(Credit me if this ends up on TT :( please this will also be posted on ao3. Anyone can use or add to any of my posts so long as I am credited @squshymarsh or my ao3 @Theeverlongwhatnow)
Things were going good! Great actually considering just how bad things could have been. But Danny isn’t thinking about that. No sir. Cause if he thinks about what could have been he will have to think of Amity Park. And if he thinks about Amity then he will inevitably circle back to what he left behind there. And sure maybe one day when he’s older than fifteen and not living on the streets an entire country away from everything he’s ever known with only the stuff he left with and his two best friends but now is not that day.
Today he is a grungy fifteen year old walking around dirty alleyways in the grossest city he has ever had the misfortune of being in. All because someone decided they wanted to DoorDash Batburger at five in the morning.
Ah the things he does for money. This may ba a dangerous job for him to be doing. Then again what isn’t dangerous here? He’s in Gotham, the literal air is dangerous on a good day. But Doordashing is better than some of his and Tucker's first suggestions for procuring money. He may not need to eat as often as a normal human but they sure do. Plus if they get enough money they can afford a room at a motel or something. Sam still froths at the mouth at the idea of the luxury of a shower. Danny still teases her about acting like a typical rich girl. Especially when she complains about where they’ve decided to sleep for the night.
She takes it, returns it in kind. They all do. Because if they stop for a moment, think of the reality of their situation. Of the things they’ve sacrificed. People and lives all left in the dust barely settled around fake graves. Then it all becomes too much to handle. They can act like this is just another adventure, just another fun little gag. If they don’t think about it too much.
Danny turns from one street onto another. There’s squealing tires and gunshots down the street he turned opposite of. He doesn’t investigate, doesn’t even turn to look.
He’s not unused to the chaos of crime. Especially not now, it’s why they chose to come here. Because whatever chaos he brings just by existing is balanced out or even swept away by Gotham's. That balance is their peace. The reason they ran from home, a peaceful life.
Of course being a ghost, the one stuck between life and death, is its own flavor of chaos. Something which isn’t conducive to a peaceful life anywhere but here. Sure it’s not unlike what this grimey city has to offer. But it’s different enough that if something were to set off that balance, their peace, then they would be noticeable. And to be noticeable means being seen and being seen means being found.
Within the balance he, Sam and Tucker are just three street kids. A dime a dozen, an unfortunate story shared by so many kids in the city and further.
But if they are seen, they are three kids thought to be dead and not so subtly wanted by a very specific governmental agency. They would be found and they would be dead for real this time.
So no setting off the balance, which means no more getting haunted by phantoms of their past. Meaning. No ghosts.
Though he doesn’t change into his Phantom form anymore, Danny is still him in the way Phantom is still Danny. He was a ghost, a powerful one no matter how well he boxed away and hid that part of him. It only worsened when he started making portals out of ambient ectoplasm one day.
They were invisible to the naked or rather human eye. Only those deeply touched enough by death could see them and those tended to be the ones wanting to come through them.
Ghosts were coming through just like Amity.
The balance is at stake. He would have to stop existing to stop the portals from opening and drawing attention in the ghostly department. Which isn’t exactly possible since both his friends are doing everything possible to make sure his existence is continued. By force sometimes. So comprises, countermeasures and speedruns.
He learned how to open and close portals at will yet he still cannot stop them from opening at random. He can only close them as quickly as he can. Yet sometimes he just isn’t fast enough and a ghostly foe escapes the Zone and crosses the vail into the realm of the living. Threading the balance that their peaceful life relied so heavily on.
Phantom had once been an upholder of balance and peace. One where their lives were constantly at stake. Only sometimes.
He even let the ghosts indulge in their obsessions, letting humans enjoy what ghostly visitors had to offer to Amity. Before returning them to their places.
Now he has become one again though this time there is no indulgence of obsessions. No banter or fights.
A portal opens close to him, a ghost wiggles out in time only to get caught in the new and improved thermos and sent right back to the zone.
Tucker had taken one of the old and mostly busted FentonThermos’ and upgraded then made a new one with improvements. Gone were the days of them having to fight and struggle. Just for the ghost to work off enough energy and Ecto to be able to fit inside the old cruddy thermos’.
These new ones worked so well they souped vortex before the ghostly embodiment of weather had a chance to do much more than make it rain.
Nabbed right out of the air and shoved back into the zone within three minutes of his exit. The first and not the last.
They began timing it. Making a game of it, Ghost Nabbing they call it.
Another bit. Another gag. Just so they don’t have to face the reality of their ghostly friends, their family, trying to speak to them.
Because there’s no way anyone could be worried about failures.
Danny turns into an alleyway. Insulated delivery bag resting against his back filled with warm food. NewThermos clipped to his belt and phone in his hand.
He has Ghost nabbing down to a science now. There are two main parts of the operation. The capture then the release.
First Something sets off his ghost sense, the thermos is grabbed before the mist has a chance to leave his mouth, button clicked and the ghost caught.
Then the portal is opened with one hand, thermos shoved inside with the other and the button is clicked again, thermos withdrawn then the portal is closed by the hand they opened it.
