technicallyspookyithink

You were curled against him, legs tangled, skin pressed to skin beneath the blanket. He’d cocooned you in the night with the instinct of a man who knew how to trap heat and never let it go. One arm was looped lazily around your waist, his hand resting beneath your thin cotton vest, fingers idly splayed over the softest patch of your stomach. His nose nuzzled the back of your shoulder, the place where the warmth of your skin still held the faintest trace of lavender soap, and for a while, he just stayed there—still, breathing you in, pretending the rest of the world didn’t exist.

He should have gotten up. You both had chores to do. Watch rotations. Supply lists. A dozen things that couldn’t be ignored. But none of it mattered yet.

He kissed your shoulder, barely more than a whisper of contact, then nuzzled closer to press another to your neck. His hand drifted, slow and aimless, tracing the gentle curve of your hip before sliding down to rub lazy circles into your thigh beneath the blanket. The skin there was warm and soft and his.

“Baby,” he murmured, barely above a whisper, voice all husk and gravel. “Time to wake up.”

You didn’t answer, not with words anyway. Instead, you let out a pitiful noise—half moan, half sigh—and wriggled backwards into him with shameless intent, burrowing deeper beneath his arm like a sleepy parasite. One hand blindly reached for his, dragging it tighter across your waist.

“Mmmno,” you grumbled, barely awake, your voice thick with sleep, lips barely moving. “You’re too warm. You stay… compulsory.”

Daryl exhaled through his nose, helpless, forehead falling lightly against the back of your neck. Christ. How the hell was he supposed to move? You were limp and molten in his arms, every inch of you molded to him like you’d been made for it, your vest practically sheer in the morning light, your skin smooth like velvet, your hair fanned out over his arm. The thought of untangling from this—from you—felt like tearing open a wound.

“Can’t stay in bed all morning,” he mumbled into your skin, more to himself than you.

You hummed in response, groaning ‘just a lil longer’ into your pillow, the sound contented and low, a denial that buzzed against his chest where your back met him. His hand drifted again, tracing the dip of your waist, the notch of your hipbone, not quite ready to surrender the moment.

“Cmon, now,” he tried again, kissing the side of your neck this time, his lips lingering there. “Gotta get up. You know we do.”

You made a noise that might’ve been a protest or a curse or possibly even his name, but the blanket muffled it as you ducked your head further down, stubborn to the very end. The chill outside the covers had already started to creep in, brushing your shoulder as Daryl reluctantly shifted, and you shivered in retaliation.

Instead of getting up, Daryl leaned in closer, drawn by something he didn’t have the strength to fight. You were still turned away from him, curled loosely beneath the sheet, your breathing soft and uneven in that hazy space between dreams and waking. The early morning light cut through the slats in the cell door, catching the slope of your bare shoulder, the thin strap of your vest barely clinging on. The fabric was almost translucent in the pale wash of dawn—white cotton worn thin with age, clinging damply to the warm curve of your back, the gentle dip of your waist, the faint suggestion of skin and softness that he had no business staring at as long as he was.

But still, he did.

His hand hovered, fingers flexing like they weren’t quite his to control, before he reached out—just to tuck a lock of hair behind your ear, that was all—but his knuckles grazed the back of your neck, and his chest clenched at how warm you felt. He bent low, pressing the barest kiss to the spot just behind your ear, careful not to startle you, just needing the contact. Then another, slower one at your jaw. Another at the gentle slope where your throat met your shoulder. You stirred slightly, but didn’t turn. He stilled, breath caught—but when you didn’t push him away, he let his lips drift down again, across the exposed edge of your shoulder blade where the sheet had slipped. Each kiss was softer than the last. Not rushed. Not greedy. Just… reverent. He wasn’t trying to start anything. Not really. He just wanted to be close. To worship what was already his, in the quiet morning hush before the world came back alive.

You sighed again, definitely more awake now but pretending not to be, your body stretching long and loose under his touch.

“Daryl…” you warned, voice still thick with sleep, the syllables dragging out across the pillow. “If this is your idea of motivation, it’s not gonna get me up any faster.”

He didn’t answer—not with words, anyway. Just smiled into your skin like he hadn’t heard you, like he wasn’t guilty at all, and dragged his mouth lazily down the center of your chest. The kiss he left over your sternum was unhurried, deliberate, soaked in the kind of quiet patience only he could afford this early in the morning. Like he had nowhere else to be but here, pressed against you, tasting skin that still carried the warmth of shared sleep.

“You’re mean,” you muttered, breath hitching just enough to betray how awake you really were now.

He lifted his gaze without lifting his head, peeking up at you through his lashes with that crooked, barely-there smirk that told you he was enjoying this far too much.

“…And you’re getting up,” he said, low and smug, before leaning in and brushing his mouth over yours.

It was meant to be a quick kiss, maybe even a tease—just a goodbye on the lips, soft and fleeting—but the moment his mouth touched yours, something shifted. His lips stayed, molded to yours like they fit better there than anywhere else, and the air between you thickened. Your body responded before your mind caught up—your neck arched, following him when he pulled back, your brows drawing together like something had been taken from you.

He lingered a heartbeat longer, just long enough to feel your breath chase after his, then reluctantly peeled away with a quiet grunt. The mattress dipped as he swung his legs over the edge, one hand blindly reaching for whatever clothes were nearest. At the same time, the other smoothed across your thigh in a slow, familiar pass, before giving it a gentle, affectionate pat.

“Up,” he muttered, not even glancing back, though you could hear the smile in his voice.

You groaned dramatically, flopping back onto your pillow. “I liked you better when you were a human furnace.”

“Still am,” he muttered, yanking a shirt over his head. “Just mobile now.”

You made a rude little noise and dove back under the blankets, burying your face like the sunlight itself had committed an unforgivable sin. The cold had begun to creep in where his body had been moments ago, and you groaned in protest—long, drawn-out, and far more theatrical than necessary. Your bare legs tucked in tighter, one heel sliding across the sheet as you tried to seal every edge of the fabric against your skin.

Daryl hadn’t gotten far. He was still seated at the edge of the bed, bent over to shove his foot into a boot, one arm halfway into a shirt sleeve. At your noise, he paused, twisted slightly to glance back over his shoulder, and raised a brow.

“You sittin’ up,” he asked, voice gravel-thick and unconvinced, “or just floppin’ around like a damn fish?”

You made a muffled sound and rolled further away, the blanket dragging with you. “M’hibernating,” you muttered into the mattress.

He snorted low, shaking his head. “Alright then. Guess we’re doin’ this the hard way.”

Without warning, he reached back and gave the blanket a solid tug.

You shrieked and clutched it with both hands, yanking it back toward your chest with the fury of a woman defending her kingdom. “I am exposed here, sir!”

Daryl didn’t flinch. He was already shifting closer on the mattress, smirking faintly as he fought for another handful of the quilt. “You’re exposed every damn morning. Ain’t seemed to mind when you were draggin’ me down into the sheets last night.”

“That was before,” you huffed, one leg popping free in the scuffle before you managed to trap it back inside. “This is now. The mood has passed.”

He leaned further in, bracing a forearm beside your hip, his voice low as he hovered above you. “You talk like I ain’t seen you naked a hundred times.”

“Exactly,” you grinned, breathless, “which is why you should be immune by now. Go bother someone else.”

Another tug. You gripped the top corners of the blanket and rolled with it, twisting the fabric until it tightened like a shield around your torso.

“This is harassment,” you declared, peeking out from a fortress of cotton.

“Uh-huh,” he muttered, reaching again.

Your eyes narrowed. “Don’t you dare, Dixon. I will bite.”

He paused, grinning now, one eyebrow lifting as his fingers curled beneath the edge near your knee. “Yeah? Then I’ll bite back.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“You wanna test that theory?”

Before you could respond, he shifted again—leaning in, eyes narrowing with that smug little glint that always spelled trouble. His knee planted firmly on the mattress beside your hip, the bed dipping under his weight as he braced himself with one hand, the other gripping the blanket in a slow, theatrical tug.

You yelped, twisting sideways like a cat avoiding bathwater, arms flailing uselessly as the last shred of your sanctuary was ripped away in one final, merciless yank. The blanket hit the floor with a soft thud.

“Daryl!” you cried, hands instinctively flying to your now very exposed lower half, curling inward like modesty had suddenly remembered to show up to the party.

For a moment, he just stared—then huffed a laugh so abrupt it punched right through the silence. His head dropped to your shoulder as he shook with it, warm breath skating across your skin.

“Seriously?” he snorted, glancing up at you with pure mischief in his eyes. “You’re shy now?”

You tried to glare, but it didn’t hold. Your cheeks burned and your arms remained stubbornly crossed. “It’s cold.”

He smirked, dragging a lazy gaze over your thoroughly uncovered body. “Ain’t the cold you’re worried about.”

“You’re insufferable,” you muttered, trying—and failing—not to laugh with him.

“Yeah?” he said, voice still thick with amusement. “Well, you look cute all flustered. Might start hidin’ the blankets more often.”

You shoved at his shoulder with a huff, but it was useless. He wasn’t going anywhere.

He leaned in again, brushing his nose against your cheek, still grinning like the devil. “Still got you up though, didn’t I?”

He chuckled to himself, watching the slow, reluctant way you began to stir—shoulders rolling, hair mussed, vest slipping off one shoulder like it had given up trying to behave.

By the time he had shrugged on his pants and done his belt up, you were reaching for your clothes in the crate, which were a combination of both of yours, squinting like a woman who had only just remembered the concept of pants.

“Have you seen my underwear?” you asked at last, tone accusing, as though Daryl might’ve hidden them on purpose. “The soft ones. You know, the non-doomsday granny pair?”

He froze, posture stiffening ever so slightly. Daryl didn’t answer right away. Instead, his body went still—too still—and then, slowly, like a man preparing for a confession or an ambush, he turned his head toward you without meeting your eyes.

“…Might be in my back pocket,” he muttered, voice low and gravel-worn, as if speaking it any louder would make it worse.

You stared at him. Blinking. Processing.

Then, without a word, you leaned in with the kind of deliberate menace only a sleep-deprived woman could channel, your hand sliding around his hip and into the back of his pants. His breath caught—barely—and there it was. Right there. Your missing underwear, balled and tucked into his pocket like some deranged little keepsake.

You yanked them free and held them up in front of his face like you’d just caught him red-handed with a stolen relic.

“Daryl.”

He winced like the word physically pained him, gaze dropping to the floor as one shoulder jerked upward in the world’s guiltiest shrug. “They’re soft,” he said, tone already defensive. “Make good… hand wipes.”

Your jaw unhinged.

“I knew it,” you hissed. “You used them as a rag?”

“Nah,” he said quickly, hands lifting like he was about to be frisked. “Didn’t use ‘em. Just… kept ‘em. Kinda… thought about you.”

“In your pocket,” you said flatly.

He scratched behind his ear, not looking at you. “...They smell nice.”

There was a long, pointed silence, jaw agape.

One of those silences that stretched so far it looped back around to something almost tender. You sat there, holding the damn things, stunned into speechlessness while your brain tried to decide whether this was the weirdest or somehow most oddly romantic thing anyone had ever done to you.

Eventually, with a sigh that contained the weight of every bad decision you’d ever made about men, you shook your head and slipped the underwear on like the whole conversation hadn’t just happened.

“You’re such a freak,” you muttered under your breath.

Daryl stopped buttoning up his vest at that, head jerking up like you just slapped him, “I’m the freak?” 

“You know who steals used underwear and keeps them in their back pocket? Freaks, babe. Losers. That’s you.”

He snorted. “Takes one a know one. You get horny when i fix shit. Don’t think I don’t notice. ”

You stared at him blankly. You searched your brain for a good comeback, but you couldn't find one. “Touché, Dixon. Touché ”

The sink was barely bigger than a dinner plate, wedged into the corner of the cell like an afterthought. The faucet groaned when it ran, and the drain clogged every other day with god knows what, but it was yours. At least, you pretended it was. You and Daryl had staked your claim on this little corner of civilisation with the same stubborn pride that marked every other piece of your shared life.

You padded toward it with a soft shuffle, your bare legs prickling with goosebumps from the morning chill. The hem of your white vest skimmed the tops of your thighs, and with your underwear barely peeking beneath it. The fabric clung slightly from the night’s sweat and body heat, translucent in places, but you didn’t care. Modesty wasn’t your strong suit, and Daryl had a point; if anything, this was overdressed for you as far as pyjamas go.

You reached the sink first, hands bracing against the cool metal rim as you leaned over it and twisted the knob. Water sputtered out, lukewarm and a little rusty coloured, but passable.

Daryl lingered behind you, eyeing your figure with the weary reverence of a man who had absolutely no business wanting you again this early in the morning, but who very much did.

“Move over,” he muttered eventually, stepping up behind you and squeezing your ass.

You didn’t move. Not an inch. If he thought that would do the trick, he had another thing coming.

“I was here first,” you said flatly, cupping water into your hands and splashing it onto your face. Droplets ran down your neck and into your shirt, and you didn’t even flinch.

Daryl pressed in closer, all warm and clean sweat, his hips brushing your backside as he reached blindly around you for the bar of soap. “Yer not even brushing yet. That’s stallin’.”

“It’s a ritual,” you mumbled through another splash. “A sacred, meditative rite. You barging in with your apocalypse man musk is disrespectful.”

He snorted, setting his toothbrush down on the edge of the sink with a little too much force. “The hell does that mean?”

You straightened slowly, turning toward him with a dripping face and narrowed eyes. “It’s that thing where you smell like blood, motor oil, and sex.”

He stared at you. Then shrugged. “Ain’t heard you complain.”

You reached blindly for the towel, but he already had it in his hand. You grabbed it anyway, resulting in a brief, quiet struggle as you both held onto the same fraying cloth, locked in the world’s dumbest game of tug-of-war.

“I need this more than you do,” you hissed, swiping at your face with a corner of the towel.

“I got shit in my beard,” he grunted, yanking it toward him. “Lemme wipe first.”

“You don’t even look in the mirror.”

“‘xactly. So how’m I supposed to know what’s on my face?”

You rolled your eyes so hard it hurt and relinquished the towel with the grace of a martyr, turning your back to him again and resuming your sacred splash ritual. Behind you, Daryl muttered something about soap rationing and stealing all the warm water, but you ignored it. The sink hissed and coughed like a dying animal.

And somehow, none of it felt inconvenient. Just part of the rhythm.

You both reached for the shared toothbrush cup—two brushes, one chipped mug—and smacked his hand away gently when he reached for his first.

“I’ve got seniority.”

“You’re younger than me.”

“Exactly. My gums still work.”

That earned you a soft grunt and a barely-there grin as he snatched his toothbrush from the cup in spite of you. Your toothbrush moved lazily between your lips, your hair falling forward as you bent to spit into the sink. Water splashed against your vest, and you didn’t seem to notice—or care. Daryl noticed. God, did he notice.

Just when he thought you were done and about to get ready that’s when 

you decided, quite unrepentantly, that you weren’t. You stood just to the side, lips pursed, tugging a scavenged plastic comb through your tangled hair. The comb had seen better days—half the teeth were crooked, a few were broken entirely—but it got the job done. Kind of. Slowly. Painfully. With lots of dramatic sighing, cursing, and a little bit of praying.

You leaned in close to the metal mirror, still foggy from your earlier splashfest, peering at your reflection as if it might reveal some great cosmic truth. Your arm lifted high over your head to angle the comb through the back, vest rising with the motion, exposing a sliver of skin at your waist and the elastic band of your underwear—his favorite pair, not that he was about to say that again.

Daryl spit into the sink, wiped his mouth on the towel you’d so generously surrendered, then glanced sideways at you as you flipped your hair over and began working on the other side like a woman possessed.

He cleared his throat. Loudly. Then again. 

You ignored him, running the comb through again with all the solemn intensity of a war general preparing for battle.

So he coughed again. Louder this time.

You glanced up at him through your hair, mouth still foamy, looking at him through the mirror. “You good?”

“You done?” he said quickly, voice rough with sleep and barely-concealed amusement, “You already had your turn. Ain’t like you gotta impress anybody out there.”

"Maybe I'm looking for your replacement," you said, not even lookig at him as you were so fixated on detangling your hair.

He shook his head, not even reacting to your dig because of how ridiculous it was, and he knew it. "You look fine,” he muttered, like it wasn’t a trap, like he wasn’t walking straight into the meat grinder. He reached for your hips, nudging you to the side with the kind of half-hearted firmness that said he already knew he was about to get slapped. “Now move over.”

You turned to face him fully, slowly, arms falling to your sides in the heavy, deliberate silence of a woman preparing to wage emotional warfare. “Fine?” you echoed, incredulous. “I look fine?”

He froze mid-motion, toothbrush limp in his hand, the exact expression that bloomed across his face told you everything you needed to know: he’d stepped on the landmine, and it was already too late to run.

“…Shit,” he said.

Your eyes narrowed, chin lifting as you crossed your arms with the dignity of a queen betrayed. “You know what? Keep my underwear. Treasure them. Sleep with them under your pillow. I hope they keep you warm, because it is officially the last time you are ever seeing any of mine.”

He tossed his toothbrush into the cup with a clatter, already bracing. “Didn’t mean it like that, c’mon now—”

“Said what you said, Dixon,” you shot back, taking a single step backward, smirk twitching at the corners of your mouth as you stared him down. “Say hi to your celibacy era for me.”

His gaze narrowed, hands falling to his hips, the corner of his mouth lifting despite himself. “Oh yeah? Well, that’s a real damn shame.”

You had barely a second to register the shift in his stance before he lunged, one arm hooking tight around your waist while the other snuck beneath your raised elbow with unsettling precision, his fingers zeroing in on the soft, traitorous patch of skin just beneath your ribs.

A shriek tore out of you before you could stop it, your entire body convulsing with laughter as you twisted and kicked, trying desperately to escape the onslaught, but Daryl only followed, relentless, grinning like the devil himself as he worked his fingers down your sides and under your arm, every touch landing like a spark against kindling.

“Daryl!” you gasped, voice ragged with breathless laughter as you stumbled back against the bunk. “You asshole! OK, I take it back, I take it back—”

“Too late,” he said, utterly unrepentant, his grip tightening just enough to keep you in place without hurting. “Said I don’t get to see nothin’ no more. Made your bed sweetheart.”

You tried to fight back, aiming a loose elbow at his ribs, but he caught your wrist with ease and spun you in with a fluid, practiced motion, pinning you to his chest with both arms wrapped low around your waist. You were flushed and heaving, hair sticking to your face, the thin white vest clinging to your skin where sweat and laughter had soaked through.

Then, without warning, he bent slightly at the knees, hooked an arm behind your thighs, and lifted you clean off the ground in one smooth motion, slinging you up and over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

You yelped in protest, legs kicking wildly, hands thudding against his back as he adjusted his grip.

“Daryl! Put me down!”

“Sink’s free now,” he said with infuriating calm, and punctuated it by delivering a firm, resounding smack to your ass as he crossed the cell.

“Asshole!” you shouted, trying and failing to sound outraged as you squirmed, your hair falling in your face and your thighs tightening around his shoulder more for balance than in protest.

He dumped you onto the lower bunk with surprising gentleness, manoeuvring easily despite the cramped space and your flailing limbs. You landed in a graceless sprawl across the mattress, still laughing, your vest askew and your underwear flashing like a flag of defeat as you glared up at him.

He just shook his head, already turning back toward the sink, his voice low and maddeningly pleased. 

You groaned, flopping backwards into the cot. “I hate you.”

He chuckled under his breath, toothbrush finally retrieved, and leaned over the sink like nothing had happened at all.

He came back without a word, crouching low between your legs where you sat half-sprawled on the bunk, still tangled in the blanket you’d refused to surrender. His arms looped back around your waist, like gravity hadn’t quite settled yet and he needed the contact to remind him where you were. His forehead brushed lightly against your sternum through the thin fabric of your vest, and for a second, all he did was breathe you in. His hands were warm against your lower back, fingers idly curling like he hadn’t decided whether he was holding you or anchoring himself.

You didn’t lean into him straight away, but you didn’t pull back either. One hand drifted lazily into his hair, brushing through the ends without thinking. The quiet was cozy, familiar. So when his voice broke through it, low and cautious, it felt less like an apology and more like a peace offering.

“You still mad?”

You tilted your head, unimpressed. “I’m not mad.”

His brow twitched like he didn’t quite buy that.

You let your fingers trail down the nape of his neck and sighed. “Wouldn’t kill you to say something nice every once in a while, though.”

He shifted against you, just a little. “I do,” he defended, voice slughtly quieter. That earned him a look. Really? that's what your face said.

He squinted, visibly uncomfortable now, and rubbed the back of his neck. “You’re always starin’ in that damn mirror. Why I gotta remind you you’re beautiful when you should already know? You got eyes, dontcha?”

You blinked. Then squinted like you weren’t sure you heard him right.

“Did you just—” you sat up straighter, grinning, “—call me beautiful?”

His mouth tightened immediately. “No.”

“You so did.”

“Ya misheard.”

“Daryl Dixon,” you said, hand pressed to your chest, mock-gasping. “I don’t know whether to faint or propose.”

He tried to pull away, grumbling something under his breath, but you caught his arm and hauled him back into your space, laughing as you dragged him down beside you on the bunk.

He took in the lazy sprawl of you—bare legs, bare arms, hair wild and falling in every direction, vest clinging damp to your stomach and slightly translucent now where the morning light caught it. The fabric hung low around the neck, slipping just enough to expose the upper swell of your chest.

That’s when he saw it.

A small, blooming shadow of purple just beneath your collarbone—faint but unmistakable. A bruise in the shape of his mouth. One he’d left there last night, pressed into your skin with the heat of want and the low thrum of mine echoing through his chest. He hadn’t meant for it to mark, but now that it had—now that he saw it standing out so clearly against your soft, flushed skin—he couldn’t seem to look away.

That was his.

You were his.

The thought hit him harder than it should’ve. Not possessive like he owned you, but possessive like he got to have you. In this moment, in this place, when the whole world was still falling apart outside, he got this. You, sprawled out in your underwear, half-smiling and hair tangled and teasing him like it was your calling. No one else got to see this version of you. Just him.

Something in his chest ached sweet and deep. He raised his hand slowly to your vest, pulling it down slightly to get a better look at it.

“What?” you asked softly, blinking at him.

He didn’t answer right away. Just tilted his head, eyes tracing the hickey he’d left behind.

You looked down, following his gaze to where the hickey bloomed faintly in the centre of your chest, wegded betweenyour boobs. When you glanced back up at him, there was a flicker of smugness behind your sleepy eyes.

“You got a bit of drool there, babe,” you teased, your voice gentler now, curious.

His tongue flicked across his bottom lip, like he was chewing on a thought he didn’t know how to say out loud.

“Didn’t know I left a mark s’all,” he muttered, voice low and a little rough.

You grinned at him like the devil herself. “Why, Dixon. You embarrassed?”

His fingers flexed slightly against your waist, eyes lifting to meet yours. “Nah,” he said. And he wasn’t. Not even a little. “Just… looks good on ya.”

You raised your eyebrows at that: “I look good with bruises?”

Daryl’s jaw shifted as if he might try to explain it, then gave up. His thumb brushed lightly over your hip, his voice quiet, almost casual.

“Weren’t tryin’ to. I dunno just… kinda like knowin’ it’s there.”

There was no heat in the way he said it—not yet. Just that dry honesty he always carried, slight shyness also, like anything softer might get stuck on the way out. But it was there in the way his eyes lingered on you now. In the way his hand stayed against your waist, grounding himself like you might float off if he didn’t.

And maybe that’s why your chest tightened the way it did.

“Well,” you said, trying for playful but already sinking into breathlessness, “maybe I’ll let you leave another one.”

His mouth quirked—barely. But his hand tightened at your hip.

“…That an invitation?” he asked, tone low and careful.

You lifted a hand to the back of his neck, tugged gently. “Not exactly subtle, was it?”

He didn’t say anything—and he didn’t have to. That look he gave you, unwavering and quiet, said enough. You’d seen it before, thousands of times before.

You leaned into him instinctively, that touch, that heat. Your lips twitched, barely holding back a grin, and your eyes lifted just as his dropped. He was close enough now that your exhales mingled, breath shared in the stillness, and though neither of you moved quite yet, the space between your mouths tightened—so much that when you smiled again, your nose brushed his.

He didn’t kiss you. Not yet.

He just waited there, calm and heavy with anticipation, like the choice had always been yours.

You grinned fully now, letting the weight of it pull across your cheeks. The sight of him kneeling in front of you like that—hands at your waist, forehead nearly touching yours—struck something warm in your gut. It was stupid how solid he looked like that, like every inch of him was wound up and waiting, held back only by the rough pads of his fingers curling a little tighter against your ribs.

So you leaned in and gave him a kiss. Just a peck. Teasing. A pull-and-retreat that barely skimmed his mouth. He huffed against your lips, exasperated and fond all at once, and when you did it again—one more kiss, just as brief—his hand shifted to the back of your head.

This time, when he kissed you, it wasn't quick.

It was heat and hunger pressed tight, the sound of your breath swallowed into his mouth, his palm cradling your skull as if to keep you still, keep you close, keep you his. Your fingers found the front of his shirt, curling tight in the fabric without even thinking, and your thighs parted around his hips without instruction, just an instinct you hadn’t even registered until he was nudging forward between them.

And still, he didn’t rush. He kissed you like it was the first time again—like the taste of your mouth was something to memorise all over.

But then his tongue slid against yours and your pulse kicked in your throat, and something beneath your skin began to fray, unraveling in soft waves of want.

You’d meant to keep brushing your hair.

You’d meant to start the day.

Instead, your legs spread wider, inviting him in without a word, he shifted forward, body crowding yours as he hovered, one forearm braced beside your hip on the mattress, the other tracing up your ribs, dragging the hem of your vest as he went. His mouth never left yours. His breath was hot and open and endless against your lips, and you felt the exact moment he was about to climb over you completely—

And then you moved.

Your hand slid down to his chest and gave a push—not to stop him, but to turn the tide. You rolled over with him, legs locking around his waist with practiced ease as you did so. Your knees anchored on either side of his thighs, hips snug against his lap, and his hands flew straight to your waist like magnets. That look on his face—the flicker of surprise, the punch of hunger—made the move worth it every time.

He chuckled low against your lips, grinning now as your forehead rested against his.

You kissed him again, longer now, deeper, letting your hips shift against his with slow, aching pressure that made his fingers tighten at your sides. His hands slid beneath your vest, calloused palms dragging up your back as if he had been waiting to do that ever since the last time he did so. You barely noticed when your breath hitched again, or when your body tilted forward, chasing more of him.

“Weren’t you supposed to be on watch this morning?” you murmured against his lips, the words half-laughed, half-mumbled, your arms winding around his neck like you had no real intention of letting him go.

Daryl didn’t answer right away. He just kissed you again with more intensity, hand gripping your waist as if you were water.

“Dunno what you’re talkin’ about,” he muttered in between kisses, voice rough like gravel and sleep and something a little more dangerous.

You huffed into his mouth, the sound shaky with a breath you hadn’t realized you were holding. “Liar,” you whispered, though your voice didn’t have a single ounce of conviction left in it.

He grunted something close to a laugh—just breath, really—tugging at your vest. Yeah, this has gotta go. You raised your arms as he slipped your vest off for you. With your nipples now exposed to the chill of the air, they naturally pebbled, making the man lick his lips without even thinking.  Jesus Christ.

You chuckled at the gesture, quiet and breathless, head tipping back as his lips chased down the column of your neck, your breath hitching the second he found that blooming mark again—barely healed, already deepening beneath his mouth.

Your hips shifted, just a little, enough to make him groan into your skin like it physically hurt not to take it further.

He leaned forward and kiss the center of your chest, right above the stuttering thump of your heart, his mouth hot and open and there as his hands slid higher to cup your breasts completely, the weight of his palms grounding you in the kind of safety that felt terrifying.

Finally, he reached your nipple, tongue flicking against it, slow and deliberate. You gasped—not because it was sudden, but because it was real, because it sent a bolt of heat between your legs and your whole body clenched without thinking, because the air around you didn’t feel still anymore, it felt charged, like the room had shrunk to just your breath and his and the way his teeth scraped lightly over your skin before his mouth closed around it and sucked.

. His mouth moved slowly, worshipfully, lips dragging to the other side of your chest where he left another bruise, this one lower, darker, the kind of mark you’d still feel days from now and remember exactly how it got there.

And then he kissed the center of your sternum again. Pressed his forehead there like he needed a second to breathe—like the weight of you, half-naked and trembling in his lap, was something he had to hold with both hands or risk dropping completely. You felt the scrape of his stubble against your skin, the heat of his breath fanning over the dip between your breasts as he inhaled deep through his nose and just stayed there for a moment, unmoving, like you were anchoring him to the earth.

His hands were still cupped around your breasts, thumbs stroking slowly across your skin, circling the peaks until they stood tight and aching, the tender friction shooting down your spine like a live wire. He dipped his head again, mouthed at the soft flesh where a bruise was already forming, and suckled lazily—barely any pressure, just enough heat and drag to make your legs tighten where they bracketed his hips, the soft cotton of your underwear clinging damp against you now, useless at this point, soaked with your own need.

The light was slanting through the barred window and the slit in between the curtains and the wall, carving your bodies in pale gold strip and soft shadow, catching on the edge of your collarbone, the curve of your waist, the toning of your abdomen, the fullness of your breasts, the fine hairs on your arm that rose with every brush of his breath. His mouth was open just slightly, lips pink and kiss-bruised, his chest rising beneath you in slow, uneven waves, and you felt it all—every tremor, every shiver, every inch of heat soaked through the thin cotton between your thighs.

Your body had already begun to move without thinking, hips shifting just enough to feel the pressure of him beneath you, not in some deliberate, practiced rhythm, but something softer and more helpless, like the tide coming in, like the ache of touch that couldn’t be undone. His hands steadied you instinctively, fingers tightening at your hips, but there was no dominance in it—no claim. Just contact. Just the grounding ache between you.

Your skin was molten hot where his mouth had already left new bruises blooming along the curve of your neck and across the top and underside of your breasts. You hadn’t even realised how many until he paused to admire them—thumb brushing beneath one with lustful focus, eyes darker than you’d ever seen them in daylight.

“Think I’m startin’ a damn collection,” he muttered, more to himself than to you, his voice hoarse with something unshaped—part awe, part possession, part disbelief that he got to have you like this. He didn’t mean to be greedy. But fuck, it was hard not to be.

You didn’t answer. You just smiled, dazed and blissed and arching softly into his touch, your hips rolling against him with the kind of slow, idle rhythm that wasn’t meant to tease. You were just following instinct, your need humming low and constant, body aching to stay close, to sink into him in every way. You could feel him beneath you, hard and straining in his jeans, and it made you clench on nothing without thinking, made your fingers grip his shoulder and the railing above even tighter just to stay anchored.

“You’re starin’,” you whispered, breath catching when he kissed just below your collarbone again, slower this time, more deliberate. His hand skimmed up your side and cupped your breast, thumb brushing over the peak with maddening softness.

“Can ya blame me?” he grunted into your skin.

Fair enough. You sighed, head falling back as his mouth followed the curve of your breast, his tongue flicking lazily over a spot that made your back arch and your thighs tense around him.

He loved it. The way you looked like this—wild and soft and his—your skin flushed and glowing in the early light, your hair a mess, your breath trembling every time he touched you like you still couldn’t quite believe it was real. And no one else saw you like this. No one else would. That thought did something to him—something feral and fragile all at once.

You murmured something he didn’t quite catch, too far gone in your haze, still absently grinding against him like your body was chasing something without permission.

You were panting—quiet, breathless, not from exertion but from being undone, from every careful, unhurried touch, the way his mouth moved like he had all morning. And when he slipped one hand down—down your belly, past the twitching skin of your navel, across the waistband of your panties, you didn’t speak. You didn’t breathe. You just let him.

Because of course you did.

Because it was him.

His fingers curled over the elastic. He paused. Just barely. And you nodded—just once, barely enough to be seen, but more than enough for him to feel it.

His hand slipped inside.

The first drag of his knuckles against your slick heat made you shudder, made your hips rock helplessly into his palm like your body didn’t belong to you anymore. He groaned into your chest, low and guttural, his free hand gripping the back of your thigh to steady you, to keep you open for him as his fingers slid through the wetness between your folds, slow and careful, the pads of them circling your clit like he was testing pressure, trying to find exactly what made you twitch.

You bit down on your lower lip, head falling forward into his hair, your hands fisting in the fabric at his shoulders as he teased you in slow, gliding strokes, his mouth never leaving your breasts. He alternated between soft kisses and hot, sucking pulls that made your toes curl and your pulse stutter, and all the while, his hand worked you open with maddening patience—never too fast, never too much. Just steady. Just there.

His index finger slid down, pressed at your entrance, then slipped in so easily it made your whole body flinch forward. You let out a broken, whispered sound against his ear, too overwhelmed to name it, your forehead pressed hard to his temple now as your walls clenched around him, trying to pull him deeper. He didn’t push. Not yet. Just eased the finger into the knuckle and let you feel it—let you feel the fullness, the stretch, the dizzying throb of being touched right, being touched by him.

You whimpered his name then—not loud, but so full of breath and ache that it barely made it out whole. His thumb pressed back to your clit, moving in lazy, perfect circles now as he curled the finger inside you, and you swore you saw stars behind your eyes even though they were still open, still locked onto the side of his face where his jaw was clenched and his cheeks were flushed and his lips were wet with you.

He added a second finger.

You gasped, louder this time, hips jerking against him, the heat mounting now in thick waves from your thighs to your chest to the back of your neck, and the only thing grounding you was his iron grip on your hip and the rough rhythm of his breath against your chest.

Your brain was so foggy that you felt your balance sway dangerously backwards, your body immediately tensing up in response.

“‘S alrigh',” he rasped, his free arm wrapping around your back to keep you upright. “Just relax baby, I gotcha.”

You nodded again, but the motion was messy, unfocused, your head lolling against his shoulder as he fucked you with his fingers—slow and deep and so gentle it made tears sting behind your eyes, because it wasn’t about getting off, it wasn’t about friction—it was just about you. About how you looked in his lap, how you felt around his hand, how your legs trembled and your back arched and your skin flushed pink under his mouth.

And it could’ve gone on forever like that.

You could’ve come just like this, in his arms, his fingers inside you, his mouth against your chest, the world held at bay behind that thin curtain and the soft light streaming across the cell block from the barred window and onto your slick body.

“Ahh,” you breathed into him, voice quiet and hazy, already coming apart in the way your body arched and trembled. “Baby, I’m gonna—”

You didn’t need to finish. He could feel it in the way your hips bucked helplessly into his hand, chasing every slow, curling drag of his fingers like the last pull of a tide before it broke. You reached for the bunk railing overhead, fingers gripping tight, knuckles white as your thighs tensed and your head tipped back with a whimper, eyes squeezing shut like they always do in these moments. It was right there—just on the edge—your orgasm blooming in slow, molten waves, so close it made your very bones shake.

And then—

The curtain snapped open.

Light poured in like a slap.

“Hey, you up—”

The voice didn’t even finish before your body locked up with a full-body jolt, the breath in your lungs stalling into a raw, guttural gasp. Your thighs clamped tight around Daryl’s hips, arms flying instinctively to cover your chest as your whole body recoiled—not from him, but from the sudden spotlight. 

You turned sharply away from the doorway, the instinct to hide stronger than the lingering crest of pleasure still rippling through you. But it was too late. Nick had already seen. Everything. Your body bare, flush and glistening, your chest heaving and exposed. He’d seen your mouth open, your face scrunched with pleasure, your spine arched, Daryl’s hand shoved in your underwear as if it paid rent.

Daryl’s hand vanished from your body in an instant, the sudden absence a cruel echo that left your core aching and empty. His entire frame went rigid against you, then he moved. Fast. Fuming. Protective.

The orgasm didn’t stop, but it didn’t land, either—not fully. Not the way it would’ve been if Daryl had helped you through it like usual. Instead, it frayed at the edges like torn fabric, ripped away before it could crest, your entire system crashing into a jagged, breathless shock that left you clinging to Daryl's shirt, mouth open but silent, eyes slammed shut against the flood of adrenaline.

Daryl immediately reached for the nearest blanket the second Nick’s voice came, pulling it over your back in one fluid motion, tucking you in and pressing your body flat to his chest with an arm like a vice. You didn’t fight it. Couldn’t. You curled in, breath ragged and skin burning, burying your red face against him as the last remnants of your kind-of orgasm sputtered out in a broken stutter of sensation that made your eyes sting.

Nick was frozen, like a deer in headlights, one hand half-raised, eyes wide with horrified realisation. He hadn’t meant to—but he had. He’d seen it all. And from the way he stood there, slack-jawed and stammering, it wasn’t just embarrassment. It was pure horror for what came next.

“I—I didn’t know, I swear—I didn’t mean—”

“Get the fuck out!” Daryl yelled, his voice booming not just around your cell but echoing throughout the entire cell block. Hell, the entire prison.

Nick backed up with hands raised, bumping into the wall as he scrambled for the curtain, muttering apologies. And Daryl was already moving.

He lowered you gently, but quickly, onto the mattress like you were glass, hurriedly smoothing the blanket across your hips, making sure your body was covered. Then he stood and was out the door in a flash.

You didn’t look after him. You couldn’t. Not yet. You stayed curled on your side, blanket pulled tight to your chest, one arm tucked under your head as your body tried to come back to itself. The tension still thrummed in your legs like a broken wire, the pleasure unfinished, twisted into something raw and hollow by the intrusion. You blinked, mouth open but dry, breath catching in your throat as you forced yourself to inhale slowly, once, then again.

The sound of the commotion had already begun to ripple through the cellblock as Nick stumbled backwards—hands up, voice tripping over apologies—but there was nowhere to go. The catwalk he stood on ended in cold cement and locked gates. And Daryl was already on him.

His boots were heavy and echoing across the metal grates as he charged the younger man like a goddamn freight train. Nick barely had time to yelp before Daryl slammed his body into the wall with a forearm across his throat, the force of it reverberating through the prison’s ribcage like a warning bell.

“The fuck you doin’ walkin’ into her cell without even knockin’, huh?” Daryl snarled, face so close to Nick’s their noses almost touched. “The hell is wrong with you?”

“I didn’t mean to—I swear, I thought she was alone—”

To the man’s defence, you weren’t the most obvious couple. You didn’t cling to each other in public, didn’t make a show of affection in the hallways or at the dinner tables. What you had with Daryl existed in the quiet, private spaces— at most, his hand would brush your lower back when no one was looking. The immediate group knew, of course. They’d seen the arc of your relationship unfold from awkward glances to something that now resembled an old married couple. But the newer arrivals—like Nick, the jittery Woodbury recruit now backed up against the wall—didn’t know that until now.

“Should kill ya right here for how you just stood there gawkin’ at her.”

Daryl’s voice cracked through the air like a whip—rough, furious, and loud enough to bounce off the cement walls. It was more volume than most had ever heard from him, and it sent a ripple through the cellblock. Cells opened. Soft footsteps padded out onto the catwalk, tentative and tense. Glenn was the first to appear, eyes wide and alert. Carol followed close behind, tying her jacket as she squinted against the morning light. Rick came next—jaw tight, always ready to defuse a spark before it ignited into wildfire. Hershel moved slower, his crutches tapping softly with each purposeful step.

They didn’t need an explanation. One look was enough.

Nick stood frozen, hands half-raised in pitiful surrender, face pale and clammy. Daryl’s chest was heaving with fury, shoulders tense like a bowstring, fingers clenched in the man's shirt. The curtain that served as your only barrier to privacy now hung limply off one hook—torn aside, half-draped, revealing too much.

And then there was you, peeking out from the doorway to see if Daryl had killed Nick yet, blanket hastily pulled around you, flushed cheeks, and hair tousled from sleep and sex and sudden humiliation. You didn’t speak. You didn’t have to. Just the sight of you—half-shielded, lips parted in shock, fingers curled tight around the blanket—was enough explanation for the group. Nick had walked in on the two of you.

Glenn had already started moving, trying to intercept, hands raised in that well-practiced pacifying gesture. “Hey—hey, Daryl. C’mon. We get it, alright? Let’s all just breathe.”

Carol lingered, watching carefully. Rick edged down the stairs with quiet authority, his voice low but firm. “Daryl. It’s done. Let it go.”

But he wasn’t listening. Not really. He couldn’t. Not over the roar in his ears.

And then—

“Daryl.”

Your voice wasn’t loud, but it was enough. It cut through the heat in his veins like a sudden drop in pressure, slicing through the crimson haze behind his eyes and tethering him back to where he was, what he was doing, who he was doing it for. His hand remained fisted in the fabric of Nick’s shirt, shoulders still heaving as adrenaline roared against his ribs, but something in your tone made him turn. No panic. No fear. Just that grounded steadiness he always came back to.

You were standing in the narrow archway of your cell, blanket pulled tight under your arms, your bare shoulders kissed by the dull morning light filtering in through the high-set windows. You didn’t look angry. You didn’t even look embarrassed. You just looked at him — like you always did — with something calm, something knowing, something that stopped him in his tracks harder than any voice ever could.

His jaw flexed once, then again, and without another word he shoved Nick back against the wall one final time — not with the intent to injure, but enough to make him feel how close he’d come. Nick's eyes were wide and wild, lips stammering silent nothings, and though Daryl didn’t speak again, the way he looked at him was enough to bury a warning deep in his bones. Then he turned his back on him completely, like the matter had been settled.

Daryl was on you in three long strides, his movements fast but careful, eyes sweeping you head to toe like he needed to confirm you were still whole. One hand clutched the edge of the blanket where it had begun to slip, steadying it with a firm tug, while the other hovered just above your hip, not quite touching yet—like he was trying to ask without words if he could. You didn’t answer, but you didn’t have to. Your body leaned forward instinctively, and that was all the permission he needed.

He wrapped around you without hesitation, arms bracketing your frame with a kind of protectiveness that felt almost feral. The blanket was still clutched in his fist, but the rest of him was solid warmth and muscle and motion as he tucked you into his chest, blocking you from view as a dozen sleepy, confused faces began to gather at the edge of the catwalk.

It wasn’t a big crowd. A handful of people—ten, maybe twelve—most of them in half-buttoned shirts and mismatched socks, blinking against the light and murmuring to each other, eyes flicking between Nick and Daryl, taking in the image of Daryl using his body to shield you from onlookers with dawning realisation. But it was certainly enough people to make Daryl’s jaw tighten. Enough to make his grip on the blanket hitch a little higher as he folded his arms tighter around your shoulders, like he could physically shield you from the shame of exposure by sheer force of will.

He looked over his shoulder sharply, eyes finding Rick’s without needing to speak. And Rick, sharp as ever, read him immediately.

“Alright,” Rick called, firm and clipped, stepping forward with both hands raised. “Notin’ to see here, people. Go on.”

There was a shuffle of movement—Glenn lingering, motioning for people to go back to their cells before returning to his and Maggie's, Carol giving you a look that hovered somewhere between sympathy and secondhand mortification. Hershel dipped his head politely and turned away, muttering to Nick about lessons on knocking before entering a bedroom shared by a man and a woman.

“You alright?” he murmured, voice raw now, cracked and stripped down. His hands came up to frame your face, thumbs brushing your cheeks, eyes scanning your features like he was checking for damage.

You exhaled a laugh that sounded more like an adrenaline dump. “Mortified, actually. Thanks for asking.”

The response didn’t ease him. Not completely. He gently ushered you further into your cell, away from leering eyes. The curtain whispered closed behind him, the soft slide of fabric shutting out the gawking neighbours and early morning whispers. For a moment, it was quiet—just the two of you in the dimly lit cell, breathing like the air had been knocked out of the room. You stood there in the middle of the cell, still wrapped in the blanket, one shoulder slipping bare as your hand clutched the edge tighter. Daryl hovered a few steps in front of you, all tense jaw and twitching hands, like his body hadn’t decided whether to fight or flee. He didn’t speak. Didn’t look you in the eye. He just stepped closer and reached out, tugging the blanket up where it had slipped, smoothing the fold down along your arm like it would make any difference at all.

His other hand had already begun tugging at the top edge of the blanket, fussing with the way it dipped too low near your chest, adjusting it like a man trying to erase what happened with nothing but his bare palms. You didn’t stop him. You just let him fiddle, watching the pinch in his brow deepen as his mind spun somewhere behind his silence.

He didn’t stop there. His fingers adjusted the corner near your hip, then fixed the hem where it hung uneven, then went back to your shoulder again—as if rearranging a blanket could undo the fact that someone else had seen you like this. You let him, watching with wide eyes and an incredulous twist tugging at the corner of your mouth, until you couldn’t take it anymore.

“Soooo,” you drawled, voice still airy with leftover adrenaline as you tugged the blanket higher across your chest, “that was horrifying.”

Daryl didn’t answer. His jaw flexed, teeth clenched so tight you could hear it grind beneath the silence. His hands were still hovering like they couldn’t decide whether to let go of the fabric or just bury themselves in it forever. He looked everywhere—your face, the blanket, the wall behind you—like there wasn’t a single spot in the cell that didn’t piss him off.

You cocked your head, hoping humor would crack the tension. “You mad?”

He scoffed, breath sharp through his nose. “The hell you think?”

“Jeez, just checking,” you muttered. “Didn’t exactly leave much room for nuance.”

He dragged a hand down his face, then gestured vaguely toward the door like it still burned. “You were naked. And that little shit just walked in.”

“Yeah, I remember,” you said with a dry little nod. “I was kind of there. Mid-thing, too, if you recall.”

His head jerked toward you like you’d slapped him.

“What?” you said, raising your eyebrows innocently. “You think I go around flashing these on the daily?”

His nostrils flared when you gestured to your breasts, and that vein in his temple did a little jig.

You softened, just a little. “Honestly? I’m surprised it didn’t happen sooner. We’re living in a prison, babe. Privacy’s basically a myth at this point. Like… dragons. Or chocolate.”

“Don’t make it okay,” he muttered, voice quiet but tighter than barbed wire. It sounded like it physically pained him to say the words.

“No, it doesn’t. But it doesn’t make it some grand tragedy either. It just… happened. I mean it was bound to, we've been playing russian roulette with that curtain ever since we put it up.”

You reached out and brushed his wrist with your fingertips, and he flinched—not like you’d burned him, but like the ease of your touch made him feel worse. Like your indifference hurt more than the act itself.

He shook his head slowly. “How are you so... calm? Why ain't you pissed?”

“Why should I be?” you asked, tilting your chin. “Because someone caught a glimpse of the goods?”

He shut his eyes, like he was praying for strength.

You shrugged, every bit of strength in you was focusing on not chuckling at how little resolve he had when it came to you being naked. “They’re just tits, baby.”

His eyes snapped open, and when he spoke, his voice came out raw, rough around the edges and slightly louder than he intended. “They’re your tits!”

The silence that followed was immediate and absolute. His face flushed pink the second it left his mouth, and his eyes dropped to the floor like he’d just confessed something far too big for daylight.

You stared at him, then let out a short laugh. “Did you just yell about my tits?”

He groaned, scrubbing a hand down his face like he wanted to wipe the last ten minutes off the earth. “That’s not—I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Yeah, you kinda did,” you teased gently, and your voice had softened now. “And honestly? I'm flattered.”

“I’m just sayin’…” he started, still not looking at you, “…he saw you like—like how I see you. It's messin' with me”

You stepped forward into the space between you, not that there was much; one hand pressed flat to his chest, you felt the way his heart thudded under your palm, as if it were trying to outrun itself.

“What do you mean?” you asked, quieter now. Softer, as if you were worried he'd pull away at your question.

He shook his head again, rough, like he was trying to shake something off—but then he stopped, hands still at your waist, eyes barely holding to yours. When he spoke, it was low. Quiet. Almost like he didn’t want you to hear it.

“Ain’t about what we were doin'… Ain’t about him, even.”

You stayed still. Let him take his time.

“It’s just—” He huffed through his nose, jaw tight. “Ain’t nobody s’posed to see you like that. Just…”

His lips twitched, like he hated the words even as he said them.

“It’s you,” he muttered. “Don't matter if he only got a look. He don't get to see you like that. But now he has and-”

He shook his head again, eyes burning into yours, jaw working uselessly as if there were more he wanted to say but the words kept failing him.

“It’s like he stole somethin’. Even if he didn't meant ta... I fuckin’ hate it.”

The silence stretched. He wouldn’t look at you now—just stared off down at the floor, like maybe that would make it easier.

“Can’t help it, I just… want you all to myself,” he added, soft and miserable, like he couldn’t believe he’d said it out loud. “I get it's selfish, but I do.”

Your breath caught as the space between you changed—subtle at first, like the temperature shifting just before rain.

"Hey," you said quietly, reaching up and cupping his face so he would finally look at you. "Listen to me, if anyone deserves to be selfish... It's you."

Something in the air softened, thickened with the weight of what hadn’t been said but was suddenly everywhere. Daryl wasn’t angry anymore. Not in the way he’d been before. He just looked overwhelmed, like his body was still catching up to the idea that someone else had witnessed something he thought of as his alone. Something sacred. Yours.

"Yeah, well.." he started, eyes darting about your face, looking for some sign of bogus in your face, but it was to no avail. "I dunno what the hell to do with it."

Your thumbs stroked his jaw, brushing the faintest stubble on his cheeks. His skin was warm under your touch, a little clammy, like he’d been sweating adrenaline ever since the curtain had swept aside.

“Well,” you murmured, keeping your voice light despite the intensity coiling in your chest, “I’ve got some ideas what you can do with all that possessive turmoil.”

One of his brows twitched like he couldn’t quite decide whether you were teasing or trying to disarm him again with jokes. You didn’t clarify. You just leaned back a little, head tilting cockily like this was any other casual morning conversation.

“Option one,” you offered, holding up a hand with mock solemnity, “you keep acting all weird and fidgety until we both die from repressed emotional constipation.”

A faint huff left him, barely audible, but there was a glint in his eye now—something bruised but breathing.

“Option two,” you went on, tapping your finger against his chest with exaggerated flair, “you pull your head outta your ass, accept that your stuck with me, and get over it. No returns. No receipts. Lifetime warranty.”

His lips twitched, just a little, but his posture still screamed conflict. Like he wanted to agree but didn’t trust that he deserved to. His hands stayed where they were—hovering, unsure—until you gave him one more nudge.

“And if all else fails,” you added, tone dropping with playful gravity as your hand slid slowly down his chest, “we just fuck until we forget what all this was about.”

That finally got a proper reaction. His head jerked back a bit, eyes wide with something like horror and hunger rolled into one. His gaze dropped to your mouth, then flicked away almost shyly, like the idea startled him.

“You serious right now?” he muttered, rubbing a hand over his face. Ofcourse you were serious. stupid question.

You grinned, shameless. “I mean, we’ve tried talking. Not sure it’s our strong suit.”

His palm dragged slowly down his face, scrubbing over the tension there, and when he looked at you again, his expression had cracked—just a hairline, but enough to see what was beneath it. Embarrassment. Longing. Something ancient and boyish, like a man who’d never been allowed to want anything and was suddenly terrified he might get it.

