đœđș warnings đœđș 12.9K word count. blackfemoriginal!reader, crossover!fic, best friends!tojixonyankopon, contractors!tojixonyankopon, husband!tojifushiguro, countryboycoded!toji, contractor!toji, grumpy!toji, sweet!toji, dominant!toji, countryboycoded!onyankopon, contractor!onyankopon, grumpy!onyankapon, sweet!onyankapon, dominant!onyankapon, threesome, black woman, vaginal penetration, rough sex, lil bit of sweet talkinâ, hair pulling, creaming, choking, squirting, praising, LOTS of dirty talk/aggressive dirty talk, size kink, condomless sex, creaming, slapping ass/face, kissing, just a fine ass black + japanese man, minors arenât welcome!
You kept asking yourself that question as your puffy lips poked in a pout, round eyes flickering in between the looming frames above you. Your freckled cheeks flushed as they glared in return of your angelic faceâand then, impurely so, you crawled to them. Â
You couldnât have been that naive. Not to realize their plan, or how long theyâd been onto you. But none of this was your plan at all. It justâhappened.Â
Youâd been married to Toji for four years now, falling in love the moment he approached you in the streets of Tokyo, Japan. You were studying abroad in grad school, telling him that youâd been working on your masters degree within Administration, to which he replied that he shared a business with his partnerâa contractor, he was.Â
You would never forget that initial interaction. The onyx of his hair tousled in a flawless way, matching the natural frown of his full eyebrows each time he watched you speak.Â
He allowed you to ramble off with low hums of âMmmâ, even with it being the first conversation between the two of you. And to be honest, it made you nervous. From the warm ivory of his complexion that was coated with tattoos, being so many that they traveled beneath the white tee he wore, to his frame that was tall, lean, and builtâthe cadence of his deep voice, a gruffness to his tone as a cigarette sunk between the side of his full lipsâHe was like no other.Â
But you feigned an innocence he couldnât pull from. The deep ginger curls draping around your freckled cheeks flushed as he spoke to you, round eyes beaming from beneath your lashesâyou wore a cherry blossom within your tresses, pale pink mini dress clad around your curvy figure as you held textbooks beneath your arms. Your giggles, your smile, all those things made you like no other even more so.Â
He wanted you.Â
You both resided in New Orleans as his business was the most successful there, receiving a multitude of clients after Hurricane Katrina hit the city years before. Behind that scary demeanor was a man with wholehearted compassionâHe helped others create their new homes after losing their old ones, becoming known as the most popular contractor along the West Bank. But of course, he had a little help along the way.Â
He offered you a job as his businessâ consultant manager, able to give feedback on their personal brand as contractors, as well as answering emails and phone callsâbut hereâs where the issue began.Â
Onyankopon.
The first time meeting him was entirely friendly, even when his looks mightâve had your stomach do a flip. To the heavy New Orleans twang that slipped between a few creole words as he spoke to you, to the strength of his hand when he shook yours. The sepia of his smooth skin complexion shined in cocoa butter, strident jaw clenching as he shook the small frame of your palm.
Youâ little as hell, you remember him telling you.Â
He was an extreme contrast to Tojiâopen faced grills within his mouth, teeth straight and white each time he smiled or laughed. His lips were a deep pink, full, kissablâ
Teeth. His teeth were nice.
Your eyes ran across the neatly braided cornrows, broad frame covered in tattoos that moved when he flexed his muscles. In that moment, heâd lifted his shirt to wipe the moisture of sweat from his forehead, goatee wafting a shea butter scent from the folliclesâbut you couldnât even finish reading his body over, as your eyes fell right at the sculpt of his abs, Bible scriptures thumping across the flesh as he grunted from the heat of outside. And like an idiot, your reply wasâ
You have big hands.Â
Yeah, you were fucked.Â
Well, at first you werenât. Onyankopon had been the best man in your wedding, constantly coming over to the house, even dozing off on the sofa as you laid a blanket over him. You and him had a good enough rapport with Toji being the common denominatorâso the question was, why did you have the inkling to fuck him?Â
This wasnât cheating, right?Â
Regardless of Toji and Onyankopon growing up together, they were extremely differentâToji was more aggressive, outspoken, able to soften his hard corners the minute he was with you. On the other hand, Onyankopon was sweet, observant, quiet, and stoicâhe was the action, while Toji was the mouth piece.Â
So back to the pointâthis definitely wasnât cheating, right?Â
Okay, but you loved your husband. He was there for you throughout all your highs and lowsâHe was patient, affectionate, hard-working, all the things you wanted within a man. He was the only man youâd ever been withâsexually, romanticallyâso you couldnât understand why your brain was thinking about how big Onyankoponâs hands wereâ
Anyway, this was your husbandâs fault. You couldnât blame him for loving Onyankopon like a brother, but you could blame him for bringing him around more than he should have. He was like a villain to your origin story. Working out with the both of you at the gym, going out with you late at night, hanging around you just as much as your husband did. To make things worse? He was so. Damn. Nice. Opening the door for you, taking your hand as you needed to walk up the stairs, always asking how you felt throughout the day when your husband wasnât able to do so.Â
Itâs not that you wanted him, per se. It was the mixture of both your husband and him within the same room, deep voices talking shit to one another, laughing, eyeing you as you walked past, made dinner, giggled shyly when they both called for your attentionâyou werenât trying to make it obvious that he made you a little fuzzy, but the narrow of your husband's eyes mightâve said otherwise.Â
Now? You were fucked.Â
Here you were now, sitting along your miniature desk as you did emails during the businessâ new project. Both men were working on a house within Uptown, a two story home where the family wanted an all white kitchen. You were in between phone calls and looking over shop drawings to make sure the infrastructure was to the familyâs desires, claw clip within your curls as they draped in between your fingers, sighing as the paper work had you a bit tired.Â
Your eyes wandered over to your husband standing on the opposite side of the room, ear leaning into the screen of his phone as he tugged construction gloves from his large palmsâOnyankopon on the opposite side of him, plummeting his hammer into the wall above. You watched both men for a brief moment, as they both wore forest green long sleeves, tugging to the muscular frame of their shoulders and abdomen.Â
When you heard the click of Tojiâs lighter, your eyes rolled.
âPlease donât smoke in someone elseâs house, Fushiguro.â
Of course, that natural frown appeared seconds later. Your husbandâs eyebrows lowered, wrist knocking down as he shook off the ash collecting at the tip of his cigar.Â
ââBout to go outsideâ he grunts to you, âThe wife said she wants white oak instead of maple for the counter.âÂ
Onyankopon hadnât turned towards either of you, but he did stop his hammering, a low breath huffing from his lips as he grunted in return, âWhy she ainât say that shit earlier? Iâm finnaâ get started on the window.âÂ
Toji releases a puff of smoke, âHusband said heâll pay double.â
âThat donâtâ make it any less work.â
Your husbandâs grey eyes peered over his slightly irritated friend, a glint within them as he leaned forward, blowing smoke towards Onyankopon.
He now fully turned from where he stood, brown eyes stabbing every inch of Tojiâs bodyâhis low voice warns, âChill out, nigga. You see Iâm trynaâ figure out what I need to do.âÂ
Both men always had an interesting dynamicâone could be playful, while the other couldnât be at all. It was always easy for Toji to rile up Onyankopon.Â
âYouâre mad âcause more money âbout to go in your pocket?â Toji raises an eyebrow, âQuit whininâ.â
Onyankopop turns to face the wall, hand holding onto the hammer, âAinât nobody whininâ. Stop talkinâ to me.âÂ
Toji glances back at you from the other side of the room, a wink being sent in your direction.
You roll your eyes at the both of them, âAnd where does she think weâre gonna find White Oak at nearly six in the afternoon?â
âSheâs trynaâ change everything to white oak,â Toji clarified, âCountertops to white granite, cabinets to off white.â
Thatâs when Onyankopon tosses the hammer beside his boot. He crosses his arms to lean his back along the wall, face hard from this conversation.Â
âShe might as well do a whole new renovation,â he mutters.Â
âYouâ the only one complaining.â
âDonât mean I ainât right,â Onyankopon counters, âShit donâtâ make sense. We got three more days before the contract is up, and now she on someâ HGTV bullshit.â
ââCanât complain if thatâs what they want.âÂ
Onyankopon turns towards you.Â
âHowâ you feelinâ about this?â
You blink at the question, not wanting to be in the middle of one of their usual disputes. You tug a ginger curl behind your ear, scrunching your nose to adjust the tip of your glasses.Â
Your voice is soft, âOnyankoponâs right, baby. I think itâs a little late for changes in renovations when youâre already halfway done with the kitchen.â
You see your husband's jaw tighten at your confirmation, his back straightening as he glances between the two of you. Even if he didnât agree, he had to understand his partner's point of view.Â
âI hear both of you,â Toji glances at Onyankopon, âWhat you wannaâ tell them?âÂ
âFinish the current cabinet set up, make the kitchen white, and she can set another appointment if she wanna add other shit.â
You glance down to the paper beneath you, pen flicking beneath your fingers, âWe still need more mapleâthink you can make it to Home Depot before they close?â
Toji gives a nod of approval, stomping on the butt of the cigar he was trying to finish, âI got it. Gonnaâ head that way.âÂ
Onyankopon's eyebrows raise in surprise, âYou goinâ by yoâself?â
âWhy? You gonnaâ kiss and make up with me now?â
Onyankoponsâ eyes narrow, âAinât nobody kissinâ yoâ overgrown ass, nigga.âÂ
âYou sound like a damn teenager.âÂ
ââCause Iâm arguinâ with one.â
âCan you tell me you love me and stop arguing, please?â you tilt your head, âCome gimmeâ some love.âÂ
The smallest smile mightâve found Tojiâs mouth.Â
âYou want love?â His footsteps approach your desk, heavy on the wooden floor, âYou want some love, huh?âÂ
His large hand runs up the length of your shoulder, fingers finding your neck as he pushes your chin up, âYou hearinâ me?â
âMhm,â you hum, pulling him lower by the bicep of his arm, âDonât be long,â You rub your nose against his, âYou love me?â
Toji brings his other hand to the other side of your neck, thumbs grazing your cheeks with that signature smirk on his lips, âYou know I do.âÂ
He pulls your face towards his, gruff as he questions, âYou like when I tell you that?âÂ
Youâre met with the familiar taste of his mouth, tongue exploring yours as he sighs through his nose, hushing your small giggle through the kiss.Â
âAight,â Onyankopon interrupts, âYâall know Home Depot finnaâ close, huh?âÂ
Toji raises his middle finger in the direction of the other man, giving you a couple more pecksâhis hand lingers along your neck when he turns back to his friend, âYouâre still over there cryinâ? Let me kiss my woman.â
He then stands to his full height, ââNeed anything from me before I leave, wifey?â Â he sarcastically questions Onyankopon.Â
Onyankoponsâ eyes roll up in the direction of the ceiling, hand moving to rub the bridge of his nose. âJust gonâ head, Fushiguro.âÂ
âHave those emails ready for me,â He gives a kiss to your forehead, âBehave.â
He then extends back up once more, âWatch my woman for me, bastard.â
âI always do,â Onyankopon murmurs, âSheâ good with me.â
And with that, the door closed.
You didnât expect your husband to be gone for almost two hours. He wasnât answering the phone, and the heat seeping into the home had you ready to call it quits. Your fingers were lazily typing across the keyboard, flickering up to Onyankopon every once in a while.Â
You softly ask, âDid he text you back?â
Onyankoponsâ brown eyes glance up from his own set of papers.Â
âNah,â he replies, âI called him, ainât answer.âÂ
You pout your lips at the news, now knowing Toji was really taking his time.Â
Onyankopon notices your face.
âHe ainât dead, shawty. Nigga prollyâ searchinâ for the best maple wood in all of New Orleans. Heâd overwork himself before givinâ a bad service.â
The words make you smile a bit, knowing your husband just as much as he did.
You say, âIâm sorry. I just hate when he goes awolâI probably sound annoying.â
Onyankopon lets out a low chuckle, one that rumbles through the release of his chest. His attention was now on you instead of those papers, leaned forward in his chair. His shoulders seemed to expand in size.Â
âYounâ sound annoying, just worried,â He leans forward more, âHe ainât good at checkinâ the time when he be runninâ errands.â
He looks back down at his work, a moment of silence passing before he glances up again,
âYou ainât hungry, are you?â
Your eyes find themselves back to his face, realizing how long youâd glance over his muscular frame.
âHm?â You process the question, âUmâno, Iâm fine. I donât like to bother you guys about food while youâre working and Iâm just sitting, yâknow?âÂ
You adjust your glasses once more, âIâm fine, really.â
Onyankopon squinted his eyes in the direction of you, eyebrows cocking up when he asked, âYou ainât eat nothinâ today?âÂ
His voice was like honey. Sweet, with a deep rumble, and it didnât help the fact that he was giving you his full attention.Â
âYou know you ainât no bother to me. I can go grab you sumâ.â
The thing was, you were hungry. Toji was sweet enough to have pack you a lunch earlier, one that youâd already scarfed down and hadnât thought about until this moment. You werenât sure why you couldnât just say all that, but maybe it had to do with the way he looked at you.
Something him and your husband had in commonâit was that damn glare they kept upon their faces, whether they were happy, upset, or just fixated on something. You hated to say that the sight had you shifting within your chair.
