dumpling

requests open!

[mylovelo-ak]

— SAY YES TO HEAVEN, SAY YES TO ME.

hi! I'm dumpling! i'm 19 and i've been around tumblr for a long while. i used to write under different blogs but this is now my main one, and the only one i'll be active on. if you happen to discover my old blog, no you did not <3. i'm in uni, so if you have any requests, be warned that they might take some time.

as of now, i will be taking requests for aphverse, avatar, and hsr only.

> rules

asks/requests: open

･ﾟﾟ･｡ atwow masterlist

･ﾟﾟ･｡ multifandom masterlist

recent works:

･ﾟﾟ･｡ endlessly, inevitably, completely. ft. phainon

･ﾟﾟ･｡dating pdh! gene

･ﾟﾟ･｡nsfw! aaron hcs

･ﾟﾟ･｡ crushing on you ft. pdh!gene

･ﾟﾟ･｡ death by love and chili ft. mys!gene

loading . . .

･ﾟﾟ･｡ you, in theory ft. pdh!gene enemies to lovers! au

･ﾟﾟ･｡ mcd!laurance x reader

･ﾟﾟ･｡ scare actor bf!gene

[mylovelo-ak]

hiii! just checking in to see how you're doing, hope you are well :]

if not, i hope life starts treating you better soon ❤️🪻

HEY LOVELY!

life's been a rollercoaster rn im both giddy and going insane! thanks so much for checking in ❤️

[mylovelo-ak]

ive come out of hibernation to say ive tried shotgunning with a vape

[mylovelo-ak]

HELLO MY LOVES !!!

im incredibly sorry for leaving you all hanging ....

unfortunately ya girl cant handle NOT signing up/volunteering for extracurriculars so i end up being very exhausted and drained 🥲

i cannot say when i will update again...........

and i hope you all understand </3

ily all

[mylovelo-ak]

HIHI AGAIN!!

please take care of yourself before worrying about the drafts and stories!! your self-care is far more important 🫶

- ☠️anon!!

hi ☠️ anon!!

thank u so much 😽 i will do exactly that!!

ily all

[mylovelo-ak]

im so sorry my loves i have been dying due to seasonal depression and being busy

[fleuriae]

‎ᯤ ♡ .. I LIKE ME BETTER WHEN I’M WITH YOU ── PART 2 💌

pairing(s): pdh!laurance x reader

tags: to all the boys ive loved before inspired, fake dating, swearing, pdh, not proof read oops, part 1 here ~3.8k

a/n: loooong & awaited part 2 that has been rotting in my drafts for 2 months btw </3 never thought id see the day, thank u all for ur patience i pray this doesn’t disappoint PLS

After morning practice was over, you and Laurance both agreed to meet up during break later that day. The two of you sat by the bleachers outside, not as many people were outside, surprisingly.

“So,” You begin, “I think It’s safe to say that we need a contract for whatever this is.”

Laurance is leaning forward, his elbows resting against his knees as his head turns towards you, “A contract?”

You hum in response, pulling out a notebook and pen from your bag, “Mhm, we need rules.”

“Is that really necessary?” He lets out a soft chuckle, you huff at him. “It’s so we know where we stand on certain issues.”

“Alright, like what?”

You tap your pen against your chin, “Like for example, I don’t want you kissing me in front of everyone anymore.”

Laurance blinks in surprise, “I’m sorry, what?”

“What?” You repeat.

“How are we supposed to convince everyone we’re together If you won’t even let me kiss you?”

“You’ll live.” You wave him off. He gives you a look, leaning back and crossing his arms, you click your tongue at him, “Hey, you may be a pro with this kind of stuff—but I’ve never dated anyone before.”

Laurance groans, throwing his head back, “Why does that matter?”

“Well, It matters because, I don’t want all my firsts to be fake.” You shrug at him, “If I’m gonna be making out with someone, I’m gonna do it for real.” He snorts at your comment.

“Didn’t you kiss me first?” He reminds you. You sugh, “Fair enough.” You click the top of your ballpoint pen, opening a free page on your notebook as you start writing down.

“Alright fine, so you can kiss me, since you want to so bad.” You say sarcastically, however Laurance doesn’t argue against it before you move to your next point.

“Second—and most importantly, we cannot tell anyone that this is a fake relationship. No snitching. It’ll be too humiliating for the both of us. No secrets..” You continue to list everything down. “Anything else?”

Laurance hums to himself, “I could.. write you notes everyday?” He turns to you again, “If you’d want.”

“What, like small love notes?”

“You could call it that.”

You look up from your notebook, feeling your cheeks slightly heat up and your heart flutter, “You’d do that?”

“Of course.”

You purse your lips together, biting back a smile almost, while you write another rule down.

“Michi always wanted me to write her some—never did. But if I send some to you, she’ll go nuts.” Your smile drops, your hopes immediately vanishing at the sound of her name, keep your head in the game, you remind yourself.

“How romantic.” You say, rolling your eyes at him.

“Also, you have to come with me to my games and parties.” He points out, you huff. “Alright, then you have to pick me and my sister up and drive us to school.”

“Fine by me.”

“Everyday—til’ this deal is off the hook.”

He sighs, “Then you have to go to prom with me.”

Your freeze, glancing up from the notebook and looking at him. “Are you asking me out to prom already, Zvahl?” You snicker, “Isn’t it like, what—three months away?”

He squints at you, “Your point?”

“You seriously think this would go on for that long?”

“Who says it can’t?” He shrugged.

You sit up straight, tilting your head at him. You were surprised he’d want to continue doing whatever this is, when you were certain it wouldn’t even last three weeks—and you still stood by that, which was the only reason why you said:

“Okay. Deal.”

You write two lines underneath the so-called ‘contract’, scribbling down your signature on top of one before passing both pen and notebook to him, where he glances at you before writing down his signature in the other, sealing the deal.

Over the next few days, people began to pick up how inseparable you two were, noticing how you both had stuck to each other’s side almost all the time. You both had taken it slow at the start, but rumours spread like wildfire, hushed whispers and curious ears to the point where it had eventually reached Michi, and let’s just say she isn’t too happy with the news. You were most definitely not used to the newfound attention and constant eyes on you as you walked past them down the halls. You try to reassure yourself, It’s fine—it’s all for pretend, it’ll pass in a matter of weeks.. right?

That afternoon was slower than usual, you’re already eager for the rest of the day to finally end. You held a handful of books in your arms, walking down the hall to put them away in your locker. You’re halfway down the stairs to the ground floor, the sound of footsteps from behind caught your attention before a shoulder deliberately bumps into yours rather harshly.

The figure passes by in front of you, stopping to turn to you. You don’t even have to guess who it was based off the tuft of lilac hair with yellow highlights and a set of dark purple ears and a tail, great.

“Oh,” Her tone was surprisingly low at first despite her usual high-pitched voice.

“Michi.” You greet her as politely as you could through gritted teeth as your eyes met her olive green orbs, she looks at you with no expression on her face.

A smile suddenly appears on her lips, evidently fake. “Don’t get too comfortable, Y/N. We both know he’ll come crawling right back.” She says suddenly, it’s almost eerie.

You let out a sigh, unimpressed. “To.. you?”

She nods, stepping closer that you could smell her candied perfume, “Yes. To me.” Her smile feels like a threat.

You hum, “You sure? I highly doubt that.” You challenge her, unsure where the sudden surge of confidence came from.

Her eyes carry a glint, scanning you up and down.

“Oh, I’m sure.” Her ears flick for a second, her smile not faltering once before she turns her heel without another word, leaving you stranded.

Weird, you think. You’ll never understand why Laurance would even want to win her back. It was almost too easy to make her jealous that you’d hope the deal would end as quickly as you caught—before you caught any feelings. Yeah.

You shake your head, continuing the walk to your locker to save your arching arms from the unreasonably heavy textbooks.

Once you finally reached your destination, you try to pry open your locker door with one hand, suddenly a folded piece of paper had slipped out which had immediately caught your attention, a routine that’s been happening everyday, yet you can’t lie when you say you look forward to what Laurence had written down this time. It falls to the ground, landing by your feet, your hand reaching down to pick it up.

You were quick to unfold the piece of paper, as best as you could with your one hand, eyes scanning the surprisingly neat and familiar writing.

To my totally real girlfriend, you looked cute during practice this morning. Don’t deny it. — L ♡

You couldn’t even help the small smile that appeared on your lips, which quickly disappeared when someone suddenly snatches the note from your hands. It catches you off completely guard, you blink in confusion, finally noticing that someone was right behind you, then the familiar scent of cigarettes and musk hits your nose. Just your luck.

“Gene.” You say, mentally preparing yourself before whirling around to face the troublemaker himself.

“Y/n.” He smirks at you, ‘course he does. The note sits in between his fingers. He moves to stand beside your locker, leaning against the one next to yours while looking down at you. You place your books inside your locker, wanting to get this over and done with already, “Give it back.”

“What, this?” He waves it around before reading it himself before you could stop him, “Aw, letter from your boyfriend?” He tuts, shaking his head.

A sigh escapes your lips, “Something like that.” You don’t seem too interested to be talking to him, that’s because you weren’t.

“You two make a good show.” He folds the note, you look at him in confusion. “Show?”

Gene gives you a look, shoulders dropping, “C’mon, Y/n. You two aren’t really subtle.” He says, “You may have fooled everyone, but you really didn’t think I’d buy the act, did you?” He chuckles, almost as if to mock you and you say nothing.

He hands you the note back, shockingly, “You really have a thing for love letters, I’ve noticed.”

You freeze, “What do you mean?”

His smirk widens, “Does Katelyn know about the letter you wrote to Jeffory too?”

Your stomach drops, head snapping to glance around the hallway, which was empty, thank Irene. Last thing you’d want is for anyone to see you and Gene together and hear you both, especially with you and Laurence already being the hot topic of the month, it would only fuel it even more.

You shake your head at him, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” You mumble, avoiding his eyes.

“Didn’t think you were the type to be messy, doll.” He laughs, “First Laurance, Jeffory, even me? I’m flattered, really.” He snickers whilst you glare at him, but you don’t deny it.

He doesn’t stop there, “Let me guess, Garroth probably got one too, I wouldn’t be surprised—“

“Shut up, Gene. And no, he didn’t.” You snap, he only continues to feed into your annoyance, “What’s wrong, pretty? No need to be embarrassed.” He mocks you, crossing his arms himself as he steps closer.

“Can you just drop it?”

He hums in thought, “Hm, no. I’m having way too much fun with this.”

“How’d you even find out?” You ask, he stares at you, “Jeffory’s notebook, your handwriting isn’t hard to miss.” He sighs, you can’t even tell if it was a compliment or an insult that he recognises your handwriting, “Now, what would your best friend say?” His eyes light up, “Imagine what the whole school would say? Little Laurance’s girlfriend writing love letters to me and Jeffory. Headlines, for sure.” He adds, dramatically.

You pause, lips going dry. “You wouldn’t.”

“Would I?”

“Gene, please.” You plead, and he loves the look on your face.

“Relax, sweets. I’m just messing with you, I won’t tell anyone.” He tells you, you almost relax, “For now—Maybe until I’m bored.” Your shoulders drop.

“Swear you won’t.” You try again, but it’s hopeless at this point.