“Jesus,” he mumbled. “You’re gonna be the death of me.”

“Definetly,” you said cheerfully, tucking your arms around his waist under the blanket. “But it’ll be a fun funeral.”

He shook his head, but there was no real frustration in it anymore—just something soft and shaking loose. His eyes dropped again, his fingers brushing lightly over your waist as if to make sure you were still there, still his. But the touch didn’t stay tentative for long. Slowly, carefully, he let his hand settle. The blanket shifted with the motion, rustling like leaves, and then he was anchoring himself there—thumb stroking just beneath the hem where skin met cotton.

“Don’t wanna share ya,” he said finally, voice so low you almost missed it beneath the thrum of blood in your ears.

You leaned in, brushing your forehead against his, a quiet exhale warm between your mouths. “You don’t have to. I'm yours. That poor bastard barely survived the first glance. I doubt he’s gonna risk another.”

I'm yours. Yourds rang though his head like some symphony. A shaky breath left him then—not quite a laugh, not quite a sigh—and for the first time since the two of you had been rudely interrupted, some of the iron in his shoulders melted. He rested his brow against yours, hands still firm on your waist like he could keep you his if he just held tight enough.

“Still wanna kill him,” he grumbled, but it sounded more passive than a threat now.

“I know,” you whispered. “But maybe, and just humour me here, how about you… don’t do that.”

His second hand found its way under the blanket, mirroring the first. They weren’t possessive now—just grounding, warm, holding onto something real and alive. You. The moment. Whatever this fragile, messy thing between you had become.

“I’m putting up a sign next time,” he muttered.

You smiled, lips brushing his as you laughed. “Make it big and bold. Maybe add some barbed wire. Paint it bright red n' write ‘If the bunk’s rockin’, y’all best keep walkin'."

He chuckled finally, and this time, when he looked at you, there was no doubt left. No shame. No fear. Just a quiet sort of awe.

His fingers slid up, slow and reverent, tracing the edge of your jaw before curling behind your neck. His touch was rough and gentle all at once, like he didn’t know how to separate the two anymore.

“You’re mine,” he said, not as a demand, but as a confession. Almost like he needed your permission to believe it. As if he were finally coming to terms with it.

You kissed him then—not hard, not fast, but with every ounce of conviction he couldn’t find the words for. “Damn straight,” you breathed into the space between your mouths.

And this time, he didn’t argue. He just held you, as if he finally understood he was meant to.

The kiss was soft at first—slow, anchoring, the kind that hummed low in your chest and made you forget the concrete beneath your feet. His lips brushed yours like they were still apologizing, still making up for every second of distance that had come before. But as always with Daryl, tenderness had a half-life. One moment you were breathing him in through the hush between your mouths, and the next, you were drowning in him.

His mouth took yours deeper, hungrier. Your fingers curled around the fabric at his chest, just to keep yourself upright. The air shifted. Got hotter. Thicker.

It wasn’t fast—god, no. It was glacial in how it climbed, in how his mouth slanted over yours again and again, each kiss drawing more from you than the last, each inhale like it had to be shared. The blanket still clung around your body, wrapped tightly from the earlier debacle, but you could feel it slipping, the tremor in your stomach, the twitch of your thighs under it, every time he exhaled against your lips. Every time his tongue traced the inside of your mouth, like he already knew what you were about to say.

Which, unfortunately, you were about to have to prove.

You pulled back slightly, just a breath apart, his forehead resting against yours. You tried to find your voice, but it came out softer than you’d meant—slightly strained also, like you were trying not to cringe at how needy you felt asking this.

“Hey… u…”

Daryl didn’t move, didn’t blink. Just watched you, eyes heavy-lidded, mouth parted, like he was enjoying the view of you struggling to speak more than anything else in the world. That smug, knowing bastard.

You tried again, clearing your throat and pressing your palm against his chest. “So… do you think we might, maybe… I mean, only if you want to… It’s just that earlier, y’know, we kinda got cut off—”

His brow arched slightly, but he didn’t interrupt.

“—and I just… I didn’t exactly, um… get to finish. And you’ve got like—ten minutes or something before watch so I figured we could maybe…”

He still didn’t speak. Didn’t back away. Just stared you down like you were the last meal left on earth, his lips twitching with amusement. Meanwhile, his hand tugged slowly at the top hem of your blanket—just a gentle pull, barely enough to shift it, but enough to send a bolt of heat down your spine. You faltered. Completely.

“I mean,” you blurted, flustered, “we don’t have to. Not if you don’t want to. I just thought maybe if you weren’t doing anything right now or—”

His voice came low, slow, dangerously husky. “I don't now actually. Why dontcha just ask me?”

You blinked. “Huh?”

You felt you were being painstakingly clear in what you were suggesting, but apparently, he was too slow. That or he was being an ass and wanted you to say it. Definitely the latter.

His hand paused at the end of your blanket, dragging it up a fraction, knuckles grazing your thigh. His smirk deepened. “Ain’t followin’, sweetheart. Whatcha want?”

You narrowed your eyes. He was enjoying this. That bastard. The teasing, the way you could barely string together a sentence around him—he was soaking it up.

Ok. have it his way

You tilted your chin, let your mouth fall into an exaggerated pout. “Y’know what? Never mind,” you said airily. “Honestly, I wouldn’t wanna go again either if I were you.”

His smirk vanished like you’d slapped him. The air crackled.

You went on, your tone light as air, as if you were just chatting about the weather. “I mean, s’not like I used to brag about you to Maggie and Carol or anything. Back when you had stamina. That… spark.”

You sighed dreamily, folding your hands over your stomach like a wistful widow. “But I get it. You hit your prime. Happens to the best of ‘em.”

Then, with a devastating little shrug:

“Maybe next time I oughta just finish myself off and save you the trouble,” you said lightly, like it wasn’t meant to wound. Your tone stayed casual—teasing, even—but your eyes didn’t blink. “I mean, no point wastin’ your energy when I’ll just be fakin’ it for the morale boost anyway.”

That did it.

The blanket tore away from your body in one sharp, punishing tug, and for a single fleeting second the air bit cold across your skin—but it barely had time to register. His hands were already on you, rough palms slipping beneath your thighs with a purpose so instinctive it made your stomach clench, like every cell in his body had been waiting for permission to do this. And now that he had it—now that you’d baited him, pushed him, called his bluff—there was no stopping it. No soft return. No patience.

He hauled you up in one swift, seamless motion, as if your weight meant nothing to him, like you belonged there—hooked around his hips, clinging to the warmth of him as your arms locked tight behind his neck. Your legs wrapped around him before your mind caught up, your breath spilling into the crook of his neck as his shirt bunched in your fists and your whole body tensed, trying to keep pace with the shift in gravity.

His stride toward the cot was fast, controlled, driven by something deeper than frustration—something wild and hot and thick with want. His jaw flexed tight against your cheek as he walked, your thighs tightening around him as the world tilted with every step.

“You keep talkin’, baby,” he muttered low in your ear, his voice frayed and hot like it had been dragged through sand, every syllable carved straight from the heat building beneath his skin. “But you ain’t gonna be able to for long.”

And fuck—you believed him. Every word of it. Every heavy step. Every curling, possessive touch.

He tossed you onto the bunk like he didn’t trust himself to hold you another second, like if he didn’t let go he might fuck you standing up against the cell wall. The mattress groaned under you with a dry creak, the rough cotton of the sheet dragging beneath your back, your spine catching against it as you tried to sit up. But you didn’t make it far.

He was on you immediately, arms bracketing your body, his knees digging into the thin mattress on either side of your hips, his shoulders hunched as he loomed over you, not to intimidate, but to claim. His chest heaved with each shallow breath, his mouth parted, gaze raking down your bare form like it hurt him not to touch. His eyes flicked lower, tracking the line of your stomach, the curve of your breasts, the flush already blooming under your skin—and then back up to your face, where your lips were parted just slightly and your lashes fluttered from the weight of it all. You were his, and he was going to show you what exactly that meant.

But even as his weight settled over you, one of his hands gripping the mattress beside your head and the other braced near your ribs, he kept glancing past you, eyes darting to the cell door with every shift in the air. Like he couldn’t help it. Like the memory of earlier still haunted the doorway, a ghost waiting to barge in and ruin whatever this was before it could even begin.

You felt his hesitation in the way his muscles held just a fraction too tight, in the breath he held when the floor creaked somewhere beyond. He’d placed himself over you with purpose—angled just so, blocking you from view, a wall of heat and instinct and possessiveness. If anyone walked in now, all they’d see was him. Just Daryl, hunched over, his back broad and taut, hiding everything he couldn’t bear someone else to touch.

You didn’t blame him for being on edge. Not really. But goddamn, you needed his eyes on you. You needed to be seen—by him. Not watched. Not protected. Seen.

So you reached up, threading your fingers into the scruff along his jaw and tugged, firm and slow, until his gaze dropped down to yours. There was resistance, barely there, but it gave way the second your mouth brushed his.

That was all it took.

His mouth was already on yours again before your breath had even settled from the last kiss, rougher this time—hot and hungry and heady, like something had cracked open between you both and there was no use pretending anymore. Your lips met with too much force, too much ache, teeth brushing and breath catching, hands grasping anywhere they could. His stubble scraped your chin, your cheek, the corners of your mouth, but it only made you pull him closer, tilt your face to deepen the kiss until it stopped resembling anything soft or sweet.

And then his hand was on your hip, steadying you, anchoring you in place as he shoved your underwear down with a single, unforgiving motion. No teasing, no warning—just a rough tug that dragged the fabric over the curve of your ass and down your thighs like it had personally offended him. Which said a lot, considering they were his favourite pair.

You were already so worked up, still raw from what had been stolen moments before, your skin oversensitive and your mind gone blurry, and he knew that, hence the skipping over foreplay. His hands gripped your thighs as he settled between them, groaning as he felt the heat of you, head ducking to mouth at your breast, leaving a wet, open kiss above your racing heart.

Your thighs parted without thinking. His body settled between them, the weight of him solid and anchoring and perfect. You could feel the denim of his jeans catching your bare thighs, scratchy in contrast to the warmth of his hips, and you gasped softly into his mouth, the friction sending a spark through your spine. He grunted in response, hips grinding down once—just once—enough to make your breath stutter and your hands fly to his belt.

“Jesus, baby,” he murmured, voice hoarse with restraint, lips brushing your cheek now as his fingers cupped the underside of your thigh, pushing it higher against his side. “You’re already—fuck—“

You nodded, breath catching as your hands fumbled at his waistband, desperate and half-shaking. “I mean what did you expect, with earlier,” you whispered, half-laughing, half-panting. “Kinda stuck with me.”

He didn’t answer—just groaned low in his throat, the sound all grit and restraint, his mouth dragging down your neck in hot, open-mouthed kisses that bordered on desperate. His teeth scraped along your skin like he needed to remind himself you were real, here, underneath him, squirming and burning up with need.

Your fingers had barely worked his belt loose before he took over, popping the button and yanking the zipper down in one rough motion. He didn’t bother pushing them off—just shoved the denim low enough on his hips to free himself, cock already straining in his boxers.

But you didn’t wait for him to do the rest.

Your hand slipped between your bodies, fingers curling under the fabric and dragging it down just far enough to get what you wanted. He hissed as your palm closed around him—hard, hot, already leaking—and you guided him straight to where you ached, pressing his tip to your slick folds with a trembling breath that made your whole body shudder.

His arms went taut around you, head dropping as he sucked in air through his teeth, and then he looked at you—really looked at you, like you’d just set something off inside him he couldn’t come back from.

He drove into you in one desperate, guttural push, the force of it knocking the breath straight out of your lungs, his hips slamming flush against yours like he couldn’t stand another second not being inside you. The stretch hit deep, sudden and brutal and perfect, your mouth falling open on a ragged moan as your back arched beneath him, every muscle drawn tight with the shock of it.

Your nails dug into his shoulders, searching for anything to hold onto, but he wasn’t going anywhere—he stayed buried to the hilt, chest heaving against yours, forehead pressed to the crook of your neck like he needed your skin to remember how to breathe. He didn’t move, not yet, just hovered there inside you, cock twitching with restraint, like he was trying to get a grip but your body was already dragging him under.

His hand found your face, thumb brushing your cheekbone in a soft, dazed stroke that betrayed the feral tension in the rest of him. His eyes were screwed shut, jaw clenched like the feel of you was too much—too good, too tight, too fucking real—and you could feel the way he was trembling with it, strung so tight he might snap.

“Tell me,” he rasped, his breath hot against your cheek, voice low and thick like it had been scraped raw from somewhere deep inside.

You blinked up at him, dazed, your mouth already parted from how close he was, how full you felt, how still he was holding himself inside you like he needed something more before he let go. “Tell you what?” you breathed, even though some part of you already knew.

He didn’t answer right away—just kept looking at you, like he couldn’t quite believe you were real, like your skin under his palms and the sound of your breath in his ear weren’t enough, not without the words. His hand slid up your thigh, fingers digging slightly into the meat of it, and his hips twitched like his body was starting to move on instinct alone, like the restraint was costing him. When he finally spoke again, it came out quieter, rougher, like gravel dragged across his throat. “Tell me you’re mine. Right now. Say it.”

And maybe you should’ve teased him for it—should’ve made some quip about his sudden need for confirmation—but all you could do was stare back at him, completely undone by the way he was looking at you, like having you under him, around him, wasn’t enough unless he could claim every inch of you in every possible way. You could feel how hard he was still, how hot and heavy he throbbed inside you, like your body was the only home he’d ever known, and it was driving you absolutely fucking insane that he wasn’t moving.

So you said it—not because he needed it, but because it was the truest thing you could offer in that moment, your voice catching in your throat as you whispered, “I’m yours. Always.”

It was fast—god, it had to be—but there was nothing hurried about the way he moved. He drove into you with a rhythm so precise it felt like vengeance, not lust, each thrust carving out the echo of your earlier words like he was determined to prove you wrong with every inch. His forearm stayed locked beneath your ass, keeping your hips elevated, tilted just right, so the cot barely shifted beneath you—but your body sure as hell did. Your legs trembled where they draped over his shoulders, slipping slightly with every deep grind of his hips, and the noise that clawed up your throat didn’t sound anything like language.

You were trying to hold it together, but your nerves were shot, mouth slack, fingers twisted in the front of his shirt like you needed something to keep from floating off. The angle—fuck, the angle—was too much. Every inch of you was stretched tight, pulsing around him, body shaking with every drag of him inside you.

“Shit—” The word barely made it past your lips, nothing but a ragged breath ghosting against his ear. You clung tighter, trembling, brain static and white-hot where it should’ve held thoughts. “Baby—fuck—y-you wanna maybe—Jesus—ease up a little—?”

It came out broken, breathy, more plea than sentence, like even forming the words took more focus than you had left. He was buried so deep you could feel him in your spine, his rhythm relentless, like he was trying to rewire every nerve in your body from the inside out.

It wasn’t a complaint, not really—more a desperate kind of awe, like you were just now realizing what you’d unleashed.

His chest was slick against yours, mouth brushing your jaw, and when he answered, it came low and unbothered, like a man entirely in control even as he split you in two.

“You shouldn’t’ve run your mouth,” he rasped, not slowing, not faltering, just rutting deeper, angling harder, like every word you’d tossed at him earlier was still echoing in his head and he was gonna fuck them all back out of yours.

You didn’t get the chance to answer. You didn’t mean to moan—it just ripped through you, sudden and aching, the kind of sound that broke without warning, clawing its way from your chest before your brain could catch up. Your head fell back like it wasn’t yours anymore, the cry already echoing, too loud in the small space, too raw to take back.

Daryl reacted instantly. His palm slammed over your mouth, broad and hot, swallowing the rest of the sound before it could betray you both. But he didn’t stop. Not even a little. His hips stayed locked into you, deep and steady, grinding into the softest part of you like he didn’t hear a thing.

“Sshhh,” he rasped, low in your ear, the breath of it rough and wrecked. “Y’gotta be quiet, alright? Real quiet for me, baby.”

You whimpered beneath his hand, your thighs twitching around his waist, every inch of you wound up like a wire ready to snap. You didn’t want him to stop. Couldn’t let him. You’d die if he did. You were shaking already, half out of breath, half delirious, hips rising to meet every thick, perfect thrust like you were starving for it.

His other hand slid up your waist, slow and open-palmed, until his thumb brushed the underside of your breast, where you were still flushed and damp from the mouth he’d had there minutes ago. The fresh bruises on your chest jostled with every thrust, rising and falling with the bounce of your breasts, and the sight had him practically drooling—lips parted, eyes fixed, like he couldn’t decide whether to fuck you harder or just stare. He looked down at you then, eyes heavy-lidded and dark, taking you in like he couldn’t get enough—like the image of you laid out under him, back arched, legs trembling, was something he’d hoard forever in the deepest part of his memory.

He groaned low, almost a growl, his hand flexing over your mouth as he pushed deeper, chasing the way your back arched beneath him, the way your slick heat clenched around him like a fucking vice. His other arm was still holding you in place—not just to keep the cot from creaking, but because if he let you go, he wasn’t sure either of you would survive the fallout.

“You’re takin’ it so fuckin’ good,” he muttered against your cheek, voice fraying at the edges, hips rolling deep and hard like he meant to ruin you. 

“Mine,” he whispered again, more to himself than to you, voice wrecked. “All fuckin’ mine.”

Your eyes were rolling, your vision shimmering around the edges as you tried your hardest to not make a sound but it was useless, and all you could do was moan against his hand as his cock hit so deep you could feel it in your stomach. Every slam of his hips pushed you higher, tighter, more strung out than you’d been all morning, your hands clawing at his back like he was the only thing tethering you to the earth. Your muscles were burning, your toes curling, your body arching off the cot with each snap of his hips until the cot frame itself trembled against the concrete, squeaking just once before he gritted his teeth and adjusted his grip, curling his arm tighter under you, pulling you against him like his goddamn life depended on it.

While his hand stayed firm over your mouth and his arm hooked beneath your ass kept the cot from giving away your rhythm, there wasn’t much either of you could do to muffle the wet, unrelenting slap of skin on skin. The sound echoed low and lewd in the tight space of the cell, rhythmic and obscene, like a metronome counting down how long you had left before someone walked in and found you like this, each sound a filthy, unmistakable announcement of exactly what he was doing to you, of how deep he was buried, of how fast he was moving. Daryl didn’t slow down. Couldn’t. The thought of easing up—of giving you less than everything—didn’t even enter his mind. Not when you were like this under him, writhing, breath hitching against his palm, your legs still shaking where they were perched on his shoulders.

And still, even with his whole body trembling above yours, even with sweat sliding down the side of his neck and his breath dragging raw from his lungs, he lifted his head for just half a second, glanced toward the cell door as if the shadow of earlier still loomed there, waiting.

Though his body never slowed, never faltered, you immediately sensed the shift in his focus—and feared he might stop his blissful motions. Your breath hitched, a desperate sound trying to escape around the edge of his hand, but he was already leaning closer, his chest flush to yours, his pace unrelenting. You could barely speak, but you managed one broken plea—“Don’t stop.”

His eyes snapped right back to yours, but he didn’t slow down, not even for a breath. His rhythm stayed hard and fast, hips driving into you like a man possessed, like the thought of stopping was more dangerous than getting caught.

His mouth was on yours before the words had fully left, not soft, not slow, just hot and open and messy as he swallowed the sound like it fed him. He didn’t pull back, just shifted enough to speak against your lips, his voice so low it vibrated through your ribs where his weight pressed you down.

“Ain’t stoppin’,” he muttered, the words blurred by the kiss, breath pouring straight into your mouth. “Not a chance.”

Your leg slid halfway down his shoulder with the force of his thrusts, too numb and trembling to hold its place. Daryl didn’t miss a beat. He reached down between your bodies without slowing, his hand slipping beneath your thigh, curling around the soft underside as he hoisted you back into place, thigh snug again against his chest, foot dangling behind his back. His other hand braced your hip, holding you down like he knew exactly how much more you could take—and exactly when you’d start to fall apart.

Which, judging by the way your back was already arching, wasn’t long.

You barely got a breath in before he adjusted his angle, tilting his hips and driving deeper—deeper—and your mouth flew open, the noise already clawing its way out before you could even warn him. But Daryl was faster. His palm slapped over your mouth like muscle memory, muffling the cracked, broken moan that would’ve echoed down the cell block if not for his hand.

“Knew it,” he growled, voice thick with pride and sweat and something wrecked, leaning down just enough to speak against your jaw, his breath flooding hot over your cheek. “Knew you weren’t gonna keep quiet.”

You could hardly breathe. You could hardly think. All you could do was feel—feel the sweat sliding down your spine, feel the ache building like a scream in your throat, feel the pressure coil sharp and brutal low in your belly.

Your voice cracked as you tried to speak, a slurred mess of words slipping out in gasps, every thought melting around the thick, rhythmic press of his hips. His cock dragged against that spot deep inside that made your toes curl, your body already spiraling, too gone to be anything but his. Your brain was mush, words sputtering out in muffled whimpers against his palm; “Yours… M' yours… love your dick so much, fuck Daryl—”

That did something to him.

He groaned at that like you’d punched the air out of his lungs, his teeth scraping your cheek as he hissed, “That’s right, baby. Say it all you want. You’re mine.”

You noddded your head franticaly and his chest rumbled with a breathless little laugh, not loud but full of heat, and his mouth dipped to your jaw, then lower, skimming kisses over your cheek, your neck, the edge of your collarbone like he didn’t know where to start with all the places he wanted to worship.

“Yeah?” he murmured, low and lilting, the kind of teasing that didn’t need volume to hit its mark. “That right, baby? Funny… don’t sound like what you were sayin’ earlier. What was it you said? That I lost my edge?”

You moaned in response, not because you meant to, but because you couldn’t help it- the stretch of him was unbearable. The sound shattered somewhere beneath his palm, swallowed by sweat-slick skin and the euphoria of him driving into you again and again, harder now, like he was chasing that sound. Your eyes fluttered open, only to roll back almost immediately, the coil in your stomach drawing tighter, your limbs seizing up like your body couldn’t decide if it needed to run or come undone.

He felt it. Of course he did.

“Yeah,” he rasped, voice vibrating straight into your throat where his mouth hovered at your jaw, tongue flicking the sweat pooling in your skin’s hollows. “There she is.”

Your legs twitched against his chest, trembling messes with no strength left to hold. Your hands clutched uselessly at his wrists, your whole body bucking helplessly beneath him. And still he didn’t slow. His pace was ruthless now, relentless, hips slamming into yours with brutal efficiency, chasing every broken sound from your throat like he was hunting them down one by one.

His hand didn’t leave your mouth. Not yet. You were too far gone, your thighs shaking, your stomach tensed, tears pricking the corners of your eyes as the pressure grew unbearable. He knew. He could feel it. And he wasn’t stopping until he ripped it out of you.

“Gonna cum for me, baby?” he panted, rough and reverent, the rasp of it shaking against your jaw as he pushed deeper. “Yeah? I feel it, pretty girl. You’re right there—c’mon. Give it to me.”

You couldn’t respond. Couldn’t even think. Your words broke into nothing behind his hand, your nod frantic and shallow as your body seized up beneath him, everything inside you narrowing to the brutal rhythm of his hips and the unbearable pressure building between your legs. Your spine bowed hard, thighs drawn tight and locked over his shoulders, heels pressed into the small of his back, clinging like it might keep you anchored as everything inside you began to come apart.

And then it hit.

Your orgasm crashed into you like a freight train, sharp and deep and catastrophic—an electric snap through your core that hollowed you out with the force of it. You clenched around him, pulsing hard, your whole body locking up, chest stuttering as you tried to scream and couldn’t. Your head jerked back against the mattress, mouth opening under his palm with a muffled sob as your legs spasmed and your hips jolted beneath his grip.

It was too much—too full, too intense, too fast—and still, he didn’t let you breathe. He kept moving through it, dragging it out, every stroke driving impossibly deeper, grinding hard into the aftershocks until your body shook with overstimulation and your nails clawed helplessly at his back, his shoulders, his hair. Your toes curled tight, your chest shuddered, your tears spilled down hot and silent from your temple, and still he held you there, thumb stroking your cheek, murmuring low against your skin like a lullaby in the chaos.

“There you go,” he whispered, barely audible through the haze, watching you unravel like it was the only thing he’d ever wanted. “Fuckin’ gorgeous, baby. Just like that.”

He was close. You felt it in the way his rhythm stuttered, not from fatigue, but from the sheer effort of holding on, of staying inside you just a little longer, like his body couldn’t decide whether it needed to finish or fall apart trying. His hips rocked forward in messy, uneven thrusts now, sloppier than before, like he’d been wound too tight and the coil was starting to snap. His breath hitched with every push, pouring hot and desperate against your shoulder as he buried his face there, one hand fisting the blanket beside your ribs, the other gripping your thigh so hard you knew you’d bruise.

“Say it,” he choked out suddenly, the sound barely a whisper, more breath than voice. “Fuck—say it again, baby, I—” His words faltered, teeth gritting like the effort to speak was pulling him apart. “Please. Jus’—please, I need—need to hear it—can’t—shit—.”

You blinked hard, body twitching beneath him, barely coherent through the noise in your skull—but God, the sound of him like this, all broken up and pleading, shot through you like a live wire. He was still pumping inside you, grinding deep with every stroke like he was trying to chase the echo of your orgasm, but now it was different—now it was for him. For the release, he couldn’t reach without you.

You reached up and cupped his face, thumb dragging along the flushed heat of his cheekbone, trying to find your breath in the chaos of his. His voice cracked open against your jaw like it was the only thing holding him together, and your lips curved, wrecked and breathless and just a little smug.

“I’m yours, baby,” you rasped, the words frayed at the edges, half-laughing through the ruin of your throat.

Your lips were barely moving now, wrecked and shaking against the damp skin of his jaw, every syllable catching on a breath you could barely hold.

“Fffuck—just do it,” you gasped, the sound trembling up from somewhere deep, raw. “Make me yours, big guy. You know where I want it”

The words hit him like a lightning strike straight to the base of his spine. You felt it—the full-body shudder, the way his hips stuttered mid-thrust, a guttural moan spilling from somewhere between his teeth like he hadn’t meant to let it out. His forehead dropped hard to yours, sweat-slick and flushed, mouth trembling open like he needed to breathe you in just to stay conscious.

“G-gonna—fuck—fill you up, baby,” he gasped, the words barely hanging together, all breath and desperation, “gonna—shit—gonna stuff you full, m-make it—make it stick—prove you’re—”

His breath caught, teeth clenching like the pleasure hurt. His whole body twitched.“M-mine—fuck—mine—m’fuckin’—mm-mine—”

His whole body jolted like he’d been struck by lightning, every sinew pulled taut as his spine arched and his forehead slammed down against yours, pressing so hard it almost hurt, like he needed the contact just to hold on. The sound that tore from his throat was ragged and broken, somewhere between a growl and a whimper, low and guttural and utterly undone. His hips snapped forward once—deep and punishing—then again, grinding in tight as his whole body seized, and then he was spilling into you with a full-body shudder so violent it felt like he was coming from somewhere deeper than just his cock. You felt him throb inside you with dizzying force, pulse after pulse of hot, thick release flooding your cunt in heavy, desperate spurts that left you raw and gasping. It was relentless, obscene, like he couldn’t stop even if he wanted to—his hips jerking in short, helpless thrusts as his cock twitched and kicked deep inside, filling you so full just like he said that the mess started to drip out around the base, your slick mixing with his and running down between your thighs in slow, warm trails. His breath hitched sharp against your cheek, his voice breaking on a cracked, guttural moan as he stammered something incoherent—nothing but shattered syllables and praise and filth spilling from his mouth just as fast as he emptied himself into you.

His breath came shallow and high and still—still—he didn’t stop. The rhythm slowed, sure, but it never ceased, his hips rolling in tight, sticky circles that rocked his softening cock deeper into your slick, swollen heat. He couldn’t help it. Couldn’t stop, not when you were still fluttering around him like that, when your thighs were starting to shake again and your mouth was parting like you were about to fall apart a second time.

“Shit,” he panted, forehead resting against yours, lips brushing your cheek. “You—fuck, baby, you gonna give me another one?”

You couldn’t answer. Not with your lungs knotted and your thoughts frayed, not with the way your body was already coiling again like a live wire in his arms.

And he knew it. Knew your tells—how you twitched under him, how your breath caught, how your hips tilted even when you were already wrung out. His hand moved on instinct, sliding between your bodies with effort, fingers slippery with both your slick and his come as he found your clit again, thumb circling with maddening care while his hips gave one more shallow thrust, then another.

He was spent. Too sensitive, too soft, every grind of your cunt around him making his whole body jerk with the ache of it—but he kept moving anyway, fucking you through the overstimulation with soft, deliberate thrusts like it was the only thing he knew how to do.

“C’mon,” he whispered, breath hot and broken against your ear, his voice wrecked but worshipful. “Give it to me, sweetheart. Gimme one more. You can do it, pretty girl. That’s it.”

You whimpered. That voice—that voice, warm and cracked and coaxing—went straight through you. It made your eyes sting and your thighs quake, made your chest cave in on itself like you could melt just from hearing him say your name like that. Your clit throbbed beneath his thumb, hypersensitive and slick with both of you, and every lazy thrust dragged your walls tighter, overstretched around the length of him, making your whole body twitch like he was rewiring your nerves one spark at a time.

Your head tipped back, breath ragged and thin, and you felt it begin to crest again—your second orgasm pulling free from the mess of trembling muscle and too-hot pleasure, blooming sharp and dizzy behind your ribs like it had been building from the moment he started whispering to you.

It wasn’t something you chose—it was something your body did in rebellion, wrung loose from the mess of pulsing nerves and soaked flesh and the dizzy haze clouding your brain like static.

It started with a gasp that never quite made it out, your mouth dropping open but no sound escaping—only a shudder that ripped through your ribs like a second heartbeat detonating in your chest. The pressure hadn’t been building steadily—it had been lurking, low and forgotten, smothered beneath the burn of overstimulation until the moment you saw him unravel, chasing his own release with blind, stuttering thrusts. That image alone—Daryl fucking Dixon wrecked and helpless above you—shoved it loose without warning, exploding like a bomb behind your navel and seeping through your body with a force that made your teeth clench and your legs seize.

Your cunt clamped around him so hard it was borderline painfull; it made him moan, a ragged little noise that barely registered over the roar in your ears. Your thighs twitched violently against his chest. Your hips bucked once, then again—your body fighting it even as it surrendered, unable to choose between pulling him in or shoving him away.

The pressure that had been coiling deep inside you exploded like a fuse blown clean, your head dropping back against the thin pillow as your spine bowed, your mouth opening on a gasp so sharp you couldn’t even make a sound. You convulsed around him, your walls clamping down in helpless spasms that dragged another shattered moan from his throat, the overstimulation painting white-hot streaks of pain through pleasure so thick you almost couldn’t tell the difference. His cock was still twitching inside you, still thick and spent, and you were so fucking full, the heat of him seeping out even as he stayed buried.

And all the while his thumb kept circling, slower now, but firm—like he wanted to feel it all, wanted to help you ride it all the way through. You sobbed into his shoulder, the overstimulation turning everything sharp, every pulse of pleasure edged in pain. It felt like too much—too much pressure, too much heat, too much him—and yet you never wanted it to stop. You were crying again and didn’t even know it, your fingers tangled in his hair, your nails dragging down his scalp like you couldn’t bear to be tethered and yet couldn’t stand the idea of being let go.

Your vision blurred. Your thighs trembled uncontrollably, still hooked high around his shoulders, still wide open and straining, the angle so deep you could feel him in your gut. The contrast of his jeans against your skin, the cold metal of his belt buckle brushing your hip—only made it more visceral, more real. Your whole body was slick, wrecked, shaking beneath him, and you didn’t dare move, didn’t dare breathe too deeply in case it shattered the fragile, feral stillness of the moment.

Daryl didn’t move either.

He was still slumped over you, panting through the open heat of his mouth against your cheek, dazed and flushed and entirely undone, his heartbeat hammering against your chest in a rhythm that had nothing to do with control and everything to do with surrender. His hand lifted, trembling, to cup your face—thumb brushing your cheekbone like he still didn’t believe you were real—and he blinked slowly, like coming back to his body was the hardest thing he’d done all night.

He barely had the strength to hold himself up, but the second he felt your body shake beneath him, really shake—something sharp and jagged, the kind of tremor that didn’t come from pleasure alone, he snapped out of it.

Your thighs were still locked high against his chest and slung over his shoulders, trembling hard, your whole body slick and spent and shaking like the air had been knocked clean out of you. You weren’t breathing right—your chest was rising too fast, too shallow, like your lungs didn’t know how to catch up, and Daryl’s heart just about dropped out of his chest.

“Hey—hey,” he breathed, voice still rough with the echo of everything he’d just poured into you, but laced now with something quieter. Steadier. Concern. “S’okay, baby. Look at me.”

He eased your legs down first, one at a time, careful with the back of your knees like he knew they ached. You whimpered from the stretch, and he whispered a soft apology, kissing your calves as he eased them down, hands smoothing down your thighs in apology. His touch stayed slow, grounding, reverent.

You couldn’t answer. You were trying—your mouth opened, jaw slack, chest stuttering—but the breath wouldn’t come right. That terrified look hit his eyes for a second, just a flicker, and he leaned in quick, his hand coming up to cup your cheek, thumb brushing sweat-soaked hair from your temple.

“Breathe with me, alright?” he murmured, forehead touching yours. “Just like this. In—real slow.” He inhaled, slow and deep, exaggerating the movement so you could follow. “Now out. You got it.”

You tried. Failed the first time. But he didn’t move, didn’t rush you. Just stroked his fingers through your hair, guiding you again. And again. Until finally your lungs caught—stuttering, then settling—your breath easing out in a shudder that broke something inside him.

“There you go,” he whispered, brushing his lips to your cheek, to your jaw, then finally to your mouth. “Atta girl.”

You melted beneath him, limbs too heavy to move, heart still rattling somewhere against your ribs like a trapped bird. His body was still flush against yours, dick soft now but still buried, your bodies locked together by heat and slick and everything they’d just endured.

He stayed right there. One hand on your hip, gently rubbing warmth back into your skin. The other cradled your face like you were something breakable—and maybe you were, just a little. He kissed you then, slow and soft and unhurried, nothing like the frantic heat from minutes before. His lips moved over yours like a promise.

You whimpered against him—this time from the weight of emotion, not overstimulation—and he caught it in his mouth, swallowing the sound like it was sacred.

He didn’t move far—just enough to slide his hand down between your bodies and gently ease himself from you, hissing softly at the sensitivity, his other hand still stroking slow circles into your hip. You winced, breath hitching as the emptiness hit, sudden and raw, the wet heat of it slicking down your thighs like a reminder of how deep he’d been, how much he’d given you.

“Easy,” he murmured, all gravel and reverence, like the moment had burned the growl out of him.

His hand kept stroking slow along your sides, fingertips trailing through the sweat that cooled faster than you could stop shivering. Every so often he’d press a kiss to your temple, your cheekbone, your jaw—never in the same place twice, like he was trying to ground himself with the taste of your skin.

He looked down to look over your body again, and that's when he saw the flush of red, high along the inside of your thighs. Angry friction-burn streaks that bloomed deeper in patches, painted into your skin by the hard grip of his belt, the denim that hadn’t fully come down, the relentless drag of his hips when neither of you had been able to stop. They stood out stark against your skin, wet and raw, already darkening with the threat of bruising.

He stilled completely.

One hand, the one still curled at your hip, loosened its grip, the tension leaving his fingers like the guilt had drained it from him. He glanced up at your face again, searching for the shift—the furrow of your brow, the wince, the sharp inhale that usually came when the comedown set in. But it wasn’t there. You were still gone. Still floating.

You didn’t know what he’d done to you.

And that was what made his gut twist like he’d been sucker-punched.

It would’ve been easier if you had noticed—if you’d hissed through your teeth or shoved at his chest, if you’d blinked hard and looked at the red blooming down your thighs and said What the fuck, Daryl. But you hadn’t. Because you trusted him. Because even wrecked and trembling and strung-out, your body let him do whatever he wanted without question, without fear. Because you’d gone so pliant for him, so soft, that you hadn’t even noticed he’d left marks behind.

Still breathless, still fogged from the comedown, you reached for him anyway—your hand brushing gently across the back of his neck, threading into his hair as if that might anchor him.

But he was already sliding down.

Carefully, reverently, he shifted his weight away from your chest, his palms moving slowly down your outer thighs, thumbs stroking softly over the trembling skin, until he could cradle one of them completely in his calloused grip.

Then he dipped forward.

His mouth found the inner seam of your thigh with no hesitation, and he kissed it—slow and warm and deeply apologetic, like he thought the softness of his lips could undo the imprint of his roughness. He didn’t stop there, either. His head tilted slightly as he kissed lower, then higher, then pressed his mouth directly over one of the deeper bruises forming near your hip. His lips lingered there, barely moving, just resting against your skin as he exhaled, slow and uneven, like he could feel the ache blooming in your flesh and wanted to take it into himself.

You felt his breath stutter against your thigh—hot, humid, remorseful—and your stomach pulled tight, not from pain, but from the sheer gravity of his tenderness. The contrast made your throat close. The same man who’d just been wrecking you into the mattress now held your legs like something breakable, his body curled low and close as if to shield you from the mess he’d made. You watched his brow crease against your skin, watched his jaw flex like he was chewing on guilt he didn’t know how to name.

“Daryl,” you whispered, or maybe whimpered, fingers curling tighter in his damp hair. Your hips twitched, still faintly overstimulated, and his hands smoothed over them without thought—grounding you, soothing you, even as he kissed the other thigh with just as much care, just as much quiet reverence.

“…Shit, baby I’m sorry,” he muttered quietly, eyes raking ouver your coloured skin.

You blinked, breath stuttering in your chest as your brows pulled together. “What?”

His arms tightened around you just a little, and his next breath came slower, but rougher, like it scratched on the way out. His hand cupped your jaw, thumb brushing soft beneath your ear.

“Was too rough,” he muttered. “Got riled up. I—I didn’t mean to push you that hard. You were shakin’ like a damn leaf, couldn’t even breathe right at first, and—” He swallowed, nose brushing yours as his eyes dropped closed.

You smiled before you even meant to, lips brushing the corner of his mouth, because you could feel the guilt blooming under his skin like heat—could feel the ache in him, that quiet fear he’d broken something delicate.

You blinked slowly, eyes still hazy as your fingers found his jaw and gave it a lazy little tap. “You’re ridiculous,” you whispered, voice low and hoarse but smiling all the same. “Don’t go soft on me now, Dixon. You rocked my damn world.”

He didn’t open his eyes. Just let out a rough breath like he wasn’t sure whether to believe you.

You nudged your nose against his, lips brushing the corner of his mouth. “I mean it,” you whispered, each word deliberate. “That wasn’t too rough. That was—shit, that was perfect. You didn’t push me too hard.” Your thumb stroked along his jaw, grounding him as your voice dropped to a low, tender murmur. “I wanted it. All of it. I always do.”

You felt him watching you, brow furrowed like he still wasn’t sure if he was allowed to believe you—so you leaned in just a breath closer, your lips nearly touching his, and finished, “And that’ll never change. Ev-verrr.”

That got him. The faintest huff of a laugh escaped him, cheeks flushed under the scruff as he buried his face deeper into your neck, arms curling tighter around you like he couldn’t stand the idea of letting you go.

And then, quieter: “You sure?”

“You always do this,” you added, your voice softening as your nails scratched lightly at his scalp. “Start mopin’ like I didn’t just get the best dick of my life."

“Newsflash, lover,” you murmured, voice still wrecked and lazy as your fingers idly traced the sweat-damp line of his jaw, “if you didn’t fuck me that good, then I’d be upset.”

He let out a breath that was somewhere between a laugh and a groan, like your words knocked the wind right out of him. His eyes fluttered closed for a second, nose brushing yours again as he tried to hide the pink dusting his cheeks—but you felt it. Felt the way his whole body softened at your words, the tension melting out of his spine as you pulled him back into your arms like he was home.

You tilted his face up with a hand to his cheek, kissed him slow, real slow, until he stopped breathing like he’d broken something. He blinked, brow twitching, mouth twitching too.

“You—” he started, but you didn’t let him finish. Just leaned in and kissed him slow, mouths sliding together with the kind of lazy confidence that only came after being thoroughly fucked and adored.

His protest died under your lips, swallowed whole as your mouth moved against his—soft and unhurried, your tongue brushing his in slow, drugged sweeps that left him shivering. His stubble scraped gently against your chin, grounding you in the raw, lingering friction of everything that had just passed between you. You could feel the heat radiating off him still, his breath catching every time you shifted, your bare chest pressed to the rough cotton of his shirt, nipples sensitive and swollen from his earlier attention.

And God, the warmth. The weight of him. The heat still trapped between your thighs, the slick mess where your bodies joined, the faint ache starting to curl in your belly—it all just made you kiss him harder.

When you pulled back, your grin was crooked, eyes half-lidded but bright.

“You really showed me, huh?” you whispered against his mouth, and then let your nose bump his. “Next time I doubt you, you’ve got my full permission to prove me wrong again. As long as it is exactly like that.”

A short huff of laughter escaped him—relieved, grateful—and he dipped his head, hiding his smirk in the curve of your neck.

He didn’t pull back. Didn’t shift. Didn’t check the door again. He just melted downward, letting his full weight settle over you like a human blanket as the last of the tension drained from his limbs, muscle by muscle, breath by breath. His arms slid low around your waist, wrapping tight beneath the arch of your back, holding you so close your ribs ached from it—but you wouldn’t have traded that pressure for anything in the world.

Your skin tacky with sweat, your legs splayed boneless and wide, too worn out toyou. do anything but let him cocoon. You felt every inch of the difference between you—his worn denim jeans scraping lightly against your thighs, the cool fabric of his shirt sticking to the slick between your bodies, while you lay there in nothing but your own skin, flushed and raw and claimed. He was fully dressed, save for the undone fly and the mess smeared low between you both, and yet somehow he looked more undone than you’d ever seen him.

He buried his face in your neck, arms locked around your back so fiercely you almost couldn’t move. Your own arms curled up around his shoulders, fingertips smoothing beneath his collar, tracing the lines of muscle beneath fabric and sweat and heat.

“You ain’t gonna suffocate me, are you?” you mumbled against the top of his head, though you made no effort to shift. Your fingers drifted toward the scruff at his jaw, nails gently grazing over the stubble like you were testing its sharpness.

“Nah,” he said, voice gravel-thick and slow, muffled in your throat. “You’ll pass out long before that.”

He didn’t move for a long time. Just laid there, blanketing you completely, your skin fused together by sweat and everything that had just passed between you. His breathing was low now, heavy and even, and every time his chest rose, it nudged your ribs in a way that made your body relax even more deeply beneath him. His arms stayed wrapped around your middle, keeping you close, possessive without pressure, his weight grounding you like a promise you didn’t need to hear out loud.

Eventually, his mouth started to wander. Not with any urgency—just the soft, reverent sort of drifting that came when he didn’t quite know what to do with all the emotion still buzzing inside him. He kissed your neck first, then your collarbone, then lower, brushing his lips along the curve of your shoulder like he couldn't get enough of the taste of you, one freckle at a time. His lips weren’t searching for anything; they were just loving you the only way he knew how—with his mouth, with his silence, with his hands splayed warm across your back.

You sighed, content, your fingers already lifting to his hair by instinct, weaving slowly into the strands at his nape. You didn’t even have to think about it. Just like breathing.

A few strokes passed before you started doing what you always did—absently curling a small section around your finger, letting it spring free before twisting it again. Except this time, your fingers didn’t stop at idle. They got ideas.

A lock near his temple caught your attention, and you gathered it gently, twisting it into another. Then again. A few moments passed, and he shifted slightly, pressing a lazy kiss just over your breast before mumbling into your skin, “You doin’ weird shit to my hair again?”

“Mmhmm,” you hummed, way too pleased with yourself. “Braiding it.”

“Thought so,” he grunted.

“Your hair was begging to be played with,” you defended with a smile. “You’ve got Viking hair now, baby. You should be proud.”

“Shit,” he muttered into your chest, but it wasn’t angry—just that low, gravelly grumble that meant he was tired and content and pretending to be grumpy because the alternative was admitting how much he liked being doted on. His voice vibrated against your sternum as he shifted, one arm pulling tighter across your back while the other anchored itself beneath your ribs, locking you against him like he didn’t plan to let you out of his hold till noon.

You smiled into his hair, fingers carding through the dark, damp strands now curling messily at the nape of his neck. The braid you’d twisted near his temple still held, wonky and loose but unmistakably yours. You couldn’t help it—you started tracing the shape again, teasing another tiny coil into place.

He groaned quietly, shifting against you, face still buried between your breasts. “Swear to God, you braid one more piece, I’m gonna end up lookin’ like a damn horse.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” you murmured, kissing the crown of his head.

He sighed, loud and theatrical, like a man forced to carry an unbearable burden—his girlfriend’s affection. But he didn’t move. Didn’t stop you. If anything, he nuzzled closer, arms winding tighter around you like he was folding himself into your skin.

“You braid it again,” he mumbled, tone flat and unimpressed, “’m cuttin’ the whole damn thing off.”

You snorted. “Sure you are.”

He didn’t even argue, just buried his face deeper into your neck to hide his blushing face, sucking and kissing like his body hadn’t gotten the memo that he was supposed to be annoyed.

“You leave your hair long and expect me not to braid it?” you teased, voice honey-sweet. “That’s unrealistic.”

He groaned. Not from discomfort—just the resigned groan of a man whose fate was sealed and knew it. “Never gonna hear the end of it, walkin’ around with your damn arts and crafts hangin’ off my head.”

You giggled, nuzzling your nose against his temple. “You’d still wear it, though.”

His silence was telling. He just grunted, a sound that somehow meant shut up and fine, maybe at the same time, arms squeezing tighter like he was too tired to fight you—or maybe just didn’t want to.

“Don’t make a thing of it.”

“Oh, I’m absolutely gonna make a thing of it.”

His breath huffed against your skin, his fingers flexing at your spine. You could feel the smile he tried to hide, crooked and soft and buried beneath the pretence. For all his gruff talk, he was clinging to you like he might fall apart if he let go. The contrast made you ache—his fully clothed body wrapped protectively around your bare one, jeans still open, belt hanging loose, and not an ounce of distance between you. You could feel his heartbeat in the cage of his ribs, every breath pressed close, every shift of his hips pulling you deeper into his hold.

You let your fingertips play through his hair again, slow and tender, twisting another lazy braid just behind his ear.

“Love your hair long,” you said softly, lips brushing the side of his head. “It’s hot. Rugged. Kinda feral.”

 He didn’t say anything at first, but you felt the tell—his shoulders stiffened for a beat, breath catching just slightly before he huffed a quiet, grumbly “Mm,” like maybe if he kept his face buried in your neck long enough you wouldn’t notice the heat crawling up the back of his ears. His arms tightened around you subtly, and when he finally spoke again it was muffled into your skin, short and blunt and just a little too defensive to be convincing—“Stop it”—which only made you smile wider, fingers slipping back into his hair, twisting a slow braid near the base of his skull while he sighed through his nose and tried not to melt at the way you held him, every stroke of your touch sinking deeper than he’d ever admit, each word making his chest pull tight in that soft, stupid way it always did when you said shit like that and actually meant it.

“Gonna get you all kinds of attention,” you murmured, lazy with affection, your lips brushing the top of his head as your fingers continued threading through his tangled hair.

He snorted—low, unimpressed, muffled somewhere against your sternum—and for a second you felt him go a little still, his breath stalling just long enough to make you smirk. Then came the scoff, rough and dismissive, like the very idea physically repulsed him.

“Yeah, right.”

“No, really,” you went on, grinning now, dragging it out just because you knew exactly how much it made him cringe. “You keep walkin’ around like this—lookin’ all broody and hot and apocalypse-dirty—gonna have a line of women throwin’ themselves at you. All fluttery lashes and damp panties and oh no, mister Dixon, I twisted my ankle—can I lean on your weirdly toned forearms?”

That got him. You felt it—his fingers, already splayed warm across your back, dug deeper into your spine like he could anchor himself in you and disappear altogether. He shifted slightly, nose brushing your collarbone, and mumbled the words like they hurt to even say out loud.

 His hands flexed around you, just a small twitch, but enough to feel it down your spine, and you didn’t miss the small, frustrated puff of air that broke against your skin.

“Ain’t interested,” he grumbled, a little lower now. “Only woman I see.”

You hummed, pleased, but you weren’t done—not even close. “Mm, sure, sure,” you mused, stroking slowly through his hair again, your lips brushing his temple as he buried further into your neck. “But y’know, I’m just one woman. One chaotic, loudmouthed, occasionally homicidal woman. Wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to play the field a bit—see what’s out there. I mean, maybe there's someone out there that don’t steal all your jerky or gaslight you into thinkin’ that shirt's always been hers.”

His groan came first, muffled into your throat, followed closely by a kiss—, pressed with purpose to your skin like he could shut you up with sheer proximity. You felt the heat of his breath when he spoke next, right against your skin, low and frayed and curling with something a little too serious to be just a joke. “Tempting,” he murmured. “Like I said, ain't interested." You smiled, smug and deliriously warm, tilting your head just enough to catch his mouth when it dragged higher toward your jaw, your hands sliding down to cradle the nape of his neck like maybe, if you held him just right, you could keep the whole damn world at bay.

“You’re gonna have to beat ’em off with a stick,” you murmured, still petting through his hair like he was some wild thing you’d tamed. “All them ladies seein’ you in your rugged, road-worn glory, stridin’ through the cellblock with that broody lumberjack energy and your little braid glintin’ like a mating signal—phew. Honestly, I might get jealous.”

Daryl didn’t answer right away. Just let out a long breath against your skin, like he was trying to decide whether to entertain you or just smother himself in your chest until the teasing stopped. His thumb stroked absentmindedly at your waist, slow and steady, like he couldn’t not touch you.

You pressed a kiss to his temple, still grinning. “I mean the least you could do is flirt a bit, babe. I mean, why waste all this hotness on me?”

That’s when he shifted, just a little—just enough to glance up at you through the mess of hair you’d been playing with, his eyes half-lidded and soft but still sharp enough to cut through your bullshit.

You were smirking, ready to lob another tease, but he beat you to it.

“Yeah, well… you’re it for me,” he muttered, like it was obvious, like it wasn’t the kind of thing that could stop a heart mid-beat. His voice was low and scratchy, lips brushing your collarbone as he said it, almost like he hadn’t meant to speak at all.

Just a fact. Just… truth.

You blinked, breath catching stupidly in your throat as your fingers stilled in his hair.

He nestled back into your chest like nothing had happened, like he hadn’t just said the one thing that could flatten your entire nervous system in a second.

“That so?” you managed eventually, your voice a little higher than before, a little breathier, as if your lungs were still trying to remember how to work.