Your face flushes a bit, âIâm okay, Ony. Thank you.â
You mightâve been crazy. You swear you saw the corner of his mouth lifting at the nickname, but it happened too fastâ it had to be a trick of the sunlight.Â
âYou sure?âÂ
The concern he displayed was always so pure, it made you wanna kill him.
You nod, âPromise. Iâm just gonna finish my emails,â you nearly fumbled your words, âI have a couple more to do.â
âYounâ gotta overwork yoâself, Mama. You can stop if youâ exhausted,â he gently adds, âToji gonâ be out for a minute.âÂ
There was that look again, the one that felt deep within your body, like you were entirely naked in front of him.Â
There was also the fact that your heart was pounding. It was either a heart attack, or you were going to spontaneously combustâ
âYouâ warm?â He questions, âYou sweatinâ.â
You quickly glance down your body, noticing the sheen of your skin. The soft yellow halter dress you wore hugged along your wide hips with the mixture of sweatâbut nothing was worse when you realized your nipples seeping through the fabric up top. You werenât even cold.Â
You run your fingers through your hair, pulling your curls farther away from the back of your neck. You awkwardly giggle, ââS just really hot in here.â
The corner of his mouth definitely twitched up that time, like he had an idea of what was happening to you right now. He probably didnât. You hoped he didnât.Â
You could see the muscles of his arms flex when he shifted in his chair, fingers of his left hand scratching along his facial hair.
âIt is,â he agrees, âImmaâ finish up this window.â
When he stands from his seat, you then hear, âYou need me?âÂ
You blink, eyes flickering over him as your mouth goes dry, âHuh?â
âI said, you lemmeâ know if you need anything, aight?â
You were losing it.
âOkay,â you force the most normal smile, âGot it.â
This had to be your personal hell. It mightâve been enjoyable for anyone else, but this was the worst thing you couldâve witnessed. You were trying to finish your work, but you found yourselfâŠglancing above your computer.
Onyankoponsâ hands were rough, strong with large palms as he held up the thick glass window, the muscles within his arms flexing from the power of it. A few beads of sweat fell within the crevasses of his chest, dripping down and soaking into his shirt, tight from how it stretched across his body. His dark brows were focused, tongue running across his lips as his jaw was set, feet were slightly spread apart, like a soldier, stance strongâGod, he was so strong.Â
His hair was braided back, sweat beading and traveling down his temples, face focused on the work in front of him. He gave a loud huff as he nailed in the window frame, face scowling as his biceps flexed.Â
Lord Jesus.Â
But oh, you mustâve been in the seventh ring of hell when he tugged that shirt off of his body. Heâd begun playing music to keep himself distracted, but if only he knew.Â
The tattoos that lined his arms and chest were now on full display, shiny with the sweat. His chest and abs flexed from the work of lifting heavy objects, the thick length of his tatted neck and shoulders flexing from the movements.Â
And then, so attractively, he rolled his neck back, grunting as he lifted the weight of the glass once more.Â
You felt dizzy.
Your cheeks flushed as you watched him, eyes staring almost dreamily. There was nothing more attractive than a man working hard, sweat pouring down his body as he pushed his strength to the limits. It made youâimagine things. Your body throbbed at your thoughts, a small frown coming between your lips at the sight.Â
But that frown quickly erased, as your heart nearly dropped into your ass the moment you heard the door unlock. You hiked your body up to the perfect sitting position, scattering your fingers for your pen as you scribbled random words along the bottom of your papers.Â
You couldnât even look in Tojiâs direction.
Your husband couldâve called out your name, but you still wouldnât have looked over. So when Toji appeared beside your desk, his strong arm draping over your shoulders, the weight nearly startled you.
âBabydoll,â he rasped, âWhatâs goinâ on? You need some water?â
Your eyes glanced at Onyankopon.Â
Kissing Tojiâs jaw, your face flushed as you deflected, âThe Louisiana heat is direâwhat took you so long, baby?â
Tojiâs eyebrows quirked up at your sudden affection, catching the tense in your body. However, being your easily distracted husband, he loved when you wanted to be on him. His hands rubbed over your arms, attempting to soothe you a bit.
âThe closest Home Depot didnât have the wood in stock,â he murmured, âDamn near traveled the entire state.â
Your hips had always been your sensitive spot, lower body shivering a bit as he began to rub there. You found yourself wanting to hold his face, tugging his body to be closer as you told him, ââMissed you, Toji.â
His grip was light, a thumb brushing along the curve of one of your eyebrows.Â
âYeah?â he murmured back.Â
He noticed the way you tried to look elsewhere.Â
His fingers came to grip beneath your chin, gently forcing your attention back to him.Â
âEyes,â he reminded, âNeed emâ here.âÂ
Your husband was a lot of things, but oblivious wasnât one of them.
âIâm just a little tired,â you found something to say, your hands rubbing at the smoothness of his jaw, rubbing his neck, rubbing everywhere to distract him.
Toji leaned into your touch, but not much. It made your heart beat more.Â
âYou sure thatâs the only thing?â
You nod, âMhm.â
His frown flickers your face once more, but the warmth of your palms was all too soothing. His mouth grunted along your throat, âMissed you too,â kissing pecks along the warm flesh. Your fingers sunk into his hair as you giggled a bit, leaning your head back for him to keep his affection going. But in that moment, your eyes mightâve glanced at Onyankopon once more.Â
If only youâd realized that your husband noticed.
Finishing off the night was another hour later, as youâd both said your goodbyes to Onyankopon, quickly making it home to wash off the heat of the day. You sat in the vanity your husband had built for you, angles carved within the gold trim of the mirror, lights attached to the surface below to do your skincare or makeup.Â
As your husband was within the shower, your mind wandered. Youâd hoped todayâs little hiccup was a spur of the moment, and that youâd become a bit delirious from the heat. However, you still thought about the way Onyankopon looked at you, and something in that still had your thighs squeezing together.
âPretty girl,â you hear your husband call, the bathroom door opening to reveal him within a towelâit hangs low on his muscular hips, abs sweltering in water, upper body flexing as he dries the damp of his hair.Â
âYou finished up those emails earlier?â
Shit.Â
The tips of your fingers swiped along your cheek with oil, your eyes briefly finding his as you replied, âUmâNo, I didnât.â
Toji raised an eyebrow in your direction, not used to hearing your denial of finished work.
âWhat happened?â
Your body shivered under the intensity of his gaze, the heat of the shower steam slowly crawling into the room.Â
âGot distracted with a couple of phone calls,â was your lie, âWant me to finish them before bed?â
âYou seem distracted now,â he points out, ââCan barely make eye contact with me.â
âYouâre the most handsome man in the world,â you hum, âWhat can I say?â
Toji huffs a chuckle.
His gaze still hardened on you, studying you with those all-seeing eyes of his. You kept your head turned, face flushing again, fingers moving along your facial products as you pretended not to feel it. Thatâs when you hear him again. Â
âLet me ask you somethinâ.â
Your heart immediately started beating, turning towards him with raised eyebrows.Â
You tug a curl behind your ear, âYeah?âÂ
Toji leaned his hip along the edge of the sink, towering over you even with feet away.
âHow you feelinâ âbout Onyankopon?â he flatly questions, âYou like him?âÂ
Your eyes blink at the question. You tilt your head, âYouâve been friends for years. Why wouldnât I?â
Toji lets a low hum escape his chest while his thumbs hooked at the hips of his towel. His biceps flexed from the position.Â
âThatâs not what I asked.âÂ
You tried to keep your expression neutral.Â
âWhat are you asking, then?â
âTo be honest with me.âÂ
Onyankopon wasnât a topic he treaded lightly on, especially when it concerned you. He wasnât a possessive man by any means, but any question he asked, he wanted the truth.Â
He repeats, âYou like him?âÂ
âI donâtââ you went to argue, but his eyes stopped you.
So you try again.Â
âThatâs a bit of a weird question to ask, Fushiguro.â
The corner of Tojiâs mouth twitched with a frown at you dodging the question. His eyes, however, kept you in a hold.Â
âNah,â he disagreed, âIt ainât.âÂ
You sat there quietly, thinking about lying like youâd been doing all day. But the guilt of lying to him felt heavy in your chest. Â
So, with the slightest of hesitance, you softly admitted, âI do.âÂ
You then follow up with, âBut itâs notâŠlike that.â
âMake me understand.â
You shifted in your chair, legs crossing as you attempted to keep your gaze from drifting.Â
You replied, âI donât like him in a romantic way. I justââ
Your teeth scrape at your lip a bit, âItâs just a little fantasy, you know? Thatâs all. I would never act on any of my emotions, Toji. You know that.âÂ
His expression was unreadable.Â
âRight?âÂ
You wanted that confirmation, swallowing hard. Toji studied you, jaw shifting in the silence that fell.Â
You then added, âYouâre the one I married.âÂ
He replied, âThat donâtâ answer my next question.âÂ
âWhat question?âÂ
His next words had the silence in the room deafening.Â
âYour fantasy. Talk me through it.âÂ
Your mouth parts to speak, but no words escape you.Â
âWhat?â
âTell me about your fantasy,â Toji repeated, âDonât act like you donât understand what Iâm askinâ you.â
You felt heat creep back up your body, your cheeks practically on fire.Â
âThereâs nothing to tell, baby. Itâsâsilly.âÂ
Tojiâs jaw ticked.Â
âYou think Iâm mad at you?â
You question, âAre you?âÂ
âIâm not. Shit ainât silly if youâre flustered like this.â
He then repeats, âTell me.âÂ
You swallowed, fiddling with your manicured fingers.Â
âPromise you wonât be mad?âÂ
He huffs, âI just told you I wasnât, babydoll. Câmon.âÂ
Your legs moved together awkwardly, fingers still fiddling, âWhen I see the two of you being together, working, justâdoing stuff, I imagineâŠâ
Toji waited, watching you fidget.Â
âSexual stuff, Yâknow? My mind just gets a little dirty.â
âYou think âbout him fuckinâ you?â
âToji.â
âYou think âbout him fuckinâ you while I watch?â
âFushiguro!â you squeaked, âJesus, no. I think about the both of you,â you clarify, âThatâs all!âÂ
You stand from the chair, going over to lightly wrap your arms around his neckâyouâre breathless as you whimper, âPlease stop asking me this. Itâs a stupid thing, okay? I love you. Iâd never do anything with anyone else.âÂ
âIs that somethinâ you want?â
âWhat?â you frown, âWhat do you mean?â
âYou want me and him? You wanna take that?âÂ
You knock your head into his chest, throwing your hands over your face as you squeak again, âBaby!â
The corner of Tojiâs mouth lifted with amusement, âIâm just askinâ a question.â
You felt mortified.
You were stubborn in keeping your face covered, muttering out, âNo, Fushiguro. Please. Stop.â
You could feel his chuckle against your head, deep within his chest as his arms wrapped around your waist.Â
âYouâre so shy, woman.âÂ
âYouâre insane,â you murmur, heart thumping in your chest, âWhy arenât you mad? How arenât you mad?â
âDonât really have anythinâ to be mad âbout,â Toji murmured, squeezing at your waist, âYou like the idea of it; ainât nothinâ wrong with that.âÂ
âI feel insane,â You reply.
âShit is kindaâ cute, honestly.âÂ
âToji,â You smack his bicep, âStop.â
âOuch.â
 His hands gripped at the full flesh of your ass, forcing you to hold around his neck as you sat on the sink countertop.
âYou done with your lilâ tantrum?âÂ
You roll your eyes, âMy husband is trynaâ have me admit to wanting to fuck his best friend. I think my reaction is pretty valid.â
His lips brushed up your neck, voice deep, gruff with his reply, âAinât nobody said nothinâ âbout all that, huh?â Your legs hooking at either side of his hips, holding him between the warmth of your thighs.
âCan we stop talking about this?â you question, âWhy canât you just say Iâm pretty and that you love me? Why do you have to make my life harder?â
He smirked at your complaint. He then responded with, âI think youâre the prettiest thing in the South; you know that.â
His strong hands were already tugging the fabric of your night gown, palming at the soft flesh up your thigh. You grip at his hair, fingers twisting within it.
âYou know I love you so damn much,â he grunts, nose running along the curve of your neck, âYouâre mine.âÂ
You pucker your lips out, awaiting a kiss.
Toji gives you what you want, of course. He groaned from the sensation of you tugging down on his bottom lip, sucking on it with a pop as he pulled away.
You run your tongue along your lips as you giggle, âMkay.âÂ
You then sigh, âWanna go to bed? Get a littleâfreaky?â you playfully wiggle your brows.Â
âYeah. Lemmeâ call up Onyankopon firstââ
You smack his chest again.
The next couple of days were better than you imagined. It was a resting period, both you and Toji spending most of your time sleeping, cuddling, watching shows, and overall rejuvenating one another in preparation for work the next week.Â
Your time off had gotten infinitely better when your husband received a phone call from a client within the Garden Districtâwho he thought wasnât interested in his servicesâbut when he offered triple Toji and Onyankoponâs pay rate, it seemed otherwise. You whisper screamed as you jumped on the bed above him, your feet thumping on either side of his legs as he talked business, watching as he tried to hold off his chuckle.Â
Hereâs when things got weird. Later that morning, Onyankopon planned to come over for a football game, as youâd also agreed to cook in celebration of your big contract coming up. It was a usual routineâfootball, gym, coming back home to cook.Â
But something about todayâs routine feltâŠdifferent.Â
Toji and Onyankopon. The combination of the two was something you could usually handle, but when you came downstairs that morning for coffee, you felt an energy coming off of them. You were usually comfortable in their company. Toji was his rough, crass self, but nonetheless a loving husband. And then there was Onyankapon, who was usually the sweetheart.Â
But now, you felt as if their attitudes had shifted. Theyâd been quiet and watchful since youâd entered the kitchen, eyes following your every single move. Thatâs when you realizeâthey were watching you like you were their prey.