Danny has managed to get his time down to thirty seconds and he’s looking to halve that in the next month or he owes Sam ten bucks.
He can’t make bets with Tucker since he’s the one who repairs the NewThermos and would sabotage it to win.
Goal in mind, he has cut down on anything unneeded in the interactions with ghosts just to shave milliseconds off the catch. Why does he need to know who he’s catching when they are staying long enough to even look at what he’s become?
That’s why he doesn’t question it, doesn’t even look when his Ghost sense goes off as he walks the alley.
Twenty seven seconds. The Thermos timer even says so.
A new record. He moves on heading for the apartment he needs to make this delivery to. No one answers the door when he knocks. He rechecks the address several times. This is it. No one answers the phone number he calls or the messages he sends.
Oh well, free food for him and the others.
———-
Jason is so confused.
What just happened? Where was he? How did he get here? Where was here and why was it so green?
Okay he needs to calm down. First things first. Check his surroundings for danger and clues. Which isn't a hard or long task since he’s now standing on a floating island made of gray dirt, dead grass and cracked sidewalk. The island is no bigger than ten feet in length by five in width. Beyond that it drops off into a void made of greens, purples and blacks. Mist and liquid swishing around like the sky here was a sea of matter trying to create something from its depths.
In that sea of chaotic creation are more floating islands. Some smaller than the one he stands on but most are larger. Like large enough to hold multiple buildings.
Buildings which he recognizes as the ones bordering his terf. Except these aren’t them. More like weird after images of them. The colors are all weird and washed out. Much like the gray dirt below him.
So he’s not in Gotham or he’s in some weird inbetween. Upside down? No dumb reference. It doesn’t even fit.
He moves on to how he got here.
What was the last thing he remembered before being spirited away to where, or when, ever this is.
He had gotten into an argument that nearly ended up with him shooting at Bruce since the old man was being an overbearing whine bag about the Alley and how he runs it. Again. Some choice words were said on both sides then he stormed off to meet the kid delivering his five am batburger so he could go back to his safe house. He’d seen the kid in the alley next to the safe house.
Jason even went to greet the kid. Then he was here. One second he’d been looking at the back of the kids head, wad of cash in hand about to announce his presence. He didn’t have anytime to react while the kid whirled around and pointed something at him. That’s saying something. For someone with bat and league trained reflexes being unable to react in time.
Now he was here. Standing on a floating island surrounded by voids of swirling green.
A green way to similar to something that haunts nightmares.
𐙚 Tropes : stepsiblings au, forbidden taboo love, angst, smut, grumpy x sunshine, small town, biker au, MC club au
𐙚 Word count : 6.9k
𐙚 Summary : where the line between hate and love gets too blurred for people who are, by all public rules, supposed to see each other as family.
𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 (𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟎𝟑) | 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐱 | 𝐍𝐞𝐱𝐭 (𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟎𝟓)
The atmosphere this past week has been…heavy. Nobody has spoken a word about the events of last week, but the air in the house has been thick. And quiet.
Jungkook has been at home less than before, and mom has been persisting on taking me to school in the mornings and bringing me back herself.
Other times, Kim goes out of her way to be my ride. If not, I just call a cab service.
I’ve brought up getting a car for me as a solution one or two times. They all got —and very nicely— rejected. Apparently, I'm not ready for it. Especially since I don’t have a driver’s license, and I can’t get one until I’m eighteen.
So a few more months until I can bring that conversation back on the table.
I was desperate enough that I even thought about suggesting taking the car in the garage. The car is an old silver Jeep Wrangler. It appeared when I was very young, so all my memories regarding that car is very fuzzy, but it has been in the garage as long as I can remember and honestly, I can’t think of the last time I saw it leaving there. It’s just been sitting there and picking up dust. I'm not even sure if it actually works. And I didn’t think I had the influential talents to convince my parents to spend money on fixing it. Plus, it would still take time to get it fixed. So I dropped the thought before I got my hopes high on it.
But damn it. Because it’s frustrating sitting around and waiting for someone to get home so you can finally leave the house and meet your friend. Which is exactly what I'm doing right now.
I spoke on the phone with Jungkook’s dad earlier and he said he’ll be home in less than an hour. Hence the waiting.
He took the twins for their rock climbing class and he’s staying there until they finish. And since there’s no way in hell I’ll be walking the town in heels, I sit on the couch scrolling through my phone and TV channels.
I’m typing back a respond to Rowan, when I hear footsteps coming from stairs. I ignore them since I know Jongho’s footsteps are way lighter. So that leaves only one other person. And I’m still ignoring him and pretending he doesn’t exist.
I know. Really mature.
But you’re not exactly left with many choices when the other person is just as immature and unbearable, if not more.
I can see him entering the kitchen without so much as glancing this way. If it wasn’t for the sound of TV going around the house, I’d say he didn’t even notice
someone was here.
Just as I think we’re going to fully ignore each other just as we’ve successfully have done for the past week, I hear him from the kitchen.
