Stupid Girl /// Katsuki Bakugo

Kiss It Better

A/N- I've seen so many people talking about a Gareth fic where the reader helps him after Jason beats him up but I haven't seen any being posted! I guess I'm glad to be the first

Summary- Gareths neighbor comes over to see him with blood on his face and a nearly broken hand and decides to help fix him up

Genre- Fluff

Warnings- Mentions of blood

Tag List- @imagine-all-the-imagines @ahzysauce

As you were finishing this week’s homework at your desk in your bedroom, you heard a loud crash that seemed to come from just outside.

Being neighbors with Gareth, you knew that him and the other members of his band would get loud, but it was nothing like what you just heard. As you kept listening out your window you could hear yelling, from Gareth and another guy, you weren’t quite sure who, but you could definitely recognize the voice.

You heard speeding tires a few moments later and looked out your window, seeing Jeff and Grant helping Gareth up, his drum set almost destroyed behind him.

The two of you wouldn’t consider yourselves close by any means but growing up across the street from each other gave the two of you a pretty strange relationship. You would call him a friend, but the only time you spend together was at block parties or hanging out when your parents had dinner but really nothing more than that. Still, you cared for him.

He seemed a bit intimidating at first, but in reality, he was just quiet and shy. You knew how sweet he could he just from watching him play with his sisters and he wouldn’t hurt a fly.

You quickly slipped your shoes on and made your way downstairs, just wanting to make sure he was ok. It was out of the ordinary for you to just go up and talk to him out of the blue but whatever happened you could definitely tell he was hurt.

“Hey,” you said as you made your way up his driveway, “are you ok?”

He shook his head, looking at the hand that was just covering his nose, seeing the fresh blood coating his fingertips,

“Jason…”

“Oh shit…” You took a few steps forward and looked at his cheek, a large cut and his nose had a small trickle of blood flowing from it, his face was swollen too, “do you need any help?”

He nodded as his friends let go of his arms. He tried to balance himself as his friends started picking up the different parts if his drum kit off the garage floor to put it back together,

“You guys clean that up, (y/n) would you help me inside?”

You nodded and grabbed his arm, slowly leading him inside.

Though you’d been over a handful of times, you’d never seen it empty. Every time you were over in the past it was either decorated for whatever holiday party your parents had dragged you to or filled with adults, but every time you and Gareth always found a way to spend time together. You’d go up to his room and watch whatever movies he rented for the week or listen to music and talk. One night a few months ago, the two of you were able to sneak off into the garage away from the parents and share a joint, talking about how strange it was to grow up across the street from each other your whole lives and yet you only ever hung out when your parents got together.

You’d wished that your next hang out was under different circumstances, though it was strange to be left all alone with him without having to worry about your parents finding you.

You had to admit, living across the street from Gareth definitely had its perks. You got to see his band during their rehearsals, you watched him play in the front yard with his sisters, and you had to admit he looked pretty cute when he was mowing the lawn shirtless in the summertime. And he could say the same about you. He got to see you in your driveway when your mom insisted on taking pictures on the first day of school every year, he was able to see your reaction when you got your first car, and he loved the view from his bedroom into your backyard, especially when you were lounging around in a skimpy bathing suit.

Most of the time he had to fight with himself over whether or not he should sneak a picture on his polaroid to keep all for himself.

He did feel a bit strange to be left all alone in his house with you, but now all he was focused on was making sure his blood didn’t drip onto the carpet.

You led him into an upstairs bathroom and sat him on the edge of the tub as you searched through the medicine cabinet and vanity drawers, looking for something to try and clean him up.

“Where do you guys keep your band aids?” You said, pulling out a bottle of antiseptic and a few cotton pads from under the sink.

Gareth pointed to the medicine cabinet, and you were able to find them, along with a bottle of Tylenol.

You set everything onto the counter and took one of the washcloths next to the sink, soaking it with cold water and handing it to Gareth to clean himself up. He winced as he pressed the cold fabric to his face, his hand red and bruised, struggling a bit to keep the cloth stable as he pressed it to his face.

“Here,” You sat in front of him and took the cloth from his hand, gently pressing it to the side of his face to try and let the cold ease the pain as it soaked up the bit of blood still trailing from his lip, “better?”

He nodded, and you gave him a shy smile as you sat there cleaning him up. The small spot of blood was able to be cleaned up pretty easily, thankfully it was nothing too severe, but the cut on his lip and the bruise on his cheek were another story. His hand would definitely need some ice too, especially with the condition it was in.