He leans down, “No promises. You’re too easy to annoy.” He ruffles your hair, messing it up before moving off the locker to finally walk off. You groan, fixing your hair and turning to his back, “Jerk.” you mumble to yourself as you watch him disappear into the empty hallway. The thought of him telling everyone about the letters sending shivers down your spine, you just pray he’s only doing it to rile you up—and he was doing a damn good job at it.

You turn to your locker once again, Irene above, could this day end already? Why does this keep happening?

You grab your bag from your locker before shutting it closed, “You tell me.” A voice causes you to jolt, your heart jumping out of your chest, finding Laurance beside you this time. Did you say that out loud?

“Laurance! You scared me.” You placed a hand over your chest, letting out a breath after you almost felt your heartbeat nearly stop. You notice that the hallway was making its way into becoming more crowded with students who have been dying to leave, you hadn’t even noticed the bell had rung to finish for the day. He stood by you, one hand in his pocket and the other to hold his bag that swung lazily on his shoulder, his smirk plastered on his face as he looked at you, “Did you like my note?”

“How long have you been standing there?” You ask him as you slid your arms through your backpack, hoping he hadn’t seen too much. He shrugs, “Long enough to see you and Gene, what’s his deal?”

“It was nothing.” You interject, “Just Gene being Gene.”

“It didn’t look like nothing—you looked uncomfortable, I would’ve stepped in if I hadn’t been so late.”

You sigh in defeat, “It was about his stupid letter, and that jerk knows that we’re faking it,”

“Shit.”

“He just didn’t buy it, and it wasn’t just that.” You continued, he noticed you seemed uneasy. “He knows about Jeffory’s too, he saw it while they were in class together.”

His smirk was now gone, standing upright, “Shit.” He repeats, tone rather alert.

“What if he tells Katelyn, Laurance? Even worse, the whole school will find out and everyone will think that I’m some girl who loves to bounce from one guy to another, and that I’m going after my best friend’s boyfriend out of all people!” You start rambling. “I’m not like that! I’ve never even had a boyfriend before!”

“Hey, hey.” He tries to calm you down by placing his hands on your shoulders, his touch steadies you, “Quiet down now unless you want the whole of Phoenix drop to hear you, deep breaths, babe.” He drops so casually.

You scrunch your nose at him, “Eugh, don’t call me that.”

His stupid smirk appears again, “Alright, babe.”

“Laurance.”

He snorts, “What? There’s no rule in the contract that’s stopping me from calling you names.” You let out a groan.

“But seriously, I’m sure Gene’s just doing that to tease.” He tries to reassure you, “but it’s Gene.” You reply, and he sighs, “—but it’s Gene.” He repeats, patting your shoulders in comfort.

“Don’t stress about it, yeah? I’m here.” He murmurs only for you to hear while looking into your eyes.

You nod, it’s quiet between you two despite the loud chatter amongst others and his eyes almost have you in a trance, “Come on, let’s get your sister.” he jerks his head to the direction of the school’s main exit, walking off as you follow along next to him.

“There you two are!” A voice appeared from behind you, causing both you and Laurence to jump in surprise as you turned your heads.

“Katelyn!” You stammer, she walks alongside you, “Look at you two, all lovey-dovey in the open.” She says, “Saw you both talking, what were you two talking about?”

You and Laurance glance at each other, you swear you could feel the sweat running down your forehead.

“Um..” You mumble.

“History!” Laurance blurts out, Katelyn blinked in surprise, “History?” She repeated.

“Yes!” You back him up, clearing your throat. “You know.. cause.. we had a test coming up..?”

“—on the War of the Magi or something like that.” Laurance continued.

“Right..” Katelyn drags, glancing between you two before shaking her head. “Anyways, you.” Your best friend’s eyes set on you.

“Me?” You ask, pointing to yourself.

“Yes, you.” She repeats, nodding. “Jeffory’s looking for you, said it was something important.”

You freeze, and you notice Laurence tense up too.

“Oh!” You say, letting out an awkward laugh. “He wanted me to tell you that he’ll be out front near the stairs so you two can walk home together.” She continued.

You can feel your throat tightening up, many thoughts scrambling in your head. “Uh—“

Laurence cuts you off. “Actually, Katelyn. She’ll be busy. We have plans, don’t we, Y/n?” He spits out while nudging you, “I’ve been driving her home a lot lately to save the hassle, I’m sure Jeffory can wait.”

Katelyn blinks, once, then twice. “Plans?”

“Yeah, uh—a study date! For that test we told you about.” You silently curse yourself as you heard your voice crack while Laurance nods. “Tell Jeffory.. maybe next time?”

Katelyn glances between you two once again for a moment, her lips pressing into a thin line while she observes you both as if she’s trying to piece something together. She then shakes her head and shrugs, “Yeah, no, can’t blame you. You love-birds are always together now, I’ll tell him.” She nods.

“Great, thanks.” You put up a smile for her, and she soon waves you two off as you all step out of the school, once she was out of sight, you let out a breath you didn’t realise you’d been holding in.

“A study date?” Laurance asked, “What else was I supposed to say?” You ask him, he shrugs.

“I mean.. If you’re free right now, we can go to that diner from last time.” He faces you, eyes glistening with hope.

“Corner Cafe?” You ask, he nods. You could so go for a strawberry milkshake again.

“C’mon, it’ll be fun. My treat.” He says, who would say no to free food? A smile appears on your face as you nod, “Hm, deal. But first, let’s find my sister and drop her off back home.”

“Thanks, Joan. You’re the best.” You clap your hands together as the familiar waitress smiled at you and slid the glass of your all-time-favourite drink, your lips immediately finding the red-and-white straw as you hummed in delight, the taste engulfed your tongue. Laurence sat across from you, he chuckled at your reaction, “What?” You raise your brow at him, a pause, then he shakes his head as he popped a fry into his mouth, “Nothing.” He shrugged, looking at you.

“Oh!” You exclaimed all of a sudden, “I forgot to tell you this weird thing that happened today with Michi.” You say, fingers stirring around the straw in your milkshake, this caused him to lean forward, elbows against the table, “Yeah?”

You nod, “Yeah. Turns out this whole thing we’re doing might end quite early.”

He squints at you, he almost seems disappointed, “What do you mean?”

“You didn’t tell me she was quick to become jealous, it’s almost too easy.” You reply, grabbing a fry from his plate, dipping it in ketchup before placing it in your mouth.

Laurance gives you a look, clearly confused, “Uh, Elaborate?”

“She bumped into me earlier—literally right before you saw me at my locker—and she was all.. He’ll come crawling right back to me, don’t get too comfortable.” You mimic her high-pitched voice, he laughs at your imitation, “No, really?” He asks, “Dead serious.” You say, taking another sip of your drink.

“That’s..” He’s searching for the word, “Off?”

“Off?” You repeat and he shrugs, “You’re telling me that doesn’t sound very Michi-like to you?”

“Well, yeah—I mean. I don’t think she seems the type to threaten other girls.” You roll your eyes at his response, “That’s because you’ve never seen her threaten other girls, she’s overprotective, especially over you. Do you even know your own ex, Zvahl?”

“I do! It’s just.. weird hearing it I guess.” He mumbled, his phone buzzes, vibrating against the table, once. Then it happens again—and then a third time, causing both of you to snap your heads down on the screen. You notice his lockscreen hasn’t changed, a photobooth picture of him and the meif’wa, speak of the devil, you’re not really surprised.

“You still have that as your background?” You mention, “Yeah, might need to change that one.” He scratches the back of his neck, “Let me guess, the notifications are from her too?” He nods in response.

“Mhm. I don’t know, she just annoys me sometimes.” He admits, “Like today, she ignores me at school, but then we leave and suddenly I have a thousand messages from her.”

You squint at him this time, “Oookay, have you been replying back?”

“Nah. I think I’ll probably just call her when I get back home or something.” He says with a sigh, his words causing you to blink at him in confusion.

“So, wait, you guys still talk on the phone then?” You ask, leaning back and crossing your arms together, “I mean, not as much as we used to. But yeah, I guess you could say that. Just sometimes here and there.” He replies, looking down as if he was caught.

Silence settles between you both, you stare at him saying nothing, completely lost as he eventually looks back up at you.

“What?” He breaks the silence, you sit back up, snapping out of your head and humming in response, “Hm?”

“Wh—you do this thing,” He gestures at your face, “You have this whole judgy face scenario going on.”

“Well, for one, I think it’s really weird that you’re still talking to your ex over the phone.” You slowly shake your head at him, “It’s not healthy.” You point out.

“Oh, I’m sorry, and you’re the expert?” He smirks at you, “You’ve never even had a boyfriend or a girlfriend before—“

You cut him off, “Well you have had only one girlfriend, and you’re completely and unhealthily obsessed with her. So that doesn’t necessarily make you The Bachelor.”

He laughs, “Okay, one: I am not obsessed with her.”

“Please.” You snort. “Then prove it, don’t call her tonight.” He sighs in defeat, “You know, for someone who’s quiet, you sure have a lot of opinions.”

“Really? Well, I guess that’s just because no one’s been honest with you before.” He laces his hands together, “Okay, fine. Then be honest with me. Why haven’t you dated anyone before?”

You stare at him before shrugging at him, “I don’t know, I guess no one’s ever liked me like that.”

“Lies.” He points at you with a whisper, waving his finger at your face, “Lies, I know those are lies, because I know for a fact there was that one guy that asked you out last year.”

“You’re keeping tabs on me now? And it was Dante, you know how he is. He asks out every girl he sets his eyes on!”

“Come on, L/n.” He whines, “Talk to me. No secrets, remember? Contract.” He reminds you.

You let out a sigh, pursing your lips together before tucking a loose strand away from your face. “Alright, so, love, dating and all that romantic stuff?” He hums as he listens in, “I love to read about it, it’s sometimes kind of fun to write about, and to think about it in my head.” You pause, looking down, “But when it’s real..”

Laurance looks at you, tilting his head, “What? It’s scary?” You look back up to meet his eyes, slowly nodding, “I guess you could say that.”

“How? Why is that scary?” He asks.

“Because the more people that you let into your life—the more that can just walk right out.”

Laurance only nods in response, absorbing your words. “Well,” he says slowly, “I think it’s funny that you say you’re scared of commitment and relationships.” He starts, “But you don’t seem afraid to be with me.” He points out.

You shrug, “Well there’s no reason to be.” You reply, he smiles, “Yeah? Why’s that?”

“‘Cause we’re just pretending.”

© fleuriae, 2025 — i do not own any of the characters mentioned .

[mylovelo-ak]

UHUH... JUST PRETENDING ....

[mylovelo-ak]

Hear me out… Gene x reader x Laurance but it’s the scene from challengers where they’re all getting freaky🧐

anon i havent watched challengers but i'm going to watch it and reblog this when ive seen it

the idea of gene x reader x laurance though???

[mylovelo-ak]

never and i mean NEVER come into my inbox w a request and apologize for anything because i LOVE all of you and you all have sexy brains

[mylovelo-ak]

Sending in the rare sub!gene x fem!reader… Ouuuuummmmmm 🧘‍♀️🧘‍♀️🧘‍♀️🧘‍♀️🕯️🕯️🕯️

anon is this a request....

bc i have genuinely seriously intensely thought ab sub! lgene before ...

u cannot TELL me this man won't willingly sub sometimes (if not most of the time)

with his loser ahh voice and bratty attitude good LORD the tgihgs id do to him ...