You smiled so wide it hurt, your cheeks aching with the kind of giddy warmth that only ever came from this—him, wrapped around you like a human blanket, too tired to tease, too soft to let go. You hooked your legs back around his hips like a smug little octopus and felt the weight of him shift, arms sliding beneath your back, pulling you tighter until your chest was pressed flush to his. He didn’t even pretend to mind. Just melted into the shape of you like it was his natural form, head buried in the crook of your neck, the warmth of his breath fogging against your skin as sleep tugged at the edges of him.

“Mhm,” he mumbled simply, his voice thick with sleep and something quieter, heavier—the weight of everything he didn’t say out loud but always meant.

You let your forehead drop gently to his collarbone, your grin still glued to your face like it had nowhere better to be. “You sure?” you whispered. “’Cause I’m kinda messy.”

He didn’t lift his head, didn’t even flinch—just grunted, low and blunt against your throat. “Uh-huh. You’re my mess.”

“I talk a lot.”

“That’s how I know you’re still breathin’.”

You snorted at that, clearly proving his point. “I leave bobby pins and hair ties everywhere.”

He let out a warm breath, all smug and lazy where his face was still tucked against your temple. “That’s your callin’ card,” he mumbled, voice slurred with sleep, “helps me track you down… so i can do this-” Then, without shifting more than a fraction, he dipped his head and closed his teeth gently around the shell of your ear, nibbling right where he knew it’d make you twitch. You jolted beneath him with a startled squeak, laughter bursting from your chest before you could stop it, and he just hummed, pleased as anything, arms cinching tighter to keep you from wriggling away. He didn’t even lift his head again—just stayed buried there, smug and exhausted, clearly proud of himself for ruining the moment and making it better all at once.

You barely had time to breathe before continuing, your words slurring softly against his mouth. “I steal the blanket.”

“You’re always cold,” he muttered, not the least bit annoyed. “Deal with it.” Another kiss, this one against your cheekbone, rougher with the scratch of his stubble.

“I snort when I laugh too hard.”

His response came fast, simple. “Yeah. ’S cute.”

“I always want sex.”

That earned a pause. Then, muffled against your neck, a lazy, unimpressed, “…And?”

“I use your toothbrush sometimes.”

“Knew that.” He exhaled slowly. “Been usin’ yours back.”

You gasped in mock betrayal, and he chuckled sleepily.

“I have RBF. Everyone thinks I hate them.”

“Good. Means they don’t talk to ya. Saves me the trouble.”

“My boobs are weird.”

He didn’t miss a beat. “Yeah. Weirdly fuckin’ perfect.”

You huffed out a breathy laugh, eyes fluttering. “My boobs make you almost kill people.”

“Damn right they do,” he said, still buried in your neck, not even trying to sound sorry.

“You nearly murdered a man ’cause I was walkin’ around with no bra.”

“Wasn’t murder if I stopped.”

There was a beat.

“...Eventually.”

“Eventually,” he echoed, gruff.

“All my bras were in the wash,” you added, defensively. “It wasn’t like I wanted to start something.”

“Wear whatever you like,” he murmured, voice gone all gravel again. “Or don’t. I can fight.”

You giggled so hard you felt your ribs ache.

“I change my mind every two seconds.”

He shifted slightly, not enough to open his eyes, just enough to press a kiss to your jaw. “You ain’t changin’ your mind ’bout me, though. That’s all I care about.”

You swallowed past the lump in your throat, your smile trembling now in the most dangerous way.

You grinned. “My thighs are too big.”

His hand slid down without thinking, landing right on said thighs, as if to prove a point. “They’re perfect,” he muttered. "Don’t talk dumb.”

“I keep knives in stupid places.”

“That’s why I love sleepin’ next to you,” he said, deadpan. “If someone breaks in, you’d kill ’em with a butter knife in your bra.”

You snorted again, full-bodied and loose and gleeful, and felt him smile against your skin in that tired, crooked, entirely-in-love kind of way.

“You’re impossible.”

“And you’re mine.”

That shut you up. Only for a second—but long enough for him to press a kiss to your smile like he wanted to live inside it. His breath warmed your skin. His thumbs stroked your back.

You hummed, dizzy with the kind of joy that sat low in your belly and high in your throat. "Oh well. Guess it's you n' me. Doesn't sound so bad.”

He didn’t lift his head, didn’t open his eyes—just exhaled slow and deep against your neck like every inch of him was made to rest right there. “Could be worse,” he mumbled, lips brushing your skin. “Could be just me.”

And then, after a beat—so quiet you almost missed it:

“Wouldn’t be much of a life, though.”

You felt your heart thump hard beneath his cheek, the weight of those quiet words slipping beneath your ribs like a secret. It caught something tender inside you—something raw and aching and soft all at once. Your arms curled tighter around his shoulders, fingers threading into his hair as if to tether him even closer, even though there was nowhere left to go.

You didn’t say anything. Just kissed the crown of his head, slow and lingering, like a vow made flesh. Your smile was barely there, but it curled into your skin anyway—low in your belly, warm in your chest—settling into place like it belonged.

You stayed there in silence for a while. Just the hum of early morning noise outside the block, the creak of pipes and distant murmurs of life moving on beyond the curtains.

The knock came just as Daryl had started to slip toward sleep, that heavy, boneless kind of doze that only happened when every muscle had been wrung dry and every ounce of tension had bled out into the sweat-slick skin beneath him. His face was buried in the crook of your neck, breath rising and falling steady against your collarbone, and your arms were still wrapped around his shoulders like they were made to be there.

The door creaked open anyway.

“Daryl?” Rick’s voice drifted in, casual, half-distracted. “Hey, we’re switchin’ towers. You’re needed at west now. East’s covered.”

Daryl didn’t lift his head. Just grunted low in his throat, the sound muffled into the warm curve of your neck.

“Yeah,” he rasped. “Y’ mind givin’ us a minute?”

Rick took a few steps in, still not looking too closely. “Hershel’s talkin’ with Nick, by the way. Might want to keep an eye—”

Then he stopped.

You felt it—that moment when Rick’s eyes landed on the way Daryl’s body was blanketing something—or someone, rather. His mouth paused mid-sentence. His posture changed just slightly, not quite shock, not quite embarrassment—more like a man slowly realizing he had walked straight into something he didn’t have the clearance for.

The realisation landed all at once—Daryl’s dishevelled hair, the way his shirt was bunched at the back, his jeans hanging low on his hips. And more damning than anything: your very bare legs hooked around him like vines, your arms wrapped up around his neck like you’d grown there. His whole body was draped over yours like a damn tarp, arms banded around you like the bars of a cage, your legs pinned comfortably beneath his.

You offered no mercy.

“Heyyyy Rick,” you chirped from beneath the tangle of muscle and denim, voice warm and just a little too smug.

Rick blinked. “Shit—didn’t even see you there.”

You grinned into Daryl’s hair, arms tightening around him like you were proving a point. “Yeah, I’m a good hider.”

Daryl groaned again and finally stirred enough to lift his head a fraction, glaring toward the door with all the enthusiasm of a man two seconds from pretending this was a fever dream. One of his hands shifted over your thigh, casually pulling your leg higher to make damn sure there was nothing for Rick to accidentally notice.

“Rick. Get out, man,” he mumbled, eyes half-lidded, voice hoarse and sleep-soft but edged with that quiet Daryl don’t-fuck-with-this tone that got the message across.

Rick coughed and turned on his heel. “Right. Yeah. Sorry. Didn’t see anything. Just west tower. That’s all.”

“Good,” you called after him, loud enough to carry. “You may wanna shut the curtain before you see something that scars you for life.”

It shut instantly.

He didn’t move. Not at first. Just lay there with his full weight pressed into you, his arms tightening slightly, like maybe if he held you hard enough, time would bend to his will and Rick would forget all about that west tower.

But eventually, with a reluctant grunt and another warm brush of his nose against your throat, he shifted—just enough to kiss your collarbone, then your jaw. His hand slipped down your side in a slow, grounding stroke before he finally eased his weight off you, propping himself up on his forearms.

You frowned. “Wait—what’re you doing?”

He stood, tucking himself back into his jeans like it was nothing, adjusting his shirt as he muttered under his breath about being late. His belt clinked softly as he fastened it one-handed, the other dragging through the tousled mess of hair you’d braided earlier, fingers pausing for a second at the little plait like he was debating whether to take it out—then didn’t. Of course he didn’t.

You blinked up at him, stunned. “You’re leaving?”

His boots scraped against the concrete as he bent to grab the knife from beside the cot, slipping it back into the sheath on his hip with the kind of fluid, practiced ease that came from years of muscle memory, though his limbs still moved like he was underwater—slow, loose, reluctant.

His eyes drifted back to you, drawn like gravity to the mess he’d made of you, still sprawled exactly where he’d left you, your skin flushed and dewy with the afterglow, one knee tipped outward in lazy surrender. The inside of your thighs, bare and parted, were marked with the dusky bloom of friction burns, smeared with the sheen of both of you, glistening in the low light like some kind of proof. His breath caught before he could help it. That small, unguarded ache flared behind his ribs—guilt, awe, possession—all tangled up in the sight of you laid out and pliant like that, completely fucked-out, hair wild and lips kiss-swollen.

He swallowed hard and dragged a hand through his hair, jaw tight. The urge to crawl back on top of you and lose himself all over again hit sharp and sudden.

Instead, he exhaled through his nose and looked over his shoulder, deadpan.

“Yeah. Got watch, remember?” he muttered, but his voice was hoarse, his face still turned slightly like he didn’t quite trust himself to look at you again just yet.

“You literally just railed the soul outta me and now you’re off to do security like it’s a nine-to-five?”

He shrugged, “Can’t exactly call in horny.”

You pushed yourself up on one elbow, hair a mess, thighs still sticky, blanket barely covering anything, and scowled at his back as he did up his belt like he hadn’t just ruined you six ways from Sunday. “Wow. Not even a pat on the ass. You’re really leaning into the whole hit-it-and-quit-it thing, huh?”

Daryl didn’t even flinch. Just glanced back over his shoulder with that aggravating little smirk of his, like he knew exactly how wrecked you were and liked it that way. “Ain’t quittin’ nothin’. You’ll still be here when I get back.”

You scoffed. “You don’t know that. Maybe I’ll pack up and elope with someone who doesn’t abandoning me after rearranging my guts.”

He tugged his shirt into place with all the urgency of a man late to brunch, not post-coital bliss. “Ain't abandoning no one. Besides, you’d get bored in five minutes.”

You grabbed the nearest sock—his—and threw it at his head. Missed.

“You’re the worst,” you muttered, slumping back against the pillow with a dramatic huff.

He lingered at the threshold, one hand braced against the frame like it might collapse under the weight of his hesitation. His back was half-turned, but you could still see the tension in his shoulders, like he was trying to walk off a tether that wouldn’t snap.

“You know I don’t wanna leave,” he said, voice low and a little rough around the edges. “But it’s what we do. One of us goes, acts like nothin’ happened. Other one waits. We always come back.”

You turned your head into the pillow like the act of looking at him might physically wound you. “Fine,” you muttered, loud enough to carry but muffled just enough to be petty. “Go on, then. Abandon me in my time of need.”

That earned a low scoff from across the room. “Your time of need?” he repeated, and even without looking, you could hear the smirk forming.

You didn’t dignify it with a response. Just curled a little tighter, clutching the edge of the blanket like it might save you from this tragic betrayal.

You felt the shift in the air before the cot dipped under his weight, and then suddenly—an arm snaked around your waist. You squealed in protest, trying to writhe away, but he was already dragging you backwards against the heat of his chest, locking you in tight.

“Daryl—” you tried to snap, but then his mouth was on your temple.

“Shh,” he whispered, pressing another kiss just below your eye. Then one to your cheekbone. Then the tip of your nose. “This is what you get.”

“For what?” you demanded, breath catching as he kissed the corner of your mouth with the kind of smug, lazy persistence that always made your brain melt.

“For actin’ like I ain’t gonna miss you,” he muttered, nudging his nose into your hair. “Tryna guilt-trip me into stayin'.”

You twisted, squirming, kicking a bare foot at his shin, but he caught your chin and kissed you straight on the mouth—slow and smug and so soft it made your teeth ache.

“Stop it,” you mumbled against his lips.

“Nope,” he muttered, already kissing down your jaw like it was his goddamn mission. “You started this.”

You tried to roll again, but his arm just cinched tighter, pulling you right back into his grip.

“You are so annoying,” you huffed, though you were smiling so hard your face hurt.

“Get some rest,” he murmured, voice low and worn soft around the edges. His hand skimmed gently down your side, grounding rather than possessive. “I’ll be back before you miss me.”

You let out a dramatic sigh, your lips barely twitching around the grin you tried to suppress. “You say that like I’m not already devastated.”

That earned a quiet chuckle—more breath than sound—as he leaned in, pressed a kiss to your bare shoulder, and lingered there for a second longer than necessary, like your skin might convince him to stay.

He finally pulled back with a low groan, grabbing the nearest blanket and draping it gently over your body like he was tucking in something precious. His palm smoothed it over your hip, fingers pausing at your thigh for one last squeeze, one last touch to anchor himself before he left.

He was halfway through the curtain when your voice followed him, warm and dripping with amusement.

“Uh, Dixon?”

He paused with a hand on the edge of the fabric, his head turning slightly, the curtain still clutched in his fingers.

You were propped up on one elbow, buried in the blanket except for a bare knee poking free—just enough to keep things questionably decent. Your chin rested on your palm, gaze sharp with affection and something smug curling at the corners of your mouth.

“…You forgettin’ something?”

He blinked once. Then again. Brows pinched.

“…Uh.”

You lifted both brows and waited, giving him nothing.

He stepped back into the room slowly, like you were some kind of puzzle he hadn’t been briefed on—his eyes scanning you, then the floor, then the table in the corner, as if he might be able to track down whatever vital thing he’d missed.

“…Thought I said I’d be back,” he tried, cautious.

You rolled your eyes, groaning softly. “Not what I meant.”

Daryl looked down at himself like a man running a mental pre-flight checklist. Belt? Buckled. Shirt? On. Knife? Holstered. Boots? Laced. Gun? Holstered.

Still nothing.

You snorted under your breath and shook your head. “Unbelievable.”

And that’s when you saw it—the flicker of clarity breaking across his face like dawn creeping over the mountains.

“Oh,” he muttered, sheepish now, and crossed the room again in a few quiet steps.

You thought he’d make a joke about it. Thought he’d grumble or say whoops or my bad or something equally Daryl. But instead, he reached for your face, cradling your cheek with one rough palm, and leaned in to kiss you. Not a quick peck. Not a teasing brush. A proper kiss. Slow and deep and full of everything he didn’t always say out loud. The kind of kiss that made your breath hitch even though your thighs still ached and your body was already wrecked from him.

He pulled back just enough for his lips to hover against yours, his breath warm as he murmured, “Love ya.”

You blinked. Then grinned, a little dazed. “Aww. I love you too, baby.”

A pause.

“…But I meant your scope, you actual dumbass.”

He froze.

Then glanced over his shoulder, following your eyes to where the long, matte-black rifle scope sat forgotten on the crate beside the bed.

“Shit.”

You were practically beaming now. “Real romantic though.”

Daryl shook his head, scooping it up and slinging the strap over one shoulder with a muttered curse. He was already halfway back to the curtain when your voice trailed after him, sing-song and gleeful:

“Can’t believe you almost strutted outta here half-cocked and scope-less.”

But his shoulders were relaxed, that little smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth again.

· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·

Jeon Jungkook is so unbelievably hot. 

Though it’s not the kind that makes your eyes linger and your heart flutter. No, it’s nothing like that. He is so ridiculously attractive it leaves your pussy aching, clenching so hard around nothing you wish it’s him you bounce on until sunset blurs into sunrise. You almost feel your muscles physically hurt by how he’s always so close yet so far away when the only thing you desire is for the space between you to become a rhythm and draw you in until distance doesn’t really exist anymore.

But that doesn’t happen, that never happens when it’s Jungkook. 

He’s Jaehyun’s best friend– your older brother who loves you more than anything. Your brother who still babies you because you fell off your bike and broke your arm that one time when you were sixteen. Your brother who trusts Jungkook in that effortless, unquestioning way that only comes from years of knowing someone too well– because they’ve known each other since Jungkook knocked on your door when they were nine and you were six. He’d looked up at your parents with those big brown eyes of his and asked, so politely your mother still gushes about it at family gatherings, if he could play with your brother. 

That was all it took for Jungkook to stay. You remember how at first, it started with the small things. His shoes left by the door like the spot had been assigned to him, his voice echoing through the walls so often it soon blended into the background…Those little moments stretched into something bigger and bigger before you could even notice. And suddenly, he was there for everything. Anywhere from holiday dinners to summer getaways, Jungkook was always there. 

But he never gave you anything. 

Jaehyun is the kind of brother who treats every man like a problem, like a timed bomb ticking in the corner, patiently waiting for the right time to blow up into flames. He’s the kind of brother who lectures you about never trusting a guy, the kind who would show up at his door with something burning behind his eyes and a fist ready to throw. Not asking for questions, not looking for answers. 

If anything was to ever happen between you and Jungkook, Jaehyun wouldn’t just be mad. He’d fucking lose it.

So Jungkook has always kept his distance from you. 

He makes sure it’s not anything obvious, but it’s never enough for you to not notice either. The way he never stands next to you for too long, the way his hands stay to himself even when it’s not convenient, the way he looks at you just enough to acknowledge your presence, yet never enough to let it mean anything. He has always been controlled around you, way beyond measure and annoying as hell. 

Because you’ve seen him with other people. You’ve seen how he talks and how he laughs. He lets himself be less careful, less contained. Just more…him. And what bothers you the most isn’t that he ignores you, he never ignores you. 

Jungkook does notice you. You know it, he knows it, he definitely knows you know it too. But what’s so infuriating is the fact that he actively chooses not to react, not to acknowledge anything that comes in his way from you. It’s like he’s decided long ago that whatever line existing between the two of you is one he’s never willing to cross. Which would be fine if he wasn’t so damn irresistible. 

But he is.

And tonight, you’re a little more aware of it than usual. Maybe it’s the tight little dress that’s framing your body so well you had to twirl in front of the mirror more than once just to take it in, because it just looks that good. Or maybe, it’s something else entirely; one of those nights where whatever he usually holds so carefully contained inside sits a little closer to the surface than it normally does.

You don’t think too much of it as you step out of your room, walking down the hallway barefoot as you fix your earrings. A voice drifts away from the living room until it reaches your ears. You know the voice belongs to Jaehyun, he’s home, that’s not surprising. What’s surprising is that he’s not alone. 

You round the corner with your mind elsewhere, the only thought lingering on your mind being whether the shade of your lipstick is a little too dark or not. You’re already halfway into whatever you were going to say when you briefly pause by the mirror to smooth down your dress. 

“Hey, do you mind if–” You start, but you cut yourself off, because when you finally drift your eyes away from the hem of your skirt and lift them up, Jungkook’s reflection stares right back at you from behind. 

He’s leaning back against the couch comfortably, legs spread wide like he’s been there for so long his body has melted and molded into the cushion. One of his arms is thrown over the backrest as the other is holding a can of beer he’s not really drinking from. Jaehyun isn’t there with him for some reason, probably whipping something up in the kitchen even though he can't cook to save his life.

And when you turn around to face him fully, there’s a beat where his eyes move over you, all the way from the very top of your head to the bottom of your feet. You swear his eyes linger for a second too long on your chest before he drops them down and lets his mind register you properly. 

“Going somewhere?” He asks, one brow raised as he spreads his legs even further. 

You nod once, pretending to be mindless and nonchalant about it. “Just for drinks with some friends.” Technically, you’re going out with a friend. But before you can even think of elaborating on that further, Jaehyun walks in. And that’s all it takes for Jungkook to look away like it doesn’t mean anything. 

“Finally.” He scoffs before taking a large sip from his beer. “You take longer than anyone I know to get ready.” 

It takes half a minute of consecutive swift blinking for you to drag your attention away from Jungkook and pull yourself back together. “Relax.” You mutter when you’ve recollected your senses, rolling your eyes. “You’re not even coming with me.” 

“As if I’d want to.” He responds immediately. “I don’t want to deal with your friends.” 

“Hey!” You exclaim, pulling your browns together. “You like my friends.” 

“When they’re sober and quiet.” He corrects. 

You huff out a laugh, stepping further into the room, grabbing your purse from the table. “Liar.” 

“I never lie.” Jaehyun responds, making his way over to the couch before dropping himself down next to Jungkook. You shake your head with a light scoff, barely listening anymore, because Jungkook’s gaze is fixed on you once again and you don’t know if you can continue holding up this stupid act of nonchalance if he doesn’t tear his eyes away from you soon enough. 

“Text me when you get there.” Jaehyun reminds you for the third time today, and you nod along halfheartedly, checking your purse one last time for good measure.

“Yeah, okay. Promise.” 

“You better.” He mutters. 

You sling your bag over your shoulder, turning slightly just to sneak one last look at the man who’s managed to get your pussy tingling with so much as one look and two careless words. But when your gaze finds him and you realize he’s still looking at you, you think that maybe, he isn’t as untouchable as he makes it out to be.

He shifts under your presence, like your eyes weren’t something he expected to land a certain way yet did anyway, setting his drink down on the table as you move past him. The motion brings you close just enough, and his hand brushes against yours in passing. It’s light and fleeting, the kind of contact that normally would be dismissed in seconds. But you feel it all too clearly, so much that even after he pulls away, his fingertips linger on your skin in a way that burns until it leaves a permanent trace. 

Because he doesn’t pull away immediately, not fast enough like he usually does. There’s a fraction of a second where his fingers stay there before he retracts like he remembered it a little too late. 

And when you finally leave, Jungkook finds himself drowned inside the drunken haze of your sweet scent and the warmth of your presence– so strong that he physically feels the way it’s begging for him to follow. 

· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·

The place Jaemin picked is one of those upscale cocktail bars where the wine is just so mediocre you’re forced to order overpriced cocktails instead. The lighting is warm and dim, because it always is in places like this– casting everything in a golden glow so that the glint makes it easier to ignore what doesn’t quite live up to the price tag. It’s busy just the way you like, filled with enough people to feel alive without being crowded.

Jaemin is already there by the time you reach the table that's reserved for you, leaning back into his seat like the air around him bends so intently that the place belongs to him. His legs are spread just a little wider than what’s acceptable, and the drink in his hand swings lazily from side to side like it’s been there for long with the sole purpose of giving him something to fidget with. 

He smirks immediately when you walk in. “There she is.” He sings, dragging his gaze over you before continuing. “You look…happy.” He says, cocking a brow like he’s questioning his own choice of words. 

You slide into the seat across from him, setting your bag onto the one next to you. “When am I not happy?” 

“This is like, when your hot friend from statistics called me cute, kind of happy.”

You scoff, reaching for the menu before letting your eyes scan through the list of beverages. “You threw a chair and got banned from the cafe you took her to.” 

Jaemin rolls his eyes. “I moved a chair.” 

“You threw it and it hit someone’s leg.” 

He pauses. “Not the point.” 

You giggle, placing the menu back onto the table. “Exactly the point, she got back together with her ex two days after your date.” 

He watches you for a second, then shakes his head. “God, you’re exhausting.” 

“And,” You start, dragging the word. “You still text me every day.” 

“What can I say, you’re a part of my routine.” Jaemin winks at you before turning his head to call over a waiter. When he comes by, you order a cocktail too pink to be taken seriously, and Jaemin asks for a kind of whiskey you’re sure tastes even worse than its name. Because no one really enjoys whiskey, it’s just for show.  A whole performance created by men trying to match up to their fragile egos. Not that you're saying Jaemin fits the profile. 

He leans forward when the waiter walks away. “Alright.” He says. “What did you do?” 

You tilt your head, pretending to think. “I didn’t exactly do something.” 

He gives you an unimpressed look. “And you expect me to believe that?”

“Yes!” You exclaim. “I really didn’t do anything. He just…slipped.”

“Who?” He pulls his brows together. “Don’t tell me this is about Jungkook again.” 

You lean back into your seat, unable to help the mischievous smile spreading across your face. Jaemin groans when it clicks, realizing exactly what you’re talking about. “No he didn’t.” He says matter of factly. 

You met Jaemin your freshman year of high school, and you slipped in each other’s spaces so easily you don’t even remember how. Just that by the time it mattered, he was already there. In your messages at ungodly hours, in the best parts of your worst days, in the middle of things he had no reason to involve himself in but did anyway. 

And at some point, without either of you really saying it out loud, you built something strong enough to stay and fight for.

So naturally, Jaemin knows Jungkook. How he moves, how he talks, how careful he is without making it obvious— only when it comes to you. He knows the version of him that exists around your brother; easy, controlled, and distant just enough to never cause any problems. 

So when you say that Jungkook slipped, he knows exactly what you mean, even though he would never grant you the pleasure of being right. But most importantly, he knows that if you're bringing it up like this, something has actually shifted. 

“He did.” You say without an ounce of hesitation. “He looked at me like he…forgot everything. Like there was a feeling he’d been suppressing and he forgot why for a second." You pause, sipping your drink. "And!" You exclaim like you forgot to add something so crucial. "His hand brushed mine and he didn't pull away." You argue. 

Jaemin sinks deeper into his seat. “Can we please move on from that man? Jungkook doesn’t slip, that’s literally his thing. I can set you up with Mark, if you want. Saw his dick once in the lockers and let me tell you, he’s huge.” 

Your lips pull into a pout. “I don’t want Mark, I want Jungkook.” 

Jaemin exhales through his nose before taking a large gulp from his drink. “Let’s say you’re right, Jaehyun would fucking kill you.” 

You shrug, mindlessly tracing your nail along the rim of your glass. “We’ll figure that out, I just wanna see how far it goes. What it takes for him to lose control." 

“You’ve liked him way too long for this to end well.” 

You scoff. “I do not like him.” 

Jaemin deadpans. “You used to sit on the stairs just to watch him and your brother play video games.”

“That's because I wanted to hop on his bones.” You argue.

He lifts a brow accusingly. “When you were fifteen?”

You pause for a second, tongue poking the inside of your cheek as you watch over your friend. “Fuck you.” You mutter under your breath.

You breathe again before leaning forward slightly, lowering your voice just enough. “You’ve seen him, Jaemin. He’s always so– so put together. Like nothing touches and sticks to him enough.” 

“Yeah.” Jaemin nods. “Because he’s not stupid.” 

The corner of your mouth twitches. “And it’s my duty to fuck up his morals.” 

He exhales sharply, shaking his head. “You’re gonna drag me into this, aren’t you?”

“You’re already in it." You smile at him innocently, bating your eyelashes. “You’re gonna sit next to me and look pretty." 

“Wow, the way you love me.” 

You wink at him, sipping your drink and letting the bitter taste of alcohol burn in your mouth. "Always." 

“God,” He mutters. “You’re gonna fuck this up.” 

Your lips twitch. “I’ll snap you a pic when he spreads his legs for me.” 

“Please don’t.” 

· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·

The opportunity presents itself on a silver platter.

You’d be stupid to not take it. Not when you’ve gotten him somewhere hot, wet and messy without even meaning to, as if the universe already knows exactly what you’re about to do with it. 

You're stretched out on one of the chez-longs by the pool, body wrapped in the tiniest set of white bikinis in your wardrobe. That was definitely a lucky guess— a hot one to say the least. You're laying on your stomach with a book resting open in your hands with the sole purpose of being there, because you've read no more than two or five pages during the whole hour you spent here.

You had set the day aside and spared it for yourself— silenced your phone, shut everyone out, forced your mind into a kind of quiet that had no way out unless you tried hard enough. You had cleared everything until there was nothing to think about, nothing pulling at you from somewhere with something you didn't choose.

But it doesn't last.

The sliding door cuts through the quiet when you expect it the least, and when it opens, it brings Jaehyun with it. He walks in a way that's loud, careless, and already mid conversation with a couple of his friends trailing behind him. 

And Jungkook too, of course. 

You lower your book, push yourself onto your elbows, and then lift your sunglasses up into your hair. The exasperated breath you huff out goes unnoticed by both your brother, and his ridiculously loud friends as their voices swallow it up without wasting a second. 

"Wow," You mutter, tilting your head to take a look at them. "Great."

Jaehyun spots you immediately. “Oh, you’re here.” 

You scrunch your face a little, blinking up at him, shielding your face from the sun with a help of your hand even though it doesn't exactly work wonders. “I live here.” 

“Right.” He says mindlessly. “Didn’t think you’d be outside.” 

You scoff. “Clearly.” 

After your exchange, Jaehyun walks over the lounge chairs across from you, tossing his towel onto one of them like there isn't enough for everyone and they're something to call dibs on. When in reality, they aren't. One of his friends, one you only vaguely recognize, blows out a low whistle as he walks by.

"Damn," He says, not even trying to be subtle about it. "Didn't know he had a sister like that."

Luckily, Jaehyun doesn't hear it, too busy arguing with Mingyu about sunscreen brands like either of them know what they're talking about.

But Jungkook does. 

His head turns— maybe not immediately, maybe you're giving yourself too much credit and your imagination has started playing games on you— but you swear it does. His eyes narrow at his friend for a second too long before landing on you. And this time, you're sure there's something there. You're sure that if you were exaggerating and reading too much into every small detail last week, you aren't now.

His eyes linger on you as the oil you had put on catches the sunlight in a way that's impossible to ignore. The soft sheen traces every line and every curve of your body, shifting with movement until it reflects straight into his eyes.

Jungkook really doesn't mean to look. But the way the light hits your body— which he swears is literally the epitome of beauty— pulls in his attention without asking for permission. Suddenly, he's seeing too much and the tent in his shorts is growing and growing until the fabric tightens around his length and he can't bear doing nothing about it.

Though what really gets him isn't only how good you look— because that has always been a problem. It's how you exist in it so easily, so comfortable in the artwork dressed as your body. As his gaze dances over you, his head keeps spinning and spinning and suddenly, words he can never say out loud build at the tip of his tongue. 

You're a fucking temptation. 

You’re in the middle of flipping a page you haven’t been reading when his voice cuts in. “Didn’t know you’d be here.” 

You glance up again. “And I didn’t know you were coming over.” 

He shrugs. “Jaehyun asked.”

You nod slowly, pursing your lips. “I figured.”

There’s a beat filled with silence, one that stretches a little too long, one that leads you to realize he won’t be the first one to break it. So you turn over and sit up fully, setting your book aside. “Are you gonna get in or keep standing there?” You ask lightly.

But it takes him longer than a minute to hear the question. Because as you sit up and your front faces him, Jungkook feels the air knocking out of his lungs.

Your tits.

They sit so round and perky under the thin fabric of your bikini top. The white colour extenuates the soft swell of your boobs perfectly and Jungkook can't help but wonder what else would paint them white like this. As if things couldn't get worse for him, your tits bounce slightly when you move, and Jungkook fucking loses it.

He huffs a quiet breath in hopes of masking the ethical dilemma he's got going on inside. “Don’t really feel like it.”

You hum softly, dragging your gaze over him. “Well,” You start. “That’s too bad.”

His brows pull together. “Why?”

You give him a calculated smile, letting the moment sink in before answering. “You’d be fun to watch.”

You see the way your words land immediately– that almost-reaction he covers before it reaches too far. “Yeah?” He says, voice lower now, unable to help himself. “You watch everyone like that?” 

You shrug. “Only the ones nice to look at.”

He huffs out a soft scoff under his breath before reaching for the hem of his shirt, then pulls it off in one swift motion. You try to keep your expression neutral. And you swear, you really do. But when he looks like that, it’s impossible. 

Because Jungkook looks ridiculous like this, chest toned and bare and so fucking hot. He looks like someone who jumped out of your dirtiest fantasies and landed straight in your aching pussy. Your muscles grow sore despite having laid down all morning and you have to physically stop yourself from drooling and licking along the lines framing his abs. 

At the end of the day, you're just a girl who knows what she likes. Sue you. 

You exhale softly through your nose, shaking your head mindlessly like it doesn’t matter, like you don’t want to jump and bounce on him until his shape is permanently engraved in you. “Real subtle.” 

He glances at you, cocking a brow. “You asked.” 

You tilt your head. “I wouldn’t say asked is the correct word.”

“You’re welcome anyway.” He says, tossing his shirt beside you.

You laugh, pushing yourself up from the sunbed. “You’re so annoying.” So annoyingly hot.

When you’re finally standing, he’s so close you don’t hear whatever bullshit Jaehyun yells from the pool. Shut up, brother. Your girl is standing on business.

You step forward towards the edge of the pool when the lack of distance starts feeling like you want to drop down to your knees and take him into your mouth until he's whining and crying. Because it's one thing to be aware of his presence, but a whole another thing to feel the warmth of him sizzling through your bones.

You crouch down, dragging your hand along the water. "You getting in?" You ask, glancing up at him.

Jungkook lets out a breathy chuckle, gives you one final look, and before you know it, he's jumping straight into the pool. Water rises fast the moment his body drops in, splashing and hitting your skin in cool droplets.

Jungkook shakes his head, dragging a hand over his face. "Happy?" He asks, looking at you behind wet curls as he brushes them away from his face.

Oh the sight he is. 

You tilt your head, looking down at him as you narrow your eyes teasingly. “A little.”

Before you can move, his hand catches your wrist and pulls you forward. You lose your balance and a sharp splash cuts through your body, skin burning with the unexpected hit. And suddenly, all you can feel is the cold chill of water rushing up your spine mixed with the warmth of his body.

Shit.

When you open your eyes, you realize you're fully pressed against him. Your arms instinctively wrap around his shoulders and your legs around his waist before you have the chance to realize what's happening.

For a second, it's like the earth stops rotating— like it forgets to revolve around the sun and time forgets to move along with it. The water ripples slowly until it calms down, the noise around you fading into something so distant and irrelevant. Because right now, all you can feel is him. The way his broad chest sits solid against your soft boobs and the warm touch of him on your skin that's suddenly everywhere. 

Jungkook goes completely still the exact way you do, like he didn't expect this either yet can't bring himself to do anything rational about it. The rush keeps you away from registering his hold around your thighs until he shifts slightly, securing your place in his arms.

Your faces are so close that his breath is hitting your skin in that warm, intimate kind of way you don’t share with just anyone. But the intimacy slips over your head just like that and all you can focus on is the way his hardened length presses against you beneath the water.

“Fuck.” It slips under his breath, barely audible even for you considering the lack of distance between you and him. But of course, you hear it. You'd be a fool to miss a slip like that, because you'd notice that kind of desperation from a mile away

He pulls back abruptly, like the warmth becomes too much and suffocates him all at once, so much that he can't feel oxygen reaching his lungs anymore. Distance folds itself into something necessary for him to function properly again, and just like that, your arms slip away and your legs drop back into the water.

Then you give him a smile, teasing and knowing, like this was all you needed to have him all bare and figured out in the middle of your palm. "This is new." You murmur. "You're getting reckless." 

His jaw tightens. “I’m not.” 

“You just pulled me into the pool.” You say, crossing your arms over your chest.

“You were standing too close.”

You laugh softly. “That’s your excuse?” 

“It’s the truth.”

You tilt your head to study him with a little more care. The way he's been holding onto the tension between you like his life depends on it just so that it doesn't crack, the way restraint sits so uncomfortably on his face even though he has no choice but to keep it together a little longer— it's all a bit more clear now.

"Right." You say lightly, then turn away like nothing about what just happened is worth digging further. But on the inside, you're already thinking about the phone call you'll have with Jaemin. Because you were right from the start, that wasn't nothing, not even close.

You just got what you wanted.

· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·

Jaehyun absolutely loves Jaemin. He just won't ever say it like that. 

It shows in other ways— been there since the day you came home all giddy and giggly, talking too fast about the first ever friend you made in high school, barely able to get his name out properly out of excitement. Jaehyun remembers it anyway. He remembers the day you said Jaemin like it already meant something, like the way the letters rolled out of your tongue was enough to know he was going to stay. 

He didn't question it then, he doesn't question it now.

So when Jaemin shows up unannounced at your door and lets himself in without asking, Jaehyun doesn't tell him to leave. He complains with a roll of his eyes, but offers him a can of beer anyway. Because accommodating an uninvited Jaemin has become a given way too long ago.

Jaemin exists in the space the same way Jungkook does, even though he slipped into it a few years later, like they both carved out a place for themselves in the dearest corners of your lives and never really left.

The difference is, Jaemin doesn't really have to keep his distance.

After inviting himself inside, he stretches across your couch, fetches the drink straight out of Jaehyun's hand before your brother gets to offer it properly, then reaches for you absentmindedly the way he always does. 

Jaehyun notices it sometimes, just enough to be bothered by it. He isn't exactly a fan of seeing a man touch you like that, even if it's Jaemin. He rolls his eyes, tells him to stop being annoying, but Jaemin just nods along with that loose, careless grin; pulling you closer regardless.

You lean into him just enough to make things worse for your brother, your shoulder pressing into his chest as you reach past him for the small bowl of nuts Jaehyun was about to hand you, until Jaemin beats you to it.

"Can you not steal everything that's mine?" Jaehyun mutters. Already huffing, already annoyed.

Jaemin doesn't even look at him, stuffing his mouth with a handful of peanuts. "Relax. You were literally handing it out." 

Jaehyun deadpans. "Well, not to you." 

You laugh, grabbing a few of the almonds. "You're both insufferable."

"You're one to talk." Jaehyun shoots back immediately. "You encourage him."

"I don't encourage him." You argue, but the lack of distance between you and your friend is still questionable.

Jaemin glances down at you, eyes grazing over your bare legs draped across his lap before lifting a brow. "You definitely do." 

You tilt your head, meeting his gaze with narrowed eyes. "You're very impressionable, that's not my fault." 

"I'm not impressionable." 

"You walked in uninvited and stole a drink in under thirty seconds." 

"Eh," He squints his eyes, pretending to think. "You offered it though." 

"So you wouldn't have gone ahead and taken one if he didn't?" You ask, cocking a brow.

Jaehyun points at him in victory, ecstatic at the newfound support from you. "Exactly."

Jaemin ignores him completely and turns to you, his arm still draped over your shoulders. "You weren't complaining five minutes ago." 

"Suddenly I'm feeling a little wiser." 

Jaemin rolls his eyes. "No, you're not." 

You pause mid sip like you're considering putting up a fight, but you change your mind as you gulp down the drink, dropping your shoulders. "Fine, I'm not." 

Jaehyun exhales sharply, dragging a hand along his face like he's already exhausted. "See, this is exactly what I mean. You two are unbearable together."

"You're the one who keeps letting him in." You say lightly.

"I don't let him in." He argues. "He just shows up." 

"You'd shut the door in my face if you wanted to." Jaemin says.

"You'd climb in through the window." 

Jaemin nods with a serious look on his face, like what he's agreeing to is a reasonable solution. "Yeah, I would." 

You're still laughing when the bell rings, and Jaehyun mutters a quiet finally under his breath as he pushes himself up from the couch. Jungkook and Mingyu walk in one behind the other, Jaehyun holding the door open by the corner. 

"Took you long enough." He complains, unimpressed.

Mingyu scoffs lightly. "We're not late." 

"You always are. I'm the only one with a sense of urgency here." 

Mingyu doesn't argue further, he heads straight for the kitchen instead. As he's busy opening and closing cabinets one by one like he owns like place, Jungkook lingers a little longer at the entrance before following Jaehyun inside. 

He looks good, he looks so fucking good it takes everything in you to not spread your legs right then and there. So you lean more into Jaemin, letting your skirt ride up with the movement. Because you'll get this man in your bed one way or the other and right now, there's nothing you can do besides rile him up a little and pray your brother doesn't notice. 

He does.

Jaehyun's eyes flick between the two of you before he looks away again, jaw clenching just slightly. "Can you sit normally for once?" 

But you don't move. You can't move when Jungkook's already looking at you like he's trying so hard not to slip. Not again. "Are we not sitting normally?" You ask, glancing down at yourself, pretending to be confused.

"No." He says flatly.

Jaemin shifts just enough to make it worse, his arm tightening around you even though it's completely unnecessary. "Feels pretty normal to me."

"That's because you're the problem." 

You hum softly, clearly entertained now. "I think you're overreacting." 

Jaemin nudges you with his elbow. "He's jealous." 

"I'm not jealous of you."

"Wow." Jaemin says as he brings a hand to his chest, pretending to be offended. "That hurt." 

Mingyu laughs from the kitchen, leaning against the counter with his drink in hand. "He's definitely jealous." 

“I’m not jealous.” Jaehyun repeats, louder this time.

Mingyu shrugs as he drops onto the singular couch beside him. “Sounds like it.” 

You laugh again, and it still sounds light and careless. But it doesn't really feel like it. Not when you can feel Jungkook's eyes digging holes into your exposed skin, like he's trying to do with his eyes what he can't with anything else. Because neither one of his fists have the privilege of breaking Jaemin's jaw right now.

He's not even trying to hide it now. Maybe because something bigger already slipped last week and there is no point in trying to recollect it back together, or maybe because Jaehyun has fallen into another pointless argument with Mingyu and a small glace or two won't hurt anybody. Doesn't really matter when he keeps giving you exactly what you're looking for.

Regardless, you're adamant on not giving in. You're a girl on a mission and you're going to compromise it for nothing.

So you shift closer, letting your hand slide further along Jaemin's arm before curling your fingers around his bicep like there's no other place you'd rather it be. Like this is nothing new, nothing worth paying attention to. 

But it is.

Jungkook's eyes drop down to your legs— bare and unapologetic on Jaemin's lap. He lets them linger on the poor excuse of a skirt that's sitting uselessly on your hips, and then trails lines along your exposed legs all the way to the tip of your feet.

You don't have to look up to know he's watching, but you do anyway, just to see the way he's starting to break. Because this time, there's nothing careful about the way he's looking at you. The control is still there, but he's holding onto it for his dear life— barely. 

The conversation around you keeps moving in a way that's constant and habitual— Jaehyun complaining, Mingyu laughing, Jaemin saying something in your ear you don't fully catch…Everything is safe and practiced.

Besides him.

Jeon Jungkook is not safe. God, he’s terrifying.  Terrifyingly sexy and thoroughly unsafe. 

You reach for your drink, take a slow sip, then set it back down like you've suddenly lost all interest and nothing is as entertaining anymore. "I'll be back." You say, pushing yourself up from the couch before anyone can question you about it.

"Don't disappear." Jaehyun mutters mid-conversation, barely glancing at you.

You hum something about him asking too for many things at once before turning away, making your way out of the living room fast so that no one has the chance to hold you there longer.

You take your sweet time walking down the hallway, hips swaying from side to side just in case a certain someone decides to follow behind. But you know he will, so you don't look back. Luckily, life smiles at you for another day and the sound of a second set of footsteps reaches you in no time.

The corner of your mouth lifts in satisfaction as you reach the bathroom door, letting your hand linger on the handle for half a second too long before pushing it open, like you're giving him time to catch up.

You don't bother closing the door, leaving it open as Jungkook steps in a beat or two after you, not forgetting to lock it after him.

"Stop it." He mutters finally, voice low and rough like he doesn't fully trust it to come out louder without giving something away.

Too bad he already has.

You tilt your head, looking up at him like you don't quite understand what he's talking about, lashes fluttering innocently even though you're far from it. "Stop what?"

When your gazes meet, it's like his eyes are whispering to you, telling you to come closer and let yourself melt into his touch until your breath is completely blown away. But instead of doing anything about it, instead of tugging you closer into him and ending this stupid game that has left both of you aching and soaring; he drags a hand down his face and does everything in his power to pull himself back into the control he had once mastered. 

"You know what." He says, exhaling sharply through his nose.

You take a step closer, fed up with the distance he's forced you into. "I wanna hear you say it." 

His jaw tightens as he looks at you, trying to figure out how far you're willing to take it. "You've been pushing this all night."

"Well then, let me remind you." You murmur, stepping even closer, until there's barely any space left between the two of you. "You followed me." You say, placing your index finger on his chest. 

Your words land a certain way, you watch his reaction all the way through its birth and death. In the way his breath stutters audibly, in the way his eyes flick briefly down to your lips, in the way something between light and lust flashes across his features before he can lock it back down again. 

He scoffs as his eyes drift away from yours. "You're out of your mind." 

You shrug mindlessly, like nothing about this is as serious as he makes it out to be. "I've been told once. Or twice." You give him a smile, light and flirty.

He drops down his hand, then snaps his head towards you like he suddenly remembered something. "Do you think this is funny?" He asks, 

You let your gaze drag over him slowly, completely unapologetic, taking your time with it before meeting his eyes.

"I think it's hot." 

And you're met with silence. Oh, Jeon Jungkook, the fucking pussy you are. 

That does it, you see it the second it lands, the second that suppressed urge in him slips past the point of recovery. It's still there— but thinner, frying, barely holding on. Like it's waiting for someone to cross the line first and it sure as hell won't be him.

So you do.

You close the space completely this time, your hand finding him again until it settles on his shirt and fists the fabric enough to pull him in. You're not testing the waters, not anymore. Everything is visible no matter how hard he's trying to pull it through and you're not going to let him slip past your fingertips when you've gotten him like this. 

Jungkook inhales sharply, quick and uneven, like air catches in the middle of his chest before he can do anything about it. His hand moves instinctively, and just as you think he's going to push your hand away, he settles his hold on your waist. 

He calls your name, voice dropping in a way that's raw and desperate. His body goes rigid as his brain tries being reasonable one last time, but he fails terribly, miserably.

Your hands trail along his chest, traveling down until you decide to let them settle on his waist. Your hands don't rush him, they move like you've already decided how this ends on his part. Your fingers slip just past the waistband of his jeans, but still not fully, tugging with his belt.

"Fuck." He mutters under his breath as your hips hit his roughly, head falling back beyond his control.

Jungkook just stands there and takes it, lets it happen, lets you happen.

That's what gives him away. He doesn't grab your wrists, doesn't step back, doesn't do anything he should be doing. So with the newfound confidence, you sink down to your knees, slow enough that each passing second aches and tortures and stings his skin until it burns and leaves your trace. 

He freezes.

His body hasn't caught up to what's happening yet, even though you're taking your sweet time to make sure every second of your touch registers to the point where it's lingering and all he sees and feels is you when he closes his eyes. 

No matter how bad you're trying to let him keep up, he feels as though his brain has stopped working long ago and parked itself outside of the constellation named his fucking morals. 

"You still there, Jungkook?" You ask looking up at him, voice low and sultry, bating your eyelashes with feigned innocence. As if you aren't his best friend's little sister who's about to suck the life out of him.

He's barely able to get out a reply and you're already pulling his jeans down. You fiddle with the waistband of his boxers, then move along to palm him over the fabric. Jungkook sucks in a sharp breath, hands finding their way to your hair like he's trying to ground himself. 

You give a squeeze to his base, hard and thick just like you expected. You're sure whatever he's hiding inside is even better than your imagination, but there's still a minute or two before you can figure that out. 

"Ah, fuck, yes—" Jungkook breathes, almost stuttering, completely lost in a daze. "Keep going." He says as his hold tightens in your hair, locks tangling between his fingertips as he tries steadying himself. You slowly drag your hand over to his tip, flicking your index finger somewhere over his slit before moving it back down. You're about to pull down his boxers and then—

A knock. 

Jaehyun calls out your name from the other side of the door, and the sound reaches your ears in an instant, forcing you out of whatever fantasy you've lost yourselves in. It's so sudden that Jungkook jerks, his hold on you slipping away as panic flashes across his features. But you? You don't even move.

"Give me a second!" You call back with a voice so impressively steady even Jungkook believes you're alone for a second. 

Jungkook exhales like he's just been dropped back into a body he hasn't been in for years, fists closing and opening by his sides like he doesn't know what to do with his hands anymore. But what gets him— what gets him the most is how calm and unbothered you look, like you didn't just bury his body and bring it back to life in under a minute.

Jaehyun calls your name again. "Be quick, seriously." 

But you're still not rushing, still not scrambling. Hell, you're not even shifting the way anyone else would in this situation— enter Jungkook. You just tilt your head slightly as you slowly rise back up to your feel, like you're mildly inconvenienced at best.

"I said give me a second!" You reply, and Jungkook watches over you like you're insane. Because you don't look panicked, you don't look caught, you don't look half he's feeling right now.

You look…fine.

He doesn't like that.

Right when Jungkook was considering running the bath and drowning himself in boiling water, another door opens.

"You can use this one." Jaemin says casually, thoroughly aware of whatever stunt you're pulling unlike your brother. Jaehyun mutters something under his breath, a few curse words and complaints about how annoying you are, but he's already moving. 

It's silent again when the door locks shut, and Jungkook exhales like he has been holding the entire universe in his lungs. "Jesus—" He runs a hand down his face, shaking his head like he's trying to rid himself of everything but it doesn't work. "What the fuck was that?" 

You melt into every second in a whole minute, smoothing your skirt down, fixing your lipstick, running a hand along your hair like those are the only things that need a fixing and nothing about this requires any urgency.

You look at him, completely calm. "What?" You ask lightly, not even making an effort to look at him, glancing at his face from its reflection through the mirror.

His jaw tightens. "You have no idea what game you're playing and it's a problem."

You finally turn to look at him, then glance down to his crotch before lifting your eyes back up, the corners of your mouth lifting. "I think you've got a bigger problem going on." You say, then walk through the door just like that.

Just like that.

Jungkook is losing his fucking mind.

He hates you, he hates you so goddamn much right now. He hated you that day by the pool when you were in that stupid little bikini, hated you when you had your perfect legs over some boy's lap— God, he really is just some boy. What the fuck is a Jaemin? He swears he's so much hotter and bigger and sexier but he can't even try and make himself feel better now that his pants are tightening and his cock is aching.

He knows he's got a bigger problem going on, he didn't need you to say it, he doesn't want to hear you say anything at this point. Because it seems as though he has the self restraint of a fucking rabbit and his dick gets hard with so much as your breathing. 

Jungkook is the boy here. He knows he is. There is nothing left for him to do besides hoping you don't. But god, he's desperate. He can't help but think about the what ifs. What if Jaehyun didn't knock, what if you actually pulled down his boxers and took him in your sweet little mouth. He'd give anything right now. Anything to see your mouth full with his cock, stuffed to the brim. He'd do anything for you to fold beneath him and do as he says, he'd bend you over this stupid counter and take you right fucking here. He'd fuck you so good you'd never be able to walk properly again. He'd put you in your place and shut that sweet mouth of yours forever.

But he can't. He knows he can't. So he does the second most stupid he can do today— the first being letting you take him in your mouth. He pulls his jeans back down after making sure the door is locked again, then frees his cock out of the fabric that has been suffocating him since the moment he laid his eyes on you today.

He starts stroking himself after spreading the precum over his tip, then lets his hand run down his aching length. He's so horny it's stupid. He can't believe a girl he has known since he was nine has gotten his dick rock hard with so much as a few reckless words and light, taunting touches. But who the fuck is he kidding? This isn't the first time he's thought about you like this, not the first time he's caught himself a way the shouldn't have.

He's just been better at hiding it before.

He had always been the version of himself that knows where the line is and doesn't even think about crossing it. Because for the longest time, you had a single purpose, a single title in his life— Jaehyun's little sister. A kid who used to hover around the edges of everything she had no part in, who'd sit too close and talk too much even when she didn't have to. There was never a reason to think about it longer than necessary. 