You removed the cloth from his face and set it onto the counter, grabbing the bottle of antiseptic and a few cotton pads. You soaked the pads and set the bottle back onto the counter,

“This is gonna sting a little bit, ok?”

He took a deep breath and groaned as you pressed it gently to his lip, dabbing at it just a bit to clean it.

“It’s not so bad,” He said, trying to ease the tension as the two of you were so close together, “hurts a lot less than a punch.”

You softly giggled at how he managed to still make you laugh while he was so hurt. It was cute that he was trying to mask his pain, but you knew that he was hurting much more than he led on.

“Alright, I think the bleeding stopped, but you definitely need some ice on that hand.” You took his injured hand carefully into yours to look at it. It was red, bruised, and you could tell he was going to be in pain for the next couple of days, “I think you’ll live though.”

“Oh, thank god,” He said as the two of you stood up, his hand still in yours, “I was worried we’d have to amputate.”

You giggled again as you gently let go of his hand, putting away the cotton pads and antiseptic before pulling out a Band-Aid to put against his lip,

“Well, if you think it’s that bad, I can always just use a knife from the kitchen and save you some money.”

He tried to smile but winced from the cut on his lip. You opened the band aid and gently put it over the cut, your fingertips gently brushing over his lips, and you could see the faintest pink over his cheeks.

“There. How do you feel?”

“A little better… Still hurts but I think if I put some ice on it for a bit, I’ll be alright.”

The two of you exited the bathroom and made your way back downstairs into the kitchen.

“You sit, I’ll get you some ice.”

You rummaged through his freezer as he took a seat at the kitchen table. He looked at his hand and winced again as he tried to move his fingers, but you quickly stopped it as you sat next to him, two ice packs in your hand,

“Here, this one goes on your hand,” You said, placing one of the ice packs on top of his hand on the table, “and this one goes…” you said as you gently placed the other onto his cheek, “there.”

You smiled as he held the other ice pack to his cheek, his fingers gently brushing over yours as he held it. He smiled, laughing to himself.

“What’s so funny?” You asked him with a shy smile.

“It’s nothing, it sounds kinda weird…”

“It’s fine,” You said with a giggle, “it can’t be that bad.”

“Well, um…” He looked down at the icepack in his hand, trying not to look up at you, “it’s just been a while since you had to help fix me up you know? Got that weird déjà vu feeling of when we were little and fucking around in the street and I fell over on the curb and skinned my knee really bad.”

You giggled as you remembered that day, there was a block party, and all the kids were running in the street trying to pop all the giant bubbles from one of the other neighbors’ bubble machines. You couldn’t have been older than seven, and you and Gareth kept trying to see who could pop the most and while he was chasing after one, he wasn’t looking and tripped over the curb.

“Yeah, we didn’t want your parents to find out and get us in trouble for messing around in the street. I think I used that same bottle of antiseptic stuff; it looked pretty old.”

“I think so, yeah. Its weird, it felt almost the same, except it was my face that got all fucked up and not my knee.”

You smiled and gently bit your lip, looking down at his hand on the table,

“Yeah, and I didn’t try and kiss it all better like our moms did when we got hurt.”

The two of you sat there in silence for a moment. It was a bit awkward, and you both could tell you had the same thing on your mind.

“You know…” Gareth looked back up at you, breaking the silence, his cheeks and nose glowing the brightest shade of pink, “it might help a little bit.”

You looked back up at him, though your eyes darted back and forth between his eyes and his lips, and his did the same.

You couldn’t tell who moved first, but the two of you slowly inched closer to one another and before you could even process it, your lips were on his.

It was soft, gentle, and though it only lasted a few moments you could feel a gentle spark between you. You had barely seen each other as you grew older, only spending time together at neighborhood functions, and now you were kissing in his kitchen. Neither of you were sure of what to call this new ‘relationship’ you had, but whatever it was, it was nice.

As your lips parted, you both quickly looked to the garage door as Jeff and Grant made their way into the house,

“Hey man, we got your kit put all back together, I don’t think anything’s broken,” Jeff said as he shut the garage door behind him, looking back at the two of you at the table, your faces bright red and your eyes wide with the adrenaline of almost being caught, “you guys alright?”

“Yeah, you look kinda weird.” Grant said with a laugh.