[mylovelo-ak]

do u take zane requests…perchance!!

HELL YEAH

[mylovelo-ak]

mcd!laurance x reader & scare actor bf!gene YESSS OKAYYY I SEE U 🙏🙏

RIGHT!!!

I CANT EVEN TAKE CREDIT BC ITS ALL JUICY IDEAS FROM MY ANONS I LOVE!! MY ANONS

[mylovelo-ak]

i am humbly asking for more gene x reader .... mcd or mys gene maybe .... its up to you if you wanna do nsfw or sfw whatever youre in the mood for.

death by love and chili

pairing: gene x gn! reader

synopsis: in which you decide to cook your boyfriend dinner!

a/n: i wrote this in one go i hope its okay. tysm for requesting anon! i am a strong believer than gene can COOK

navi

something about gene that people don't really know, is that he's surprisingly a great cook.

from the juiciest of steaks to the freshest of salads, he knew his way around the kitchen. when you first moved in together, he made sure the kitchen was fit to his liking.

seeing as you couldn't even hold a knife properly, he did all the cooking.

and you made up for it by doing the dishes, or you know...

providing dessert.

but lately, work has been weighing down on gene's shoulders. the bags under his eyes seemed to get darker, and his body stiffer. no amount of massages or twenty minute naps eased his fatigue.

gene began suggesting take out for dinner. not that you mind of course, but an assortment of fast food for dinner through out the week was obviously not healthy. you could only have so much of chicken tenders.

you realized that coming home and having to cook was probably the mental load that was tormenting your tired boyfriend.

if you could maybe lessen the work of cooking somehow.

you could help with prep work. if you could get through cutting onions without injuring yourself or crying like you were being tortured.

but then you’d need to ask him for the recipe—another burden on him. or you could decide for him, but what if you picked wrong? or messed up? he’d have to redo everything anyway.

you stared helplessly at gene’s impressive knife collection. then the pots. then the pans. then the basket of spices that looked more like a shrine.

what if you just… made something from scratch?

on your own?

that couldn’t be that hard… right?

you took a deep breath.

okay. this was it. you were going to cook the best dish possible—one so good gene would trust you with dinner duty sometimes.

hopefully.

you checked the time: around three hours before gene got off work.

three hours was plenty of time to mess up and try again.

“step one! find something to cook,” you announced to an empty kitchen.

you grabbed your phone and opened tiktok.

“recipes… for… bf…” you muttered while typing.

hundreds of videos loaded.

steak recipes seemed doable, but you didn’t have beef in the fridge. you skipped the fish dishes—gene wasn’t a fan. and another woman had beautiful food but made everything from scratch, which was a nightmare for you to pull off.

you scrolled and scrolled and... two hours passed.

somewhere between the salads and meats, you ended up doomscrolling animal videos.

and you would've continued if gene hadn't sent you a message.

my personal genie 🪔: work's finishing up early

my personal genie 🪔: shld i pick up sum chinese otw?

oh no.

not only did you waste two hours, but now you had even less time with gene coming home early. you panicked, thinking of a way to keep gene away from the house for at least a few more minutes.

(name) the oil lamp 🫀: no i ordered food alr

(name) the oil lamp 🫀: can u get me popcorn

you bit your lip in anticipation, watching gene type back.

my personal genie 🪔: i alr stocked up on ur caramel popcorn

my personal genie 🪔: it's in the pantry

shit shit shit.

you never thought gene's thoughtfulness would come back to bite you in the ass.

(name) the oil lamp 🫀: no i want the butter popcorn from the cinema. thx.

you felt like an asshole after hitting send. heading to the cinema to get you popcorn would take gene another twenty minutes. but you had no time to be sad now.

you settled on marry-me pasta, hoping that gene would indeed want to marry you after eating it.

your phone buzzed on the counter, indicating a reply from your boyfriend. you ignored the notification, deciding to focus on the task at hand.

when gene pulled into your shared driveway, he wanted nothing more than to eat and knock out with you in his arms.

he glanced at the bucket of popcorn on the passenger seat. he still had no idea why you suddenly craved cinema popcorn.

he pulled it onto his lap, stepped out, and approached the door. he didn’t even bother getting his keys—knocking was easier.

before he could, the door swung open.

you stood there with wild, messy hair, stained clothes, and pure chaos in your eyes.

“HEY BABE!”

gene actually flinched at the volume.

“he—hey baby, why so excited?” he stammered, confused.

you didn’t answer. instead, you ripped the popcorn from his hands and dragged him inside.

instantly, gene was hit by a cloud of chili powder and… burnt milk?

you led him to the dining room where candles flickered and rose petals were scattered.

except the candles were clearly just lit—he could still smell the sulfur from the matches. and the petals… were from the roses he gave you last week. now very dead.

he really needed to buy you a new bouquet.

his eyes drifted to the table.

a plate of something that might have been shrimp pasta… or carbonara… sat waiting. his plate was oddly red compared to yours.

“i tried making dinner tonight…”

gene looked at you—twiddling your thumbs, eyes lowered—and his heart melted.

it didn’t matter if the shrimp was raw.

he would eat the whole plate. and the fork. and maybe the table too.

he scooped up a forkful immediately.

“NO WAIT IT’S STILL—”

it burned.

gene should’ve known it was hot.

“…hot…” you winced as he hissed through the pain.

your cooking was… unique. he tasted unmelted sugar, burnt cream, and salt levels that violated several health codes.

and then—

the chili hit.

tears sprang to his eyes, as you watched him anxiously. and gene desperately tried to keep a straight face.

but the tears rolled.

“doll—” he coughed, “can i ask what this is?”

“uh… marry me pasta?” you grinned nervously.

gene grabbed the glass of coke and chugged.

bad. idea.

he coughed harder, thumping his chest.

“you didn’t—” cough “use chili powder—” cough “instead of smoked paprika—” cough cough “did you?”

you winced. “are they not the same thing?”

gene’s soul briefly left his body.

“i need—milk—”

“oh… i kind of… used it all… on the pasta…”

ah.

gene blew out air in rapid bursts until the spice finally dulled.

“i’m sorry, love…” you whispered, ashamed.

gene’s heart twisted—not from pain, but because you looked genuinely crushed.

he set the plate aside and pulled you close.

“baby, hey… look at me.” he tilted your chin up gently.

your worried eyes shimmered.

“i wanted to do something for you…” you said quietly.

gene chuckled softly. “you did do something. it’s just a little spicy.”

you tried to smile, but it didn’t quite reach your eyes.

“i messed up, gene. i can’t cook for shit.”

you tried to pull away, but he tightened his hold and squished your cheeks.

“you could serve me molten asphalt and I’ll eat everything!”

you squinted. “yeah right.”

“okay, maybe if it had a little less kick than today…” he teased.

“GENE!”

he burst into laughter, pulling a giggle out of you too. your shoulders relaxed.

“there’s that smile,” he said, pinching your cheek and kissing it.

within seconds, you were glowing, and gene couldn’t help but kiss you.

forget dinner—he could kiss you all night.

but when he bit your lip, you pulled back.

he groaned, trying to kiss you again, but you stopped him, glaring.

“gene.”

“yes, my love?” he murmured, kissing your neck.

“we need to figure out dinner.”

“forget dinner.” he peppered kisses across your jaw, fully committed to ignoring reality.

grumble.

you smirked. “your stomach says otherwise.”

“traitor…” gene muttered at his own abdomen.

“chinese?” you offered.

gene sighed dramatically. “…chinese.”

and so the night continued—your favorite show on the tv, chinese takeout spread across the table, and the cinema popcorn completely forgotten.

[mylovelo-ak]

TWO. OBSERVATION

pairing: gene x reader

wc: 5.1k

tags: enemies to lovers (woop woop), nerd x delinquent, secret/forbidden relationship, zvahl!reader

cw: cursing, gene calls reader a bitch, more banter

a/n: everything was written in the dead of nighf whike i was traveling or struggling to sleeo i am on the verge kf dying. cant format the gradient title bc im uploading fron my ohone. i am sos oddry for late uodates i love u all

previous you, in theory mlist navi

on fridays, you had lunch with laurance and garroth. it was the only day you'd make time to socialize and eat with them. otherwise, you'd be in some corner of the library catching up on work. but fridays meant the weekend was to follow, and you could always catch up on work then. more than that, it was a little ritual in your friend group.

after your teacher's stunt, however, you've resorted to reading while eating.

laurance was chatting away with dante, one hand holding his sandwich up, and the other holding yours. he'd wait for you to finish chewing before bringing it up to your mouth again for you to take a bite.

"(name) zvahl, still being hand fed at this age, tsk tsk." garroth's voice was teasing and mischievous, but you were too engrossed to notice. your lack of expression made his face drop in fear—he was afraid he had pissed you off. your brother waved him off, half-eaten sandwich still in hand.

"she's probably not even listening, it's hard to get her to talk when she's like this."

and he was a hundred percent right.

after your horrifying incident in class, and gene's downright refusal to work with you, you'd set on absorbing as much information as you could to hopefully, pass the assignment on your own. you weren't sure how you were going to do that though, it is a paired assignment after all. but it was all wishful thinking at this point.

after one more bite of your lunch, the bell rang. you sighed and closed the book. laurance offered the rest of your food to you, but you refused, your hunger being replaced with dread.

he shrugged and shoved the food in his mouth in one go.

irene above loved you so much that she blessed you, hungry and tired, with psych after lunch.

least irene could do was make him cut classes today.

you knew it was futile, of course, it's not like irene would magically kick gene out of the halls of phoenix drop high. you bid your goodbye to your friends and trudged to your classroom. you walked slow, every step delaying the inevitable. but alas, you reached your seat, now reassigned to the back corner after being paired with the spawn of satan himself.

ms. hawthorne kicked off her class without delay, not caring much for students coming in late. usually, every word she'd say would process in your brain, but today you were mindlessly drifting. just a week ago, you won the jackpot at the arcade when you were out with friends. that must've used up all your luck. you thought back to the day before, when gene's presence made your hair stand on end. even now that he wasn't beside you, his seat felt awkward to you.

"you'll be paired with ms. zvahl for a project."

you were stunned. the whole world slowed and zeroed in on the sound of your heart thrumming in your ear. anything could've happened today. you could've woken up early, could've been hit by a car, could've been sick, literally anything. you would rather any of those had happened than be paired with gene.

what choices in your life had led up to this moment?

"ms. hawthorne, you can't possibly—" you started.

"oh fuck no."

"excuse me, mr. vargas?"

what?

excuse me, mr. vargas indeed. yeah, you sure as hell didn't want to work with him. but why was he so quick to dismiss you?

ms. hawthorne turned her nose up and waved you both off, clearly unimpressed with gene's choice of words. you were surprised he wasn't sent off to detention. but you were even more surprised at his reaction to working together.

you caught up with gene outside after speed walking, huffing out of breath.

"where the hell are you going in such a hurry?" he shot you a side glance, but his pace did not falter. on the contrary, it seemed to pick up.

"none of your business, babe."

you gagged at the pet name.

"what do you mean 'fuck no'?" your voice pitched up when you imitated him, a sneer evident on your face as accompaniment. in all your other classes, everyone was dying to be paired with someone as dedicated as you. well, if they weren't trying to use you to be closer to laurance.

gene stopped in his tracks, and if you didn't react in time, you would've crashed straight onto his back. he turned to face you, leaning down so he was staring straight into your eyes.