âGood morning?âÂ
Your voice was sweet, nervous. You waved as if they werenât ten feet away.
Both men replied with their own version of a greeting, their eyes locked on your form as you moved to grab a cup of coffee. You could feel the heat of their stares.Â
It was almostâtoo silent.
If that wasnât weird, this definitely was. The energy picked up around the afternoon, both men gulping down a beer together as their low tones barked at the television, watching the game at its peak. Youâd finished up with those emails you were supposed to finalize, snuggling yourself into your husband as you leaned your upper body into his, Onyankopon beside you while continuously watching the game. Your eyes were a bit droopy as you werenât as interested, sinking your face deeper into Tojiâs abdomen. And thatâs when it happenedâyou felt Onyankopon graze his fingers along your hip as he spoke to your husband about the game. Your eyes went wide.
Onyankoponâs voice was gruff from football games and beers, but his fingers were steady as ever against your skin. Both men were locked onto the screen as if your reaction was nothing importantâAll the while, you felt your heart thumping under your rib cage.Â
Your clit throbbed.Â
Then, it was your husband's turn. Tojiâs hand was a stark contrast to Onyankoponâs; rough, large, calloused, and much thicker. His fingers cladded onto your ass, pulling your body back so you were nestled further between the two.Â
âYou think LSUâs gonnaâ make an upset today?â
âAinât no way themâ niggas beatinâ Georgia,â Onyankopon shook his head, âIâm reppinâ my state, but theyâ be drawlinâ.âÂ
âYou always goinâ too hard for the opposition,â Toji countered, âGottaâ be more confident in the home team.â
âYou ainât even from Louisiana,â Onyankopon sucked his teeth, âWhy you defendinâ niggas like theyâ payinâ you to say allatâ?âÂ
âI âbeen here for sixteen years now. Chill.âÂ
Theyâre both touching. Again.
Your heart felt as if it was being squeezed between two giant fingers. Youâd tried so hard to keep your focus on the game, but Onyankopon shifted forward in his seat, leaning more of his body closer to your ass. Toji shifted his legs apart, forcing you to lean a bit more onto Onyankopon.
Your heart palpitated.Â
âYou wannaâ go against this bet or not?â
Onyankopon was still rubbing at your hip. He grunted at Tojiâs response, âDonât get yoâ ass beat.âÂ
âBeat this bet, Pussy.âÂ
âWhoâ the pussy?âÂ
âIâd say the man whoâs âbouta lose fifty dollars.âÂ
Your ass was right on top of Onyankoponâs thigh at this point.
You inhaled a shaky breath, feeling a bit dizzy at the scent of them. Toji smelled like nature; earthy, woodsy. Onyankopon, however, smelled like musk and some type of cologne. You werenât sure which one you liked more, their argument now completely muffled to your ears.Â
They were trying to kill you.
Maybe it didnât actually happen that way. Your mind fed on those delusions as you stood within the gym later that day, zoning out each time you waited to do your rep behind both men. Youâd always worked out with them, learning different techniques that left your body sore afterwardsâbut once again, today was different.Â
They were both rough with their work outs, grunting whenever theyâd throw down a set of weights. Chestsâ heaving, sweat collecting, they were hot. But today, the attention was on you.
To top it off, they were still touching.Â
The way Onyankoponsâ fingers would graze over your waist as he helped you with your sets, how Tojiâs hand smacked your ass as you walked past themâYou couldnât handle them.
It all led into the nightâonce everyone was refreshed and showered, you were within the kitchen cooking one of their favorite mealsâsteak, loaded potatoes and broccoli. You were comforted by the candles lit along the house, a glass of wine easing your nerves from the entire day. Your ginger curls draped around your face and past your hips, pale yellow halter top and matching capris hugging the fat of your ass, frilly sock beneath your golden heels to match the jewelry on your caramel skin. You were currently seasoning your steak, eyes briefly flickering to the patio door halfway open as both men smoked a blunt together. You watched them.
Toji was dressed in those loose, dark cargos that hung off of his hips for dear life, a white muscle shirt stretched to its limit across his biceps and over the chest. Onyankoponsâ pants were black, and his shirt was navy blue. They're both huge.Â
A slight breeze drifted through the cracked patio door, blowing into the house and mixing with the scents of Tojiâsâand now theirâsmoke.
Their shoulders flexed as they passed the blunt back and forth, laughter and low conversation heard through the glass. They were both so handsome, so attractive, so rough compared to you.
Your eyes briefly met theirs from the doorway, Tojiâs eyes that dark grey, Onyankoponsâ a lighter brown.Â
They were looking at you. No other way to describe it. They were looking at you.Â
The sight made you a bit wobbly. Nonetheless, you waved through the window at the two, dimple poking with the soft smile you gave them.
Your husbandsâ fingers rubbed at his jaw while Onyankopon cracked a smirk, waving back at you in return.Â
Okay.
When they made it back inside, you were in the middle of cutting your potatoes upâyou hummed, âEverything okay?â
Tojiâs gaze was focused on your hands as you chopped the vegetables, but it eventually flickered to your face as he replied, "Good, just missed you out there.â
Onyankoponsâ head tilted your direction too, eyes scanning you from head to toe, âYou look good,â He complimented, voice raspy.Â
You blushed at his compliment. Accepting the kiss Toji gave along your cheek, youâre distracted as he tugs his finger through your curlsâyou giggle a bit, âJust wanted to look pretty for tonightâyou guys look nice too,â you turn your face to kiss at your husbands lips, âYou guys hungry?â
Toji leaned in for another kiss, sucking your lower lip between his teeth as he multiplied his pecks. You rubbed your fingers along his shoulder, turning your face up for his mouth to find your jaw. You werenât used to your husband giving this kind of affection in front of his friend.Â
âStarvinâ,â Toji grunted.Â
Onyankoponsâ eyes stayed on you, tongue running along those large lips of his, âYou always lookinâ pretty, Mama. You know that?âÂ
The pet name made your thighs want to clench.
âUmââ you giggled once more, holding Tojiâs jaw to keep him in place, âThank you, Ony. I should be done with dinner soon, okay?â
âDonât take too long,â Toji murmured along your neck, âCanât keep my mouth offâ you.âÂ
His hand smacked the fuller portion of your ass, sending it jiggling beneath your capris.Â
Onyankoponsâ tongue ran along his lips, âAight. Iâm waitinâ on you, girl.â
That sentence weighed in your chest.
Toji went upstairs to find another lighter, leaving the two of you downstairsâalone. You hummed the low instrumentals of your music, beginning to slice the stems of your broccoli. You gave Onyankopon a small smile as his eyes found yours every so often, tugging your hair out of your face as a way to distract how anxious you felt. Â
You softly ask, âHowâd you spend your days off?â
Onyankoponsâ eyes followed the movement of your fingers through your hair, watching the way your neck exposed when you threw it back. His arms folded over his chest, the veins within his forearms prominent from the action.Â
âShit was aight,â he replied evenly, ââNigga just caught up on some sleep. You?â
You hummed, attempting to look for another cutting board, âWe caught up on a couple of shows, cuddled, mushy shit that married couples do,â you shake your head.
You then ask, âHow âyou feel about the contract in the Garden District?âÂ
The corner of Onyankoponsâ mouth twitched with a small smile, eyes lingering on the way your hips shifted.
âFeels good to have contracts cominâ left and right,â he replied, âBlessed, essentially. Yâallâ been on my ass since the last project, so Iâm ready to start sumâ new.â
You turn your head towards him, hair draping over your shoulder. You roll your eyes, musing, âYâknow itâs not like that, Onyankopon. Toji is justâdespite the things clients ask for, he wants to go above and beyond that. Not saying you donât, heâs justâparticular, you know?â
Onyankoponsâ eyes were practically glued to you as he replied, âYeah, nah, I ainât mean it like that. I know how Toji gets, thatâs just part of the process,â His head cocked, âHe just getâ too caught up sometimes.âÂ
Onyankoponsâ eyebrows lifted, âHow youâ be puttinâ up witâ him?â
âThe same way you do,â you softly giggle, âWe both love him. Itâs a thing we seem to have in common.â
He chuckled in return, your attention moving back to finish cutting your broccoli. After a few moments of silence, your eyes flick back up to himâyou call, âOny?â
You think on your words.
âI just wanted to sayâthank you, for being such a good friend to him. He doesnât have anyone in his life outside of me, and having such amazing emotional support, heâs happier when youâre around. It means the world.â
Onyankoponsâ expression changed with the way your voice softened, something warm, comfortable, almost intimate coming from the way you talked about his friend, his best friend for that matter.Â
His voice was softer in reply, âOf course, Mama. Tojiâs family to me. Couldnât ask a nigga for a better person to have in my corner.â
After a moment, he then questions, âWhat âbout you?âÂ
You blink at the question, âWhat about me?âÂ
âYouâ happy to have me around?â
The question makes your heart thump. You sigh, âIâm always happy to have you around, Ony. Why wouldnât I be?âÂ
âIonâ make you feel no type of way?âÂ
You blink.Â
âOf course not.â
There was something about his tone that made your nerves tighten. The way he looked at you was different from the way Toji did, but it had your heart thumping the same.Â
âNo,â You reply, âYouâve been nothing but sweet to me since day one.âÂ
He spread his legs a bit, abdomen flexing as he did so.Â
Onyankoponsâ head tilted, âJust sweet?â
You swallowed, nodding.Â
âYeah.âÂ
His fingers flexed as they rested in his lap. You turned your back to him, beginning to cut the remaining broccoli.Â
âNothinâ else?âÂ
Your neck prickled at the way his voice dropped.Â
You shook your head, keeping your eyes locked below. But thatâs when you hearâ
âI see how you be lookinâ at me, girl.âÂ
Your hands clenched around the knife.Â
When your eyes find his, thatâs when your body tensedâyour hands quickly dropping the knife as you feel a slice along your index finger. You held your hand towards your body, scrunching your face at the discomfort.Â
Onyankoponsâ chair made an obnoxious noise as he shot up from his seatâIt seemed he was across the room in a second, towering over your body as he took hold of your injured hand. His hands were large, long fingers circling all the way to your wrist as he assessed the wound.Â
âIâI wasnât paying attention,â You murmured, âI got distracted. Youââ
And then, heâs sucking.
Your eyes widened as Onyankoponsâ lips engulfed the wound on your index finger, tongue licking the area with zero hesitance. It was the last thing you expected him to do.Â
âOnyââ
ââGotta be more careful, Mama.âÂ
His tongue runs across his mouth as he pulls back, as if savoring the taste of you. Your lips parted, your chest heaving as his lips hovered along yours.Â
âYou got a taste on you, girl.â
You couldâve died right there. Thatâs when you hear the heavy thumps of your husband coming downstairs, your face hot as he eyes the two of you in closer vicinity.Â
He questions, âYou good, baby? What happened?â
You felt dizzy under both of their heavy gazes. You swallowed again, nodding.
And as both men conversed normally after that, thatâs when you realizedâthey were in fact trying to get you.Â
Your mind was elsewhere during dinner. The wine had your brain fuzzy, keeping yourself quiet as you watched both men talk shit between one another, per usual. Everything up in this moment began to clickâthe day you watched Onyankopon, the conversation with Toji, the weird interactions between the two all dayâat this point, you were just waiting for something to happen.Â
âYoâ, you remember when we went into that adult store up on Bourbon street? Niggas was weird,â Onyankopon chuckle, âNever went back after that.âÂ
Toji huffed, nodding in agreement, âDude was tellinâ us âbout wantinâ to be a dog. Iâm not judginâ, but I didnât wanna hear all that.âÂ
Both men laughed. Your fingers tapped against your glass nervously.Â
Toji then turns, âWe went to one a couple years ago, huh, babydoll?â
You blink at Tojiâs words, snapping out of your thoughts when your husband addresses you.Â
âYeah,â you laugh a bit, âYeah, we did.â
Toji chuckled once more, âWe were in there for hours.âÂ
Your eyes widened, âWe were not in there for that long!âÂ
Onyankoponsâ head tilted, âWhat were yâall doinâ in there, applyinâ for the job?âÂ
You roll your eyes, âFunny, but no. I just wanted to find somethingâsorry, you donât wanna hear all that,â you shook your head, âItâs a little TMI.âÂ
Onyankopon raised an eyebrow.Â
âTry me, I ainât gonâ freak out.â
You inhaled a deep breath, giving in. You sat up in your seat, clearing your throat as you fiddled with the stem of your glass.Â
âI was justâbrowsing,â you giggle, âI was looking for a dildo, but the ones they had were a little too big for me. Like, seven or eight inches.âÂ
Toji and Onyankoponsâ heads tilted, expressions staying the same, but you could see it within their eyes that there was a change. Tojiâs eyes darkened, lips pressed together. Onyankoponsâ jaw flexed a bit.Â
And then, Onyankopon chuckles.Â
It sends a chill through your spine, one where you didnât understand what was exactly funny. Your eyes run across him the same way you did a couple days agoâcornrows, strident face, full goatee. You almost missed his next set of words as he looked at Toji.
