting, and Jens startles, snorting and trying to stifle a cackle as he flips the pan in his hand and turns on the stove. His voice is different than it was during class, over the video call. It sounds... closer. Softer, even though he’s speaking with his chest more so than he did when he was in class.

“Yes? What’s your problem with eggs?”

“I don’t have a problem, it’s just f*cking gross.”

The laugh breaks through loudly as he sets the pan on the stove, leaning over the counter to grab the non-stick spray.

“This is not a conversation I was expecting to have today— Are you vegan?”

“No, I’m not vegan. Why, what’s your problem with vegans?”

“I don’t have a problem with vegans.” He spins on his heel to go to the fridge and pulls three eggs out of the carton, leaving two. He makes a mental note to get eggs next time he takes Lotte grocery shopping.

“Just like I don’t have a problem with eggs.”

“Listen… I respect veganism.” He cracks an egg.

“Did you… Just tell me to shut up so I could hear you crack an egg?”

“I…” Jens looks at the eggshells in his hand. “That was not on purpose.”

“The amount of disrespect.”

“I just said I respect vegans!”

“And I just said I’m not vegan!”

“Oh my god…”

Jens laughs as he drops the eggshells in the bin, turning back to twist the knob on the stove to turn down the heat.

“Anyway,” Lucas says lightly. “How are you today?”

Jens scoffs, grabbing a plate from the counter as the egg cooks.

“Fine? I’ve been awake for approximately ten minutes, so we’re going pretty good. You?”

“I’m dead inside, thanks for asking—” Jens interrupts him with a laugh— “But this class doesn’t seem too hard, so that’s nice.”

“Cool, which class is it?”

“Biology.”

“Oh, gross. I just had chemistry.”

“Biology is better than chemistry.”

“Incorrect,” Jens says after scoffing.

“Actually, I’m always correct.”

“I think your brain is broken.”

Lucas lets out a quiet laugh.

“Just a little bit.”

Jens laughs, carefully shimmying the spatula under the egg to flip it.

“What have you been up to other than classes?” He asks after a second, and there’s a slight pause before Lucas answers.

“Just hanging out in my room, I guess. I haven’t done much.”

“You said you’re an artist, right?”

“Uh— Yeah,” Lucas says, sounding hesitant.

“What kind of art do you do?”

“Visual,” he says. “Mostly portraits in pencil or pen, but I really like watercolour.”

“How come you don’t have art or anything on your wall?” Jens asks as he drops the cooked egg on a plate and sprays the pan again. “One of my friends is an artist and his wall is covered.”

Lucas sighs.

“I would, but I’m not allowed to put anything up.”

“Like your landlord won’t let you put pins or anything?”

“No, like my dad won’t even let me use tape, it’s ridiculous.”

Jens makes a face even though Lucas can’t see him.

“That’s stupid,” he says, cracking the other two eggs and mixing them together when one of the yolks breaks.

“He is stupid,” Lucas grumbles, and his voice has changed. It’s lower, less playful than when he picked up.

“How come you live with him?” Jens asks, something in him recognizing the result of divorced parents. Lucas doesn’t answer, though, and Jens regrets asking as he hears Lucas let out a quiet sigh.

“We can talk about something else,” he says gently.

“Thanks,” Lucas says softly.

“So you only do portraits?” Jens asks, changing his tone so it’s more conversational.

“Usually, yeah.” There’s a clicking sound on Lucas’s end, sounding like the mouse of a laptop. “Every once in a while I’ll draw something else, but it’s typically faces.”

“Do you do people from real life?” Jens asks curiously. “Or do you do like… I don’t know.”

“Both,” Lucas says. “I use references and I like drawing my friends with pictures they send me, but sometimes I just… draw whatever comes to mind. Random faces and stuff.”

“I wish I could do something like that,” Jens sighs. “My sister is the artist of the family.”

“I already love your sister.”“Everyone loves my sister.”

“What do you do?” Lucas asks, and Jens shrugs, mixing the eggs around a little with the spatula.

“Not much. Before covid I went skating with my friends, I went to parties and stuff. Now I just play video games and play guitar on occasion.”

“You play guitar?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re an artist.”

Jens scoffs, laughing lightly, but Lucas insists, “You are! Music is an art and you make music. Artist.”

“If you say so.”

“I told you I’m always right,” Lucas sighs. “Ah, sh*t.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Dupont actually assigned homework.”

“He’s a teacher, Lucas, that’s what they do.”

Lucas sighs again, sounding forlorn.

“Yeah, but I was hoping he’d be easy.”

“It’s biology.”

Lucas groans loudly, and Jens winces, laughing.

“Go do your homework,” he says when Lucas stops. “I’m gonna wake up my sister to eat. Are you still coming by for breakfast?”

“If I’m ever going to your place it’s not gonna be for eggs. It’ll be to hang out with your sister, because she’s probably cooler than you”

“...Wow.”