"i said fuck no, i would rather kiss my own brother than work with you." a shit eating grin spread across his face as his voice lowered to hammer his words home.

you were fuming. in fact, you were too mad to notice the proximity between you two. you did, however, notice the small freckle under his eye.

"i'll have you know i'm a delight to work with! everyone loves being my partner!" you gritted through your teeth.

gene stepped back and patted your head as if you were a dog.

"whatever you say, buddy," he retorted.

buddy? buddy????

without giving it much thought, you stomped on his foot. gene yelped in pain, quickly stepping away from you.

"what the fuck is your problem, bitch?!"

you gasped. you opened your mouth to reply, but it was the familiar voice of your brother that cut you off.

"what are you doing with my sister, gene?" he hissed. he tugged on your arm to pull you behind him.

"she came to me! and she stepped on my foot!" he exclaimed, pointing an accusatory finger at you.

you stuck out your tongue at him, mouthing womp womp when your brother wasn't looking.

"don't you even dare speak to her again." laurance threatened, his hands balled into fists. you could practically see the steam oozing from his ears. gene scoffed before limping away, but not without flipping you off.

you were brought back to reality by the sound of the chair beside you squeaking across the floor. you sighed—you didn't even need to check to know it was gene, late as ever, sitting beside you.

screw him for giving you false hope that today would be peaceful.

you anticipated a snarky remark, or a teasing one at that, but it never came. from the corner of your eye, you could see gene just... sitting there. his uniform was messy, hair all over the place, and his eyes were set on the board at the front of the class. you doubted he was actually listening though. his face was almost vacant, like his head was in another world.

airhead.

you snorted. unluckily for you, the sound was enough to draw his attention to you. his eyes flicked over to you, gaze intense and questioning. you could see the angry question mark floating above his head.

"ms. zvahl, could you tell us about the theory of the big five?" ms. hawthorne couldn't have had better timing. you could see heads turn toward you in curiosity.

you cleared your throat to steady the shake in your tone before answering, "it's traits that describe someone's personality—openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism."

she smiled at you, declaring your answer as correct. you exhaled, letting the tension in your shoulders ebb away. good thing you read that book during lunch.

"fuckin' nerd," gene muttered under his breath, just loud enough for you to hear.

you glared at him and sent swift kick to his leg under the desk, relishing in his agonized face afterward.

"fucking dick," you mocked.

"is kicking me the only thing you're good at?"

this time, you chose to ignore him. this constant bantering will end up being your leading cause of death. gene didn't push you anymore either. he went the rest of the class silent. he looked like he lacked sleep. well, he always looked like that. probably partied too hard last night or something.

time whizzed by as ms. hawthorne explained the big five to all of you. she asked the class to write papers explaining at least one of the five, assigning deadlines at the end of the week. but as she dismissed the class, she yet again asked you and gene to stay.

when you and gene stood in front of her, she handed both of you a sheet of paper.

"this is the grading system for your project," she explained.

"both of you need not submit the upcoming assignment, instead, i want both of you to study the big five test, and then guess what your partner would score on each area—keep your guesses to yourself—then for the next few months, i want you to observe each other—"

"MONTHS?"

ms. hawthorne frowned at you.

"yes, months. will you let me continue now?"

you mumbled an apology.

"after that, i want you to note down your observations and compare it to your initial understanding of each other." she paused, a twinkle of mischief dancing in her eyes.

you glanced at gene, but his face was still blank.

how was he not complaining about this?

"well then, i wish you both good luck." she shooed you off, muttering something about her next class.

"oh—and (name)?" you stopped at the doorway, the use of your first name catching you off guard.

"yes, ms. hawthorne?"

she smiled, "don't try to fake the project on your own."

by the time all your classes finished, the reality of flunking your project with an absent gene started to set in. this was supposed to bring your grade up, not slap it into the depths of hell.

you thought about catching up to gene to try and convince him to cooperate, but he had already disappeared, which left you looking for him when classes ended.

you checked every crevice in phoenix drop high, the hopeful feeling in your stomach dying with every failed attempt.

there was one place left—by the bleachers near the field.

except laurance had soccer practice at the said field.

irene knows what he'd do if he saw you talking to gene again.

so, you came up with plan.

wait until laurance turns his back, and then run to duck behind the bleachers. not exactly the best, but it was all you had.

when you stepped out of the halls, you hid behind a nearby tree, carefully waiting for any glimpse of the brunette. you scanned every face on the field, partially looking for gene or his friends too.

"what are we hiding from?" garroth sneaked up behind you, also tucked behind the tree, scaring the shit out of you.

you jumped at his sudden arrival, almost blowing your cover.

"dude, garroth, what the fuck!" you whisper shouted.

"what?" he whisper shouted back.

"just—" you sighed. "i'm not hiding from anyone."

you couldn't possibly explain to garroth the situation you were in.

"don't you have baseball practice?"

he shrugged, "cancelled."

great, now how were you gonna sneak past laurance now?

you could lead garroth back inside, then say you need to pee or something, quickly run back to check then get back to him.

yeah, that works.

"hey garroth, do you wanna head insi—"

"oh, it's laurance! hey, laurance!" garroth waved his hands up and down like an idiot, more than enough for your brother, who had just emerged onto the field, to see.

there goes your plan.

"how lovely," you muttered under your breath dejectedly. your brother waved back, before walking over to his coach to talk. garroth lead you by the arm towards the edge of the field.

you followed after him, seeing no point in resisting.

laurance wrapped up his conversation with his coach and came to meet you and garroth at the side.

"hey guys, what's going on?"

"i spotted (name) hiding behind a tree, hehe," garroth giggled like a high school girl.

"why were you hiding behind a tree?"

you refused to answer your brother, only offering a deadpan expression in response. he looked at you like you were crazy.

"okay.. anyways.. i'm finishing practice a little later today. do you think you could pick up cadenza's cake instead?"

shit, that's right.

"cadenza's cake?" garroth asked.

"fuck, i forgot her birthday's tomorrow already!" the panic in your face was evident. forget gene, you had bigger things to worry about right now. you had been so preoccupied with your problems that you completely forgot about your own sister's birthday.

you had no gift, no card, nothing.

laurance had a knowing look on his face, you were always a little forgetful with things like this.

"you can get her flowers at that place beside the bakery, i'm sure it'll stay fresh overnight," he suggested.

cadenza would like flowers. you could snag a bag of silica gel so she could preserve them, too.

"give the bakery my name, the cake's already paid for so don't worry about it." laurance added, giving u a soft pat on your head.

you checked your phone for the time, only to see you had about an hour before the place closed. you hurriedly gave both boys a side hug as a farewell.

"i'll see you at home!" you yelled as you rushed back to your locker for your things, your mission of finding gene completely forgotten.

you decided to take the bus on the way there, since walking all the way there would take forever. you were looking out the window, keeping an eye out for the familiar turn. at the same time, you were wondering what flowers cadenza would like.

roses would be a safe option, but almost too safe. it would scream last minute. maybe something orange to match her hair would be nice.

you smiled, remembering the time laurance dyed his hair to match hers. he tried to rope you into it too. instead, you compromised with orange eyebrows, which you had to draw over every morning before school. the bathroom you shared had orange stained walls for months.

soon enough, the small shop came into sight. you hopped off the bus and headed straight for the cake shop. it was supposed to close in a little over half an hour, but the line was longer than the stress-line gene permanently etched into your forehead.

clearly, the smart move was to buy the flowers first, then come back to pick up the cake, when the queue was (hopefully) shorter.

the moment you stepped into the flower shop, you were instantly hit with a pleasant jasmine-tinged smell. the shop was designed with rustic, woody beams and huge windows, where orange light from the sunset peered in. there were two rows you could walk by, each lined with an array of flowers on both sides.

if it was any other day, you would've spent hours browsing and smelling everything. but alas, you made a beeline for the counter, spotting a black haired girl wrapping a bouquet.

"hi!" you placed your palms on the counter, snapped her attention to you. she looked deeply, impressively unamused.

"really sorry— but i need like— an orange themed bouquet, right now," you gave her your most awkward, please-don’t-hate-me smile.

she opened her mouth to speak, but you realized you had forgotten something.

"—please!" you finished, the grin on your face widening.

she frowned.

"sorry miss, but he got here first."

she flicked her gaze past your shoulder, then down at the bouquet in her hands. a prickle crawled up your spine as you turned.

lo and behold—gene. in all his unwanted glory.

you can't decide if you want to scream because you finally found him, or cry because he’s wearing that same stupid mischievous look.

"gene," you stared at him in bewilderment.

"honeybunch sugar plum pumpy-umpy-umkin." he mirrored your tone and the way your jaw dropped, obviously making fun of you.

"what."

literally what the fuck was that.

it felt like hours passed by as you stared at each other. gene, chewing his gum, face taunting and prying for a reaction. and you— 'WTF' written all over your face.

"um.. here's your order, sir."

gene pushed past you, grabbing his wallet from his back pocket in one swift motion. your gaze followed his tall figure as he chatted with the florist. he brushed his fingers against the delicate blue chrysanthemum petals, admiring its beauty.

"only someone so gorgeous could make something like this," he flirted, earning a blush from the other girl.

she mumbled a thanks and passed over his receipt to him. you could've sworn you saw her number written on there.

he turned his back to her, facing you head on yet again.

"you gonna gawk at me forever, babe?"

whatever trance you were in shattered completely after that.

he began walking towards the exit, and against all your deepest wishes, you chased after him.

"gene— wait!"

unlike the previous day, he slowed his pace, allowing you to catch up to him.

"please do the assignment with me." you swallowed your pride and wasted no time asking him.

"i don't want to."

he didn't even miss a beat rejecting you. you powered through your pride and shame only to be shut down so easily.

"but—"

he stopped at the door. he pushed it open and guided the small of your back forward. quite gentlemanly for someone with asshole tendencies.

you were to preoccupied to notice, however.

"please gene, i really need it," you continued as you stepped out, waiting for him to reach your side again.

"yeah sure, but i don't really need it," he shrugged, halting at your side.

"i'll.." you hesitated.

he raised his eyebrows, encouraging you to speak. as if you were stepping dangerously close to what he wanted all this time.

"i'll do anything," you finished, resolve hardening your words. this could make or break your school life, you didn't have space to mess it up.

there was a glint in his eyes as his cheshire cat grin spread.

"anything?"

you swallowed thickly.

"..anything."

"join the shadow knights."

"no."

gene threw his hands up in disbelief, flower petals fluttering at the sudden movement.

"you said anything!"

"anything but that!" you retorted, growing more embarrassed by the second.

"well too bad, because that's all i want from you," his gaze stayed locked onto yours, unforgiving and pushing, as if glaring hard enough would change your mind.

you racked your brain for counter offers, anything that could possibly sway gene. you could offer him information, but you'd crumble from guilt if you did that to anyone. plus what if gene wanted dirt on your brother? like hell you'd do that.

and then it came to you.

you could just use gene's tactics against him.

you returned his intense stare with a new found confidence.

"if you don't cooperate, i'm telling your girlfriend that you flirted with the florist."

his expression shifted from shock, to confusion, then to enlightenment last.

"don't tell me, you think these flowers are for some imaginary girlfriend i have?"

all that confidence you had? gone.