âShe ainât gonâ be able to fit me.âÂ
You felt your entire body freeze.Â
Tojiâs jaw clicked in return, âNah, she will. She be takinâ my shit real good now.âÂ
Were you going into shock?
You couldâve melted into the chair. Toji murmured, âMy pretty ass woman. Always so shy.âÂ
âSheâ more than shy,â Onyankopon murmured in return, his tone low, âAinât that right, pretty girl?âÂ
Your body felt like it was about to light on fire from the inside out.Â
âIââ
âWhatâs wrong, Mama?â Onyankopon questions, âYounâ want me noâ more?âÂ
Your mouth dropped open.Â
Toji grunted, âWords, baby. We need to hear you.âÂ
And there it was. The arousal in your body ignited like a flame in that very second, becoming wet. You looked between the both of them, and suddenly, you were trying desperately not to break.
âToji,â you pouted, âIââ
âNuh-uh,â Toji clicked his teeth, âWe donât pout. You gottaâ speak up, donât you?âÂ
His gaze was intense, his lips slightly upturning as he watched you flounder around yourself. You had never felt so vulnerable in your life as both menâs eyes kept you locked on the chairâno escape.Â
Onyankopon gave a low groan in return, âUse your words, Mama. I love hearinâ that voice.âÂ
Your chest rose and fell faster, feeling like you wanted to rip your skin off.Â
Moral to the story? You were absolutely, positively fucked.
Your round eyes stared from above, fluttering between two looming frames that glared back down at youâthe difference now? They were naked, and so were you. Your palms covered the swell of your nipples, ginger curls draping over your curvy body in a way that almost made you look otherworldly. You chewed at your baby pink lips, horny, curious.
They were so big.Â
Even within the bedroom, both men shared many differencesâOnyankoponsâ dick was massive, thick and veined at the top, long from the base. The complexion of his skin was beautiful and even, all the way down to his deep pink tip. Tojiâs, however, was a bit more manageableâhe wasnât as wide, but was about a bit longer, his tip a softer pink as his chest rose and fell in a harsh manner, watching you.Â
âShow how pretty your shit is, baby.â
Tojiâs voice. It echoes in your mind, low, gruff, and rumbling.Â
But that didnât keep you from listeningâeven if you were a bit shy, you turn yourself to face the opposite of themâyour back perfectly arches lower onto the bed, cheek pressed into the sheets as you spread your pussy openâyour folds were in fact pretty, rougĂš, glistening beneath the dim lights of the room.
âThere we go,â Onyankopons murmured, fingers moving to grip at the full bottom of one of your ass cheeks. When he spanked there, your body trembled in return, folds clenching around nothing,Â
âLook how muhfuckinâ pretty you are.â
You whimpered into the sheets. Toji gave a low grunt of his own, hand coming up to grip at your other cheek harshly, spreading you open more for them to see, âFuckinâ hell, baby.â
Your back arched a bit more at the feel of your husband, stomach pressed into the mattress as your body quivered.Â
Thatâs when you felt a thick, heat prodding at your entrance. Heâs slapping his tip on your folds.
You clenched once moreâyour nerves were on fire from just the sensation alone, feeling of his thick, slick head smacking down.Â
âWhich oneâ you feelinâ, huh?â
âToji,â you whimpered quickly, âFeel you, baby.â
Onyankoponsâ voice was behind you, âYours entirely.âÂ
You felt your back stiffen to keep in the mewl you were about to let outâyour eyes continuously fluttered, cheek still smashed against the sheets.Â
âNow you listeninâ,â Toji murmured, âAll good girls do that, huh?âÂ
Onyankopon chuckled behind you; the bed shifted as he spread you even further.Â
âCâmere. Show me some love,â your husband husked.Â
That's why it was your favorite termâit was something you both used, as you either wanted the sweetest affection possibleâor he was planning to rut his dick at the back of your throat. Your body was still shivering as you turned, your teeth grazing over your bottom lip as his hand found your chin.Â
Your round eyes glaze up, âLemmeâ have a kiss, baby.âÂ
âNeedy ass.âÂ
His thumb swiped over your mouth, pulling your bottom lip with him as he watched your lips pucker, waiting for him to meet you.Â
âJust pretty as hell.âÂ
His lips touched yours for a second, his tongue sliding inside your mouth to taste you. You returned the kiss, sliding your tongue around his mouth messily, panting when you pulled backâit made you throb everywhere, your mouth then lowering itself to latch onto the edge of his tip. The scent of him, the flex of his pelvic bone, you moan against him, sliding your fingers across his muscular abdomen.
âI know youâre excited babyâwatch themâ teeth,â He growled, his head tilting back as the grip in your hair yanked your head further down his length, âCareful.âÂ
You moaned around Tojiâs dick once more, taking him just a little bit deeper into the confines of your mouth as he huffed. You could barely get halfway, your hands moving from his abdomen to rest on his muscular thighs, nails biting into his skin as his fingers kept you moving, the schluck of your mouth already creating a sound within the room. Your eyes cast to Onyankopon who watches, keeping his palm steady around his own dick, vision narrowing at the sight.Â
A string of saliva follows your full lips, your mouth pulling halfway off as your fingers wrap at the base of him, rotating your palm. Your voice, itâs higher in this scenarioâyour curls drape your body as you mewled, âDidnât mean to hurt you, Daddy.â
Tojiâs chest rumbled with a low chuckle, his hands gripping at your hair as you ran your tongue across his slit, spreading pre-cum across his tip before your mouth sucks, âYouâre fine, baby. âKnow you ainât mean it.â
Toji then grunts, his face twisted back in pure pleasure, âWannaâ see that pretty face a lilâ more.âÂ
His other hand came down to grip along the side of your cheek, running his thumb along your jaw, âTongue out at me. Show me how good my girl is.â
You didnât hesitate to do as you were told, your mouth sliding backwards off of his length, tongue poking out to press just below his head.Â
Toji groaned, âShit.âÂ
 You moaned in return, the sound muffling around him as your eyes locked on his. Your husband wasnât always the most vocal man, letting you do most of the talking in bedâbut to see how elated you were to have an audience, Toji let out a deep moan once you began to take him again, sliding him all the way to the back of your throat.Â
His hips pushed forward, slapping up against your chin as your mouth worked himâYou looked up from beneath your eyelashes, eyes growing watery with the back of his tip hitting your throat. Your eyes found Onyankoponâs again, giving him a show.
Onyankoponâs jaw clicked at the sight.
 Tojiâs hands grip onto you, his face almost viscous in the look he gave. His voice came out in a hiss, âShe ainât stoppinâ no time soon.âÂ
Onyankopon grunts at Tojiâs words, the veins in his hands becoming more visible, âYouâ doinâ a good job, girlâshit.â
âSheâs doinâ a good job, huh?â Toji repeated, his free hand raking into your hair again, âYou see that? My baby givinâ her all right now.â
All you could do under his grip was moan, nodding your head through its back and forth.
âIâm watchinâ,â Onyankopons replied, his neck flexing from how he held himself. His fingers wrapped tightly around the base of his length, âI see you real good. Pretty ass bitch.âÂ
Your face was a mess at this point. The makeup you had on earlier was smeared all across your mouth, your eyes still holding Onyankoponsâ while Toji continued to move your head with his strong, large hands.Â
He grunted through his teeth, âShe gettinâ better?âÂ
âYeah. Her mouthâ good as hellâIâm trynaâ feel that shit.â
Onyankopon wags his dick beneath his palm, âYou gonâ let me?âÂ
Thatâs when you slow your movementsâyour eyes peer back to the heft of his length, nearly the size of a monster you werenât sure you could manage. At the same time, there was a slight hesitance in your eyesâsimply because of who he was to you, and the last thing you wanted was to make your husband jealous.Â
Your lips swelled as you ran your tongue against them, eyes flickering up to Tojiâyour voice is soft, âCan I?âÂ
Tojiâs face flickered with something, but it quickly smoothed once he met Onyankoponâs dark eyes. A moment passed between themâa beat, or maybe twoâyour husband inhaled then exhaled, his features smirking slightly as he gave a single nod, âGo âhead.â
âI love you,â you moan, sliding your tongue across Tojiâs tip once more, âSo much.âÂ
It was a reassurance for him.Â
âI know you do,â Toji replied gruffly, his grip in your hair slackening once you move towards Onyankoponsâ now exerted dickâit nearly slaps you in the face. You tugged at your lip once more, eyes eagerly facing up to him.
You werenât sure what you expected, but it wasnât this. Your fingers didnât even wrap around him all the way.
Your hands come up to grip at the flesh of his quads, fingers digging into his skin as you flattened your tongue over the sides of Onyankoponsâ dick, âGonâ make me feel good, Mama? This what you been wantinâ?âÂ
You nod eagerly, feeling the way it twitched against your face. It jumped, too.
Your eyes widened. Your mouth was almost too small, or he was too thick. You moaned around his tip, sucking through the immediate fullness of your cheeks. Somehow, this felt rewarding.
You bobbed your head once, twiceâHe groans, his hands twitching against his thighs as he lets you try and take him, âThere you goâthat fuckinâ mouth.âÂ
Onyankopon gritted his teeth; your tongue continued to slide up and down his length, sucking and swirling at his tip, wanting all of him in your mouth. Toji watched you, and he noticed somethingâthe way your eyes rolled, as if this was in fact all you wanted. You were nastier, sloppier with the man opposite of him.
You moaned around his head, loudly, and Tojiâs jaw clicked. You were carelessâfilthier with Onyankopon.Â
âKeep talkinâ to her,â Toji grunts, âThatâs the shit she likes.â
Onyankoponsâ hands finally settled on both sides of your throat, a rough grip on your chin with his thumbsâhe moaned heavily, eyes flickering down towards you, âPretty ass face, Mama. You suckinâ me up like a fuckinâ pro.âÂ
You moaned in response, âTastes so good.âÂ
âKeep takinâ that shit, baby.âÂ
Tojiâs voice was all around you.Â
Onyankopon pushed his hips forward, a small shlupp was heard as you gagged. His fingers pressed against your cheek, feeling the curve of your stuffed mouth when he ran his thumb over the flesh, âYeah? How itâ look?âÂ
Without a second to waste, you let his tip pop out of your mouth, tongue poking out as you moaned, ââLook so good. So handsome, Papa.âÂ
You could hear him growl at the pet name, your face becoming more of a mess from how spit dripped over your chin. You were in a daze.
âLook in her eyes,â Toji instructs, âLook into them when you speak, too.âÂ
Onyankoponsâ eyes flicker down to meet your own once more, âLike that?âÂ
You nod eagerly, lips swollen and puffy as you nod, âMhm.âÂ
âAlways keep themâ eyes on her.âÂ
Onyankoponsâ mouth twitched into a smirk. They were brown; dark, a color you could get lost in if you looked long enough. They were bright despite the dimness of the room, holding nothing else but you.Â
His grip on your face got tighter as you slid your mouth back onto his length. You moaned again, feeling so full, âSo big, Ony.âÂ
You were becoming confident, a point you hit when you were so horny that it made you deliriousâhere it was. The sight of you was blindingâyour mouth was engorged with the space of his dick, cheeks bulging as your eyes rolled shut blissfully. That's when you tugged Onyankopon from your mouth, tongue lolling out as you mewled, âSpit on it.âÂ
And he didâhe lowered his mouth, dropping saliva between your lipsâhe found himself kissing you seconds later, feigning to taste you. It was good, so good. Your body rose up to press against his as your fingers found his shoulders, nails digging into the skin as you moved forward on your knees to get closer to him, your head tilting further back so he could slide his tongue into your mouth. You sucked each otherâs mouths.Â
Thatâs when it happensâwhen you lower back down to find the fat of Onyankoponâs dick, you slap it on your tongue so loudly that it echoesâToji grunts in an irritation, âDonât be fuckinâ cute.âÂ
You giggled, running your tongue over Onyankoponâs length, sucking his balls into your mouth.Â
âJust wanted to taste him, Daddy.âÂ
Onyankopon darkly chuckled.Â
That's when you hear Tojiâs, âYeah?â
He grunts, âQuit playing. Lay on your back, miss your pussy in my mouth.â
Onyankoponsâ voice cut through the room, âLay that ass down.âÂ
At both of their commands, you listen. Your heart thumped within your chest as your back made contact with the bedâyou hear Tojiâs, âCome hold her legsâshe be runninâ from my mouth,â he grunts.
You whimper, âSensitive, baby.â
Regardless, Onyankopon was behind your headâhe hovered over to pull your legs back, holding you by your ankles as he spread you apart.
Your fingers were already sinking in your husband's hair below, clenching the tresses between your fingersâhis tongue spread across your folds, sliding saliva all across the flesh.Â
Toji groaned as he felt your legs already trembling, your eyes rolling as Onyankopon kept your legs open. You tug at your lower lip, voice high pitched, âFâfuck, baby. Missed your mouth so much.â
He grunts, his mouth still pressed against your clit. Your legs squirmed, toes clenching as his tongue slid across your entrance, âTaste so good.âÂ
You moaned in response, writhingâyou were more sensitive the more his tongue slipped against your clit, swirling around it in slow motions. Your chest rose and fell, feeling the heat of both menâs touch. You whimpered again, hips wriggling under the pressure of Tojiâs hands over your pelvis, âToji,â you moaned, âItâooh.âÂ
He warned against your folds, âStop movinâ.âÂ
Onyankoponsâ grip on your ankles was borderline bruising, his dark eyes flickering down to watch how Tojiâs mouth lapped at you. Each time you moved, he spread your ankles even farther.