“Didn’t you have plans with Ms. Prom Queen?”
His voice sounds low and hoarse. Like he just woke up from a long nap, which he probably did. I had not seen him in the house all morning and noon which means he may have been at work until few hours ago.
Which is still a mystery to me. His work hours don’t seem coherent enough for me to make sense of what he does (not that I care or spend too much time trying to figure it out. Just occasional curiosity.) And I never cared enough to ask anyone in the house. I don’t really think even they know what exactly it is. Just happy he’s keeping himself busy and making money.
Also, how does he know what plans I have and whom I’m meeting? And the audacity of this man overlooking the fact that I was the prom queen last year. And he knows that!
“You know I was the prom queen last year. And that’s it? You’re officially admitting you eavesdrop through my walls?”
“Please.” He snorts. “The neighbours two houses away know you have plans with your red hair friend.”
I just roll my eyes at him and keep texting Rowan.
“What are you doing home anyway? Shouldn’t you have been gone thirty minutes ago?” Jungkook talks again.
“Why so eager to get me out of the house, Jeon? A special someone going to visit your excuse of a room for an evening filled with disappointment?”
He comes to the view with a can of coke. Standing tall and broad against the wall. His face cold as ice and showing no emotions.
“You think I would ever bring a girl here in this house? There’s already a crazy blonde here that I can’t stand.”
“So you’re confessing your type to be blonde girls?” I raise my eyebrow at him in question. A mischievous smirk finding its way on my lips.
He easily ignores my question like it couldn’t matter less, and walks his way further into the living room.
He sits down on the couch on the left side of the room. “Didn’t answer my question.” He tells me flatly.
“Neither did you.” I raise my eyebrow again.
“My type is none of your business.”
“Ooh. So you do have a type.” I muse, mostly a statement than a question.
“Why the sudden interest in my type, golden?” his voice gets low. His eyes cold and intimidating.
“You’re the one who started with “bringing a blonde girl to hookup”, not me.” I give him a shrug, acting nonchalant and going back to typing on my phone. “And not that I need to answer to you, but I’m waiting for your dad to get home and drop me off at Kim’s.”
“Why him? Harvard-Law-School boy doesn’t have his car yet?” He tilts his head to the side while he throws another jab at my boyfriend.
I narrow my eyes at him, ready to throw Josh’s ninja stars at his head. “No.” I say with force. “Rowan’s car hasn’t been fixed yet. It needed some piece that the mechanic didn’t have. So they had to wait for it to get shipped here. It’s gonna get longer to get it back.”
He stays silent and doesn’t say anything else. So I go back to my phone again, trying to type back my respond for the seventh time.
“The rich brat was good for one thing and he couldn’t even do that right. How disappointing it must be to be his girlfriend.”
I could throw my phone at his head. Seriously, I would, if he hadn’t brought his head up and talk directly to me again.
“Get up. I’ll take you.”
I stop in my track. I’m taken aback by him. I don’t hear any sarcasm or unseriousness in his voice. He words are just as serious as his face.
I huff out a laugh of disbelief. “Are you drunk?”
Jungkook seems more unpleasant with my respond.
“Like the last time you agreed to take me somewhere? No thanks.”
“Yes, I agreed to take you. And I took you to school perfectly safely. You got to your class in one piece. Didn’t you?” His eyes flare up.
“You’re an asshole. Need I remind you the last time we talked in your room? Why are you offering help now?” I ask him accusingly. Suspicion pouring out from every inch of my body.
“I’m not.”
“But you just said you’ll take me.”
“I did.”
My face scrunches, confused. I don’t understand what he’s saying anymore.
“Why the fuck are you looking at me like that Daisy? Do you want to go or not?” he snaps.
Yep. That clears everything out again. That sounds more like the asshole I know him to be.
For a minute I thought he was having a stroke. And if he could read my mind and heard that thought, he would call me dramatic again. But for a minute, he felt so out of character. And that’s not what I’m used to.
He lets out a sigh and gets off his seat. “I’m not gonna sit here all night till you make a decision and speak. I’m gonna go grab my jacket and leave anyway. If you want to go, then get your ass up. If not, enjoy waiting here for another thirty minutes.” He smiles dryly and leaves the living room without waiting another second for a respond from me.
Five minutes later. he’s downstairs. Wearing his jacket and putting on his shoes.
I’m still a little skeptical about all of this. But I don’t voice out any of the thoughts. I’m pretty sure if I question him one more time, he’ll fully snap out of whatever this is and return back to the annoying bitch that he usually is.
Why not get a ride out of him while he’s showing himself helpful for once? And if he’s planning to kill me, well whatever. At least if I go down, I’ll make sure to take him down with me, too.
He changed into a pair of black jeans. He didn’t change out of the black t-shirt he was wearing before. He’s also wearing his black leather jacket.
“Are you going somewhere after?” I blurt out. I instantly regret letting my curiosity win over.
Jungkook glances my way while putting on his other shoe.
“Nosy much?”
I give him a dirty look. “Was just curious, you jerk.”