"you—" you felt stupid as gene doubled over laughing.

"you don't have a girlfriend?" your voice came out as a whisper, your shame taking over your actions. you fumbled with the ruffles of your skirt, waiting for gene to come down from his fit of laughter.

he wiped non existent tears out of the corner of his eyes and took deep breaths to steady himself.

"these are for my mom, dumbass," he clarified.

your mouth formed an 'o', your cheeks heating up in embarrassment. you were so bold, and it completely backfired.

wait.

gene was buying flowers for his mom?

you were sure it wasn't mother's day or anything. maybe it was her birthday, too. gene wouldn't be the kind of guy to just give his mom flowers for no reason, surely.

before you could ask, his face darkened.

"don't even try to use me buying her flowers as blackmail. if you think that's an embarrassing thing to do, i pity your mom," he warned.

you sputtered, "what-! of course not! i don't think that's something to be ashamed of!"

he watched your reaction warily, waiting for a falter in your defense.

"good because—"

"gene!"

for the nth time today, your conversation was interrupted. this time, by a woman with blue hair and a face you swore you've seen before.

beside you, gene was frozen stiff, all the color had drained from his face.

the woman approached you two, offering a polite smile to you. she caught sight of the flowers in his hand and gasped.

"i didn't realize you were on a date, i'm so sorry."

a DATE?

your jaw dropped.

"and with such a nice girl, too."

your cheeks— and your ears— flushed a beet red. you shook your head profusely, but the words refused to leave your mouth.

"it's not a date, ma," gene groaned.

MA?

you looked at gene, then at his mom, then gene, then his mom again.

it all made sense.

dante's bluish hair, gene's under-the-eye freckle, and the same eye-crinkly smile the brothers shared, all in the same woman.

"so you're just giving out flowers randomly?" she narrowed her eyes at her son, another behavior they shared.

your jaw remained agape as you mentally compared gene's face to hers.

gene vargas, usually adorning a cocky smile and judging eyes, had flushed cheeks and a twinge of worry on his face.

"she's my... uh.." he trailed off, glancing back at you for any hint you might give him, as to what you two were supposed to be.

"—project partner!" you interjected, a cheeky smile tugging on the corners of your mouth.

you beamed at ms. vargas, putting on your best goody two shoes act (though you didn't have to try much). you held out your hand, expecting a handshake, but ms. vargas pulled you in for a motherly hug instead.

"it warms my heart to know that my little genie is finally catching up with school."

you didn't think it'd be possible for gene to turn redder than he did in that moment. his knuckles were practically white, gripping the bouquet so intently.

when his mom let go of you, he passed her the flowers.

"the flowers were for you, ma."

if gene wasn't an asshole, you'd argue that he was cute as his mom gushed about receiving 'just because' flowers from her eldest son.

he was sweet with his mother, so why was he such a prick outside of home? he seemed like such a family guy.

hold on.

family.

cadenza.

CAKE!

you gasped, immediately running into the cake shop that was seconds away from closing. you practically slammed into the cake shop door, the bell above it giving a little jingle as you stumbled inside.

the place was almost empty now—just two staff sweeping the floor and a tired-looking cashier already halfway through shutting down the register. they all looked up at you like you were the final boss of their shift.

“hi—picking up for cadenza zvahl?” you panted, leaning a hand on the counter as if that would somehow help your lungs stop dying.

the cashier blinked, then flipped through a clipboard. “cadenza.. well.. we have a laurance zvahl..?”

you smacked your forehead. you completely forgot it was under his name instead of cadenza's.

“yes! that!"

she disappeared into the back, and you drummed your fingers anxiously, silently praying the cake hadn’t been smashed or eaten by rats or whatever else your catastrophizing brain could conjure.

she came back with a box of what you recognize was carrot cake—your sister's favorite. on top, white icing swirled happy birthday cadenza!

you thanked the cashier, box tucked carefully in your arms, and stepped out of the shop. gene’s mom—still mid-conversation with her son—spotted you immediately. her whole face lit up.

“oh! sweetheart—you bought a cake?” she called, waving you over like you were already part of the family.

“yes, ma’am. sorry i ran off without saying anything, that was rude of me,” you said as you approached.

“you’re such a polite girl. gene, you never bring home polite girls.”

you choked. gene groaned.

“ma, i don’t— she’s not—”

she cut through his protest like air. “are you headed home now? it’s dangerous to walk alone this late.”

you blinked. “oh— i’m just taking the bus, it’s really no big deal—”

“nonsense!” she waved you off. “come have dinner with us. i insist.”

you froze.

gene froze.

even the cake in your hands seemed to sense the tension.

“m-ma,” gene muttered, mortified. “stop.”

she gave him the look—the universal mother look that shut down arguments before they even formed. “what? i can’t invite your friend to dinner?”

“i—I really don’t want to intrude,” you stuttered, “i still have to get flowers for my sister’s—”

“flowers?” she perked up. “oh, honey… the stall just closed.”

you spun around so fast you nearly strained your neck. but she was right—the metal shutters were already down. you’d been gone longer than you thought. disappointment sagged your shoulders. what were you supposed to give cadenza now?

“i have a lovely selection of flowers in my garden, sweetheart,” ms. vargas offered gently. “you could pick some after dinner?”

gene stared at her like she’d just spoken in tongues.

and she was kind—exceptionally kind. but the weight of the day suddenly pressed over your ribs: the running around, the rushing, the earlier panic, the near disaster in the cake shop. the idea of sitting through an awkward car ride to gene’s house—making small talk while pretending you weren’t frazzled—felt like too much.

you mustered a polite smile. “i’m really sorry, ma’am. maybe i could come over another day? it’s my sister’s birthday tomorrow—” you lifted the cake slightly “—and my family has things to prepare.”

gene exhaled in relief behind you, and the sound almost made you want to accept the invitation out of pure spite.

“oh, of course,” ms. vargas said immediately, nodding with understanding. “how silly of me to push. just let gene know when you’re free.”

you weren’t sure how you’d do that without his number, but mentioning it didn’t feel right in the moment.

“at least let gene walk you to the bus stop,” she added, nudging her son gently toward you.

surprisingly, gene didn't refuse.

you gave her one last smile before waving goodbye. gene fell into step beside you as you trudged toward the bus stop, the awkward silence thick enough to cut with a knife.

finally, you couldn’t resist.

here goes..

“sooo… genie…”

gene froze mid-step. his eyes flicked toward you, suspicion and dread mixing across his face.

“imagine if anyone else heard that…” you leaned in slightly, dropping your voice conspiratorially. “they might think it’s… super embarrassing.”

gene’s jaw practically dropped. “wait—are you blackmailing me?”

“well,” you shrugged innocently, hiding your little thrill, “only if you don’t help me with the project.”

his eyes narrowed, a mischievous glint replacing the shock. “fair play, zvahl. but you still have to do something for me.”

your stomach sank for half a second before you squared your shoulders. “okay—but nothing shadow knights related.”

gene exhaled dramatically, clearly defeated. “you’re impossible.”

hours later, after the bus ride and the quiet journey home, the house was still. your clock read midnight, the rhythmic ticking beginning to get on your nerves.

down the hall, you could hear laurance being obnoxious on the game with his friends. on the contrary, cadenza's room was quiet. she was fast asleep in her bed. she believed that sleeping early on the night before your birthday made you grow an inch on the day of. your parents were presumably asleep too, based on the occasional snores you heard from downstairs.

but you?

you were restless.

your fingers tapped absentmindedly on the soft plush of your blanket, following a random tune that had taken over your head.

you thought back to the day—your argument with gene, and the shocking way he’d transformed into a completely different person. the whiplash of his personality 180 still had your mind spinning. if anyone had seen a video of him that afternoon, they’d have sworn it was some ai-generated glitch.

you wondered what made him so different in school. what compelled him to push people around and manipulate them when he had it in him to be so sweet?

tap.

your train of thought was interrupted by something knocking against your window.

tap.

there it was again.

you sat up in your bed, reaching for your phone on your nightstand. you dialed your brother’s number just in case before approaching the window, afraid some weirdo had wandered into your backyard.

you cautiously peered out.

a figure stood tall in front of your mom’s bushes, holding something large in his hand.

you’d be afraid, but you recognized that familiar jerk stance anywhere.

sliding your window open, a shiver ran down your spine as the chilly night air kissed your cheeks.

“gene?? what are you doing here?” you whisper-shouted.

“and how do you know where i live?” you added.

“flowers for your sister!” he shouted, waving the bouquet.

it was a cluster of heritage lilies, petals a striking mix of fiery red fading into deep orange, delicate specks along each bloom catching the moonlight. the scent was subtle but sweet, like spring wrapped in warmth.

you threw a stray piece of paper at him, whispering for him to lower his voice before your parents woke up.

he grinned—a boyish, mischievous grin—that sit perfectly on his face. he placed the flowers in the mailbox with you watching his every move. from his pocket, he took out a neatly folded piece of paper. he lifted it in the air, making sure you caught sight of if.

he pointed at the paper—then at you—then put the paper under one of the bushes.

for you.

that was what he meant to say, even without words.

your stomach twisted, caught somewhere between exasperation and disbelief. you wanted to shout at him for showing up like this, but all the words caught in your throat.

“don't let your brother see it,” he called softly.

before you could even answer, he was gone—melting into the shadows of the street, leaving the scent of mischievous chaos and lilies behind.

you stayed by the window a moment longer, watching the spot where he’d been. then, with a sigh, you closed the window and leaned against the wall. the lilies and the note were there, reminders that the day’s chaos wasn’t completely over—but at least part of it was handled.

by none another than gene.

TAGLIST.

> @ghastbones @fleuriae @sunday2late @alexisunknownhere @dilly-dahlia @heartsforsae @jess1kaburra1 @1-800-avs @daisycake @itz-astra @sightofaghost

[mylovelo-ak]

im working on it guys i swear

[little-too-late]

BETWEEN THE LINES: You wake up just a little ticked off at how effortlessly attractive your boyfriend is. -1k

warning(s): fem!reader, brief mentions of r and gene being enemies to lovers, no use of y/n, gene refers to r as doll ONCE (omg so original), ooc? fluff

note: ouuu taking more than a week to get a request done only for it to be a drabble. don’t hate me anon </3

⋆˚࿔ masterlist ⋆˚࿔ requests

When you first met Gene in high school, you never thought he’d be in your life so far into the future. Not when his name made your ears ring, or how his irritating voice made your skin crawl.

But somehow, in between the blurry lines, something meaningful developed between you two.

It began with a truce, an agreement to keep things civil if one found themselves in the presence of the other. That’s when you found Gene to be tolerable. . . likable, even, when he wasn’t trying to get underneath your skin every second of the day.

And boy, did that kickstart a lot of things for you. Because now that he didn’t have that huge, blinking, Vegas sign that said ‘ANNOYING’ above his head, he was actually heavily attractive.

And that, itself, was annoying alongside other things you keep discovering about him — now that you live together.

As of now, for example. He’s on his side, sleeping soundly, and the sun’s rising behind him. It created this halo of light around him, leaving him looking ethereal and serene. His bed hair isn’t doing any favors either. Why the hell is this man so attractive without even trying?

You audibly voice your annoyance with a click of your tongue, eyes slanted, as you stared at him intently.

He huffs, eyes remaining closed, “What?” Of course he’s awake.