âLook at the way he just in yoâ pussy,â Onyankopon grunts in your ear, âBoutaâ have a nigga drowninâ in yoâ shit.â
Your thighs trembled like crazy at the sounds your pussy made, almost as if Toji were blowing bubbles across the flesh. You pouted beneath yourself, âFuck,â you mewl, âThat feels so good.â
Tojiâs took one long, slow, lick over your clit. He grumbled in return, âPussy messy as fuck, baby.â
Your back arches. You lift above to take a lookâOnyankoponsâ eyes were staring down, watching. You could see the veins in his arms throbbing as he gripped your ankles.
âGod damn,â Onyankopon murmured, âYoâ pussy finnaâ get sucked up by my mouth. That shit lookinâ edible.âÂ
The combination of Tojiâs mouth and Onyankoponâs words, your pout deepened on your face.
Toji didnât hesitate to bury his face all into your folds. Your legs were trembling dangerously at this point, watching as he ate you like a starved man. To make matters worse, Onyankoponsâ breath was hot in your ear as he continued to hold your ankles, eyes still locked on your husband between your legsâyour chest rose and fell, the sensation of Tojiâs mouth against you becoming almost too much to handle. You groaned, âOooh,â legs trying to snap closed, head falling back against Onyankoponâs shoulder, just moaning within his ear.
âYou smell so sweet,â Onyankopon murmured, âHe eatinâ that pussy,â Onyankopons growled in your ear, âShit lookâ good as hell with his face in it.âÂ
You whimpered at his words.Â
Onyankopons leaned forward just a bit, mouth almost pressed against your ear, âIâm missinâ yoâ mouth, babydoll.â
He tugs your hair from around your cheeks, looming above you as his dick slapped across your entire faceâhis tip is sliding between your mouth, making you whimper even deeper as Toji continued eating at you from below.
Onyankoponsâ dick was bigger upside down. You moaned around it, making it hit the back of your throat with every quick thrust he madeâhe grunted, âYou doinâ so good, pretty mama. Finnaâ have a nigga put his shit in you.âÂ
Your hands reached back, digging into his hips so you could pull him all the way in, âFuck, girl, Yoâ throat bulginâ.âÂ
Toji continued eating you from below; the mixture of him and Onyankopons had your eyes watery, legs shaking as if youâd been tased. Every other word out of your mouth was a moan that went directly onto Onyankoponâs dick.Â
Thatâs when you pull him from your mouth, sliding your tongue on the sides of his lengthâyou whimper below him, âWant it in me, Ony.â
He pulled you down to where your nose was pressed to his pelvisâhe groaned within your mouth, âThat ainât how you beg,â he grunts.Â
âPlease, Ony. Please.âÂ
He growled from the sound of your begging, âYou want it that bad?â
You whined onto his dick, ââSo bad.âÂ
A smirk appeared across Onyankoponsâ face. You could hear Tojiâs slurrpp between your legs, still tongue deep along your pussy. But the moment he heard you begging from below, his mouth pulled away, leaving you cold. It had you whimpering at the loss.
But then, Onyankoponâs mouth was on you. And it was nowhere near the same.Â
He wasnât as soft as Toji. His long tongue swirled around your clitâyou moaned again, feeling it slide against the flesh harshly.Â
You gripped at his cornrows, legs shaking in his grip again, âOh, Ony.âÂ
He lapped at your clit, âCanât hear you,â he muffled.Â
Toji was behind you now, holding your legs in place of Onyankopon. He moaned in your ear, âYou look so good, baby, spread all open like that.âÂ
âI canât,â you whined, âPut it in me.â
Onyankoponâs head dipped lower, lips wrapping around your clit and sucking. You were practically vibrating. You lean your head on your husband's shoulder, accepting the kiss he gives you, whimpers muffling into his mouth.Â
âI love you,â you kept whimpering, âLove you so much, Fushiguro.â
âI love you,â he murmured back onto your lips, âI know.â Â
Your body tensed the moment you felt Onyankoponâs tip sliding across your foldsâyouâd wanted it so bad, but actually feeling him weigh against your lower body, you shivered. His upper body loomed above your own as Toji stayed behind, Onyankoponâs lips coming to slide his tongue into your mouth, both men close to your face now.Â
His dick is sliding between your folds again, again, making them spread apart every few seconds. His forehead presses to yours in such a domineering wayâthe silence that falls between the two of you feels heavy as his tip begins nudging into your openingâit swallows itself inside, your mouth immediately frowning at the discomfort you feel. Onyankopon sucks the softest kiss on your mouth, grunting as he sinks even deeper. Your eyes rolled, body trembling as you pressed your forehead farther into his. Your fingers found his upper back, nails digging into the flesh as your body responds in all different waysâbut it was so good, the tiniest whimper parts from your lips as you lightly squirt on his tip. Youâd never done that before, as you creamed more than anything.Â
âPussy trynaâ push me out,â Onyankopon grunts on your lips, moaning into another kiss, âThatâs how you cumminâ?âÂ
âBaby,â Toji moaned, âThat was so fuckinâ good. Ainât even started yet,â he tugs your hair from your face, sucking his mouth against your throat. Your body shakes, gasping as tears seeped from your eyes. You whimpered to Onyankopon, âOh my god.âÂ
You could hear yourselfâyou were whiny, sensitive and too full. You mewled again, feeling your stomach clenching as your eyes rolled back. Onyankoponsâ face was dark, âYou tight as hell,â pressing his forehead more into yours, âYou gonâ open up for me?âÂ
A weak, âUh huh,â comes from your lips.Â
You could feel him trying to be steady, not wanting to hurt you, but at the same time, his eyes were hooded, lust within themââTryinâ,â he murmured. His hips stilled for a moment as he slowly, gently slid more of his length deeper into you. You moaned, loud enough to echo off of the wall, âUgh, fuck.âÂ
Your mind was going blank. His head fell back, âYou takinâ me so good,â Your back kept arching, legs quaking. Toji was right there, caressing your scalp to soothe you. You were releasing sounds youâd never made before, moaning deeper each time Onyankopon pulled out to slide himself in moreâthe slap of his hips against the back of your thighs has your eyes rolling, your face screwed up in pleasure, nodding against his forehead as all you could do was cry for him.
Your legs were shaking too much, to the point Toji gave Onyankopon a glare, âSlow down.âÂ
Onyankopon gritted his teeth as if to focus, trying to not give in to all of the sounds you were making.
âCanât,â he gruntedâYour body kept squirming, legs spreading themselves more open for him, âFâfuck,â he cursed. He was grunting and moaning just as much as you were now.Â
âTalk to me, Mama. Iâm hurtinâ you?â Onyankopon gruffs at you. You find your hand at the nape of his neck, lips closer togetherâyou mewl to him, âFeels sooo good,â your voice was soft, ââM okay,â you promised to both of them.
Toji was trying to spread some comfort for you, âLook at me, breathe,â his voice was low, his hand reaching forward to touch your cheek. He gave you what you wanted; he leaned his face against your own, âLook at me, pretty baby. Breathe.âÂ
Your entire body listened to your husbandâs commands. You took in a deep breath in response, your body calming a bit as he murmured sweetly against your face, âThatâs it, good girl.â
A little easier to process with your husbandsâ fingers caressing your cheek, you whimpered, âPlease,â you whispered on his lips, âDonât stop him.â
You spread your legs widerâyour eyes rolled at the sensation, reaching your hand up to Onyankoponâs face to pull him into a kiss, moaning into his mouth.
Onyankopon growled, holding onto your chin so he could suck on your bottom lip. Tojiâs thumb was wiping at your cheek, swiping away tears that you didnât even realize you were shedding.Â
He pressed his forehead back to your own, mouth still connected in a sloppy kiss, âDonât move,â Onyankopon murmured against your face. You felt both mouths kissing somewhere along your body, and that pleasure couldâve engulfed you into an explosion.Â
But oh, they had so much more to give.Â
Maybe you did too. Your shaken legs had found themselves crawling along the bed, doe eyes becoming a sultry slender as you crawled towards your husbandâ your curls evaded your entire body as you slid your hands across his chest, grinding yourself along his lap to gain his attentionâyou tell him, âI missed you, baby.â
âMissed you too,â Toji murmured in return, unable to keep his eyes off of you. His large palm slid across your hips, another palm reaching around to smack his tip between your folds from behind. You giggled, hair swinging to one side of your body as you circled your hips atop of him, âYou wanna put it in me?âÂ
Your hands slide across your nipples, making sure to keep Onyankoponâs attention as your hand finds the tip of his dick beside your bodyâyou whimper to your husband, âWant you so much, Toji. Talk to me.â
Onyankoponsâ hands found their way to your arms and shoulders, squeezing the flesh thereâOne of your hands reached up onto Onyankoponsâ face, running your fingers against his facial hair, moving to slide your index finger onto his lips.Â
âAlways thinkinâ âbout you,â you moaned, your hands leaving behind Onyankoponsâ face to slide back onto Tojiâs shoulders. Onyankopon grunted, âShe needâ youâDrippinâ all over the sheets and shit.âÂ
Youâre guiding yourself down, sinking onto his dick in a way that has your husband leaning his head back onto the bed, clutching your hips within his palms. Tojiâs groaning through full lips, eyes narrowing up to you as youâre already bouncing your ass down onto his abdomen. You giggle through a moan, leaning towards Onyankopon with angelic eyes, sticking your tongue out to await for his mouth.
Toji growled from below, âLook at you,â while Onyankoponsâ hand pushed a few of your curls aside with a low chuckle, âCute as hell.âÂ
Onyankoponâs tongue slithered within the confines of your mouth, hand sliding behind your neck to keep your face close to hisâyour attention went onto your husband, your hips rotating, circling above himâyou take one of his palms, sliding it up your body as you suck his index finger into your mouth, moaning around it.
âJesus,â Toji growled, ââGonnaâ have me bust early, baby,â He grunted out, âKeep it up.âÂ
You shake your head, âDonât wanna cum without you,â you whimperâso you lean back to your side, finding Onyankoponâs dick between your lipsâyouâre sucking, keeping your hips moving for Toji, but your attention elsewhere.Â
Onyankoponsâ hand was resting atop of your forehead, his fingers buried into your hair. You moaned around him again, one hand wrapped around his length and the other caressing Tojiâs chest. Your husband was becoming more aggressive below you, his hands finding themselves beneath your thighs to guide you.Â
He takes one hand to find your throat, snatching your face in his direction. He grunts to you, âI know youâre hearinâ me. Come fuck me, girl. Bounce on my dick like you missed me.âÂ
You have your attention fully on him nowâyou whimper, âSorry,â all while you press your feet flat along the bed, tossing your hair along one side of your body as your palms pressed against his chestâyour ass trembles each time it claps along his abdomen, a wetness drenching his flesh, the sight of you like hell wrapped up in beauty.Â
âI love your dick sooo much,â you promised to him, ass clapping at this point, âLove you, Fushiguro,â you whimper, spreading your cheeks from behind, wanting him deeper each time you dropped down.
âI know you fuckinâ do.â
His palm spanks against your asscheek. It jiggles beneath the impact, Tojiâs hands finding your hips again to hold you in place.Â
âKeep fuckinâ me like that.â
Your legs were shaking as Tojiâs hips moved to meet your own, bouncing you up and down himself.Â
Onyankopon was behind you, finding his palms along your hips as he helped youâyour eyes rolled, mewling as you allowed him to guide your body down.Â
Your fingers found your clit below, shoulder shivering as Onyankopon licked up the back of your neck, âOâOoh,â you moaned, âPlease.âÂ
You mewled at both men, your body quaking as your hands slid up behind you, fingers grazing over Onyankoponâs hair. You sloppily slow your tongue in and out his mouth, tugging his head back as you whimper to him, âPut it back in.âÂ
You lean down to find Tojiâs
mouth within a deep kiss, hearing his murmur of, ââGo head, wanna watch you cum.â
Your curls draped across his chest as you tugged his dick from your folds, back arching as you grind your lower body for Onyankopon to take you from behindâyou whimper to him, âWant it. âWant it, Ony.â
âBeen patient,â Onyankoponsâ husked, âCome drop that shit on me.âÂ
His hands found both of your asscheeks again, spreading them open. You moaned over your shoulder, the taste of your own skin delicious as he slid himself between your folds, deeper than heâd been before. The giggle you give is elated, eyes rolling as youâre messily bouncing your ass back onto his dick, youâre groaning, âFuckkk.âÂ
âGood fuckinâ girl,â Toji groaned from below, watching you take it from behind, âGreedy as fuck.âÂ
Onyankopon collected your hair beneath his fist, tugging you back gently while allowing you to fuck yourself onto himâhe glares down, âYouâ loud.âÂ
âYou feel so good,â you couldnât stop repeating, your hands pressed into Tojiâs shoulders to lean back more, arching as you continued to take Onyankopon as deep as you could, âFeelssogood.âÂ
âGivinâ you what you been wantinâ,â Onyankopon growled behind you, "Look how good you look takinâ this dick, pretty mama.âÂ
You tried to keep your eyes open, but each time you moved with him, pleasure was rising from somewhere deep within you that had your vision becoming blurry. You were drunk at this point.Â
âYou feel so good in me,â you repeated one more timeâitâs the softest youâve ever spoken, squealing in a way that your body showed exhaustion. You were just taking him now, Onyankoponâs dick becoming drenched in your cream. You pouted, sobbing lowly through your sniffles.