Until you made it impossible to ignore. 

It didn't happen all at once, not in a way he could point to and say this is where it changed. It just…happened. You stopped asking to be included, stopped looking at him like he was someone above and untouchable. You built your own life, your own circle, yourself.

And somewhere in the middle of all of that, he started noticing things. The way you carried yourself differently, the way your voice grew into something low and sultry, the way you started looking at people with eyes that knew exactly what you were doing, thoroughly aware of the effect you had.

So as he keeps dragging a hand along his length, he thinks about every time you'd bent over in front of him with a skirt way too short to be acceptable, every time you'd given him those eyes while asking for things as simple as a glass of water, every time you'd call a man late at night thinking your voice couldn't be heard when he'd lose hours of sleep over it— he thinks about it all. 

He cums with a breathy trail of moans and your name on his tongue, body shaking with the intensity of his orgasm. And as he struggles to find the line between his imagination and the reality, he realizes that the worst part about what he has done today isn't Jaehyun or the post nut clarity.

It's that he wants more. 

· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·

The club is brazen without trying to be subtle about it. It's the kind of atmosphere that doesn't prepare you for the worst before settling deep into your skin, right in the middle of something you can't erase no matter how hard you try scrubbing it off, because the agitation is just that heavy. The lights hang low, glowing in a distant hue that's maybe a little too deliberate for a club like this. The air is thick and full without being suffocating, but it's lived in. Like it's been used over and over again and simply refuses to empty out, carrying the remnants of conversations, the cluttered echo of laughter, and things that are said too loud yet meant too lightly. 

You're not sure if it was the best pick for a birthday night out, but who are you to say anything— you wouldn't be here without Jaehyun anyway. Not that you want to leave, but the party doesn't matter all that much either. Although you do like Haneul— one of Jaehyun's college friends who also became yours overtime— she's sweet in a way that's safe and makes it easy to forget she's the center of attention tonight. 

The music is starting to feel too loud and it feels as if the club is getting smaller and smaller as time goes on, but it's still a little early to leave, at least by yourself. Because leaving alone would mean you aren't enjoying yourself and staying long enough keeps everything in place, keeps you exactly where you need to be without drawing attention to the fact that your mind has been completely elsewhere for the entirety of the night.

Jungkook has been avoiding you. Definitely, irreproachably, unmistakeably.

You've been in this club for three hours now, with your body pressed against the crowd in a way that doesn't allow distance to exist, caught between people who move like proximity is a choice rather than an inconvenience, and still— Jungkook hasn't looked at you properly. Not even once.

Jaehyun finds you sometime around the final minutes of your fourth hour here, fully drunk now as if he hasn't been halfway gone for the majority of his time here. His words are looser, his voice is louder, and his arm is slinging around your shoulder like everything about his balance depends on you. 

"There you are." He sings, stretching the words sloppily. "I'm done." 

You laugh, head tipping back in his arms. "You've been done for like, what? An hour now?" You tell him, steadying the drink in his hand before it spills.

"I mean it this time." He leans into you, then immediately leans away like something far more interesting suddenly caught his attention. "I'm leaving— or, no. I'm staying. I don't know." 

"That sounds about right." 

He exhales dramatically, then glances over your shoulder until he spots what he was looking for. "Jungkook!" He shouts over the music. 

Jungkook turns his head slightly before fully facing your brother, then moves towards you like rejecting was never really an option.

"Can you take her home?" Jaehyun asks, placing a hand on the small of your back. But it doesn't sound like a question, it sounds like a decision that's already been made before it even reached Jungkook.

Jungkook's expression tightens slightly. "I'm not—" 

"You are." Jaehyun cuts him off, waving it away like the argument doesn't exist, doesn't matter. "I'll stay a bit longer, or all night, just— make sure she gets home safe, please." 

Your eyes wander away to Jungkook, because watching him is far more interesting than dealing with your drunk brother. There's a pause before he exhales through his nose, a beat that's enough to feel like he's weighing something in his head, like there is a version of this he so badly wants to refuse but knows he can't— knows he won't.

"Fine." He says finally, not exactly willing. 

Jaehyun grins, satisfied with the outcome even though he won't remember achieving it by the time he wakes up. He disappears into the crowd after patting Jungkook on the shoulder, leaving the two of you standing in a space that suddenly feels quiet despite being the complete opposite.

Jungkook walks alongside you in silence as you make your way out of the club, his pace controlled and calculated like that's the only thing he's concentrating on right now. The music gets swallowed up by a wave of soft wind and the distant hum of the city when you step outside, fading slowly as you get further and further away from the club. 

You glance at him as you walk, trailing your eyes along the sharp line of his jaw beneath the warm glow of the streetlights. He's dressed too nicely for the bike waiting at the curb, painted in dark clothes and silver rings along with the kind of face that makes people stop and turn their heads twice without even realizing they're doing it. For a short second, you wonder if he knows how unfair he looks tonight. But jokes on you, he probably does. 

Because Jeon Jungkook is one cocky bastard, even though he doesn't show it a lot. 

"You could've said no, you know." You say lightly when you reach the bike. "If it's impossible for you to be alone with me without glaring like you want me dead." 

Jungkook exhales through his nose, pulling the spare helmet from the handle and holding it out to you before responding eventually. "I would've said no if i wanted to." 

You look down to the helmet, crossing your arms on your chest."You can act a little less miserable, then." 

His jaw tightens slightly at that, like he's annoyed with both you and himself. "Put the helmet on." He says, ignoring your claim. 

You roll your eyes, but take it from him anyway, not forgetting to let your fingers brush against his on purpose. He shifts under your touch, shoulders tensing beneath his jacket. You're sure he notices the way you're doing it on purpose too, but prefers not to comment on it. Not yet, at least.

"You're quiet tonight." You say, slipping the helmet on. 

"You talk enough for the both of us."

"That's not true. You talk plenty when you're…engaged." You say slowly, dragging your gaze over him before settling them back on his face. Jungkook looks at you properly for the first time tonight, and he makes sure to look at you with purpose. Enough to let you know he's still thinking about it too.

The bathroom, everything you did that day, everything he did after you left. Not a single second of it has left his mind ever since. 

"Get on the bike." He says, tongue poking the inside of cheek before he speaks.

You do, but you do it so slowly Jungkook thinks he wants to dig his grave right then and there. You place your hands on his shoulders before sliding them over his chest as you move behind him, taking your time in a way that feels cruel. By the time you finally sit, there's barely any space between your bodes. Your knees press against his thighs, your arms wrap around his waist, and your chest leans onto his back. 

"You know," You murmur near his ear, and it takes so much in him to not go still at the lingering heat of your breath. "For someone who keeps telling me to stop, you never actually do anything." 

His grip tightens around the handles. "You don't listen." 

"Maybe i'd listen if you were better at hiding how much you like it." 

You feel how his body stiffens immediately as he inhales sharply before starting the engine. "Hold properly." He says, completely dismissing your words.

When the bike finally pulls away from the curb, you settle against him even closer than before, letting your body melt into the warmth of his. You smile to yourself beneath the helmet, because this time, you know exactly how tonight is going to end. 

Your hands wander all over him throughout the entirety of the ride, tracing lines starting from his chest all the way down to his thighs. Jungkook has no idea how the hell he's survived when he rolls the bike into your garage, but he definitely knows the tension between you has turned into something so physical he feels like he's going to burst.

Neither of you can move when the engine cuts off, because the air is still vibrating from the ride. Because your body stayed pressed against his the entire way home like you were trying to test how much restraint one could realistically have before it gave out completely.

And judging by how Jungkook is handling it all— not much. 

"You should go inside." He says eventually, back still turned to you. 

You slowly let go of his waist, leaning back slightly as you take off your helmet. "I don't really want to." 

Jungkook lets out a breath through his nose, then hops off the bike as he takes the helmet from your hand and places it back on the handle alongside his own. When he's back on the bike, he's facing you, legs placed on both sides of the vehicle. 

He calls your name, but it sounds completely ruined in his mouth now, rough and raw around the edges by weeks of restraint and the complete lack of it sitting underneath. He shakes his head in frustration, dragging a hand along his face. 

"Look, you— this, whatever you've been trying to do all night. No, scratch that, you've been doing this for weeks now. It's not going to happen, it can't happen." 

"You wanna know what i think?" You ask instead, tilting your head. 

"No."

"I think you liked avoiding me."

Jungkook's eyes darken at your words, sharp enough to slice through your skin that's ravaged with desire. And as the dawn slowly breaks, you see the walls crumbling down beneath his feverish, agitated gaze. Because you've already stripped him out of his armor and he hates how naked and vulnerable he might look to your eyes. 

"You liked it because it gave you an excuse to think about me all the time." Your voice softens slightly, just enough to feel intimate. "Every room i walked into, every conversation you avoided, every time you looked away before i caught you. You liked it because that was the only way to fill your mind with me without feeling guilty." 

Jungkook laughs quietly, but there's nothing amused about it. The sound comes out frayed, disbelieving, like he's hearing his own thoughts being spoken back to him in your voice and hates how accurate they sound. 

"You think this is easy for me?" He asks, and the shift in his tone catches you off-guard. It's not softer, not gentler either— but it's honest. Raw in a way that sits somewhere so deep in his chest, so much more than he has been willing to show until now. "You think i enjoy walking into a room and having to pretend i'm not thinking about you?" 

At his confession, your breath stutters without waiting for permission. Because suddenly, every letter rolling out of his tongue feels heavy. Because this is the first time he's admitting it out loud, even if it sounds like it's being dragged out against his will. 

His eyes dip briefly to your lips before lifting again, but it's slow, as if the movement costs him something he can't pay for. "You keep looking at me like that." He mutters, so low that you think it's not meant for you. 

"Like what?" You ask, looking up at him through your lashes. 

"Like you already know i'm gonna give in." 

You tilt your head slightly, pushing yourself further into his embrace. "Are you?" You ask, voice laced with a honeyed amusement. 

He exhales sharply with closed eyes, and for a second, you think he's actually going to walk away. You see the glimpses of conflict flash across his features, shoulders tensing like he's forcing himself to hold onto the last scraps of control he has left.

But then his hands find your waist, firm and certain in a way that makes you believe he won't let go this time. Whatever was left of Jungkook's self-control gives in completely, and his lips are on yours in an instant.

A mix of gasps and moans falls from your lips, and he swallows them without wasting a second. Your fists find his jacket, tugging onto the fabric as you close the remaining bits and pieces of distance between your bodies.

His hands drop drown to your hips, moving them to the rhythm of your lips until you're fully on his lap. His thumb pulls at your bottom lip, searching for permission to be let in even further into your mouth. You grant him the access immediately, his tongue clashing against yours in a way that's hot, wet, and so fucking desperate. 

You draw circles with your hips on his lap, his already hardened length pressing into your clothed core. The friction feels so good it blows your breath away, and your stomach flutters every time his skin touches yours in a way that's rather vulnerable and intimate instead of sole lust. 

Jungkook feels his cock pulsing beneath the fabric of his jeans, and he swears he's going to cum on the spot if you keep moving your hips like that. Your wetness leaves filthy stains on the course denim, marking him with your arousal. 

"This dress," He breathes into your mouth, voice laced with fever as he tugs onto the thin fabric. "You wore it for me?" 

You smirk into the kiss, not forgetting to continue moving your hips. "Wouldn't you like to know." You sing softly. 

He scoffs, hand sliding in through your dress to settle on your bare ass, giving it a hard squeeze, fingers digging into the soft flesh. "Oh, i already do." 

The moment a soft trace of streetlights spread inside from the corner and chase away the darkness, Jungkook knows it's his cue to pull away. A final opportunity to let him fix everything he has broken and lost himself inside, a weak excuse to allow him wake up to a brighter morning without the weight of betrayal and regret and burnt desire he hates himself for not being able to keep hidden. 

But he doesn't, he's so lost in the drug called you and as your body searches his further and further, there's almost nothing left in him that's holding him back from being gone completely. 

Your movements on his lap grow into something more and more desperate, pussy aching with need as his hands wander all around your body, feeling you up beneath your dress. He lifts the skirt over your hips, exposing it to the cool air of the garage and your breath hitches at the feeling of being so bare all of a sudden.

"Shit— stop, stop." He nearly begs, pulling his lips away from yours. You look back at him, momentarily thrown. Because what does he mean stop? He can't, not right now, not when he's got you all hot and bothered on his lap.

"What's wrong?" You ask softly, brows pulling together. 

"I'm— I'll cum if you keep doing that. Wanna be inside you."

The words mean so much more to you than just lust. Because this isn't only want, not at all. It's ravishment, the breakage of suppression that has been dressed up as a boundary for way too long. Jungkook has spent weeks— no, scratch that. He has spent years holding himself together so tightly you almost started believing he was actually capable of resisting you. 

But now, he's sitting beneath you, looking completely unraveled by your body against his. Nothing more, nothing less. 

You did that. The thought alone makes you dizzy. 

You take a moment to let your gaze drift over his face; taking in the spent rise and fall of his chest, his red lips that are swollen from kissing you, the frustration and desperation tangled together beneath his darkened gaze…He looks wrecked in a way that doesn't suit him at all. Because Jeon Jungkook has always been a man of precision and there isn't a single ounce left of it in his being tonight.

He was always guarded in a way that kept every ugly thought locked somewhere private, somewhere no one else could reach, could touch. And now, Jeon Jungkook is falling apart right in front of you— because of you. 

"Yeah? You want to fuck me, Jungkook?" You ask slowly, voice low and sultry as your nails trail lines along his inner thighs. 

Jungkook lets out a low groan before speaking. "Come here." He says, pulling you back onto him. You laugh with the movement as your hands work on the zipper of his jeans, and he lifts his hips enough to assist you pull them off just enough. 

Once his boxers are pulled down and his cock is all bare and exposed for you to see, you can't help but let your lips part in shock. You feel yourself nearly drooling over his size because fuck, he's huge. 

You shouldn't be shocked, you've already felt him up and you expected nothing less. But seeing it like this, thick and long and leaking for you— you think you're going to pass away. 

"See something you like, baby?" He smirks, all cocky and confident. 

"That's not going to fit." You reply immediately, gaze flicking up and down consecutively. 

"We'll make it fit." He says, eyes stuck on yours as he gives himself a few strokes. "And you're going to take every inch like the good girl you are." 

You just stare at him, utterly in shock, almost scared. Because what the actual fuck is he talking about? You've never taking anything this big, and you're not sure if anyone ever has either. 

"You were begging for me to fuck you. Weren't you, princess? Were so desperate for my cock and now what? Cat's got your tongue?" He says, a loose grin on his face as his thumb swipes over the head and spreads the precum. 

"I'll take it." You say obediently.

"Yeah?" He breathes, lifting your hips so that your entrance is lining up with his cock. 

"I'll take all of it. Need your big cock so bad. Fuck me, Jungkook. Please, need it." You beg, trying to push yourself down to take him into your cunt but he tightens his hands around your hips to hold you in place. 

He guides your hips down slowly, letting you feel every line and every vein that's painting his pretty length. You whine at the stretch, but there's still half of him you haven't taken yet. 

"Fuck," He groans, letting his eyes close and his head fall back as you sink down further. "You're so tight." 

You both moan loudly as he presses your hips down fully, your wet cunt swallowing him wholly. He watches as his cock disappears between your folds, so wet and creamy with your slick that's already obnoxiously overflowing. Once all of him is inside you, you let out a high pitched whimper, feeling the way your walls burn with how good he's stretching you, because he's just that big. So fucking massive it's insane. And you swear you've never felt this full in your entire life.

"Holy shit." You gasp when he lifts his hips to meet you halfway, balls hitting your ass with the movement. 

"How does it feel, princess? Anything like you imagined?" He asks, thrusting up into you as he guides your hips down, hands squeezing the flesh of your plump ass. "Use your big girl words, i know you can."

"So good, Jungkook. I'm so full, you're so— so big." You cry out, nails digging into his shoulders. 

He pushes down the top of your dress, exposing the lace fabric of your red bra. He pulls it down just enough to bare your boobs, breath hitching the moment they bounce free right in front of his eyes.

Jungkook sucks in a sharp breath the moment you find your pace, your tits bouncing up and down as you hop on his cock, riding him to chase your own high. One of his hands lift to massage your tit as the other keeps digging into the flesh of your ass. You whimper when he takes your hardened nipple into his mouth, bouncing on his cock in a pace that slowly grows into something sloppier as the hot feeling of your orgasm starts building low in your stomach. 

"Kook, i'm cumming. Shit." 

"Yeah? Let it go, baby. Cream all over my fat cock."

His words do it for you, and you fall apart on his cock after a few more thrusts. Your legs start shaking and you bury your head in his neck for support, panting into his skin.

"You okay?" He asks, head tilted as he tries looking at your profile. 

"Yeah…just," You breathe, straightening your posture to pull away and take a proper look at him. "Wanna make you feel good."

Jungkook groans loudly, letting his head fall back at your words. Because how can he act normal, how can he hold it together when your mouth keeps reciting filthy words so casually like you're talking about the weather? 

He can't believe this, he still can't believe he's just fucked you on his stupid bike. Because this is you. Jaehyun's little sister. The girl he spent years forcing himself not to look at for to long. And now, he's got you all naked and completely spent on his lap, touching him like the yellow light that's filling up the void of control he'd built for himself, warming him up so intimately without even realizing you're doing so. 

He's a goner. He's so irreversibly fucked and completely gone.

But what worsens it for him is, that you don't look too different from the state he's in. You've fallen apart right in front of his eyes, skin flushed, sounds breathless, movements desperate. They tell him you're just as gone as he is. There is something so dizzying about it, about seeing the exact effect he has on you after weeks of wondering whether he imagined it all or not. 

He didn't.

Thank god, he didn't.

As his eyes wander all over you, desire burning through him so intensely it almost feels violent, he thinks about the one thing he has been dying to ask you.

Because if he doesn't ask now, when will he ever?

"Can i—" Jungkook cuts himself off with a quiet curse, dragging a hand down his face before looking back at you. "Fuck, can i fuck your tits?"

The corner of your mouth twitches upwards immediately, amusement curling through your face despite how breathless he left you just minutes ago. The overhead light catches against the flush spreading across your skin, showing off the mess he's made of you. 

Your fingertips move onto the hem of your dress, pausing there long enough for anticipation to sizzle in his lungs before you slowly pull the fabric upwards. 

Jungkook watches every movement, so so carefully. Like he's afraid that if he blinks, he'll miss something. And when your dress is completely off, he thinks that he might actually die right then and there.

The breath that leaves him when you unclasp your bra and let it fall down to the ground is sharp. His gaze drags over you with a kind of raw hunger he stopped trying to hide a long time ago tonight. There is nothing composed about him now, nothing careful. Just pure, unadulterated want.

"Jesus Christ." He mutters under his breath, hands flexing at his sides like he doesn't know what to do with them. 

You tilt your head slightly, watching him through your lashes, a small and seductive smile playing on your lips. "You look overwhelmed." 

"You think?" He argues, a rough laugh slipping out of his lips. "Press'em together for me, baby." He says, hands braced behind him as he leans into the handlebars. 

You press your tits together, then lean forward onto him to take his cock between the soft flesh of your boobs. Jungkook's eyes flutter shut in an instant, a low groan escaping his lips as you start moving your chest up and down. His dick is already so wet, sliding between your boobs seamlessly.

"Love your tits, princess. Gonna paint them with my seed." He moans, long gone in the bliss. Jungkook's hips jerk beyond his control, and he starts fucking your tits as you move along with his pace. 

He cums all over your chest not long after with low grunts of curses and your name on his tongue. 

The garage still feels warm, still thick with tension and the aftermath of everything that just happened, everything that was boundto happen for weeks. But there isn't an edge to it anymore. Because Jungkook isn't looking at you the way he was just a few hours ago. Because now, there's no frustration behind his gaze. Instead, he looks wrecked. 

He leans back against the handlebars as he tries catching his breath, one hand still on your thigh. You sit sideways across his lap, completely naked, hair messy, lips swollen. 

Your fingers drift absentmindedly along the collar of his shirt as he tries catching his breath, smoothing the fabric. "You know," You murmur, eyes dancing over him. "You're a lot softer than i thought you'd be."

Jungkook laughs lightly. "You literally spent weeks trying to ruin my life." 

"Mhm." You tilt your head, pretending to think. "You survived tho." 

He snorts, thumb drawing circles on your thigh. "Barely." 

You smile, then lean into his chest when his hand slides higher along your waist without really thinking, skin calloused and a little rough on your soft skin. But for some reason, it comforts you in a way nothing ever has. 

Because for a second, it doesn't feel complicated at all. It doesn't feel like boundaries or guilt or Jaehyun or years of years of knowing each other but never doing anything about it. It just feels like Jungkook's hands on your body and the quiet look in his eyes that says he's still trying to process how badly he wanted this.

How badly he still wants it. 

"I really tried not to." He says suddenly.

You look at him, brows pulling together faintly as you try to figure out what he's going to say. "Tried not to what?" 

His eyes flick down to your lips before lifting again. "Want you." 

Your stomach flips when he says that. Because they sound real. There is no teasing in them. No temptation, no flirtation. Just raw, unadulterated truth. 

You lift your head to look at him properly, suddenly a little too aware of how close the two of you still are. How his hand hasn't moved from your waist, how your legs are still tangled with his on the bike like neither of you has figured out how to leave. 

"You sucked at it." You say softly.

That earns you a real laugh this time. It's quiet and tired, yet warm around the edges in a way you've never heard him before. Even if you have, it was never for you. But now it feels so intimate that every breath he takes, every word he says, every single thing he does is in honour to you. 

"Yeah, i know." And for one dangerous moment, everything feels easy.

Then the front door slams open upstairs.

"I'm home!" Jaehyun's voice echoes through the house; loud, drunk and completely unaware. "Why the fuck is the garage light on?" 

Well, fuck.

· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·

Jeon Jungkook is so unbelievably hot. 

Though it’s not the kind that makes your eyes linger and your heart flutter. No, it’s nothing like that. He is so ridiculously attractive it leaves your pussy aching, clenching so hard around nothing you wish it’s him you bounce on until sunset blurs into sunrise. You almost feel your muscles physically hurt by how he’s always so close yet so far away when the only thing you desire is for the space between you to become a rhythm and draw you in until distance doesn’t really exist anymore.

But that doesn’t happen, that never happens when it’s Jungkook. 

He’s Jaehyun’s best friend– your older brother who loves you more than anything. Your brother who still babies you because you fell off your bike and broke your arm that one time when you were sixteen. Your brother who trusts Jungkook in that effortless, unquestioning way that only comes from years of knowing someone too well– because they’ve known each other since Jungkook knocked on your door when they were nine and you were six. He’d looked up at your parents with those big brown eyes of his and asked, so politely your mother still gushes about it at family gatherings, if he could play with your brother. 

That was all it took for Jungkook to stay. You remember how at first, it started with the small things. His shoes left by the door like the spot had been assigned to him, his voice echoing through the walls so often it soon blended into the background…Those little moments stretched into something bigger and bigger before you could even notice. And suddenly, he was there for everything. Anywhere from holiday dinners to summer getaways, Jungkook was always there. 

But he never gave you anything. 

Jaehyun is the kind of brother who treats every man like a problem, like a timed bomb ticking in the corner, patiently waiting for the right time to blow up into flames. He’s the kind of brother who lectures you about never trusting a guy, the kind who would show up at his door with something burning behind his eyes and a fist ready to throw. Not asking for questions, not looking for answers. 

If anything was to ever happen between you and Jungkook, Jaehyun wouldn’t just be mad. He’d fucking lose it.

So Jungkook has always kept his distance from you. 

He makes sure it’s not anything obvious, but it’s never enough for you to not notice either. The way he never stands next to you for too long, the way his hands stay to himself even when it’s not convenient, the way he looks at you just enough to acknowledge your presence, yet never enough to let it mean anything. He has always been controlled around you, way beyond measure and annoying as hell. 

Because you’ve seen him with other people. You’ve seen how he talks and how he laughs. He lets himself be less careful, less contained. Just more…him. And what bothers you the most isn’t that he ignores you, he never ignores you. 

Jungkook does notice you. You know it, he knows it, he definitely knows you know it too. But what’s so infuriating is the fact that he actively chooses not to react, not to acknowledge anything that comes in his way from you. It’s like he’s decided long ago that whatever line existing between the two of you is one he’s never willing to cross. Which would be fine if he wasn’t so damn irresistible. 

But he is.

And tonight, you’re a little more aware of it than usual. Maybe it’s the tight little dress that’s framing your body so well you had to twirl in front of the mirror more than once just to take it in, because it just looks that good. Or maybe, it’s something else entirely; one of those nights where whatever he usually holds so carefully contained inside sits a little closer to the surface than it normally does.

You don’t think too much of it as you step out of your room, walking down the hallway barefoot as you fix your earrings. A voice drifts away from the living room until it reaches your ears. You know the voice belongs to Jaehyun, he’s home, that’s not surprising. What’s surprising is that he’s not alone. 

You round the corner with your mind elsewhere, the only thought lingering on your mind being whether the shade of your lipstick is a little too dark or not. You’re already halfway into whatever you were going to say when you briefly pause by the mirror to smooth down your dress. 

“Hey, do you mind if–” You start, but you cut yourself off, because when you finally drift your eyes away from the hem of your skirt and lift them up, Jungkook’s reflection stares right back at you from behind. 

He’s leaning back against the couch comfortably, legs spread wide like he’s been there for so long his body has melted and molded into the cushion. One of his arms is thrown over the backrest as the other is holding a can of beer he’s not really drinking from. Jaehyun isn’t there with him for some reason, probably whipping something up in the kitchen even though he can't cook to save his life.

And when you turn around to face him fully, there’s a beat where his eyes move over you, all the way from the very top of your head to the bottom of your feet. You swear his eyes linger for a second too long on your chest before he drops them down and lets his mind register you properly. 

“Going somewhere?” He asks, one brow raised as he spreads his legs even further. 

You nod once, pretending to be mindless and nonchalant about it. “Just for drinks with some friends.” Technically, you’re going out with a friend. But before you can even think of elaborating on that further, Jaehyun walks in. And that’s all it takes for Jungkook to look away like it doesn’t mean anything. 

“Finally.” He scoffs before taking a large sip from his beer. “You take longer than anyone I know to get ready.” 

It takes half a minute of consecutive swift blinking for you to drag your attention away from Jungkook and pull yourself back together. “Relax.” You mutter when you’ve recollected your senses, rolling your eyes. “You’re not even coming with me.” 

“As if I’d want to.” He responds immediately. “I don’t want to deal with your friends.” 

“Hey!” You exclaim, pulling your browns together. “You like my friends.” 

“When they’re sober and quiet.” He corrects. 

You huff out a laugh, stepping further into the room, grabbing your purse from the table. “Liar.” 

“I never lie.” Jaehyun responds, making his way over to the couch before dropping himself down next to Jungkook. You shake your head with a light scoff, barely listening anymore, because Jungkook’s gaze is fixed on you once again and you don’t know if you can continue holding up this stupid act of nonchalance if he doesn’t tear his eyes away from you soon enough. 

“Text me when you get there.” Jaehyun reminds you for the third time today, and you nod along halfheartedly, checking your purse one last time for good measure.

“Yeah, okay. Promise.” 

“You better.” He mutters. 

You sling your bag over your shoulder, turning slightly just to sneak one last look at the man who’s managed to get your pussy tingling with so much as one look and two careless words. But when your gaze finds him and you realize he’s still looking at you, you think that maybe, he isn’t as untouchable as he makes it out to be.

He shifts under your presence, like your eyes weren’t something he expected to land a certain way yet did anyway, setting his drink down on the table as you move past him. The motion brings you close just enough, and his hand brushes against yours in passing. It’s light and fleeting, the kind of contact that normally would be dismissed in seconds. But you feel it all too clearly, so much that even after he pulls away, his fingertips linger on your skin in a way that burns until it leaves a permanent trace. 

Because he doesn’t pull away immediately, not fast enough like he usually does. There’s a fraction of a second where his fingers stay there before he retracts like he remembered it a little too late. 

And when you finally leave, Jungkook finds himself drowned inside the drunken haze of your sweet scent and the warmth of your presence– so strong that he physically feels the way it’s begging for him to follow. 

· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·

The place Jaemin picked is one of those upscale cocktail bars where the wine is just so mediocre you’re forced to order overpriced cocktails instead. The lighting is warm and dim, because it always is in places like this– casting everything in a golden glow so that the glint makes it easier to ignore what doesn’t quite live up to the price tag. It’s busy just the way you like, filled with enough people to feel alive without being crowded.

Jaemin is already there by the time you reach the table that's reserved for you, leaning back into his seat like the air around him bends so intently that the place belongs to him. His legs are spread just a little wider than what’s acceptable, and the drink in his hand swings lazily from side to side like it’s been there for long with the sole purpose of giving him something to fidget with. 

He smirks immediately when you walk in. “There she is.” He sings, dragging his gaze over you before continuing. “You look…happy.” He says, cocking a brow like he’s questioning his own choice of words. 

You slide into the seat across from him, setting your bag onto the one next to you. “When am I not happy?” 

“This is like, when your hot friend from statistics called me cute, kind of happy.”

You scoff, reaching for the menu before letting your eyes scan through the list of beverages. “You threw a chair and got banned from the cafe you took her to.” 

Jaemin rolls his eyes. “I moved a chair.” 

“You threw it and it hit someone’s leg.” 

He pauses. “Not the point.” 

You giggle, placing the menu back onto the table. “Exactly the point, she got back together with her ex two days after your date.” 

He watches you for a second, then shakes his head. “God, you’re exhausting.” 

“And,” You start, dragging the word. “You still text me every day.” 

“What can I say, you’re a part of my routine.” Jaemin winks at you before turning his head to call over a waiter. When he comes by, you order a cocktail too pink to be taken seriously, and Jaemin asks for a kind of whiskey you’re sure tastes even worse than its name. Because no one really enjoys whiskey, it’s just for show.  A whole performance created by men trying to match up to their fragile egos. Not that you're saying Jaemin fits the profile. 

He leans forward when the waiter walks away. “Alright.” He says. “What did you do?” 

You tilt your head, pretending to think. “I didn’t exactly do something.” 

He gives you an unimpressed look. “And you expect me to believe that?”

“Yes!” You exclaim. “I really didn’t do anything. He just…slipped.”

“Who?” He pulls his brows together. “Don’t tell me this is about Jungkook again.” 

You lean back into your seat, unable to help the mischievous smile spreading across your face. Jaemin groans when it clicks, realizing exactly what you’re talking about. “No he didn’t.” He says matter of factly. 

You met Jaemin your freshman year of high school, and you slipped in each other’s spaces so easily you don’t even remember how. Just that by the time it mattered, he was already there. In your messages at ungodly hours, in the best parts of your worst days, in the middle of things he had no reason to involve himself in but did anyway. 

And at some point, without either of you really saying it out loud, you built something strong enough to stay and fight for.

So naturally, Jaemin knows Jungkook. How he moves, how he talks, how careful he is without making it obvious— only when it comes to you. He knows the version of him that exists around your brother; easy, controlled, and distant just enough to never cause any problems. 

So when you say that Jungkook slipped, he knows exactly what you mean, even though he would never grant you the pleasure of being right. But most importantly, he knows that if you're bringing it up like this, something has actually shifted. 

“He did.” You say without an ounce of hesitation. “He looked at me like he…forgot everything. Like there was a feeling he’d been suppressing and he forgot why for a second." You pause, sipping your drink. "And!" You exclaim like you forgot to add something so crucial. "His hand brushed mine and he didn't pull away." You argue. 

Jaemin sinks deeper into his seat. “Can we please move on from that man? Jungkook doesn’t slip, that’s literally his thing. I can set you up with Mark, if you want. Saw his dick once in the lockers and let me tell you, he’s huge.” 

Your lips pull into a pout. “I don’t want Mark, I want Jungkook.” 

Jaemin exhales through his nose before taking a large gulp from his drink. “Let’s say you’re right, Jaehyun would fucking kill you.” 

You shrug, mindlessly tracing your nail along the rim of your glass. “We’ll figure that out, I just wanna see how far it goes. What it takes for him to lose control." 

“You’ve liked him way too long for this to end well.” 

You scoff. “I do not like him.” 

Jaemin deadpans. “You used to sit on the stairs just to watch him and your brother play video games.”

“That's because I wanted to hop on his bones.” You argue.

He lifts a brow accusingly. “When you were fifteen?”

You pause for a second, tongue poking the inside of your cheek as you watch over your friend. “Fuck you.” You mutter under your breath.

You breathe again before leaning forward slightly, lowering your voice just enough. “You’ve seen him, Jaemin. He’s always so– so put together. Like nothing touches and sticks to him enough.” 

“Yeah.” Jaemin nods. “Because he’s not stupid.” 

The corner of your mouth twitches. “And it’s my duty to fuck up his morals.” 

He exhales sharply, shaking his head. “You’re gonna drag me into this, aren’t you?”

“You’re already in it." You smile at him innocently, bating your eyelashes. “You’re gonna sit next to me and look pretty." 

“Wow, the way you love me.” 

You wink at him, sipping your drink and letting the bitter taste of alcohol burn in your mouth. "Always." 

“God,” He mutters. “You’re gonna fuck this up.” 

Your lips twitch. “I’ll snap you a pic when he spreads his legs for me.” 

“Please don’t.” 

· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·

The opportunity presents itself on a silver platter.

You’d be stupid to not take it. Not when you’ve gotten him somewhere hot, wet and messy without even meaning to, as if the universe already knows exactly what you’re about to do with it. 

You're stretched out on one of the chez-longs by the pool, body wrapped in the tiniest set of white bikinis in your wardrobe. That was definitely a lucky guess— a hot one to say the least. You're laying on your stomach with a book resting open in your hands with the sole purpose of being there, because you've read no more than two or five pages during the whole hour you spent here.

You had set the day aside and spared it for yourself— silenced your phone, shut everyone out, forced your mind into a kind of quiet that had no way out unless you tried hard enough. You had cleared everything until there was nothing to think about, nothing pulling at you from somewhere with something you didn't choose.

But it doesn't last.

The sliding door cuts through the quiet when you expect it the least, and when it opens, it brings Jaehyun with it. He walks in a way that's loud, careless, and already mid conversation with a couple of his friends trailing behind him. 

And Jungkook too, of course. 

You lower your book, push yourself onto your elbows, and then lift your sunglasses up into your hair. The exasperated breath you huff out goes unnoticed by both your brother, and his ridiculously loud friends as their voices swallow it up without wasting a second. 

"Wow," You mutter, tilting your head to take a look at them. "Great."

Jaehyun spots you immediately. “Oh, you’re here.” 

You scrunch your face a little, blinking up at him, shielding your face from the sun with a help of your hand even though it doesn't exactly work wonders. “I live here.” 

“Right.” He says mindlessly. “Didn’t think you’d be outside.” 

You scoff. “Clearly.” 

After your exchange, Jaehyun walks over the lounge chairs across from you, tossing his towel onto one of them like there isn't enough for everyone and they're something to call dibs on. When in reality, they aren't. One of his friends, one you only vaguely recognize, blows out a low whistle as he walks by.

"Damn," He says, not even trying to be subtle about it. "Didn't know he had a sister like that."

Luckily, Jaehyun doesn't hear it, too busy arguing with Mingyu about sunscreen brands like either of them know what they're talking about.

But Jungkook does. 

His head turns— maybe not immediately, maybe you're giving yourself too much credit and your imagination has started playing games on you— but you swear it does. His eyes narrow at his friend for a second too long before landing on you. And this time, you're sure there's something there. You're sure that if you were exaggerating and reading too much into every small detail last week, you aren't now.

His eyes linger on you as the oil you had put on catches the sunlight in a way that's impossible to ignore. The soft sheen traces every line and every curve of your body, shifting with movement until it reflects straight into his eyes.

Jungkook really doesn't mean to look. But the way the light hits your body— which he swears is literally the epitome of beauty— pulls in his attention without asking for permission. Suddenly, he's seeing too much and the tent in his shorts is growing and growing until the fabric tightens around his length and he can't bear doing nothing about it.

Though what really gets him isn't only how good you look— because that has always been a problem. It's how you exist in it so easily, so comfortable in the artwork dressed as your body. As his gaze dances over you, his head keeps spinning and spinning and suddenly, words he can never say out loud build at the tip of his tongue. 

You're a fucking temptation. 

You’re in the middle of flipping a page you haven’t been reading when his voice cuts in. “Didn’t know you’d be here.” 

You glance up again. “And I didn’t know you were coming over.” 

He shrugs. “Jaehyun asked.”

You nod slowly, pursing your lips. “I figured.”

There’s a beat filled with silence, one that stretches a little too long, one that leads you to realize he won’t be the first one to break it. So you turn over and sit up fully, setting your book aside. “Are you gonna get in or keep standing there?” You ask lightly.

But it takes him longer than a minute to hear the question. Because as you sit up and your front faces him, Jungkook feels the air knocking out of his lungs.

Your tits.

They sit so round and perky under the thin fabric of your bikini top. The white colour extenuates the soft swell of your boobs perfectly and Jungkook can't help but wonder what else would paint them white like this. As if things couldn't get worse for him, your tits bounce slightly when you move, and Jungkook fucking loses it.

He huffs a quiet breath in hopes of masking the ethical dilemma he's got going on inside. “Don’t really feel like it.”

You hum softly, dragging your gaze over him. “Well,” You start. “That’s too bad.”

His brows pull together. “Why?”

You give him a calculated smile, letting the moment sink in before answering. “You’d be fun to watch.”

You see the way your words land immediately– that almost-reaction he covers before it reaches too far. “Yeah?” He says, voice lower now, unable to help himself. “You watch everyone like that?” 

You shrug. “Only the ones nice to look at.”

He huffs out a soft scoff under his breath before reaching for the hem of his shirt, then pulls it off in one swift motion. You try to keep your expression neutral. And you swear, you really do. But when he looks like that, it’s impossible. 

Because Jungkook looks ridiculous like this, chest toned and bare and so fucking hot. He looks like someone who jumped out of your dirtiest fantasies and landed straight in your aching pussy. Your muscles grow sore despite having laid down all morning and you have to physically stop yourself from drooling and licking along the lines framing his abs. 

At the end of the day, you're just a girl who knows what she likes. Sue you. 

You exhale softly through your nose, shaking your head mindlessly like it doesn’t matter, like you don’t want to jump and bounce on him until his shape is permanently engraved in you. “Real subtle.” 

He glances at you, cocking a brow. “You asked.” 

You tilt your head. “I wouldn’t say asked is the correct word.”

“You’re welcome anyway.” He says, tossing his shirt beside you.

You laugh, pushing yourself up from the sunbed. “You’re so annoying.” So annoyingly hot.

When you’re finally standing, he’s so close you don’t hear whatever bullshit Jaehyun yells from the pool. Shut up, brother. Your girl is standing on business.

You step forward towards the edge of the pool when the lack of distance starts feeling like you want to drop down to your knees and take him into your mouth until he's whining and crying. Because it's one thing to be aware of his presence, but a whole another thing to feel the warmth of him sizzling through your bones.

You crouch down, dragging your hand along the water. "You getting in?" You ask, glancing up at him.

Jungkook lets out a breathy chuckle, gives you one final look, and before you know it, he's jumping straight into the pool. Water rises fast the moment his body drops in, splashing and hitting your skin in cool droplets.

Jungkook shakes his head, dragging a hand over his face. "Happy?" He asks, looking at you behind wet curls as he brushes them away from his face.

Oh the sight he is. 

You tilt your head, looking down at him as you narrow your eyes teasingly. “A little.”

Before you can move, his hand catches your wrist and pulls you forward. You lose your balance and a sharp splash cuts through your body, skin burning with the unexpected hit. And suddenly, all you can feel is the cold chill of water rushing up your spine mixed with the warmth of his body.

Shit.

When you open your eyes, you realize you're fully pressed against him. Your arms instinctively wrap around his shoulders and your legs around his waist before you have the chance to realize what's happening.

For a second, it's like the earth stops rotating— like it forgets to revolve around the sun and time forgets to move along with it. The water ripples slowly until it calms down, the noise around you fading into something so distant and irrelevant. Because right now, all you can feel is him. The way his broad chest sits solid against your soft boobs and the warm touch of him on your skin that's suddenly everywhere. 

Jungkook goes completely still the exact way you do, like he didn't expect this either yet can't bring himself to do anything rational about it. The rush keeps you away from registering his hold around your thighs until he shifts slightly, securing your place in his arms.

Your faces are so close that his breath is hitting your skin in that warm, intimate kind of way you don’t share with just anyone. But the intimacy slips over your head just like that and all you can focus on is the way his hardened length presses against you beneath the water.

“Fuck.” It slips under his breath, barely audible even for you considering the lack of distance between you and him. But of course, you hear it. You'd be a fool to miss a slip like that, because you'd notice that kind of desperation from a mile away

He pulls back abruptly, like the warmth becomes too much and suffocates him all at once, so much that he can't feel oxygen reaching his lungs anymore. Distance folds itself into something necessary for him to function properly again, and just like that, your arms slip away and your legs drop back into the water.

Then you give him a smile, teasing and knowing, like this was all you needed to have him all bare and figured out in the middle of your palm. "This is new." You murmur. "You're getting reckless." 

His jaw tightens. “I’m not.” 

“You just pulled me into the pool.” You say, crossing your arms over your chest.

“You were standing too close.”

You laugh softly. “That’s your excuse?” 

“It’s the truth.”

You tilt your head to study him with a little more care. The way he's been holding onto the tension between you like his life depends on it just so that it doesn't crack, the way restraint sits so uncomfortably on his face even though he has no choice but to keep it together a little longer— it's all a bit more clear now.

"Right." You say lightly, then turn away like nothing about what just happened is worth digging further. But on the inside, you're already thinking about the phone call you'll have with Jaemin. Because you were right from the start, that wasn't nothing, not even close.

You just got what you wanted.

· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·

Jaehyun absolutely loves Jaemin. He just won't ever say it like that. 

It shows in other ways— been there since the day you came home all giddy and giggly, talking too fast about the first ever friend you made in high school, barely able to get his name out properly out of excitement. Jaehyun remembers it anyway. He remembers the day you said Jaemin like it already meant something, like the way the letters rolled out of your tongue was enough to know he was going to stay. 

He didn't question it then, he doesn't question it now.

So when Jaemin shows up unannounced at your door and lets himself in without asking, Jaehyun doesn't tell him to leave. He complains with a roll of his eyes, but offers him a can of beer anyway. Because accommodating an uninvited Jaemin has become a given way too long ago.

Jaemin exists in the space the same way Jungkook does, even though he slipped into it a few years later, like they both carved out a place for themselves in the dearest corners of your lives and never really left.

The difference is, Jaemin doesn't really have to keep his distance.

After inviting himself inside, he stretches across your couch, fetches the drink straight out of Jaehyun's hand before your brother gets to offer it properly, then reaches for you absentmindedly the way he always does. 

Jaehyun notices it sometimes, just enough to be bothered by it. He isn't exactly a fan of seeing a man touch you like that, even if it's Jaemin. He rolls his eyes, tells him to stop being annoying, but Jaemin just nods along with that loose, careless grin; pulling you closer regardless.

You lean into him just enough to make things worse for your brother, your shoulder pressing into his chest as you reach past him for the small bowl of nuts Jaehyun was about to hand you, until Jaemin beats you to it.

"Can you not steal everything that's mine?" Jaehyun mutters. Already huffing, already annoyed.

Jaemin doesn't even look at him, stuffing his mouth with a handful of peanuts. "Relax. You were literally handing it out." 

Jaehyun deadpans. "Well, not to you." 

You laugh, grabbing a few of the almonds. "You're both insufferable."

"You're one to talk." Jaehyun shoots back immediately. "You encourage him."

"I don't encourage him." You argue, but the lack of distance between you and your friend is still questionable.

Jaemin glances down at you, eyes grazing over your bare legs draped across his lap before lifting a brow. "You definitely do." 

You tilt your head, meeting his gaze with narrowed eyes. "You're very impressionable, that's not my fault." 

"I'm not impressionable." 

"You walked in uninvited and stole a drink in under thirty seconds." 

"Eh," He squints his eyes, pretending to think. "You offered it though." 

"So you wouldn't have gone ahead and taken one if he didn't?" You ask, cocking a brow.

Jaehyun points at him in victory, ecstatic at the newfound support from you. "Exactly."

Jaemin ignores him completely and turns to you, his arm still draped over your shoulders. "You weren't complaining five minutes ago." 

"Suddenly I'm feeling a little wiser." 

Jaemin rolls his eyes. "No, you're not." 

You pause mid sip like you're considering putting up a fight, but you change your mind as you gulp down the drink, dropping your shoulders. "Fine, I'm not." 

Jaehyun exhales sharply, dragging a hand along his face like he's already exhausted. "See, this is exactly what I mean. You two are unbearable together."

"You're the one who keeps letting him in." You say lightly.

"I don't let him in." He argues. "He just shows up." 

"You'd shut the door in my face if you wanted to." Jaemin says.

"You'd climb in through the window." 

Jaemin nods with a serious look on his face, like what he's agreeing to is a reasonable solution. "Yeah, I would." 

You're still laughing when the bell rings, and Jaehyun mutters a quiet finally under his breath as he pushes himself up from the couch. Jungkook and Mingyu walk in one behind the other, Jaehyun holding the door open by the corner. 

"Took you long enough." He complains, unimpressed.

Mingyu scoffs lightly. "We're not late." 

"You always are. I'm the only one with a sense of urgency here." 

Mingyu doesn't argue further, he heads straight for the kitchen instead. As he's busy opening and closing cabinets one by one like he owns like place, Jungkook lingers a little longer at the entrance before following Jaehyun inside. 

He looks good, he looks so fucking good it takes everything in you to not spread your legs right then and there. So you lean more into Jaemin, letting your skirt ride up with the movement. Because you'll get this man in your bed one way or the other and right now, there's nothing you can do besides rile him up a little and pray your brother doesn't notice. 

He does.

Jaehyun's eyes flick between the two of you before he looks away again, jaw clenching just slightly. "Can you sit normally for once?" 

But you don't move. You can't move when Jungkook's already looking at you like he's trying so hard not to slip. Not again. "Are we not sitting normally?" You ask, glancing down at yourself, pretending to be confused.

"No." He says flatly.

Jaemin shifts just enough to make it worse, his arm tightening around you even though it's completely unnecessary. "Feels pretty normal to me."

"That's because you're the problem." 

You hum softly, clearly entertained now. "I think you're overreacting." 

Jaemin nudges you with his elbow. "He's jealous." 

"I'm not jealous of you."

"Wow." Jaemin says as he brings a hand to his chest, pretending to be offended. "That hurt." 

Mingyu laughs from the kitchen, leaning against the counter with his drink in hand. "He's definitely jealous." 

“I’m not jealous.” Jaehyun repeats, louder this time.

Mingyu shrugs as he drops onto the singular couch beside him. “Sounds like it.” 

You laugh again, and it still sounds light and careless. But it doesn't really feel like it. Not when you can feel Jungkook's eyes digging holes into your exposed skin, like he's trying to do with his eyes what he can't with anything else. Because neither one of his fists have the privilege of breaking Jaemin's jaw right now.

He's not even trying to hide it now. Maybe because something bigger already slipped last week and there is no point in trying to recollect it back together, or maybe because Jaehyun has fallen into another pointless argument with Mingyu and a small glace or two won't hurt anybody. Doesn't really matter when he keeps giving you exactly what you're looking for.

Regardless, you're adamant on not giving in. You're a girl on a mission and you're going to compromise it for nothing.

So you shift closer, letting your hand slide further along Jaemin's arm before curling your fingers around his bicep like there's no other place you'd rather it be. Like this is nothing new, nothing worth paying attention to. 

But it is.

Jungkook's eyes drop down to your legs— bare and unapologetic on Jaemin's lap. He lets them linger on the poor excuse of a skirt that's sitting uselessly on your hips, and then trails lines along your exposed legs all the way to the tip of your feet.

You don't have to look up to know he's watching, but you do anyway, just to see the way he's starting to break. Because this time, there's nothing careful about the way he's looking at you. The control is still there, but he's holding onto it for his dear life— barely. 

The conversation around you keeps moving in a way that's constant and habitual— Jaehyun complaining, Mingyu laughing, Jaemin saying something in your ear you don't fully catch…Everything is safe and practiced.

Besides him.

Jeon Jungkook is not safe. God, he’s terrifying.  Terrifyingly sexy and thoroughly unsafe. 

You reach for your drink, take a slow sip, then set it back down like you've suddenly lost all interest and nothing is as entertaining anymore. "I'll be back." You say, pushing yourself up from the couch before anyone can question you about it.

"Don't disappear." Jaehyun mutters mid-conversation, barely glancing at you.

You hum something about him asking too for many things at once before turning away, making your way out of the living room fast so that no one has the chance to hold you there longer.

You take your sweet time walking down the hallway, hips swaying from side to side just in case a certain someone decides to follow behind. But you know he will, so you don't look back. Luckily, life smiles at you for another day and the sound of a second set of footsteps reaches you in no time.

The corner of your mouth lifts in satisfaction as you reach the bathroom door, letting your hand linger on the handle for half a second too long before pushing it open, like you're giving him time to catch up.

You don't bother closing the door, leaving it open as Jungkook steps in a beat or two after you, not forgetting to lock it after him.

"Stop it." He mutters finally, voice low and rough like he doesn't fully trust it to come out louder without giving something away.

Too bad he already has.

You tilt your head, looking up at him like you don't quite understand what he's talking about, lashes fluttering innocently even though you're far from it. "Stop what?"

When your gazes meet, it's like his eyes are whispering to you, telling you to come closer and let yourself melt into his touch until your breath is completely blown away. But instead of doing anything about it, instead of tugging you closer into him and ending this stupid game that has left both of you aching and soaring; he drags a hand down his face and does everything in his power to pull himself back into the control he had once mastered. 

"You know what." He says, exhaling sharply through his nose.

You take a step closer, fed up with the distance he's forced you into. "I wanna hear you say it." 

His jaw tightens as he looks at you, trying to figure out how far you're willing to take it. "You've been pushing this all night."

"Well then, let me remind you." You murmur, stepping even closer, until there's barely any space left between the two of you. "You followed me." You say, placing your index finger on his chest. 

Your words land a certain way, you watch his reaction all the way through its birth and death. In the way his breath stutters audibly, in the way his eyes flick briefly down to your lips, in the way something between light and lust flashes across his features before he can lock it back down again. 

He scoffs as his eyes drift away from yours. "You're out of your mind." 

You shrug mindlessly, like nothing about this is as serious as he makes it out to be. "I've been told once. Or twice." You give him a smile, light and flirty.

He drops down his hand, then snaps his head towards you like he suddenly remembered something. "Do you think this is funny?" He asks, 

You let your gaze drag over him slowly, completely unapologetic, taking your time with it before meeting his eyes.

"I think it's hot." 

And you're met with silence. Oh, Jeon Jungkook, the fucking pussy you are. 