“Did that hurt your feelings?”

“Little bit.”

“Good. Build some character.”

Jens lets out a laugh that sounds a little much like a giggle for his liking, and his face burns as he turns to pull the fridge open.

“Go do your homework,” he says as he pulls the orange juice out. (Lotte’s favourite. She would drink it like water if Jens let her.)

“I don’t wanna….” Lucas whines.

“My hands are full, you have to be the one to hang up,” Jens says, lifting a plate and trying carefully not to drop the juice.

“Are you already tired of me?” Lucas asks, and Jens can hear him stifling a laugh.

“I’ve known you for less than twenty-four hours.”

“And yet…” Lucas sighs forlornly. “I’ll let you go, I guess.”

“Text me later.”

“Will do. Bye-bye-e-e.”

Jens sets the other plate on the table just as Lucas hangs up, and he stops, his eyes stuck on the table in front of him. Lucas’s voice is still rattling in his head, a stark difference from the sudden silence of the flat. He sounded like he could be in the same room, right next to Jens, teasing him and laughing with him like they’ve known each other for years. Jens briefly wonders if this is how Robbe felt when he met Sander, but he shakes his head, dismissing the thought.

---

Jens twists his back, popping it, and winces in the bright sunlight streaming through his window that falls on his face.

“And I want you all to get some fresh air today too,” Ms Peeters is saying. Her hair is tied up today. Jens has never seen her with her hair tied up. He’s reminded that she does have ears, even though they’re typically covered by her curls. “Take a walk or open a window. It’s nice out today.”“My window is stuck closed,” someone says after a second, the bubble with his initial in it moving as he speaks. Ms Peeters opens her mouth to say something before another student, Liam, interrupts, “Smash it.”

“No, I don’t recommend that,” Ms Peeters says, and Jens hears Liam’s snicker echoing in his speakers. Liam makes similar comments in class.

Jens laughs, glancing down to the little box with Lucas’s face in it and feeling a little rush at Lucas’s grin.

“Okay, anyway,” Ms Peeters says, and it takes a second for Jens to look back at her. “Matthew, don’t do that please. And if you do, I had nothing to do with it, I don’t want a phonecall from your parents. Anyway, you all remember what I said about a project, right?”

Almost every student throws their head back, rolling their eyes, and Jens sighs deeply, mentally adding the unexplained work to his to-do list.

“Well, you’ll be happy, because you can really do whatever you want.”

“Does that mean I can do nothing?” Liam asks, and Jens wonders if he leaves his microphone on just so he can cut in easily.

“Liam, I will fail you,” she dismissed him. “That means you can do an essay, a powerpoint, a poster, whatever. If we were still in person, I’d want you and your partner to present it to the rest of the class, but I won’t make you do that.

“Your assignment is to read a book. A classic,” she clarifies. “And to complete something, powerpoint, essay, whatever.”“Are you assigning partners?” Ella asks after a second, and Jens finds himself glancing at Lucas's box again.

“No, you guys can pick partners yourself. No more than three to a book, and you can all probably find the books online as PDFs.” She pauses, her eyes scanning her screen. “Any more questions?”

“Uhm,” Ella says, looking hesitant. “When is this due?”

Ms Peeters sighs, looking away from her computer.

“I don’t know yet. We’ll see. Probably not for a while, I know you’re all busy with your other classes and, you know, the pandemic. Don’t put it off though,” she adds. “I don’t want you to skim your book and throw something together the night before it’s due. I want to see effort.”

“Also--”

“Ella, stop asking questions,” Liam interrupts, and Jens decides that he definitely leaves his microphone on just to be able to annoy people better. He wonders if he does it in any of his other classes. Maybe not. None of Jens’s other teachers are as patient as Ms Peeters.

“Someone has to,” Ella retorts. “Are we still doing poetry?”

“Yeah, we’re going to do poetry in class and your project you’ll have to do on your own time.”

“Okay.”

“Any more questions? Comments, concerns? Debates, disputes, dilemmas?” Ms Peeters asks, her trademark end-of-class questions. “No?”

Jens shakes his head, because he knows she can see him.

“Okay, well I want you guys to enjoy today, so you’re free to go. Pick your partners and book and email me so I can keep track. Cool?”

Jens’s phone buzzes not five seconds after he leaves the meeting. (Ms Peeters always leaves last. He doesn’t know why, but he suspects it’s in case anyone wants to stay after and talk. She seems like that kind of person.) He shuts his laptop, leaning over his bed and pulling his phone up.

l: partners? I might already have a book

Jens grins, immediately typing a response.

j: yea for surej: what book do you have?