Neither of them had ever seen a reaction out of you like thisâyou were so sensitive, too sensitive, too open. Onyankopon pounded into your messy, soaking wet pussy from behind, âYou gone. Takinâ my dick without even askinâ for it.âÂ
His palm slides along your neck, gently tugging your face back to look into his eyesâyou could hear Tojiâs grunt of, âSo proud of you, baby.â
You sob softly in return again, keeping your eyes against Onyankoponâs as he tugs you back and forthâyouâre so full of him, you can barely feel it anymore. Your voice was deeper, an inhale shaky in your throat, exhaled as you cried real tears.
You were so far gone. Tojiâs one hand fisted the tip of his dick, other fingers running through your hair, giving you a gentle pull to keep your face from hiding.Â
âHow you feelinâ, baby?â he keeps his voice low, gentle.Â
You could barely speakâyou were so busy crying from pleasure, your hands found his face as you whimpered through tears, âIâm gonna cum,â you trembled, âGonnacum.âÂ
You were so beautiful like this. Crying and whimpering for them in such an exhausted state, so full that they were ready to cum with you.Â
âYeah?âÂ
âYeah.âÂ
âYou gonâ cum all on me, Mama?âÂ
Onyankoponâs voice.Â
You nod again, breathless, âMmm-hmm,â through tears. Toji presses his forehead against your own, allowing you to respond any way you needed to.Â
Toji pressed a small kiss onto your face, âGood girl. Keep goinâ. Almost,â he encouraged you in the most gentle tone possible.Â
Onyankoponsâ breathing was a lot rougher now, the sound of his pelvis smacking against your ass filling the room. He was holding onto your hip with one hand, while the other held the back of your neck, watching his dick being coated by your cream.
You moaned between your tears, voice hiccupping with every pound he delivered. He kept mumbling words from above you that couldnât decipher, but Toji was still there to calm you.
 The room was a chorus of skin against skin, your mewls getting even higher in pitch with how full you felt at Tojiâs hands on your faceâthe warmth of his own cum spurted on your stomachâ you were babbling, your body wilder, your toes curling. You squirt again, gasping into a rough kiss with your husband. Onyankoponâs tongue is sliding across your lower back, moaning as you feel a warmth in your pussyâhe cums with you.Â
Your body feels sore, as if youâd just ran a marathon. You quiver when Onyankopon pulls himself out, feeling the cum dripping from your pussyâand somehow, through everything youâd just done, that makes you bury your face within Tojiâs shoulder, cheeks flushed as you masked your face.Â
When your brain sobered over the events of the past couple of days, you still couldnât believe itâWould it happen again? Was this a one time thing? Only the future could tell.Â
As your round eyes glanced between both men, the only answer you received was a deep, low, chuckle.
yall please enlighten me about reiner i donât understand ! iâm being so deadass too cause i wanna add him to the masterlist but i need to understand yall! maybe i need to do a fourth rewatch of the aot episodes centered around him after i finish bleach idk girl
I write all my characters country and with an accent bc at the end of the day, thatâs what Iâm familiar with. I couldnât care less how Japanese Toji is, bet heâs going to talk in a country accent. Yall better be lucky Iâm not writing him going to trail rides and dancing zydeco cause I can turn him into a creole cowboy in a heartbeat.
p.s. i donât get how yall draw the line at us shorting their words and taking in aave, but jumping for joy when a with r*pe or in*est fic hit your feed. FAWKK OUTAA HEA
right like iâm sorry but my niggas are southern and talk country asf around here, even if itâs a lil bit. we country in this mf, better take yall ass to wattpad đ
summary: moving out alone for the first time might be scaryâand awfully exhausting. youâre lucky you have a very handy lesbian as a neighbor.
word count: 6.8k
THE BOX you were carrying was way too heavy. You knew it the second you stubbornly yanked it out of the trunk, but by the time you realized how unwise that was, you were already halfway up the steps to your new apartment. The one that didn't have an elevator.
A bead of sweat ran down your temple. Your arms were shaking, the cardboard creaking ominously, and you could feel the edge of a textbook digging into your thigh through the bottom of the box.
You grunted softly as you stagger forward, muttering under your breath, "okay, stupid idea, officially noted."
Thatâs when you heard it. A door creaking open. You looked up, flustered, and caught sight of her. A young woman that was standing in the open doorway of the unit just across the hall. Faded gray hoodie, sweatpants that sat a little too low on her hips, and a tangle of auburn hair in a messy bun that looked like it gave up halfway. One hand gripped the door frame, the other clutching a half-eaten granola bar.
She blinked at you, shocked. You offered a small, sheepish smile. "Hi."
She blinked again. "Uhâhi."
There was a beat of silence. She kept staring at you, and you shifted your weight, struggling to hold the box and at the same time balance your pride. "I, uh⊠just moved in."
She nodded quickly. "Yeah, noâI figured. New face. And boxes. Thatâs⊠obvious. Sorry."
You bit back a laugh. "I promise Iâm not usually this pathetic. Just⊠long drive. Too much stuff."
Ellie snapped out of it suddenly, like her brain had just rebooted. "Shitâwait. Let me help you with that."
Before you could protest, sheâs stepping forward, quickly wiping her hand on her hoodie like she just remembered sheâs eating, then gently taking the box from you like sheâs worried youâll shatter if sheâs too rough. And she lifted it as if it didn't weight anything. God, you're not sure if it was just the exhaustion, but was the room suddenly hotter? Or was it just you?
"Oh my god," you exhaled in relief, letting your arms drop. "Thank you. You may have just saved my spine."
She grinned softly, cheeks a little pink. "No problem. Iâm Ellie, by the way."
You gave her your name, and she repeated it quietly under her breath, like she wanted to make sure she didnât forget. It was oddly endearing.
She followed you into your apartment and gently sat the box down by the window. "Wow. Youâve got, like⊠a lot of books."
You glanced around at the stack of boxes marked READING / PLEASE DONâT CRUSH, smiling a little. "Guilty. I had a system, but the system kinda died somewhere around hour five of unpacking."
Ellie nodded like she got it. "Want some help? I meanâonly if you want. I donât have anything going on. Just⊠reorganizing my guitar pedals and regretting life choices."
You raised an eyebrow. "Guitar pedals?"
She blushed faintly. "Yeah. Music nerd. Donât judge."
"Iâd never," you replied, already walking toward the nearest box. "If youâre serious about helping, Iâve got a bookshelf I was too scared to try assembling alone."
She perked up immediately. "Iâm your girl."
An hour later, Ellie was sitting cross-legged on your living room floor, her hoodie sleeves pushed upâher arm tattoo on full display, as she studied the instruction manual with a look of pure concentration.
There was a screw between her lips and her hair was falling in her face, but she didnât seem to notice. You were lying on the rug beside her, trying not to laugh. "You look like youâre defusing a bomb."
She spat out the screw with a grin. "This is Ikea. You never know." You laughed, and Ellie beamed at the sound. "Okay, hand me the... um. That⊠L-shapedâthingy."
"You mean the Allen wrench?"
"Right. That. Allen. Bastard of a wrench."
You passed it to her and watched as her hands worked with practiced ease, though she was still mumbling things like 'who designed this nightmare' under her breath. After a few minutes, the pieces started to come together.
You offered her a drink from your tiny fridge, and she takes it with a soft 'thanks,' sipping while scanning the partially-built shelf.
"You know," she said casually, "this place is nice. Good lighting. Kinda cozy already."
"Think Iâll like it here."
Ellie shrugged, maybe a little too fast. "Yeah, well. I mean. Youâve got a cool neighbor, so."
You laughed, leaning your head back against the wall. "I really do."
ELLIE WAS standing at your door, awkwardly shifting from one foot to the other, wiping her hands on her jeans even though she hadnât touched anything in the past ten minutes. The bookshelf was done. The boxes were stacked a little neater. She helped more than she should have for someone who just met you, and now thereâs a weird lull in the air like⊠okay, what happens now?
You stretched your arms overhead, groaning quietly as your back pops. "Okay, officially retiring from lifting furniture."
Ellie snorted. "You say that now. Wait until you realize you still have, like, six more boxes marked 'miscellaneous disaster'."
You groaned again, dramatically this time. "Those are tomorrowâs problems." Then, with a soft sigh, you glanced toward your hallway and say, "God, I still need to get a new bulb for the bedroom. I havenât been able to see in there since I got here."
Ellie raises her brows. "No light at all?"
"None," you say. "And of course, I packed the lamps in the box thatâs... still in my car. Which is currently blocked in by some delivery truck of doom."
There was a pause. You expected a laugh, maybe a 'good luck with that.' Instead, she played with two of her fingers awkwardly, and smiled at you. "I could take you?" she said.
You blinked. "What?"
"To the store," she shrugged, eyes darting away like she regrets offering. "I was just gonna run out and grab snacks or something anyway."
You tilted your head. "You were?"
Ellie turned red, but tried to play it cool. "Yeah. Definitely. Wasnât just gonna, yâknow, spiral alone in my apartment or anything."
You both knew that was a lie. But you laughed, and something in her posture relaxed. "Okay," you replied, smiling. "Yeah. Letâs go lightbulb hunting."
Ten minutes later, youâre both in Ellieâs dusty old truckâwindows slightly cracked, and a faint smell of pine from a crooked air freshener hanging from the mirror. She was gripping the wheel like sheâs trying not to white-knuckle it, sneaking occasional glances at you when she thinks youâre not looking. Youâre pretty sure you caught every single one.
At the hardware store, the lightbulb section was far more overwhelming than it had any right to be. You stood in front of it together, baffled by the sheer number of wattage options.
"Why are there so many types?" you whispered.
Ellie whispered back, "capitalism."
Eventually, you grabbed the right one (after way too much debate about warm vs. cool lighting), and Ellie casually picked up a few things for herself. Chips. A soda. A pack of sour candy she pretended not to want until you caught her staring at it for a solid minute.
"Youâre definitely a sour candy person," you said as she tosses it into the basket.
Ellie shrugged, cheeks pink. "You're saying that like itâs a bad thing."
You shook your head. "No, just⊠makes sense."
"Yeah?"
"Yep," you said softly, smiling. "Itâs cute."
She froze. Didnât say anything for five seconds. Then muttered a very quiet, 'Oh.' You pretended not to notice how red her ears go.
BACK AT YOUR apartment, it took about eight minutes to screw in the new bulbâand then you were both just⊠standing in your now-lit bedroom, staring at the glow like youâve just witnessed a miracle.
"Let there be light," Ellie said reverently.
You laughed and flopped back onto your mattress dramatically. "I owe you my life."
She leaned against the doorway, hands in her hoodie pocket, watching you with the kind of soft smile she probably doesnât even realize sheâs wearing. "You donât owe me anything."
You glanced at the clock. "You hungry?"
Ellie paused. "Me?"
"No, the bookshelf." You smirked. "Of course you, dummy. Câmon. Iâm starving. And you did save my spine."
She tried to brush it off with a jokeâ'I do take payment in pepperoni'âbut you could tell she was secretly thrilled.
Twenty-five minutes later, a pizza box was open between you on the living room floor, two paper plates balancing precariously on a stack of books. Youâd strung up some fairy lights that Ellie offered to 'totally not judge you for owning,' and now the room is bathed in warm, flickering gold.
You were sitting cross-legged, a slice in hand. "God, I didnât realize how hungry I was."
Ellie smiled behind her cup of soda. "You looked like you were gonna pass out when I showed up earlier."
"Honestly? Close."
There was a pause. She glanced at you, then down at her food, then back at you. "Iâm glad you let me help," she says.
"Yeah?"
She nods, playing with a corner of the box. âI donât⊠really do that. Talk to people, I mean. Not right away. But youâre⊠easy."
You rose an eyebrow, smirking. "Easy?"
"I meanâyouâre easy to talk to,â she blurted. "Not likeânot in a bad way. You justâshit. That sounded wrong."
You burst out laughing. "Relax. I know what you meant."
She groaned into her hands. "Kill me."
"Never," you laughed. Thereâs a lull after that. A comfortable one.
You leaned back on your hands, stretching your legs out toward her. "So whatâs your story, Neighbor Ellie? Mysterious girl across the hall. Fixes furniture. Gives rides. Loves sour candy."
She gave you a look. "You clocked all that in one night?"
"Iâm a fast learner."
She exhaled a laugh, rubbing the back of her neck. "Okay, well. I moved here a couple years ago. Work in a CD store. Play guitar in my free time. Live a thrilling life of talking to no one and watching horror movies until 2 AM."
"Wow," you deadpanned. "Truly a menace."
She smirked. "I contain multitudes."
You nudged her leg with your foot. "I think youâre cool."
Ellie went so quiet after that you worry you went too far. But then she said, soft: "I think youâre pretty cool too."
Neither of you moved for a second. The pizza was getting cold, the lights were flickering softly. She was staring at you like you hung the stars, and your heartâs doing something very inconvenient in your chest.
IT WASNâT HARD TO figure out where Ellie worked. Not like you stalked her or anythingâshe just... mentioned it. Casually. In passing. And it stuck with you, that offhand comment about shifts and sorting and 'old people complaining about the price of CDS like itâs 1985.'