I start putting my own shoes on. I can’t wear my usual heels or I’ll lose a few toes from frost bites. The weather has been chilly these past few days. So I wear a pair of suede black ankle boots. They have two inches of heels, which is a must for me. Except for my Nike sneakers, I don’t think I own any flat shoes.
“Don’t be then.”
He walks out of the house without looking back. I follow him outside and lock the door behind me.
His motorcycle is there on the driveway but he doesn’t walk towards it. Instead he walks to the garage and opens the garage door with a click of a button on his keys.
I yet have to know what he actually does as his job. But I can tell for sure, it pays good money. Really good money. Besides his Harley, he owns a black Yamaha R6R that is currently sitting in the garage.
I don’t see him ride it that often. He mostly uses it when he’s out with his MC club friends. He used to ride it a lot before. He would just get on it at nights and disappear for hours. Probably engaging in races or something. Now, he spends most of his days out, probably working and his nights away spending time at his club. If he’s not doing neither of those, he’s in his room, away from the rest of us. He is a private person and thrives on being alone. Usually in the dark.
We could not be any more different even if we tried.
“Do you really think I’ll get on that damn sportbike of yours? I barely survived the Harley one.”
“We’re not taking the motorcycles.” He walks inside.
“We’re riding the twin’s bicycles then?” I ask stupidly. We’re literally left with those or Jongho’s skateboard. And I prefer neither.
“No, you fucking genius.” He forces out and rolls his eyes like he’s already done with me. “We’re taking the car.”
He removes the cover on top of the car, throwing all kinds of dust in the air.
“Wait, it seriously works?” I cough into my fist. “If I had known that, I would’ve already asked mom and dad to let me drive it.” I mutter. But Jungkook hears me.
“In your wildest dreams, sweet cheeks.” He taunts, unlocking the car and opening the door.
“I beg your pardon?”. Did he just call me—
“The car isn’t theirs. It’s mine. And the only way you can drive it is if I’m six feet under.” He pauses. “Actually, you can’t have it even then.”
“Wait, It’s Yours?” I ask with too much shock, my jaw basically on the dusty floor.
I get inside the car after Jungkook and look around the car with wide eyes. Jungkook puts the key in and starts the engine. After too many tries, the car finally turns on. It has obviously been too long since it last was on the road. I’m surprise it actually works.
Suddenly it makes sense to me how I never saw his dad using it, or how I could never find the keys to it anywhere. The keys were with Jungkook all along. But there’s still so many things that don’t make sense to me. I have so many questions that I know if I start asking them, Jungkook will throw me out of the moving car.
He pulls the car into the driveway. He barely leaves the street, and I already reach my limit of staying silent. I need to ask.
“How is this your car? I thought it was your dad’s old car. It was in the garage as long as I can remember.”
“I only drove it a couple of times. It mostly stayed in the garage.” He tells me neutrally. He doesn’t say anything else. Making it clear that that was the entire answer.
I turn my head his way and look at him. His eyes are glued forward, not moving. His eyebrows are slightly downward, wearing his signature cold expression. I’ll bet on my entire shoe collection that he wears that frown even when he’s sleeping.
He has one hand on the wheel and the other on the gear, driving peacefully in silence. He drives with so much ease. Like someone that is an expert, not like someone that hasn’t driven in so long. It’s in that moment that I realize how little I know about him. We’ve lived under the same roof for nine years, almost ten. And I know him less than I know my friend of four years.
“When did they get this car for you? I don’t remember getting it or you driving it at all. How long ago was it?”
“I’m already getting a headache from you.” He sighs.
“I’ve only asked two questions.” A scowl sits on my face, feeling offended.
He glances at me for a moment. “Trust me, you can give someone a migraine just with one sentence.”
This guy…
Jungkook has a natural gift for making me lose my temper around him. I may give someone a migraine with just one sentence, (I do not. What the fuck?!) but he can make someone see red with one sentence.
But I control my temper and don’t let him get through my skin or annoy me. I breathe through my nose and lean back on my seat. I tell myself that he is the one giving me a ride with his car. And unlike him, I can be a nice respecting person. I will not punch him in his guts…
“I got it when I was sixteen.” Jungkook suddenly says, his voice low and slow. He doesn’t add anything. He continues to drive silently. His body seeming more tense now and the scowl slightly deeper.
I read the room —more like car— and don’t ask any more questions. We sit quietly while we both stare ahead.
“They bought you a car at sixteen and when I speak about having a car, they act like I asked to join a cult?” I blurt out. My brows furrowed.
The question wasn’t really aimed at anyone. More like the thought slipping out of my mouth without meaning to.
That’s why it was shocking to me when I heard the sound of Jungkook snorting a laugh at my silly thoughts.
My head jerks to him. There’s still a small smile on his lips when I look at him, but he covers it quickly and goes back to his neutral face.
But his shoulders loosen up from their tense shape.
“I can be a very persuasive person. Also, they didn’t buy it. The money was my own. Can you afford one yourself?”
“Yeah, sure. If I start crapping money today, I can buy a car in no time.” My fakesmile floods with sarcasm. “So what kind of sixteen-year-old has enough money to buy a car? Where did you get that money from? Did you use to steal?” I joke.