“Yeah, yeah were totally fine,” You said, trying to ease the tension from you and Gareth, “I was just going.” You stood up from the table and looked back down at Gareth, “I’ll see you around.”

You said with a smile, waving to him and his friends as you quickly left through the garage door.

“(Y/n)!” Gareth called out to you as he followed you out, reaching for your hand, but wincing once again as he forgot all about the pain, he was feeling in it, “You know um… You don’t have to if you don’t want to but, I was just thinking that maybe when my hand isn’t all fucked up, and my face is looking… like this,” he said with a nervous laugh, “maybe you’d want to um… do something?”

You giggled at his nervousness. He seemed so eager to kiss you and yet just asking you out made him so flustered; it was cute to see how nervous you made him even after watching each other grow up right across the street from one another.

You took a step forward and gave him another gentle kiss, catching him by surprise,

“Yeah, I’d love to.” You said with a smile, leaning in just a bit closer to him, whispering, “Tell your friends its rude to stare.” You gave him another gentle wave as you made your way down his driveway and back to yours.

He turned and saw Jeff and Grant standing in the doorway to the garage. Jeff smiled and approached him, wrapping his arm around his shoulder,

“Nice job man! I guess girls are into guys with scars.”

_______________________________________________

If you’d like to read more of my work, make sure to check out my masterlist 🥰

Hi, I saw that you write for avatar, does it include all the characters? Spider for example?

Yes! Every avatar character including the ones from the first movie and the second!

You’d also seen your fair share of monster porn, so you weren’t exactly unkeen on the idea of dating someone who sometimes had a monster body. It was kind of hot, actually.

JE OZODOZKFJKZ WHAT BAHAHA

Is That A Promise? (Venom One-Shot)

Eddie Brock x GN!Reader / requests are open and encouraged

Summary: Telling you about Venom does not go entirely how Eddie planned.

CW: mentions of monster fucking, Eddie is oblivious and a dumbass (I think I have a type)

Venom Tag List: (send an ask to be added to a tag list!)

___ ___ ___ ___ ___

You’d known Eddie Brock a good while by this point. You’d started dating him a while back, and while he put others on edge, you’d found the way he talked to himself out loud rather charming, actually. 

At first, you weren’t sure if he was just unmedicated, or undiagnosed. But then the news broke about the symbiote, and then there was the footage. And when Eddie started coming home right after news broke of some other attack or taking out of a bad guy or criminal or whoever, you’d put two and two together. 

It was kind of hard not to. Particularly as his conversations with himself could vary from topic to topic in the span of six words or less.

Eddie had asked to meet up for lunch today at your favourite restaurant. He’d seemed a bit off on the phone, and given how prone you were to anxiety, your immediate thought had been that he was breaking up with you and that you’d done something to upset him or his bodily guest- who you did not officially know about, of course. 

You’d gotten there early to prepare yourself for whatever shitshow was about to follow and to your immense surprise, Eddie had shown up pretty much right after you. Eddie was always running late, so this change in pace was also mildly concerning. You were not sure how this was going to go and you did not like that one bit. 

“You’re here early, too,” Eddie had said, swallowing thickly and avoiding eye contact. You nodded, and cleared your throat, gesturing for him to sit down at the table opposite you. 

“Yeah, I wanted to make sure we had a spot,” you replied, smoothing down your shirt. Bit of a nervous habit. That and ripping at your nails, but that was beside the point. 

“Right,” Eddie replied. 

And then the two of you lapsed into silence. You spent a good five to ten minutes appearing to read over the menu as if this wasn’t a regular spot for you and you didn’t know exactly what you were going to order. In fact, you’d be surprised if the cooks weren’t already making it up for you even though a waiter hadn’t come over yet. 

“Shut up,” Eddie hissed quietly. You peered over the menu to eye him curiously, one brow arced in question. 

“I didn’t say anything, Eddie.” 

“Yeah, I know. I- uh, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about, actually,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. You hummed, and put the menu down to give him your attention. 

“About me shutting up?” 

“No- God, this is not going at all like I planned.” Eddie rubbed a hand over his face and sighed. 

You said nothing, waiting patiently for him to work out his wording.

“I really like you,” he started, and you nodded, replying with the same sentiment. “And, well, there’s something I’ve been hiding from you.”

“Right…” This is where you expected him to tell you he was married (doubtful but not impossible) or had cancer or something terrible. Dear God, please no. 

“Look- you’ve seen on the news, yes, the, uh- the attacks. Yeah?” 