He lays back on his pillows as he waits for a response, pushing one of them under his head until it’s comfortable.

l: the great gatsby? She never said it had to be a belgian classic

Jens scoffs, shaking his head.

j: You’re turning into Liamj: but sure whats she gonna do, make us start over?

l: I can send her an email and ask but i’m pretty sure shes gonna say sure

j: sounds good

Lucas responds with his signature smiley face, and Jens smiles at his phone before adding,

j: i should warn you that youre making a mistake picking me as your partner thoughj: im not a reade

After hitting send he tosses the phone across the bed, stretching his back again and looking out his window. From his room he can see the buildings across the street. The windows are all shiny, reflecting the sunlight brightly, like the sun is inside the building itself, burning everything up except the structure and glass. Jens tosses his blanket aside, stretching his legs out and sighing before spinning to sit on the edge of his bed. His eyes drift shut as he sits there, supporting himself with his hands by his legs, digging into the mattress.

It’s quiet, but he can hear Lotte’s TV show come through the walls and his door. The volume is low, per his instructions, and it’s just a gentle, inaudible hum. It makes him think of the music he’d be able to hear through the bathroom door at parties.

His phone vibrates behind him and he reaches back to get it as he stands, opening his door.

l: not to worry i like readingl: and ive read the great gatsby several times already

what are we gonna do our project on, though? Jens types, making his way down the hall, doing his best not to walk into the wall or door frame of the living room. like a powerpoint or an essay or??

l: powerpoint sounds easiestl: we can do like just a summary of itl: or analyze gatsby or something

j: whatever gets us a passing grade

l: got it

“Are you done with class?” Lotte asks, looking up at him with a cereal bowl under her face. She’s cross-legged on the floor in front of the television.

“I’m done with that class,” he says, flopping onto the sofa. “My teacher let us out early so we can enjoy the weather.”

“Are we gonna go on a walk?” she asks excitedly, spinning around on the floor, nearly spilling milk on the carpet. Jens raises an eyebrow at her.

“We can if you finish eating first. And if you get dressed,” he adds, glancing at her pink pyjamas.

She eats her cereal as quickly as she can (Jens tells her not to choke on it.) before rushing off her to her room to change. Jens doesn’t bother changing out of the sweatpants and t-shirt he slept in. While she’s gone, no doubt wrecking her room by throwing clothes everywhere, Lucas texts again.

l: I found my copy of itl: you should be able to find a pdf online but worst case scenario i read it to you over skype or something

Jens smiles.

j: yea that could work

Lucas responds with another smiley, and Jens thinks about it.

He supposes he could do something while Lucas reads it, take notes or work on the powerpoint. But part of him (most of him) wants to just listen. Lucas’s voice sounded different over the phone than it did during class. Jens wonders if it’ll sound different when it’s just the two of them.

Just the two of them.

Jens’s stomach flips over.

He grabs a granola bar before he and Lotte leave.

---

He doesn’t bother putting in the effort to finding the PDF of the Great Gatsby online after Lucas says it’s a go. (Ms Peeters is indifferent. She says she just wants them reading.)

“Hey,” Lucas says when he appears on Jens’s screen, and Jens was right. He does sound different. He also, apparently, has freckles scattered across his nose, and a mole just above his lip that Jens can’t see when Lucas is stuck in a box as small as the one in class. After a brief pause, Jens turns up the volume a little on his laptop, adjusting his headphones as he sits back.

“Hey.”

“So. Storytime?” Lucas holds up the book, smiling. It’s dim in his room, like Jens’s, the setting sun making stripes on his wall glow orange.

“Yeah,” Jens says brightly, sliding down so he’s propped up on his pillows. (A stack of three. His mom hates it, but it works for him.) “Do you want me to take notes or something?” He has a notebook and pen next to him already.

“You can if you hear anything worth noting,” Lucas says, shrugging. “I already have a ton of annotations in here, so I wouldn’t worry.”

“Okay.” Jens leaves his laptop propped up on his legs and crosses his arms over his chest, burying his chin in his elbow.

“Okay,” Lucas says, smiling as he looks at Jens. There’s a long pause before he inhales sharply, looking away and opening the book. Jens’s face feels hot. “Okay. I’m skipping the preface because it’s like w quarter of the book and kind of unnecessary.”

“Do you have notes in that section too?” Jens says, and it’s meant to be a tease, but Lucas says, “Yeah,” and Jens snorts.

“It’s a good book, you asshole,” Lucas retorts, grinning.

“Proceed,” Jens says, gesturing politely with his hand.

“Dick,” Lucas mutters, and Jens snickers as Lucas opens and flips through the book.

“Okay. Ready?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice…”

Lucas’s voice shifts slightly when he reads. It’s lower, less him and more… Nick, Jens supposes. He can’t tell if Lucas is doing it on purpose. He doesn’t think he is. He reads a little quickly, but not so quickly that Jens can’t understand him.

Lucas reads.

And reads.

And reads.

Jens can tell Lucas loves the book.