The moment the questions leave my mouth, his shoulders tense up again. He stays quiet. Doesn’t say anything or crack a smile. He keeps his eyes forward and focuses on driving.
This time, I truly shut my mouth. I turn my eyes forward and regret asking questions about him in the first place.
After another few minutes of taking turns around the corners and me guiding him through the way to Kim’s house, he parks in front of her house.
He unlocks the doors and just when I’m about to open my door, I stop. I turn my body to face Jungkook. His body in facing forward and when he notices me pausing, he looks at me. Waiting for me to say what I want to say.
“Thanks.” I say softly. “I know you don’t hear that a lot from me, but thanks.”
He nods his head in acknowledgement. “You’re welcome.”
I go for the door handle but pause when I hear Jungkook speak. “You do have a plan of getting home back safe, right?” his question sounds unsure. Perhaps making sure I make it home safe is as much of a strange concept to him as it is to me.
When he sees me hesitate to answer, he explains himself.
“I won’t be able to take you home.” But he quickly clarifies, “Not because I’m an asshole. I am going somewhere after here. And it’s gonna take few hours.”
“It’s okay. I get it. Don’t worry” I reach the handle but Jungkook stops me again.
“Do I need to worry about you doing something crazy again?”
“No. Don’t worry. I’ll get home safe.” I reply softly.
I never have problem with eye contact. Holding confident eye contact through all kinds of encounters is my natural gift. But right now, I have no idea where to look at. For reasons I don’t comprehend myself, looking into his eyes feels agitating and uncomfortable. So I look down, anywhere but his dark eyes.
I never even had this problem with him. Usually, I feel pretty confident looking him in the eyes and call him an insufferable jerk or tell him to fuck his own ass (when my young brothers and parents aren’t around, of course.) I’m not used to being domestic around him. When it’s just the two of us. Alone, in a car. And I’m clearly not used to him asking ‘will I get home safe?’
I know between two normal civil people, that question is as normal as it gets.
But between us? Just… new. And I guess I experienced a lot of new things with Jungkook today.
Jungkook nods at my respond, convinced enough. He turns his attention forward again. Ready to leave for wherever he plans to go.
And so I grab my handbag and open the door before getting out of Jungkook’s car and walk towards my friends front door.
· · ─ ·ʚɞ· ─ · ·
Unbelievable. Ever since my first relationship I swore I will never become a clingy type of girlfriend. The type that have to keep calling and texting their boyfriends to meet every single time. And then turn to a bitch and throw tantrums like kids when their boyfriend says something like ‘Sorry, babe. I have a last minute football practice’ or ‘Sorry, something came up with my friends, I have to cancel on you’. But screw all of that, because right now? I’m fucking fuming.
Un-fucking-believable.
I shove my phone into the small side-pocket of my bag after reading his last text. I need to be away from that text or my phone. Otherwise I might take it out on an innocent student passing by me in the school hallway.
I’ve lost count of the times Rowan cancelled seeing me in school for his football practices or hanging out with his friends. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t expect him to miss his practices or skip hanging out with his friends just for me and my needs.
But at this point, it feels like he’s always skipping spending time with me. It feels like he spends more time focusing on everything else than me. I’m pretty sure the only time we properly saw each other in school this week, was the class we sat next to each other. And that’s because we both have that class. The only class we share. Unfortunately, we’re separated on all the other classes.
I’ve only shared my irritation and concerns over this whole thing with Kimmy. She’s the closest person to me and the one person that knows almost everything about me.
And my friend thinks I should talk to Rowan about this and show him I don’t like this situation. Now you might think, communication. What a bright and healthy idea, Kim.
Well, her idea of ‘talking about it with Rowan’ is different from what you may think. She’s a hot-headed person. And when she’s trying to advise me on what I should say to people, she doesn’t use many nice words. Her delivery of the said words aren’t much nicer either.
Her help only made me second guess the decision. I don’t want to seem like a clingy girlfriend. And I fear starting an argument with Rowan about wanting to spend more time with him than what he gives me, is going to make me look exactly like that. Like a clingy girlfriend who’s trying to seek attention at any cost.
But I’m still not cooled down. Trying to control myself and not confronting Rowan makes the frustration worse.
Especially in this time that I need my boyfriend more than before. These past few days I couldn’t help but need the presence of my boyfriend more. I don’t know what’s going on with my brain, or maybe even my body, I just know I’m frustrated as fuck and I need emotional support.
I pass through hallways and hurry my way through the other students, to where I know my friend is right now.
I see her sitting at a cafeteria table and talking to a guy I know she has had her eyes on for a while now. God, it must be nice and stress-free to be single. You just flirt and have fun and don’t take anything serious. At least that’s how Kimmy does it.
Not that I want that. I love my relationship with Rowan. And I care for him so much. I just don’t care for all the times we fight or hit a slight bump in the road in our relationship. Like the one we’re hitting right now.
Kimmy’s eyes fall on me. And it doesn’t take her long to see the distress in my face and entire body.