You nod. Ah, so he was finally telling you about his friend living literally rent-free in his body. Okay, you could relax a little. 

“He’s me. Venom, he lives in my body. He’s in my head. Like, all the time. Right now.” 

Eddie looked at the table where he was picking at the tablecloth. You were silent for a second, and Eddie clearly took that to mean you were horrified or disgusted or something. You were a little nervous about it, sure, but you’d also been living with him for the last few months. If Venom was planning to take you out, he would have done so by now, surely. You figured this to mean you were safe enough. You’d also seen your fair share of monster porn, so you weren’t exactly unkeen on the idea of dating someone who sometimes had a monster body. It was kind of hot, actually. You shook the thought out of your head and tried to focus.

“Oh, yeah- I knew about that,” you replied, and the way Eddie’s head snapped towards you was almost comical. 

“You what?”

“Yeah, I figured that out a while ago. I was just waiting for you to tell me in your own time.”

Eddie blinked, and a black residue appeared on the back of his hand. It swirled and gathered on his hand before reaching for you delicately. You met it, brushing your finger over it softly. The goop (for lack of a better word) seemed to shiver pleasurably and you smiled.

“Can I meet him later?” 

Eddie nodded, watching the interaction with disbelief. He’d thought that you’d go running and screaming through the doors or something, not be rubbing your fingers over Venom like you were fingering some Play-Doh. 

“Y-yeah, later,” he agreed. “Not here. When we get home.”

You grinned and the black substance retreated back into Eddie’s skin as a waiter appeared by your table. 

“What can I get for you? The regular?” 

You looked at Eddie and clicked your tongue thoughtfully. 

“The usual with a serving of chicken nuggets on the side, please.”

The waiter nodded, scribbled it own on his pad and wandered off in the direction of the kitchen. Eddie looked at you in question. He knew you weren’t big on nuggets. 

“They’re for Venom,” you explained, propping your head up on your palm. Eddie looked to the side as if listening to something carefully. 

“Venom says thank you-” Eddie said before cutting himself as Venom said something else in his head. “No, I’m not saying that. No. No.” 

“Say what?”

Eddie sighed defeatedly- something you think he did a lot when it came to Venom. 

“Venom said he could kiss you right now.” Eddie looked mortified as the words left his mouth. You burst into laughter. 

“Is that a threat or a promise? I hope it’s a promise,” you replied, wiggling your eyebrows at the two of them. 

Eddie swallowed thickly and blushed as Venom said something else. You’d have to see if Venom could swap hosts sometime. It would be nice to have a conversation while out and about like that. 

“Promise,” Eddie replied. 

Good.

[JDVN] Random Headcanons

-

so i'm back and i swear i'm working on all the stuff in my inbox, but i also discovered the john doe visual novel recently and like i love him so much??? i must write for him also cause there seems to be so little written for him

warnings: doe being weird but loveable as usual, scalp gnawing???

okay so obviously this little eldritch creature thing is clingy as fuck all the time, absolutely takes being your partner as a sign that he must be at your side 25 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. i think this is expected to anyone wanting to be with doe. however, allow me to take it a step further:

mad seperation anxiety, will stand whining and clawing at the door while you piss so that he can grab onto you the second he hears the lock open

i fully think doe's music taste will give a person whiplash, he has like pitbull, weezer, crazy frog, and rammstein all in the same playlist

he rarely makes any sort of meals but when he does, they are weird. it'll either be the most vile, vomit-inducing, stomach clenching, nose covering pulsating mass of unknown substances amalgamated together like some unholy sacrifice to a god that shouldn't exist, but it'll taste absolutely heavenly. or it'll be the most beautiful, delicious looking meal that would have gordon ramsay himself falling flat on his knees and hailing it, and it'll taste like literal fucking sewer excretions. how he does it?? nobody knows

will do anything to make you happy. when i say anything i mean anything. ANYTHING.