And okay, maybe you were a little too curious. Maybe you had a free day and a really good memory. And maybe there werenât that many record stores in town to begin with.
You checked out the first shopâa dusty little place with an impressive jazz section and a guy behind the counter who looked old enough to have invented jazz. No Ellie. The second one was sleek and modern, curated for aesthetic Instagram posts, with alphabetized playlists and diffused lighting. Also, no Ellie. But the third one⊠Thatâs where you saw her.
She was behind the counter, alone, hunched over a small stack of CDs, scribbling something onto tiny sticky notes with a black pen clutched between ink-smudged fingers. Her hair was tied up in a low bun, loose strands falling into her face as she worked. She was mouthing the words to whatever track was playing overheadâsome soft, rock ballad you didnât recognizeâbut it made the whole place feel hushed, intimate, like stepping into someoneâs favorite memory.
You stood near the entrance for a second too long.
Ellie glanced up and froze. Her pen paused mid-word. You caught the brief flicker of surprise on her faceâlike she wasnât expecting to ever see you here, like this part of her life was separate and youâd somehow wandered past the invisible boundary.
But then her expression shifted, softening into something unreadable. The corners of her mouth twitched like she was trying to decide whether to smile or run.
She settled on a weird middle ground. "Oh," she said nonchalantly. "Hey."
You raised a hand, suddenly hyper-aware of your own body, your posture, the fact that you hadnât really thought through what youâd say when this moment came. "Hey. Fancy seeing you here."
Ellie blinked. "In my place of work?"
You laughed, and she smiled for real this time. "Right. I was just... exploring the neighborhood," you lied. "Didnât realize this store was so close."
She nodded slowly, clearly not buying itâthe store was a twenty-minute drive from the apartment complexâ but was too polite to call you out. "Yeah? You into CDs?"
"Definitely," you said, scanning the shelves like you werenât about to have a heart attack. "I mean, I personally prefer vinyls, but yeah, CDs are like, super retro. Very... round."
Ellie snorted. "Thatâs one way to describe them."
You wandered closer, pretending to browse, your fingers grazing the spines of old cases. She watched you, but not in a judgmental way. More like she was trying to figure you out.
"Do you work every day?" you asked after a moment.
"Nah," she said, leaning on the counter. "Just a few days a week. Tuesdays, Thursdays, sometimes Saturdays."
You nodded like that wasnât valuable information now burned into your brain. You grabbed a Fleetwod Mac CD, and took out your wallet to pay. "Cool," you said. "Guess Iâll have to stop by again."
"No, uh, donât worry. Itâs on the house." Ellie scratched the back of her neck, eyes darting to her Casio watch. "You, uh... wanna hang out after Iâm done? My shift ends at five."
"You sure?"
"You donât have to. I just thoughtâI dunno, maybe we could go get coffee. Or you could show me your superior taste in 'very round CDs.'"
You grinned. "Iâd like that."
Ellie looked down, then back up through her lashes. "Cool. Yeah. Cool."
You ended up spending the next half hour pretending to look through racks while sneaking glances at herâand she, in return, kept stealing glances at you in the reflection of the display glass. And when five oâclock finally rolled around, she practically flew out from behind the counter, tugging on her jacket and fumbling with the sleeves like she was nervous. Which, honestly, made two of you.
THE COFFEE SHOP Ellie picked was small, local, and mostly empty by the time you both got thereâquiet enough that your conversation didnât have to compete with the noise, but not so silent that the pauses felt heavy. The barista gave Ellie a little nod when she walked in, like she was a regular, and Ellie just muttered a soft 'hey' back before holding the door open for you.
You sat by the window, your cups warming your hands, and the conversation came easier than you thought it would. Ellie was shy, yeah, but not in that way where she tried to disappear. It was more like she was deliberate. Careful. She listened to you like you were saying things worth remembering.
She told you about the weird guy who always came in looking for jazz CDs they didnât have, and how sheâd once spent two hours reorganizing the punk section just because she couldnât stand the way someone else had done it. You talked about the move, the disaster of trying to assemble your own bookshelf, and the apartment above yours that sounded like a zoo with a drum set.
Ellie laughed at that one, and you caught yourself staring just a little too long at the way her eyes crinkled when she did it. You suddenly felt the urge to count every single freckle that was marked in her face.
Somewhere between a refill and a shared chocolate chip cookie, she glanced at the clock and said, "Wanna come over?"
"To your place?"
She scratched at the back of her neck. "I mean, only if you want. No pressure. I justâI have this CD collection I was talking about and, uh... coffee shops close eventually."
You tried not to smile too obviously. "Sure. Iâd love to."
Ellieâs apartment was quite similar to yoursâafter all, both were from the same block, but something about it was undeniably her. The couch was beat-up but clean, the walls were decorated with band posters and a couple of hand-drawn sketches you didnât ask about yet, and her windowsill had a few neglected plants that were somehow still alive.
"I wasnât really expecting company," she said, kicking off her shoes near the door. "Sorry if itâs a little... messy."
You looked around. "Ellie, this is better than mine by far."
She shrugged, clearly flustered, and motioned for you to take a seat while she made herself busy putting on a playlistâ just background enough to not distract from her own nervous energy. With your drink still in hand, you wandered to the shelf near the TV, running your finger along the neatly organized spines of her CD collection. "So this is the shrine."
"Hey, donât mock the shrine," she said, coming to stand beside you. "Itâs got history."
You glanced at the rows and rows of titlesâsome familiar, others completely new to you. "Whatâs your holy trinity, then?"
She paused, seriously considering it. "Green Day, Radiohead, andâdonât laughâThe Smashing Pumpkins."
You blinked. "Why would I laugh?"
"I dunno. People always think Iâm gonna say something cooler. Nirvana or something."
You smiled. "I think that is cool."
Ellie ducked her head and muttered, "Yeah, well... you look cool, so Iâm trusting your judgment."
You turned toward her, and right as you opened your mouth to say something, you felt itâa warm splash of beverage sloshing right onto your top. You looked down at the spreading stain and groaned. "Oh my god. I canât take me anywhere."
Ellie reacted fast, already rummaging through a basket of laundry near the couch. "Waitâhere. I, uh, Iâve got something you can wear."
She tossed you a hoodie, worn and soft and a little big. The same one she wore the first time she saw you. You pulled it on without thinkingâslightly mortified, and very aware of how it smelled exactly like her. It was stupid. It was just detergent and something like cedar and maybe... her shampoo? But it hit you like a memory you hadnât made yet, and when you looked back at Ellie, she was definitely flustered.
"You okay?" she asked, voice a little tight.
You nodded, tugging at the sleeves. "This is so comfy. You might never get it back."
Ellie laughed nervously. "Thatâs, uh... fine. You look good in it."
The sentence hung between you for a beat too long. You turned back to the CDs. "Show me your favorites."
And she did.
You sat cross-legged on her living room floor while she pulled out album after album, fingers brushing the covers like they were sacred texts. Time slipped away. The music got quieter, the light outside faded to black, and before either of you realized it, the clock on her microwave blinked 1:04 AM.
"Oh shit," Ellie said, glancing over. "Youâre probably exhausted. I didnât mean to keep you here so long."
You rubbed your eyes, yawning. "I am tired. But like, in a good way. I had fun."
Ellie stood awkwardly, hovering near the door. "Do you want me to walk you back?â
"Itâs literally ten steps ahead."
"Still," she muttered, fidgeting with her fingers.
There was a weird, sudden stillness. Not uncomfortable exactlyâjust... charged. Like youâd both walked to the edge of something without realizing it, and now neither of you knew what to do. You stood in the doorway, Ellieâs hoodie still wrapped around you, warm from her and too soft to take off just yet.
"I should go," you said.
"Okay," Ellie agreed, voice quiet.
You could feel itâjust beneath the surfaceâthe shared, unspoken thing you both wanted. The maybe. The what if. But neither of you crossed the line.
Instead, you gave her a soft smile and a breathy 'goodnight,' and Ellie rubbed the back of her neck and murmured it back. When the door finally closed behind you, your heart thudded like youâd just run a mile.
Back in your apartment, you curled into the matress that laid on the floor, still wearing her hoodie, surrounded by the quiet hum of the night, and told yourself you were fine. That youâd get another chance. You didnât know Ellie was sitting on the other side of the wall, wide awake, hoodie-less, and thinking the exact same thing.
THE NEXT MORNING, you woke slowly. And the first thing that you felt was Ellieâs hoodie. Still wrapped around you. Still warm in the chest, even if the sleeves were cold now. Youâd never meant to fall asleep in it, but you hadnât been able to make yourself take it off either. Not when it still smelled like her. Not when it felt like the last piece of her you got to keep before things got too real. Before either of you dared to name what last night had almost been.
You sat up, groaning at the way your spine protested after crashing half-sideways across your bare mattress. One arm still tucked under a throw pillow, hair wild with sleep. You ran your hand through it and stretchedâand thatâs when you heard the voices. Muffled at first. Laughter. Two people in the hallway, maybe just outside your door. You froze.
One of them was Ellie. Youâd recognize her voice anywhere by now. That low rasp that turned warm when she laughed. And she was laughingâlouder than youâd heard her in days. And the other voice? Feminine. Confident. Light and teasing.
You moved quietly, barefoot on the wooden floor, hoodie still draped over your frame like a second skin. You opened your apartmentâs door just enough to let sound bleed in, and curiosity got the better of you. Just a peek, you told yourself.
You leaned into the silence of your own apartment, looking at the hall. And there she was. Ellie. Hair still damp from a shower, in a flannel over a gray tee and those dirty Converse she always stomped around in. She looked so relaxed, so casualâleaning against the stair railing, grinning in a way she never quite had with you. Her hand came up to push her hair out of her face, and she was looking at the girl beside her. Dark hair pulled into a high ponytail. Pretty. Effortless. Golden skin and a wicked smile and that kind of magnetic energy youâd always admired from a distance. She looked like someone who knew how to charm your mom and talk about records without ever trying too hard. The kind of girl who just fit.
She playfully shoved Ellieâs shoulder and said something that made them both burst into another fit of laughter. And your heart sank. Of course. Of course Ellie wasnât single. What were you thinking? That someone like herâfunny, sweet, handy, effortlessly coolâwould just be floating around, unattached? That she'd invite you over, lend you her hoodie, stay up talking music with you âtil one in the morning because she wanted something more? No. Youâd misread it. All of it. You closed the door quietly.
Your face felt hot. Your eyes threatened to let out a couple of tears. You slipped the hoodie off and folded it, hands trembling just slightly, and placed it gently on the edge of the couch like it might burn you if you touched it for too long. Like it had just become hers again, not something you were allowed to keep holding.
And then you started getting ready. Quieter than usual. Slower. You told yourself youâd imagined it. That it didnât matter. That it was fine. Youâd just⊠back off. Respect the boundary you hadnât realized existed.
Ellie noticed something was off that same day. No music playing. No lights on. Not even the faint sound of footsteps inside like usual. The little signs sheâd come to expect over the past few daysâgone. And the worst of all? You hadnât texted her.
She bit the inside of her cheek as she walked down the street, bag slung over one shoulder, thumb hovering over your contact in her phone. She kept replaying last night over and over again in her headâthe way you looked in her hoodie, how you smiled at her dumb music rants, how close your knees had been on the floor, how you hadnât kissed her when you left. And how she hadnât kissed you either. Too nervous. Too wrapped up in the fear of ruining something before it even started.
She walked into the shop, tossed her bag behind the counter, and barely had time to clock in before Jesseâher coworker, and unfortunately, her most observant friendâpoked his head in from the back room. "Yo, Williams."
"What."
"You got the personality of a wet sock today. Did something happen?"
Ellie groaned. "Iâm fine."
"What the fuck? Youâre not. You sighed seven times during that one sentence. Thatâs a record, even for you."
She pulled the stool out and sat down behind the register, slumping dramatically. "Itâs nothing."
Jesse raised a brow. "Is it about hoodie girl?"
Ellie snapped her head up. "What? How do youâ"
"You literally texted me last night 'sheâs wearing my hoodie and I might die.'"
"Okay first of all, fuck you. And second, I was emotionally compromised."
Jesse leaned on the counter, smirking. "So what happened?"
Ellie looked down, fiddling with the string of her hoodie. "I donât know. We hung out, it was greatâlike, really greatâand I thought we were gonna maybe... kiss or something? But then she left, and now sheâs justâcold. Like, totally ignoring me."
"She see you with Dina?"
Ellieâs brows furrowed. âWhat?â
"Dee told me she went to pick up her speaker this morning. Maybe she saw you two together."
Ellieâs jaw dropped. "She thinks Iâm dating Dina?"
Jesse just gave her a look. "Wouldnât be the wildest assumption, dude. Dina is hot. And you two always look cozy as hell."
Ellie slumped back in the stool. "Shit."
"So go tell her." Jesse folded his arms. "Like, right now."
"I canât just show up and be like 'Hey, by the way, that girl I was laughing with? Not my girlfriend!'"
"Why not?"
"Because itâsâ" Ellie rubbed her face. "I donât know, itâs embarrassing. What if she didnât see me with Dina? What if I read everything wrong? What if sheâs not into me like that?"
Jesse tilted his head. "Are you into her like that?"
Ellie didnât answer. She didnât have to. He smiled. "Then fix it, you idiot."
But Ellie just sat there, heart caught somewhere between hope and dread, wondering how the hell she was supposed to explain the mess when you wouldnât even look at her anymore.