That does it, you see it the second it lands, the second that suppressed urge in him slips past the point of recovery. It's still there— but thinner, frying, barely holding on. Like it's waiting for someone to cross the line first and it sure as hell won't be him.

So you do.

You close the space completely this time, your hand finding him again until it settles on his shirt and fists the fabric enough to pull him in. You're not testing the waters, not anymore. Everything is visible no matter how hard he's trying to pull it through and you're not going to let him slip past your fingertips when you've gotten him like this. 

Jungkook inhales sharply, quick and uneven, like air catches in the middle of his chest before he can do anything about it. His hand moves instinctively, and just as you think he's going to push your hand away, he settles his hold on your waist. 

He calls your name, voice dropping in a way that's raw and desperate. His body goes rigid as his brain tries being reasonable one last time, but he fails terribly, miserably.

Your hands trail along his chest, traveling down until you decide to let them settle on his waist. Your hands don't rush him, they move like you've already decided how this ends on his part. Your fingers slip just past the waistband of his jeans, but still not fully, tugging with his belt.

"Fuck." He mutters under his breath as your hips hit his roughly, head falling back beyond his control.

Jungkook just stands there and takes it, lets it happen, lets you happen.

That's what gives him away. He doesn't grab your wrists, doesn't step back, doesn't do anything he should be doing. So with the newfound confidence, you sink down to your knees, slow enough that each passing second aches and tortures and stings his skin until it burns and leaves your trace. 

He freezes.

His body hasn't caught up to what's happening yet, even though you're taking your sweet time to make sure every second of your touch registers to the point where it's lingering and all he sees and feels is you when he closes his eyes. 

No matter how bad you're trying to let him keep up, he feels as though his brain has stopped working long ago and parked itself outside of the constellation named his fucking morals. 

"You still there, Jungkook?" You ask looking up at him, voice low and sultry, bating your eyelashes with feigned innocence. As if you aren't his best friend's little sister who's about to suck the life out of him.

He's barely able to get out a reply and you're already pulling his jeans down. You fiddle with the waistband of his boxers, then move along to palm him over the fabric. Jungkook sucks in a sharp breath, hands finding their way to your hair like he's trying to ground himself. 

You give a squeeze to his base, hard and thick just like you expected. You're sure whatever he's hiding inside is even better than your imagination, but there's still a minute or two before you can figure that out. 

"Ah, fuck, yes—" Jungkook breathes, almost stuttering, completely lost in a daze. "Keep going." He says as his hold tightens in your hair, locks tangling between his fingertips as he tries steadying himself. You slowly drag your hand over to his tip, flicking your index finger somewhere over his slit before moving it back down. You're about to pull down his boxers and then—

A knock. 

Jaehyun calls out your name from the other side of the door, and the sound reaches your ears in an instant, forcing you out of whatever fantasy you've lost yourselves in. It's so sudden that Jungkook jerks, his hold on you slipping away as panic flashes across his features. But you? You don't even move.

"Give me a second!" You call back with a voice so impressively steady even Jungkook believes you're alone for a second. 

Jungkook exhales like he's just been dropped back into a body he hasn't been in for years, fists closing and opening by his sides like he doesn't know what to do with his hands anymore. But what gets him— what gets him the most is how calm and unbothered you look, like you didn't just bury his body and bring it back to life in under a minute.

Jaehyun calls your name again. "Be quick, seriously." 

But you're still not rushing, still not scrambling. Hell, you're not even shifting the way anyone else would in this situation— enter Jungkook. You just tilt your head slightly as you slowly rise back up to your feel, like you're mildly inconvenienced at best.

"I said give me a second!" You reply, and Jungkook watches over you like you're insane. Because you don't look panicked, you don't look caught, you don't look half he's feeling right now.

You look…fine.

He doesn't like that.

Right when Jungkook was considering running the bath and drowning himself in boiling water, another door opens.

"You can use this one." Jaemin says casually, thoroughly aware of whatever stunt you're pulling unlike your brother. Jaehyun mutters something under his breath, a few curse words and complaints about how annoying you are, but he's already moving. 

It's silent again when the door locks shut, and Jungkook exhales like he has been holding the entire universe in his lungs. "Jesus—" He runs a hand down his face, shaking his head like he's trying to rid himself of everything but it doesn't work. "What the fuck was that?" 

You melt into every second in a whole minute, smoothing your skirt down, fixing your lipstick, running a hand along your hair like those are the only things that need a fixing and nothing about this requires any urgency.

You look at him, completely calm. "What?" You ask lightly, not even making an effort to look at him, glancing at his face from its reflection through the mirror.

His jaw tightens. "You have no idea what game you're playing and it's a problem."

You finally turn to look at him, then glance down to his crotch before lifting your eyes back up, the corners of your mouth lifting. "I think you've got a bigger problem going on." You say, then walk through the door just like that.

Just like that.

Jungkook is losing his fucking mind.

He hates you, he hates you so goddamn much right now. He hated you that day by the pool when you were in that stupid little bikini, hated you when you had your perfect legs over some boy's lap— God, he really is just some boy. What the fuck is a Jaemin? He swears he's so much hotter and bigger and sexier but he can't even try and make himself feel better now that his pants are tightening and his cock is aching.

He knows he's got a bigger problem going on, he didn't need you to say it, he doesn't want to hear you say anything at this point. Because it seems as though he has the self restraint of a fucking rabbit and his dick gets hard with so much as your breathing. 

Jungkook is the boy here. He knows he is. There is nothing left for him to do besides hoping you don't. But god, he's desperate. He can't help but think about the what ifs. What if Jaehyun didn't knock, what if you actually pulled down his boxers and took him in your sweet little mouth. He'd give anything right now. Anything to see your mouth full with his cock, stuffed to the brim. He'd do anything for you to fold beneath him and do as he says, he'd bend you over this stupid counter and take you right fucking here. He'd fuck you so good you'd never be able to walk properly again. He'd put you in your place and shut that sweet mouth of yours forever.

But he can't. He knows he can't. So he does the second most stupid he can do today— the first being letting you take him in your mouth. He pulls his jeans back down after making sure the door is locked again, then frees his cock out of the fabric that has been suffocating him since the moment he laid his eyes on you today.

He starts stroking himself after spreading the precum over his tip, then lets his hand run down his aching length. He's so horny it's stupid. He can't believe a girl he has known since he was nine has gotten his dick rock hard with so much as a few reckless words and light, taunting touches. But who the fuck is he kidding? This isn't the first time he's thought about you like this, not the first time he's caught himself a way the shouldn't have.

He's just been better at hiding it before.

He had always been the version of himself that knows where the line is and doesn't even think about crossing it. Because for the longest time, you had a single purpose, a single title in his life— Jaehyun's little sister. A kid who used to hover around the edges of everything she had no part in, who'd sit too close and talk too much even when she didn't have to. There was never a reason to think about it longer than necessary. 

Until you made it impossible to ignore. 

It didn't happen all at once, not in a way he could point to and say this is where it changed. It just…happened. You stopped asking to be included, stopped looking at him like he was someone above and untouchable. You built your own life, your own circle, yourself.

And somewhere in the middle of all of that, he started noticing things. The way you carried yourself differently, the way your voice grew into something low and sultry, the way you started looking at people with eyes that knew exactly what you were doing, thoroughly aware of the effect you had.

So as he keeps dragging a hand along his length, he thinks about every time you'd bent over in front of him with a skirt way too short to be acceptable, every time you'd given him those eyes while asking for things as simple as a glass of water, every time you'd call a man late at night thinking your voice couldn't be heard when he'd lose hours of sleep over it— he thinks about it all. 

He cums with a breathy trail of moans and your name on his tongue, body shaking with the intensity of his orgasm. And as he struggles to find the line between his imagination and the reality, he realizes that the worst part about what he has done today isn't Jaehyun or the post nut clarity.

It's that he wants more. 

· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·

The club is brazen without trying to be subtle about it. It's the kind of atmosphere that doesn't prepare you for the worst before settling deep into your skin, right in the middle of something you can't erase no matter how hard you try scrubbing it off, because the agitation is just that heavy. The lights hang low, glowing in a distant hue that's maybe a little too deliberate for a club like this. The air is thick and full without being suffocating, but it's lived in. Like it's been used over and over again and simply refuses to empty out, carrying the remnants of conversations, the cluttered echo of laughter, and things that are said too loud yet meant too lightly. 

You're not sure if it was the best pick for a birthday night out, but who are you to say anything— you wouldn't be here without Jaehyun anyway. Not that you want to leave, but the party doesn't matter all that much either. Although you do like Haneul— one of Jaehyun's college friends who also became yours overtime— she's sweet in a way that's safe and makes it easy to forget she's the center of attention tonight. 

The music is starting to feel too loud and it feels as if the club is getting smaller and smaller as time goes on, but it's still a little early to leave, at least by yourself. Because leaving alone would mean you aren't enjoying yourself and staying long enough keeps everything in place, keeps you exactly where you need to be without drawing attention to the fact that your mind has been completely elsewhere for the entirety of the night.

Jungkook has been avoiding you. Definitely, irreproachably, unmistakeably.

You've been in this club for three hours now, with your body pressed against the crowd in a way that doesn't allow distance to exist, caught between people who move like proximity is a choice rather than an inconvenience, and still— Jungkook hasn't looked at you properly. Not even once.

Jaehyun finds you sometime around the final minutes of your fourth hour here, fully drunk now as if he hasn't been halfway gone for the majority of his time here. His words are looser, his voice is louder, and his arm is slinging around your shoulder like everything about his balance depends on you. 

"There you are." He sings, stretching the words sloppily. "I'm done." 

You laugh, head tipping back in his arms. "You've been done for like, what? An hour now?" You tell him, steadying the drink in his hand before it spills.

"I mean it this time." He leans into you, then immediately leans away like something far more interesting suddenly caught his attention. "I'm leaving— or, no. I'm staying. I don't know." 

"That sounds about right." 

He exhales dramatically, then glances over your shoulder until he spots what he was looking for. "Jungkook!" He shouts over the music. 

Jungkook turns his head slightly before fully facing your brother, then moves towards you like rejecting was never really an option.

"Can you take her home?" Jaehyun asks, placing a hand on the small of your back. But it doesn't sound like a question, it sounds like a decision that's already been made before it even reached Jungkook.

Jungkook's expression tightens slightly. "I'm not—" 

"You are." Jaehyun cuts him off, waving it away like the argument doesn't exist, doesn't matter. "I'll stay a bit longer, or all night, just— make sure she gets home safe, please." 

Your eyes wander away to Jungkook, because watching him is far more interesting than dealing with your drunk brother. There's a pause before he exhales through his nose, a beat that's enough to feel like he's weighing something in his head, like there is a version of this he so badly wants to refuse but knows he can't— knows he won't.

"Fine." He says finally, not exactly willing. 

Jaehyun grins, satisfied with the outcome even though he won't remember achieving it by the time he wakes up. He disappears into the crowd after patting Jungkook on the shoulder, leaving the two of you standing in a space that suddenly feels quiet despite being the complete opposite.

Jungkook walks alongside you in silence as you make your way out of the club, his pace controlled and calculated like that's the only thing he's concentrating on right now. The music gets swallowed up by a wave of soft wind and the distant hum of the city when you step outside, fading slowly as you get further and further away from the club. 

You glance at him as you walk, trailing your eyes along the sharp line of his jaw beneath the warm glow of the streetlights. He's dressed too nicely for the bike waiting at the curb, painted in dark clothes and silver rings along with the kind of face that makes people stop and turn their heads twice without even realizing they're doing it. For a short second, you wonder if he knows how unfair he looks tonight. But jokes on you, he probably does. 

Because Jeon Jungkook is one cocky bastard, even though he doesn't show it a lot. 

"You could've said no, you know." You say lightly when you reach the bike. "If it's impossible for you to be alone with me without glaring like you want me dead." 

Jungkook exhales through his nose, pulling the spare helmet from the handle and holding it out to you before responding eventually. "I would've said no if i wanted to." 

You look down to the helmet, crossing your arms on your chest."You can act a little less miserable, then." 

His jaw tightens slightly at that, like he's annoyed with both you and himself. "Put the helmet on." He says, ignoring your claim. 

You roll your eyes, but take it from him anyway, not forgetting to let your fingers brush against his on purpose. He shifts under your touch, shoulders tensing beneath his jacket. You're sure he notices the way you're doing it on purpose too, but prefers not to comment on it. Not yet, at least.

"You're quiet tonight." You say, slipping the helmet on. 

"You talk enough for the both of us."

"That's not true. You talk plenty when you're…engaged." You say slowly, dragging your gaze over him before settling them back on his face. Jungkook looks at you properly for the first time tonight, and he makes sure to look at you with purpose. Enough to let you know he's still thinking about it too.

The bathroom, everything you did that day, everything he did after you left. Not a single second of it has left his mind ever since. 

"Get on the bike." He says, tongue poking the inside of cheek before he speaks.

You do, but you do it so slowly Jungkook thinks he wants to dig his grave right then and there. You place your hands on his shoulders before sliding them over his chest as you move behind him, taking your time in a way that feels cruel. By the time you finally sit, there's barely any space between your bodes. Your knees press against his thighs, your arms wrap around his waist, and your chest leans onto his back. 

"You know," You murmur near his ear, and it takes so much in him to not go still at the lingering heat of your breath. "For someone who keeps telling me to stop, you never actually do anything." 

His grip tightens around the handles. "You don't listen." 

"Maybe i'd listen if you were better at hiding how much you like it." 

You feel how his body stiffens immediately as he inhales sharply before starting the engine. "Hold properly." He says, completely dismissing your words.

When the bike finally pulls away from the curb, you settle against him even closer than before, letting your body melt into the warmth of his. You smile to yourself beneath the helmet, because this time, you know exactly how tonight is going to end. 

Your hands wander all over him throughout the entirety of the ride, tracing lines starting from his chest all the way down to his thighs. Jungkook has no idea how the hell he's survived when he rolls the bike into your garage, but he definitely knows the tension between you has turned into something so physical he feels like he's going to burst.

Neither of you can move when the engine cuts off, because the air is still vibrating from the ride. Because your body stayed pressed against his the entire way home like you were trying to test how much restraint one could realistically have before it gave out completely.

And judging by how Jungkook is handling it all— not much. 

"You should go inside." He says eventually, back still turned to you. 

You slowly let go of his waist, leaning back slightly as you take off your helmet. "I don't really want to." 

Jungkook lets out a breath through his nose, then hops off the bike as he takes the helmet from your hand and places it back on the handle alongside his own. When he's back on the bike, he's facing you, legs placed on both sides of the vehicle. 

He calls your name, but it sounds completely ruined in his mouth now, rough and raw around the edges by weeks of restraint and the complete lack of it sitting underneath. He shakes his head in frustration, dragging a hand along his face. 

"Look, you— this, whatever you've been trying to do all night. No, scratch that, you've been doing this for weeks now. It's not going to happen, it can't happen." 

"You wanna know what i think?" You ask instead, tilting your head. 

"No."

"I think you liked avoiding me."

Jungkook's eyes darken at your words, sharp enough to slice through your skin that's ravaged with desire. And as the dawn slowly breaks, you see the walls crumbling down beneath his feverish, agitated gaze. Because you've already stripped him out of his armor and he hates how naked and vulnerable he might look to your eyes. 

"You liked it because it gave you an excuse to think about me all the time." Your voice softens slightly, just enough to feel intimate. "Every room i walked into, every conversation you avoided, every time you looked away before i caught you. You liked it because that was the only way to fill your mind with me without feeling guilty." 

Jungkook laughs quietly, but there's nothing amused about it. The sound comes out frayed, disbelieving, like he's hearing his own thoughts being spoken back to him in your voice and hates how accurate they sound. 

"You think this is easy for me?" He asks, and the shift in his tone catches you off-guard. It's not softer, not gentler either— but it's honest. Raw in a way that sits somewhere so deep in his chest, so much more than he has been willing to show until now. "You think i enjoy walking into a room and having to pretend i'm not thinking about you?" 

At his confession, your breath stutters without waiting for permission. Because suddenly, every letter rolling out of his tongue feels heavy. Because this is the first time he's admitting it out loud, even if it sounds like it's being dragged out against his will. 

His eyes dip briefly to your lips before lifting again, but it's slow, as if the movement costs him something he can't pay for. "You keep looking at me like that." He mutters, so low that you think it's not meant for you. 

"Like what?" You ask, looking up at him through your lashes. 

"Like you already know i'm gonna give in." 

You tilt your head slightly, pushing yourself further into his embrace. "Are you?" You ask, voice laced with a honeyed amusement. 

He exhales sharply with closed eyes, and for a second, you think he's actually going to walk away. You see the glimpses of conflict flash across his features, shoulders tensing like he's forcing himself to hold onto the last scraps of control he has left.

But then his hands find your waist, firm and certain in a way that makes you believe he won't let go this time. Whatever was left of Jungkook's self-control gives in completely, and his lips are on yours in an instant.

A mix of gasps and moans falls from your lips, and he swallows them without wasting a second. Your fists find his jacket, tugging onto the fabric as you close the remaining bits and pieces of distance between your bodies.

His hands drop drown to your hips, moving them to the rhythm of your lips until you're fully on his lap. His thumb pulls at your bottom lip, searching for permission to be let in even further into your mouth. You grant him the access immediately, his tongue clashing against yours in a way that's hot, wet, and so fucking desperate. 

You draw circles with your hips on his lap, his already hardened length pressing into your clothed core. The friction feels so good it blows your breath away, and your stomach flutters every time his skin touches yours in a way that's rather vulnerable and intimate instead of sole lust. 

Jungkook feels his cock pulsing beneath the fabric of his jeans, and he swears he's going to cum on the spot if you keep moving your hips like that. Your wetness leaves filthy stains on the course denim, marking him with your arousal. 

"This dress," He breathes into your mouth, voice laced with fever as he tugs onto the thin fabric. "You wore it for me?" 

You smirk into the kiss, not forgetting to continue moving your hips. "Wouldn't you like to know." You sing softly. 

He scoffs, hand sliding in through your dress to settle on your bare ass, giving it a hard squeeze, fingers digging into the soft flesh. "Oh, i already do." 

The moment a soft trace of streetlights spread inside from the corner and chase away the darkness, Jungkook knows it's his cue to pull away. A final opportunity to let him fix everything he has broken and lost himself inside, a weak excuse to allow him wake up to a brighter morning without the weight of betrayal and regret and burnt desire he hates himself for not being able to keep hidden. 

But he doesn't, he's so lost in the drug called you and as your body searches his further and further, there's almost nothing left in him that's holding him back from being gone completely. 

Your movements on his lap grow into something more and more desperate, pussy aching with need as his hands wander all around your body, feeling you up beneath your dress. He lifts the skirt over your hips, exposing it to the cool air of the garage and your breath hitches at the feeling of being so bare all of a sudden.

"Shit— stop, stop." He nearly begs, pulling his lips away from yours. You look back at him, momentarily thrown. Because what does he mean stop? He can't, not right now, not when he's got you all hot and bothered on his lap.

"What's wrong?" You ask softly, brows pulling together. 

"I'm— I'll cum if you keep doing that. Wanna be inside you."

The words mean so much more to you than just lust. Because this isn't only want, not at all. It's ravishment, the breakage of suppression that has been dressed up as a boundary for way too long. Jungkook has spent weeks— no, scratch that. He has spent years holding himself together so tightly you almost started believing he was actually capable of resisting you. 

But now, he's sitting beneath you, looking completely unraveled by your body against his. Nothing more, nothing less. 

You did that. The thought alone makes you dizzy. 

You take a moment to let your gaze drift over his face; taking in the spent rise and fall of his chest, his red lips that are swollen from kissing you, the frustration and desperation tangled together beneath his darkened gaze…He looks wrecked in a way that doesn't suit him at all. Because Jeon Jungkook has always been a man of precision and there isn't a single ounce left of it in his being tonight.

He was always guarded in a way that kept every ugly thought locked somewhere private, somewhere no one else could reach, could touch. And now, Jeon Jungkook is falling apart right in front of you— because of you. 

"Yeah? You want to fuck me, Jungkook?" You ask slowly, voice low and sultry as your nails trail lines along his inner thighs. 

Jungkook lets out a low groan before speaking. "Come here." He says, pulling you back onto him. You laugh with the movement as your hands work on the zipper of his jeans, and he lifts his hips enough to assist you pull them off just enough. 

Once his boxers are pulled down and his cock is all bare and exposed for you to see, you can't help but let your lips part in shock. You feel yourself nearly drooling over his size because fuck, he's huge. 

You shouldn't be shocked, you've already felt him up and you expected nothing less. But seeing it like this, thick and long and leaking for you— you think you're going to pass away. 

"See something you like, baby?" He smirks, all cocky and confident. 

"That's not going to fit." You reply immediately, gaze flicking up and down consecutively. 

"We'll make it fit." He says, eyes stuck on yours as he gives himself a few strokes. "And you're going to take every inch like the good girl you are." 

You just stare at him, utterly in shock, almost scared. Because what the actual fuck is he talking about? You've never taking anything this big, and you're not sure if anyone ever has either. 

"You were begging for me to fuck you. Weren't you, princess? Were so desperate for my cock and now what? Cat's got your tongue?" He says, a loose grin on his face as his thumb swipes over the head and spreads the precum. 

"I'll take it." You say obediently.

"Yeah?" He breathes, lifting your hips so that your entrance is lining up with his cock. 

"I'll take all of it. Need your big cock so bad. Fuck me, Jungkook. Please, need it." You beg, trying to push yourself down to take him into your cunt but he tightens his hands around your hips to hold you in place. 

He guides your hips down slowly, letting you feel every line and every vein that's painting his pretty length. You whine at the stretch, but there's still half of him you haven't taken yet. 

"Fuck," He groans, letting his eyes close and his head fall back as you sink down further. "You're so tight." 

You both moan loudly as he presses your hips down fully, your wet cunt swallowing him wholly. He watches as his cock disappears between your folds, so wet and creamy with your slick that's already obnoxiously overflowing. Once all of him is inside you, you let out a high pitched whimper, feeling the way your walls burn with how good he's stretching you, because he's just that big. So fucking massive it's insane. And you swear you've never felt this full in your entire life.

"Holy shit." You gasp when he lifts his hips to meet you halfway, balls hitting your ass with the movement. 

"How does it feel, princess? Anything like you imagined?" He asks, thrusting up into you as he guides your hips down, hands squeezing the flesh of your plump ass. "Use your big girl words, i know you can."

"So good, Jungkook. I'm so full, you're so— so big." You cry out, nails digging into his shoulders. 

He pushes down the top of your dress, exposing the lace fabric of your red bra. He pulls it down just enough to bare your boobs, breath hitching the moment they bounce free right in front of his eyes.

Jungkook sucks in a sharp breath the moment you find your pace, your tits bouncing up and down as you hop on his cock, riding him to chase your own high. One of his hands lift to massage your tit as the other keeps digging into the flesh of your ass. You whimper when he takes your hardened nipple into his mouth, bouncing on his cock in a pace that slowly grows into something sloppier as the hot feeling of your orgasm starts building low in your stomach. 

"Kook, i'm cumming. Shit." 

"Yeah? Let it go, baby. Cream all over my fat cock."

His words do it for you, and you fall apart on his cock after a few more thrusts. Your legs start shaking and you bury your head in his neck for support, panting into his skin.

"You okay?" He asks, head tilted as he tries looking at your profile. 

"Yeah…just," You breathe, straightening your posture to pull away and take a proper look at him. "Wanna make you feel good."

Jungkook groans loudly, letting his head fall back at your words. Because how can he act normal, how can he hold it together when your mouth keeps reciting filthy words so casually like you're talking about the weather? 

He can't believe this, he still can't believe he's just fucked you on his stupid bike. Because this is you. Jaehyun's little sister. The girl he spent years forcing himself not to look at for to long. And now, he's got you all naked and completely spent on his lap, touching him like the yellow light that's filling up the void of control he'd built for himself, warming him up so intimately without even realizing you're doing so. 

He's a goner. He's so irreversibly fucked and completely gone.

But what worsens it for him is, that you don't look too different from the state he's in. You've fallen apart right in front of his eyes, skin flushed, sounds breathless, movements desperate. They tell him you're just as gone as he is. There is something so dizzying about it, about seeing the exact effect he has on you after weeks of wondering whether he imagined it all or not. 

He didn't.

Thank god, he didn't.

As his eyes wander all over you, desire burning through him so intensely it almost feels violent, he thinks about the one thing he has been dying to ask you.

Because if he doesn't ask now, when will he ever?

"Can i—" Jungkook cuts himself off with a quiet curse, dragging a hand down his face before looking back at you. "Fuck, can i fuck your tits?"

The corner of your mouth twitches upwards immediately, amusement curling through your face despite how breathless he left you just minutes ago. The overhead light catches against the flush spreading across your skin, showing off the mess he's made of you. 

Your fingertips move onto the hem of your dress, pausing there long enough for anticipation to sizzle in his lungs before you slowly pull the fabric upwards. 

Jungkook watches every movement, so so carefully. Like he's afraid that if he blinks, he'll miss something. And when your dress is completely off, he thinks that he might actually die right then and there.

The breath that leaves him when you unclasp your bra and let it fall down to the ground is sharp. His gaze drags over you with a kind of raw hunger he stopped trying to hide a long time ago tonight. There is nothing composed about him now, nothing careful. Just pure, unadulterated want.

"Jesus Christ." He mutters under his breath, hands flexing at his sides like he doesn't know what to do with them. 

You tilt your head slightly, watching him through your lashes, a small and seductive smile playing on your lips. "You look overwhelmed." 

"You think?" He argues, a rough laugh slipping out of his lips. "Press'em together for me, baby." He says, hands braced behind him as he leans into the handlebars. 

You press your tits together, then lean forward onto him to take his cock between the soft flesh of your boobs. Jungkook's eyes flutter shut in an instant, a low groan escaping his lips as you start moving your chest up and down. His dick is already so wet, sliding between your boobs seamlessly.

"Love your tits, princess. Gonna paint them with my seed." He moans, long gone in the bliss. Jungkook's hips jerk beyond his control, and he starts fucking your tits as you move along with his pace. 

He cums all over your chest not long after with low grunts of curses and your name on his tongue. 

The garage still feels warm, still thick with tension and the aftermath of everything that just happened, everything that was boundto happen for weeks. But there isn't an edge to it anymore. Because Jungkook isn't looking at you the way he was just a few hours ago. Because now, there's no frustration behind his gaze. Instead, he looks wrecked. 

He leans back against the handlebars as he tries catching his breath, one hand still on your thigh. You sit sideways across his lap, completely naked, hair messy, lips swollen. 

Your fingers drift absentmindedly along the collar of his shirt as he tries catching his breath, smoothing the fabric. "You know," You murmur, eyes dancing over him. "You're a lot softer than i thought you'd be."

Jungkook laughs lightly. "You literally spent weeks trying to ruin my life." 

"Mhm." You tilt your head, pretending to think. "You survived tho." 

He snorts, thumb drawing circles on your thigh. "Barely." 

You smile, then lean into his chest when his hand slides higher along your waist without really thinking, skin calloused and a little rough on your soft skin. But for some reason, it comforts you in a way nothing ever has. 

Because for a second, it doesn't feel complicated at all. It doesn't feel like boundaries or guilt or Jaehyun or years of years of knowing each other but never doing anything about it. It just feels like Jungkook's hands on your body and the quiet look in his eyes that says he's still trying to process how badly he wanted this.

How badly he still wants it. 

"I really tried not to." He says suddenly.

You look at him, brows pulling together faintly as you try to figure out what he's going to say. "Tried not to what?" 

His eyes flick down to your lips before lifting again. "Want you." 

Your stomach flips when he says that. Because they sound real. There is no teasing in them. No temptation, no flirtation. Just raw, unadulterated truth. 

You lift your head to look at him properly, suddenly a little too aware of how close the two of you still are. How his hand hasn't moved from your waist, how your legs are still tangled with his on the bike like neither of you has figured out how to leave. 

"You sucked at it." You say softly.

That earns you a real laugh this time. It's quiet and tired, yet warm around the edges in a way you've never heard him before. Even if you have, it was never for you. But now it feels so intimate that every breath he takes, every word he says, every single thing he does is in honour to you. 

"Yeah, i know." And for one dangerous moment, everything feels easy.

Then the front door slams open upstairs.

"I'm home!" Jaehyun's voice echoes through the house; loud, drunk and completely unaware. "Why the fuck is the garage light on?" 

Well, fuck.

dainsleif

he does not cry — he remembers. and that is worse.

you died long ago — or yesterday. he can no longer recall. time has long since stopped meaning anything for him, and loss is always present tense.

he tells himself you are gone. he has buried people before you — family, friends, an entire nation. he knows the shape of grief too well to mistake it for anything else. there is no clean edge to it — no beginning, no end — only a slow, grinding erosion.

death, to him, has always been a concept stretched thin by time — nations fall, people vanish, memories rot. but you were never meant to become one of those things. you were never supposed to be filed away with khaenri’ah and all the other losses he catalogues.

he survives you, and this is the cruelest part.

not because survival means strength, but because his curse does not allow him the mercy of following you. you die, the world continues its slow decay, and he remains. always remains.

dainsleif does not speak of you in the past tense, he cannot. his words do not obey him.

you are still there — in the pause before he reaches for his sword, fingers hovering where your warmth used to steady him, in the way he turns as if expecting footsteps that will never come, in the half-formed sentences he abandons because they were meant for you.

and when he speaks aloud, rarely, it's not prayers. only apologies.

for not being faster.

for not being wiser.

for being what he is.

some nights, he wonders if the ache in his chest is guilt or longing. he wonders if there is a difference.

he has lived through the end of a nation. he has watched friends become monsters and ideals turn to ash. he has carried grief for centuries — but this grief is different. this grief does not dull. it does not settle into the bones. he does not accept your death because accepting it would mean acknowledging that even now — even after everything — the world still has the power to take what he loves.

there are moments — rare, treacherous moments — when he forgets. when the curse loosens its grip just enough for hope to slip through, thin and dangerous. he will turn, ready to speak, ready to share something small and unimportant, and for one heartbeat he expects you to be there.

the realization hits harder every time.

he does not cry. he does not rage. his grief is quieter than that — a constant, suffocating pressure beneath his ribs. a knowledge that there is no version of eternity where this pain resolves.

you would have told him to rest.

you would have told him that carrying everything alone was never bravery.

but now, you are the wound he keeps open to remember that he once loved something warm and living.

and sometimes, when the night is too quiet and the ruins press in too close, he wonders — not for the first time — whether this is what his curse was always meant to be.

xiao

xiao tells himself this is what always happens — mortals die, and he survives.

knowing that doesn't make the ache any smaller.

the world is too loud without you — too sharp, too cruel. demons fall beneath his spear, but each victory tastes like ash because there is no one waiting for him afterward. no quiet presence. no soft voice telling him he did well, that he can rest now.

he tells himself this is punishment. karma, finally collecting its due.

xiao survives your death the way he survives everything else — by swallowing it whole and pretending it doesn’t tear him apart.

at first, he tells himself it’s better this way. you are safe now. unreachable. untouchable by the corruption that stains everything he protects.

that lie holds for exactly three nights.

after that, the emptiness in his chest starts to scream. he grows restless, more volatile. hunts demons until his hands shake lets wounds linger longer than they should. the adepti notice, but no one says anything. everyone knows xiao does not accept comfort.

your name lodges itself somewhere between his ribs, sharp and immovable.

he stops returning to the places you used to sit beside him. he stops letting anyone stand too close.

there are nights when the karmic debt grows loud, when the world feels sharp and hostile and his body trembles with the effort of restraint. in those moments, he almost wishes the pain would consume him entirely. oblivion would be easier. oblivion would be quiet.

there's no-one to stop him anymore, so he falls deeper into this quiet despair. he stops eating properly. stops resting. throws himself into slaughter with a desperation that borders on self-destruction. anything to quiet the ache that lives where your warmth used to be.

he does not know how to grieve without turning it into punishment.

he remembers the small things against his will.

the way you said his name — carefully, like it might shatter if handled wrong. the quiet patience you had with his silences. the way you never looked at him like he was something to endure.

you had told him, once, that he didn’t need to be alone forever.

he wonders now if that was the moment he doomed you.

xiao does not accept your death. he carries it like a sentence — one more debt added to an already endless ledger. he does not believe there is forgiveness for this, not from the world, not from the heavens, and certainly not from himself.

you were once proof that something gentle could survive beside him.

now, six feet underground, you are proof that it cannot.

childe

childe laughs when they tell him you’re gone.

not because it’s funny — because it’s absurd. because death has always been something that happens around him, not something that affects him specifically. he’s fought it too many times, crawled back from too many edges, watched people fall only to stand again later. death, to him, has always been negotiable.

so he shakes his head, grin sharp and defiant, and says, you’re messing with me.

and when no one laughs back, something inside him splinters.

he gets reckless, drinks more. if he can’t have you back, then he’ll give the world hell for taking you. he throws himself into battles he doesn’t need to fight. if he comes back bloodied, bruised, shaking — good. at least it proves he’s still alive. anything to keep moving, because standing still means remembering the way your hand fit into his like it was always meant to be there.

there are nights he stares at the ceiling, breath uneven, mind racing with all the futures you never got to live. he hates that he survived. hates that the world kept spinning without you.

you were supposed to watch him win.

you were supposed to tell him when to stop.

he doesn’t talk about you properly. doesn’t say i loved them. doesn’t say i miss them. those words feel too final, too neat. like admitting something ended.

instead, he speaks to you in fragments.

out loud. under his breath. while sharpening weapons, while staring into dark water, while nursing wounds that didn’t need to happen. he tells you about fights you’d have liked. complains when things go wrong. brags when they go well, like you’re just out of sight, waiting to hear it.

sometimes he gets angry at you.

you promised you’d keep up.

you said you’d be fine.

you don’t get to leave first — do you hear me?

that anger scares him more than the sadness, because it means part of him still expects an answer.

on rare nights, when exhaustion finally drags him under, he dreams of you alive. not dramatic, not tragic — just there. laughing. arguing. touching him like it’s the most natural thing in the world.

he wakes up furious.

because for a few seconds, it felt real. because his body remembers you even when the world insists you’re gone, and his arm reaches for you in the haze of the morning, only to be met with the coldness of the sheets that once belonged to you. because some part of him still believes that if he fights hard enough, long enough, death will get bored and give you back.

he never lets himself say goodbye, because goodbyes mean acceptance.

and ajax has never been good at knowing when to stop fighting.

The sole reason you’re purchasing copious amounts of alcohol is because it’s wine night, and tonight is the inaugural gathering at your house. The girls are all unbelievably excited to see the illustrious home, including the partially decorated nursery they’ve only seen via video call.

It’s since been painted a neutral beige color with an adorable cat and dog mural on the wall behind the crib. More artwork occupies the remaining walls, including a set of picture frames containing photos of you and Jungkook from childhood until now. The furniture’s all been built at this point, although some of it still needs to be placed and secured to the wall. The ample supply of stuffed animals provided by none other than your baby’s father reside in a hammock above the rocking chair. 

Jungkook will be at Namjoon’s tonight along with the other guys so you can have the place to yourselves, which you’re grateful for since it wouldn’t be very conducive to conversation if a central topic of your gossip is present. He certainly doesn’t need his ego stroked by you enthusiastically retelling the girls about all your wild sexual encounters. 

Visually taking stock of your haul, which mostly consists of junk food and wine, you mentally run through your shopping list one last time before heading to the checkout. The employee scanning your items looks surprised when she glances between your belly and the wine collection, but thankfully doesn’t comment on the questionable items. She informs you of the total and you tap Jungkook’s black card against the machine. Once you hear the familiar chime, you thank the woman and steer your cart towards the parking lot.

A recent development of your pregnancy is that you began your third and final trimester by quitting your job, hence why you’re paying for groceries with Jungkook’s card and not your own.

It’s been on the table for a while now, with you and Jungkook discussing it here and there over the last couple months. After crunching the numbers, the two of you mutually agreed it’s for the best. Since your salary is astronomically smaller than Jungkook’s, you would lose more money paying for childcare than by removing your salary from the equation altogether. 

Being a stay-at-home mom was never the plan, even when you were younger, but now that you’re pregnant, the idea is more appealing than ever. Not only do you want to be present for all the special moments of their childhood, but Jungkook is loaded and there’s no reason to pay for a nanny or daycare when he can care for you financially while you take care of things at home. 

Truthfully, it’s been difficult depending on him, not because he makes it so, but because you still feel guilty using his money. Your last paycheck was about two weeks ago, so you’re exclusively using his funds and the first time you tapped his card against the machine you nearly bit your lip off. On the flip side, Jungkook’s been profusely scolding you for refusing to go on a huge spending spree with his no limit credit card. 

He’s been continuously sending you links to buy expensive jewelry, clothes, and handbags, and threatens to buy them for you himself if you don’t run his bank account dry soon. It’s the first time in his life you’ve given him the go ahead to support you in that way and he’s adamant about you taking advantage of the opportunity. 

Ironically, the only thing you’ve bought other than essentials is a gift for him. 

Last week his gaming headset snapped in half when Bam decided they were a perfect seat. Jungkook was rightfully distraught and refused to look his beloved pet in the eye for the remainder of the evening. Determined to mend their relationship, you went out the following morning to buy him the latest and greatest. 

When you presented him the gift, Jungkook lifted you so far above his head in excitement you feared hitting the ceiling. Despite his own bank account decreasing, the thoughtfulness of your act sent him over the moon with joy. He attacked you with kisses once your feet met the ground again, and you had to pry him off you before your lips turned purple. 

Independence is a key character trait of yours, so this new lifestyle is definitely an adjustment, but it would be a lie to say it doesn’t feel just a little bit nice using a card that doesn’t have your own name on it. 

During your drive home, the contact image of Jungkook positively cheesing next to your most recent ultrasound photo appears on the dashboard screen. Your heart does an involuntary flip at the sight, and you press the green answer button just as the car turns down your street.

“Hey, baby.”

Despite his usage of a pet name, Jungkook sounds exasperated, and maybe slightly annoyed, when the phone connects.

“Koo? Is everything alright?”

“No, Bams,” he admits begrudgingly. “There’s a leak under the kitchen faucet. It’s pretty bad. I don’t think we can have the girls over tonight, but I already called the Blue Lagoon Lounge and booked a room for you guys. The drinks and food are all paid for already. So, text the girls to let them know and have fun, okay?”

“What? Jungkook, are you sure? If the leak isn’t going to take more than a couple hours I can just tell the girls to come later.”

“No, no,” Jungkook says. “Just go enjoy yourself and I’ll take care of this. I don’t want your night to be cut short at all. The reservation is under Jeon.”

“Alright,” you mumble. “Love you, talk to you soon.”

“Love you more, Bambi, I’ll see you soon.”

You voice-to-text your group chat to reiterate the news and your friends are downright ecstatic about having access to unlimited free food and drinks. 

In fact, the last text to ping your phone from Tzuyu reads: “thank you so fucking much for getting knocked up by a sexy millionaire. I owe you my life.” The three other members of the chat heart react the message. 

When you arrive at the restaurant, you look down and mentally congratulate yourself on already being dressed in your attire for the evening. It’s unusually warm for this time of year, so you’re in a floral tea-length dress with your hair up. Your friend group doesn’t normally get dolled up for these occasions, but Mina is finally ready to reacclimate herself to the dating scene and suggested a mini photoshoot for your choice of entertainment tonight. 

The Blue Lagoon Lounge is massive, with a full dining room, smaller private suites, and large banquet halls in the back. Upon telling the hostess the name, she leads you through a couple of winding hallways and rooms. She gestures towards a pair of double doors once you reach your destination and you gaze at her inquisitively, wondering if she got the room right. Sensing your confusion, she nods to reaffirm her guidance and steps aside so you can enter. 

The moment your feet cross the threshold, the eruption of sound from inside the room makes you jump in shock.

“SURPRISE!” 

Your eyes nearly pop out of your head as your jaw falls open.

All of your friends and family are scattered around the large room which overlooks the river on the edge of your city. The multitude of round tables which occupy the space are decorated beautifully with white, purple, and yellow flowers along with gorgeous fine china place settings. There’s a liberal sized bar along the back wall and an even bigger buffet table in the corner closest to you.  

When your surveying eyes land on Jungkook, who's standing with your friends beside the grand, floor length windows, he smirks and wiggles his phone in accomplishment. 

“You little liar!” 

“I did good, right?”

“Yes, which is concerning because you’re a terrible liar,” you say while approaching them.

“Oh, don’t worry, he needed plenty of coaching,” Mina states.

“We went over the script four times,” Nayeon mentions.

“And my hands still shook!” Jungkook responds before holding his hand up to show you it twitching. 

You clasp the appendage between your own and kiss his knuckles, pulling him into you for a tight embrace. He laughs heartily as his arms latch around you, tugging you up against him until your heels lift from the floor. His hand holds the nape of your neck while you rest your head on his shoulder. 

“Thank you, baby,” you whisper to him. “This is amazing.”

“I didn’t do anything besides pay for it, Bambi. Your friends did all this,” he tells you. 

“Uh, see, now he’s getting a little too good at lying,” Tzuyu says from behind you. “It was his idea, Y/N.”

You reluctantly depart from his warmth, but lace your fingers together while you stand side by side.

“No,” Jungkook shakes his head modestly. “I mentioned it once in passing and you guys took it from there.”

“So humble, JK,” Jihyo clicks her tongue disapprovingly. 

Hugging the girls one by one, you thank them for sacrificing a wine night for your surprise baby shower before moving throughout the room to greet everyone else who came to celebrate you.

Jungkook follows closely behind with a hand on your lower back, thanking everyone for coming with an adorable bow of his head. He does it so much that at one point you place your hand beneath his chin to stop him so he doesn’t get a headache. 

Your parents are last, but of course not least, and you don’t miss the way your moms make eye contact with matching cheshire grins when they notice where Jungkook’s hand resides. 

The six of you exchange hugs and your mom holds your hands afterwards, excitedly shaking them in the air. 

“Oh sweetie, weren’t you so surprised?” She asks.

“Yes! It was the last thing I was expecting, but I’m so grateful everyone came,” you answer her.

“You’re glowing, sweetpea,” your dad comments.

Once the greetings are complete, everyone moseys around grabbing drinks and placing their gifts on the long table at the front of the room. You join Jungkook at the bar to grab his drink, which he thrice pretends to hand you before pulling it back with an annoyingly cute giggle. Rolling your eyes, you take his hand and lead him to the little sweetheart table at the very center of the wall of windows which faces the rest of the room.

Before tables are dismissed one by one to grab food from the buffet, Jihyo stands and clinks a fork against her glass to garner everyone’s attention. 

“Hi everyone, for those who don’t know me, I’m Jihyo. I want to say a little something before we eat and celebrate the amazing woman sitting at the front of the room.” She beckons towards you with her hands and the sound of everyone’s cheers turns your face bright red. “Y/N is the most loving, caring, wonderful soul I’ve ever known and although it wasn’t planned,” she purposely whispers the last word, sending a wave of laughter across the room. “I am absolutely certain she’ll be the most amazing mother the world has ever known. I love you so much, babe, and I can’t wait to meet your little one.” 

She raises her glass for a toast, and you parrot the act with your virgin mimosa. 

“I believe the little one’s daddy also has something he’d like to say?”

Jungkook’s eyes go wide, his hand pointing to his chest in surprise, clearly not expecting the spotlight. Jihyo nods encouragingly and shoots him a double thumbs up as she takes her seat. Always one for a challenge, Jungkook cracks his neck, clicks his tongue, and clears his throat before standing with his drink in hand. 

“Hello,” Jungkook says quietly while fidgeting with his shirt collar. “I’m fairly certain everyone here knows me, since you can’t really know Bambi without knowing me, too.” He taps his fingers against his glass as he ponders his next move. “I, um…” You squeeze his hand where it rests on his thigh and a smile creeps onto his face, his eyes briefly catching your supportive gaze. “Jihyo’s right, this wasn’t planned, not even a little bit, but it was without a doubt the best surprise of my life.” 

Jungkook’s ears go red to match the blush painting his cheeks. 

“I’m so incredibly thankful to call her my best friend and the mother of my child. I know I’ll never be able to repay her for everything she’s going through to bring our little one into the world. Her body and mind have been through hell and I’ve spent my entire life chasing away whatever may bring her pain and sorrow, so it’s been really challenging to feel so helpless. But she handles everything so beautifully, with so much grace and understanding, and I grow more in awe of her with every passing day.” 

He takes a deep breath and faces you with his glass held high. 

“You’re the best thing to ever happen to me, Bams, and there’s nothing you deserve more than to be celebrated for everything you do and will do in the future as a mother. I love you more than words can describe, Y/N.”

You gasp, your hands slapping against your mouth as tears immediately threaten your waterline. It’s been nearly two decades since the last time you heard the sound of your name rolling off his tongue, and you don’t think the syllables have ever sounded so beautiful. 

Jungkook smiles devilishly at the exact reaction he was hoping to pull from you. 

Your head falls forward as you cry into your palms, the kindhearted words from both him and Jihyo making your heart clench from all the love it’s receiving. Jungkook returns to his seat to console you, letting you cry on his shoulder instead. 

“You said my name,” you whimper.

The sound of his low chuckle meets your ears.

“Don’t get used to it, Bambi.”

He places multiple kisses between the strands of your hair and wipes the remaining tears away after you raise your head. If you weren’t currently surrounded by loved ones, you’d kiss him senseless and probably drop to your knees if you’re being totally honest.

When you glance around the room after falling back into your chair with a sigh, you notice your mom dabbing her waterline with a tissue while his mom reapplies the makeup under her eyes. You giggle and nudge Jungkook to show him, and he joins in your adoration of the two women with a loving shake of his head. 

Following dinner, your four friends run a series of typical baby shower games, some of which are guessing games while others require basic baby knowledge. 

You barely partake in the festivities yourself, too busy goofing off with Jungkook as he writes the most incorrect answers imaginable. The two of you laugh hysterically through every question as if you’re the only ones present, despite being the sole reason for the celebration.

An executive decision is made to open gifts at home rather than have everyone watch you ooh and aww at baby trinkets for an hour. It’s far more appealing to you to walk around and mingle with your loved ones, which is precisely what you do after dessert. 

“It’s the woman of the hour!” Yunjin cheers as you place yourself on Chaewon’s lap and rest your head on her shoulder.

“Thank you guys so much for coming,” you tell them.

“We wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Hoseok states.

“We’re so happy for you, Y/N, and we’re so excited to be aunts and uncles,” Namjoon says.

“Also, are you and Jungkook like… a thing, because eyes don’t lie and that man is googoo gaga for you,” Eunchae asks. 

“And it’s not like you’re any better,” Yoongi adds.

You nibble on your lip as your eyes peruse the room and land on Jungkook’s silhouette standing beside your dads. 

“No, at least, not officially, but something’s definitely changed recently,” you answer honestly.

“How so?” Seokjin asks.

“You guys know how we went through that awful miscarriage scare last month?” They all nod. “Well, ever since then it feels like the energy’s shifted. Neither of us have said anything, but I know we both feel it. I mean, I’ve slept in his bed every night since, we constantly kiss outside of sexual activities, and we’ve started casually calling each other baby.”

“Oh, so you guys are like, in love love,” Jimin states.

“I don’t know,” you respond. “He’s always taken up nearly my entire heart, but I’m still figuring out if he’s finally got a monopoly on it or not.”

“Y/N, honey, you said so yourself you’ve never been happier,” Chaewon notes. “Don’t overthink it.”

You flash her a grateful smile as a thank you for her advice before telling them you’ll see them later and going to converse with your other guests.  

At one point, you realize you haven’t seen Taehyung or Mina in a while and do a once over of the room. When you spot them cuddled up in the back corner giggling to each other, you smirk. They hooked up once a few years ago before Mina started dating Mingyu, and you would be more than happy to see them rekindle their affair.

You catch Jungkook’s attention from across the room and point to them as nonchalantly as possible. When his eyes land on them, they light up and he makes a proud OK sign with his hand. 

Some people stay for a while and others wish you good luck with the delivery before sunset, but by the time Jungkook is done loading all the presents in your dad’s truck, only your parents remain.  

“Oh, shit, I don’t have a car,” Jungkook states when he returns for a final sweep of the room. “I drove over here with Tzuyu.”

It wouldn’t normally be an issue since you and him could drive home together, but for storage purposes your parents are taking the gifts home and he has to follow behind your dad to help bring them inside. 

“Just take my car and I’ll go with my mom,” you suggest.

Everyone exchanges goodbyes and you tell Jungkook you’ll see him later at home. He bends down to kiss your cheek after you hug him, and it forces you to hide a radiant blush crawling up your face and neck.

It’s familiar being in the passenger seat of your mom’s car, although it's been a while. She drives through the city towards your house with the radio on low, but you can already tell she’s itching to speak.

“Sweetie, you know you can tell me anything, right?” Sensing where this is going, you inhale exasperatedly. “No, don’t give me excuses. I know you’ve been keeping things from me because you don’t want me to get my hopes up.”

You sit back in your seat, your arms crossing over each other. 

“It’s just not any of your business, Mom,” you tell her.

“I don’t need to know everything, especially that stuff, but I can tell you have a lot on your mind. And I know something is going on. I see the way you look at him and how he looks at you. It’s not the same as it was before.” She squeezes your thigh lovingly. “Just talk to me, sweetheart.”

“There… there isn’t much to say.” She sends a disapproving glance in your direction. “Okay, yeah, maybe things have changed, but I don’t know in what way yet. I think we’re both happy with the way things are and don’t feel a need to label it or discuss it. Maybe once the baby’s born, we will.”

“Are you alright with that? You usually tell Jungkook everything the very moment it enters your mind.”

“It’s different this time. I’m not afraid to tell him or worry I’ll get rejected, but it just feels like we’re in this perfect bubble of joy and love and I don’t want to pop it.”

“What if it doesn’t pop, though? What if it makes the bubble even stronger?”

You toss her words around in your mind, nodding your head as your brain parses through the information.

“That would be nice.”

“I’m not trying to pressure you, sweetie, and I don’t want you to ever take my feelings into account when yours are the only ones that matter, but I want all the happiness in the world for you and that boy is heaven sent.”

“Yeah,” you agree with a smile. “He is. I don’t know how I got so lucky.”

“That would be me,” she proudly reminds you. 

You laugh with your head thrown back. And to think, the only reason you’re all here today is because their university randomly assigned them to be roommates. 

She drops you off at home with a hug and kiss on your cheek. Once inside, you hear Usagi meowing in annoyance at someone and when you round the corner, you see Jungkook rolling her back and forth on the couch as though she’s a furry rolling pin. He merely giggles at her indignation and attacks her little head with kisses. 

“Leave my daughter alone, will you?”

“Hey, she’s my daughter, too,” Jungkook retorts with a pout. When he turns over his shoulder to see you, the pout’s long gone and been replaced by a peaceful smile. “Did you have fun tonight, Bambi?”