keep this guy well away from memes, tiktok, any sort of internet humor. if he learns, you will never know peace again

on top of being afraid of water, i also think doe is afraid of vacuum cleaners, spray bottles, and occasionally when you sneeze, just like a cat. when he does, his hair stands on end and he leaps away from the offending object/noise, hissing loudly. if you scare him particularly suddenly, he'll make a very instinctive scramble to the top of the fridge (likely knocking many things over in the process, he's 5ft8 after all) and it may take a small while for him to come back down

particularly loves receiving forehead and nose kisses. they make him feel very comforted and cared for by you, in a way nobody else ever made him feel

if you ever want to pavlov him into a specific behaviour (eg, cleaning up after himself when he's at your apartment), it is very much possible and he will be particularly responsive to sour gummy worms as a treat

speaking of your apartment, he takes it as an absolute milestone in your relationship if you allow him to have some of his stuff stay in your apartment permanently, eg some clothes, his favourite blanket, his 'special occasion cutlery' (its a set of hello kitty plastic childrens cutlery, the print has halfway faded and the white parts have yellowed but you've never seen anyone look so vulnerable when they offered a plastic knife and fork to you, so now it stays in your cutlery drawer and doe grins and giggles happily everytime he sees it in there)

you may catch him trying to chew on your hair sometimes, while its still attached to you. unless you don't have hair, in which case he will simply gnaw on your scalp out of the blue. its a love language

okay that's all for now, hope you enjoyed, and if you guys wanna see some nsfw headcanons of doe i can absolutely arrange that <3

We need more walkable cities. I am so tired of my transportation turning to aquatic life. It’s so inconvenient.

pls universe I am on my knees

i want someone to tell me that i make them happy and maybe even horny

Update: How To Keep Seeing My Smuts & Other Writers'

As per Tumblr's New "Community Label" Update

Hello! I've seen other writers make a post about the new update, so I wanted to make one of mine to notify my readers.

As you may know, Tumblr is pushing a Community Label update in which users are allowed to filter the content they want to see. While this is highly beneficial for those who want to avoid seeing content they aren't fond of, this can make you stop seeing the smuts a lot of writers in this community create.

If you want to keep enjoying our smuts:

For Website:

Go to Dashboard Settings, and click the Show circle in the Community Labels section on Mature content. Do the same for Sexual themes. You can choose whether to tick the options of the other choices or not.

Image taken from @writerpeach <3

For Mobile:

Go to Account Settings, then choose Content you see.

Go to the Community Labels section and click the arrow beside Hide on Mature. Then, click Show for both Mature and Sexual themes. Again, it is your choice if you want to tick the Show button for the other choices.

Thank you for reading, and reblog to spread the word!

Yes, some writers put "request open" either where in the Title (where they usually put their name) or in the description or where they have their masterlist<3

Thank you for your help lmao I'm not the brightest. It's really nice of you !

quite like this.

request: Haii uhm for the ff7 requests ! I don’t know if you have played rebirth but since there are the golden saucer dates, i was maybe thinking you could do a reader x cloud having a date? Maybe the two have feelings for each other but they are completely oblivious that the feeling is mutual, and they both think their feelings aren’t reciprocated. Maybe the others know about this and so they make it as if to leave them alone during their time there, and you know it all goes from there? Obviously if you don’t like the request that’s alright! by: anonymous.

a/n: eeeeeeee second ff7 imagine :))) i planned to write for zack next tbh but i couldn't pass up this request. it's so cute!

tw: obviously spoilers for rebirth! don't read if you haven't gotten to chapter 12 of the game

pairing: cloud strife x f!reader

It was the most colour you’d ever seen in your life.

And everyone looked so happy.

You could barely contain the excitement bursting through your chest, eyes wandering across with the brightest smile plastered across your lips. You’re blissfully unaware of the pair of eyes watching you, lost in your own thoughts as your feet shuffle beneath you, antsy.

But not sure what you’re antsy for. Or what you want to do.

“Me and Aerith are gonna go look at the chocobo racing.”

Blinking, you’re pulled from your thoughts at the sound of Tifa. When you turn to look at her, she’s already looking at you, a warm smile on her lips as she gestures behind her to Aerith. 

You glance in the direction of the Chocobo racing and think that it could be fun. You’re overwhelmed with the amount of options at the Gold Saucer and you were happy as long as you were with your friends so you step towards them, lips parting to say you’ll join the two girls but then Aerith is grabbing Tifa’s wrist and the two girls are turning around before you even have the chance.

“We’ll see you later!”

Hand held out in front of you, you frown.

“I’m off too!” Yuffie calls in the next second, already shuffling backwards as she sends you a wink and a slap on Barret’s shoulder.

“Oh, but Yuffie–”

“I’m gonna try to get some rest,” Barret calls out gruffly, nudging Cloud who is standing beside you and sends you a nod. “I’ll be at the hotel.”

You blink, lips curved downwards and move to step towards him but he’s already turned his back to you.