Before I make it to their table, Kimmy interrupts whatever the-guy-I-forgot-hisname was saying with her sweet and charming smile and starts saying something to him. The guy looks between her and me and just as I reach their table, the guy stands up and takes his bag off the other chair. He looks at Kim one last time and Kim returns the look with a seductive one and mouths something.
I want to roll my eyes at her but I stop myself when I catch the guy turning to me and giving me a polite smile and nods his head. I should feel bad for not returning the gesture given out of politeness, but I don’t. I just wait for him to get far enough to be out of earshot. When he does, I throw myself on the seat next to Kimmy with a frustrated huff.
“This better be good enough,” she circles her hand at me. “Because he was this close to ask me to join him in his hottub.” She holds out her thumb and point finger with a small gap between them.
“Rowan is at practice. Again.” I push away my bag on the table. “And look, I know outside our relationship he has a life. Study and his football and other things. And I’m not a needy girlfriend. But I swear to God, if he cancels on me for a ‘last minute’ football practice one more time, I’m going to kick my foot in his balls.”
Kimmy bursts into laugher and I glare at her.
“No, seriously. I support that. I think you should do it right now.”
I look up at the ceiling and ask for patience. “I can’t believe I have the type of best friend that encourages me to kick my boyfriend in the balls when I’m raging, when she should be putting sense into me.”
“Yes, and we’re the best type.” She beams at me before she pushes her barely touched drink at me and points at me to drink it. “But seriously, if this whole cancelling on you thing bothers you, just tell him that.”
She bites her fries as she speaks. “I’ve been with my fair share of guys and trust me, they’re not really smart people. Specially not your boyfriend.” She mutters the last part.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I exclaim offended. My eyebrows furrowed.
She ignores me and keeps going. “And with idiots like your boyfriend, they don’t know when they’re doing things wrong or acting like jackasses. You have to tell them and hope that they’re mature enough to see it and do things right without making a scene.”
I lean forward and rest my chin on my hands with a sigh. “I just fear I might cause an argument or misunderstanding.”
She points her manicured cherry nail at me. “That’s when he proves to you how much of an idiot he is and you’ll dump him.”
“No Kim. We’re not gonna break up over a silly disagreement.”
She shrugs and goes back to her lunch. “Well, I don’t know what you want to do with him. And I know you want to respect his personal schedule and let him do what he wants. But don’t let him test your limits and take you for granted.”
“Don’t worry. I won’t” I nod my head with certainty. But I think I’m mostly trying to assure myself.
“Good. Because now that we took care of that problem, another one is walking right this way.” Kimmy looks behind my shoulder, her eyes narrowing at whomever is walking behind me.
I hear his nasty voice before I get to guess who it might be.
“Hey Daisy. I thought I might find you here.” He sounds too happy. Like it was hard to find me. Like I was purposefully avoiding coming eye to eye with him. And well, I was.
“Guess I found someone to kick in the balls, after all.” I mutter in detest so only Kim can hear me. She hears me and tries to hide her smile while subtly nodding her head in agreement.
Aiden of course, is clueless to our silent conversation and sits on the empty seat uninvitedly. “I was looking everywhere for you.”
“Were you, now? Why?” I ask dryly.
“Did I need a reason to look for you?” he slings his right arm on the back of my chair and brings my chair closer to him.
I don’t answer at first. I just move my wide glaring eyes between him and where his arm is resting. My eyes shooting laser at his relaxed arm. “Yes, Aiden. You do need a reason to look for me.” I spit out. “What’s your reason? And be quick with it.”
“Okay, love. But only because you’re in one of you little tantrum moods and I want my head staying on my neck.” He snickers while I glare at him. “Me and a few of my friends are getting together for a study group and want to get some studying done this weekend. Care to join us?”
He gently grazes his finger on my hair, tangling his finger around a lock. He must think he’s being seductive while I’m starring at the finger with wide eyes, shocked and speechless by his audacity.
Before I get a chance to act on my intrusive thoughts and bite his finger off or bend it and poke it in his smug eye and wipe that smirk of his pricky face, Kimmy butts in.
“I didn’t know you nor any of your friends do any studying. Ever.”
Aiden snaps out of his character and glares at Kim. “Shocked you didn’t know something, Calloway. Specially since you’re the one person in this school that is never minding their own business.” He says sharply, his words spiteful.
He averts his attention back to me and ignores Kim again. Putting the flirty façade back on, he looks at me with the smirk that unfortunately some girls do fall for.
God, high school boys are unbearable sometimes. Today, more than ever.
“No, Adams. I don’t care to join a study group. Least of all, yours. So please get up now. You’re interrupting us.”
He seems surprised by my answer. His smirk falls, like he expected any other answer from me. Honestly, Kimmy was right. All guys are idiots.
But he collects himself again and doesn’t give up. “Okay, hon. No worries. But promise to study well anyway. Don’t want your grades to make trouble for you.” The dickhead has the nerves to poke my nose with his finger and smile at me. I stare at it with raging eyes and I’m ready to act on my earlier thoughts, but his next words baffle me even more.