He stands to full height and slides his hands into his pockets, still dressed in his attire from the evening sans the sport coat. His poor dress shirt is barely holding on by a thread where it lays across his chest, the buttons holding on for dear life to fit over the contours of his pecs. The slacks he’s wearing aren’t doing much better, with the black fabric stretched tight to accommodate the muscular thighs beneath. It makes both your mouth and pussy water.

“Of course, I did! I can’t thank you enough, Koo,” you say while meeting him by the couch. 

“There’s no need to thank me, baby. You deserve it.”

“Well, I can think of something that you deserve in return,” you propose using the sultry eyes you know he melts for every time. 

His eyebrows twitch upwards, an anticipatory smile growing as he holds your gaze. Instead of waiting for a reply, your hand shoves at his shoulder to send him tumbling backwards into the couch. Knees automatically spreading wide open for you, you use your leverage on his thighs to kneel before him.

“Bams, you don’t have to,” he tells you, but his hand is already in your hair as you unbuckle his belt. 

“I want to.” You bend down to kiss him over his boxers once his pants are in a puddle around his ankles. “I want to so fucking bad, baby.”

Jungkook moans when your tongue presses down on the fabric and causes his dick to twitch. You quickly pull the garment down his legs and let it fall atop his slacks. He’s already sporting a semi that makes your thighs clench, the sight of his thick cock slowly becoming one of your favorites. 

Pumping him with your hand, you kiss and bite his thick thighs until he’s rock hard and leaking precum down your palm. You lick over his slit with a hungry moan and Jungkook throws his head back against the couch in response. 

“Oh, babygirl, that feels so fucking good.”

His hand becomes a ponytail, pulling all the strands away from your face so you can work unhindered and he has a clear view of you sucking him off. 

Your lips leisurely wrap around his head while you stare into his steadily darkening eyes. When you use suction and torturously swirl your tongue beneath the ridge separating the head from his shaft, Jungkook’s hips buck up involuntarily and you have to hold him still by his thighs. Slowly, all without ever looking away, you sink lower and lower until you’re gagging around him because he’s scratching the back of your throat. 

Jungkook cries out in pleasure, his free hand grasping desperately onto one of yours to give him something to hold onto. 

Swallowing a couple times while he’s buried deep in your throat, you allow a teasingly long moment to pass before finally sticking your tongue out and bobbing your head along his cock. He groans deliriously and his thighs shake as you sloppily work your mouth over him, doing so because you know exactly how much he loves to see the drool spilling from your lips. 

“Good girl, that’s my good fucking girl,” Jungkook praises nonsensically. “Mouth was fucking made for me.”

When you moan around him in agreement, your spit meets his balls below and you use it as an excuse to play with them in your free hand. Jungkook’s jaw clenches and the hand holding yours harshly squishes your digits together. You change gears upon the realization of how worked up the action makes him, sucking one of his balls into your mouth and replacing your tight throat with your hand.

“Oh, Jesus, Bams,” he shouts as you suckle the sensitive skin. 

After languidly curling your tongue around him for a moment, you switch and repeat the treatment for the other one, mirroring the pace of your hand to match the way your tongue works his sack. Returning to the main event, you flatten your tongue along the underside of his shaft until reaching the tip and spitting on him so you can bring him between your lips again.

Unfortunately, you’re only able to take him into your warm throat a few more times before he’s pulling you away by your hair.

You pout and place your hands on your hips.

“Koo, I wanna swallow your cum.”

“Nuh uh, I’m gonna put another fucking baby in you,” he states, his eyes completely overtaken by lust.

Jungkook manhandles you like a ragdoll until you’re face down ass up on the couch with him situated behind you. His hands grab the bottom hem of your dress and flip it upwards to reveal your underwear, which you only realize he rips off of you when you hear the sound of the fabric tearing.

“Koo!”

“Don’t complain when you know I can buy you a thousand more.” His fingers immediately find your pussy to check if you’re wet enough, and when you hear the pleased chuckle from behind you, you know he’s got his answer. “You got this wet just from sucking me off, baby?” 

You nod your head and Jungkook smacks your ass hard enough to leave a mark. 

“Yes!” Jungkook hums in satisfaction and you whine when he soothes the burn with his palm. “Jungkook, baby, please fuck me.”

You compliment your begging by wiggling your ass, and Jungkook moans appreciatively at the sight, his fingers grasping your flesh possessively. He slowly runs his dick along your sopping wet folds and you automatically keen and whimper for more. His movements continue that way for a tauntingly long amount of time, teasing you with just enough to keep you from going crazy. The only relief you’re given is when his tip brushes against your sensitive nub and provides you with delicious friction. 

An angrier version of your prior instruction is about to leave your mouth when Jungkook brutally spears you on his cock. In one single stroke he’s entirely sheathed within your walls and you scream out in ecstasy while your head falls forward. His pace can only be described as goddamn insane, or maybe those are just the only words you can think of when the huge dick ramming into your pussy is making your brain blank.

From behind Jungkook’s tip kisses your cervix with every thrust and you moan without restraint as he monstrously fucks your cunt open. His hand returns to your hair, the other one clutching the back of the couch so he can keep a steady rhythm. You feel his wet balls slapping your clit with every stroke and it makes you bite down on the skin of your hand. 

“Gonna fucking ruin you, Bams,” he warns. “I don’t want you to be able to walk tomorrow, you got that?”

“Fuck, yes,” you agree without a second thought. 

You can stay in bed all day for all you care, all you want is for Jungkook to keep stretching you apart and making you his. You don’t want your pussy to remember any other shape but his cock, want your flesh to memorize every ridge and vein so it knows exactly who’s coming home when he enters you. 

Jungkook was already close when he started fucking you, so he’s doing everything he can for you to reach the same precipice. He repeatedly slams his hips into your ass as he yanks hard enough on your hair that he can almost see your eyes from his position. His hand wraps around your throat, pressing down on your jugular until his fingers leave blotchy, red marks. A second later, he’s forcing you upright until your back meets his chest and he traps you there by looping his other arm beneath your tits. 

The new angle makes you whine pathetically as he buries his dick so deep you feel him in your throat. 

“Baby, holy shit.”

“Yeah?” Jungkook licks the sweat off your neck. “Whose pussy is this, baby?”

“Yours,” you moan weakly.

You would be more than willing to scream from the rooftops just how much your body belongs to him, but you can’t exactly speak very loud when you’re choking on the euphoria he’s providing you.

Coincidentally, your volume isn’t good enough for Jungkook.

“Louder,” he growls right into your ear.

“It’s yours, Jungkook!”

“That’s fucking right.”

His hand leaves your neck after gently constricting your airway to massage your clit instead, pushing two of his fingers into your mouth to lubricate them first. He circles and presses down hard on the nub to make you keen and throw your head back against his shoulder. He utterly devours your neck from behind, his spit coating your skin in a pretty sheen as he moves from one spot to the next. 

You feel his hand disappear from your pussy and whine disapprovingly, but then his middle fingers are sliding into your mouth again so you can suck your juices off his digits. Erotically licking around and between his fingers, you hollow your cheeks and suck so he can feel your tight throat again. 

He groans and bites on your earlobe.

“So good for me, Bambi,” he whispers darkly. “You’re fucking perfect, baby.” 

He removes his fingers from your mouth and they return to your cunt, rubbing your clit in fast circles to get you to where you need to be.

“I’m — fuck. I’m close, Koo.”

“Atta girl. Come on this fat cock,” he commands. 

Jungkook releases you and pushes you down by your shoulder blades, forcing your cheek into the cushions as you arch and match his cadence by thrusting your hips backwards. You scream into the fabric when he speeds up and abuses your hole at a demonic pace. 

The clapping is obscene and deafening, and you’re fairly certain you hear his pans rattling in the kitchen from where they hang down. 

Your climax builds to an impossible level before crashing over you like a tsunami wave of pure pleasure. There’s a combination of drool and tears left behind on the couch cushions. The room goes white when your vision blanks, your legs twitching along with your pussy as the orgasm tears through you and you helplessly sob Jungkook’s name.

The feeling of Jungkook’s seed filling your cunt makes you cry his name repeatedly like a prayer, the sensation of it dripping down your thighs heavenly enough to make your eyesight blur.

Jungkook pants irregularly for a while before pulling out and resting on your back, the two of you toppling down and lying flat against the couch as your bodies return to normalcy. 

“Goddamn, Bambi,” Jungkook huffs. 

“Me?” 

Jungkook just laughs breathlessly, kissing your cheek through the curtain of your hair. 

You remain as deadweight together on the couch until you finally feel whole enough to return to earth, and once you do, you walk hand-in-hand to Jungkook’s bedroom to catch a good night’s sleep.

A couple days later, after you can indeed walk properly again, you’re completing miscellaneous chores around the house while Jungkook finishes securing the furniture in the nursery.

It’s already been an outrageously long day, especially with the weight of your unborn child applying a disastrous amount of pressure on your lower back. Your little one’s recent growth spurt makes it nearly impossible to stand for longer than thirty minutes without reprieve. When Jungkook comes downstairs and notices you rubbing your lower back with one hand while white-knuckling the counter with the other, he rushes to you and replaces your hand with his own to massage your spine.

“Oh, thank you,” you sigh in relief. 

“I got you, babygirl,” he says with a kiss to your shoulder. A moment later he seemingly remembers something, an adorable noise of realization coming from beside you. “Wait, I saw something on the internet I wanted to try.”

“Jungkook, no.”

“No, wait, Bams, it’s supposed to help!”

You eye him dangerously over your shoulder, alerting him without a word that if this is a prank he’ll be in for a rude awakening. 

He ignores your warning glance and uses his hands to stand you upright. You feel his arms circling you to hold beneath your baby bump and you’re ready to ask what he’s doing when suddenly the weight of your womb and the pressure on your back disappears. 

Looking down, you see Jungkook holding your stomach up for you, relieving the ache and allowing you to breathe freely. 

“Oh, wow, that’s really nice,” you mumble as your head falls to his shoulder.

“Yeah?”

“Mmhmm.”

“I’ll do it as long as you like, Bams,” he tells you honestly. 

He does exactly that, holding the weight of your unborn child on your behalf for about ten minutes while you relish in the feeling of being weightless for a while. The act eventually joins his foot rubs and serenades as a part of your regular routine.

You’re lounging on the couch reading another parenting book while Jungkook plays a video game with your feet in his lap. It’s actually a test run for the game he’s been designing, and Jimin was absolutely right about him giving your character huge boobs. They’re tasteful, though, and you don’t mind because she’s a total badass. 

The game is currently distracting you from your book when you feel a strange sensation in your belly. You jump a little, looking down at your baby bump which is on display since you’re only wearing a bralette. The sensation happens again, and now that you’re watching intently, you see something move beneath your skin. 

Gasping in excitement, you begin hitting Jungkook with your book to grab his attention.

“Koo! Koo! The baby is kicking,” you shout even though he’s inches away from you.

His reaction is instantaneous, pausing the game and tossing the controller unceremoniously on the couch. Your hand traverses your belly so you can feel the next kick, and when you do, it makes you squeal and giggle in amazement. 

“Here, give me your hand,” you say and he stretches his arm towards you in response.

Placing his hand where you felt the movement, you wait and watch his face instead of your belly, wanting to see his reaction when he feels his baby move for the first time. The sensation comes, and you see Jungkook’s brow crease before his whole face lights up, his big brown eyes sparkling brighter than any star in the galaxy. 

“That’s… that’s our little one?” He asks in awe. You nod repeatedly and he smiles so big it takes up his entire face. “Hi, baby,” he coos in adoration, bending down to kiss all over your stomach. 

They kick again while he’s smooching you and he yelps in surprise at the feeling. 

You’re both blushing and giggling like schoolgirls with a crush, already so completely spellbound by your child. 

Jungkook carefully crawls over you to kiss you, but it’s all teeth and tongue because you can’t stop smiling even while trying to lock lips. You whimper in pain after a moment and Jungkook pulls back to check on you, his hand rising to caress your cheek.

“Seems our baby found my spine to kick instead,” you groan. 

Jungkook frowns and runs his thumb along your cheekbone.

“I guess wanting them to grow up to be a soccer player isn’t such a good thing after all,” he notes. Then, a thought occurs to him and his eyes light up again while he giggles to himself. “Hey, guess what?”

“Hmm?”

“Bambi.” He points to you. “And Thumper.” He points to your bump.

An endeared giggle completely overtakes your body, the back of your head hitting the arm of the couch while you rapidly kick your feet. 

“That’s so cute, Koo!” You hold his face in your hands. “Our family Halloween costumes are gonna be freaking adorable!” 

Jungkook’s expression turns saccharine as his eyes trace over your features in wonderment, and his gaze makes you realize it’s the first time you’re referring to yourselves as a family. The notion is obvious, but hearing the word aloud causes both your hearts to leap into your throat. You share in an adoring chuckle again, your foreheads meeting as you serenely close your eyes.

EIGHT

Jungkook blares “It’s the Final Countdown” from his Bluetooth speaker as he enthusiastically skips around the living room, both Bam and Usagi trailing after him in wonder. You’re too busy laughing from your place on the couch to join them. 

Today is exactly one month from your due date, and you’re prepared for this to be the single longest month of your life. The last eight have felt more like eight years, but you’re so close to the promised land, and you can hardly wait to bring your little one home. If you’re lucky, the baby may even come a little early and save you some heartache. 

And the heartache is literal, since one of the latest symptoms to add itself to the disastrous mix is intense heartburn. Couple that with the incessant kicking your child’s been getting up to lately, and your entire torso feels like it’s under siege. 

Jungkook does everything he can to help, such as constantly passing you Tums and playfully scolding your baby to stop kicking so much. He even went so far as to lace up his boxing gloves and have a sparring match with your baby bump. The extreme laughter born from his antics ended up hurting your stomach more than the kicking. 

The chemistry between you has been steadily increasing for some time, the line between friends and lovers practically blurring into obscurity, but you both welcome the feeling with open arms. 

You don’t find it necessary to broach the topic. You and Jungkook have never needed words to communicate, always knowing precisely what the other is thinking with a single glance, and it’s no different in this scenario.

Every time your eyes meet you know he feels the same; you’re no longer just best friends, and that’s alright.

About a week later you’re in the nursery together working on some finishing touches to the decor. Jungkook is hanging the mobile above the crib while you place the astronomical amount of clothes you received from your surprise baby shower in the closet. The nursery is positively jam packed from all the gifts people gave you last month, every corner of the room bursting with clothes, books, toys, and accessories. Even though the ample amount of supplies is overwhelming, knowing your little one is already so loved makes you abundantly happy. 

Chaewon even crocheted the perfect gender neutral blanket, despite her original complaints about the gender being unknown. 

Since the gender is a surprise, you and Jungkook haven’t discussed baby names all that much. Some general ideas have been thrown around, including family names and a sarcastic suggestion of “JJ” for Jungkook Jr. But you both share in the, perhaps naive, belief that as soon as you see them you’ll somehow know exactly what their name should be. 

Jungkook’s work phone rings, and you briefly glance over your shoulder to see him exiting the room as he answers the call. Usagi happily trots inside with the door wide open and curls up in the little reading nook. You give her some well deserved head pats while she purrs in content before continuing with your assigned task. Once all the clothes are either hung up or housed in the proper drawers, you leave the room to check on Jungkook.

When you find him after descending the stairs, he’s standing at the kitchen island drinking a glass of water which he slams down once it’s empty. Your eyebrows quirk up at the harsh motion, wondering what the call could’ve been about to elicit such a reaction.

“Koo, is everything alright?”

Jungkook shakes his head and rests his elbows on the counter so he can cradle his head in his hands.

“They need me to go to Japan for a meeting with some execs,” he tells you. 

“For how long?”

“Three days minimum, but it could be up to a week.”

“A week? Jungkook, I’m more than eight months pregnant.”

“Yeah, I know, Bambi, I told them that!” He explains in exasperation. “Fuck, this sucks so bad.”

You take a deep breath so at least one of you remains calm. Once you’re beside him, you attempt to massage the tension away from his back and shoulders.

“It’ll be okay. Japan is only a short airplane ride away. Worst comes to worst, you fly back if I go into labor,” you state.

“It’s not just if you go into labor, Bams. This is our last month before the baby is born. We’ve still got a ton to do!”

“The nursery is almost done, and either of our parents or friends can come over to help me clean and baby proof the house.” You tug on his shoulder so he turns around before cupping his face in your hands. “It’ll be fine, baby, I promise.”

Jungkook sighs before nuzzling his head against your hand, pursing his lips to press a couple chaste kisses to your palm. Afterwards he removes your hands from his face altogether to hold them between his own.

“I just don’t want to be away from you, baby,” he admits. “Not now and especially not for that long.”

Your cheeks grow warm in response to his words and you attempt to pacify his melancholy by giving him a tender kiss on the lips.

“I don’t want to be away from you, either, but I’m sure it will go by in the blink of an eye,” you reassure him. 

He aggressively pouts, practically giving himself duck lips, despite knowing it’s the truth. He brings you to his chest for a hug and you snuggle deeper into the embrace, allowing his familiar, comforting scent to encompass you.

You still have the weekend together before Jungkook flies out early Monday morning. You spend the majority of the time cuddling on the couch watching your favorite movies and playing with your fur babies as Bam chases a bone and Usagi hunts for the laser pointer. It’s heartwarmingly domestic and you hope it’ll always be this way, especially once your baby arrives.

Whenever you’re lounging around, Jungkook always lies as close as possible to your belly and it warms your heart to watch his fingers trace little hearts and smiley faces across your skin. 

Even after eight months he still upholds the tradition of coming downstairs first thing in the morning and caressing your baby bump while whispering “hi, my little papaya.” The only difference now is the adorable behavior is immediately followed by him pecking your lips and whispering “hi, my baby” to you.

You’re fully aware that when Monday rolls around you’re going to be a total basket case. The two of you haven’t been apart for more than a day since you got pregnant, and the thought of going a whole week without him when you’re this close to the finish line is borderline unbearable. 

Especially because your third trimester hormones have turned you into a raving lunatic as of late. Crocodile tears form in your eyes over nearly everything and your temper flips on a dime, which you always profusely apologize to Jungkook for whenever he’s on the receiving end. Two weeks ago, you found a dead spider on the ground and started weeping hysterically, so it’s safe to say the time away from Jungkook is going to leave you a complete mess. 

When you do say goodbye, you make a valiant effort at staying strong, but then Jungkook kisses you reverently, both his hands cupping your cheeks as he pours every once of his devotion into your mouth and you shatter into a million pieces. Your tears get trapped between your faces as your lips mold together, but Jungkook diligently wipes them away when he parts from you. 

His forehead presses to yours when he whispers that he loves you and he’ll be back soon before departing with a final grace of his lips to your brow. 

You wail Disney Princess style on his bed as soon as the door clicks shut behind you. It’s downright pathetic, but you don’t care because Usagi is the sole witness to your display. The sheets smell like him and it only serves to make matters worse. It’s only been five minutes and you feel like you miss him down to your very bones already.

Even though he’s far away, you still sleep in his bed rather than your own. You haven’t slept in the guest bedroom originally meant for you in well over two months, and it feels wrong to stay there just because he’s gone. 

Jungkook remains in constant contact with you, which helps ease the heartache of being apart. He messages you at every milestone, from the moment he arrives at the airport, to when his plane lands, and then again when he reaches the hotel. He sends photos and selfies, too, which fills you with exuberant warmth while simultaneously bringing on more tears.

You wallow in self-pity the whole first day, eating an entire tub of ice cream while you watch cheesy romantic comedies. Various friends and family come over the following day to help around the house, which you genuinely appreciate more than words can describe because there is still so much to do. On the third morning without Jungkook, your moms visit and the three of you chat over sparkling grape juice about anything and everything to expect.

They explain all the intimate details of the birthing process they can remember, such as what contractions and labor feel like, and how the brief hospital stay will go prior to bringing the baby home. Your mom goes into grave detail about how awful you’ll feel afterwards and Jungkook’s mom adds more pack to the punch by mentioning how difficult caring for a newborn is while healing from the delivery. 

They assure you everything will be fine, though, and that they’ll be here everyday if you need them. The three of you also agree you truly have nothing to worry about when you have someone as wonderful as Jungkook to care for you.

“Why did you guys want to be pregnant at the same time so badly anyway?” You ask them out of pure curiosity. 

“Well, truth be told, and don’t tell Kookie this, but we were actually hoping you would both be girls so we could have this adorable, little, four way mother-daughter relationship,” Jungkook’s mom tells you. 

You chuckle at her admission and your mind begins to wonder just how different your life would be if that had been the case.

“Honestly, though, this outcome is so much better!” Your mom exclaims. “Now we get to be grandparents together.”

“I’m sure that wasn’t part of the plan,” you state.

“Not at first, no,” Jungkook’s mom says. “But I think we knew as you guys got older, especially after college, that it was only a matter of time.”

“You know, you guys aren’t the only people to say that and I genuinely don’t get it,” you say. “I’m head over heels for him now, no doubt about it, but before, I truly didn’t see him that way. I mean, we grew up together, we were closer than most brothers and sisters are for the majority of our lives.”

“I don’t think it’s about how you felt at the time,” your mom explains. “I think it’s the way you interact, how much you care about one another. There’s no one else who could ever give you the love you deserve more than each other.”

As you process her comment, the cogwheels in your mind synthesize and you finally understand what everyone’s been telling you all this time. What Nayeon said about your feelings for him being more than those of a relationship and Chaewon telling you not to overthink things. No one’s presented the notion to you this way before, and something about your mother’s words causes everything to click into place. 

You’re together now because it’s as easy as breathing, and whether you initially had romantic feelings for each other or not, no one can compare.

On day four you’re alone again and you go genuinely stir crazy. Poor Bam has to take the brunt of your brief mental insanity as you cry into his fur and lay across him in a desperate attempt to gain some sort of warmth and comfort. 

Although, you don’t need his services for long, because Jungkook calls like he has every night, but this time he has good news.

“Guess who’s coming home early tomorrow?”

“Really?” You shout into the receiver, your hands still covered in chip dust from eating your feelings. 

“Yup, first flight out of here tomorrow morning,” he tells you.

“Ah! Koo, I’m so excited!”

“Me, too, baby,” he says. “I miss you like crazy, been thinking about you 24/7.”

“Me, too,” you respond. “I think our little one misses you, too. They’ve been restless ever since you left.”

“Have you been playing the mixtape for them?”

“Yes, but it isn’t the same, and I honestly think they’ve gotten picky about it. Live vocals are just so much better, you know?”

Jungkook chuckles and even through the phone you can tell he’s smiling. 

“I’ll make sure to serenade them immediately upon my return,” he states.

“Nuh uh!” You pout even though he can’t see you. “I take priority here, mister.”

“Oh, you’re right. I’m sorry, Bams,” he laughs. “You’ll always be my number one.”

The two of you continue to talk about your respective days for a while. Jungkook explains all the cool gaming stuff he’s gotten to see while at the headquarters in Japan and you parry with your accomplishment of watching all five Twilight movies in a single day. You reluctantly hang up after a couple hours with a quick “I’ll see you tomorrow!”

Tomorrow ends up being a complete disaster. 

There’s extreme thunderstorms throughout the entire region, so as soon as you wake up, you see a text from Jungkook informing you his flight’s been delayed by about two hours. It’s no biggie at first, knowing these things happen and it shouldn’t keep him from you for that much longer. But one delay turns to two, which becomes three, and after eight delays, his flight is finally moved to an entirely different airline and won’t be arriving until the following day at approximately three in the morning. 

He tells you not to wait up for him and get your sleep, but there’s no way in hell you’re waiting even another second to see him. 

Even once he lands, it’s still down pouring and the taxi takes another thirty minutes to reach him. He gives you periodic updates, including some heartbreaking selfies of him pouting by the luggage carousel, but despite being able see his handsome face through the phone, it’s all so frustrating you could rip your hair right out of your head. 

By the time his location icon starts moving towards the house, you’ve been pacing the floor like a mad woman for close to an hour. 

Your incessant pacing screeches to a halt when you hear the sound of his footsteps bounding up the stairs and the key turning in the lock. You scurry across the floor as fast as your swollen, pregnant feet will carry you, waiting just behind the door for the reveal of your favorite sight in the world. Although, when the door swings open, you don’t get the chance to admire him before your face is squished against his. 

The very moment Jungkook sees you, he takes your face in his hands and smashes his lips on yours as though he’ll die if he doesn’t. His hungry mouth silences your noise of surprise, coaxing your mouth open and allowing his tongue to invade the space as he kisses you until you can’t see straight. Muscle memory makes it all too easy for him to guide you away from the door and into the wall. You moan when your back meets the hard surface and Jungkook groans in satisfaction at the sound, using his hips to trap you between him and the drywall. 

The warm hands on your skin, taut body flush to yours, and delicious mouth utterly devouring you completely shuts down your senses until all you can see, hear, smell, taste, and feel are him. 

Hands reaching up to grab the collar of his shirt, you tug him impossibly close, even though your bodies are already touching in every place possible. He’s kissing you like he never has before and somehow you still want more. Your hands release the fabric to traverse the planes of his chest and hold his shoulders, eventually moving upwards to caress his neck and jaw. 

He’s completely soaked from the rain, his hair dripping cold water droplets onto your skin and his soiled clothes transferring the liquid onto your own, but there isn’t a single piece of you that minds. He can drench you in acid for all you care, as long as he stays this close and keeps kissing you like this. 

Jungkook pulls a centimeter away, his lips still brushing yours as he breathes erratically as though he ran all the way from the airport. 

“I’m so in love with you,” he pants. “I’m fucking crazy about you, Bambi.” He shakes his head in disbelief of his confidence to finally confess. “I was going to wait to tell you until after the baby’s born, but being away from you was fucking torture and I couldn’t hold it in any longer.”

“Hold it in? How long have you felt this way?” 

Your eyes stare into his with wonder.

“Since we thought we were gonna lose the baby,” he tells you. “I was driving you to the doctor’s office and it felt like the whole world was crashing down around me, but then I realized that’s okay. That if that happened, it wouldn’t matter. The zombie apocalypse could destroy all of humanity, the tectonic plates could shift and send entire continents into the sea, and it wouldn’t matter as long as I have you.” He inhales while gently shaking his head and spraying you with rainwater. “And that’s not new, I’ve always felt that way about you. I’ve always known I want you by my side for the rest of my life, but it made me realize I don’t want anyone else by my side. I only want you, baby.”

“Jungkook, you kept that from me for two months?” You ask incredulously.

“We have a lot going on at the moment, Bams,” he explains.

“Sure, but the stuff we have going on is stressful. Your feelings for me aren’t stressful.”

Jungkook’s eyes burn with intensity as he analyzes the meaning of your words. 

“Why not?”

“What?”

“Why aren’t they stressful, Bambi?”

“Because.” You shrug like what you’re about to say is the most obvious truth of the universe. “Well, because I’m in love with y — mmpf.”

Jungkook ceases the remainder of your confession with a divine kiss. Your mouths move in perfect harmony and you swear you see the sun peaking through the rain clouds outside. It doesn’t seem possible, but you can feel every ounce of Jungkook’s love for you on his tongue as it traces your lips and tangles with your own.

“Say it again,” he requests. “Please.”

“I’m in love with you.”

“Again, don’t stop.”

“I love you.” Kiss. “I’m so, stupidly, madly.” Kiss. “Crazy in love with you, Jungkook.” Kiss. “I love you so much.” Kiss. “I love you more than anything.” Kiss. “More than I’ll ever be able to describe.” Kiss. “Jungkook.” Kiss. “You’re my everything.” Kiss. “I love you, Koo.”

You aren’t able to chant your emotions anymore because Jungkook doesn’t give you time to breathe, let alone speak. 

His hands are still firmly cradling your face, both your lips refusing to part from one another for a single second. He tastes like honey and vanilla, most likely from the sweets you know he had on the plane. It’s addicting and hypnotizes you completely until all you can think about is him and all you can do is kiss him with all your might. 

Jungkook’s hands travel to the back of your head and tangle in your hair. He uses the leverage to tilt your head so he can kiss across your jaw and neck, biting down softly before sucking over the same spot and making you whimper helplessly for him. 

The attention on your neck only lasts momentarily before he’s releasing you to grab your ass instead, but you stop him by gripping his biceps.

“Baby, you can’t lift me right now, I’m too heavy,” you warn him.

Jungkook looks so offended he takes two full steps away from you, one of his eyebrows rising in disbelief as his jaw ticks. He even goes so far as to scoff while cracking his neck. Then, for the sole purpose of proving you wrong, he effortlessly lifts you into his arms and you have to scramble to latch onto him with your arms around his neck and legs around his waist.

“You wanna try that again, Bams?”

“No,” you grumble under your breath.

The sound of his proud chuckle meets your ears as he seamlessly carries up the stairs and into his bedroom. He tosses you unceremoniously onto the bed, your body bouncing when you land as you giggle in excitement. 

You wait for him to join you, reaching towards him with a pout when he isn’t instantly on top of you, but he only rests one knee on the edge of the mattress.

“Wait, since when have you known?”

“Honestly?” Jungkook nods rapidly. “I have no fucking clue. It’s just like my nickname. I have no idea when or where it happened. I just know all of the sudden you were the first thing on my mind when I woke up, and I got butterflies when we were together, and I wanted to hold your hand, cuddle you, and go on dates. It’s like I just woke up one day and realized I fell in love with you but have no way of tracing it to an exact origin.”

Jungkook smiles and shakes his head knowingly.

“That’s so you.”

“I know, I’m a freaking space cadet!”

“My space cadet,” Jungkook says, finally moving to hover above you. “Also, I know how you got your nickname.”

“Huh?” You frown deeply. “What do you mean?”

“I’ve always known, but I thought it was cute that none of you could remember,” he explains. “It felt like it was my own little secret.”

“Koo!”

Jungkook laughs while scrunching his nose in adoration, his arms shaking where they rest on either side of your head.

“Alright, alright, I’ll tell you. We were watching the movie in my living room and you just wouldn’t stop crying after Bambi’s mom died, like full blown hysterical tears. So, to cheer you up I said ‘it’s okay, Bambi,’ and you smiled SO big and your eyes lit up like fireworks. I knew then it had to be your nickname.”

Your lip catches between your teeth as you will the sentimental tears not to fall. The notion of Jungkook knowing this whole time is both infuriating and also so heartwarming; that his nickname for you is so precious to him he didn’t dare share the secret of its beginning. 

“That’s so you,” you reply to his story.

He radiantly beams at you, his cheeks and ears turning bright pink from the blush spreading across them. You share in your affectionate laughter as he drops to his elbows so he can kiss you. 

“I love you so much, Bambi,” he whispers. “You’re everything to me, baby.”

The tears you successfully held back before make their debut, wetting both his and your cheeks as they roll away from your eyes. 

Even though you’ve known for a while now this confession was imminent, it’s still just as mesmerizing to hear the words from his lips and be able to say them in return.

The kiss begins with fluid, languid motions, your mouths dancing together for the millionth time, but then Jungkook raises the temperature of the room, greedily licking into your mouth and tugging on your lower lip with his teeth before letting it snap into place. The air fills with moans and whines as you make out, but you stop him with a hand to his chest when you feel him grinding against you.

“Wait, Koo, sex can induce labor,” you tell him.

“Okay,” he draws out the word. “So, we get it on and meet our little one a bit early, isn’t that a win-win situation?”

You chuckle and mentally berate yourself for believing his answer would be anything besides that. Rolling your eyes with an affectionate smile, you briefly peck his lips before smacking his ass.

“Deal, but I’m getting on top.”

Jungkook certainly isn’t going to object to you riding his dick. 

He holds you by the waist and rolls you both over, helping you settle in his lap and caressing your outline as his eyes memorize the vision of you above him. His fingers grip the bottom of your shirt to pull it over your head and then he does the same for his own. 

You don’t let him continue undressing, too mesmerized by his chiseled torso to allow the sight to be hindered. He’s been working out more these last few months as a way to unwind from the stress of preparing for fatherhood, and it’s definitely paid off. You’ve always known how blessed you are to have him, but moments like this remind you just how blessed you truly are.

His neck is your initial target while your hands run along his abs, sinking your nails into the hard lines and creating red marks across his pretty muscles. Jungkook whines at the feeling, his hand reactively grabbing the back of your head as you mark his neck with pretty, wet blotches. 

“Please don’t tease me, baby,” he says. “I need you so fucking bad.”

“You’re the one who left me alone for five days,” you reply in between kisses to his jugular. “I’ll take however long I want.”

Taking your time traversing his shoulder and collarbones, you trace over every muscle and bone with your lips, soaking his skin as your tongue drags across the area. His hand keeps a firm grip on your head, slightly guiding your movements, but still allowing you to savor his upper body despite his request. You bite into his pecs and circle his nipple with your tongue, making his hips bucks beneath you as he groans. 

You giggle like the brat you are at his neediness, already feeling his cock stiffening where your core rests against his crotch.

It honestly takes an exuberant amount of effort to stop painting his torso in kisses, reluctantly pulling away after licking across the entire expanse of his stomach down to his hips and placing a single smooch on all eight of his abdominal muscles. 

Jungkook forces your lips to meet his when you’re done, kissing you like he’s starving for you as he removes both your bottoms in quick succession.

He can feel just how wet you are as soon as your bare cunt meets his length, your essence already leaking all over him without him having to do any work. It brings a smile to his face as you kiss, the feeling of pride turning his chest red with blush because of his effect on you. 

“Missed you so fucking much, babygirl.”

The words have barely left Jungkook’s lips when he grabs your hips to position you over his cock. His fingers wrap around his shaft so you have a perfect target to sink onto, and the familiar feeling of him stretching you open as you sit on his thighs makes your head lull while you breathlessly moan.

“Oh fuck, baby,” you mewl. “I missed you so bad.”

Jungkook is pulling your face to his so he can kiss you before you even start bouncing on him, his other hand grabbing your ass and squeezing your flesh possessively. The kiss is quick, because soon after he’s turning your head and licking across the hot skin of your neck. His warm breath tickles your ear as he goes to speak. 

“This cock is all yours, Bams. So, be good and ride it for me, yeah?” 

You’d do anything he asks, and his words light up the competitive streak in you to give him the best fuck of his life. 

The temptress within you gets the better of you, and you decide to fully unsheath him from the walls of your pussy while grabbing his cock with your hand to keep him in place. He groans indignantly when your warmth leaves him, and you wait a few torturous moments before slowly letting him enter you again one inch at a time. 

Jungkook spanks you in retaliation, but you just chuckle and scratch at his pecs with your nails.  

Continuing the slow glide, you watch as Jungkook’s cock leaves your cunt covered in your juices until it disappears from view when your walls suck him in again. The erotic visual makes your body burn with wanton need. His thick cock repeatedly spearing you is truly a sight to behold and it feels even better than it looks. 

“Fuck, Bambi, don’t fucking do this to me.”

“Do what?” 

The faux innocent gaze your eyes possess makes Jungkook’s jaw clench. 

“I will demolish this fucking pussy. Don’t mess with me, baby,” he threatens. 

“I’d like to see you tr –” 

Jungkook cuts your air supply off completely with a single deadly thrust upwards, your sentence ending with a screech instead of the syllable it was supposed to. 

You aren’t able to replenish your oxygen because Jungkook’s hand is suddenly around your throat, pressing down on the sides to choke you without actually hurting you. His other hand bruisingly holds your hip so he can keep you exactly where he wants you. Your inner thighs meet his pelvis when he plants his feet against the mattress, giving him all the leverage he needs to fuck you dumb. 

“There we go, much better,” he grunts as he abuses your hole. 

“Koo, oh my God.” 

You’re grasping for purchase on his chest to keep yourself upright, eventually gripping his shoulders to prevent falling right over. The combination of his hand around your throat and his cock hitting just the right spot inside you has your mind going numb and your mouth dropping open. 

Jungkook’s completely focused on his singular goal of fucking you right, his brow creasing as his eyes sharpen with determination. He looks no less than ethereal below you, the sweat on his skin making him shimmer like the Greek god you’re positive he descends from. 

“Fuck, you’re so fucking handsome, Jungkook. It’s unreal.”

He blushes at your compliment even as his hips work endlessly to force his dick deep into your pussy. 

“That means a lot coming from someone as beautiful as you,” he says with honey coating his tone.

Unlike him, you’re unable to blush or even react, the speed and force of his strokes is plummeting your body into an ocean of euphoria and all you can do is drown. The sex is borderline demonic, and yet it feels like heaven coursing through your veins. 

It’s a genuine mystery of the universe how someone as kind and gentle as Jungkook can be such a goddamn animal in bed. 

If it wasn’t for your pregnant belly, you’re certain Jungkook’s cock would be making an appearance in your abdomen. His lower body is working overtime to send his thick length as far as possible into you and the sensation turns your mind to goo. You would love nothing more than to focus on the feeling of his muscles beneath your fingers, or the way his thighs smash into yours with every thrust, but you’re in a subspace of pleasure. 

“Fuck, Bams, you look so sexy,” he tells you, his voice dripping with desire. “Pussy filled with me, belly swollen with my child, your perfect tits full of milk. You’re fucking gorgeous, babygirl.”

As if to prove his point, he sits up to tug one of your nipples between his teeth. You gasp at the abrasion against your already sensitive skin, but the sound melts into a moan when he takes it into his mouth and sucks on the pebbled skin.

He plays with your nipple until it’s sore, flicking it with his tongue and then slowly circling it until you’re whining and gripping his hair like a lifeline. Wet kisses are placed all over your breast, slathering you in drool and red blotches where he chose to suck on your flesh. You think the debilitating treatment is over until he switches sides, making you cry with pleasure. 

There’s a pop when he releases your nub from his mouth to kiss along your sternum instead.

“You feel fucking amazing, baby. So big, make me feel so full,” you moan.

Jungkook hums proudly as his tongue leaves his mouth to the lick your collarbone.  

“I don’t know how I’ll survive six weeks without fucking this perfect, little cunt.”

His hand tightens around your throat again and you whimper, rolling your hips downward along with his movements to create friction on your clit.

“At least you’ll be able to jack off,” you retort.

“Mm, that can’t even hold a candle to you, baby,” he kisses across your shoulder, inch by inch until he reaches your neck. “I would know, it’s all I fucking did the last five days.” 

Jungkook’s hand leaves your throat with a final squeeze to join his other one at your hips, bringing you down against him with more ferocity as the sound of skin slapping together fills the room. 

“I’ve got you addicted, don’t I?”

“Fuck, you have no idea, Bambi.”

You continue fucking yourself on him to the best of your ability even with his brutal pace, feeling infinitely needier as your orgasm steadily approaches. 

Jungkook is reeking havoc on your neck, coating you in his saliva as he licks across your sweat soaked skin and kisses your most sensitive spots. He nibbles on your earlobe and it makes you keen and whimper unabashedly. 

Honestly, you don’t know how you’ll survive the six weeks either. The two of you have done nothing but fuck since a few weeks after you moved in, and the forced celibacy may very well send you spiraling into insanity. You’re addicted to him, too, and you already know you’ll be begging for his dick for the remainder of your days.

Craving more of you, Jungkook holds you firm against his chest and slams back into the mattress, readjusting his feet and the angle of his hips so he can terrorize your g-spot with the tip of his cock. 

“Oh, holy shit.”

You bite down on his shoulder as tears prick your eyes.

He growls amorously in his throat, his hips taking on a mind of their own as they work effortlessly to send you both crashing into an orgasm. 

Part of you feels bad for requesting to be on top only to allow him to take control, but the guilt washes away like sand when you feel your climax pressing against your insides like a tsunami just offshore. 

“Come on my cock, baby, wanna feel how tight you squeeze me,” Jungkook orders. 

You can’t answer him, the only noises escaping your body being nonsensical moans and cries of his name. But your body certainly responds, your pussy clenching around his cock like a vice before your legs lock and twitch when your release comes.

The pulsing of your cunt triggers Jungkook’s release, and your cries of pleasure harmonize as you come together. 

“Shit, Koo,” you curse as he continues sending his cock into you, creating an ache of oversensitivity between your legs. “Baby.” 

You stall his movements with a hand to his chest as your pussy convulses around him with the aftershocks of your orgasm. There’s a soreness in your thighs when you lift yourself from his lap and fall beside him on the bed. 

Jungkook’s softening cock is covered in white from both of your juices, and if you weren’t entirely spent and borderline delirious, you’d lick it clean for him. 

He caresses your face as your eyes close, moving your hair out the way so he can kiss your cheek, nose, temple, and forehead. You hum happily, pursing your lips as a wordless demand for him to kiss them as well.

“I love you, Jeon Jungkook,” you whisper into the air.

The sound of his bright laugh makes you smile.

“I love you more,” he responds before finally giving you a tender kiss.

“Oh, please don’t make me fight you right now. I’m in no shape to do so,” you state.

Jungkook giggles and pecks your lips a couple more times in rapid succession.

Once your heavy breathing slows and your bodies cool, you roll into Jungkook’s side and he naturally pulls you into his embrace. 

It’s nearing sunrise and if you’re this exhausted, you can’t even begin to comprehend how tired Jungkook must be.

He wishes you goodnight where his lips rest on your forehead and you return the gesture by smooching his chest a couple times. The two of you sleep peacefully for the first time in days, the feeling of home completely encompassing you as you’re whisked away to dreamland. 

NINE

Despite the many warnings about the possibility of sex inducing labor, you’re three days from your due date and Jungkook fucking you sensless multiple times a day has yet to make your baby arrive any sooner. 

The two of you are in the honeymoon phase straight out of finally confessing your love for each other, and you having a massive baby bump and a few extra pounds on you doesn’t stop you in the slightest from celebrating your new relationship status. Jungkook can’t keep his hands to himself even when you’re in the middle of important tasks readying the house for your little pumpkin 

Honestly, you think it’s partially to distract himself from the imminent arrival of your child. He never says it aloud because he doesn’t want to worry you, but you know him better than anyone and can tell he’s anxious. 

It’s one thing to spend nine months positively itching to hold your baby in your arms, but it’s another to actually parent said child. 

Even with his nerves, he’s been the picture perfect partner throughout these final weeks and you’re nothing short of absolutely certain he’ll be the most amazing father in the world. Even if he fails at things or messes up every now and then, the immense love he already holds for your baby is more than you could ever ask for from a partner.

Right now he’s screwing the final dresser into the wall of his bedroom so it’s baby-proof. He’s never been much of a handyman, but you suppose the fatherhood gene has fully fermented in his blood and now he can handle a drill like a pro. You’ll have to ask him about changing tires next, and his sneezes will probably get louder as soon as the baby is born.

You’re moseying around the kitchen as you clean up following dinner. Jungkook keeps telling you to stay still and relax, but you’re way too antsy to do that.  

Every minute feels like an hour while you wait for your little one to arrive. Not only because you’re so eager to meet them, but because you’re terrified of labor and delivery and want it over with as soon as possible. It’s a fear of the unknown, and you know you’ll feel better once you understand how bad the contractions will be. 

Being pregnant comes with many lovely perks, one of which includes peeing every time you cough or even flinch the wrong way. 

That’s why, when you feel a warm sensation down below, you don’t question it. Like always these past couple months, you merely roll your eyes and make a mental note to change your underwear when you’re done cleaning. 

It’s only once you step to your left and have to catch yourself on the counter to stop from slipping that you realize you’re standing in a pool of liquid. You certainly didn’t pee your pants, because although it’s been a couple decades since you last did, you remember the feeling quite well. When the realization of what actually occurred hits you, you’re screaming bloody murder for Jungkook upstairs.

“My water! Jungkook! My water just broke!” 

The sound of his two feet followed by four large paws running down the stairs is all you hear until he appears at the bottom of the stairwell looking like he’s seen a ghost.

His cheeks are bright red, his eyes bigger than you’ve ever seen them, and he’s huffing out air as though he just ran a marathon. 

“Are you serious?” 

“Yes, Koo, I’m standing in amniotic fluid as we speak!”

Jungkook shakes his head aggressively to get himself into action mode. 

“Alright, you get your shoes on, I’m gonna get the hospital bag. Wait, do you need to change first?”

“That would be nice, yeah,” you admit. 

He’s gone in a flash to head back upstairs and obtain your pre-packed bag with all the essentials and something for you to change into. 

When he returns only a split second later, Usagi is following close behind now that she’s aware something exciting is going on. He hands you a comfortable dress and panties to change into and you strip right there in the kitchen. His hand on your hip stalls you before you’re able to slip the clothes on, and you nearly start screaming at him that now is not the time, but then he grabs a towel and wipes away the fluid from your legs. 

You smile graciously and thank him for thinking ahead before sliding the dress over your head and scurrying to the door. 

Now that your water broke you can feel a mild cramping from the contractions. It’s a dull pinch in your back as well as what you can only compare to a period cramp. You must not be dilated very much yet because the pain is still fairly tolerable. 

Jungkook bends over to help you with your shoes before resting his hand on your lower back to guide you downstairs to the garage. Both your hands are caressing your swollen stomach, slightly bracing yourself because the cramping is coming in waves every few minutes. 

When you reach the car Jungkook opens the passenger door for you, but you turn on your heel and place your hands on his chest before sitting down. He looks at you inquisitively, his eyes conveying his hurriedness and confusion as to why you’re not rushing, too. 

“I just, we have time, and I want to take a minute before we go,” you tell him.

“For what, Bambi?”

You admire the pretty features you’ve known all your life with a smile and reach up to circle his neck with your arms. He laughs cheerfully and reflects your embrace by hugging your waist.

“This is the last time we’re gonna be here, just the two of us.” You nuzzle your face in his neck and let his scent calm you. “The last time it will just be you and me.”

“It’s always gonna be you and me, Bams,” he replies. “Always.”

He kisses your cheek, leaving his lips there for a lingering moment before you part. Once you do, he rests his hand on your jaw and kisses you gently. His lips are warm and familiar, and you kiss one another with a promise of wonderful new things on the horizon. 

Jungkook waits to ensure you’re comfortable in the passenger seat before running to the other side and taking off towards the nearby hospital. On the way, you call your doctor to let them know and she assures you she’ll meet you there once the labor and delivery nurses triage you. 

When you arrive, you take a poignant deep breath, knowing that when you exit this place you’ll be a mom, and this is the last time in the outside world where you’ll just be you. It’s exhilarating, nerve wracking, and overwhelming all at once, but you’ve been preparing for this next chapter for nine months now, and you’re more than ready.

You and Jungkook have your hands tightly wound together as you enter the massive hospital, but he relinquishes his grip to grab you a wheelchair once you’re inside. He watches you carefully as you sit down, holding his hands out on either side of you as though you’re made of glass. When you nod at him assuredly that you’re all good, he rushes to the counter to inform the receptionist while you text all your important group chats about what’s going on. 

Your parents and friends are planning on coming to see you and the baby after delivery, and you can’t wait to formally introduce them to your little one. 

Jungkook returns along with a labor and delivery nurse who introduces herself before wheeling you down the hallway. When you reach two large double doors, she stops and turns to you and Jungkook, whose hand is comfortingly rubbing your shoulder.

“Alright, this is where we’ll be parting for a bit. Mom, you’re coming with me, and Dad, you have to get scrubbed up so you can join us,” she explains.

This step in the process is something your doctor explained previously, but it doesn’t make saying goodbye any easier, no matter how momentary the separation will be.

Looking towards Jungkook, you notice he’s just as anxious to be away from you, but he hides it well and bends to your height so he can kiss you briefly. 

“I’ll see you soon, okay, Bambi?”

There are tears in your eyes even though you’re nodding your head.

“Yeah, soon,” you whimper.

“It’s okay, baby, it won’t be for long,” he tells you as he caresses your cheek. You lean your head into his hand and close your eyes. “I love you.”

“I love you,” you parrot and kiss him one final time. 

He waves continuously as you’re pushed through the double doors by your nurse, and even though you know he’s upset, too, he’s sporting the cheesiest grin on his face to make you laugh.

Jungkook heaves out a sigh directly from his gut once you’re gone, his head falling back as he struggles to steady his jackrabbiting heart. Being apart right now feels like unadulterated torture, but he knows it’s only for a short while before you’ll be together again.

A different nurse comes to lead him to a sterile room just around the corner. The older woman explains the basics of scrubs and staying clean as well as what to do if he gets contaminated. He listens as dutifully as possible with all the other millions of thoughts running through his head and eventually the nurse helps him dress in the lovely, crinkly blue outfit, which includes shoe covers and a hair net. 

He looks utterly ridiculous, but truthfully, finally dawning his father-to-be attire makes him giddy.

When he exits, the nurse leads him down a seemingly infinite hallway to a delivery room where your doctor is waiting just outside the door. She smiles joyously when he appears in her vision and enthusiastically waves him down. 

“Hi, Doc,” he excitedly greets her.

“Hi, how are you feeling?” She asks him.

“I’m… nervous as hell,” he says truthfully. “I can’t stand seeing her in pain, so I don’t think I’m going to handle this very well.”

“A lot of dads feel that way about their partner,” she explains. “Just remember, all you can do is be there for her and she’ll get through it. She’s a tough cookie.”

“She is,” he nods with a smile.

“So, I wanted to talk to you before we go in. Y/N’s lost quite a lot of blood, and we’ve had to set her up with a continuous blood transfusion to ensure she’ll have enough for delivery. Now, let me just say, this is totally normal. We deal with this all the time and we’ve got everything under control.”

Jungkook’s heart drops into his stomach with a weighted plop, his entire body following suit as his shoulders sink and he nearly loses his balance.

“What — what — what do you mean, why is she losing blood?”

“It’s just something that happens sometimes, the baby is moving through her body and it can cause internal bleeding which drops her blood count,” she explains calmly.

“But… but she’s gonna be okay, right? I mean, Doc, that’s my entire world in there. I’m… I’m not even a person without her, I —”

“Jungkook, listen to me,” she interrupts his manic ramblings. “I’ve been doing this longer than you’ve been alive. She’s going to be just fine. Her and the baby. You’re going to leave here with both of them tomorrow, alright?”

Jungkook attempts to calm his thoughts and take her words of expertise to heart, but he needs to see you for himself, hold you and feel your skin beneath his fingers so he knows without a shadow of a doubt that you’re alright.

“Okay. And you’ll… she takes priority, right? If something goes wrong —”

“Of course, she does.” She smiles reassuringly at him. “I won’t let anything happen to your Bambi, Jungkook.”

He nods his head as a sigh of relief leaves his lungs.

“Thank you, Doctor,” he says wholeheartedly.

“Of course. Let’s get you in there to see her, yeah? Fair warning, she’s a little loopy because of the blood loss, but it shouldn’t last too much longer now that she’s hooked up to a blood bag.”

She opens the door and gestures for Jungkook to enter before following closely behind.

When you see the light pouring in from the door opening, your eyes glisten with excitement as Jungkook appears in your field of vision. Even though you feel half alive, the sight of the man you love brings a huge toothy grin to your face. 

“Koo,” you call for him quietly, your hand weakly rising in his direction. He’s at your side instantly, taking your shaking hand and kissing the back of it before sitting in the chair beside your hospital bed. “You look so cute in your scrubs.”

“Yeah? Well, you look absolutely beautiful, baby,” he tells you as he delicately pushes your sweaty hair from your face. 