“Me and the laddie are gonna look at the battle arena,” Cait calls out, perched on Red’s back as he tips his head at you. You meet his eyes before drifting down to Red’s who is staring up at you in return. “Red showed some interest, you see!”

“Thought I could take some notes,” Red nods at your questioning look. “We’ll see ya.”

And with a speed only Red seems to manage, the two are off before you can offer to join them.

Once they disappear from your sight, you slump back, a huff leaving your lips as you glance around, suddenly realizing that everyone except for Cloud had left, none of them giving you a single chance to ask if you could join them. Realistically, you’d expected to join Tifa and Aerith, but you would’ve had fun with any of your friends.

Well, you guessed Cloud was still here, but you’d imagined he wouldn’t necessarily want to go sightseeing with you; even if that reality hurt your heart in a way you didn’t want to acknowledge.

Sighing, you turn to look at Cloud only to be surprised when his eyes are already on you.

“Did you have plans to?” Cloud asks, voice soft as he raises a brow in question.

Frowning, you shrug, turning away from Cloud to glance around you. “Not sure. Everyone ran off before I could ask to join them.”

“Well.”

And when Cloud doesn’t say anything else, you turn to him in curiosity, wondering if something was wrong, only to be surprised when you see he’d taken a step forward and his arm was held out towards you for you to grab. You blink, once, twice, eyes flickering from his outstretched arm back to his eyes that continue to stare at you in question, silently inviting you in a way you never would’ve expected.

“You want to?” You ask softly in return, feeling your cheeks warm as you lower your gaze, suddenly feeling a whole lot more bashful than you had seconds before. It was one thing to constantly feel Cloud’s presence beside you, a dominating aura that never left you in the way you loved.

He was always near, and it was hard to sometimes pull your gaze away. And the two of you had talked before, you felt that you actually got along well with the boy in the scheme of things given that the truth was he wasn’t all that chatty. But you’d never been alone with you. Not like this. And not in a place like this either.

A quick glance around you told you that you weren’t crazy for assuming this place felt more intimate. There were couples everywhere, holding hands, smiling at each other, kissing, in their own worlds with all the lights and chatter and the warmth of each other.

Being in a place like this, alone, with Cloud made your heart race in a way that made it hard to focus and the worst part was that he probably didn’t even realize it.

“If you want,” he answers gently, nodding, arm still held out towards you. “You looked disappointed that everyone else ran off. But… you don’t have to hang with me if you don’t–”

Feeling guilty you’d made him think you didn’t want to hang with him, and knowing that was quite literally the far opposite of the truth, you hastily shake your head, cutting off his words. You step forward, ignoring the lurch of your heart as you wrap your arm around his own, your hand falling against his bicep. You try to ignore how strong and toned his arm feels beneath your skin, and how instantly you feel a lot hotter than you had seconds ago, keeping your gaze strictly ahead of yourself.

You pray Cloud can’t feel how fast your heart is beating.

Cloud shuffles on his feet for a moment before he glances down at you; “where do you wanna go?”

-

You ended up wandering for a good while.

Nothing particularly caught either of your eyes but you didn’t mind. If you were being truthful, it was enough to just be able to spend this time with Cloud, alone.

Even if it didn’t feel the same to him, which you’re sure it didn’t. Even if this was just a courtesy he’d done for you because he’d seen how sad and pathetic you’d looked after everyone else had run off from you. It didn’t matter. Not at that moment. It was just enough for you then that you got to be with him, close to him like this.

“Do you wanna go on?”

It takes you a second to realize Cloud is speaking but you feel him shift and watch as he points before the both of you, your eyes following the point of his finger only to fall on the Skywheel. 

“Oh,” you mumble, feeling your cheeks grow warm. “Don’t we need tickets for that?”

You glance around, trying to find the ticket booth, secretly hoping there were even tickets left before Cloud speaks up again.

“No worries,” he calls and your eyes fall on him as he holds two tickets before you. At your wide expression, he lets out a tiny smile. “Tifa handed these to me before her and Aerith ran off.”

Your eyes widen and suddenly it clicks.

Clearly, Tifa and Aerith hadn’t purposely left you like you’d worried. This had all been a plan from the beginning! A plan because you’d told them of your feelings for Cloud when the two had cornered you for the truth. Tifa was hard enough to dodge on her own like you’d grown to learn over the past few years but with the added addition of Aerith, the two were like an unstoppable force and your confession had practically been pulled out of you.