“What do you mean what?”

“You went—“ He clicks his tongue in the same manner, only he exaggerated it to make a point, “so obviously there’s something on your mind.”

“You’re annoying.” Gene’s eyelids begin to flutter, making you turn on your side so he couldn’t see the amusement on your face.

You shouted as he pressed your back flat into the mattress, giggling like a schoolgirl as Gene placed his hands on your ticklish spots. “Listen here, you freak,” you snort, begging him not to tickle you. “When I’m sleeping, I expect not to be stared down by some chick.”

You gasp, mouth hung open at his audacity. “Some chick? Some—“ Your little rant’s interrupted by Gene tickling your spot, sending you into painful laughter and body thrashing about.

He pauses his assault, leaning in teasingly. “Did I mention this chick is smoking hot?” You deadpan at his lame bit. “No? Alright then.”

You groan out in between laughter, tears flooding your eyes “This is so—“ you quick your legs, attempting to knock him off you, “UNFAIR!”

“Life’s unfair, Doll.” He smacks a wet kiss onto your cheek, making you groan yet again with ‘gross’. You make a show of wiping his kiss away.

“Yeah, because somehow I ended up with you.” He lowers himself down again for a proper kiss that you happily give him.

“Somehow.”

[mylovelo-ak]

i need to kiss gene so bad

[dilly-dahlia]

ix. Lacy

pairing: Gene x Reader

content: pdh, drill team!reader, opposites attract, grumpy/sunshine, depictions of anxiety, light angst with Julie

summary: Following your date, you find that more people are invested in your love life than you realized. Unfortunately, it seems as though Gene's attention has shifted elsewhere—to something that has proven to be a much bigger problem that's happening right under your nose.

word count: 6.5k

masterlist

The Problem With Popularity masterlist

previous part

As people arrived at school before the first bell rang, your friend group often found themselves gathering around the side of the building. Away from the entrance, but still able to see the fountain from where you were. There were benches to sit on, a nice view of the city, and overall it was just a nice space.

During the fall semester, Katelyn was usually gone for early morning volleyball practice. In the spring, Garroth and Laurance would be gone for early morning baseball and soccer practice. Occasionally, Dante found himself in the auto shop working on Irene knows what. Year round you found your own absence to vary depending on what was coming up for the drill team, but you were there more often than not.

Katelyn was the only one gone that Monday morning. You were later than usual, having spent an embarrassing amount of time in your car debating whether you should go to your normal spot or find where Gene was. Would that make it obvious? Or would that be normal, considering people had already seen you hanging out with Sasha. You could pass it off as wanting to see her, right?

You hadn’t even realized you didn’t even put your car in park until Julie changed the setting on the PRNDL. Your car automatically unlocked when it was parked, so she jumped out as soon as she could. After a moment longer, you set the handbrake and got out yourself.

You finally decided to just go with what you normally did. You would see Gene later anyway. Or he would seek you out and you’d be fine with it for obvious reasons. It didn’t really matter—seeing him was a guarantee.

You definitely weren’t expecting the stares from your own friends as you approached where they gathered. Aphmau was sandwiched between Garroth and Laurance on the bench, Garroth’s arm casually slung along the back of it. Not quite touching Aphmau, but definitely close enough that you could tell that was his intention. Dante leaned against the wall, Lucinda and Travis both stood off to the side.

You approached them with slow steps. Their gazes followed you, though Lucinda’s was filled with amusement more than anything else. It made you nervous. You gave her a smile that said as much, and a smug little grin stretched across her lips.

“Gene, huh?” she asked, raising a perfectly manicured brow.

“Yeah. What’s that about, bunny?” Dante added. You winced, scrunching your nose. You turned away from the group, looking around as if in search of what the wind whispered to you.

The nickname definitely didn’t sound right from Dante’s mouth. It was weird. “I don’t think I like that.”

“You sure like when Gene calls you that,” Laurance mumbled.

You click your tongue. Tilt your head. “Well . . .”

Laurance opened his mouth like he wanted to say something, but Lucinda was sidling up beside you and leaning in conspiratorially before he could. “So . . .” she dragged. “How was it?”

Your cheeks burned. If it were just you and her (maybe even Aphmau), you might have gone into detail. But you definitely didn’t want to do that when Travis, Garroth, Laurance, and Dante were around. You shrugged instead. “It was fine.”

Lucinda scoffed. She pulled away from you, crossing her arms and popping her hip. The beads in her hair clicked together when she tilted her head in a way that indicated she didn’t believe you. “Really? That’s all you’re gonna give me?”

You shrugged again.

“You go out with the one guy you said you'd never date and you walk away with it was fine?”

“I mean, it wasn’t like a date, just . . . testing the waters?” Your voice lifted into a question at the end. Lucinda pinned you with a glare and rolled her eyes.

“Well, that’s definitely not what Gene or Julie said,” Dante commented, rubbing the back of his neck and looking off. “Well, Gene didn’t really say anything.”

You blinked at him. “What did Julie tell you?”

“That you guys”—Dante scrunched his nose—“made out.”

Lucinda gasped. Aphmau’s jaw dropped. Laurance and Garroth both groaned like your love life was a personal attack to their beings. Travis scrunched his brows, as if trying to conjure a mental image, before cringing.

Suddenly the crisp cool of the autumn air did not feel crisp or cool. It was suffocating. The back of your neck warmed and the thicker material of your winter uniform felt like it was trying to choke you out.

“We didn’t make out. It was—“ You cut yourself off, realizing that what you did could—technically—be considered a make out session. By the standards of others. “Okay, we kissed but it wasn’t—“

“He picked her up and pinned her against the wall.” You jumped at the sound of your sister’s voice. When you turned, she was pushing her straightened hair out of her face while sipping on a Capri Sun. Where she got it, you had no clue.

“Julie! What are you doing? Go hang out with your friends,” you said, shooing her away. She looked you up and down.

“Uhm. Aphmau’s my friend and I wanna hang out with her.” Julie stepped forward, waving her hand. “Laurance, get up.”

“Can we get back to how he pinned you against the wall?” Garroth asked. He shifted in the spot, getting up instead of Laurance so Julie could sit down. “Like, pinned you against a wall?”

“Which wall?” Travis interjected.

“Oh, my Irene.” You turned away from the group and covered your face. Somewhere in the background, Dante and Julie were giving detailed accounts of their experience with your date. Because your friends had nothing better to do (and because they did want to know everything, no matter how much they said they didn’t), they listened intently.

“Julie is being dramatic!” You reached across the circle to put a hand over her mouth. She licked your palm, but you stayed firm. “It was just a date. We went to the park for a couple hours, but that’s all.”

You felt your sister roll her eyes. Her lashes brushed against your thumb, and with the hand that wasn’t covering her mouth you concealed the upper half of her face as well. A muffled sound of protest hummed against your palm, but you ignored it.

“So are you guys dating now?” Aphmau piped up beside her. Her tone was . . . interesting. You didn’t know how to describe it, but she sounded cautious. Like she was hoping for a specific answer, but you couldn’t imagine what interest she would have had.

“Um.” You pulled your hand away from Julie’s eyes and dragged it across her hair. “No? We—”

“What do you mean no?” Lucinda sounded nothing less than appalled. “We were just told the date went good, and based on what you posted last night I’m assuming it—”

You shushed her. “Let me talk. No, we aren’t dating. We’re just . . .”

“Talking?” Garroth offered.

“Taking it slow?” Dante added.

“Seeing each other?” There was venom in Laurance’s voice.

You cringed at yourself. You never thought you’d be put in any sort of stage before dating someone, but alas. “Yes. To all of those.”

Lucinda groaned. “Y/n, please, for the love of Irene, please just make him your boyfriend. I need relationship drama updates.”

Aphmau scrunched her nose. “Lucinda, you have your own drama.”

“I need someone else’s drama!”

“Then ask Laurance or Garroth or Dante, even. A million girls ask them out every day,” you reasoned. You really just wanted the heat off of you.

“Those three are boring,” Lucinda said. “They get the same girls, and we all know how it’s going to end every time Ivy asks Garroth out.”

You thanked Irene when the first bell rang halfway through Lucinda’s sentence. Immediately you adjusted your backpack over your shoulders and moved across the circle that had formed to get to homeroom.

Lucinda grabbed your wrist, though, and started walking with you. Luckily, no one else really bothered to follow. You had no doubt you’d be police interrogated later, though. Nonstop the redhead asked you question after question. You tried giving short and dry answers, not wanting to reveal too much, but Lucinda was good at getting people to spill.

By the time you made it to Mr. Vega’s class, Lucinda had gotten all the basic details of your date, as well as the details of how the following kiss made butterflies erupt in your stomach any time you thought about it. She left you with a suggestive hum that said she would want more info later. With a sigh you accepted your fate and waltzed into the classroom. 

—

Unfortunately, homeroom was just as bad. Maybe even worse.

Apparently, Katelyn had gone to early morning practice so she could skip the one that happened during first period. She did that just so she could interrogate you. And right as you walked into the room, Sasha had been quick to start grilling you with questions so she could fill in the many blanks Gene left her with. Which was a lot, considering Gene wasn’t a very talkative person about anything that could be considered a vulnerability.

“Where did you go?” 

“Did he get you flowers? What kind?” 

“Did he make you a playlist? He asked what kind of music you like.”

“So are you two, like, together now?” It always seemed to circle back to that question.

In response, you shrugged. “I mean, we’re not not a thing,” you offered. “We’re just kind of coasting, y’know? Taking it slow.”

Sasha hummed in consideration. Katelyn was not as inclined to feign understanding.

“So what’s the whole point of making a big deal about ‘not wanting to date him’ if you don’t even know what you’re doing anyway?” When you looked at her like she had grown a second head, she held her hands up in defense. “I’m just saying. You were all . . . Ahh about even going out with him, but you ended up folding fast.”

You scoffed. “Okay, I didn’t fold fast—“

“You were literally telling me, like, last week that you hated his guts.”

“Aww, rivals to lovers,” Sasha teased, squeezing your forearm. “A love story for the books.”

As you placed your hand over hers, you saw Katelyn raise a brow from your peripheral. “Okay, I can’t be the only one that thinks this is a little ridiculous, right?”

“Why would it be ridiculous?”

Her eyes widened. She motioned as if it was the most obvious thing and then rolled her eyes when you still didn’t catch on. “Y/n, you were so adamant about not liking him not that long ago and now you’re just . . . What, all over each other?”

“Okay, I’m not all over him. And he’s not all over me.”

Sasha clicked her tongue. “He was being a tad clingy this morning. Had this starstruck look like Irene had come before him and blessed him herself.”

You shot the silver-haired girl a lighthearted glare. Not the time, your expression said. She gave a soft nod and retreated back to her usual listening expression.

“We’re just taking it slow. We aren’t wanting to rush into anything,” you said, turning back to Katelyn. “I did that with Laurance, and look how that turned out. I want to do this right.”

“So you have morals about when you date someone but not who you date? I feel like who you date is arguably more important.”

Your brows furrowed. Why was she being so argumentative right now? You knew she wasn’t the fondest of Gene, but just the other day she had at least been tolerative of him.

“Why are you suddenly so bothered? You were completely fine the other day.”

“You weren’t dating him—sorry, borderline dating him the other day! I can be fine with you hanging out with him or whatever. If you’re just hanging out, then you aren’t spending every waking moment with him. But going out with him?”