“Anyway, I know you don’t want me to, but unfortunately, I have to leave. Have to get ready for gym class. See you later, feisty girl.” He gets up from his chair and loses his smile when he turns his eyes to Kim. “Calloway.” He says dryly and then winks at me and blows me a kiss before walking away.
I’m speechless. Actually lost for words by this boy.
“What goes on in his head that makes him do and say the things he does?” I askgenuinely, stunned and with my mouth open slightly.
“I bet my left butt cheek that his head is actually empty. So god know what’s going around in there.” My friend sighs tiredly.
After that, Kimmy tries her best to distract me from… well, everyone.
Rowan, and this moron.
It’s not that I’m a coward or scared to confront either of them. But I usually don’t engage in conversations that I don’t deem worthy or necessary.
It may be built up frustration, but this whole Rowan thing have been going on for too long, and this Aiden thing is getting out of hand.
At first he was just a duchebag who flirted with me here and there, despite me making it clear for him that I’m in a relationship and I’m not interested in him the slightest. Then it grew to him using every chance he got to come close to me and me insulting him until he temporarily left me alone.
Now, it’s straight up harassing me. Getting touchy and comfortable with crossing my physical boundaries.
Kim may be right. I might need a serious heart to heart conversation with Rowan.
And as for Aiden, I don’t know what I need to do that I haven’t done already. Pepper-spray him in the eye?
I know all the anger in me is building up to the point I will explode soon. I just fear when it happens, a blameless and clueless person is going to be on the receiving end of it.
· · ─ ·ʚɞ· ─ · ·
By the end of the day I still haven’t gotten a chance to properly see Rowan. I stayed in school area in hopes I can see him after his practice. When I texted him, asking where he is, he sent a short text letting me know that he needs to stay after the school hour to practice more with his team for the upcoming match they’ll have soon.
The cons of dating a member of the school football team are already hitting me like a pan in the face.
I got disappointed when I got his text. But I wore my big girl panties and tried to be an understanding girlfriend. I wished him good luck and told him to take care of himself, and not to push himself too hard. I got a blow-kiss emoji in return and nothing after.
As far as I know, Rowan’s car hasn’t gotten fixed yet. And he’s getting a ride from one of his teammates.
I mindlessly make my way out of the school area, expecting my mom to arrive soon.
I don’t see my mom, but what I do see makes me question my vision.
I see a car I know, but it’s not my mom’s. It’s the old silver Jeep, parked in the parking lot of my school, with Jungkook sitting behind the wheel, waiting.
Can he be here picking up her… girlfriend?
God, I don’t how I can make peace with the fact that Jungkook might be hooking up with a girl from my school. I don’t have many close friends here, a lot of acquaintances and girls that I’m friendly with, but not many real and close friends.And he dislikes all of them. So at least I don’t have to worry about him hooking up with one of my friends.
I don’t know if I should go to him or not. There’s a slim chance he’s here for me. But my head says the chances of him being here for another girl is higher than that.
I don’t remember Jungkook ever showing interest in one of the girls from my school, or even meeting one, ever. But just like he said not so long ago, he never brings his girlfriends or hookups arounds the house. So even if he is seeing someone from my school, I wouldn’t know.
I start walking to his car before I think too much of it. Jungkook notices me and reaches down to lower the window of passenger seat. His other hand resting on the wheel.
He doesn’t say anything and lets me speak first.
“Please don’t tell me you’re seeing someone from my school.” I don’t know why that’s the first thing I say.
It’s none of my business. Even saying it out loud and in his face feels weird. He’s a grown ass man and should see whomever he wants.
Even though thinking that someone could be a high school girl makes me feel uncomfortable. From my high school.
Ew. Please no…
Jungkook’s face turns genuinely confused and disturbed.
“Why would I be seeing someone from here? The female species haven’t gone extinct yet. And you couldn’t pay me enough to date high-school girls.”
I roll my eyes at him to cover the relief I feel from his words. But his words still make me feel unusual.
“Good to know at least you’re not a pervert.” I retort. But I go back to the main topic. “So why are you here?”
“I got bored so I thought I could come back to get my diploma again.” He deadpans without humor. “To take you home, Daisy.”
“You’re doing nice things for me, two time in less than one week?” I ask with disbelief. “Do I have cancer and mom is not telling me?”
“No, golden. You’re fine and same as ever. A drama queen.” He taunts. “And I’m not doing the nice things for your sake. Consider it me wanting to get back on your mom’s good graces.”
With that, it doesn’t seem like a lucid dream or a prank. So I get in the car. “Right. That makes more sense than any other possibility, like you being nice.” I comment.
It actually does make sense. I may not be like an important person to him or count as one of his favorite people, but my mom kind of does. He has always respected her and made little efforts to make her glad. They may not have been big gestures. But coming from Jungkook, they always meant a great deal to mom.
I know us having a tough relationship always bothered mom. And Jungkook definitely knows it too. So maybe mom getting so disappointed and upset with him a few days ago, was finally the wakeup call for him to at least try to change the relationship dynamic he has with me. As he said, “just to get back on her good graces”.