He barely even looks up (which means Jens doesn’t feel embarrassed about how much he’s just staring at him (although to be fair he doesn’t have many other staring options)), completely engrossed in it, subtly shifting the octaves of his voice for the voices of Jordan and Catherine and Myrtle. Jens finds himself smiling.

The only time Lucas breaks character is to say, “This is my favourite line.”

“Tell me,” Jens says softly, almost holding his breath to hear it.

“Yet high over the city our line of yellow windows must have contributed their share of human secrecy to the casual watcher in the darkening streets, and I saw him too, looking up and wondering.” He pauses, taking a breath. “I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life.”

Lucas looks up, a small smile painting his face, and he looks almost proud.

“Wow,” Jens whispers. “Do you have that highlighted?”

“Underlined.”

Jens hums.

“Are you gonna fall asleep on me?”

He hums again, moving his arms out of the way and rolling his head.

“I’m sleepy but not like falling asleep, you know?”

“Mm-hmm. We can finish this chapter; it’s only two more pages.”

“How many chapters are there?” Jens asks, and he watches as Lucas flips through the book.

“Nine,” Lucas says after finding it. “And we have time, so…”

“Yeah.”

“Myrtle pulled her chair close to mine…”

When the chapter is finished, it’s dark out, and Lucas closes the book dramatically and sets it to his side with a flourish.

“To be continued,” he says.

“Spooky.”

“You’re falling asleep,” Lucas says, looking at him skeptically, co*cking his head and smiling.

“...Yeah.”

“Didn’t know my reading voice was so soothing.”

“Oh, so soothing. You should do stuff for the Calm app.”

“‘Stuff.’ Very specific.”

“I just said I’m falling asleep, and you expect me to be articulate?”

“Well I never expect you to be articulate.”

“Oof…” Jens winces, looking away from the computer as Lucas says, “Hah hah.”

“You’re too quick for me,” Jens says, sitting up slightly and pushing his laptop away. Lucas raises an eyebrow. There’s a curl that’s fallen in his face, and for a second, Jens wishes he could push it away. “I’m gonna have to kill you. I can’t have any competition.”

“Social distancing,” Lucas says, holding up a finger. “Murder responsibly.”

“Of course. Always.”

“Okay, got to bed, Jens. You look like you’re about to pass out.”

Jens groans, shutting his eyes for a second, ignoring the strange flutter in his stomach.

“It’s only like ten.”

“Yeah, that’s bedtime by normal people standards.”

“Ugh. Fine. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

When they hang up, Jens finds himself smiling.

Again.

He lifts his eyes from his blank laptop screen after some time (he doesn’t know how long, and he can’t be bothered to look), and shakes his head.

idea: the reader is jacob barber’s older sister (only by 2 or 3 years) and she was secretly seeing ben’s older brother (just iMaGiNe that he has one) and they get caught holding hands when andy goes to find her and then they tease her on the way back (yk the scene in their house when he goes to find jacob bcs they’re leaving? i hope that makes sense but don’t get pressured bcs you don’t have to do it, it was just an idea)