You blinked. Your brows slowly furrowed. “So you’re mad that I’ll be spending time with him?”

“No. It-“ Katelyn groaned. She had never been very good at articulating her words into what she meant. To calm herself, she took a breath, closed her eyes, and clasped her hands in front of her face. “I’m just saying that maybe you should be going through your feelings at a slower pace. Because you tend to go in all at once.”

“I do not.”

Sasha hummed. You whipped your head around to glare at her because what did she know? The only person she’d seen you really crush on was Gene.

“You definitely do,” Katelyn continued. “And it’s not a bad thing, just . . . Slow down.”

“That’s exactly what I’m trying to do with Gene.” Sasha wasn’t offering any thought. Just sitting and watching as you and Katelyn debated. “I specifically told him that I don’t want to move fast so I don’t get hurt. I’m trying, Katelyn.”

Your blue-haired friend sighed. She went silent for a moment, the gears in her head slowly turning to come to a conclusion before she straightened herself. “I love you, Y/n.”

“I love you, t—”

“And I’ll be there if this fails, but if this blows up in your face then do not act surprised.”

You blinked at her again, unsure of what to say. How were you supposed to respond? Her voice held a protective sort of venom that you had only heard once or twice before, though you couldn’t recall the exact circumstance. It almost made you feel small, being under her scrutiny like that.

Like many of your other more aggressive conversations, it was quickly resolved and pushed under the rug, never to be thought of again. Sasha shifted the conversation to center around your English reading, but you could still feel tension in the air.

By the time you left Mr. Vega’s class and walked to your theatre class, you were able to move your shoulders comfortably under the newly added weight.

—

A breath of amusement fell from your lips when Gene reached across the lab table to doodle a flower in the corner of your paper. A wide smile—one you couldn’t have bitten back even if you’d tried—spread on your lips before you even knew it was. You lifted your gaze to his.

“How romantic,” you joked. Gene’s lips quirked up.

“I’m the epitome of romance.” He reached over again. Instead of drawing a flower, though, he drew two circles with a long, curved line connecting them. You were quick to erase it after realizing what it was and gasping.

“You’re so immature.” Gene laughed, and this time when his hand reached across the lab table his fingers brushed against yours.

“It just adds to the boyish charm that girls love.”

You scoffed. “You do not have boyish charm. Dante does. Yours is more . . . Roguish.”

He raised a brow. “You calling me a liar?”

You shrugged, gazing away like you were searching for whoever had suggested that. Despite looking that way, you didn’t notice the many eyes flitting their glances toward the two of you.

“How do you feel about parties?” you asked when you turned your eyes back to him. He hummed, staring at you like you were the only thing in the world. It made your heart flutter.

“What kind of party? Child’s birthday party? College frat?”

You bit back a laugh. “Like, a Halloween party. Ophelia has one every year for the drill team, but she kind of invites whoever. Not a lot of people went last year, but it might be different this year.”

Gene hummed in consideration, tilting himself towards your body ever so slightly. “Drugs or alcohol?”

You shook your head. You had expected that question. “No. She has a two year old and doesn’t want him getting into anything.”

“Oh, that Ophelia. Okay.” He clicked his tongue, thinking. “Nah, not my thing.”

Your brows furrowed. It wasn’t like you weren’t expecting it—he was still Gene, after all and probably preferred parties that did have some sort of substance—but you hadn’t expected him to be so quick to reject the idea. Well, maybe you did and just hoped he would say yes because it was you asking. Instead of asking again or voicing any of that, though, you scoffed.

“What? Gene Accardi doesn’t want to go to a party? Has the Nether frozen over?”

Gene gave a sarcastic laugh. “Hilarious, bunny. But no. I only go to parties if I can get something from them.”

“Like a night full of intoxication?”

“Like blackmail, Y/n.”

You playfully hit his shoulder. “Gene, you’re terrible. C’mon, it’d be fun if we went! We could have matching costumes.”

“You wanna do a couple’s costume?” You nodded. “Didn’t think we were that far along. Next thing you know we’ll be kissing in the hallway mumbling sweet nothings to each other.”

Your nose scrunched, and shook your head. You didn’t mind kissing briefly in the hallway way later, but the ‘mumbling sweet nothings to each other’ part sounded a lot like those middle school couples that got way too into the concept of dating. 

“I just think it’d be cute to do a matching costume. Like a soft launch, sort of.”

“What happened to the idea of going slow? Not letting anyone know?” he teased, flashing you a dashing smile.

“Well your brother has a big mouth. Everyone already knows we went on a date and at least three people have asked if you’re my boyfriend.”

His smile widened, curving up into that mischievous smirk you were learning didn’t always mean dread. He leaned closer to you. “Yeah? And what have you been telling them?”

His closeness made your heart flutter. Sure, you’d flirted and bantered with him before, but that was all before you were something. It felt more real now.

You shrugged. “Just that we went on a date. I haven’t really confirmed or denied that we’re together.”

His smile tightened. Slowly, he hid his teeth behind a closed-lip smile and hummed. “Well, you don’t need to tell them. I’m sure they can just see the sparks flying between us.” You were so busy trying to cover your smile that you missed the soft bite of his words.

The bell rang, the sound immediately followed by the scruffing of chairs and slamming of books. Someone sighed, grumbling about the assigned packet of homework. Someone else left the classroom with a laugh. You and Gene fell into your usual routine, slow to put your assignment into your backpacks and step out of the room.

Your steps were slower than usual, basking in conversation with each other before you inevitably went your separate ways. You could feel the gazes of your peers, though you didn’t glance up to meet any of them intentionally. If you did, the only thing you gave them was a gentle smile.

He followed you into the cafeteria this time, unlike any other day when you would separate where the large room connected with the hallways. He walked you to Katelyn, completely ignoring the scorching glare she was giving him from where she stood in the lunch line.

“What crawled into your cereal and died?” His voice had that same bite you originally knew him for. You couldn’t help but relate it to the way a snake struck; quick and powerful, with enough venom to knock anyone out.

Katelyn wasn’t anyone. “I’m not a fan of you.” Her tone was just as poisonous, though the effect was slower. She slung an arm around your shoulders and pulled you against her side. “You may go now.”

“Katelyn, don’t be mean.”

“Wow. How honored I am to be ordered around by the ice queen.” Gene rolled his eyes at Katelyn’s scowl.

“Get lost.” He did, but not before shooting you a wink and saying he’d see you later. The way he said it insinuated something else, and though you were sure he said it that way just to tick off Katelyn, it flustered you. “He pisses me off. Why are you dating him?”

“We aren’t dating,” you corrected, but there was little fight or disagreement in your voice.

Katelyn hummed. “I definitely thought he was gonna kiss you goodbye.”

Your nose scrunched. “No, he’d never do that.”

“A hug, maybe.”

“I don’t think he’s big on PDA.”

She barked a laugh. “Not according to Julie.”

You groaned, pulling yourself out of her grasp and crossing your arms. “Well, Julie’s a freaking liar that doesn’t know what she’s talking about.”

“I dunno. She’s already surpassed Nate in terms of leadership on the robotics team. Speaking of”—Katelyn glanced around, as if the answer to what she was about to asked would be answered—“where is she? I haven’t seen her since this morning.”

You shrugged. You didn’t typically see your sister in the halls. “I dunno. Do you have a class with her?”

Katelyn shook her head. “No, but I see her around sometimes. Hanging out with Lacy and her other friends or something.” She clicked her tongue before shaking her head. “I dunno. She’s probably doing something with robotics.”

For the most part, the topic was dropped there. You and Katelyn continued through the line like normal and fell into your unassigned assigned seats at the circle table with your friends. You were content to stay quiet, sip on the broccoli and cheddar soup from the line while listening to whatever conversation was going on.

“Y/n.” You hummed, letting your eyes dart up to meet Garroth’s. He was leaning forward, arms crossed on the table with his own tray pushed to the side. “Are you sure you and Gene aren’t dating?”

You blinked, fighting the urge to stand from the table and go somewhere else. “We’re just seeing each other. We aren’t official.”

The golden-haired boy nodded in consideration. “Okay, because I totally thought he was going to give you a kiss goodbye, which would have been drastically out of character for him.”

Dante voiced his agreement. You found it in yourself to stay at the table, however you did not try to fight it when you suddenly felt the urge to flick a spoonful of soup at both of them.

—

Lacy waited, bouncing her leg and tapping the tip of her artificial nail against her teeth. It was acrylic, so she didn’t want to chew on it like she normally did when she was feeling antsy. She sat with her friends but she wasn’t paying attention to the conversation they were having. No, her eyes were trained on where you had come in with Gene.

What was she supposed to do? She needed to talk to him, but she didn’t want to intrude on whatever you were doing with him. Especially since she’d heard the whispers about your date. She didn’t want to seem like she wanted something from him. That would have been weird anyway, considering their age gap.

But she desperately needed to talk to him. She hadn’t seen Julie or Balto all day. Who knew what they were getting up to, and it made Lacy nervous. Was Julie okay? Irene, Lacy really hoped her best friend wasn’t getting into more trouble than she was already in.

Finally, Gene walked away from you. Lacy couldn’t help but notice the way everyone seemed to step out of his way when he passed, creating a clear path wherever he stepped. After blurting a flimsy excuse to her friends, she stood and followed him.

By the time she left the cafeteria, she’d already lost him. Gene Accardi was no where to be seen, and Lacy could only hope that he would be in the Shadow Knights’ designated spot under the bleachers. Or should she check the lobby? It was starting to get colder, so maybe they didn’t want to stand out there.

“Well you two can go outside but I’m staying in here. It’s way too cold to be standing out there for an hour.”

Thank Irene. Lacy recognized Sasha’s voice and took quick steps to meet them before they officially decided to go outside.

“Gene.” Lacy’s voice came out softer than she’d intended, but Gene still heard it. His brows were furrowed when he turned to her. “I can’t find Julie and I haven’t seen Balto all day. What if–”

Gene splayed both his hands out, shushing Lacy. His gaze flitted around the hall as the younger girl pressed her lips together, searching for anyone nearby. He spotted Teony studying at one of the hallway tables and frowned.

“C’mon,” Gene beckoned, turning on his heel and motioning for Lacy and his friends to follow. “People will hear us if we talk out here.”

Lacy sighed, glancing back. If they went somewhere else then who knows how long they’d be there. Her bag was still in the cafeteria, so she’d have to sprint to grab it and arrive to class on time. That’s if they even finished talking fast enough. If they didn’t, then—

“Lacy,” Gene called. The girl squeaked, turning her head so fast her neck popped. She was quick to scale the length the trio had already walked, and it wasn’t long until the four of them were squeezing into one of the janitorial closets. Sasha kept Lacy close to her, which Lacy was thankful for because otherwise she’d be pressed against Zenix.

“Tight fit, Gene.”

“Shut up, Zenix. Sasha refuses to go outside and I’m pretty sure she’s the reason Lacy even comes up to us.” Lacy’s face burned cherry red.

“Why don’t you turn on the light? The dark is making me feel more cramped than I am.”

“You just said–”

“Okay,” the silver-haired girl in question interrupted, stopping their bickering before it could truly begin. Her hand slapped the wall behind Lacy, feeling around for the switch until the bright fluorescence filled the room. Lacy had to blink the spots away from her vision. “Shut up, both of you. You’re being annoying.”