Or maybe, I’m getting ahead of myself with this wishful thinking and I can see myself and Jungkook becoming friends in my wildest dreams.
“Excuse me for my trust issues. Not even considering the event of two weeks ago, It’s hard to remember the last time you did something for me. Anything.” I say as I put my seat buckle on. “So how did mom take you volunteering to do this?”
“Was skeptical at first, just like you.” He says as he puts the car on drive and pulls out of the parking spot. “But I made it clear that my intentions were wholesome. And like the lovely trusting woman that she is, she asked me to send her my live location and if I didn’t show up at home with you in one piece on time, she’ll come for you herself. You know, after she kicked my ass.”
I stare at his sober and humorless expression for few moments before I burst into laughter. I haven’t laughed this genuinely in few days.
Jungkook doesn’t look my way but I see a hint of smile on the edge of his lips.
I can’t believe my mom said that to him. She has always been so gentle and loving to Jungkook, especially due to his preference of keeping to himself and being away from us a lot. But I guess he really did wake the beast inside of her. The very beast I inherited from her.
“Wow. She’s really giving you a hard time.” I can’t help the giggle that leaves me.
“Yup.” He sighs and switches his hands on the wheel to change gears. “It’s fine. It was my own fault.”
I listen carefully waiting for more. But he doesn’t say anything else.
I try to hide my smile. Because he finally admitted that out loud. And after living with Jungkook for nine years, I know that’s the closest thing to apology I’ll get from him.
“So, you’re using your car again.”
Not only it’s the second time that I’ve seen Jungkook doing something to help me in nine years, it’s also the second time I’m seeing this car out of the garage in all these years.
“Yeah. I think I like driving with it again.”
Jungkook seems so at ease. he is a quiet person in general. But usually, that silence seems tense. He’s an intimidating person that observes more than he talks. So usually when he’s quiet, I feel like his watching and monitoring us. What he’s thinking? I have no idea. That’s what I’m always wondering about him.
But right now? He seems chilled out. Not tense at all, just relaxed.
And I’m not delusional to think it’s because of my presence. It definitely has something to do with this car. Something about this car means something to him. But it’s not a gift, since from the very little information he gave me, I know he bought it himself.
This car in sentimental to him. The fact that the car has been in the garage for so long, even though no one used it. The fact that except these last two time that he drove me with it, he had only used it a couple of times, according to himself.
And now, the fact that he feels so at ease while driving it, even if it’s to give his notso-favorite step sister a ride with it.
“So I can take the dream of bargaining with you over it and convincing mom and dad to let me drive it to my grave?” I ask lovingly and with hopeful eyes.
Jungkook takes a turn before raising his eyebrows and glancing at me. “Yes, you can. I already told you that you can’t drive it even if I’m dead.”
“Worthed a shot.” I mutter disappointedly and lean back on my chair.
We sit in silence. Which is a rarity for us, because this is a rather comfortable silence. No talking. No banter or fight. No sound from the radio or background music. Only the outside noises coming from our windows down.
I like being in truce with Jungkook Jeon. I hope we can make it last.
𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 | 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐱 ᰔ
Hello lovely readers. Sorry for my long absence. My life has been crazy for the past few months. Uni and well... a lot of other things. If you are reading my work, know that I'm very grateful and I hope I can keep making you enjoy the time you give to my work ❤️
I have the next chapter ready and I hope I get to upload it way sooner than I did this one. It's also a long one. Please stay tuned.
I love that haunting refrain that plays as Michael Corleone walks away from the baptism of his godchild, his sister's son...
Minutes ago, he renounced Satan and all of his works while he had his men kill the heads of the 5 families to consolidate his interests and get rid of all of the threats to his family at the exact same time...
The sweet, innocent man... the war hero... he had become the coldest, most cutthroat Godfather there ever was... the transformation was bone chilling... the transformation was complete... Michael Corleone was the new Godfather...
His wife realized who she had really married a little too late...
Her face says all that needs to be said... insert haunting refrain here...
After my loooong hiatus, I finally had time to go do a magma! (Albeit only there for and hour or two)
Anyways! The theme was Fanworks (so I couldn’t plug my own stuff)
First, I drew a little goober reacting to this GODLIKE piece of Paragon from my Cold Blooded AU (Please ask about it 😭) by @autisticartistnauthor! Can I tell you I SCREAMED SEEING THIS? CUZ I DID. @autisticartistnauthor, all I have to say is: 💍
Then, I decided to return the favor by drawing Bonnie by @autisticartistnauthor along with Neon Void by @sugarpasteltmnt! Put a little Caesar cipher in there for funsies! If these two actually met, we’d be cooked.
Finally, a piece relating to Replica by @kathaynesart! I have always LOVED Replica and it motivated me to start drawing Rise and posting it here! So thanks Kat if you’re seeing this!
The bottom line is a lyric from ‘Like Him’ by Tyler the Creator btw!
That’s all! See everyone next week at @weeklymagmas!