FOR THE REST of the week, you did your best to act like everything was fine.
Avoiding Ellie wasnât hard, exactly. Not at first. You slipped out early to grab coffee before she left for work. And you told yourselfâagain and againâthat it didnât hurt. That you werenât letting your mind wander back to the way sheâd smiled at you in her dim little apartment, the way her voice had gone all soft and reverent when sheâd talked about her guitar and her favorite bands. That you werenât still thinking about her hoodie, folded on your couch like something sacred, something almost yours.
But even so⊠you missed her. And she noticed. She wasnât stupid, either. Every time Ellie walked past your apartment, her chest tightened just a little. She couldnât stop checkingâsubtle little glances at your windows, your doormat, listening for footsteps inside. But she was met with nothing, just pure silence.
It had been nine days. Nine days since your almost-date. Since you wore her hoodie and sat so close she could smell your shampoo. Since youâd yawned around midnight and sheâd practically panicked, blurting something awkward about how you didnât have to go but also yeah totally if youâre tired cool cool yeah no worries. And she hadnât even walked you to your place. Just stood there, heart in her throat, as you smiled at her one last time without kissing her. Now you didnât even look at her. And Ellie? Ellie didnât know how to fix it.
That evening, a thunderstorm rolled in with no warning. It was more chilly than you expected, and by the time you realized, Ellieâs hoddie was back like a second skin. You tried to lie to yourself, thinking you were too tired to open the winter clothes box. But in reality, it was just to feel it again. Youâd tried to settle into a book, when the lights suddenly flickered⊠and then went out. You sat in stunned silence for a beat before peeking out your window and confirmed what you fearedâthe whole damn block was dark. Not a gleam streetlamp in sight.
And the worst part? You didnât have a single candle. So you were swallowed by black-pitched darkness. You were just settled back onto your couch, the book long forgotten by now, when someone knocked. A soft, tentative knock. You froze. And then came her voice.
"Hey⊠Itâs Ellie."
Your heart did a little jump, stupid and immediate. You stood slowly, suddenly all too aware of your pajama shorts and the way your hair had half-dried in soft, tangled waves.
You opened the door. Ellie stood there holding two thick candlesâone already lit, the other one tucked under her armâand a slightly sheepish expression. She was wearing a red flannel, straight jeans, and a pair of black Converse. Her hair was tucked messily behind her ears, her freckles barely visible in the low light.
"Powerâs out," she said.
"Yeah. I noticed."
She shifted her weight, and if she had noticed you wearing her hoodie, she chose not to say anything. "Thought you might need these."
You took the candles from her slowly, your fingers brushing hers in the exchange. Her hand was warm. You swallowed. "Thanks."
Ellie nodded, but didnât move. She glanced into your apartment and then back at you, chewing the inside of her cheek. "You okay?" she asked. "Youâve been, uh, quiet lately."
You hesitated, trying to ignore the knot isnide your chest. She had noticed. Your heart beat against your ribs, stubborn and tired. "Yeah. Iâm fine."
A pause. "Youâve been avoiding me."
Your breath caught as you looked away. "No, I havenât."
Ellie tilted her head, gently, like she knew you were lying. "Okay. Cool, then."
"Do you wanna come in?" You mumbled, stepping back. Fuck. Whyâd you even said that?
She bit the inside of her cheek. "Only if itâs okay."
You nodded once. "Yes. Itâs okay." So she stepped in.
The candlelight made everything feel hazier, slower. Her shadow danced across your floor as she walked toward your living room and stood awkwardly near your bookshelf, hands shoved into her hoodie pocket. You followed her in, set the candles on the table, and sat.
Ellie sat tooâbut not too close. She glanced around, then down at her lap.
"I didnât mean to make you uncomfortable," she said finally, voice soft. "The other day. At my place."
"You didnât," you said too quickly. She looked up. You wrung your hands in your lap. "I just⊠It was silly for me to misread the situation, I guess."
Ellie blinked, then blinked again. "What do you mean?"
You gave her a look. "You know. I saw you with the girl... friend."
Realization dawned on her face. "Dina?"
You didnât answer. Great. She had a pretty name too.
Ellie let out a breath and leaned back. "Sheâs not my girlfriend. SheâsâGodâsheâs like my sister. Weâve known each other since middle school. We were talking about Uncharted."
That made you look at her. "Uncharted?"
"Yeah, she was making fun of me for being obsessed with it, and playing the stupid game the whole night. It wasnât flirting."
A small laugh broke out of you before you could stop it, quick and surprised. Ellie smiledâjust a little. And then the room got quiet again. That flickering, charged quiet where neither of you really knew what to say next.
Until Ellie whispered, "You look really good in my hoodie."
You swallowed hard, but didnât answer. Ellieâs gaze flicked to yours. Her cheeks were flushed, soft pink in the candlelight, but smiled anyway.
"I thought maybe you were gonna kiss me," she murmured.
You felt your whole face go warm. "I wanted to."
She blinked slowly. "Then why didnât you?"
"I got scared."
Ellieâs voice was barely above a whisper. "Me too."
You looked at her then. She looked nervous, her knee bouncing like she couldnât sit still. She was leaning in just a littleâbut not enough. Like she was halfway between running and staying. And then she said it, "can I try again?"
Your breath caught. You nodded once, biting your lower lip unconsciously. And this time, she leaned all the way in, her hands finding your cheeks. The kiss was soft, shy, and barely thereâlike both of you were scared it would vanish if you moved too fast. But then she pressed in a little closer, and your hand slid gently to her cheek, and she smiled against your mouth.
And when you pulled back, her forehead rested against yours. In the flickering candlelight, everything else faded. No hallway whispers. No misunderstandings. Just Ellie. Warm and nervous and real.
THE MORNING SUN peeked in lazily through Ellieâs half-drawn curtains. The green-eyed girl had been working her ass off last week, and still pleaded you to wake her up once you did, but you werenât going to do it. She needed the sleep. So here you were now, bleary-eyed, standing barefoot in her kitchen and wearing Ellieâs Pink Floyd oversized shirt.
You were trying to figure out the ancient coffee machine she kept saying 'wasnât that bad' when you heard the apartment door creak open. No knock. No announcement. Just a solid, casual entrance. You froze with one hand on your chest, wide-eyed.
"Ellie, if youâre gonna leave your damn wrench where I can trip over it, I swear toâ"
You turned just in time for him to round the corner into the living room, carrying a paper bag and squinting toward the kitchen. He paused when he saw you. His eyes dropped to the oversized shirt, the unbrushed hair, your whole deer-in-headlights vibe. His brow liftedâjust slightlyâbut it said everything. "Well," he said slowly, adjusting the grip on the bag, "you ainât Ellie."
You cleared your throat. "Umâno. Sheâs still asleep. I think. Probably."
The man stared at you for another long beat, then sighed through his nose and gave a slow, skeptical nod. "Right."
And just like that, Ellie burst out of her room, hair a mess, wearing a tank top, some boxers and a mismatched pair of socks, looking completely and utterly disoriented.
"Ohâshit," she groaned, voice thick with sleep. "Joel. Whatâuhâwhat are youâwhat time is it?"
Joel raised the bag. "Brought you breakfast. And coffee. Thought Iâd surprise you. Guess you beat me to it."
Your face was probably nuclear at that point. Ellie looked like she might combust from within. Joelâs gaze shifted between the two of you. He let out a grunt. "Well. Iâll be damned."
"Iâm gonnaâuhâbathroom. Iâm gonna use it. Yours," you muttered, already halfway down the corridor. "Yep. Bathroom. Gone." You shut the door behind you and leaned against it, hand covering your face.
Out in the living room, there was a heavy pause.
"So," Joel began, in a voice that could only mean trouble, "you finally got your head outta your ass."
"Dude. Please." Ellie rubbed a hand over her face. "Sheâs notâ I meanâweâre not, like⊠together together."
Joel arched a brow. "Does she know that? âCause sheâs wearinâ half your closet and looked quite comfortable in your kitchen."
Ellieâs mouth opened and closed. No response. No correction. Joel nodded to himself. "Didnât think so."
"I didnât say anything!" Ellie hissed, lowering her voice like you might somehow hear through the closed door.
"But you ainât denying it either, kiddo." Joel said smugly. "Look, Iâm not gonna give you the whole dad speech or... whatever. Youâre grown. But if that girlâs gonna be hanginâ around, I expect you to treat her right. Like how I raised you. No ghostinâ. No weird mind games. Noâ"
Ellie sputtered. "Jesus, Joel, can you not?"
"You like her or not?" He asked calmly.
She was quiet for a long beat. "âŠYeah," she said, voice soft and barely audible.
Joel grunted, satisfied. "Then donât be an idiot."
The bathroom door creaked open a second later. You emerged, trying your best to look composed despite the fact your heart was definitely doing somersaults.
Joel glanced between the two of you, and his face softened for just a secondâlike he was genuinely happy for Ellie. "Well," he said. "I should get goinâ. You kids behave."
Ellie groaned, already anticipating some parting remark. "Donât say itâ"
"Take care," Joel said with a wink, then stepped out the door and closed it behind him with a soft click.
A moment of silence settled over the apartment. You turned slowly to face Ellie, arms crossed, squinting with faux betrayal. "You. Nearly gave me a heart attack."
"Me?" Ellie blinked, slightly offended. "What?"
"Donât 'what' me, Williams," you said, marching toward her dramatically. "Your dad, or whatever he isâjust walks in like he owns the place and finds me in your shirt, barefoot and barely awake, making a fool of myself trying to work that prehistoric coffee machineâ"
"You mean the beautifully vintage coffee machine?" she interjected, raising a hand in mock offense.
You shoved her shoulder gently. "Donât deflect! I looked like I had just rolled out of bed after a one-night stand!"
Your brain short-circuited at that for half a second, but you rallied. "I was wearing your clothes, Ellie!"
"I didnât tell you to wear my clothes!" she argued, but her voice was breathless, half-laughing. "And you do look cute!"
You shoved her again, this time with both hands, and she stumbled backward into the couch, grinning as she caught herself.
"Oh, okay, so itâs my fault," she said, recovering. "Next time, Iâll just let you walk around naked. Note taken."
"You didnât even try to explain!" you pointed out, still feigning dramatic offense.
Ellie held her hands up in surrender, though her face and ears were red. "Okay, okay, youâre right! I panicked!"
"You liked it," you accused.
"I did notâ!" Ellie protested, but she was laughing mid-sentence. "Okayâmaybe. Maybe a little. It was kinda⊠nice. I mean, not the surprise Joel part. That part sucked."
You hovered above her where sheâd half-sunk into the couch cushions, breathless from all the mock fighting, face flushed. The laughter slowed between you both.
"It was nice," you echoed, voice soft now. "Him thinking I was your girlfriend."
Ellie looked up at you, suddenly quiet, her grin faded into something gentler, something almost vulnerable. "You didnât run away screaming, so⊠thatâs something."
You dropped your gaze, fighting a shy smile. "I thought about it. Then I remembered I still have your hoodie, and youâd probably come after me."
Ellie sat up a little straighter, nudging your knee with hers. "Damn right I wouldâve. Itâs one of my favorites, you know."
"Youâre unbelievable."
"But charming," she added hopefully.
You tilted your head like you were thinking it over. "Eh. Youâre on thin ice."
She reached over and poked your side, making you squirm. "I brought you breakfast."
"That was mostly Joel." You finally let yourself smile fully, sitting beside her and tucking your legs underneath you, shoulder brushing hers.
"But I didnât stop him," she said proudly. "Youâre welcome."
You laughed again, leaning your head on her shoulder without thinking. It just felt natural. Warm. Safe.
Her voice was softer now, almost a whisper: "You can⊠stay. If you want. A little longer. You donât have to rush back."
You didnât lift your head. "You sure? I might steal more of your clothes."
"Iâd let you," she mumbled. Then, like it was the easiest thing in the world, she added, "they look better on you anyway."
Your heart flipped. "God," you murmured, eyes closing, "youâre such a loser."
this might sound a little silly, but does anyone else, specifically black writers who write for aot, have a hard time writing for other fandoms the way you would write for the aot characters? i feel like weâve made a safe space for each other here on this side of anime tumblr that mighttt not exist in other fandoms đ especially when it comes to writing styles and inclusivity, i just be feeling like certain work will get paid dust anywhere else
everyones on twitter talking about how production forced this upon us but no shade.. olandria wouldnât have taken that push from the producers lightly if she hadnât thought about exploring her attraction to nic. did they play a role in this? absolutely! but that chemistry was real. and to be honest, the way people are making it seem like his attraction to her is forced is weird to me. that boy said from day ONE he wanted to talk to her so idk.. idk!
#they saying nicolandria forced but lets be honest besides from the huda crashouts in the early episodes, nicolandria was their saving grace when it came to this season ! The general public would not be checking for this season if the huda crashouts and nicolandria edits aint happen.
and i am not falling for that propaganda! my girl getting her princess treatment and nic finally got the girl he wanted.. WE BUILT THIS SHIT BRICK BY BRICKKKK NIGGGGAAA!!!!!
everyones on twitter talking about how production forced this upon us but no shade.. olandria wouldnât have taken that push from the producers lightly if she hadnât thought about exploring her attraction to nic. did they play a role in this? absolutely! but that chemistry was real. and to be honest, the way people are making it seem like his attraction to her is forced is weird to me. that boy said from day ONE he wanted to talk to her so idk.. idk!