Your chest tightens with worry.

Poor Cloud. Being wrapped up in those twos’ schemes… You’d hoped he maybe did want to hang with you after all, but it was probably more likely that Aerith and Tifa had forced him to take you on the date and had left him no choice when they’d run off.

Which meant the others were probably in on it too…

Oh, you were so going to kill them.

“I’m so sorry,” you find yourself saying before you can stop yourself. Your hand falls to your forehead, pulling away from Cloud’s arm and you miss the way he frowns at the loss of your touch. Brushing back your hair, you meet his eyes. “Tifa and Aerith forced you to spend time with me tonight, didn’t they? That’s why they gave you the tickets… I’m sorry, Cloud. I know you probably would’ve preferred to do your own–”

You're cut off but his hand on your arm, holding tightly enough to pull your attention on him. He’s stepped towards you, closed the distance between the both of you, close enough that his chest presses against your own. Your eyes widen when you realize how close he actually is, feeling your breath get caught in the back of your throat as you stare back at him with parted lips.

“No,” he calls out, the words rushed. “I wanted to spend time with you! I mean, yes… Tifa and Aerith gave me the tickets but they didn’t force me to. I was actually trying to find the way to ask you but I didn’t know how and they saw that so they… Well, um, helped, I guess.”

Cloud desperately avoids your gaze, cheeks warm in a way you’ve never quite seen before and he actually seems genuinely embarrassed as the both of you stand there for a moment longer. His words are still processing in your mind, lips left parted as you feel your heart start to race all over again and the warmth floods you tenfold as his words finally click.

Cloud… Cloud wanted to spend time with you.

“Oh,” you finally manage, glancing at your feet. “Well… me too. I-I mean, I, um, wanted to spend time with you too…”

Cloud’s lips part, and then the two of you are staring at each other.

“Last call for the Skywheel!”

Both of your eyes snap to the attendant standing at the ferris wheel, and with one final look at each other, you both step forward. Cloud hands the ticket to him and then a cart pulls up a second later. You step in first, sitting down and Cloud follows a moment later, and when you expect him to take the seat opposite of you, he instead chooses to sit next to you.

The door to the cart shuts and the attendant wishes you well before you feel yourself moving, slowly going higher and higher. Hands resting at your sides, you try to ignore the nerves bubbling through you, letting your eyes drift across the fireworks dancing across the sky, taking in all the colours.

Then, at first faintly, you feel Cloud’s left hand ghost across your right one. You feel yourself freeze, but you hesitate glancing at him, letting your fingers shift slightly in return, inviting him, and a second later he obliges when you feel his fingers thread through your own. You flip your palm, letting him press his own against yours and smile when you feel him squeeze.

Finally, you let your eyes fall on him and he’s already looking at you, expression soft, not guarded in the way it usually is, and you smile, just faintly, swallowing your nerves.

“Cloud,” you find yourself whispering.

He’s leaning forward, inch by inch, hand never leaving your own. “You’re… beautiful,” he whispers in return to his name and you blink, that flutter returning.

That was the last thing you expected Cloud to say. You never knew he could be so… romantic when he wanted to. But you can tell he means the words, his sincerity floods his tone and it makes your heart burst with the warmth of the feelings you’ve desperately tried to ignore.

His lips are a breath away and all it takes is one more hesitant glance at his eyes before you close the gap and press your lips against his. Cloud doesn’t hesitate to respond, the hand holding your own holding tight as his eyes flutter shut and his free hand falls to your waist, pulling you closer.

You lean into his touch with ease, feeling his warmth envelope you in a way it never quite has before.

And then, as he leans back, and you both pull away, his forehead rests against your own, and you breathe in his scent and his presence, relishing in the way it feels to have him so close.

“I like you,” you whisper in the silence, eyes still shut. “I… really like you.”

Clouds hand twitches against your side and he nudges you with his nose. “Me too,” he mumbles, “if that wasn’t obvious.”

You let out a laugh, letting your eyes flicker open as you pull back, hands still intertwined and shoulders still touching but enough that you can see his face properly. He’s smiling, just faintly, in a very Cloud way but it still touches your heart to see you’d been able to make him smile, and the lights of the fireworks dance across his pale skin and butterflies flutter through your stomach.

It’s exactly and nothing like how you’d dreamed this moment would be.

And you love every second of it because no one has ever quite looked at you the way he does in that moment.