The contractions are coming in quick succession now and are significantly more powerful, but because of the blood loss you’ve only been given a mild pain reliever. It’s truthfully been horrible so far, especially when you nearly passed out from all the blood escaping your body. You don’t dare tell Jungkook about it, knowing precisely how he’ll react, but you already feel better with him next to you.

Pursing your lips in his general direction, you hear Jungkook chuckle as he leans in to kiss you deeply. Despite your current state, you still do your best to reciprocate the passion he pours into you, moving your lips in tandem while his free hand rises to cradle your jaw. Your foreheads meet once your lips reluctantly divide, but Jungkook uses his grip to lower your head so he can press his lips there a couple times instead.

“So, I take it you two aren’t just best friends anymore?” Your doctor is sitting between your legs with an eyebrow raised. You and Jungkook share a knowing chuckle before facing her and shaking your heads in unison. She smiles broadly in response. “Good, I’m glad.”

Just then, another contraction crashes over you and you groan while bending over in pain. Jungkook’s eyes go wide and misty in an instant, his hand clutching yours in support, which you return tenfold by brutally squishing his fingers together from the tightness of your grip. 

You feel his other hand combing through your hair as you attempt to push through the pain by counting your breaths. The pain coursing through your lower half is already borderline unbearable, and you pray they can give you the epidural soon.

“Breathe, baby,” Jungkook instructs, mimicking the Lamaze technique you learned all those months ago. 

The class was enjoyable enough, but the breathing exercises truly don’t do jack shit for the pain. Jungkook’s voice brings you more comfort than the repetitive intakes of air you were taught. As the pain begins to cease, you crash back into the bed with shaky breaths while Jungkook massages the shoulder closest to him. 

“Are you alright, Bams?” He asks, his eyes watching the monitor beside you so he can see your heart rate returning to baseline.

“Yeah, I am now,” you pant.

“Is there anything I can do?”

You caress his cheek with your free hand while putting on your bravest smile for him.

“No, my love, you just have to sit there and look pretty,” you instruct him. 

Jungkook blushes as he laughs.

You request he answer some of the hundreds of text messages currently blowing up your phone and causing it to nearly vibrate off the table. He does so without hesitation, sending mass text messages to your friends and family stating where to go when they arrive and updating them on how you're doing. There’s also a fair amount of selfies taken in between contractions, some for your loved ones and a couple of you two kissing for his own records. He wants to remember this forever, even if you both look questionable at best in your hospital attire. 

Everyone in your life knows about the relationship status upgrade, but he still wants to keep some moments sacred for just the two of you. 

When you told your moms, you genuinely thought they were going to pass out from sheer excitement. The two women cried hysterical happy tears and hugged one another for a minimum of five minutes before finally embracing the two of you in congratulations. 

The contractions continue for a couple hours, each wave of them getting closer and closer together until they’re almost neck and neck. After a particularly horrific one lasting about ten minutes, your doctor comes to speak to you.

“So, here’s the situation,” she starts. “You’re dilated to ten right now; the baby is ready to come out. The only problem is you still haven’t received enough blood for us to give you the epidural.” She sighs regretfully. “That gives us two options. You either do the birth naturally now or we give you a medicine that slows your labor down and we wait until we can give you the epidural. The biggest downside to that is the medicine can take upwards of ten hours to leave your system, so you’ll be feeling the contractions for that long.”

You were never planning on delivering naturally, and having to choose between the better of two evils is making your brain short circuit. All you want is to meet your baby, to hold, kiss, and love them, but there’s a barrier of brutality standing in your way. 

“Do you think I can do it naturally?” You ask her.

“Absolutely. I’ve seen thousands of women do it, but that doesn’t mean you have to. Everyone is different.”

Anxiously gnawing on your lip, you turn towards Jungkook, whose expression mirrors the fright on your own. His eyes are glossy with unsung emotion and it breaks your heart. You know how difficult it is for him to feel so powerless to help you, always proudly holding the title of your knight in shining armor all your life. 

“What do you think?”

“It’s not up to me, Bams,” he answers.

“I know, but I want your opinion.”

His jaw clenches and he shakes his head before speaking.

“I fucking hate seeing you in pain, Bambi. I can hardly stand it, you know that,” he responds. “But for either option it sounds like that’ll be the case. You either experience excruciating pain now or suffer for ten hours with severe pain.”

You mull over his words for a while before releasing the air in your lungs as your decision finalizes in your mind. 

“I wanna meet our baby, Koo,” you tell him. “I don’t want to wait.”

Jungkook smiles assuredly at you and brings your fingers to his lips to kiss.

“I know you can do this, Bambi. There’s nothing in this world I believe in more.”

“So, we’re gonna try naturally?” Your doctor asks to clarify and you answer her with a nervous nod of your head. “Great, we’ll start pushing in about ten minutes, alright? Remember that you’re going to push along with each contraction, so don’t push until I tell you.”

She walks across the room to discuss the plan with the other nurses assisting her with your delivery. Jungkook grabs your attention by brushing his knuckles down the side of your face and you paint an expression of false bravery on your face for him.

“Are you okay? You gonna be alright?”

“Yeah, Koo, I’m okay,” you assure him. “Just don’t be upset if I sink my nails into your skin and make you bleed.”

“You can do whatever you need to get through it,” he responds.

He brushes your hair away again, even more of your strands matted down after the hours of labor you’ve gone through already.

“This is it, huh? No turning back,” you say.

“Nope,” Jungkook giggles. “I can’t wait, Bams.”

“Me, either,” you reply happily.

Jungkook kisses you again, cherishing the feeling of your lips as he mentally maps the shape of your mouth and memorizes this moment. You allow the lip lock to be your final moment of rest before diving headfirst into the ordeal you fear the most. The next time your lips meet, it will be once you’ve become a family. 

“I know I’ve said it before, but you’re the best thing to ever happen to me. I love you so damn much,” Jungkook states.

“I thought you said that blowjob I gave you was the best thing to ever happen to you?”

Jungkook laughs indiscriminately, his eyes squeezing shut as his bunny teeth peak out.

“I was wrong,” he says. “It’s you, Bambi. It’s always been you.”

You smile at him in total adoration while tracing his features with your eyes, wanting to remember years from now exactly how he looked before he became a dad. 

“I love you, Jungkook, I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to properly explain just how much.”

Instead of verbally replying, there are kisses spread all over your face as you giggle until your doctor returns and asks if you’re ready. When you tell her you are, she reassures you of your strength before sitting on the stool between your legs while the other nurses stand in various positions around her.

Jungkook squeezes your hand with an unknown melody and you share an affirmative glance from your periphery. You’ve been through everything under the sun together, and this is just another hurdle you know you’ll get through side by side. There’s no doubt in your mind you can do this because he’s here beside you and no one provides you with more strength and support than him.

Three consecutive, merciless contractions crash over you and you nearly turn Jungkook’s hand purple with your grasp. Your doctor informs you in a calm voice that when the third wave of pain begins to ebb you’ll start pushing. One contraction bleeds into the next, and you hear a backwards count of three before she orders you to push hard.

The pain is abundantly worse than you ever imagined. It feels like the entire lower half of your body is on fire while your insides tear themselves to shreds. You scream as hot, salty tears blur your vision and your nails bite into Jungkook’s hand. He holds your elbow with his free hand in an attempt to give you more support to steady yourself with.

The word “push” is repeated over and over as the contraction moves through you. You do as you're told for a few minutes, although it feels like hours, and then she states you’re going to pause for a moment. 

“Okay, you can stop, dear,” she instructs. 

As soon as your efforts cease, you gasp in hefty relief and fall backwards into the bed, all the while panting and trying to calm the inner workings of your body after pushing your nervous system to the brink.

“Bambi? Are you doing alright?” Jungkook asks as he brushes his fingers through your hair.  

“Fuck you, Jungkook. You’re never coming in me again,” you huff through shaky breaths. 

He chuckles and kisses your crown a couple times, making you smile despite the exhaustion and ache. 

When your doctor asks if you’re ready to continue you reply with a weak nod of your head and return to your prior position. The same sequence of events repeats for a while, but you honestly have no idea for how long because one excruciating moment just blurs into the next. There’s a particularly awful set of pushes and afterwards your doctor happily informs you the baby’s crowning and it shouldn’t take much longer. 

You brace yourself for what you know will be the worst pain yet, readjusting your hold on Jungkook’s hand as he whispers words of encouragement in your ear and kisses your sweaty cheek. 

Truthfully, all you want is to pause and climb into his lap so he can soothe the pain away as he always does, but your baby needs you, and there’s nothing you want more in the world than to hold them in your arms.

A moment later your doctor tells you to push as hard as you’re able and the loudest scream yet rips from your throat. You genuinely believe for a moment that you're being ripped in half and won’t make it out alive. The thought scares you half to death, but you force it away so you can focus on giving your child life.

“Ah! Fuck!” You wail as tears freefall from your eyes.

“One more, honey, you’re almost there,” your doctor assures you.

“You can do it, Bams,” Jungkook shouts as his arm shakes from how firmly you’re clutching his hand. 

“Ahh no, no I can’t, I can’t do it,” you cry helplessly, the pain nearly blacking out your vision. 

“Yes, you can, baby. I know that you can,” Jungkook replies. 

You weep hysterically while trying to breathe through the pain, but it feels impossible to push air from your lungs when all you feel is the overwhelming sensation of your insides ripping apart.

“Push, honey!”

Your doctor's words shove reality before you, that you only have one choice and that’s to bring your baby into the world. So, with all the strength you have left after hours of physical pain and torment, you push with all your might.

There’s an ear piercing scream which accompanies your efforts, but then your voice is drowned out by the sound of a shrill cry. 

You gasp harshly and slam into the bed when the immense pressure disperses from your bottom half. You’re left panting haphazardly as your body slows its momentum and your mind catches up to the world around you. 

The feeling of Jungkook’s fingers lacing through yours grounds you to the moment, but it’s your doctor’s voice which pulls your consciousness to the surface.

“Congratulations, you two, you have a beautiful little girl.”

“A girl?” You and Jungkook shout in unison. 

“We’re gonna clean her up and get her right back to you, alright?”

The world is spinning too fast. Everything seems to be happening at once, but you do your best to calm your mind so you can focus on your daughter and the man you love sitting beside you.

“Bambi, you did it,” Jungkook cheers as he leans over and kisses your forehead. “We have a daughter.”

You regain control of your eyes and turn towards the sound of his voice. He honestly looks just as bad as you. There are tear stains all across his face from crying over you being in pain, and fresh droplets are forming in the corners of his eyes at the news about your little girl.  

Reaching across to bring his face closer, you kiss him as ardently as you can with your strength almost entirely depleted. You’re both smiling too hard to even kiss properly, your teeth clashing as your tears of joy blend together until you don’t know whose are whose. 

You pull away when your doctor returns with your daughter wrapped in a blanket with a little pink hat on her head. She’s so tiny that you gasp in awe, your hands covering your mouth as you wait in eager anticipation for her to be placed in your arms. 

Your doctor smiles brightly at you as she hands you the little bundle of joy in her arms. 

There are truly no words to describe the feeling of holding her for the first time. It’s unbelievably surreal to think she’s the same little pumpkin growing in your womb all this time. She’s breathtakingly beautiful, with tufts of black hair just like her father’s sticking out from the edges of her hat. She has his button nose, too, but her lips and face shape seem to favor you. Her eyes are delicately shut while she sleeps peacefully in her carefully made cocoon.

“Hi, baby,” you whisper. “It feels weird holding you in my arms rather than my belly, huh?” She obviously doesn’t respond to your adoration, but you’ll speak nonsense to her all day anyway. “Oh, I love you so much already.”

Jungkook places a hand on your shoulder as he leans over to see his daughter up close. The two of you have identical watery grins as your happy tears continue to fall. 

“She’s so beautiful,” he whispers. 

“Yes, she is.” You gently caress her head and tap her little nose. “We made her, Koo.”

“For funsies.”

Laughing to the point your chest shakes, you nudge him in retaliation for possibly disturbing your little girl's slumber. He joins in your laughter and kisses the exposed skin of your shoulder where your hospital gown fell down. Your heart feels as though it’s swelling to ten times its normal size as you lean down to press the gentlest of kisses to her forehead. 

“You wanna hold her?” You ask him.

His eyes are wide with wonder as he nods his head slowly and reaches for her with adorable grabby hands. You pass her over as deftly as possible and admire the scene before you as Jungkook meets his daughter for the first time.

The sound he makes is a mixture between a gasp and a cry when he first comes face to face with her before he starts giggling endlessly, his nose scrunching up in pure bliss as more tears fall from his eyes. 

“Hi, my little one,” he coos. “I’ve been waiting so long to meet you.” You sniffle to hold back your own sentimental tears as you watch the two people you love most in the world interact. “Daddy loves you so much, little girl.” He chuckles to himself. “But we’re gonna have to talk, because you hurt Mommy and that just cannot go unpunished.”

You allow a hearty laugh to leave you now that you aren’t holding your daughter. 

“I can’t thank you enough, Bams. I’ll never be able to thank you enough, even if I spend every second of the rest of my life doing so. You made me a dad to the most beautiful little girl in the world.”

“You don’t have to thank me, Koo, because you made me a mom. You’ve loved and cared for me my entire life, and if the only way I can repay you is with her, then all this was worth it.” 

You kiss him softly, being careful not to jostle your daughter resting in his arms.

After a while of simply admiring your baby as she sleeps, your doctor informs you it’s almost time to go through afterbirth, although it should be easier since your water broke earlier. Once that’s done, they clamp the umbilical cord and allow Jungkook to cut it, which he does while smiling from ear to ear. 

It’s about an hour later when they tell Jungkook he can grab two loved ones at a time to come see you. You mutually agreed ahead of time that your mothers will be first, so he kisses you on the lips and your daughter on her forehead before heading to the waiting room to spread the magnificent news. 

Jungkook shakes his head in disbelief as he travels down the long hallway away from the delivery room, still so utterly shocked that he’s a dad and he has such a beautiful daughter. 

He also can’t believe how amazing you did. He’s positively in awe of you and what you went through to deliver your baby. It honestly pains him to leave you both even if only for a few fleeting moments. He could spend forever just staring at you and your sweet little girl. 

When the double doors open, a massive crowd of your friends and family are behind them waiting eagerly for his arrival. They all stand at once when they see Jungkook enter, and every single person shares the same anticipatory expression. 

“It’s a girl!” He announces with his arms held high above his head. 

The entire room erupts with cheers and the horde of loved ones descends on him in an excited frenzy. He feels multiple friends messing with his hair affectionately, his mom kissing his cheek, and your friends hugging his waist. It makes his heart jump for joy at the realization of how loved you, him, and your baby are already.

“How’s Y/N?” Chaewon asks once everyone gives him some room to breathe.

“She’s fucking perfect. I mean, she was just so amazing. I can’t even comprehend it,” he explains. “She couldn’t get the epidural because she lost too much blood, but she pushed through and she’s doing great.”

“She gave birth naturally?” Nayeon asks in shock.

Jungkook nods and Nayeon clutches her heart in response. 

“When can we see her and the baby?” Yoongi asks him.

“So, we can take you back two at a time. We’re gonna start with our parents, moms first, and then you guys can play rock paper scissors to figure out the order of friends,” Jungkook states.

The large group of friends immediately start turning to one another to start the tournament while Jungkook gestures with his head for his and your mom to follow him back. 

His mom clings to his arm as they walk and Jungkook throws his other one around your mom’s shoulders, placing a loving kiss on each of their heads. Both women are still crying from the happy news, but he can tell they're practically vibrating with giddiness to see you and the baby.

Jungkook opens the door for them to enter before following closely behind. Before his feet even enter the space he hears the excited gasps from the women as their eyes land on you and their grandchild.

Your mom is at your side like lightning, bending down to kiss your forehead and ask how you’re doing. You assure her you’re doing alright while offering your sleeping daughter to her. She nods like a bobble head and gently lifts the swaddled child from your arms where she was laying. 

Jungkook’s mom gives you a quick kiss on the cheek and then leans over your mom’s shoulder to meet her first grandchild. You watch endearingly as their expressions glow with warmth and affection for her while Jungkook joins you by your bedside again. When your eyes meet, you notice he’s staring at you as though you created the entire universe from scratch. The blush on your face is involuntary, and you kiss him for the umpteenth time today to hide the pink hue.

“I love you so much, baby,” Jungkook whispers in between smooches.

You plant one last peck on him.

“I love you more.”

Jungkook clicks his tongue disapprovingly.

“Are we about to have our first fight as parents?”

Eventually, after your fathers meet their granddaughter, your friends begin arriving in pairs to visit you and their niece, ending with Namjoon and Jimin, which is no surprise given their terrible history with lady luck. By the time the initial pass through of all your guests comes to a close, you’re beyond exhausted, so Jungkook takes your daughter while you rest. Your doctor bids you farewell shortly beforehand and tells you the nurses will assist with nursing for the first time once you wake up. 

Upon your return to the land of the living, the three of you are admitted to an actual hospital room rather than the delivery room, which allows for more people to come see you at one time. Although, you and Jungkook decide it’s best to hold off on visitors until after you breastfeed your daughter. 

The nurses are wonderful with helping you accomplish the daunting task, and it’s honestly easier than you expected. Your little girl latches onto you with ease and although it feels funny at first, the longer she drinks from you the more soothing it becomes. Relaxing against the pillows, you shut your eyes and appreciate the newness of motherhood while feeding your daughter. Jungkook interrupts your peaceful haven with a wistful sigh as his head falls into one of his palms. 

“I’m so jealous,” he states with his eyes locked on your chest.

The slap upside the head you give him is purely on instinct.

Your loved ones all visit again over the next twenty four hours prior to your discharge from the hospital. Before departing, the nurses ask you about a name since the process is simpler to complete while you’re still here. You and Jungkook wear matching smirks while eyeing one another. Contrary to popular belief, the two of you really did know which name to choose the moment you saw her.

You, Jungkook, and Naru return home as a family for the first time, along with your parents, later that day. Bam and Usagi are downright ecstatic to see you and Jungkook’s dad has to hold Bam back from jumping on you or Jungkook, who’s holding Naru in her baby carrier. 

It’s a flurry of movement as your moms support your back during your trek upstairs to sleep the pain away while Jungkook places Naru in her crib. Your dads immediately begin cleaning to take some chores off your plate, the two of them working in tandem to wash away the sticky bodily fluid still on the kitchen floor. Once you’re out cold and Jungkook is admiring his daughter with his head resting on the edge of her crib, your parents complete some other miscellaneous tasks around the house and feed the pets before heading home. 

After they leave, Jungkook sits in the nursery rocking chair and watches with stars in his eyes as his little girl sleeps soundly in her stolen cradle. 

It’s not totally certain why you chose Naru as her name. A couple months ago, Jungkook was rattling names off a list along with their meanings, and for some unknown reason it just stuck out. You and Jungkook both loved it amongst some other girl and boy names, and shortly after she was born, you unanimously agreed to go with that one. There’s an added cuteness bonus because Naru is the name of Usagi’s best friend in Sailor Moon, and in your little familiar they’re sisters. 

The name means to become, grow, reach, or attain, and you think the meaning suits her and the two of you so perfectly. 

When you wake after some solid sleep, it’s with a sore groan as you literally roll off the mattress to check on your family. It’s still so surreal referring to yourselves that way, but a completely lovesick smile graces your lips every time you do. 

You stop in your tracks before anyone can see you once you reach the first floor, wanting to leave the beautiful scene you’re witnessing undisturbed for a while longer.

Jungkook is horizontal across the couch with his shirt open as Naru sleeps on his bare chest. He’s been absolutely dying to try skin on skin time with her after reading how beneficial it can be, and although it may be good for Naru, the sight is terrible for you because it nearly sends you into hysterics over how precious it is. Not only that, but Usagi is curled up between his legs and Bam is watching curiously from the chair next to them. If you could pause time to admire this moment for longer than the world allows, you’d do so in a heartbeat.

A few quiet minutes pass as you watch Jungkook’s gaze flit across all the tiny features of his daughter’s face with the sweetest smile on his lips. He looks utterly in love, his eyes nearly forming into hearts as he stares at her. It makes you wonder if this is what everyone means when they mention how he looks at you. 

When you finally make yourself known and pad over to the couch in your slippers, Jungkook’s face somehow lights up even more, his smile growing exponentially as you sit beside his legs.

“Hi, beautiful,” he says softly. “How are you doing?”

“I’m doing alright, just sore,” you tell him. 

“Anything I can do?”

“No.” You shake your head with an enchanted smile as you brush some of his hair back and caress his cheekbone. “You’re doing everything already.”

He smiles gratefully and twists his head to kiss your wrist. The three of you remain there for a while, you and Jungkook only speaking every so often as your daughter naps peacefully and he brushes her tiny strands of hair away from her face. 

BACK TO ZERO

The low, dulcet sound of Jungkook singing in his lower register forces your eyes open. Blinking a couple times to bring your mind to reality, you turn your head to see Jungkook beside you in bed, softly singing to Naru as her cries subside and she falls into a deep slumber. 

You reach for them, running your hand along Jungkook’s bicep so he knows you’re awake. He looks at you with a saccharine smile and whispers good morning as to not disturb the child sleeping in his arms. Bending down, you place a gentle kiss on her forehead before sitting up to kiss Jungkook where he’s resting against the headboard. 

“You should’ve woken me up, Koo,” you whisper.

“It’s okay, Bambi. I got it,” he replies with an affirmative smile. 

Jungkook’s been doing more than his fair share of waking up during all hours of the night to care for your daughter, even though you originally agreed to take turns. He claims it’s because you’re still recovering from pushing her out of your body while he sat and watched, and it only makes sense for you to rest while he does the heavy lifting. You appreciate him more than words can express, but guilt still eats away at you every time you see dark bags under his eyes from the fatigue.

Sometimes he doesn’t have a choice but to wake you, because as much as your daughter is undeniably smitten by him, sometimes a girl just needs her mother. 

If waking you is necessary, Jungkook will do so in the softest way possible, usually by pressing featherlight kisses all over your face and quietly telling you Naru needs you. Even when it’s your expertise required, he’ll follow you into the nursery while you either feed her or give her some much needed mommy and me time. Once her cries subside and she falls asleep, Jungkook will take you by the hand and tuck you into bed with a promise of a few more hours of rest. 

When she isn’t being finicky, she’ll fall asleep in seconds to the feeling of Jungkook rocking her or singing her lullabies. You genuinely believe she recognizes his voice from when he sang to her in your womb because her eyes always light up in wonder whenever he starts a new tune. 

She’s only been in your lives for a month, but somehow you love her more than anything else in the world. It’s strange for something to have a complete occupation of your heart without knowing them very long, but Naru makes it easy. Even though she can be quite the terror when she’s incessantly crying and screaming, and her diapers smell like sewage, she’s the absolute sweetest baby. When she’s being held, she always curls into the person’s chest and lays her little hand on them, or she’ll tightly grip their fingers between her tiny ones. She smiles constantly, no matter if you’re simply admiring her or playing peek-a-boo.

Naru definitely looks more like Jungkook, which is exactly what you were hoping for, although she does share some features with you. 

The first time she blinked her eyes open and you saw a twin pair of the big, boba eyes you fell in love with, you nearly wept. In fact, they’re so large they nearly take up half her face. You’ve already captured at least a thousand pictures of them side by side, with Jungkook often forcing his eyes open wider so they match hers. 

Your phone is positively overflowing with photos from the last thirty days, mostly selfies of you and Jungkook with your beautiful daughter, pictures of just her, or secret candid shots of Jungkook holding or playing with her. His phone is much the same, at least you assume so given that he’s always pretending not to be snapping photos whenever you’re with Naru.

“What time is it?” You ask Jungkook.

“Four in the morning.”

You groan quietly enough to avoid waking the sleeping infant and stand for a bathroom break before returning to your peaceful slumber. Your body is still in shambles from the birthing process, although you’re steadily recovering. Some basic functions are still a struggle and the extreme fatigue is enough to keep you in bed all day. Jungkook’s doing his best to take care of you while also caring for Naru, but both your parents come over often to assist in whatever way they can. 

Your friends are visiting for the first time later today because they’ve been begging nonstop to see Naru again. It’s not that you didn’t want them here, but you and Jungkook felt some alone time as a family was necessary to settle into your new routine. 

Both friend groups are visiting this afternoon since Mina and Taehyung are officially dating and it’s simpler to invite everyone over at once. You’re honestly elated about seeing your friends, desperately in need of some social interaction that isn’t with a tiny human or your boyfriend. 

Referring to Jungkook as your boyfriend is quite the adjustment, especially since the illusive term doesn’t hold nearly enough weight for what he truly is to you. Best friend still feels more fitting even though there’s a platonic connotation, baby daddy lowers him to a status far beneath him, and the word partner doesn’t feel intimate enough for your connection. So, boyfriend it is for now, even though Jungkook continuously makes references to replacing the current ring on your finger with a different one. 

You always reprimand him when he makes those comments, telling him it’s way too soon for both your relationship and being parents, and he assures you he agrees, but you know your hopeless romantic best friend better than anyone, and it’s obvious he’s itching to get down on one knee. 

The thought does leave you embarrassingly giddy, but even if you did get engaged, you wouldn’t wed for a while given that no one wants to plan a wedding and raise an infant simultaneously. Right now, you’re perfectly content with your current ring and the meaning behind it. Ironically, poor Jungkook keeps muttering to himself about how he’s ever going to top it when he does pick out an actual engagement ring. 

Upon returning to bed, Jungkook purses his lips towards you and you placate him with a tender smooch before plopping into bed. Unfortunately, you aren’t comfortable for long because your breasts start to hurt from needing to either feed your daughter or pump milk for later. Since she’s currently sleeping like the little angel she is, you grab your breast pump and mirror Jungkook’s position against the headboard while the machine works its magic. 

“You always look like an alien when you do that,” Jungkook jokes. 

“Like a sexy alien or an E.T. type?”

“Totally sexy, so fucking sexy,” he replies without missing a beat.

You blush bright pink and avoid his eyes before it gets any worse. Nothing about motherhood makes you feel even remotely sexy or desirable and yet there’s still hunger in Jungkook’s eyes whenever he sees you.

His love for you is genuinely the only thing that’s gotten you through the first month of parenthood and you can’t imagine doing this with anyone else. He’s always attentive to both you and Naru, never complains when you ask him to do something, and does everything in his power to relieve the weight on your shoulders. If there's a world where he didn’t accidentally knock you up, you don’t wish to live in it. 

Eventually, you and Jungkook are able to enter dreamland again after he places Naru in her crib. When he returns to the bedroom, he pulls you into his arms from behind and you melt into his warm embrace. His lips dance along your neck, jaw, and cheek while you hum happily at the familiar sensation. It’s been difficult not having dedicated alone time since Naru was born, so you cherish moments like these when you can relax as just the two of you.

Naru’s lovely cries wake you about four hours later, and you seize the opportunity to attend to her before Jungkook can steal your turn. 

When you reach the nursery, Usagi is posted up outside the door as she often is whenever your little girl is crying. Your adorable cat has fallen head over heels for your daughter and it makes you swoon whenever they interact. Bam’s also nearby, his ears perking up when you open the nursery door and he hears Naru crying. Of the two of them he’s taken on the protector role, turning him into quite the guard dog lately. You don’t allow them inside the room, but give them both a quick rub to thank them for being so caring. 

Naru is twisting and turning in her crib as she cries, her tiny hands reaching for you as soon as you appear before her eyes.

“Oh, my sweet girl,” you coo as you scoop her up. 

Cradling her to your chest, you soothe her by patting her back while she lays her head on your shoulder and cries into your shirt. One thing about newborns is it’s easy to figure out what they need since it can only be one of two things. So, you carry her to the changing table and diligently clean her up before getting her back into her onesie. She stretches her chunky fingers at you to hold her again and you immediately oblige, rocking her in your arms as you move across the room. 

The door creaks open as you’re laying her down again, but there’s no need to turn around to know who’s entering the room. 

The suspicion is confirmed when two strong arms wrap around your middle and you feel your boyfriend’s lips on your shoulder. As Jungkook continues pressing chaste kisses to your skin, you affectionately boop your daughter’s nose and watch as an adorable yawn takes over her face and her fingers curl into tiny fists.

Jungkook is still kissing along your shoulder and up your neck, but he isn’t trying to initiate anything, his lips are caressing you in a way you know means he’s merely doing it because he loves you and to silently thank you for doing everything you do. 

Your hand travels behind your head to play with his hair, tugging on it gently so you can hear his sweet laugh in your ear. 

“Wish we could stay like this forever, Bams.”

“Me, too,” you whisper. 

Turning around in his hold, you capture his neck with both arms and yank him closer for a real kiss. Jungkook automatically tugs you into him with his fingers clutching your waist, causing your back to arch as he deepens the kiss by coaxing your mouth open. 

It’s important to make time for intimacy even if it can’t lead anywhere yet, and truth be told, your inherent need to feel his lips on yours never wanes. You wonder if this so-called honeymoon phase will ever go away or if you just love him so much that this is what forever is going to be like. 

Jungkook grabs your jaw with one hand as his tongue slips into your mouth, and if he wasn’t holding you the action would probably send you falling into Naru’s cradle. You kiss him a hundred times a day, at least, and he still manages to make your knees weak every time. The two of you moan in harmony when your tongues meet and you press yourself harder against him in response. His chest is warm and solid and you can feel his steady heartbeat beneath his shirt. 

“I love you, babygirl,” he confesses quietly. 

He’s kissing you again before you’re able to reciprocate his devotion, but you part for the sake of oxygen a moment later and leave your foreheads touching. 

“I love you, too.”

You allow Naru to sleep in peace and exit the nursery holding hands. Jungkook leads you down the hall to his bedroom, which is technically shared now. There are plans to turn what was your bedroom back into Jungkook’s office since you certainly aren’t using it anymore, and you need the space where his desk currently sits for all of your furniture. 

Waking up in Jungkook’s arms is hands down the most wonderful feeling in the world, on par with holding Naru while she smiles radiantly at you. 

Upon returning to the confines of your bedroom, Jungkook brings you into him again so he can kiss you fervently. His intensity pulls a chuckle from your lungs as you shamelessly make out in the middle of the room. 

“How many more weeks again?” He asks breathlessly, referring to when you’ll be cleared for sexual activity.

“I’m not sure, since whoever decided on six weeks clearly never pushed a child out of their vagina,” you respond. 

Jungkook giggles while leaning in to kiss you again. He graces you with one last peck before heading to grab some towels so you can prepare for the day ahead.

“Well, whenever you are ready, just know I’ll be really gentle.”

“I don’t even think you believe that, Jungkook.”

His smile is riddled with faux guilt when he returns to your side. 

“Yeah, no, that’s a total lie.”

You smack his chest with the towel in retaliation, but you’re already laughing to reveal your true feelings. The two of you head to the bathroom together, making sure to grab the baby monitor so you can hear if Naru wakes up. 

Showering together is another sparing moment when you can just be in each other’s presence without any of the noise, so it’s become routine lately. Sometimes it gets interrupted by your daughter and one of you, usually Jungkook, has to run out in a towel to console her. One time, he still had shampoo in his hair and you carefully crafted a little bun on his head so it didn’t drip into his eyes. 

Jungkook turns the water on while you brush your teeth. It’s adorably domestic and reminds you just how far you’ve come since you first moved in more than six months ago. 

Your boyfriend strips as you're washing the toothpaste from your mouth and it takes everything in you not to drool into the sink. No matter how many times you see him naked, every glance feels like the first and you go dizzy over the sight. 

“Bambi, stop ogling me,” he teases. 

“Stop looking like that, then.”

“Oh, well excuse me.”

“You’re excused,” you reply, your arms crossing over your chest in victory. 

A sly grin appears as Jungkook begins robbing you of your own clothes. He caresses your torso once you’re naked in front of him, massaging your skin with his warm fingers until he reaches your hips and squeezes them with a quiet growl.

You frown involuntarily, your usual confidence noticeably absent in the skin you’re currently wearing. Some of the baby weight is gone, about ten or so pounds, but there are stretch marks and extra skin that didn’t previously exist staring back at you in the mirror.

“What is it, Bams?” He asks with evident concern. 

There’s confusion over your negative reaction painting Jungkook’s features as he eyes you inquisitively. 

“It’s unfair,” you pout. 

“What is, baby?” 

Your chin is pitched up by Jungkook’s pointer finger so he can watch your expressions when you respond. 

“How sexy you are,” you answer.

“Unfair to whom? I’m yours, aren’t I?” 

Blush creeps across your bare chest and neck, but his sweet words still don’t dispel your insecurities.

“Yeah, but I’m all flabby and misshapen while you still look freaking perfect.”

“Bambi, you look beyond perfect. There’s nothing that could make you not the most beautiful woman in the world,” Jungkook states earnestly.

“You’re only saying that because you’re in love with me,” you argue.

“No, no,” Jungkook says with a shake of his head. “I thought that long before I fell in love with you, Bams.” He can sense your disbelief, so he bends his knees until he’s staring directly into your eyes. “Do I need to kiss every inch of you to prove it? Because I fucking will.”

“No,” you mumble. His knuckles brush your cheekbone and you sigh. “I’m sorry, I just don’t feel like myself right now, you know?” 

“No need to apologize, baby, just tell me how to help and I will.” 

His everlasting love and consideration for you bring a smile to your face and you kiss him briefly before leading him towards the shower.

“You don’t need to do anything more than you already are,” you tell him. “And maybe once I’m fully recovered you can bring me with you to the gym so I can get back to normal faster.” 

Jungkook enthusiastically nods at your proposal of working out together. He’s been begging you for a while to join him at the gym, mostly because he wants to do push ups over you and kiss you every time he goes down.

He holds you steady via a hand on your waist as you enter the shower before joining you under the falling water, keeping your back pressed to his chest while the steam encompasses you both. His lips find your neck as he slowly kisses across your wet skin, except unlike before, there’s fire behind his touch as he ravishes you in sensual affection. The water drenching you both only serves to up the intensity, the feeling of him licking up the droplets while he sucks on your throat sending you into euphoric bliss.

“Koo,” you moan, leaning your head on his shoulder as your eyes shut.

“Just because I can’t fuck you doesn’t mean I won’t make you feel good, babygirl,” he tells you. 

Which is precisely what he does as he continues kissing you in all the spots he knows drive you crazy while his hands caress you everywhere within reach. They eventually find purchase on your tits and he tactfully massages them in his big hands. 

His touch turns your brain to mush, your mind descending into a pool of pleasure as you relish in the sensation of his hands on you. It takes all your willpower not to say fuck it and let him push his cock into your cunt. If there wasn’t an adorable little girl who’ll be waking up soon, you’d let him manhandle you for hours until the water runs ice cold. 

You turn around abruptly upon deciding you want to taste him rather than feel him, and Jungkook catches on instantly, walking you both under the showerhead until your back meets the wall as his lips descend on yours. 

The kiss is deliciously sloppy from the combination of tongues chasing each other and water pouring down. Your hands rake into Jungkook’s dripping strands of black hair as you moan unabashedly into his mouth. One of Jungkook’s hands slams on the shower wall beside your head while the other catches your waist to keep your body pressed to his. Everything about it feels absolutely filthy even though you’re in a place meant for cleanliness. 

“I didn’t even know it was possible to want someone like this,” Jungkook whispers. “All the goddamn fucking time, baby.”

“Me, either,” you reply through a moan as Jungkook begins kissing down your neck again. “I don’t know how we went so long without it.”

He laughs while shaking his head where it resides in the junction of your neck and shoulder.

“Because we’re idiots.”

There’s only a split second between his response and his lips latching onto your nipple, his hand inching up your spine to fondle the opposite breast. It forces a gasp out of you as you desperately grasp his hair in your hands. He plays with your tits in sync, sucking on your pebbled nub in perfect time with the movement of his fingers. An incoherent curse passes through your lips when his ministrations cause you to lactate into his mouth, and he groans in delight as he laps up the milk coming from your nipple with his tongue. The act is supremely messy because Jungkook is purposely missing some of your breast milk so he can lick it off your skin before the water washes it away.

He alternates between drinking straight from the source and allowing his tongue to collect it, but neither choice is better for your sanity. This isn’t the first time he’s acted upon his insatiable urges, just last week he wrapped his lips around your nipple after you were forced awake at three in the morning to check on Naru. The feeling of him sucking on you while you lactate was strange initially, but after a moment it made your head spin with pleasure as he played with your tits and fed himself from your body. 

“Fuck, Koo.” 

Your head hits the shower tile while he moans pathetically around your nipple.

“I’ll apologize to our daughter for stealing her food later,” he mumbles into your skin.

You chuckle and Jungkook naturally smiles just from the sound of your happiness. He leaves a final kiss on your breast before returning to your lips with a satisfied hum. 

You’ve never had shower sex before and unfortunately, today won’t be the day, but after this it’s certainly going on your list. 

Your lips continue clashing while you caress each other for an unknown amount of time, but when you do finally catch your breath, the water has begun cooling down. There’s a major responsibility to someone other than yourselves looming outside the bathroom door, so you stop being sexual deviants and actually wash up for the day. 

Jungkook pours some soap on your luffa so he can work it into your skin, not missing a single inch as he glides the sponge along your body. You do the same for him while he gathers shampoo in his hands and starts cleansing your hair. 

He’s sporting the most adorable look of concentration while he scrubs the shampoo on your scalp until it turns to suds. Repeating the motions on his own hair, you dig your nails between his strands and make him whine from the soothing sensation on his head. The two of you finish up quickly, turning off the water and handing each other your respective towels to dry off.

After getting dressed, you return to Naru’s nursery to wake her up and feed her. Ironically, you have to bottle feed her because Jungkook used up all the milk collecting in your breasts for her morning meal. She looks positively delighted to see you once she’s awake, a heart stopping giggle coming from her tiny body as you pick her up. 

Jungkook says he’ll prepare for your guests to arrive while you care for Naru, which includes dolling her up for her visitors. You don’t normally dress her in actual clothes, usually leaving her in a onesie for simplicity, but you want your friends to see her in some of the clothes they bought her. When she naps, you always swaddle her in the blanket Chaewon made and most of her toys come from your friends. 

You trudge downstairs with her resting on your shoulder to find Jungkook cleaning up some lingering dishes in the kitchen. Bam bounds over excitedly to greet you and you use your free hand to throw his bone across the room after petting his head. Usagi follows close behind at your feet, per usual, her big eyes staring up at you and Naru as you walk towards the kitchen. 

There’s a blindingly bright smile on Jungkook’s face when you enter the room and he instinctively gestures for your daughter. Gladly passing her over, you watch in endearment as he nuzzles his nose against hers and she makes an adorable cooing sound. 

“Hi, pretty girl,” he says in his baby voice. She giggles and reaches for his cheeks at the sound of him praising her. “Yeah? You want your daddy?” 

Her giggles grow louder when he blows raspberries on each of her chubby cheeks. She cuddles up against his chest as he holds her close, her eyes shutting serenely at the feeling of her dad’s warmth surrounding her. Jungkook bounces her in his arms which causes her to smile adoringly at him and her little toothless grin makes your heart sing. 

You automatically take over for him on the chore front since Naru clearly wants some daddy-daughter time. 

When she wakes up after falling asleep in Jungkook’s warm embrace, it’s obvious she’s uncomfortable and needs her diaper changed. You never predicted being able to tell which cries mean what, but you’ve memorized every single noise she makes at this point. Jungkook volunteers for dumpster duty while you finish up downstairs. 

When they return, she’s still crying incessantly, only it’s soft whimpers you both know mean she wants her mommy. Jungkook gracefully hands her to you, ensuring she’s secure in your arms before letting go. You bring her to the couch and lay her in your lap, holding her little hands and moving them in circles to soothe her.

“Hi, sweet Naru.” Her cries diminish as soon as she hears your voice. “I love you so much, my darling girl. Yeah, that’s right.” 

She makes the cutest baby sound imaginable and squeezes your fingers to the best of her ability. You coo in adoration and bend down to kiss her tummy so she giggles even more. Jungkook clicks his tongue over your shoulder. 

“I always think she’s such a daddy’s girl until you get your hands on her,” he comments. 

“She is a daddy’s girl, Koo. In fact, she may be more obsessed with you than I am.” You boop her nose and her smile grows while she sticks her tongue out. “Isn’t that right, Naru? Mommy’s gonna have to fight you for him, aren’t I, little girl?”

The noise she makes sounds suspiciously like a yes. Jungkook blushes deep red, his love for his daughter physically manifesting on his cheeks. 

“I love her more than anything, but you’ll always be my girl, Bams,” he says with a kiss to your cheek.

An hour later the first of your guests arrives. You purposely told them all different times, in about ten minute increments, so everyone gets devoted time with Naru without fighting over her. Jihyo is first, and she has enough gifts in her hands to fill the entire nursery. She squeals and jumps a couple inches off the ground in delight when you appear before her with Naru. The gift bags fall to the floor with a plop as she extends her arms to take her niece from you. 

“Naru, my sweetheart!” She cheers.

You and Jungkook are able to take a much needed parenting reprieve as your friends slowly pile in and pass your daughter around like a hot potato. Once all thirteen of them have arrived, everyone spreads out between the living room and the kitchen. 

Naru is currently sound asleep in Yoongi’s arms, the usually expressionless man wearing a face of complete joy as he watches her with his gummy smile even though she’s not awake to return it. 

“I still don’t understand how the youngest of us is a dad before anyone else,” Seokjin says as he chews on his slice of pizza.

“Because he’s a doofus,” Jimin responds. 

“Hey! I may be a doofus, but I took part in making the cutest little girl ever,” Jungkook defends himself. “In fact, you could say I’m about fifty percent of the reason she’s so adorable!”

“Kook, you got to creampie the hottest woman we all know and then magically have a child nine months later. I’ll give you five percent tops,” Chaewon argues. 

Everyone chuckles at Chaewon’s extremely high level overview of pregnancy.

“She seems really well behaved,” Yunjin comments. 

“She is,” you say proudly. “Naru is a little angel.”

“You won’t be saying that in a few months,” Namjoon says. “She’ll be a demon once she starts teething.”

“Oh, remind me not to visit around then,” Hoseok adds.

As if she heard them talking smack about her, Naru wakes up and begins fussing around in Yoongi’s arms. His eyes go wide at the foreign behavior and he immediately locks eyes with Jungkook across the room for assistance. Your boyfriend smiles at his friend’s nervousness and goes to grab your daughter before she starts crying 

When she instantaneously settles down at the feeling of Jungkook holding her, all seven girls harmoniously gasp in awe. 

“Oh my gosh, she loves you, Jeon!” Eunchae states. 

“I would sure hope so,” he replies with a proud grin. 

He kisses her head a couple times and she nuzzles against his shoulder, tucking her face into his neck and laying her adorable, chunky, baby hand on his chest. 

“Wow, never thought I’d see the day,” Taehyung notes from where he sits with a hand on Mina’s thigh.

“So, who’s next? I think Naru needs a playmate, right?” Nayeon asks the room, her eyebrows rising when she meets Mina’s gaze. 

Mina aggressively shakes her head while putting her hands up in surrender.

“Nuh uh, not yet, especially not after hearing about what Y/N went through,” she states.

“How are you doing, Y/N?” Tzuyu changes the subject to ask.

“I’m recovering, some days are worse than others,” you answer. “I honestly thought I was going to die.”

“I still can’t believe you did it without any pain meds,” Chaewon says with a shake of her head. 

“You and me both.”

“It was genuinely pure magic,” Jungkook comments, his hand gently patting Naru’s back. “She’s a fucking goddess.”

You send him a charming smile from across the room and he blows a kiss at you in return. 

“It was worth it, that’s all I know,” you respond.

“It totally was, look at your little girl! She’s perfect,” Eunchae says. 

“We can only hope the rest of us schmucks make children as lovely as Naru someday,” Jimin states while holding his glass up to cheers. “To our niece!”

Everyone raises their own glasses in solidarity, except for Jungkook, who lifts Naru up Lion King-style as she giggles and kicks her little feet in joy. 

The night continues with Naru being passed around the room a couple more times. She seems to enjoy her uncle Seokjin the most, probably because he’s an expert at making funny faces that cause her to cheerfully scream and laugh. Jihyo also garners much of her attention, with Naru making grabby hands at her every so often. Mina jokes it’s because Jihyo has big tits and your daughter is getting her confused with a source of nutrients. 

Your friends eventually say their goodbyes until all that remains are the vast amount of gifts they brought. You and Jungkook mutually agree to put them away in the morning and use this precious time for quality family bonding in bed. 

The two of you lay on your stomachs with Naru between you on the mattress. You both take turns tickling her and blowing raspberries on her stomach and thighs just to hear the perfect laugh you adore so much. It feels like pure, unadulterated bliss, and with Bam and Usagi both curled up by your feet, you feel utterly complete as a little family of five. 

Resting your head on your arm, you gaze at Jungkook as he admires his little girl. The adoration in his sparkling eyes makes you feel eternally grateful to your past self for the decision she made. Here you thought you were sleeping with Jungkook just to try it, and now your heart is reborn in more ways than one. It’s swollen to max capacity with both romantic love for your best friend and unconditional love for your daughter. 

Jungkook notices your stare and raises an eyebrow at you. When you don’t respond, he leans over Naru to kiss you and pull you from your reverie.  

“You gonna tell me why you’re looking at me like that, Bambi?” 

You shake your head.

“I don’t have to because you already know,” you respond. 

He smiles beautifully and tucks some of your hair behind your ear. 

“Yeah, I do.”

Jungkook kisses you again, smoothly gliding his lips over yours while he pours his love for you into the gesture. Ardently returning his kiss, you caress his cheek with one hand and move your lips in a gentle harmony with his. Your foreheads meet after pulling away and upon looking sideways, you see Naru playfully rolling side to side between you. You share a heartwarming laugh at her mannerisms, both of you so completely taken by your daughter and each other. 

“I’m so glad I asked you to try something new that night, Bams. Now we get to do everything together for the rest of our lives, starting with parenting.”

“Mm, same here, Koo.” You lean back and rest your head in your hand. “I wonder what other new stuff we’ll get up to.”

Jungkook hums inquisitively and tongues his cheek as he ponders his answer, but then his eyes light up with a mischievous grin. 

“Marriage?”

Taglist: @lovingkoalaface @starcandybby @junniesoleilkth @keylime4eva @kissyfacekoo @rpwprpwprpwprw @spideyjimin @jjeonjjk7 @joonlover1207 @annpeachy @rexana19 @heartwith0uthe @kosmos1307 @minyoongi7016 @magicalnachocreator @misschelliejeon @bubblyi3 @bhonbhon @polnaraffsrack @amarawayne @majesticjung-97 @kmpj9 @upo1313 @songbyeonkim @kikikaaa @glowjuli @avawants2havefun @hyeinwluv85s @someonegoood @kyljjk @lalaren @dna2723 @tteokbokibyjk @tatyhend @kookienooki @ana-marais98 @gimeow @importantflowersblog43 @minghaosimp @belleilichil @neurospicynugget @missdumpling190811 @jungkooksnerniemilk @imhereonlytoreadxoxo @kayswatanabe @fancypeacepersona @jeonsgf-97 @star-my @neg-l3ct @kelsyx33

The city’s streets are alight, fluorescent yellows trickling from high windows and streetlamps giving way to their chosen placements. Voices echo within the late-night streets, their sounds muted behind warmed tavern walls and the frequent strum of a bard’s lyre before they delve into their song of poetry for the awaiting audience, clinking glass and the occasional tone of a bartender asking what the tavern-goer would like to drink for the night, roaring laughter and the fall of a chair or bang of something hitting the table a fine accompaniment to the noise like practised song. 

It is late at night, or perhaps early in the morning, yet the City of Wine and Song rarely rests. Not for long, anyway, and certainly not when they are still celebrating the successful return of the expeditionary forces they have been awaiting for the last six years.

And yet, in a tucked away corner of the city where the shadows just barely settle over the architecture, peaceful nights have been somewhat of a luxury.

You lay there under the covers, peaceful and tucked into a deep slumber, soft breaths escaping parted lips as you remain nestled beneath the cocooning warmth. Beside you lies a large, scarred body tossing and turning, heaving and writhing beneath the rumpled side of the sheets. Cold sweat clings to his skin, brows furrowed into a deep point and fists clenched tight around the edge of the blanket settled over his heart. His breath comes out in uneven gasps, a disharmonious sound in comparison to your calm state.

The Grand Master shifts again. His body begins to curl in on itself, grip wrinkling the sheets even further, a pained grimace etched into his paling expression.

He remembers. He remembers the loud beat of his heart ringing through his ears, that all-consuming sensation familiar throughout the length of his journey yet never something he could become accustomed to. He remembers his last moments suspended in the air, telling the golden-haired hero and Honorary Knight of Mondstadt the rest of that whispered plan was up to them before the Abyssal Roland in a spirit of Boreas snapped its maw around him and darkness swallowed him whole. He remembers that phantom pain, how it tore its teeth through his torso for a fleeting moment before he reawakened in that space in perfect condition as though he was never maimed in his final moments. He remembers that sense of displacement, like something was horribly wrong despite being perfectly fine. He remembers…

…What happened after that?

Head swivelling, he now finds himself surrounded by thick fog. He cannot hear, nor can he see anything, but he is vaguely aware that he is still in the dream. There is nothing in this space he is trapped in, yet his body remains on high alert; as if danger lurks within the fog, within the realm he cannot perceive. Foreboding is the chill which runs down his spine, a warning from somewhere deep within his mind that something is there; that something is watching him.

But then he hears it — a deafening, ba-thump. It rattles his brain, fogs his mind even further, blurs his vision until spotted dots fade in and out of focus, numbs all his senses like cotton is stuffed in his ears and only serves to heighten the phantom pain which courses through his torso. When he looks down, he sees crimson. His left side is drenched in the colour, his trembling right hand only splotched with it in comparison. Was blood always this red? This vivid? So lifelike, so real, so violent in its likeness? Was this warmth amid the dreadful cold always so apparent?

Did this part of the dream always go like this…?

When he looks up again, numbly forcing himself to tear his gaze away from the sight of his body half devoured, the abyss stares back at him in the form of two familiar wispy eyes glowing in the same colour as that of which drips from his body.

He remembers. He remembers that wide, awaiting maw closing in on him like time slowed down just so he would be forced to relive every racing thought, every regret and what-if during his last moments. Darkness encroaches. Rooted in place, all he can see are sharpened teeth dripping with saliva and the eternal darkness which lies beyond the bone. It draws closer, his heart rings louder in his ears and throbs in his head — louder, and louder, and louder, and louder, and—

He shoots up, gasping and heaving, right hand instinctively shooting towards his left side; his body is intact. The ache in his body, his heart however, has magnified. Limbs numb and heavy, like lead has replaced the marrow in his bones, he sits there amid the streaks of moonlight. Damp sheets pool at his hips as a chill seeps into his sweat-ridden body, eyes wide and roving as if trying to take in anything and everything he possibly can.