Andy Barber x Daughter!Reader

Warnings:LanguageTo be honest, I absolutely love this idea! I just have a thing for a father Andy Barber thing. Its horrible to think I want him to be my dad.

~~~

The day was starting to go great so far, you were going through your locker to find your books for your next class. You started looking over those polaroid photos on your locker as you smiled at them.

“Hey, Y/N!” A girl shouts, you turn to wave at the girls,“Hey, guys-” You felt a pair of arms pull you letting you squeal.“Jonathan! Put me down!” You laughed as he spun you and trapped you on the lockers.

“Morning,” He says, you laughed,“Morning.” Jonathan Rifkin. One of the best athletes in the High School.

He has a little brother in Middle school still along with mine.“Do you want to go grab scoops at the ice cream parlor? I heard they added cotton candy,” He says. You slightly gasped,“As much as I would like that cotton candy, I have homework.”

“I can help you with that. Drop some ice cream off, too?”

“You’re not dropping by, remember my dad?” You asked, he didn’t seem to care about your dad. Almost everyone’s parents were lawyers.“Pfft, your dad’s not scary.”

“He is when he can be, come on. It’ll only be just for today. I can facetime you,” You slightly shove him and Jonathan grins.“You know I hate this distancing thing you do.”

“Oh stop, complaining isn’t gonna get you anywhere.”

“Get to class love birds!” A girl calls in a sing songy voice. You rolled your eyes at your best friend and closed your locker.“Come on, I’ll go to class with you.” You two made your way to your next class, his arm holding you close as you did.

.

The teacher spoke his lecture as you wrote down the notes he had to list. Glancing up to see Jonathan staring at you. You look at him weirdly. What?

He shrugs back at you. Nothing. You ignored him as you smiled, looking back down at your notes. After a few seconds, the comm goes off.

“Attention Archer High is now on lockdown, effective immediately,” The horn blares in the classrooms as the windows began to use the lockdown covers,“All students are to remain in their classrooms.” Everyone began to stand up in panic.

Your heart would’ve collapsed when Jonathan came for you first and helped you over to the wall as one of the earlier procedures from the beginning of the school year.“All right, everyone stay calm.”

Your teacher began to turn off the lights and closed the door and locked it. You sat next to Jonathan,“I’m gonna call Ben, see if he’s okay.” You nod at him as you stayed close to Jonathan.

If your brother is also in lockdown. What is happening? Everyone was on their phones, possibly contacting their parents or gossiping what they’re assuming is happening.

Jonathan groans,“He’s not picking up.”

You look over,“Do you want me to call him?” Jonathan shakes his head,“I called him three times, he’s not picking up.” You reached for your phone and pulled it out.

Finding your dad’s contact, you pulled the phone up to your ear.

“Pick up, dad...”

“Y/N, sweetheart. You okay?” He asks.

You looked around,“Yeah, I’m okay.The high school’s on lockdown, have you heard from Jacob?”

“I did. He’s okay. I was wondering when you’ll call, but you two will be okay,”Your dad said. You sighed,“Who is it? What’s happening.”

“I can’t talk about it right now, sweetheart. Just... Just stay calm and listen to your teachers, do what they say, okay?”

“Is it a psycho shooter, dad?”

“No, it’s nothing like that, honey. You’re safe,” He says, you felt Jonathan pull you closer as you nod,“Okay.”

“All right, I love you,” He said. You lowered your head, “Love you, too.” Then you hung up.

You huddled closer to Jonathan as he rubbed your shoulders.

.

You returned home not too long after. The police cleared from whatever happened and you walked back home after Jonathan got a call from his parents and he left early.

He didn’t tell you what happened but he left before he could.

You returned home and tried to message Jonathan. He would reply late but you only left it to one message because you didn’t want to stress him. Your mom, Laurie drove you back home along with Jacob’s friend, Derek.

Derek was gonna play video games with him. You sat in your room and looked at your phone. Everything from the news was popping up. A 14-year-old boy was murdered in the Cold Spring Park.

The park where Jacob comes through. You were interrupted by a knock on the door and you shot up,“Come in.”

The door opens to Laurie and Andy.“Hey, sweetheart,” Laurie says, she comes over to sit on the edge of your bed so you lift your knees up. Andy leans on the wooden edge of your bed as they look over.

“How you doing?” Andy asked.

You look up to them,“Who was it? The body, I mean...” Andy had his arms crossed as he looks at Laurie.“It was a kid from Jacob’s school, Ben.”

“Rifkin?” You asked. Andy doesn’t nod but the look on him knew you were right. You dropped your head into your hands.“Honey, what’s wrong?” Laurie asked, you felt her hand on your knee.

“I just...” You sniffled,“I know Ben’s brother and... he must be...” Laurie looks up to Andy heartbroken. He looks at you and walks over,“Hey...” He sits down on the bed and wraps his arm over your shoulder.

“We’re sorry about this. If there’s anything you want to say to us, we’re here for you, okay?” Laurie says, your head gets pulled to Andy’s chest as he rubs his hand down your arm.“We love you. Very much,” Andy said.

You nod,“I know. I love you, too,” Andy smiles as he placed a kiss on her head and then Laurie does.“We’ll talk to Jake about this, okay? We’ll have dinner in 30 minutes.”

The two leave your room and you reached for your phone, going to Jonathan’s contacts and you looked at the message.

Hey, you okay?Read at 8:07

You bite your lip and pulled the phone away before laying flat on your bed. That night you skipped dinner.

.

The next morning you got up, after not eating dinner, you had a big breakfast. Laurie was packing a few things for you and Jacob while Andy was throwing on a tie.

“How come you didn’t come down for dinner?” Andy asked, you turn to him but looked away.“I wasn’t hungry. I was doing homework.” Laurie and Andy look at each other afterwards and he turned away.

Laurie continues her packing,“I’ll drive you two to school, okay?” Jacob nods while you packed your bag and looked at your phone. Still no messages from Jonathan.

“We’re gonna be late,” Laurie says, rushing over to Andy.“I’ll see you later,” Laurie kisses Andy as he sighs,“Okay. Be good, guys.”

.

Laurie dropped you off first, stopping just at the front of the school.“Okay, sweetheart, I love you.” You stepped out and grabbed your bag,“Love you too. Bye Jake.”

“Bye,” Jacob said. You closed the door and walked up to the front.“Y/N!” Someone calls out, your best friend, Rose rushed up.“You heard about Ben-?”

“Yeah, have you seen Jonathan?” You asked, Rose looks around,“I saw him with his friends, he seemed pretty upset. I mean by the look on his face, I’m sure he won’t mind you.”

You walked forward and headed down the halls. You went to find his locker. He’s usually by his locker during the mornings with his friends. You walked over to his locker and spotted him with his friends.

You saw his friends leave him on his own, giving you the chance to talk to him. Just him.

Jonathan opens his locker and you leaned next to it.“Hey...” You said, Jonathan looks over and you could see the agony, his eyes were almost red from possibly late night tears and lack of sleep.

You gazed up at him,“Come here.”

He fully turns towards you and you pulled him into a hug. Your arms were pulling his neck down so his head nuzzled in your neck as his arms held your waist.“It’s gonna be okay,” You run your hand through the brown locks in his hair to soothe him.

“I’m sorry I didn’t text you back,” He muttered.

You grinned,“I’m not mad about that. I understood what you were feeling. It’s okay.”

He pulls away and sniffles,“I was... thinking to have you over.”

“For Ben?” You asked, he nods,“My mom was gonna talk to yours about that, I was thinking you’d hear it from me.” You nod as you took his hand.“Of course, I wanna be there for you.”

“Your dad was there when it happen, right?” He asked, you nod.“No more, okay? I don’t want you to feel any worse than now. I’m sure I can go and get ice cream with you after school.”

Jonathan managed to smile as he leans down. You feel his lips on yours and he pulls away.“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

.

After that day, Laurie had taken you and Jacob to the Rifkin’s house. You were the first one to walk in. People looked at you and your family. You turn to Laurie,“When is dad coming?” You asked. Laurie looks around,“He’ll be here in a few minutes, you and Jacob can go hang out with the kids in the other room. Here, Jake, I can take your coat.”

Jacob removes his coat and Laurie takes it upstairs as you walk into the other room filled with middle school kids.

They all looked at you as you and Jacob walked in. You were the only high school kid in the room. Not till Jonathan came in and he wore a suit and tie.“Hey,” He says, you looked at him and smiled.

“Hey,” You look over to Jacob who sat down on the couch, Jonathan followed your gaze.“Do you want to go up to my room?” He asked. You nod,“Yeah, sure.” You’ve never been to his house but you wanted to. Not like this.

Not for his brother’s murder.

“Hey, dad,” Jonathan says, he entered what looked like Ben’s room. His father, Dan looks over,“This is-uh, Y/N, from school.” You waved softly,“Mr. Rifkin.”

Dan smiles,“You’re Andy’s kid are you?”

You nod,“I’m his oldest. Jacob is my brother.” Dan nods,“You two must be very good to your parents, are you?” He asked.

You nod once again,“We try not to give him a hard time.” Dan smiles sadly as he turns away. A few seconds in, Jonathan cuts the awkwardness,“I’m gonna go show her around in my room.”

“Okay, son.”

You followed Jonathan over to his room, seeing the posters on his wall. His jersey from the school team on his bed with the desk that had controllers and a game console.

You looked around and smiled,“It’s really cool. I like it,” You say, taking a seat on his bed.

Jonathan smiled,“It’s not that cool, I guess. I took hours to clean it.” You laughed lightly as you looked over to him when he sat.

.

Andy was looking around for Jacob once he got there. People were staring and asking questions about Ben’s case. He didn’t want to give them anything so he wanted to take Jacob with him while Laurie was getting a ride from Toby.

He looks in the room filled with kids as he spotted Jacob in the chair,“Hey.” Jacob looks up and spots his dad,“You ready to go?” He asked.

“Yeah, sure,” Jacob replied. Andy nods at him,“Did you bring your coat?” Jacob nods,“Uh, mom put it upstairs.” Andy nods,“Where’s your sister?”

Jacob looks over to the right,“She went up with some boy, I’m pretty sure she’s upstairs, too.”

“Okay, I’ll go find your coat and sister. Meet me at the front door.”

.

You held the photo book in your hands as you flipped through the pages.“This is when I first got on a coaster, when I was tall enough.” You laughed,“You were so cute,” You looked over the photos.

“Then I took baseball practice in this picture. Our first game, I scored two home runs,” You hear Jonathan say, you smiled and closed the book. You stood up with Jonathan and held his hands in yours.

He looked down at them and ran his thumbs over them.“You know... every time when I’m alone... I think of him,” You look up to him but his eyes never looked at yours.“But when I’m with you,” He lifts up his head and smiles,“Every thing goes away. It’s just you who I think of.”

You smiled at him and kissed his cheek,“I love you.”

He grins,“I love you, too.”

You heard someone walk over and you both look to his door and saw your father come in view.“Y/N, you here?” He asked as he stops to see you and Jonathan.“Oh,” He says, spotting your hands laced with Jonathan’s,“Hi.”

You cleared your throat and pulled your hand out of Jonathan’s,“Hey, dad.” Andy nods at her,“You ready to go? I was gonna take you and Jake back home.” You saw Jake’s coat in his arms and you look at Jonathan.

You can go.

You nod at Jonathan and nodded at your dad, Andy smiles at Jonathan,“I’ll see you at the front door,” He says to you before leaving. Once he left, you see Jonathan’s eyes go wide.

“sh*t, he knows now.”

You smiled,“It’s okay. Even if he was upset, I’d talk him out of it. Now I have to go.”

“Wait!” Jonathan pulls you back and placed a kiss on your lips. You smiled,“Bye.” You stopped and reached over to the jersey on his bed.“I’m stealing this by the way,” You say.

He chuckles,“Just go.” You trotted out of the room with his jersey as you head down the stairs and spotted Andy at the door. Andy looks up to see Jonathan on the stop of the stairs. He gives him a nod and the Barber family walks out.

.

Andy had his hand on top of the wheel as he glanced over to you. Your hands clicking on the phone, texting what might have been Jonathan.“No texting while I’m driving, Y/N. I’m sure the boy would complain.”

“Dad, don’t start,” You say. He smiles,“Hey, your mother and I were the same, I’m just saying, he’s a good kid. He’s Ben’s brother?”

“Yeah, he is,” You say. Jacob laughs,“Did you catch them in the act?” You turned in your seat and glared at Jacob. Andy chuckles,“Some high school sweethearts.”

“Can you guys stop!” You asked, Andy smiles.“Is he a good kisser?”

You shrugged,“Oh, why don’t you find out, dad!” You say. Jacob cackles in the back as you grew red. Andy looks over,“I scared him, didn’t I? He looked like he saw a ghost.”

“Dad, stop...” You covered your face.

Andy shakes his head as he sighs,“Did you guys get something to eat?” He asks.“Not much,” Jacob replied. You look over to Andy who looks at you for an answer.

“Did you?” He asked,“And don’t tell me it was J-”

“Dad,” You say,“No. Just go to the diner.” Andy grins as he keeps driving. You were red as a tomato through the whole drive.

And none of those boys never ended the teasing ever since.

~~~

Thank you so much for that request!TAGS:

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FFT: wedding bell blues; tim riggins

Notes:

this came into my main’s asks from @vonschweetz​ right in the heat of my millionth rewatch of the Friday Night Lights tv series. And a mighty need to write fanfiction for Tim Riggins. Which admittedly, is something I definitely wanna do in the future on here, so who knows.

Summary:

Amber Collette is back in Dillon and her life’s kind of falling apart. A reconnection with Tim Riggins might just be in the cards? Maybe now the timing is right?

Pairing:

Tim Riggins x Collette!OFC, Amber

Warning:

uhh.. alcohol tw. and fluff. bc it’s fluffy.

“I’mgonna die alone in a house full of cats withno job or no food and bills that I couldn’t pay…First Mindy and Billy got married, thenJulie and Mattand now you and Landry are getting married… AndI totally bombed that interview earlier. I couldn’t have soundedlike a less capable candidate for the job if I tried.. Everything istotally f*cking up.”Amber looked up at her sister Tyra and reached for the bottle of redwine in Tyra’s hand. Tyra backed away then seeing Amber’s pout,she poured some into the empty wine glass sitting in front of hersister.

“You’renot gonna die alone in a house full of cats. Andyou will find a job, okay? This stuff just takes time is all.”

“Iam! Hello,I’ve been on four interviews this week alone.. And all the othersI’ve been to since I moved back..”

“Firstof all, Amber, pretty sure you have to actually like cats. Secondly,you’ll find somebody. There’s somebody out there for everybody.Third..I’m telling you, at least think about coming down to East DillonHigh on Monday and filling out to be a substitute teacher or thesecretary or something. Everything is gonna be okay, little sister.Just relax.”

“Andliterally every single time I think I have foundsomebody or my life is finally gonna settle down and go my way,something winds up going wrong.. Hello, I woke up to a break up text?Came home from work to find out that the locks were changed and allmy sh*t was sitting outside? Thenthe very next day, I get laid off.”Amber shook her head and took a sip of wine. “I’m just saying.. Iwanna be happy. Like you and Mindy. And lately, it feels like everysingle thing I touch turns to sh*t. Hence the reason I dragged my assback to Dillon and am currently riding mom’s sofa.”

“You’llfigure everything out. I’ll help you.”

“Youdon’t… I need to do this on my own, Tyra.”

Mindyspoke up from the doorway, “Do what on your own?”

“Figuremy life out.. It’s like… I look at you and Tyra and I don’tknow… I realize just how much is missing, how much I messed up andhow many chances I let slip through my fingers.”

“She’sstill being a downer, huh?” Mindy glanced at Tyra who nodded. “Jobinterview didn’t go so well.. Then she got all mopey on me.”

“Theclub is hiring.. I mean someone’s gotta take my place. And youalways loved to dance.”

“Dance.Not be groped by jackasses all night.” Amber corrected gently andMindy shrugged. “The tips are good, though. And you’d save up toget your own place real quick.”

“ Thatis a good..” Amber started to say it but before she even got a wordout, Tim Riggins spoke up from the door. “It ain’t a good idea.Doesn’t matter how good the tips are.” as he stepped into theroom and grabbed a beer for himself from Landry and Tyra’s fridge,uncapping it and taking a sip, never once dropping his gaze from theyoungest of the Collette sisters.

Amberbit her lip and took a sip of her wine as she retorted, “Spokenfrom the man with a job and his own place.”

“ThatI built with my own bare hands.” Tim added, a smirk tugging at thecorners of his mouth. He hadn’t seen Amber in years. The differencein age between them back then may have been what kept him from everreally paying her any attention.

Butsince she’d shown up at Mindy’s place earlier in the month, hehad to at least admit that he found himself just a little curious.

“Right..”Amber finally found the will to tear her eyes away from his and saysomething. She took another sip and Tim flopped down at the tablebehind her, taking a long sip from his own can. “Just becausesh*t’s gone to hell.. Don’t mean you have to resort to that.”

Tyraeyed Tim and Mindy caught her sister’s eyes and mouthed “C’mon.”as she nodded to the living room and spoke up, clearing her throat.“Amber? Me and Tyra are gonna go in the livin room and look at somemore bridal magazines. Weddings don’t plan themselves.” as Tyracaught on to what Mindy might be up to and smirked at her youngersister. “Right behind you, Mindy.”

Assoon as the kitchen door closed behind the other two women, Amberstood. The problem was, so did Tim. And in the small room, it putthem chest to chest. Tim chuckled and stared down at her. “What’syour hurry?”

“Nothin,I mean..”

“Sitdown.” Tim nodded to the seat across from him and Amber sank downinto it, reaching for her wine glass. Tim grabbed it and held it out.

Aftera few seconds of him staring intently at the Pabst logo on his can,he spoke up.

“I’mgonna feel like a third wheel on Saturday.”

“Thatmakes two of us.” Amber lamented, taking another long sip from herwine glass, trying her best NOT to think about her stupid childishcrush on Tim Riggins from back when she was a kid. Or,shethought to herself, tryingnot to re-imagine accidentally walking in on him when he was gettingout of the shower at her sister Mindy’s house earlier in the weekwhen she’d crashed there after a night out.It wasn’t working, she could see it in her mind as clear as she’dseen it with her own eyes.

“You’reblushin.”

“Amnot.”

“Youare.” Tim was eyeing her, smirking a little. He turned hisattention back to his beer can and muttered mostly to himself,“Everybody’s getting married.”

“SoI’ve noticed. I mean first it was Mindy and Billy, then it was Mattand Julie and now it’s Tyra and Landry.. But I’m happy for mysisters and Julie.. I mean.. They found great guys. I just seem tohave a sh*t radar.” Amber dragged her finger around the top of theglass and bit her lip as she laughed and shook her head. “Thenagain, to be fair, Mindy’s always tellin me to stop pushin sohard.. sh*t will happen on it’s own time, she says… Tyra, she’sjust doin her usual bit, tryin to fix all my messes for me…”

“It’san older sibling thing. Billy did it a lot. Still does it.” Timremarked, looking up from his bottle to catch her sort of gazing athim. He leaned in a little and tucked a few strands of hair that hadfallen into her face back behind her ears as he laughed and shook hishead.

“What’sso funny?” Amber pouted.

“Nothin.Just thinkin.”

“About?”

Timstarted to stand and make his way out of the kitchen, but he stoppedand sat back down. Glancing into the living room, he shrugged. “Ialways thought I’d wind up workin here.. In a garage.. Married toeither Tyra or Lyla.. Look, my point is, life is funny. And it’snot as bad as you think it is right now. I mean.. from what I heardyou tellin Tyra and Mindy about the guy in Chicago, you dodged onehell of a bullet.. And it hasn’t been that bad, coming back here,right?”

“Notreally.. I mean, I have gotten closer to Mindy and Tyra than wewere.. and getting to see my nephew and the twins is great.. Andfinally making things right with mom… The two of us helping eachother through everything..” Amber smiled and then she caughtherself doing it again, sort of watching Tim when he wasn’t payingattention.

Beforeshe could stop herself, she’d asked the question.

“Hey..What if we went to my sister and Landry’s wedding together? Imean.. not like a date or anything, but..”

Timlooked up at her and smiled, finishing his beer and aiming it at thetall trash can designated for beer cans in the corner of the kitchen.

“Soyou’re askin me on a date, huh?”

“No..I mean not unless you wanna take it that way?”

“MaybeI do, Amber.”

“Okaythen… it’s a date.”