“No less than you whining about how cold it is.” Zenix rolled his eyes. “Seriously, Gene. You couldn’t pick like, the library or something.”

Lacy tried interjecting. “Can we–”

“Need I remind you of the time you got us stuck in a locker, Zenix? That was–”

Sasha threw out a hand, smacking both of them over the head. “Shut up. Lacy needs to update us about Julie.”

Zenix grumbled, rubbing where Sasha had hit. Gene steeled himself, but Lacy could probably guess that he was going to continue arguing with Zenix later. After a moment, Lacy considered it safe to start talking.

“I don’t know where Julie’s at. I haven’t seen her or Balto all day and normally she would’ve texted me if she wasn’t gonna be at school! And I know she was here earlier because Evan said he saw her with Y/n’s friends just before school started. What if Balto kidnapped her and she’s–”

Lacy’s words came out in a tumble quicker than lightning—barely decipherable and panicked. Sasha started rubbing her shoulder when tears sprung to her eyes. Lacy stopped herself when she felt the burn of them on her waterline.

Gene did not look like he knew how to console a crying girl. “Balto wouldn’t kidnap her, Lacy, so calm down.” Sasha shot Gene a glare. Not only did he not know how to offer comfort when someone was crying, but apparently he just sucked at it. “Maybe Julie’s just skipping class.”

“Julie never skips! Even getting to class just before the bell rings freaks her out.”

“And you’re sure she wasn’t in your homeroom this morning?” Sasha asked, her softer voice a soothing contrast to Gene’s sharper one. Lacy nodded, sniffing. “Okay, we’ll look for Julie. I’m sure she’s completely safe, even if she’s with Balto. It’s not Balto’s style to hurt people unless they tick him off.”

“But what if she does by accident? Balto’s so hot-headed and irrational. He threw a kid out the window at the start of the year!”

“That’s just werewolves,” Zenix stated. “They do that.”

“Besides, even if Julie does accidentally piss him off, Balto won’t react too strongly because she’s useful to him,” Gene added. It didn’t necessarily make Lacy feel better, but she could recognize when her worries were unreasonable.

“There’s one more thing,” Lacy recalled. “Julie said she was going to Ophelia’s Halloween party later this week. I tried asking if Balto was gonna be there, but she was being avoidant.”

Lacy saw the lightbulb flicker over Gene’s head. He shared a glance with Sasha and Zenix, raising his brows ever so slightly.

“Ophelia Mishra? The one on the drill team with the two-year-old?” Lacy nodded. Gene shifted his weight so he was leaning against the shelves behind him. “I’ll see if Julie’s there with Balto.”

Zenix furrowed his brows and cringed. “Since when do you go to girly parties?”

“Since Y/n is on the drill team.” Lacy’s eyes widened. So you and Gene really were together. She hadn’t expected that. Or that Gene would talk about it so openly. “Have you picked up anything else?”

Lacy started shaking her head before the sound of sobbing was pulled to the forefront of her mind. “Julie was crying in the bathroom the other day. She was in the family one on the first floor and I heard her through the door. I asked if she was okay when she came out but she wouldn’t tell me anything. It might be completely unrelated, though . . .”

Gene’s brows furrowed. He shared another glance with Sasha and Zenix before softly nodding. Sasha turned to Lacy with a soft smile.

“Thank you, Lacy.” She squeezed her shoulder. “We’ll take care of it, okay? So don’t worry your pretty little head over it too much anymore.”

Lacy sniffed again, softly nodding. More than anything, she wanted her best friend to come out of this as unscathed as she could be. Lacy wouldn’t have been able to do that on her own, and Julie would have been in too deep before sense finally came to her. It was why she had even approached the Shadow Knights in the first place, completely ready to tell them anything they wanted to know in exchange for their help.

She fumbled for the doorknob behind her, pushing it down and being careful not to fall backward as it opened. With the soft click of the door behind her, Lacy was gone. Back to her lunch table.

—

When Gene approached the table you sat at, you couldn’t help but light up. Your straightened posture didn’t go unnoticed by your friends, and the reaction from the table as a whole varied, but lingered more on the negative side. Travis perked up with you, Laurance scoffed, Garroth scrunched his nose, Katelyn’s lip curled up, Aphmau looked about ready for the floor to swallow her whole, and Dante furrowed his brows in confusion.

“Where are your lackeys?” Laurance spat. “Or is coming to see your girlfriend too intimate for them?”

Your correction was immediate. “We aren’t dating, Laurance.”

Even though something tugged at Gene’s heart—something unusual that he didn’t know how to interpret—he kept a straight face. “My friends don’t follow me like lost puppies, dimwit. They had their own things to take care of. Besides, I need to talk to Dante.”

The blue-haired boy only grew more confused. “Me?”

“No. See, if you switch around the letters in Katelyn’s full name, you can spell out Dante.” Gene flicked the back of Dante’s head. “Obviously I’m talking about you. C’mon, it’s Mom.”

The lie fell so easily from Gene’s lips that he didn’t even feel bad for how quickly and worriedly Dante stood from his circular seat. He led his younger brother out of the cafeteria and down one of the halls, stopping in front of a row of lockers.

“What’s wrong with Mom? Is she okay? Dad didn’t–”

“Mom is fine,” Gene said smoothly. Dante’s shoulders immediately relaxed, but now he fixed Gene with a nasty glare. “I just needed an excuse to pull you out.”

“You couldn’t have texted me? I could’ve come up with something much better. Now I’ll have to come up with a lie to tell my friends when they as if my mom’s okay.”

Gene rolled his eyes. “You’ll be fine. Now listen, this is serious. You normally walk with Julie to her homeroom, right?”

Dante’s brows furrowed. He gave his older brother a once over, trying to pin his intentions before he gave too much away. “Yeah . . .” Did Gene want to know why? “Her friend’s hot—Lacy, I think? The one with light purple highlights to match Julie’s. ‘M trying to get her to see how much of a gentleman–”

Gene shook his head, putting a quick stop to Dante’s words before they got too explicit. “Didn’t ask. Who’s Julie’s homeroom teacher?”

Dante hummed in consideration. “Mrs. Queen.”

“Did you walk her this morning?” Dante nodded. “And you’re sure she walked into Mrs. Queen’s room?”

“Uh, yeah. I closed the door behind her and then texted Garroth and Laurance about how Lacy wasn’t in there. I sent them a picture with tears, look—” Dante pulled his phone out from his pocket. Gene blew out an exasperated breath, pinching the bridge of his nose in a futile attempt to stop the headache before it could actually start. He had no such luck.

Reluctantly, Gene took Dante’s phone into his hand when he pulled up the picture. He kept an unimpressed expression, readying a comment about how idiotic Dante was until he caught the flash of unmistakable green hair in the background. Gene zoomed in. The sage green highlights stood out against Julie’s darker hair—the brighter color a companion to the purple in Lacy’s blonde hair. Julie was leaving the room.

Gene showed the zoomed in area to Dante. “Any idea where she went?”

“Uh, no. Dude, every time I drop her off at Mrs. Queen’s she’s not my problem anymore. I dunno what she does in her free time. Maybe she had a project she forgot about.” Dante took his phone from Gene’s hands and pocketed it. Gene nearly slammed his head against the wall.

“Dante, you’re fucking useless,” he grumbled. “Listen, if you hear anything about Julie let me know. Lacy hasn’t seen her all day and she’s worried.”

Dante’s brows furrowed. “Why the hell are you talking to Lacy? You’re not in one of those weird phases you get into where you talk to a million different people, are you? Because that’s my thing, and last I checked you were ecstatic to be going out with Y/n.”

Irene, sometimes talking to Dante really made Gene want to break things. “That’s still true. I’m just looking out for her sister, okay? It’s not a big deal, so don’t go telling Y/n about it.”

Dante eyed Gene suspiciously. “Okay . . . Listen, man, I’m proud of you if you are. Kind of weird that you’re going for a freshman, but that’s not my place. Just letting you know, Y/n will freak the fuck out if–”

“Go back to lunch.” Gene gave his brother a firm pat on the back before pushing past him.

“Your secret’s safe with me!” Dante called after him. Gene didn’t wait around to see if Dante actually went back to lunch. Truth be told, he didn’t care that much at the moment. He was really worrying about how he should’ve left a few more hints so Dante didn’t think he was going back to that playboy phase he’d had however long ago.

Oh, well. It wouldn’t do him any good to focus on that now. Gene had bigger fish to fry, and figuring out where Julie was currently topped that list.

—

You were hot and sweaty by the time Julie came up to you after school. The heater in the gym had broken, so you and the rest of the drill team were discussing whether or not to cancel practice for the day, stripped down to athletic shorts and thin tank tops in an attempt to combat the way you were baking in the sauna-like room.

“One of my friends is taking me home,” Julie told you. Already you could see the sweat accumulating on her upper lip, so you turned your makeshift fan made from an old physics packet to her. She blinked at the sudden air hitting her face. “Thanks.”

You hummed, barely able to scrape up enough energy to properly reply. “Who?”

Julie shrugged. “Just a friend.”

Your eyes narrowed. Julie reached up to pull at her collar, though you couldn’t tell if it was a tell or if she was just burning up like you. You didn’t want to keep her much longer if it was the latter.

“Okay. Just text me when you get home and I’ll let you know if we’re done here.” You vaguely motioned to the room around you and the huddle where your lieutenants were still debating whether or not to cancel. Julie nodded, and when she reached up to pull her hair off her neck you spotted a dark mark on her wrist. “What’s that?”

Julie hummed, completely clueless before recognition flashed in her eyes and she slapped a hand over her wrist. “What are you talking about?”

You dropped the arm that was fanning yourself, deadpan. “The mark you just covered. What is it?”

“Nothing. It-It’s just a mark from art.”

Your brows furrowed. “Is it nothing or from art? Do you even have art?”

“I’m gonna go,” your sister blurted. You opened your mouth to say something, but she had already darted away. In a futile attempt, you called after her.

“Julie. Julie!” If you could have found it in yourself to run after her, you might have, but the sweltering heat was starting to make you dizzy. No wonder Katelyn’s coach had canceled volleyball.

Your head turned at the sound of your name. “We’re gonna try rehearsing outside!” Stephanie called to you, motioning to where the rest of your team was leaving from.

“‘Kay, I’ll meet you out there!”

As Stephanie left, you turned your head back to where Julie had gone. You sighed, dragging yourself to where your bag was and pulling out your phone. Why was she being weird?

You pulled up her contact, clicking around until you pulled up her location. You watched until she started moving, face scrunching in confusion when her picture started moving in a direction that was not home.

“Where is she going?” you mumbled to yourself, typing out a text. You waited for a response, only to receive a notification saying she stopped sharing her location with you. “What the fuck?”

You started to type out another text, only to jump out of your skin when Coach Geter called your name.

“Off your phone, Y/n!” She called, crossing the gym. “Your team’s waiting outside.”

“Coming!” You dropped your phone into your bag, deciding that you’d deal with Julie later.

i feel terrible for the long wait guys school is kicking my ass 😔 BUT THERE IS A LIGHT!!! i have a break soon so y’all can TRUST that i’m gonna be writing a whole lot 🙂‍↕️

anyway i hope y’all liked the chapter….. even if it took forever…

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[mylovelo-ak]

SAVE JULIE