It’s silent. There is a slight discrepancy in his surroundings — like something is not entirely right, yet he cannot quite place his finger on it. Where is he? Recognition faintly flits through his mind as he tries to blink away the throb in his head, but nothing immediately springs to mind. Was there always a wardrobe in that space? Was he always on a bed? Did his surroundings always seem so homely?

No… he does not think so. That cruel, unforgiving nightmare would never give him a reprieve such as this. Something is wrong still, but what?

And then it quietly clicks within his brain: his heart. Why is it not beating? Why can he not hear nor feel the thumps of the very organ which sustains his life? Dread crawls into his ribs and grips down, cold and unrelenting.

His heart…

“Varka…?”

His heart… His heart.

“Varka.”

His heart, his heart, his heart, his heart—

“Varka!”

His breath hitches. Warmth encases his hands and cradles them with a gentleness that never once existed in that memory. The adrenaline wears down, only slightly, but it is enough for him to have a clear grasp on his surroundings.

Varka blinks once, twice, a third time; he sees you. You were never present in those horrid recollections. No, you were always there to pull him out of it, out of that post-nightmare trance he has been finding himself caught in every time.

You let out a breath, shoulders sagging from their tense posture as your gaze softens. Your eyes are so clear, Varka manages to think within his bleary senses, your fingers rubbing repetitive circles against his knuckles a grounding warmth.

“It’s okay,” you reassure. Your voice is a soft and familiar lull as you raise a hand, guiding his head to rest against your chest. “You’re okay now.”

His ears pick up a faint sound.

Ba-thump. Ba-thump. Ba-thump.

Your heart, he thinks. Your alive and beating heart. It thumps in a steady rhythm, only slightly quickened from the scare he most likely gave you. Its rhythm reaches him, slowing down the erratic beats of his own heart in order to match yours and beat together in tandem.

“Sorry,” he manages to mumble out, voice slowly coming back to him but still hoarse. “Didn’t mean to wake you. You can go back to bed, I’ll be alright. I know your sleep’s been disrupted ever since I came back, but you don’t need to worry. It’s something I can handle, so—”

“Varka,” you call his name again in that soft and patient tone despite the sleep he can see clinging onto you, effectively stopping his escalating rambles. Guilt pervades into every inch of his being upon the realisation, even more so when you smile like you’re reassuring him that everything will be okay.

He hasn’t been deserving of your patience these past nights ever since his return; he certainly does not think you expected your husband to have finally come home, only to wake up every night since in cold sweat and tremors. But it is you — you and your unending patience and understanding for him during the worst of nights, even when you end up spending the rest of it awake to make sure he is fine from the claws of something far beyond your imagination.

And that alone undoes something tightly coiled within him.

“Don’t apologise for something like this. These nightmares are out of your control, and you don’t choose to have them every night. But do you know?” Your voice shifts. The patient tone addled with sleep makes way for something softer, something warm and wholly you which clears the fuzziness clogging his senses like stuffed cotton. “You’re home now, Varka. You can relax now. You don’t have to fight it anymore; not with me.”

The effect is practically immediate.

He clings to you, burying himself further into your warmth — into your vitality. Shaking arms wind around your midriff and trembling fingers dig into the back of his shirt swallowing your body. Body folding over you, eyes squeezing shut, nose buried into the crook of your neck and surrounding himself in everything that you are, he vaguely senses the trembling to have begun stabilising.

“You’re alive,” you whisper, lips a gentle caress atop the crown of his head. One of your hands drift up the nape his neck and begin slowly threading your fingers through the dampened tufts of his hair, while the other rubs soothing circles against his bare back covered in a sheen of lingering beads of cold sweat. “You’re alive. You’re here. In Mondstadt. With the knights, with the people of our home, and with me. You are alive and well. You are safe now, Varka. Nothing from that expedition can hurt you again.”

Something within his heart shakes violently. 

Right. That’s right. He is back in Mondstadt now. He is no longer in Nod-Krai, no longer on that six-year-long expedition. The soul of a god, of Andrius, no longer weighs heavy in his heart, slowly devouring the very organ which beats right now alongside your own steady beats, and no longer does it slowly sap away the energy in his body and bear upon his shoulders the burden of a god’s soul as he fights for a safer tomorrow. He is not in need of any contingency plans in case things go awry (in case he were to fall and never return).

No. Varka is not there anymore. He is in Mondstadt. He and the expeditionary forces have returned back home to everyone. He is back home… He is back with you; in your arms, in your embrace, in your ever-so familiar warmth he dreamt about with increasing longing for every night he spent away from you.

With that comfort, he finally manages to breathe — the air returns to his lungs a little easier, the taut muscles loosen under your grounding touch, the numbing sensation subsides as your warmth seeps into his very being.

Varka loves you. He truly does, and he knows he will love you until the end of time and even beyond that. He has seen all your highs and lows, during your best and your worst, just as you have with him. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say he knows you like the back of his hand, because even that comparison could never begin to touch the surface of everything you have both been through to know the other so intimately.

So when he feels the trembling come not from him, but from you tucked in his embrace, something in his heart cracks. It is he who made you cry — he who made you shake and glossy-eyed and bite your lip trying your best to hold it in and resist looking up at him in your current state.

“I know… I know you sometimes sneak out when you think I’m asleep. I don’t know where, maybe to go to Boreas to fight it out of your system like you tend to do when something troubles you, maybe to have a late night drink to chase away those thoughts, maybe to take a walk and get away for a little bit by yourself, but…” There is a slight pause, a hitch in your voice, before your arms tighten around him and your face buries further into his neck. “But I still worry that when you leave, you might never come back; that you returning was all just something I made up to cope with the weight of your absence. I… I never got used to it, the lack of you in everything. I thought I would become more accustomed to it as time went on, but… I never did. It only seemed to worsen, if anything.”

You laugh a little, a humourless chuckle as you recount your days and nights and endless time here in Mondstadt, wondering when next you would hear news of the expedition. Varka’s jaw clenches at the thought, at the now very real possibility of you losing sleep in worry about whether or not he and the expeditionary forces were safe.

The momentary laugh falls into silence. Nothing emerges for a long, few seconds. You don’t say anything, and he follows suit, waiting patiently for you to finish your piece because he knows something else is on your mind.

Eventually, you suck in a shaky breath and Varka strains his ears to hear even the slightest of sounds you produce.

“Sometimes, you have this expression,” you begin. “Like… like you’re gazing into something far beyond here— something I can’t even begin to imagine. I.. I don’t know what you faced in the last six years, I don’t even know what you’re forced to see in your dreams because I’m worried bringing it up will make you relive the very thing you’re trying to keep me from knowing. And— and I don’t mind that you’re not telling me the full extent of it when it’s causing you so much pain as it is, but I… I guess I just… want you to feel like you can lean on me a little more during these times.” 

Varka feels like the biggest fool in all of Teyvat. He’s so stunned, he doesn’t even know where to begin. To think, not onlydid he make you cry when he vowed to never be the reason of your tears (in a negative way, of course), but he also made you feel as though he doesn’t trust you enough with his troubles — which is far from the truth! Varka would entrust his life into your hands within a heartbeat if he could!

He thinks about the times he would sneak out when you were asleep (only to find out just now that you, in fact, were notasleep…), how he would gaze at you apologetically and press a lingering kiss to your head before leaving. His destination was often to that of Boreas, to spar his lingering worries away just as you had predicted. He didn’t want to burden you any further with his baggage, with the weight he carried in the aftermath of it all. And so he dealt with it in the way he was most accustomed to. Boreas had sensed something to be troubling him the first night he requested a duel, making his own guesses that hit a little too close considering he was well in the know about his Abyssified counterpart. The wolf spirit offers comfort in his own way — through wise words spoken from millennia of experience and quiet acts of comfort.

Sometimes on his way back, Venti would catch sight of him and beckon him over for a chat over drinks in the late night — yet another thing he did that you guessed right... In those instances it was nigh impossible to refuse, and so he would share a few drinks with the Archon who also knew the inner turmoil deep in his heart a little too well. Sometimes the drinks would work, and he would be happily warm and tipsy with little thought about those crimson eyes and fanged maw which plagues his slumber, but it usually doesn’t last. Not when he goes one drink more and then ends up ruminating over the events — what led to them, what could have gone differently, and what could have been to the bard clad in green.

But to explain it all to you, how he really did die and might have not even been able to return from the Ley Lines in the worst case scenario… Varka doesn’t even want to imagine how that conversation could turn out; not from wanting to withhold anything from you, but from the sheer guilt that eats away at him that, in another world where the worst case scenario came true, you would be left alone with word of his death being the last thing you ever received from him.

No, he could never do that to you. Just the mere thought of it has him misty-eyed with his nose stinging, and he is for once glad you still refuse to look at him to save your own face so you don’t see his rising emotions once more.

Unfortunately, you seem to take the silence from his excessive thoughts negatively, sniffling as you quickly add, “Ah— forget it. I don’t know what I’m talking about, haha…”

…Scrap that. To hell if he starts bawling his eyes out in front of you because of a misunderstanding! You have comforted him more than you know, and now it is his turn to repay your love in kind.

He calls your name in a gentle tone, the remnants of his emotions from the nightmare and your feelings still lingering despite having calmed down. “Look at me.”

You don’t budge.

He tries again, “My love?”

Your hands twitch; the corners of his lips tugs upward.

“My sweetest darling?”

Your arms tighten, and he knows he has you then.

“My lovely, beautiful, amazing, kind, caring, kind of scary, but definitely love of my life and other half—”

He cuts himself off when giggles are muffled against his skin, wet and teary but undoubtedly still yours, shoulders shaking in tandem under his hands. Shoulders sagging from the tension which had built up at the face of your distress, he sighs softly and allows a smile to lift his lips — it’s a little wobbly from his glassy eyes, and not quite his typical toothy grin, but one which softens and crinkles the corners of his eyes and comes to him as easy as breathing and loving you comes; one only reserved for you.

And when you lift your head, eyes sparkling from the lingering tears like the water’s surface on a sunny day paired with that smile of yours which never fails to send his heart into a frenzy and make him feel like he is eighteen trying to court you amid his flushed skin and pounding heart all over again, he cannot help but to think, “I love you.”

Your eyes widen a fraction before softening, the words, “I love you more,” uttered with such tenderness it makes his heart skip a beat and inhale sharply. He realises then that he said it out loud. It matters little, however, when the sentiment is always there — lingering, waiting to be said over and over again, a quiet longing for you forever and always.

Varka decides then and there he will tell you everything. From the very beginning of the expedition where he asked Boreas to give his soul so he could track down the fragments of Andrius’ spirit and help him, to the encounters he had and the perils he faced throughout the regions, to the new friends he made that he thinks you would get along with if given the chance to meet (really, just say the word and he will have everything arranged within days, a week maximum!), to the accumulating burden he carried with every fragment of Boreas’ spirit he absorbed and resonated with, to the crises that really seemed to pick up in Nod-Krai — from the Wild Hunt he constantly fended off, to the calamities known as Rerir, one of the Five Sinners: the Rächer of Solnari, and Dottore, one of the Fatui Harbingers otherwise known as The Doctor.

And, of course, his final collection of Andrius’ fragments and the confrontation against and Abyss-consumed Roland; how he knew he was bound to face off against him at some point to help Andrius stave off the Abyss, how he was prepared and planned for the worst case if things went awry, how he died and fell into heart of the wolf so he could convey Boreas’ thoughts to Andrius, how he fought against countless Abyssal creatures to fight his way back home, how the letter he asked you and everyone to send was what allowed him to come back home to Mondstadt, how he saw your spirit asking him to get back home safely in the Ley Lines and nearly broke down at the sight of you after so long, and how he finally made it back to you just like you wished...

He spills everything, leaving no woe unsaid, no fear of his left to linger in the back of his mind, no what-if to haunt him in every waking moment.

Predictably, you’re a mess. Sobs wrack through your body as he recounts everything in earnest, not wanting to keep you in the dark any longer and have you doubt his trust in you. He isn’t any better either, his own tears spilling out when apologising for making you believe he doesn’t trust you enough to confide in you and for causing your tears in the first place.

And yet, even when you’re calling him stupid, or an idiot, or a fool, your fists weakly banging against his chest, he still thinks you’re the most beautiful person in the world. 

He thinks as such when one of his hands lifts to cup your cheek and thumb away the stray tears spilling over your lashes; when you subconsciously lean into his warm and callus palm, your own hand raising to hold the back of his hand, and his heart rate spiking as a result; when your other hand moves to toy with the wolf fang necklace resting against his chest, your fingers brushing against his now warmed skin; when he dips his head and begins to press soft, lingering kisses against your forehead, your brow bone, the space between your brows, your eyelids, the corners of your eyes, your temple, your hairline, your cheekbones, nose bridge, the tip of your nose, the apple of your cheeks, your jaw, your chin, the corners of your lips, and eventually the lush of yours lips itself.

His heart just about bursts at the seams with each of your tinkling laughter floating into his ears at every ministration he performs, your shared warmth seeping deep into his skin as he gazes half-lidded into your expression crinkled shut with unadulterated glee.

I love you. I love you. I love you, I love you, I love you. Only you, forever you.

Sometimes he wonders if you will ever know the true depth of his love for you. If you will ever know just how ardently his devotion for you runs, how every one of his drunken rambles throughout the expedition always centred around how much he misses you and loves you and wishes to see you soon (even the Pyro Archon herself wished him a safe return to you as soon as possible the morning after their drinking competition as a result of his inebriated mourning over his lack of, well, you), how every battle he fought was always entered with the mindset of winning so he could return to you in one piece, how he would find the flickering amber of the campfire dull in comparison to the warmth of you give him, how he lamented over the expedition’s ever-changing locations unfit to properly send you letters with a definite receiving address, how he carried your picture with him everywhere and kept it concealed securely behind his breastplate to always have a reminder of you on his person, how…

…How when you welcomed him back from the expedition, the love in your eyes having not wavered in the slightest after six long years, he found himself falling in love with you all over again.

But these sentiments will be tucked away in a space closest to his heart for only him to look back on and think about, hidden carefully behind curved bones and soft organs. A space only ever reserved to keep you as close as humanly possible.

Instead, he gently swipes under your reddened eyes, thumb massaging the swollen skin in soothing motions. “Alright. I think it’s time we get some shut-eye after all that.”

“No more nightmares?” you ask, a light jest yet the concern woven in your tone is more than evident about your worry for him.

He smiles. “No. Not this time. Not with you in my arms and your doubt quelled.”

Huffing, you lightly swat his chest with a smile of your own, but don’t deny the need for slumber. You shuffle under the covers, wriggling until you find the most optimal spot for your comfort before settling in. Tucked close to his chest, his chin resting atop your head, your arms around his waist with one hand gently carding the hair at his nape, one of his arms resting at your waist while the other has his hand cradling your cheek and softly thumbing your skin, legs tangled together beneath the sheets as your heartbeats fall into a steady rhythm.

When you whisper him a good night, lips a soft press against the warming skin of his chest, Varka thinks the world will be okay. Even if it is just for this moment, even if he will wake up tomorrow night with the same nightmare once more, he thinks that this place in your shared bed, in your shared home, with you in his arms is the happiest place for him to be.

That night, Varka sleeps soundly. When he wakes up, he is greeted by the warm sunlight filtering through the window and you sleeping comfortably atop him while he lays on his back. The smile which melts his expression into that of pure adoration is hardly surprising; neither is the way he wraps his arms around you a little more securely and presses chaste kisses along the skin he has access to in this position.

I love you, he thinks with each reverent press, only stopping when you stir slightly, incoherent mumbles muffled against his neck. I love you, he thinks again when you lift your head slightly, nose brushing against his chin as you blink sleepily at him with a dreamy smile that makes his heart pound a little quicker before pressing a quick kiss to his jaw and letting your head rest in the crook of his neck. I love you, he thinks once more when your breathing evens out, you completely relaxed in his presence doing something irreparable to him. I love you, Varka thinks finally as his arms wrap around you a little tighter, nose brushing against your scalp as his fingers trace little hearts into your lower back.

The duties of Grand Master can wait a little longer, he thinks. After all, his duties as a husband are yet to be completed, and he takes his role as such to be of utmost priority much like with anything that pertains to you, his beloved spouse.

Somewhere deep beneath the waves, away from the omnipotent watch of false divinity, lies a village. A bustling home carved into an outcast cove nestled under the cover of suppressive tides.

One littered with tiny houses surrounding an impressive estate modeled much like the ones seen in those novels abandoned from capsized ships. 

Would you believe that such a place exists? 

Decorated with curious trinkets which sunk beneath the surface which had forsaken them, kept in this cove for so long that it was challenging to remember the azure hues. 

Ornaments decorating the expanse of this once lonesome cave, almost enough to conceal its true origin: A prison.

A fool sentenced to this penitentiary masquerading as a home, now affectionately named ‘Merusea Village’. 

Within that attentively built estate, a looming figure stood in front of a wall lined with neatly organized novels, lilac eyes running along the titles printed along each spine. 

A collection saved from watery abandonment after falling overboard by the curious hands of Melusines. Amassed throughout the years until the shelves of this humble library were without vacancy. 

Stopping a finger on a spine, he decided on the novel to pass the ever-plenty time bestowed upon him. He’s aware that each book amongst these shelves has been thumbed through by him.

But with enough years, the recollection of the contents contained within each one tends to become foggy. 

It's fate that the novel selected in his hands just so happens to be a collection of tales.

Humans have many strange behaviors, one might even call them traditions. One particular tradition mortals seem to indulge in often is that of storytelling. 

Lilac eyes browse through the pages, refreshing himself on the tale held within its faded covers. 

----------

There once was a lovely kingdom amidst lush pastures and fertile lands where the townspeople sang and danced under the bright sunlight.

But one day the sun disappeared, concealed behind ashen clouds that cried a lonesome hymn, plaguing the unfortunate kingdom with rain.

The origin of the rain stemmed from the lonesomeness of a great dragon of water.

Thus, to stop the rain, the king sent out a princess to the dragon, declaring that the kingdom gates wouldn’t welcome her back if rain fell from the sky. She was sent off in a white gown. 

Down below a flooded loch, the princess was offered to the weeping dragon. Looking up the princess saw the sorrowful pools in the beast’s eyes. 

‘Hydro Dragon, oh Hydro Dragon, why do you cry?’ She asked.

Intrigued by the bravery of the young princess, the dragon answered: ‘Because I am lonely, I have no brethren left.’

Feeling pity the princess responded: ‘Hydro Dragon, oh Hydro Dragon, don’t cry. I will be lonely with you.’ 

So the princess befriended a lonesome dragon under the hymn of softening rain, with his loneliness soothed, the sun peeked back out from ashen clouds. But one day, pitiful tears fell from her eyes and the princess wept so bitterly. 

The dragon could not bear seeing those tears stain her cheeks. He offered her pearls, jewels, and gold. Yet those bitter tears still fell, tainting the pristine water. 

‘Beloved princess, why do you cry so bitterly?’ He implored. 

‘I long to go home, I miss my kingdom,’ she revealed. 

But she could not go home, for if she stepped foot away from the riverside the lonesome rain would start again. The colossal dragon could not leave the loch, but he could not bear seeing those bitter tears.

So he relented, telling the princess a secret. A secret all dragons buried deep within: His true name. 

‘If you speak my name, my true name, then I can grant you one wish. But be careful, for there can only be one wish.’ The dragon whispered. 

‘Do you wish to return to your kingdom, beloved princess?’ He asked. 

The princess was silent for a long while, weighing the choices in her hand. She longed to return home, but she also longed to be by the side of her kind dragon. 

Confident in her decision, she beckons the great dragon closer, until her lips could reach the side of his large head where his ear lay. After whispering his name, she tells the beast her wish. 

‘I wish for you to become my prince, so we can return to the kingdom together, that way you won’t ever be lonely again.’

A clever wish he grants with a nod. Scales and claws shedding away until a handsome prince stood in front of her. Thus, hand in hand they returned from the loch to the warm welcome of the kingdom. 

And they lived happily ever after. 

----------

Ah, so it was that tale. 

Judging from the age of the novel, he guesses it must be a rendition of a rendition.

Words and events twisted, embellished, and simplified. Until it became nothing more than a mere fable told to entertain the wandering minds of children. 

A beloved tale of a maiden who got a dragon to give up his grand authority, stopping the flood of vengeance from drowning Fontaine.

This is what the origin of his damnation has turned into. The tales of the heroine’s feats sung and written throughout the narrative of time, passing from one generation’s lips to another’s ears. 

However, he supposes this is expected of humans. It’s their tradition of storytelling, after all, mending a fallacy into a tale palatable to their conscious.

Or perhaps, these embellishments were added to compensate for the hollows caused by the frailty of mortal memory. 

Patching over the holes with flowery words to distract readers from inaccuracies that were only compounded upon from the last. 

Fontainians who came to believe in it, must not have known the dragon all that well, considering that they thought the proud dragon would bow to the whims of a meek human.

Placing a secret so simply in her hands at the mere sight of tears.

Did Fontainians not realize that the land they reside on once belonged solely to dragons? How preposterous it is that a sovereign couldn’t set foot upon his own land. Or did they forget why he couldn’t? 

What a naive ending, did mortals truly believe that blood and water could dwell together without consequences? That simply wishing the dragon to become a human could resolve all troubles?

To overwrite everything with a ‘happily ever after’ which never happened?

Regardless of his reservations toward such fables, the Melusines always seem eager to gather around for such stories. The towering figure lacked the conviction to deny such requests. 

From down the hall approaching closer came the pitter-patter of steps, he turned his tall frame toward the direction of the sound just as a few familiar faces revealed themselves from the library entrance. 

“Monsieur Neuvillette! Come quickly! A human! A human appeared!” A group of Melusines tugs on the fabric of his slacks while pointing toward the phenomenon. 

A mortal in this domain? A cavern hidden deep under the land and waters where the warmth of the sun couldn’t grace. How did such a being find their way into this sanctum?  It’d be best that he alleviates their worries. 

“Please lead the way.” Neuvillette closes the novel, returning it to the confines of its shelf. 

His swift movements in time with the melusines’ frantic patter as they made their way out from his estate.

Soon the tops of the Melusines’ cozy homes of Merusea Village came into view, as did the murmuring of a distraught crowd. 

“Excuse me.” His steps made their presence known, their heads perked up to look at him before parting a path for Neuvillette. 

Upon the maroon pasture of Merusea Village was a blanket of silk and woven lace, snowy fabric surrounding the still figure of a human.

Treading closer Neuvillette kneels down while reaching out a hand, weaving his fingers under the fabric which obscures the mortal’s face. 

“We found her while gathering offerings from the waters … Is she…” The anxious murmuring quiets to await his verdict. 

“She has a pulse,” he reveals, fingertips detecting wisps of warmth along cold skin. 

It was faint, but his attentive eyes caught onto the slow movement of her chest. The snowy fabric had greedily drunk up the essence of the sea. Cursing her to sink deeper below the tides. 

To leave a mortal in such a state would be too cruel of a fate. 

Neuvillette moves his hand to support her covered head as his other arm gathers the damp fabric under her legs.

Carefully, he stands back to his full height, cradling her limp body in his hold. An audience of fretful gazes follow his motions.

“Do not fret, she only requires some rest and a change of clothing, I’ll take her to my abode. Could you gather some cloth to dry down her body?” Neuvillette’s melodic voice just barely above a whisper, so as not to stir the figure in his arms.

His expression softens to offer the compassionate creatures some reassurance. With firm nods the Melusines scatter, determination alight in their bright irises as they sought the necessary items to care for their newfound guest. 

The dampness of the heavy fabric seeps into his own attire as Neuvillette turns the knob to grant him entry into his abode. 

Quietly ambling through the spacious halls, the master bedroom came into view. Neuvillette lays the limp form upon his sheets, ensuring that her head rests slowly upon the soft pillows. 

Just as her figure sinks into the mattress, a chorus of metallic clinks catches his attention. Glancing down her body his lilac eyes discover the origin.

A pair of silver shackles encased around her ankles, the unforgiving metal digging into defenseless flesh. 

Gingerly, he takes one ankle into his grasp to better observe the shackles.

This time he couldn’t fight against the deep frown as it debuted upon his lips. His eyes hone on how tightly those heavy chains were bound along the flesh. 

Soon the unforgiving metal crashes down to the floor, he soothes the freed skin with his thumb while checking for any other possible wounds. 

Lilac eyes travel up to her face for any sign of discomfort, only to be reminded that her face was concealed behind a shroud of lace. 

How uncomfortable it must be to have a cold piece of fabric to cover one’s face. Neuvillette places her ankle back onto the bed.

His large hands took hold of the damp veil to lift it from her resting frame, revealing to his draconic eyes for the first time their face. 

The veil stays suspended in the air as his hands cease all motion. Hardened gaze tracing over her features, the curve of her cheeks, the slope of her nose, and the structure of her face.

Repeated details he had long seared into his consciousness. 

Within those mortal tales, there’s a wide variety of beasts and fearsome creatures. Dragons were depicted as such omnipotent beasts. But there’s a monster all other beast falls secondary to, the devil. 

They didn’t possess the sharpest talons nor the largest fangs. No, what made them so horrifying is that they dawned the most enchanting faces. 

He’s staring at it right now. The face of the devil who deceived him. 

Those gods must be laughing at him right now. Those false idols, with their capricious fate and whims, who once must’ve shook hands with you to carry out their schemes all those years ago. 

The scheme which imprisons him here in this humiliating form of the mortal creatures those false idols loved so much. 

Yes, a devil, that must be what you are. For how did a meek mortal trick a dragon who once held the full authority of the tides?

His chest expands with a deep breath before a long exhale leaves him. Ah, yes that must be why this white gown has appeared before him again. He removes the senseless scrap of lace, checking once more for signs of discomfort before he turns his body away. 

Finding himself outside the threshold of his bedroom as he closes the door behind him. He should wait here for the Melusines to arrive with a change of clothes and towels. 

It’d buy him enough time to steadily return the tempestuous loch to a subdued ripple in a pond. His chest expands once more with a deep inhale. 

A second cruel rendition unfolding once more in the narrative of time.  

The crisp turn of a page resounds through the room. Lilac eyes glanced up from the text every so often to watch the steady rises and falls of your chest from his vantage point of a wooden chair pulled up to the bedside. 

Heavy lashes still shut just as they were the day your drenched figure was pulled from the tides by merciful hands. 

The journey to wisdom is lined with mistakes, mistakes providing teachings one must ingrain into their very being if they don’t wish to repeat such blunders again.

Just as how a burn seared into skin is a forever reminder that fire indeed burns indiscriminately. 

A scar ingrained deep within him cries out for Neuvillette to withdraw from the fire which scorned him so long ago. 

Alas, it’s duty which has sat him down beside your sleeping form. You’re the first guest this cove has seen in a long time, thus bringing you under the responsibility of the host, Neuvillette himself. 

A stir brings his stoic gaze back away from his thoughts. Your chest rises with a long inhale as leaden lashes flutter open.

The cadence of your breaths begins to rise as more of your senses return to you. Fatigue evident in each slow drag of breath. 

“Ah, I see you’ve awoken.” Neuvillette observes. 

Your muscles momentarily forget their fatigue as your head snaps toward the owner of the deep voice. Eyes now wide and alert. 

“My apologies, it wasn’t my intention to startle you.” He casts a glance toward the steaming bowl on the nightstand. 

He could feel the weight of your stare travels up his figure. Do you perhaps remember him? Can you recall his lush snowy locks streaked with azure? Irises that held an all too familiar hue, a multitude of lilac shades much like a field of lavenders.

Does this ‘you’ remember the dragon you fooled? 

“W-who are you?...” Your gaze was too cowardly to meet his.

Ah, have the cycle of death and rebirth washed those sins and memories?

The tonality of your trembling voice filled with puzzlement instead of recognition. He should’ve expected this much.

This you is nothing more than a stranger who shares the face of a devil. 

“Where am I?” Another question leaves those lips in the absence of a response. 

Just give him a moment, allow him to pacify the surging torrent within so their bitterness doesn’t seep into his words. 

“You’re in our village!” A cheery voice joins the conversation. 

Two pairs of eyes land upon a short figure with a pair of pastel horns. You blink once, then twice, then slowly thrice. Inquisitive eyes stared right back at you. 

“W-what… are you?” Instinct commanding your body to retract deeper into the sheets. 

A sharp cough halts your actions, drawing your attention back to the man as he lowers his hand down from his lips. 

“She’s a Melusine, they prefer to be addressed using she/her pronouns,” he elucidates, an ever so subtle chastise in his tone. 

“Oh…” You advert your gaze again, shame creeping onto your cheeks from your unintentional discourtesy. 

A few breaths of silence follow, he observes you studying everything but the two figures just beside the bed.

Your fingers soothing over the soft cotton nightgown against your skin, a change from that restrictive and ornate dress. 

“We, Melusines, helped you change out of that wet dress. Big sister Sedene said you’d get sick if we left you in that.” 

It looks like your diverted gaze wasn’t as subtle as you originally thought. Sheepishly you extend your gratitude. 

“Thank you…” Your words draw out, a brow quirked as your stare remained on her short form. 

“Kiara!” She points to herself with a mitten hand. 

“Thank you, Kiara.” You finish. 

Her mittened hand then gestures to the towering man beside her. 

“This is Monsieur Neuvillette! He’s the one who carried you here,” she announces. 

“T-thank you, Monsieur Neuvillette.” You could only gather the courage to glance at the wall behind him. 

“Just Neuvillette is fine,” his tone melodic and calm. “Are you able to sit up?”

Nodding your head, you attempt to fight through the fatigue of your muscles. Neuvillette and Kirara offer their assistance, his firm hands guiding your body up as Kirara adjusts the pillows to support your back. 

Once you were situated, he reached for the bowl placed down earlier. A light clink sounds out from a spoon clattering about the porcelain dish. You glance at the contents, noting the clear amber broth. 

“This should be kind on your stomach while providing you with some much-needed hydration and nutrients.” He holds out the soup. 

A quivering hand attempts to reach up for the bowl, only for muscles to lose to fatigue as your arm limply falls back down to your side. Your strength has yet to return. 

Another clink from the spoon resounds in the room as it gets taken into the grasp of an attentive hand. He holds out a spoonful of the warm soup, but your lips remain shut as a skeptical gaze meets his. 

“Please forgive this inconvenience, but it’s best that you eat something to regain your strength.” The spoon remains unmoving in his hand. 

There’s a rumbling stir within him. A voice snarls into his ear, interrogating him as to why his hand is feeding the very devil who once bit it. 

“If you don’t eat you won’t get better.” Kiara’s eyes are riddled with concern as she observes your sealed lips. 

That was his rebuttal to that snarl.

The Melusines simply don’t wish to see a human in such a pitiful state. Blissful in their ignorance of events that conspired long before their birth. 

 Dignity overpowered by the guilt of seeing such pure eyes marred with worry. 

Soon your lips part, accepting the spoonful of broth delicately offered by him. After he observes you swallowing the first sip, Neuvillette holds out another spoonful. You part your lips again.

Neuvillette overrides the clamorous warnings of his instincts with the duty of being a ‘good host’, bringing another sip to your delicate lips.

With a regular diet of warm broth with servings of Bulle Fruit on the side, you were soon able to pick up the spoon yourself. The fatigue that plagued your bones finally leaves, allowing you to support your body off the mattress which had your shape imprinted into it. 

The Melusines, seemingly born infatuated with humanity, would often gather about your bed.

They were curious about you just as you were about them. To them, you’re the creature from those fairytales he’s read them. 

In exchange for your recollections of warm Summer days and descriptions of lush lilac fields swaying in a gentle breeze, they reveal more about this village.

About how the estate you were currently residing in was refurbished by their own-mittened hands, taking inspiration from the various books depicting what human abodes looked like. 

The beds, drapes, and even rugs are all arranged by them to create a lovely abode. A drastic change to the worn and rampaged shell it once was before their meddling.

Perhaps if he never filled their naive minds with those tales, they wouldn’t be enamored with you and humanity. 

Or maybe it’s the vibrance of your smile that drew their naive souls closer. A warmth like a flickering candlelight beckoning a moth closer.

What are the odds that the hands of fate stayed so faithful to the details of a heroine from so long ago? 

From your image to your bewitching mannerisms, and alluring voice, they’re all identical replicas. You and the ‘devil’ from that tale. 

Wisdom from a lesson learned long ago, he must not repeat the same mistake. He must not be enchanted by the same flame which scorned him. He must ensure a breadth between you and him, just as those tiresome voices call for. 

However, Neuvillette understands he has a responsibility as a host. Thus, he regularly checked on your condition, then when you were well enough to stretch your legs he accompanied you on strolls. Maintaining a respectable distance away. 

He guided you through the marble halls of the estate, showing the library and bath which were yours to access whenever you wanted.

Rooms illuminated with the muted glow of luminescence gems and pearls. Water sourced from a hidden freshwater spring. 

Impassive eyes observe yours as you look in awe at the facilities and commendations hidden deep under the tides. Were they comparable to the ones you’ve encountered back on the surface? 

This estate, these wide stone halls, those pearls and jewels once scattered about, were all made just to please the bitter tears of a mortal. Perhaps his first attempt was too subpar to quell the longing to return to the sunlight. 

But gauging from the glimmer reflecting off your eyes, it seems the Melusines attempt was satisfactory at least. 

Today’s stroll took you outside of the estate, Neuvillette accompanying you about a routine walk, watching from behind as your eyes scan the dim realm.

The lanterns lining the path of Melusine's home grace the maroon pastures and rocky walls in place of the faint wisps of sunlight offered by the depths of the sea. 

Very much expected for a village beneath the waves and earth. Were you reminiscing about the warm grace of the sun you felt up there?

It’s not fair to compare the vast sky of the surface to their cavern hidden away from the eyes of the mortals, perhaps even the divine themselves. 

“Monsieur Neuvillette?” You began today’s attempt at a conversation. 

“Yes?” He hums in acknowledgment. 

He keeps sentences brief, but informative. Counters to your attempts at conversation. 

“I’m aware this might sound strange, but is there a dragon down here?” Turning back to face him.

His strides stop as a lull of silence falls over the both of you. The weight of his unshaken gaze upon your shoulders caused them to tense up.

Your hands find each other for comfort under his oppressive stare as he awaits the reason behind this odd inquiry. 

“W-well you see, Fontaine has been having awful weather for years now. Saltwater ruining crops and persistent heavy rain, it’s because the Hydro Dragon is crying from his loneliness. I was selected and offered as his bride, to stop the rain, that’s what The Oratrice instructed,” you babble out. 

“So…do you know where he is?” Sheepishly you glance up. 

The lilac hues of his eyes connect with yours as his lips remain unmoving. Staring into your eyes as he contemplates what you have just revealed to him. Your hands fumble together as you await his response.

“So humans are still telling that local legend…” He sighs. 

He has to rein it back. The torrent which threatens to brew within him. Deep breaths to remind himself about the nature of mortals. 

Humans are fickle and meek creatures who constantly yearn for something divine to worship, a figurehead to guide them in the turbulence of life.

When faced with hardship and destitution, they believe such concepts to be punishment from above. 

Thus, they invent traditions to appease those false idols. Going to great lengths in attempts to pacify those unseen forces, even if it meant sacrificing one of their own. 

Perhaps this was the trait of mortals that made them so favored by the usurpers, their naive devotion feeding into the greed of selfish gods.

Maybe that’s why those false idols uprooted the land that belonged to dragons. 

“I wonder just how far that fable has spread by now,” he sighs again.

His lashes flutter shut in exasperation as a huff leaves him. It was a moment before they flutter back open to hone in on you. There’s no use in keeping his identity from you any longer. 

“Do I seem lonely in your eyes?” Baritone voice steady and low. 

No sounds fall from your agape lips as your eyes reexamine his features, this time shamelessly ogling the peculiar details you’ve brushed off previously.

Do you notice it now? How his ears were a bit too pointed, or those two particular cerulean strands of ‘hair’ poking out from his snowy locks. 

As you study the specifics of his eyes, do you now comprehend the sharp dark pupils that cut through the multitude of lilac shades? Much like a shadow cutting through a field of lavenders. 

“You’re the Hydro Dragon,” you deduce. 

He nods in confirmation. Only causing your eyes to scan over him again as your mind reels back from this revelation. 

In those stories you’ve read back on the surface, how did they depict him? As a towering scaled beast with fangs and claws? Are you wondering why he’s not matching that description? 

“I’m aware that my current shape might not convey such a presence, ” he answers your unspoken question. 

He fights for his lips to remain stoic, not allowing the weight of a frown to pull them down. You don’t know, you don’t need to know, he reminds himself. 

A detail excluded from the pages of that tale, the ‘princess’ would only ever look at him, would only ever smile at him when a dragon took on this shape. A form which mirrors humans. 

In fact, she was so fond of this human shell of his that she cursed him to dwell within it for the rest of eternity. 

Neuvillette takes another deep breath, quelling the stir once more. You look like you had more questions. 

“So… does that mean the need for a bride is fictitious?” You clutch your hands tighter. 

Some years ago, the Melusines were born from spilled blood. A new generation of successors of the brethren he once forsaken. Making this prison much less lonesome, voiding the accuracy of the sentence in that tale. 

If that was the case, then why did the waters still rage? Why did the pittering of rain drown out all bird songs and tumults of perplexed citizens? Is there a way he could simplify the details missed by storytellers for generations? 

After that ‘happily ever after’, a dragon cursed his devil just as she cursed him. 

No, such expositions would be an unfair burden upon your shoulders. 

“It’s not fictitious.” Turning to gaze out at the depths of the underground realm, he takes a breath before continuing. 

“The land which your nation, Fontaine, resides on is stolen land,” he reveals. “More accurately all of what you know as ‘Teyvat’ was stolen from the dragons, my fellow brethren.” 

The furrow in your brows deepens as you listen on. 

“My brethren were banished to the depths for the sake of humanity. A dragon’s rage isn’t something that can be easily quelled.” He glances back at you. 

“A union between a dragon and a human, a show of peace between the two species. Even if the origins of this ritual have been embellished heavily, it serves the same purpose to pacify the ancient dragon’s rage,” he concludes. 

Neuvillette wonders if this tale was enough to satisfy your inquiry, if his attempt at the human practice was enough to simplify the events muddled and twisted by time.

Impassive eyes scan over your expression, not missing the glimmer ever so bright within. 

“So… has the rain stopped?” Your hands almost clasped together in prayer. 

He nods, the shine growing ever so luminous in those blameless irises, one he couldn’t resist the enchantment of. That all too familiar look in your eyes. 

“That’s good.” A slow smile made its appearance upon plush lips.

Ah. He remembers what that look was called, voices of recollection pulling him away from the edge. Just before he fell into bewitchment once more.

That look wasn’t relief, nor was it salvation. It's duty. He takes a slow and deep inhale. 

Just as it was all those years ago, the narrative of this tale did not stray away from the plot. He must be more careful. 

There’s been a still lull engulfing the atmosphere down in a hidden cavern. So still in fact that walks amongst maroon patches of grass have stopped. Your body was well enough to explore the corners of the state without assistance. 

No reason for him to remain by your side throughout the day, and no reason for you to shadow him. 

Neuvillette and you keeping mostly to one’s self. It was just the natural progression of things. After all, the ritual had been completed and the tides had receded. You’ve served your duty once more. 

A foreign aroma was wafting through the estate, strange enough for Neuvillette to leave the library to investigate the origins of this aroma.

Steps slowing as the clacker of pots and pans becomes more distinct. The entrance of the estate kitchen comes into view, and he peers in to see a few familiar faces. 

“Oh? Monsieur!” Rhemia notices his presence. 

An assortment of vegetables, spices, and even some meats from fresh catches were spread about the table as a pan sizzling over a crackling fire.

Ingredients gathered from offering dropped down below the tides. The recent influx could be attributed to how the hymn of the rain has ceased. 

“Hello, Monsieur Neuvillette.” Your smile greets him. 

Ah, he’s found the explanation behind the foreign aroma and why the variety spread of ingredients was being utilized in a kitchen that was once mainly created just to match those diagrams drawn in novels. 

“I hope you don’t mind my use of the kitchen, I wanted something other than…Consomme Purete.” Wiping your hands with a rag. 

Yes, Consomme Purete.

It was the dish served when you had first woken up, a light but nutritious soup that was kind on your stomach. It had the right amount of hydration balanced with nutrients to sustain oneself, a perfect dish.

The only dish cooked in this kitchen, that was until today. 

Removing a pan from the heat, you carefully transfer the contents onto a plate then place the pan back on the wood stove.

The rich aroma caused an audience of bright-eyed stares from the Melusines to center upon the steaming plate. Their tails make their excitement clear as they gaze upon a dish they’ve never seen before. 

Was this a new passion of this life?... Or was it just one he never got the chance to witness?

Was this the devil before the role of a bride was forced upon her? A devil he’s never known, for all he saw was her performance to stop the deafening rain all those years ago.

His attention was brought back as the chime of cutlery against porcelain was heard, cooked veggies stabbed between the teeth of a fork.

Cupping a hand under the fork, your body leans down to the Melusine’s height, feeding them a bite of the fragrant dish. The wags of their tails increase in cadence as they chew. 

“This is Tasses Ragout, tasty isn’t it?” The corners of your lips curl as you watch their little heads nod eagerly. 

The suspicion melts from his gaze as he observes to the delight in their expressions, a few mitten hands tugging at the skirt of your gown for a bite. A giggle bubbles from your throat.

A scene mirroring that of a mother trying to appease the appetites of her ravenous young. 

Soon your eyes connect and he straightens his posture. Brushing away the nonsensical musing, lilac hue advert away momentarily to recompose themselves before returning. 

“Would you like a taste?” A fork offered in his direction, beckoning closer to take a bite. 

There’s a myth he’s read about, of a forbidden apple held out by the tempter of all tempters, an apple so red and lustrous it made any mouth salivate. 

“Thank you for the offer, however, I’ve already had my lunch.” He refrains. 

A bite from that forbidden fruit was the genesis of disgrace and banishment. A betrayal of commandments once promised. Neuvillette won’t be deceived again. 

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

“Monsieur! Monsieur! Come look!” 

Mittened hands grasping upon his coat and gloved hands as a circle of Melusines guides him through the winding halls, anticipation amping their voices. 

There’s a chorus of giggles resounding through the halls, a joyous clamor of pattering steps against the marble floors.

The estate has been lively ever since your arrival in that white dress, a liveness which reaches his pointed ears even from behind closed doors. 

Regardless, he allows himself to be towed by their skipping steps. Leading him to a room he recognizes as a space where many fabrics and gowns were collected and stored.

Garments made with the intent to be sold to Fontainians, but their crates were capsized over by the ravenous tides. Saved from watery abandonment by curious hands. 

While this form of his could wear a few of those garments, the Melusines had statures much too short for pools of fabric to not drag along the ground. Thus, that collection of fabrics found themselves collecting dust. 

Their steps abruptly stop just at the threshold of the door, mittened hands pressed up against their lips signaling for him to remain silent.

Soon their sights glance into the room as he follows, lilac eyes opening ever so slightly wider as they process the scene in front of him. 

Evening gowns crafted by skilled tailors to be sold to Fontanian ladies, you had the right frame for those garments as well.

A trail of lustrous sapphire silk gathered behind your figure. The artistic stitching and pleating draping the silk around each curve of your body as if you were the only person meant to wear it. 

A few Melusines fussing about the silk train, ever so curious of humanity, they must’ve requested for you to dawn the gown.

Just as they often had requested for him to dawn those fickle suits and coats for their enjoyment.

It seems you bent to their childish whims just as he does. 

“How do you like it?” You ask your audience, twirling about in front of a mirror. 

It’s different from those hardier dresses for when you wandered about the village and estate, in comparison this dress was much less practical. 

“It’s beautiful, Madame!” Their round eyes were enamored.

“I’m glad, who knew you had such an aesthetic eye.” Your expression softens. 

Bending down to Carole’s height, you scooped her up. Cradling her as your forehead touches her horns gently.

“Thank you for such a lovely dress.” Placing tender pats along her head, careful to not disturb her horns and hair. 

Carole leans into your touch as your smile widens. Twirling once more with her in your arms, giggles ringing throughout the room.

Until your head peeked up, finally aware of the silent spectator just behind the door frame. 

“Oh, hello Neuvillette,” you greet him with a smile he doesn’t return.

A tense lull creeps in, and a chill begins to mix with the quiet atmosphere. Lilac eyes pass over your form as Carole remains sat in your arms.

“Monsieur! Isn’t Madame pretty? Look!” Cheery and oblivious voices chime returning the warmth to the air. 

Mitten hands release your skirt as they skitter toward his towering figure. Pride shines in their beaming smiles, awaiting validation of their handy work.

Steadfast eyes lowering themselves to the level of their short statures until the sharp edges gradually dissipate. 

“A fine effort indeed.” A gloved hand extends to rest atop their heads. 

Patting their heads tenderly as they closed their eyes in contentment 

A warmth in those lilac hues, endearment no word could ever encapsulate fully. 

“Are they your daughters?” Your head slants to the side.

His body stills, strictness reinstated in those violet irises just as they met yours. Studying that look within your polite smile, one which didn’t seem to reach your eyes. 

Gloved hand ceasing all movement, his concentration now elsewhere. That expression ghosting your face, what does it mean? 

“My apologies, was it too impudent of a question?” Your gaze adverts away, searching for reprieve in this heavy hush.

A deep breath as he formulates his response. 

“I don’t share blood with them if that’s what you’re inquiring. However, they are the successors of my brethren.” 

“Oh, I see,” you hum. 

 Neuvillette returns to patting their heads, while you readjust your hold on Carole. Subtly bouncing her, while turning back to face the standing mirror.

Casting a glance, he could discern the softness returning to that polite smile. Yet, the dragon has yet to unravel that luster in your irises. 

An audience of bright eyes switches between the Monsieur and Madame. 

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“Bring these to her, you should greet the Madame!” Tiny hands push against Neuvillette’s back. 

The traitorous clicks of his shoes against marble expose his approach.

Your head peers up from the book resting upon your lap, in the midst of reading a tale aloud to an audience. 

Just in time to catch the tall figure of Neuvillette emerging into the library at the behest of the Melusines. 

Lilac eyes meet yours ever so briefly before his gaze averts elsewhere. Gloved hand adjusting a bundle hidden a broad back, brings the other hand up to clear his throat. 

“The Melusines found these when retrieving some offerings from the water, I believe you’ll enjoy them.” He presents their trinket. 

A simple collection of dainty petals clustered together, pastel hues contrast against vivid virescent leaves. A quaint ribbon tied around the stems holding the bunch together held out in front of your face.

The recipient stares in round-eyed astonishment at the fragrant blooms before a smile melts into your lips. 

“Thank you.” You accept the bouquet from his hand. 

Admiring the rustic arrangement and the saccharine aroma as the Melusines sat around you leaned in closer to catch a whiff too. 

“These are called Pluie Lotus up on the surface, they smell nice right?” Giggling lightly as you held the bouquet closer to their noses. 

Grin ever present upon your lips as your soft eyes watch their marvel of such simple weeds. A bloom foreign to this realm abandoned by the sunlight. 

There’s subtle slack in his posture, a budding smile just about to unfold just as your head peers back up. Every fiber in Neuvillette’s being tenses, goosebumps slithering up his nape. 

Frozen there only able to witness your eyes study back and forth the hues of his irises and the periwinkle color tinting the fragile petals.

He watches an epiphany light up in your widened eyes as the bouquet was lifted higher, turning back to face him. 

Don’t. Don’t say the words he knows are hanging off the tip of that honeyed tongue. 

“They are the same lovely color as your eyes, Neuvillette.” You beam at him, the corners of your eyes crinkling from the stretch of your lips. 

His posture returns to its rigid and upright state, a hand hidden from view balls up into a fist.

A sharpness threatening to break through leather confines and into his palm, as if they were attempting to grapple the surging torrent stirred up within himself. 

Why? Why was this line from a script being recited word for every damn word? All said with that saccharine smile plastered over those wicked lips? 

Indecipherable eyes narrow ever so slightly before he catches himself. Reining in the torrent just before it seethed out.

He clears his throat again to swallow back the bitterness. 

“Do excuse me, please return to your reading session,” he utters his parting. 

Promptly turning to return to his secludedness, stepping past the Melusines gathered by his side.

Swift strides through the empty halls leaving you to your peace and him to his peace, just as it should’ve been. Much to the pouts of a disappointed audience. 

However, he didn’t have the mind to contemplate their discontent. Not when these rabid bellows drown out every other thought in their rancor.

Like a sea starved for vengeance, ravenous to settle a debt against those vile gods and their beloved creations. 

A brass knob was abruptly twisted, hinges squealing in surprise as at the force as Neuvillette shuts it behind himself.

Ragged breathes resounding through the reprieve of his bedroom. Away from innocent bystanders and the devil who showed her face again after all these centuries for an encore.  

Has he not been humiliated enough? He tugs at his cravat, freeing himself from the fickle decoration constricted about his neck in this already imprisoning body.

A form which binded him no matter how violently talons and fangs clawed and chewed, unable to leave a singular dent upon this damn curse. 

This was humiliating enough, bound to this cove that separated him from the sea which cries for their sovereign.

He once believed this penitentiary was obscured away from the peeking eyes of capricious gods. Perhaps, he’s wrong. 

Why is this fantasy being played out right in front of his eyes now after all these years?

To have you by his side, to have you reside in the home he craved out and inlaid pearls into, to see you smile and cradle young against your bodice. It’s insulting. 

Because this was all he ever wanted. This was all he had ever wanted. 

The lonesome dragon only ever yearned for a maiden’s endearment. He once believed she adored him back just the same. 

Because while she lay within his arms under silken covers, her bare skin pressed against his mortal shape, her enchanting eyes always regarded him with such tenderness as her delicate hand stroked his cheek. 

A glimmer he once believed was love.  

The tale written along the parchment implied that the ‘princess’ loved the dragon. However, that was inaccurate. She never did. 

For if she loved him, then she wouldn’t have deceived him.

She wouldn’t have ever whispered his secret to the town’s folk. Those foul creatures who then used his secret, which was once reserved solely for ‘you’.

Why? That simple question taunted him for decades as he rotted in this mocking solitude.

Why did ‘you’ yearn for the sun more than him? Was his love not enough to replace the warmth of a star? Was the home he made not enough when compared to the extravagance of humanity? 

Or was it because blood and water, no matter how much they intertwine and mix, could never produce wine? 

If… if the Melusines had been born just a few centuries earlier, then would you have been satisfied by his side? An answer he could already discern.

 Because after his decades of solitude within these deridingly hushed walls, he finally accepted the truth. 

 She loved her people, they took up all the space of her heart, leaving no room for a prideful leviathan.

What a clever plan it all was, to distract a sovereign from his duty, cleansing stolen land with a flood of vengeance, by sending a maiden.

A woman so bewitching, so enchanting, and so lovely, that a proud dragon couldn’t resist bending to her whims. Spilling the secret hidden deep within him into her ear. 

Abandoning his true form to be confined in the shape she favored the most. Then lured up to the surface, suspicions obstructed by the dazzlement of a false welcome from the nation of Fontaine. 

Unaware until the scorching knife was already lodged in his back. Using the secret he had only ever told you, those meek creatures of the usurpers wished: