#can't wait for people to start jumping in and out of cupboards again

[j-august]

[MR FAG] Why then, the cause of all this is L-O-V-E -- love, Thomas, who, as you may get read to you, has been a masquerader ever since the days of Jupiter.

Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The Rivals

[miss-soph-star]

Alex Cabot x Reader x Casey Novak (School)

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ☾

Alex Cabot and Casey Novak adopted reader when they were younger. Reader is gay and has not come out yet, she is getting bullied at school. TW: SH, Flashback, SA, homophobia, Panic Attack

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ☾

When I was younger Alex and Casey adopted me. I came from an abusive household so I was constantly scared they would hurt me too. I used to flinch every time they came near me, dropping to the floor covering my head waiting for the punches and kicks but they never came. Alex and Casey worked with the special victim’s unit, so they knew how to approach these situations. They both really helped me to trust again, and I was forever grateful for them saving me.

Deep down I knew I was gay, but I could never put it into words, even knowing that my mom’s would support me was not enough, I still kept it too myself. I've been bullied throughout school, and it just keeps getting worse. They boys in my class started calling me a dyke and saying they could turn me straight.

One day I was walking into class and they boys were shouting at me. One of them touched me as I walked past them and said, "I bet you liked that princess." I was never one to react, but I had had enough. I turned around and slapped him. We began cussing each other out until the teacher came in and had us both removed. The principle called my mom’s in for a meeting to discuss why I was being sent home but he never told them why the argument happened in the first place.

Alex was furious with me. As we walked to the car she began shouting at me.

Alex: "Young lady what do you think you’re playing at! You cannot go around cussing people out in the middle of a classroom or ever. I am ashamed of you for this!"

Casey: "We did not raise you like this y/n! You are grounded until further notice and don't you dare talk back."

We got in the car and Alex slammed her door beginning to drive home in silence. We got into the house, and I sat down on the couch. I was too scared to even talk. Shouting always triggered me and today was no exception. I was shaking and on the verge of tears. I felt so violated by that boy and now they both hate me because I can't tell them the truth.

I eventually got up walking towards the kitchen I tried to get some food out of the cupboard, but a box fell on the floor causing Alex to jump up from the table and rush towards me shouting. I panicked thinking she was going to hit me. I fell to the floor as a flashback began. I began grasping my hair pulling at it and scratching at my skin furiously. Of course, Alex never met to frighten me, but she did. She would never hit me but today had been so triggering that I really had lost it. Everything around me was so loud.

Alex: "Casey! Casey please come quick!" Alex screamed trying to restrain me. I was too strong at this point, and she could not stop me. My skin grew redder and redder as I scratched at it, curling into a ball trying to stop it all. Casey came running in and helped Alex we restrain me finally. She held me laying me on my front on the floor. Alex held my head not allowing me to bang it off the concrete and Casey stopped me from scratching at my skin as she helped my arms behind my back, whispering soothing words in my ear as I was screaming and crying. Eventually, I was pulled from my attack. Casey and Alex sat me up slowly looking at my red, puffy, tearstained face, red raw arms which were covered in blood and my messy hair. I tried to fight them off, but they would not let go of me. I began to calm down as Casey spoke to me.

Casey POV

Seeing y/n in a state like this didn't happen very often. In fact the last time I recall seeing her like this was when she was little. I wanted to take away all her pain but that simply wasn't possible.

Casey: "Hey honey I'm sorry you had to go through that, you know Alex would never hurt you right?"

Y/n: "Yes mom I know I just got scared. Too much shouting."

Alex: "I'm sorry sweetheart I really am."

Casey: "Now tell me y/n what's going on in that pretty little head of yours? I know there's more to today than you’re telling us."

Y/n hung her head in shame.

Alex: "Darling we promise we won't be mad we just want to know why it happened."

Then she spat it out and broke down.

Y/n: H-H-He hurt me mom."

Casey: "Baby girl I know this is difficult, but I need to know what he did."

Y/n: "He touched me and s-said that he bet I like it. They are always saying that I'm a dyke and that they could turn me, but they can’t momma they can’t. Am I really sick like they keep telling me? Am I wrong?"

I couldn't believe what y/n was telling me. He hurt our baby. I could kill him right now.

Casey: "Sweet girl, what he did too you was very wrong, and it was not your fault. Now are you telling me that you like girls?"

Y/n: "Y-yes." She said looking down.

Alex: "Hey baby that's okay we support you. You are not sick or wrong, you are human, and you love who you love, and nobody can change that."

Casey: "We love you dearest, now let’s get you cleaned up."

I had seen victims like this, having flashbacks or hurting themselves but I could never be prepared for seeing my own child like this. So vulnerable, so hurt and so confused. I grabbed the first aid kit as y/n sat clung to Alex in her embrace, sobbing her heart out.

Casey: "baby let’s get this all cleaned up okay. Now it might sting a little but then we can make it all better."

I began applying the hydrogen peroxide to her scratches, dabbing it on with a cotton pad. Y/n hissed and sobbed until it was all done. I bandaged both of her arms covering them over so y/n could not itch them as it would make them worse. Then both me and Alex sat with her still on the kitchen floor and talked about her options.

Casey: "Darling we need to work with you to help you use better coping skills. We do not want you hurting yourself or pulling your hair. I know that you sometimes don't realise you’re doing it, especially when you’re having a flashback, but we need to realise when these things happen okay. How does that sound?"

Y/n: "G-good."

Casey: "Now next time should we try rubbing an ice cube on your arms to help ground you?"

Y/n: "Yeah that sounds good I guess."

Casey: "Okay baby well then why don't you go put on your pyjamas and come and cuddle with us on the couch downstairs before you sleep. How does that sound?"

Y/n: "Sounds great mom."

Y/n went upstairs to get changed and then remerged with her blanket and pyjamas on. We all sat on the couch y/n in between me and Alex, at one point I caught her trying to itch her arms through the bandage, so I held her hand in mine and gave her a look telling her to stop. I hated to see her in pain like this. I was so used to dealing with it at work but when it was my own child it was very different.

Casey: "I love you y/n. I love you Alex."

Alex: "and we love you too Casey."

y/n smiled and then drifted off to sleep.

[sophieswundergarten]

Thinking Number Two Thoughts again...

Thinking about her being a kid who can see so much, but can't articulate it. Not that she's not smart, but it takes so much for her to get it out in words that "make sense" and are "acceptable" to other people.

People say she's cryptic and acerbic and mouthy when they don't care to get to know her, and privately she thinks none of these words are quite right, but she's long since given up hope of someone listening to her.

She has so much energy and so many thoughts and no one ever allows her to use them, so it's no wonder she expresses it in other ways. She's vivacious and excited and always racing around and flapping her hands and so full of ideas.

And the adults around her can't stand it

She's jittery and irritating and she can never sit still and she's always hungry for some unknown reason

So she learns to keep still. She learns to sit on her hands and hold her ideas in. She learns to be as negligible as possible and press her lips tight and listen when the grown ups tell her to be seen and not heard.

But she still has some defiance, a small petty victory.

If she won't be heard then she will be seen

Her favourite colour has always been yellow, and she works hard to find and incorporate every scrap of it she can. She learns to sew and to dye and to make the cheap, threadbare, standardized clothes she is issued her own. She is in the back of every classroom, absorbing everything and learning as much as she can. She is outside every meeting room and in every hallway that adults don't want her to be, listening in and forming opinions that she knows no one but herself will care about.

She was small, and that worked to her advantage. She could slip in doorways and hide herself away in cupboards and alcoves. When she started growing, she was presented with a bigger issue.

The first time she fainted she had been sitting on a low wall outside, swinging her legs and watching the leaves blow in the trees. She heard the call to come back inside and jumped up, only to find herself on the ground with an irate matron looking down at her.

Things only got worse from there, and the grown ups at each and every facility she got passed to had the same expression upon seeing her records. The other children whispered behind her back, either questioning why she received extra portions or mocking her for her seemingly constant dizzy spells.

She kept her head down and kept her mouth shut and her wardrobe grew ever more yellow. She could hardly sleep anymore, and when books were available she would sneak away and read all night. (Once she got old enough for the local store owners to accept her lies, she would work any time she could sneak away, saving up her own money to buy a slim volume or two that she treasured above all else)

Sure, it sometimes made her vision a little blurry, but at this point she was pretty sure that had more to do with the fact that the orphanage kitchens never seemed to have enough food lately.

She managed to contain all of her words and ideas and jitters and "oddities" to the nighttime. There, she was free. There, she could squeak and pace and flap her hands and recite snatches of things out loud and no one asked her to explain herself.

She was never sure how other people seemed to manage it. She was always exhausted from trying to obey all the ridiculous unspoken rules that were enforced during the day. But no matter how tired she was when lights out was announced, sleep would still somehow elude her. Better to be productive and capitalize on her precious few hours where she was free from observation than to lay as still as if she were being interrogated by yet another orphanage director and wait in agony.

One late evening, when she was on her way back from sweeping out the barber shop down the street (It had taken hours, but it was more than worth it when she counted the bills and saw she had the money to buy a new book and enough left over for an apple), she saw a flyer taped to a storefront window.

The title caught her eye, in bold yellow print: “ARE YOU A GIFTED CHILD LOOKING FOR SPECIAL OPPORTUNITIES?”

She noted that the flyer seemed to be addressing her, instead of whatever hypothetical adult may have been responsible for her. She appreciated being acknowledged, even if it was just by a piece of paper.

Walking over, she pulled the flyer down, studying it. The location it mentioned wasn't far away, and the date listed was tomorrow. She folded it and slipped it securely into her pocket.

Even if the strange test didn't turn out to be worth her while, she could probably stand to skip an afternoon of odd jobs. And it's not like the orphanage would miss her anyway

[little-writing-drabbles]

𓆩Tickets𓆪

Ask: N/A

Type: × reader

Word Count: 2,571

Reader: GN

TW: reader is in an established relationship, insinuated nsfw through a story, knife mentioned even if it's fake, chasing people with knife, insinuated cutting people with same knife, reader is into the knife stuff, did two sweeps of spell check but that doesn't mean it's proofread, lmk if I missed anything

A/N: HEY WHAT'S UP. GUESS WHO'S NOT DEAD? ME. I'm hoping I'll get off my ass and actually write stuff to post here. I'm working on stuff I swear I'm just always stuck thinking about writing, thinking about oc/making new ones, and when I DO write I get a great idea for something else. It's rough.

"Otto come watch movies with me!" You rushed out of your shared bedroom with your boyfriend. Zooming past the man who was typing away at his computer with a textbook open on one side, and a notebook on the other as you went straight into the kitchen. He didn't respond for a small while as you searched the cupboards for the microwavable popcorn you kept stashed up. "Otto?" you stopped your search temporarily to look over to the man who stopped his typing once he felt your eyes on him.

His shoulders visibly tensed, "Uhm, can't. I have my paper to write, remember?" You rolled your eyes a little and went back to your search. He relaxed once you looked away and he sighed a little, "Besides you only wanna watch horror movies." He resumed his typing.

"Well duh!" You suddenly appeared in front of him and slammed your hands on the small round table he was working at. The loud slam and shaking of the table made Otto jump back in his chair. He looked up at you with a slightly frightened face, "It's October, which means I can EXCLUSIVELY watch horror movies." Otto's fright slipped away and his eyebrows furrowed together as he stared at you.

"You do that anyways- '' You stood up straight and stuck a hand out to hush him.

"Hush Otto!" You spoke dramatically and playfully as you made your way back to the small kitchen and Otto watched you and we went. His eyes followed you as he rested his head on the back of his hand.

"When does Jace come back?" Otto didn't really care about that, but he wanted to keep talking to you, using anything to keep hearing your voice. You looked up towards the clock hanging on the wall and stared at its hands for a second.

"He should be out now, if not soon." You kept staring at the clock, your train of thought slowly derailing from your popcorn. "Oh! Speaking of Jace actually," you reached into your pocket and pulled out your phone, looking for his name in your contacts. "I should call him, maybe he knows where the popcorn is." Otto looked back to his computer.

"Didn't you eat it all?"

"Hush Otto." You said once again and he rolled his eyes. You held your phone up to your ear and listened to it ring as you leaned against the counter. After a few rings he picked up.

"Hey baby what's up?" Jace spoke after a second, you could faintly hear a car door opening through the sound of wind the phone was picking up.

You got straight to the point, "Hey Jace do you know where the popcorn is?" You stare down at your mismatched socks while you listen to Jace get into his car and close the door. The harsh sounds of wind died down immediately.

"You ate it all babe that was the last box. I just got in my car, but do you want me to stop by the store and get more?"

"Please! oh and bring some soda too." With a bounce in each quick step, you went over to Otto and leaned against the wall next to him, watching him work. Otto stopped for a second, taking a fake look at his notebook while he adjusted to your stare.

"Alright, is Otto there?" You could hear Jace start the car.

"Yea he finally got here." You pat his shoulder a little before leaning against him. "He said he missed his bus so he had to wait for the next one." You leaned even more into him and used your free hand to boop his freckled nose. Otto felt his face flush and he stiffen his shoulders so you both wouldn't lean too far and fall over.

Otto mumbled to himself, "you don't need to tell him I missed the bus."

"Does he want anything?" You brought your attention back to your boyfriend who was sitting silently on the other side of the phone.

You nudged Otto slightly, just enough to get his attention and he hummed a response. "Want anything from the store?"

"No thanks." A short answer.

"He doesn't want anything."

"Ok, I'll stop by the store then." You picked up a faint seat belt click.

"K, love you."

"Love you too." You hung up and looked down at your phone with a small smile. Moving away from Otto, you laid down on the couch, hanging your legs over the armrest and mindlessly scrolling through your phone. Otto rubbed his face with his hands as he leaned back in his chair for a second before looking back to his half done paper, eyes lazily going over all the words.

The silence in the room didn’t feel right for Otto. You and him both had been friends for a long time and quiet moments like this were usually his favorite. Moments where you just had each other's company and that was all you needed, but now it felt tainted as you patiently waited for Jace to come home. Jace was a kind person, Otto was there when you both started talking, he was there with you after your dates with Jace so you could tell him all about him, and he was there when you told him you and Jace had made it official. Otto remembers that day and that small splinter of pain he felt in his chest when you told him. He would never say anything to you, or mention the feeling he has. He knew deep down that you and Jace were perfect from one another and your happiness was all he really cared about. Otto knew his place and he would stay in it as long as he could stick around.

While Otto was lost in thought, Jace had come home. Opening the door with grocery bags hanging from his arm as you quickly walked up to him and giving him a kiss on the cheek. “How was work?” You asked cheerfully as you brought the grocery bag into the small kitchen and Jace shrugged as he took his shoes off.

“Fine, nothing really happened.” You nodded while you searched the bags for your popcorn. “That was work wise, I saw some pretty interesting things happening with the regulars.” Jace looked at you and turned your head to him, interested in the lives of other people like a soap opera.

“What happened?” You held your popcorn to your chest as you urged him to continue and he laughed before turning to Otto and giving him a small wave.

“Hey Otto.” He said and waited for a response. Nothing, Otto sat on the chair, staring unblinking at his computer and rubbing his shoulder. “Otto?” Jace called to him again and walked closer to the table, staring at his glazed over eyes before looking up at you. “He ok?” You shrugged.

“He was writing his paper this entire time.” You began putting the groceries in their rightful places while you prepared your popcorn in the microwave. Jace looked towards Otto again and walked behind him to read his paper, leaning over his shoulder as he did so, skimming over the words. Jace stood upright again and looked down at Otto and slowly raised a hand to reach over to the shoulder he was rubbing and hovered over it, mirroring it with his other hand.

“AAHH!” Making a loud noise as he clamped his hands down on Otto’s shoulders with a small shake instantly broughting him back to reality as he jumped in his chair and looked around wildly. Jace let go of his shoulders and laughed to himself at Otto’s reaction. Unamused, Otto huffed and rested his head down on the textbook as he watched Jace laugh. “Don’t give me that face, I'm sorry but you scare so easily.” Otto stayed silent as you walked out of the kitchen with a bowl of freshly popped microwavable popcorn and stood in between both of them.

“You shouldn’t scare him if he doesn’t like it.” You looked towards Otto who sat up again, “I have to agree though it was kinda funny and you do scare easily.” You gave a genuine smile and Otto rolled his eyes before going back to writing his paper.

“Come on! Otto knows I’m just playing with him a little, no hard feelings, right Ottie?” Jace looked around you and gave Otto a bright smile. Otto shot him a glance.

“Please don’t call me Ottie.”

“Can I call you Ottie?” He glanced up at you.

“I rather you didn’t.” You shrugged and sat down on the couch. “Jace, weren't you gonna tell Y/N about what happened with the regulars at work?” Jace smiled as he looked at Otto.

“I am, why? Interested in listening in?” Otto shrugged as he looked at Jace.

“Just making sure you don't forget.” You put your bowl down on the coffee table and turned around, leaning on the back pillows, facing them both.

“Otto your just as nosey as me, own it.” Otto looked at you before looking back up to Jace.

“Ok, so I am interested, what of it?” Otto spoke softly, rubbing the back of his head as he looked away from Jace. He laughed as walked up to Otto and gently patted his shoulder.

“There's nothing wrong with that.” Jace moved away from Otto and towards the small hallway, “Although, storytime will have to wait, I’m gonna shower really quick.” Jace walked into the bedroom to collect his things and you stared at Otto.

“Come work on your paper on the couch, the table has to be uncomfortable now.” You pat the couch and Otto stretches his back and arms before standing up. He closed his books and yawned before grabbing his computer and walked over to sit on the couch with you. “Let’s watch a movie, which one do you wanna watch?” You looked over to him as the tv turned on and Otto rubbed an arm.

“Hocus Pocus.” You frowned.

“No, not that one, pick something else.” You whined a little and Otto laughed. “Oh right I forgot you don’t even watch horror movies.” Otto placed a hand on his chest followed by a false gasp.

“I’ll have you know I do watch halloween movies.”

“Horror and halloween aren’t the same thing.” You looked towards the small hallway where Jace stood still making sure he had everything. “Oh Jace!” You grabbed his attention and he turned to you, “pick a movie.” Jace gave it some thought.

“It waits.” He said quickly before slipping into the bathroom to take his shower. Otto yawned again as he watched you look for the movie.

“I heard Frightful Nights is opening up soon.” You looked at Otto excitedly and nodded.

“Yes! Jace told me the other day.”

“Is he gonna be in it this year?”

“I think so yeah, why wanna go see him in action?” Otto felt a run up his spine.

“No, I'm ok.” You sighed as you turned to the tv again.

“You should come with me, getting out of your comfort zone would do you some good.” Otto rubbed his neck and shrugged, “have you given it any thought since last year?” You turned to look at him again and made eye contact. “Have you?”

“A little bit, I don’t know.” You opened your mouth to speak but the sound of the bathroom door opened again revealing Jace who was fully clothed and had a towel on his wet hair.

“That was a fast shower.” Your comment bounced off of Jace as he sat down on the couch and you immediately snuggled up to him. “So what happened at work?” Jace laughed and rubbed the towel into his hair to collect more of the water.

“So there's this couple right? They go to the gym all the time, they’re always together but, apparently,” Jace lowered his voice as he leaned forwards, as if there were more people in the apartment than just you three. “She’s been cheating on him with another regular and I only found out because they were doing unsavory things in the locker room.” You and Otto stared at Jace with mouths hung open.

“No way.” Otto leaned his head back and Jace nodded quickly.

“Fucking yeah way, they were in the ladies locker room, my coworker was called in to take care of it.” You laughed and fell back against Otto who covered his face with his hands. “Oh oh! It gets even crazier, they were kicked out and the boyfriend was waiting right there so when they walked out in towels and shit and the boyfriend got pissed and started throwing hands.” You laughed wildly as you covered your mouth and Otto looked on in disbelief.

“What did you do?” Otto rested his hands on his neck and Jace rubbed his temples, laughing to himself a little.

“I had to pry them apart, some guy who was working out nearby even got up and helped eventually.” Jace shook his head and looked to the ceiling and rubbed his face, “So I heard you guys talking about Frightful Nights?” Jace looked at you and you nodded, still leaning against Otto.

“Oh yeah! Are you gonna be in it this year?” Jace nodded. “What are you gonna be?”

“I don’t know what exactly it is yet but I think I’m getting a knife with my costume.” Jace shrugged as he scratched his neck, thinking about what role he would play this year.

“What so your gonna like, chase people and hold the knife up to cut them and stuff?” Jace looked at you and hummed a little as he thought.

“Yeah probably.”

“Mmm hot.”

“Ew! Y/N! Gross! I’m right here!” You laughed as you sat up, getting yourself comfortable on the couch before looking over to your boyfriend.

“Can you get me tickets again this year?”

“Of course I can baby, when have I not?” Jace smiled at you as he reached over and held one of your hands, “how many? Just one?” He tilted his head to the side.

“Two this time actually.” Otto looked at you confused.

“Two? Why two?” You turned around and returned the confused look.

“The other tickets for you.” Both Jace and Otto gave you a shocked look, “you’re coming with me aren’t you?” You looked at him confused.

“I, well uhm, I never, I don’t remember saying that.” Otto looked down at the computer in his lap and nervously began typing away again. You dropped your shoulders as you nudged Otto to look at you again, putting your hands together in front of your chest.

“Come on, come with me this year, please?” Otto looked over to you and looked into your eyes, staring for a second before looking past you at Jace to get his opinion. He shrugged a little.

“I’m just getting you guys the tickets, it’s your call.” Otto sighed as he looked down at his paper for a second before looking back at you.

“Fine.” Your face lit up, “just this year.” You threw your arms around Otto and pulled him into a tight hug before letting him go.

“You’re gonna have so much fun I swear.” Otto smiled nervously and nodded as you turned your attention back to the tv, feeling giddy with excitement for your favorite time of year.

[madaboutmunson]

Hot For Teacher

Fic by me for the @st-rarepair-minibang event Art by the wonderful @busyheadkeepbreathing (Mischievous_Oddity on AO3 - Their fic is posting tomorrow and it is so awesome so keep an eye out for it plus all the other amazing fics they have posted already!) - Thank you so much for these incredible moodboards!

Summary : It's not every day that Eddie wakes up to find that his uncle has managed to seduce someone, and it's definitely not every day that he happens to recognise that same someone. So when he happens to screw up and upset both his uncle and his date there's only one way he can fix it Pairing: Wayne Munson/Principal Higgins Rating: Teen and Up Word Count: 7.7K AO3 Link

Another day, another dollar, Eddie thinks to himself as he idly scratches his stomach whilst taking the time for a stretch and overly dramatic yawn.

He rolls and forces himself to a slumped sit as the morning light battles through his blinds. He rubs his eyes again, reaches for his watch and grunts when he realises he can't just roll back into bed.

You know, graduating was a whole lot shittier than people made it out to be because now, with no college waiting for him at the end of summer, he’s been unceremoniously booted into the world of work. Well. Looking for work. Unfortunately, rockstar was not a job you could just apply for, so Eddie had taken to photocopying his resume of transferable skills and was handing them out everywhere! Handling money, self-motivation, communication skills, attentive to detail, customer service experience, creative, team player. All that jazz. Technically, he has been doing it as part of a band and his little side business at school with the help of Reefer Rick.

’You gotta get your foot in the door, Ed.’ That’s what Wayne had advised when he’d proposed on going on an open mic night road trip around the states, ‘All those other kids’ll be off on vacation, you get first pick for a change. Better chance of finding something you might like when it’s less competitive,’ and as much as he hated everything about it, he knew Wayne was right. But also has to be the sweetest lil’ puppy-eyed nephew he can be because he needs Wayne to take him to jump-start his van, which he had to leave at Gareth’s because the old girl had given up the ghost.

He gets to his feet, puts on his Garfield slippers to match his boxers from the same gift set and pads out quietly to the kitchen. 

He rubs his eyes and yawns a little more, making his way to empty and refill the coffee machine.

Gazing bleary-eyed into the living room, he can just about make a form on the fold-out bed. He grabs his mug, and then as the form fidgets on the bed, he sleepily smiles and reaches for another cup.

He’s putting the third sugar in his Garfield mug when something occurs to him. He frowns at the wall and pushes out his bottom lip. Something wasn't right. 

Narrowing his eyes, he takes a step backwards and looks into the living room again, and his eyebrows nearly shoot off his face entirely, covering his mouth not to let out a laugh and to hide the mischievous look on his face.

Well, well, well, Ol’ Uncle Wayne seemed to have got lucky last night, the fucking hound dog! The form on the fold-out bed wasn’t his uncle because he was on the sofa. Eddie can see his shiny balding patch from here. He secretly hopes he takes after his mother’s side, who all had full heads of hair until well into their seventies. He steps forward and tries to take a closer look at the form under all of the goddamn blankets. Shit, his Uncle is taking chivalry to a whole new level, probably freezing his balls off for this chick.

Eddie grimaces, hoping they hadn't been bumping uglies, and he was breathing in their stale sex air, fucking gross! No, they’d be all snuggled up together, and his Uncle is a gent, not a one-night-stand guy. No way.

He smiles and begins plotting all the ways he will mercilessly tease Wayne about this for the rest of the month at least. He reaches up to the cupboard to get another mug, pours half a cup, no sugar or milk, and finishes the one for himself and Wayne.

He hears the creak of the couch springs first, then a gruff but hushed, “Mornin’ Ed. You’re up early, ain't ya?”

“Well, you know the early bird gets the worm and all that shit,” Eddie whispers with a theatrical splaying of his hands, “Talkin’ of dirty old grubs, who’s your friend here? Didn’t you make me promise to tell ya if I had someone stay over? Do these rules not apply to you?” Eddie blinks like one of his condescending teachers at school, and his uncle rolls his eyes with a wry smile.

“Shut up and gimme my coffee, you little punk,” Wayne teases.

“Why don’t you wake up your friend here, so I can take her fucking order, too, huh?” Eddie pretends to be put out and curtsies, but he can’t hide his smile. This moment was going to fund the bank of ribbing his Uncle for weeks.

“I don't think that's a good idea. Best let ‘em sleep. He had a rough night.”

Inches away from picking up Wayne’s cup, Eddie’s human engine completely cuts out. First of all, what was he hiding? Second, he sounded nervous. Wayne only ever sounds nervous when the church women come around and start fussing about the place. And last, he’s still sleepy but heard what he heard.

“He?” Eddie questions quietly with raised eyebrows.

“Yeah, he. That a problem?” Wayne says with all the defiance of a teenage girl being asked about her greaser boyfriend in the fifties. If he had the capacity for a ponytail, he’d be swishing with attitude at Eddie right now.

Well fuck! Is his Uncle gay? Not an issue if he is. Eddie’s very open-minded when it comes to all that sort of thing. In all fairness, he’d never known his uncle to be involved with anyone. At one point, he thought maybe he’d had his dick blown off in ‘Nam or something, and that's why he wasn’t interested in that kind of thing. My god! That raises new questions. What kind of guy had changed his Uncle’s mind? A hundred bucks says this guy thinks John Wayne is the greatest or is at least from the South because those were the two things that you could talk about five miles away from his Uncle, and he’d magically turn up with a big smile on his face like, “Talkin’ ‘bout Cowboys are ya?” Eddie facepalms. What an idiot. Now, it makes sense. No wife and no kids (apart from the blessing that was his good self). He always said he had better things to do but was obsessed with Westerns and Cowboys. Clearly, it's not just for the predictable plots.

Taking a sip of his coffee and setting it down on the countertop, he leans over and observes the shuffling form. Now he knows it's not a broad. He doesn't have to avert his eyes.

“Don't gawk, Eddie, Jesus!” Wayne mouths quietly, making Eddie poke out his tongue, fold his arms and turn away.

His mind is running a million miles a second. Who was this guy? Why was he so special? It can’t just be Westerns. Was it tough for older gay people to meet? He knew it fucking sucked in high school, not that he was gay, of course, just, you know, it must be tough. He liked girls, definitely. Just could appreciate a handsome dude, that's all. Sure yeah. 

He can hear them quietly muttering to one another, and the fold-out bed creaks from movement. He’s stood up. Eddie knows all the noises of that goddamn thing. He had to learn them from sneaking back in late at night.

You know what? He’s got things to do and places to be. He’s gonna break the ice. “I made you a coffee too. I didn’t know how you took it, so it's just straight out the pot.” Eddie says kindly, utilising a bit of the voice he’s been practising for if he ever lands an interview.

“Well, that's very kind of you, Edward. Thank you. That's how I take it anyway,” A not southern voice replies, but there is something familiar about it. Maybe it just sounded local.

“Best call him Eddie. He’ll start actin’ up otherwise. Well, more than usual,” Eddie can hear the smile in his uncle’s voice, and then the pair of them chuckle together. Eddie wrinkles his nose. That laugh was familiar, too. He gets an odd sensation and a twitch in his middle finger.

“Sorry, of course. Eddie is quite right, of course. Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise,” the voice says as the focus of the entire universe warps, pulls and at lightning speed zooms in on him as his brain places the voice.

No. No way. Absolutely not. That would be crazy. It could not be that asshole. It doesn't even make sense why he would be here. Eddie takes a deep breath and decides to stop being insane. His brain is just used to hearing the voice of that dickhead every goddamn day. Lovely day for it, isn’t it, Edward? I can’t wait to see the latest production. I hear you’ve been the driving force behind it. So I know it's going to be an absolute stormer! Nah, Eddie is unlucky, but he’s not that unlucky. Imagine finally leaving school and that happening. He laughs.

“Like that little quote, did you, Edward? It's one of my favourites,” the voice adds, “Sorry, I mean Eddie. I’ll get it eventually, just habit,” Eddie's stomach drops out of his ass, through the floor, plummets right through the centre of the earth, out the other side and gets swept up in the planet's orbit, amongst all the additional space junk.

He turns back towards the living room, and it must be the day that all the gods of every faith have decided to test him because there stands Principal Higgins.

Most of his body goes slack for a second, and his knees feel almost like they might buckle from shock. What the fuck? But soon, a furious tension arrives, and like the bubbling kettle that he is, he blows its top with his own version of a whistle.

“WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING?!” Eddie screeches, “Why are YOU in my home?” his eyes are so wide you can see the whites all the way around his irises, “Where are the rest of your clothes?!” He looks between them but gets no further answers, just another helping of trauma.

“Now, Eddie. Son. I’m gonna need ya to calm down, ‘kay? It's not whatcha think,” Wayne slowly gets up off the couch, his arm outstretched towards him like he’s trying not to startle an already rabid dog, and currently, the way Eddie is almost foaming at the mouth, he’s not entirely wrong in his approach.

“Is that- IS THAT MY NEW METALLICA T-SHIRT? OhmygodOhmygodOhmygodOhmygod  OH! MY! GOD!” Eddie raises his hands and grips onto his hair while pacing in the world's smallest circle, hoping this is all a fucking nightmare because it feels like one. It has to be one. The worst one. He can feel his heart racing. Is this how he’s going to die? No, not like this. Please, gods, not like this. He slaps himself hard in the face.

“EDWARD! What in the blue hell?” Wayne yells.

“Oh, you! You don't get to tell me anything!” Eddie gestures vaguely between them, “Whatever arrangement you have!” Eddie's insides recoil at a thought, “This isn’t so I could graduate, is it? You didn’t sell yourself to this tyrant for a scroll, did ya, Uncle Wayne? SAY IT AINT SO!” Eddie rubs his hands down his face, and he can feel the thin layer of sweat forming from pure panic.

“You know, I think Edward is very distressed right now, and I should probably go.” Principal Higgins says as he goes to remove the t-shirt, and Eddie almost full-on convulses with repulsion.

“Jesus H Christ! Keep it on! Keep it. Burn it. Whatever. I do not want that back!” Eddie puts his hand out in a stop motion and turns away from the potential hellscape about to be uncovered.

“Ok, that's enough. George here was just-” Wayne tries to douse the fuse to the time bomb that is Eddie but instead fans the flame, and it starts moving exponentially quicker.

“GE-OR-GE?! GEORGE, IS IT NOW?” Eddie's eyebrows are raised so high they might be two surprises away from leaving his face altogether. Wayne folds his arms and purses his lips like he’s waiting for Eddie to finish.

“Thanks for the ride and for letting me stay, Wayne.” Principal Higgins says, gathering his clothes from a drying rack.

Eddie points at him accusingly with one hand clutching his fluffy robe around himself with the other, stepping towards him with a renewed sense of purpose. “No! No! Uh-Uh. He’s not Wayne to you. He’s Mr. Munson. Not Wayne” 

Principal Higgins puts his hands up in front of him, “Alright, Eddie, alright. Mr Munson it is.” Eddie shocked face moves between the two of them like he's watching a tennis match, “Just calm down, ok?” and that makes Wayne close his eyes slowly and shake his head because telling Eddie to calm down only means one thing.

Eddie erupts.

“CALM DOWN?! CALM THE FUCK DOWN?!”

“Language, Eddie,” Wayne mutters lacklustre because he knows it's useless.

“Oh, sorry if my language offended you, sir. Maybe if you get off your moral high horse when you've spent the night with MY PRINCIPAL.”

“Ex-Prinicpal, Eddie. You graduated, remember?” He offers him a small smile, sending Eddie into toddler mode. He’s holding his breath, wrinkles up his nose and clenches his fists until he’s red in the face because he's so mad he can’t get the words out to express it.

So he does something else.

He stretches his hands directly out in front of him, pointing them at Higgins, Wiggling his fingers slowly muttering under his breath.

“Erm, Way-Mr Munson, what is he doing?” Higgins says, a little nervous.

“I’m cursing you, Higgins,” Eddie says in his best demonic Freddie Kruger impersonation, and that puts the fear in him.

“Ignore him. He’s just being dramatic.” Wayne tuts and shakes his head. Eddie raises his chin and widens his eyes, looking down his nose at Higgins and pushes his hands towards him quickly, making Higgins jump back with a yip.

“Are you sure he’s not cursing me?” Higgins says, a little afraid, starting to gather his things much faster.

“You crossed the threshold to my lair, and now you must pay the price, Higgins, with your soul.” The Principal backs away, frantically trying to put his knitted vest over Eddie’s Metallica shirt, and Wayne simply rolls his eyes, sits down and lights up a smoke.

Eddie widens his eyes a few times, muttering some pig Latin, which makes Higgins's face contort in confusion as he backs towards the door. “Thanks again, W-” Higgins starts to say but is cut off but Eddie rolling his eyes back into his head and chanting louder, “I-I-I mean Mr Munson. Thank you. I’ll pay you back for the t-shirt Eddie.” he whimpers quickly, as he reaches behind himself for the handle of the door to reverse out of the trailer half dressed. Not Eddie’s concern as long as he was out of here. That was the main thing.

Eddie sports a broad closed, mouth smile as he turns back to his uncle, making a show of dusting his hands, “No need to thank me for taking out the trash for you, Oldtimer. This time, the pleasure was all mine” he chuckles and heads back to get their coffees. 

Strangely there is no echo to his chuckle nor any nod or smile of thanks when he delivers the hot drink—more of a snatch of the mug and avoiding looking at Eddie altogether. 

He scrunches his face and walks over to sit at the two-seater table. He knows this feeling. He doesn't like it. He slides into his seat, brushes down his robe, and eyes Wayne weirdly, “Want a fresh cup?” Eddie tries to break the tension. He can’t seriously be mad about Higgins, the Mega-bastard.

“No, Edward. I do not want a fresh cup.” 

Oh shit. A sentence of whole words, no contractions, hardly any drawl, and Edward. He knows what this might be, and it's way worse than Wayne being mad at him.

“You know, I thought I might try some of the stores near the arcade today, then maybe a few construction companies or the library…” he lets his voice trail off. Obverses his uncle pointedly, flicking over pages in the car magazine that he is obviously not reading. He doesn't even have his glasses on, “maybe join the circus or start my own cult?”

“That sounds nice for you, Edward. You do that.”

In another dimension where Eddie doesn't have to go job hunting imminently, he’s banging his head against the desk.

“Well, the thing about that is there is a small issue with, uh, the whole doing of things today, and I was hoping-” Eddie gets cut off mid most charming smile and fluttering of eyelashes.

“And you were hoping I’d take ya to pick up the van from Gareth’s because she’s not speakin’ to you either. Can’t say I blame the ol’ girl. You never look after her how you’re ‘sposed to” Ok, well, at least he’s talking like himself again. That's progress, at least. “Always drivin’ the poor thing like she’s a drag racer, never check her levels. Twice I seen her smoking, Eddie,” he continues to mutter a checklist of vehicle crimes Eddie has committed to his precious van, and he dares not interrupt because he really needs his help, “Well, how ‘bout this buddy.” Eddie beams in anticipation, “It's a no.” The surprise of a ‘no’ smacks so hard he might as well have got up and slapped him across the face with a wet salmon.

Uncle Wayne doesn't say no to Eddie, he says maybe, or we’ll see, or maybe in a few years, son.

“But-but you said about getting in with job applications and getting up early, and I did that, and I got the smart clothes that you got me all hung up ready to go. Come on, Wayne, please?” Eddie is all but on his knees, begging. Walking into a shop from the car park dressed like a prep was one thing, but from here to town? He’d be a laughing stock.

“No, Eddie and that's final!” Wayne says, glancing at him and then back down at the magazine.

Eddie closes his eyes slowly and presses his lips together. He knows what he has to do. He doesn't want to, but he also does not want to have to walk or bike to hand these resumes out.

“I’ll find Higgins and apologise straight after, I promise,” he says with absolutely no intention of doing it, but he’d figure out something later.

That gets his full attention. The magazine is closed shut, the mug is on the coaster, his arms folded, his lips pursed, and he’s looking directly at Eddie. And Eddie can see it in his steely eyes. Wayne is plotting.

“Ya know, I get rebelling against authority, and I get the whole hate the principal thing, but I can’t say I’m not disappointed. Didn’t even ask what happened. Just chased him outta here. Ya coulda be chasing him back out to anything.” Wayne says with a huff.

Anger he can stand, but disappointing Wayne is his kryptonite, and his uncle damn well knew it too. Eddie takes the bait.

“Go on then, what happened? What was so bad you had to invite my nemesis to have a sleepover with you?” Eddie waves his hand in front of himself to gesture for Wayne to continue.

“Nothin’ to it, really. Was on my way back from work in the small hours, saw someone walking in the pourin’ rain an–”

“Ok, whoa whoa whoa! You just pulled over in the dark to pick up some stranger at the side of the road in Hawkins? Are you insane?!”

Wayne rolls his eyes and continues, “As I was sayin’, I saw someone walking in the pourin’ rain, and as I passed them, I saw in my mirror it was George,” Eddies face automatically displays disgust at the mention of Higgins’ human being name, “I stopped an’ offered him a ride home. He was all embarrassed said he couldn’t go back there,” he eyes Eddie, “For reasons I’m not about to let his mortal enemy in on. He’d been sleepin’ in his car for a while. Yeah, since before your graduatin’. Anyhoo, his car is a bust. It had been playin’ up since the graduation ceremony and finally gave up the ghost, and he was stuck. I offered to take him to a motel, but he was worried about anyone else findin’ out, so I brought him back ‘ere. Someone forgot to pick up my laundry, so the only clean items around for him to sleep in were fresh goddamn air or a t-shirt I found.”

A cold, harsh realisation hits Eddie at full speed. He’d been the one the tamper with Higgins’ car. Said he had stage nerves, pretended to take a leak and instead fucked around with the car. One final act of revenge.

“Look, man. I didn’t know any of that shit.” Eddie laughs awkwardly, “I was just, you know, caught off guard.”

“Oh,” Wayne says, raising his eyebrows, “So if I’d woken ya up last night after my very long work shift and explained the entire situation to you. You would have what? Willingly give your ex-principal a t-shirt and show them some sympathy? Is that what you are saying right now?” Wayne stares him directly in the eyes and simply waits. He’s waiting for Eddie to lie or to be proven right.

“I don't like the guy, ok? There isn’t any law against disliking people,” Eddie says hurriedly, suddenly needing to wrap himself tighter in his fluffy robe as Wayne slowly looks down into his cup with a nod, and Eddie can feel it brewing.

“Thing is, Eddie. Ya didn’ even ask. Ya saw a guy lying on a bed he didn’t choose, in clothing, he wouldn’t have picked out in a montha Sunday’s, embarrassed, an’ scared, and ya drove him outta the house.” Eddie sheepishly raises his eyes to Waynes from under his hair, “Ya kicked a guy when he was down and out, Eddie. That ain’t right.” Wayne says sadly and shakes his head a little, averts his eyes.

Eddie’s insides squirm uncomfortably, and he tries to get back on the right side of Wayne, trying to get him to see if it had been anyone else, Eddie would not have done that, “But he’s not just some guy, Wayne. It was Principal Higgins. Come on, don't be mad. Once I’m done with these resumes, I’ll go apologise, yeah?” Eddie nearly gags on his own words, a small price to pay to avoid the words that would absolutely crush him

Wayne gets up, puts his mug in the sink, and mutters, “I ain’t mad, Son, just disappointed, is all.” 

FUUUUUUUUCK!

Eddie's heart crumples in on itself. That's it. He’d finally done it. 

After years of fucking up, everything from breaking a mug to being brought home by Hopper, who broke the news to Wayne that whilst he didn't strictly mind that Eddie was dealing on a small scale, he should be fucking quieter about it. Then the general weird appearance that makes most of the town stare or spread idle gossip, getting less than impressive grades at school, getting into fights, losing his temper with Wayne regularly all the way through puberty and getting high or drunk way too often with his friends. The recovery of which would lead to letting Wayne down with something he should have been doing instead.

After all of that, Wayne always looked a little disappointed but never outright said it, always found a way around it, but this. This was a step too far, and the words echo in his dumbass empty head.

“I ain’t mad, Son, just disappointed, is all.”

Eddie winces at those words as they stab into him repeatedly, dagger-like.

“I’m sorry,” Eddie tries, and it's a real one, the lump in his throat trying to choke him out and the sting at the corners of his eyes, but he knows it's not gonna fly this time. He’d really let him down. Even at his age, the unknown of what would happen next makes his pulse race. 

Wayne nods and collects his hat and keys. He walks over, but his eyes do not meet Eddie’s as he puts on his cap and places the keys in front of Eddie on the table, “You ain’t gotta be apologizin’ to me. Take the truck. ‘M going for a walk.”

And with that, he’s gone. Eddie watches him walk away through the window, suddenly feeling small and engulfed by the robe that he pulls tightly around himself. He slumps off to the bathroom to finish getting ready for the day.

Twenty minutes later, Eddie finds himself in a situation he never thought possible, dressed in a button-down and un-tarnished jeans, his hair tied back in a low ponytail, driving around the trailer park and surrounding roads looking for Principal Higgins, or should he say, George Higgins. He isn’t his principal any more, thank Christ. You know what? No. It can be just Higgins. There. Good! Fucking Higgins! Jesus Christ, on a bike.

Not far from the entrance to the trailer park, he spots the tour dates on the back of the t-shirt, teamed with tan slacks and a chequered jacket slung over his arm in a hunched plod back to town.

Eddie drives a little ahead and pulls over, watches in the rearview mirror how the guy’s face lights up and his pace quickens towards the car. Man, was he in for a surprise.

“Wayne! Thank God. I didn’t know what I was gonna–” he starts saying as he sits in the passenger seat and on Eddie’s resumés. He swallows that one down and reminds himself this is for Wayne, “Oh. Uh. Eddie. Do you want me to get back out? Did you stop for someone else?” He struggles as he raises himself out of the seat again to hold the stack of papers he’d say on.

OF COURSE, THATS WHAT I WANT, Eddie thinks to himself, but buries it, grips the wheel white-knuckle tight, forces a small pinched smile and through gritted teeth manages, “No, of course not. I thought I’d see if I could help with your car. Wayne said it cut out on you?”

“Y-Yeah, that's right, b-but it's fine. If you drop me in town, I can speak to a mechanic there,” Eddie watches him pat for his wallet and scrambles to another pocket. He knows this dance, had to do the moves many times himself.

“You could do that, sure, or…” Eddie starts and trails off because two halves of his brain are having a slappy hands fight with one another.

“Or?” Higgins asks, and he sounds genuinely confused by what the other option could possibly be, but Eddie detects that slight waver of hope in his voice. It makes him roll his eyes, and the side of his brain that is only concerned with getting on the right side of Wayne again sends the one concerned with being cool and tightly held grudges built on dry sand, reeling into next week with an almighty whack.

He takes a deep breath and tries but fails to relax his shoulders, “Or I can take a look for free. I help out with a lot of cars in the trailer park.”

He’s met with silence. 

He waits a little longer, and there is still no response, and out of sheer concern that Wayne was gonna be extra pissed if he had literally killed Higgins with kindness, he turns to look at him.

Immediate deep regret!

The guy's bottom lip is wobbling. How did this guy run that fucking hell hole? He’s a jello of a person. Eddie looks back at the road to direct his flicker of a sneer somewhere.

“It’s not a big deal. Whereabouts is it?” Eddie tries to steer the conversation to something easy for him to digest.

Higgins clears his throat and blubbers, “Er, just one first side road into the forest after the school.” Eddie can’t bring himself to ask for anything more specific in case he gets emotional, and he would have to comfort him. The thought almost makes Eddie heave. He’ll stop this car and run to town himself before he does that. No way! He tries to think of something else.

“You friends with my uncle then?” Eddie tries, and he almost snaps his head around when the reply is immediate.

“Oh yes! Way- I mean, Mr Munson is a fantastic pal.” Higgins enthuses and then quickly corrects himself. There is another clearing of his throat.

This is what Luke Skywalker felt when he found out who his father was. Fantastic pal? Pal? What the fuck?

But Eddie beings to experience something worse than realisation. He’s curious.

“I didn’t even know you were friends,” Eddie says, a little weirded out.

“Oh,” Higgins says disappointedly, “He hasn’t mentioned me to you?” Eddie’s fingers tighten around the wheel again. What the hell was happening right now? Eddie chooses to ignore how much that sounds like someone realising their love is unrequited. No. No, this is not what he thinks is happening. He remembers now. Of course, he means the school stuff. 

“Well yeah, of course, he’s mentioned you when you’ve called about me,” Eddie laughs and shakes his head, “You know all those meetings with the three of us, and sometimes an extra teacher, to bring forth the ‘evidence’” Eddie makes air quotes whilst still holding onto the wheel with the remaining fingers.

Then there is a small laugh from Higgins, “He never did listen to any of it though, did he? Always team Eddie,” And the fondness dripping off those words almost makes Eddie want to slam on the breaks and vomit somewhere, not just out of repulsion but also because he’s just been reminded of all those times Wayne’s backed him against all odds, against all comers. It must be that that makes the words fall out of his mouth.

“Until today,” Eddie grumbles.

“What because of what happened in the trailer?” Higgins asks dumbly but with concern. The fucking dick!

“Yes! What happened in the fucking trailer!” Eddie all but hisses back, sighs, and tries again, “Sorry about that. Yes, how I overreacted in the trailer didn’t impress him as you can imagine.”

“Well, it must have been a hell of a shock for you, honestly!”

Eddie nods and smiles. Then his eyes shoot open wide, realising that he’s agreeing with his mortal enemy!

“Shit,” Higgins laughs, “If I had woke up in my house at your age and my Principal was asleep in my living room. I’d have questions too!”

Oh! Now he’s cussing and relating like they’re fucking buddies or something. A whole body shudder ripples through Eddie. He tries to get to the controls of this conversation again.

“So, what were you expecting him to mention?” Eddie asks. Even though he might live to regret it, the claws of curiosity are gouging into him.

“Oh, it’s stupid, honestly. He's a busy guy, and he probably was more interested in what you had to say. He’s always recounting your funny stories and jokes. He always says he doesn't do them justice because he says you tell them best.” Higgins says like it's nothing, but Eddie is so glad this section of the road is creating extra noise. Otherwise, he would have heard the gasp that just left Eddie as his heart squeezed.

Of course, his uncle wouldn't mention anything to Eddie, that was not to do with Eddie because everything was always about Eddie. He knew Wayne always had his back, no matter what, but to hear that he openly talks fondly about him to other people is almost enough to turn Eddie into a blubbering mess himself. “You guys, old friends or somethin’?” Eddie tries to say something quickly so Higgins can prattle on whilst Eddie composes himself.

“Ah,” curiously Higgins stops, “not really. I mean, not from school or anything, if that's what you mean?”

Eddie gets another sinking feeling that the reason they have bonded was also his own doing, “Well, you don't work at the same place. It’s rare Wayne goes out, and I was in those meetings too, so, uh, forgive me, but I fail to see how you’ve managed to befriend my Uncle. What do you have secret phone hangouts or something?”

He glances over at Higgins, who seems to be shifting in his seat, “Uh, well, we have a kind of brunch sometimes at the diner,” he says quietly.

“It's either brunch or it's not, Higgins,” Eddie laughs.

“My lunchtime but your uncle’s breakfast time, Happened accidentally at first. Then your uncle is such an empath. I guess he just did it out of kindness, really, maybe pity.”

Oh, sweet satan. This guy used the word empath unironically. Though this is a standard Wayne move, always the good Samaritan, even if it bites him in the ass later, “Don’t you have lunch with the rest of your henchmen at school?”

That makes Higgins scoff out a laugh, “I understand why you’d think that Eddie, but, uh, it’s not like that. They don’t like me as much as you think they do.”

Eddie swirls that around his brain for a while, thinking about how often he’d been sent to Higgins’ office. How many times did Higgins do anything other than make Eddie sit in his office with him while he did other things, and Eddie finished up some work or doodled?

“I like a good story. How did your first brunch happen?” Eddie asks quickly, eager to avoid further dismantling his personal Munson doctrine.

“Not that exciting, really,” but Eddie can hear the smile in his tone, “Diner was busy. Your uncle’s usual booth was occupied by some noisy sports team passing through. You know, the smaller booth that overlooks the bit of the car park with more greenery in the distance? So he sat at the corner of the counter near me. And we sorta knew one another, and we just got talking.” There it is again that softening in his words. A quick glance over, and he’s sure there is a blush on his cheeks.

Was this why it upset his Uncle so much? He remembers their mutual chuckle from this morning. Though he wishes Wayne would have befriended any other sadsack fuck in this town, he knows how particular his Uncle is about getting close to people, so Eddie does a quick check.

“And then what? You just bumped into one another and talked about…well, what did you talk about? Other than my good self, of course,” Eddie asks more gently.

“Yeah, guess there was a coincidental element to it, but then, at least on my part, it became a little more purposeful,” he drifts off a little and then quickly stutters back into action, “It-it’s not every day I get the chance to talk to someone who I have so many common interests with, you know?

Eddie can feel him looking at him intermittently. It reminds him of when John, one of the original members of Hellfire, was persuading Eddie to let Jenna join. He didn’t have an issue because she was a girl, just she was one of the science kids. She turned out to be a great player and also John’s girlfriend. 

Eddie’s suspicion meter is close to all the springs exploding out of it like a cartoon, and suddenly there is a new emotion leaping off the bench to join the team. Protectiveness.

“Common interests like what?” Eddie frowns a little.

“Uh, music, like rock n roll, but also some of that folk element, country and soul. Westerns, Hammer Horror,” he chuckles. Eddie feels himself want to look round at him, to see if he could telepathically find out what inside joke they had about dated scary movies, “Sports, human rights and well,” there is a pause, “you, of course, but purely from an academic side of things from me,” and though he doesn’t want to be, he is impressed by his apparent honesty.

“And how long have these brunches, or whatever the fuck, been happening?” Eddie asks.

“A little over a year now. Probably could have been longer, but I guess we never had a reason to sit together before,” Higgins shrugs, “Just nod hello or sometimes he’d check in about how you were doing.”

Wow, so now he’s two for two bringing this pair together through his own idiocy. 

“Uh, you know, Eddie, while I have this chance, I just wanted to let you know, regardless of what some of your teachers may have said to you. I always thought you were a very bright and creative kid. Just maybe the way a school is structured didn’t give you the right space to flourish,” Ok, so now this confirms it. He was totally trying to kiss Eddie’s ass here. Actually, it was more likely, at this point, it was Wayne’s ass he might be after.

Eddie grimaces at his intrusive thoughts. They threw him for a loop sometimes, and that one was several inversions leaving him feeling grossed out and nauseous.

“Look, man, you don’t have to say all that crap, I’m not gonna curse you, and I was going to look at your car anyway,” Eddie says to try and make him back off a little.

“Oh, so Wayne was right. You don’t go for all that spooky stuff, then?” Higgins asks happily.

“Now, now Higgy Wiggy, I didn’t say that. I just said I’m not gonna curse you this time.” Eddie says semi-seriously, and silence falls in the vehicle again, making Eddie look over at the gulping guy in a Metallica tee, “I’m just kidding, Higgins, geez!” Eddie laughs as the deserted car comes into view.

Within minutes Eddie is rolling up his sleeves and popping the hood to undo the damage he’d done previously. Meanwhile, Higgins was shuffling around in the back seat.

One particular shuffle almost sends the open hood smearing muck onto Eddie’s freshly washed hair, and that makes him say something. He storms around the side of the car, “Hey man! Could you take it easy whilst I’m under there? I’m pretty fond of my head. It completes my whole look, you know?” He yells sarcastically.

As he rounds the vehicle to stare daggers at Higgins, the sight that befalls his eyes is something more worrying. The guy was halfway through donning a crumpled suit and filling a trash bag with wrappers and cans.

Higgins can’t meet his eyes, “Sorry, Eddie. I was just eager to get into my own clothes and, well, didn’t want you to see all this,” he half smiles awkwardly, “too late for that now, huh?”

And amongst the general chaos of the backseat, he notices a few things. His Uncle’s copy of The Hobbit, a few blankets that were crocheted by the old lady that lives in the trailer park, but they have so many they end up in a cupboard, and a T-shirt from the Indi 500 the year he and Wayne had gone to it, “You like racing?” Eddie asks, gesturing at it.

Higgins responds with a melancholy, forced smile and water-brimmed eyes, shaking his head in a no.

“Just like the T-shirt, huh? He’s got some cool ones, thanks to me,” Eddie jokes, and it earns him a little laugh as Higgins wipes his eyes on his jacket sleeves. Eddie returns to an issue he feels more comfortable dealing with, leaving Higgins to sort out what he needs to.

A little while later, Eddie returns to a much cleaner car and a much more Principal looking Higgins. As he hands him the keys, “Try starting her up for me, yeah?”

Higgins nods with a smile and does as asked, and life breathes back into the engine, “Oh, Eddie! This is wonderful, thank you!”

“Least I could do,” Eddie sighs, cleaning his hands on a rag from his Uncle’s tool kit before loading it back in the truck.

He stands there momentarily, looking at his strange reflection in the paint, and ponders. Eddie and wherever he’s lived previously had the Munson name associated with things more shaped like his dad’s opportunistic and, let’s face it, criminal ways, but what if he could amplify the other side of that name? The one that protects and fixes. The one that helps others in need and shows kindness even when it may not be deserved.

He turns back.

“You know, I feel like I’ve got some bridges to mend, so after I’ve dropped these around town, I was thinking I might pick up some wings and make Wayne his favourite kind,” Eddie announces as he paces around the car. Higgins looks up at him, “I get a little carried away sometimes, and we usually have to live off them for a few extra meals to get my money’s worth,” Eddie’s nose twitches a little before he says the improbable, “I could swing back round this way, and pick you up, so you could save me from chicken wings for breakfast?” He pauses, but Higgins is just staring at him, “Don’t get me wrong, they’re delicious, even if I do say so myself, but that kinda heat first thing in the morning, we’ll that’s an interesting way to start the day,” he grins and kicks at the ground.

“Y-yeah, I’d really like-“ Higgins starts, but Eddie gives him a quick glare, “I mean, I think I could help you with that, sure,” Eddie sends him back a nod.

“Cool. See you in an hour or so.” Eddie says finally before hopping back into Wayne’s truck.

A few hours later, Eddie finds himself in clothing mostly more suited to himself, other than his Hot Stuff Garfield Apron. He had two plates piled high with wings around a small bowl at the centre with a sauce of his creation, one spicy, one blue cheese, plus a pot of mac n cheese from a box. 

He lines the plates up and looks over at the two of them watching the game on the TV, occasionally squabbling over who was at fault on which team for things not going in their favour, occasionally laughing loudly at the other when their prediction was correct or a commentator agreed with them.

Eddie can’t remember a time in the last few years he’s seen Wayne this animated. His eyes are sparkling even, and a secret smile graces his face even when he’s proved wrong, and trying to look annoyed about it. 

“Grubs up, jocks!” Eddie yells over with a laugh. The two of them scramble to see who can get there first. They both look over the food and then up at Eddie.

“Wow, Eddie, this is quite the buffet!” Higgins says enthusiastically, as Wayne and Eddie exchange a comical look at the word buffet.

“Yeah, it looks great, buddy. Thanks,” Wayne says with a big smile, and he blinks softly at Eddie, “Ya done me real proud today, son.” His voice is gruff as always, but that gentle fondness is back, and Eddie grips tightly to the countertop and presses his lips together not to get emotional about it.

A moan of delight comically breaks their shared stare. Higgins has taken a bite from a chicken wing doused in the blue cheese sauce.

“Told ya,” Wayne says as he puffs out his chest, “Best chef in town, right here in my own home!” He beams over at Eddie and back to Higgins.

“It’s not that I didn't believe you!” Higgins protests, “But I’m thrilled I got to sample the proof,” he smiles at Eddie before reaching for another and freezes. This time an unmistakable blush hits his cheeks, “Sorry, I just got carried away.” He says meekly.

Eddie turns to the plate of food to see the issue, Wayne has reached for the very same wing, and his fingers are draped lightly over Higgins’. Eddie traces the arm up to Wayne’s face. It’s hard to make out if he’s blushing on his face just from stubble and the ageing of his skin, but the top of his ears give him away.

Wayne is staring at Higgins, completely frozen too, until he gradually turns his gaze to meet Eddie’s. The sparkle of mischief and laughter is gone. In its place is fear. His eyes dart away momentarily, and he almost seems to force himself to look back at Eddie, who gives him a weak but encouraging smile.

Then Wayne does something incredibly brave, he wraps his fingers around Higgins’ hand, making a small gasp escape from his old Principal, and waits.

Eddie looks between them both.

“I fucking knew it!” He yells and laughs.

Wayne smiles, and Higgins looks bewildered, “What, you’re just ok with this?”

“With people being gay? Yeah!” Eddie makes a face like he just asked him if the sky was blue, “About this situation in particular?” He gestures a finger between the two of them and folds his arms, “Absolutely not!”

Higgins looks deflated, but Wayne still has a smirk on his face.

“But you know, I suppose,” he rolls his eyes to the ceiling and shakes his head, “It deserves a chance, right?”

Higgins' face lights up, and he throws his arms around Wayne.

“Hey! Hey! Hey!” Eddie claps his hands together, “Do not make me load up the spray bottle, ok? Your orientation I’m indifferent to, but no fucking on my stuff and nothing tonsil hockey or worse whilst I can hear or see you, understood?” Eddie says, flicking the kitchen towel over his shoulder and looking at them both in turn.

They both nod at him quietly, Higgins crimson-faced and serious, Wayne with a smile he’s trying to repress and a twinkle in his eyes, possibly caused by the tears that almost welled up in them.

“Tomorrow, I’m gonna help you find a place, and until we have that squared away,” Eddie says, leaning over the counter and looking at Higgins seriously before turning to look at Wayne, “Let me know if you’re having a fucking sleepover!”

[starlightandfairies]

alright i got another one the reader sneaking up on daryl and scaring him by jumping on his back and after a couple failed attempts he finally gets them back? fluff <3

if you want me to keep requesting i can to keep you busy 😭🫶🏻

Description: The reader made the mistake of sneaking up on Daryl, and now Daryl is looking for revenge.

Warnings: fluff, swearing

*Thank you so much for this! It's so cute and please feel free to spam me with requests* <3

Requests are open!

Key: Y/N = Your Name, POV = Point of view

Word Count: 1,105

First Person's POV

Daryl always called me his sneaky little ninja and told me I need a bell. There was always a dispute between us both about the other needing a bell because we were always sneaking up on each other and scaring the other. Daryl was talking with Carol, discussing something about the recent run, I took this as the perfect opportunity to put my recent plan into action. I crept up on him, Carol too preoccupied with doing something for him so she wouldn't give me away once I were to do something. 

I lined up like a lion hunting a gazel, pounced on top of his back and giggled as he swore loudly and it took a minute for him to figure out what the hell just happened. I planted a kiss on his cheek, smiling as he let out a breathy chuckle and jumped off his back, he turned around and looked at me with so much irritation but obviously filled with love. 

"You're lucky I love 'ya." 

"I know I am." I stuck out my tongue, smiling at the man and rested a kiss on his lips before giggling as he pulled me in for a hug. 

"I'm gonna get you back for that." 

"Sure you are." 

"Is the challenge?" He smirked as I nodded, he held out his hand, waiting for me to shake on our newly planned agreement. 

"I believe it is." 

"Well then, challenge accepted." I knew that this would suck as soon as I agreed to it, while Daryl can appear mean and grumpy, this man was also incredibly kind-hearted and around a few others very playful and sneaky. The first three times Daryl tried to get me, he failed at his attempts, it was honestly amusing watching him being disappointed by the fact that he didn't scare me, acting like a little kid and grumbling he'll get me next time. 

First Scare Attempt 

I was minding my own business, I was in the garden, planting some crops for later use. It was a semi-cloudy day, the clouds blocking the sun every now and again. Daryl tried sneaking up on me as I was doing that, his cover being blown as the sun popped back into view and the sun revealed his shadow, ruining his scare attack. 

"Daryl, maybe try at night, you know when the sun can't get you." 

"Yeah, the stupid sun gave me away." He smiled as I giggled at his comment, he rested a kiss on my lips and fiddled with a strand of my hair. 

"You're stunning." 

"Really? I think I'm quite gross at the moment, I'm covered in dirt and smell gross." 

"Nah, I've been worse." 

"That is true." Daryl chuckled at my statement, rested a kiss on my forehead and started helping me with the gardening. 

Second Scare Attempt 

It was currently night, I was finishing my chores for the night, closing up and placing everything away. I started heading towards our shared room, saying goodnight to a few people as I walked past them and waited at the door of our room, smiling as Dog ran to my side. I opened the door, chuckling as the furry creature ran over to the cupboard and started scratching at the door. 

"Stupid dog," Daryl muttered, coming out and started scratching Dog behind the ear, I crouched down smiling at the German Sheppard.

"You're a good boy, you're my favourite." I praised, giggling as Dog jumped all over me, licking at my face. Daryl got the dog away from me, helped me up and handed me a clean set of clothes.

"Thanks," I stated, pecking his cheek, changing easily and slipping into bed. Daryl lay beside me, rested a kiss on my shoulder and gave me a smile. I raised an eyebrow, smiling at the man and took his hands. 

"You're too good, woman." 

"I know. You love me for it." Daryl nodded in agreement, placing a kiss on my cheek and pulled me into his arms. 

I love you." 

"I love you more." 

Third Scare Attempt 

I was with the little kids playing with them, playing tag and throwing a ball around, it really felt odd seeing children around again, it felt weird seeing their joy and imagination exist in a world that held constant nightmares and a world that they didn't know anything else but that. 

I circled around the kids, playing duck, duck goose with them and chuckled as they all cheered and ran over to Daryl who was right behind me, I scoffed and placed my hands on my hips, tsking at my lover and grabbed his hands in mine. 

"Just face it, you're not gonna win," I stated with a smile, he rolled his eyes, looked down at the kids and smirked. 

"Do you think I can scare Y/N?" I gasped playfully at the audacity he had to have the kids gang up on me, they all stood by his side, nodding with cheeky smiles. 

"Yeah! Y/N's not that good." I forgot how blunt and honest kids could be. Daryl stuck his tongue out at me, getting the kids to run away and wrapped his arms around my waist. 

"See, you're not that good, apparently I will scare 'ya and I will." 

"It's taken three attempts, I don't know if you will." 

"I persistent, I'll get 'ya I promise you that." 

Fourth Scare Attempt 

I was minding my own business, walking around with a bucket of water in my hands, making sure that our supplies were up and staying constant with the amount that we had. I placed the bucket down, dusted my hands off and took a breath feeling the air around me, feeling the breeze against my fingers. I turned around, jumping as Daryl was suddenly there, throwing a bunch of feathers in my face. I stared at him shocked, chuckling lightly as I tried to wrap my head around the fact of what just happened. 

"I win! I told you I would, I gotcha 'ya good." I brushed the pillow feathers away, staring at him still stunned but placed a smile on as giggles started escaping my lips. 

"Yes, you did." 

"And what's my reward?" 

"A kiss." Daryl blushed lightly, grabbed my face in his hands and placed a kiss on my lips. I smiled at him, giving him another kiss and giggled some more as I placed some of the feathers in his hair making him look a little silly and cute. 

[angy-mouse]

A Day in The Life of A Live-In Whore Vol. 2

second verse, same as the first-

lowkey building 'screenshots' of readers twitter to post

&lt;Pev

Baby Reveal

Realistically, it was only a matter of time before one of the boys let something slip on camera. And, realistically, it was definitely going to be George.

He instinctively turned towards the movement in the corner of his eye, lighting up when he saw you peeking through the doorway. “Hey, luv,” he purred without a thought.

“You’re not streaming?”

Your words hit like a sack of bricks as he slowly turned back towards his monitor. A couple of hundred thousand people were typing at light speed. “... Fuck.”

With the cat out of the bag, you reached your arm into the frame to smack him upside the head. “Fucking dumbass.”

It’s a Muscle

You stared at him, jaw dropped. “What?”

Dream laughed at your expression. “It’s a muscle, just like all the others I work out to make bigger.”

“...What?”

Your eyes snapped instinctively to the movement in the corner of your vision, missing Dream’s cocky smirk as he made his dick jump in his sweats again.

“...WHAT?!"

Butts

"You got a cute butt, y'know that?"

You glanced back over your shoulder, seeing Sapnap watching you dig through the cupboard- correction, he was watching your ass- with a dreamy expression. 

"Thanks?"

He hummed appreciatively, giving an innocent smile that made you trust him enough to turn back to your search for the Tupperware.

Crrrrack!

"I knew it!" You shot up, clutching your ass as he ran away giggling. "You get back here so I can kill you right now!"

"I couldn't resist, sugar! You can't stay mad at me forever, 'cause I put the Tupperware on the top shelf!"

"Damn you tall bastards!"

Twitter Trouble

“They’ve seen her arm during my stream, you both have mentioned her- I don’t think it’d be a big deal to say, ‘by the way, same girlfriend.’”

“No way, dude, Dream’s fans are fucking psycho, I’m not putting our girl through that.”

“Hey, they’re not all psycho.”

“Great argument, you’re really selling me on this.”

You were getting tired of the debating extremely quickly. George was sick of having to walk on eggshells, Dream was used to hiding everything about himself from the internet, and Sapnap was stuck between ‘protect baby’ and ‘I wanna post my damn girlfriend.’ So, you raised your hand from where you were laying on the couch, waving it until you got their attention.

“Maybe this is a good time to mention half my twitter is vague-posting about our relationship and the dumb shit we do. I can just start using names. If it goes over well, you confirm it. If it doesn’t, you get to make a video reading hater messages and shitting on them- I know you love that, Dream.”

“... It’s true, I do love shitting on haters.”

The Horror

"Oh my god!"

"It's disgusting,"

"There oughta be a law."

You huffed, glaring at all three of your boys as they crowded around your laptop. "If I knew you were going to judge me this much, I would have just paid someone to fix it."

"How many fucking tabs-"

"What's with the 'ninety-nine plus' in your inbox?!"

"No wonder it's so slow, you haven't updated the system in years!"

You rolled your eyes with a groan just as George raised his hands. "Boys, let's not go crazy here. I think I have a solution." You'd hardly opened your mouth to thank him before he flipped the computer over and popped out the battery. "This can be saved. Sapnap, trash the rest. Dream, buy baby a new one."

"You guys are dicks."

Football Season

You looked between the TikTok open on your phone and Dream, who was standing to get a better view of the game (and they call you the weird one?). You waited until it seemed like nothing important was happening to lay the bait.

"I'm taking the chargers money line and under at fifty-four points, what do you think?"

"I think I'm taking my ass to jail after killing whoever the fuck taught you that."

Your poker face broke the second he whipped around, cackling as he marched past you to get his coat. "Dream, no- babe, it's a TikTok!"

"I know damn well you don't watch football, let alone football TikTok. Sapnap, let's go! We're killing baby's other man!"

"Oh my god, I don't have-" Sapnap cut you off as he came bounding down the stairs.

"About time! George has had it too good for too long!"

"How did things go so wrong so fast?!"

Towel Trouble

"Whatcha got there, baby?"

You remained oblivious to the poison in Dream's voice as you spun around, modeling the thick material obscuring your figure. "It's called a bath sheet! Isn't it great? Now my ass isn't hanging out after my shower. George got it for me!"

All three boys mumbled out compliments as you found what you'd come in the room for, but the second you were out of earshot, the massacre began.

"What the fuck did you do that for?"

"Nice going, jackass."

"I'm about to go 1776 on your ass."

"Next thing you know, he's going to get her full-length skirts, too."

"You enjoy covering her up, you sick pervert?"

George stared blankly as the two took turns throwing insults, taking a long sip of his drink. "You two done yet?"

"Suck me off."

"If it'll get you to listen for a second." He gave them a sick smile, exactly like a villain cornering the hero. "Baby now feels comfortable wearing nothing but a towel. Baby does not feel comfortable in a bra. Which means she has a reason to delay getting dressed. Which means I just made our girl happy and gave her an excuse to lounge around practically naked."

"... I never doubted you for a second, Gogy."

"You know, I think we should've never left England in the first place."

"You're both cocksuckers."

TwitchCon

“I’d like to introduce our special guest,” Dream announced as their eighteen-plus panel began. He stood from his chair, dramatically waving to the side of the stage that disappeared into the performer’s area. “You know her! You love her! Half of you wanna fuck her, don’t think we don’t see the comments! It’s Babyyyyy!”

The crowd roared as you came out, dodging all three boys’ attempts to steal a kiss as you found your seat, picking up your microphone.

“I left the food court for this, so make it good.”

[imthebadguyyy]

A/N - based off of this sinful photograph

Suggested listening - Wildside by Normani and Kiss It Better by Rihanna

Wildside

Pairing - Lewis Hamilton x Reader (fem!littlemix!reader)

Fandom - F1

Summary - You've been on tour for a while, and you miss your loverboy. But when he surprises you on tour, its bound to get spicy.

Warnings - smut (not well written)

The snap of hips. The soft groans and moans. The sound of pants. The sound of Rihanna's 'Kiss It Better' blaring through the walls. The bed knocking against the wall as Lewis's hands squeezed your hips, the intensity of the thrust pushing the bed against the wall. The high pitched moan that left your mouth as you reached your high, eyes closing as stars exploded behind your eyelids, as your boyfriend came right after you, your walls clenching as he came. Even after reaching your high, you didn't want to open your eyes, far too consumed in the earth shattering pleasure that was coursing through your veins, until a soft hand reached to pull your chin up, soft brown eyes looking into your own, clouded with lust and euphoria.

Pulling your mouth into his in a heated kiss, Lewis moved his hand to rest on your bare stomach, squeezing your tummy softly as he deepened the kiss. Pulling away he let his head droop onto your bare chest. "That was.." he began, far too blissed out to think of an adjective. "Godly" you said, chest rising and falling rapidly, trying to come to terms with the intensity of your orgasm. Laughing he leaned back up to kiss your nose, before standing up and walking to the bathroom. You heard the tap running, and the sound of the dustbin opening and closing. You closed your eyes again, the aftershocks still coursing through your body.

Opening them again slowly, you saw Lewis walk towards you, towel in hand, and a lazy smile on his face. He gently cleaned your thighs, finishing with kisses on both of them. He reached up and wiped your torso, which was gleaming with a thin layer of sweat, before running the towel over your nose, cheeks, eyes and mouth. He dropped the towel in the clothes hamper near the bathroom door, pulling on his boxer shorts and and pulling out one of his t shirts from the cupboard. "What about the clothes on the floor" you piped up, finally beginning to wake up from your post pleasure state. "When did it get so messy?" He said, spotting 5 different clothing items in 5 different corners of the room. "When you decided to run your hand up my dress in a restraunt" you replied, throwing him a fake glare.

"You liked it" was his cocky reply, smirk spreading over his face as you flushed and ran a hand through your hair. "I did not" you lied, watching as he raised his eyebrows. "Oh really ? Thats not what you were saying 5 minutes ago- oh wait, you weren't saying anything at all. You were too busy moaning my name to say anything else-" "OKAY fine I loved it. Now shut up and bring your fine ass back for cuddles"

*-*-*

That was a month ago. Now you've been away for nearly one and half months, away with the girls on the LM5 tour. You loved touring, it was the best part of being a singer, getting to see the music you girls made together come to life on a stage in front of thousands and thousands of screaming fans. It was a thrill like no other. The only problem was that you were away from home. Distance was never an issue for the two of you, after all, he was a Formula 1 driver. It was very rare that he was home, except during the breaks and the gaps till race weekend, but ever since you two had started dating, he tried to be with you whenever you could. Sometimes, your shows would be in places where the races were too, and then he'd definitely turn up. But it was a difficult thing to do all the time, and some nights on tour were spent pulling all nighters as you talked to each other on the phone, till one of you eventually fell asleep.

But you knew when you started dating him, this wouldn't exactly be a regular relationship. The two of you were doing your dream jobs, and they were both extraordinary. And you were willing to put in the work you had to put in to make the relationship work, and you did. Yet here you were in Madrid, feeling heartbroken and desperately wanting your boyfriend by your side. It had been a rough couple of weeks, you were jet lagged and tired, and although this was the second leg of the tour, and you had had a break, it was tiring. It was hard going to bed every night alone, when all you wanted was to cuddle your boyfriend.

Little did you know, Lewis was feeling the same. In fact he had missed you so much, he had told Angela and his publicist to cancel all events for a week, while he flew out to Madrid to see you. He had missed you, he had missed you more than he could put into words. But he also wanted to surprise you. Pulling out his phone, he scrolled down to Leigh Anne's contact, and sent her a text.

Lewis, Leigh Anne

Hey. Is Y/N asleep ?

Hey! No, she's in an outfit fitting.

Okay that's good. I need your help with something.

Sure how can I help ?

I want to surprise her by coming to see you guys in Madrid.

Oh thats wonderful ! She's been a little down in the dumps. I think she misses you.

I miss her too.

Let me know when, and I'll send a car to pick you up.

I'll be there on Saturday. Landing at 3:15 and I should be at the hotel by 4:30. Then I can get ready and surprise her at the show.

Okay done. I'll send the car around 5:30,so you can rest for a bit. You should be here by 6. The show's at 6:15.

Thank you! Can't wait : )

I'm so happy youre coming to see her ! I'll let the girls know.

*-*-*

As soon as he had finished texting, Lewis decided to start packing, the prospect of seeing you again sending a buzz of happiness running along his veins. God, he had missed you a lot. He turned to Roscoe, the dog sitting by his feet, looking up at his dad with his head cocked to one side. "I'm going to go see Mumma, Roscoe" he explained, smiling as the doggo barked in response. He wouldn't be able to take him to Madrid, he'd have to leave him with a dog sitter, but he couldn't feel too bad about it, since he had had Roscoe with him even when you were gone. And besides, Roscoe enjoyed the dog creche. He couldn't wait for Saturday.

Later in the evening, he sat down with a glass of wine, while the ringtone of your FaceTime rang through the empty house. After a few more seconds of ringing, the call was picked up, your tired face coming into view. "Hi darling" he said, noticing the tiredness in your eyes, and how much you were struggling to keep them open. "Hi bubs. Did you finish eating?" You asked, rubbing your eyes. "No, I've ordered soup" (did anyone get the reference ;) "Oh okay" was the reply. "What about you? What time is it?" "Its 9:20 AM" you replied, gently rubbing your eyes again, forcing yourself to stay awake.

"9:20? Thats pretty late baby. Why are you still sleepy?" "We were recording till 4 AM, so Im functioning on like 5 hours sleep right now" "Oh damn. Go back to sleep then baby" "Can't, rehearsal" was you reply, making him furrow his eyebrows. "Okay I guess. But don't tire yourself out" "I won't" "I love you" he said, smiling at you. "I love you"

*-*-*-*

The Madrid show was always a fun one. The fans were loud and you loved it. They were one of the best crowds you girls ever played for, and the show had its own adrenaline and excitement. But it was difficult to give a 100% when you were tired, but you really tried, you did. During Power, you hit highnotes you didnt think you could, during Woman Like Me you danced like there was no tomorrow. During Wasabi, you brought your sass level up to a 1000. It was during Bounce Back that you caught sight of a very familiar face in the audience. Unable to actually grasp if you had actually seen Lewis, you turned to Jade, who was on your side, and looked back at the crowd and back to her, asking for confirmation.

The smirk she gave you was answer enough. After that, focusing on giving an excellent performance increased tenfold. Every swirl of your hips, every flip of your hair, every wink you threw at the audience, it was all five times sexier. In the crowd, your boyfriend was well aware of what you were doing, and it was fair to say that you were succeeding at it. He could feel an uncomfortable sensation around his pants region, as his cock twitched uncomfortably in his pants. He couldn't wait till the show was over, and you two could have a show of your own.

*-*-*

"That was amazing darling!" Lewis said, spotting the 5 of you in your dressing room. "Oh look its Mr. Loverboy!" Perrie said, cackling as you rolled your eyes at her, before running up to your lover and jumping into his arms. "Hiya Bub! I missed you!" "I missed you too love. That's why I surprised you. I couldn't stand another day without you at home" he said, wrapping his arms around your waist to keep you stable as you jumped into his arms. A chorus of "awws" echoed throughout the room, as the girls watched your cute little interaction. What wasn't cute however was the comment Lewis made in your ear, hiding his face in your ear so that the girls couldn't see. "I can't wait to get back to the hotel. I saw the performance you were putting on for me baby. You have no idea how hard I got, how uncomfortable I was standing in front of so many people when all I really wanted to do was fuck you"

You could feel your mouth become dry, and your heartbeat quicken, and you could feel the area between your thighs become wet. You tightened your grip around him, letting your crotch rub against his very softly. "I think it's time to go" you mumbled against his ear. "Okay girls, as lovely as it was to see you, I think it's time we go back to the hotel. I'm pretty worn out from travelling as well" "Yeah I'm pretty tired too" you replied, faking a large yawn. "Alright then, we'll see you guys tomorrow!" Leigh Anne said, leaning forward to give you a hug. After you finished hugging all the girls, the two of you made your way to the car, eagerly waiting to get back home.

The car ride home was tense. The tension was apparent in the air, reverberating through the air, choking you in a way you revelled in. The air was thick with tension, and it was suffocating you in the best way possible. It was almost too much to take. When the hotel came into sight, you practically leapt out of the car, and rushed to the door, an equally ruffled Lewis beside you. But he was not going to give in to you so easily. He enjoyed seeing you flustered. And he was not a person that gave someone what they wanted when they asked for it,no. He was going to have you desperate for it. Smirking to himself, he made his way to the reception, grabbing you by the waist as he went.

Throwing him a confused look you followed, slightly frustrated. "Hello sir, how can I help you?" the man at the reception asked, eyes going slightly wide as he recognized the two of you. "Hi! I just wanted to ask, till what time is your pool and spa open?" He asked, sliding his hand down to the back of your dress. "The pool closes at 10 pm sir, and the spa at 9 pm. We open the pool at 7 am and the spa at 11pm"he replied, struggling to maintain his professionalism as he spoke to one of the best drivers in Formula 1. "Alright thank you. And what time does breakfast start?" Lewis asked, hand pressing down on your ass, ever so discreetly. "Breakfast is from 6-10 am sir" "Thank you so much"

Next to him, you were fuming. Of course he was going to ask questions to which he already knew the answers to. A painful throb between your legs made you let out a small whimper, and the man at the reception looked at you with concern in his eyes. "Ma'am are you alright?" He asked, eyeing your stiff posture and tense state. "Yes, just tired, thank you" you replied, a little stiffly, but it was hard to concentrate when Lewis's promise of fucking you senseless kept replaying in your mind. "Alright then, good night" Lewis said, biting back a smirk at your flustered state. He knew getting you all riled up would lead to some seriously earth shattering sex, and he couldn't wait. But first, he definitely wanted to tease you, to push you over the edge, just a little more.

Your room was on the 16th floor, and as the two of you made your way into the elevator, he eyed you up and down, eyes lingering on the curve of your breasts. The minute the door shut, he pushed you against the wall, capturing your lips in a steamy kiss you'd be remembering the next day. His hands moved to your ass, squeezing hard, eliciting a moan from your lips. The moment your lips parted, he was pushing his tongue into yours, his other hand coming up to pull on your hair roughly, relishing in the gasp that left your lips. As suddenly as he started, he stopped, pulling back and standing almost nonchalantly against the wall.

Trying to wrap your head around what happened, you gripped the wall with your hand, feeling your legs grow weak to a point where you felt like you couldn't stand on your own. You could feel your wetness dripping, threatening to run down your thighs, as the throbbing became even more painfully exciting. You looked down at the floor, eyes closing as your frustration grew more and more by the second. Finally, with a little 'ding', the elevator stopped at the 16th floor. The moment the door opened you stepped out on wobbly legs, trying your best to walk properly. But of course, that wasn't going to happen. As you turned one long corridor, Lewis suddenly grabbed your waist, pushing you against the wall again, to reach down and suck on your neck. You let out a gasp, and tried to run your crotch against his, but the retaliated with a slap to your ass, smirking when a high pitched moan left your lips. Lifting you up against the wall, he mumbled against your ear "the key card" your clouded mind was unable to process the words, too consumed by slight relief you were getting. "Get the key card baby" he repeated. This time you noted it, reaching down to his pants pocket to pull out the key card. You couldn't resist running your hand over his cock, feeling how rock hard he was. The thought of him fucking you senseless returned, and you let out a groan.

Grabbing the card from your hand, he opened the door, propping you up against the door in your bedroom. His eyes were filled with a raw, animal desire, as he dropped the card on the floor and reached up to unzip your dress. He ripped the zipper down, your dress falling to the floor in a crumpled heap. He locked his eyes on your heaving chest, hand reaching up to grab your chin, pulling you in for a searing kiss. His hand slid up your torso, reaching behind to unhook the red lacy bra you were wearing, letting it drop to the floor as he took in the glorious sight in front of him. You waited, wanting him to just touch you, but he just stared, eyes looking into yours, clearly saying "beg for it"

You couldn't help the soft "please" that left your lips, too desperate for some sort of touch. "Please what?' Lewis said, tightening his grip on your waist. "Please" was all you could say again, nearly whimpering again at the rough look in his eyes. "Use your words baby. Now, please what?" "Please just touch me!" You finally gasped out, moaning loudly when he licked a stripe down your chest before taking your right tit into his mouth. His hand fondled the left one, running his thumb over your erect nipple, the rough pad of his thumb sending shockwaves of pleasure through your body. His mouth sucked on the skin of your tit, before moving down to bite down on your nipple. You gasped again, pain and pleasure coursing through your body as his tongue ran over your nipple over and over till it nearly felt raw. He switched his actions, moving his mouth to your left tit instead, letting his hand harshly fondle the other. He continued the same process of biting, licking and sucking, till he was satisfied with himself. "I fucking love this baby. Seeing you all wet and needy for me. So what do you want? My mouth? My fingers? My cock? Or does my baby want them all ?" He asked, watching as your pupils dilated and you let out a strangled moan.

You let your crotch rub against his thigh, gasping when the friction went straight to your core. "Look at you darling. I asked you what you what you wanted, and you picked my thighs? Well, I want to see you dripping. I want to see you cum on my fingers, my mouth, my thighs and especially on my cock. I'm going to make you cum over and over and over again till you can't even stand on your own fucking legs. I want your thighs to be shaking around my head. I want to see you moan and groan and scream my name so loud, by tomorrow everyone in this hotel will know my name, because you'll spend all night screaming it" you moaned again, his words going straight to your core."Please Lewis, God, just make me cum please!" The desperation of your cry was enough for him to carry you to the bed, dropping your body onto the soft mattress.

He pulled of shirt, unbuttoning every button so you could see him do it. He could see your eyes grow dark, as his compass tattoo came into sight. You had told him it was one of your favourites, and he had used it against you ever since you had told him that. Smirking at you, he climbed onto the bed, lying down between your legs. You pushed yourself up against the headboard, spreading your legs wide for him. His eyes grew dark, as your core came into his view, shimmering with your juices. A near animalistic growl left his mouth, the sound hitting your core. He moved so that he was situated right in front of your core. He let his eyes take in the sight of you in front of him, snapping back to reality when you let out a groan of frustration. Throwing you a devilishly reassuring smile, he inched neared and nearer, till his nose was nearly touching your clit. Then he just lay there. Not moving. You could feel your heartbeat hammering against your chest, chest heaving up and down, an alarming intense feeling growing in your tummy. Finally, when it became too much you let out a small scream of frustration "Oh for fucks sake Lewis please just fuck me!" Your outburst brought a smile to his face. "Oh I will. Just not yet" and with that, he ran a finger along your slit, before finally slipping it into you. You let out a moan, finally getting the friction you had been desperate for. His fingers circled your clit, thumb gently pressing down, before he removed it,only to slam it back down on your sensitive clit, earning a scream of pleasure from you.

He slipped a second finger into you, scissoring around your clit, as your desperate cries of "oh, oh baby! Fuck, fuck lewis-" were lost in the heat of the moment. He leaned his head down to your core, letting his tongue run along your slit too, before licking around it, collecting your wetness on his tongue, before letting it harshly circle your clit. You bucked up into his mouth, feeling his tongue wrap around your clit. He sucked the nub harshly, his fingers still moving in and out of you. "Oh God, Oh GOD, Lew-I- oh! Oh God!" Your broken moans were music to his ears as he sucked your clit into his mouth. You could feel a strange intensity growing in your stomach, feeling a lot stronger than your usual orgasm. The band in your tummy was threatening to snap, but you needed that something more to help it snap. That something more came when Lewis sucked your clit into his mouth, letting it rest in between his teeth, before flicking it with his tongue.

With a cry of "Oh fucking hell, Lew-" you camr gushing into his mouth, your juices coating his fingers and gushing onto his tongue, as he let you ride out your orgasm on his deadly skilled tongue. Well, he had got his wish. Your thighs were shaking around his head, as your body tried to come to terms with the intensity of the pleasure coursing through your body. Looking down, you saw him with his painfully hard cock, grinding down on the sheet, as he let out a moan at the relief the bedsheets gave him. Raising an eyebrow, you patted your thigh, signaling him to come over to you. "You loved on me so well bubs. But I can see how hard you are. Do you want to use me to get off?" You asked, watching the effect you had on him. All he could do was nod, as you sat up on your knees. "Stand up" you ordered, getting up from the bed as well.

You walked over to the wall, letting your body rest against it. Somewhat confused, Lewis followed you, standing in the space between your legs. "I tried to get off using your thighs didn't I? I think you'll enjoy it as much as I did. So use me. Use my thigh. Get off" looking at you in pure shock, your boyfriend moved forward, groaning when you pushed your leg against his throbbing cock. He relished in the friction, slowly beginning to move against your leg, moaning when he began to rub against your leg. He began to hump your leg faster, as the pleasure began to build up in his body, before you reached your hand down to cup his length in your hands, moaning when you realized your fingers didn't quite meet. You ran your fingers along his length. You pumped him, letting your thumb circle his sensitive tip, eliciting a soft whine from him. You circled faster, moving down to your knees, and letting your tongue run up his shaft very softly. Above you, Lewis slammed his hands against the wall, groaning when you took him into your mouth.

But a part of him still wanted to cum inside when he was fucking you (in a condom, because wrap it before you tap it) so he pulled you back up, smirking when you whined. "I know baby, but I just really wanna fuck you now. Back on the bed please, unless you want me to take you here against this wall" practically running, you clambered onto the bed. You watched as Lewis pulled out a condom, ripping the packet open before climbing back on top of you. He let his hand rest on your hip, eyes temporarily losing some of the animalistic need that had been present in them. Leaning down, he connected your lips together in a kiss, a searing, intense kiss that took your breath away. "Ready love?" He asked, looking into your eyes, looking to see if there was even a slight hint that you didn't want this. But you did.

With a sudden jolt, he thrust himself into you, groaning when your warm walls clamped down on him. His hips thrust into you, starting off slow, letting you adjust to his massive length. "My sweet baby,taking me so well. Does it feel good?" You couldn't even respond, mouth agape, as his the pace of his thrusts increased. "Answer me" he said, suddenly stopping. Almost crying out at the loss of pleasure, you looked at him with desperation. "Yes yes, fuck it feels so good, please don't stop!" "Thats all you had to say baby" he said, before pushing in again, slowly. Then, he pulled back out. Looking at him in confusion, you gasped when he slammed back into you, a high pitched moan of "Lewis!" leaving your lips. He moved so that he had a better hold of your hips, rocking the both of you back and forth, the intensity of his thrusts was so much that the bed knocked back against the wall. What he wasn't expecting was for you to take his left thumb up to your mouth, running your tongue over it before sucking on it.

Moaning, he started thrusting into you even harder, shifting so that he was directly hitting your g spot. "Oh, God ! Oh fuck, Baby that feels so good please keep going keep-oh!" The cry that left your lips was so loud, you were sure Perrie in the room next to yours had heard you. "Fuck baby, you take me so well" Lewis said, as he nearly hammered your g spot. He was so, so damn close to cumming, and when you leant up and bit a sensitive spot on his neck, he came, gushing into the guard between you two, but he wanted you to cum to, so he reached down to pinch and rub your clit, still riding out his orgasm in you, moaning when you came with a scream. He winced when your core spasmed on his sensitive cock, and he pulled out slowly, before collapsing next to you. Panting, you curled up to him, letting your hand rest on his compass tattoo. "Okay that was Godlike" you said, earning a tired laugh from your lover.

"Yeah it really was. I missed you" he said, allowing you to nuzzle into his neck, leaning down to press a kiss to your forehead. "I missed you too" you replied, kissing the tattoo. "I love you too" As you lay there together, still revelling in the moment, your phone buzzed. Reaching over to check it, you saw your groupchat with the girls flooding with messages.

-*-*-

Perrie 🧚🏻‍♀️ - Y/N, I'm filing a noise complaint. 🍆

Jade ✨ - Pez 😂 let them be. It's been a while for her.

Leigh 🦋- She really got some tonight huh? 😏

Perrie 🧚🏻‍♀️- LOL she did !! And it was obviously some goooood 'some' *wink wink*

Jade ✨- I could hear em too, and Im on the other end of the hall.

Leigh 🦋 - I know I did too! Must be some damn good sex. 😏

Perrie 🧚🏻‍♀️ - Go Y/N !!

Jade ✨ - Can't wait till she reads this.

Perrie 🧚🏻‍♀️ - Are they still going?!

Leigh 🦋 - No 😂 she's reading the messages. Y/N!! Yoohoo!

You - yes I'm here 🖕🏽

Jade ✨ - Did you have fun babe 😏

You - ..... yes

Perrie 🧚🏻‍♀️ - babe you can't really say no because we heard you

You- Im not saying I didn't have fun. But you guys need to calm down.

Leigh 🦋 - But its funnn

You - okay byeeee ❤

Perrie 🧚🏻‍♀️ - Going for a round 2 😏?

You - okay I said bye.

Leigh 🦋 - she is !!

Jade ✨ - Go babe !

You - I need to leave this group.

Perrie 🧚🏻‍♀️ - No we love you !! ❤

Leigh 🦋 - Yeah don't leave us ❤

Jade ✨- Don't leave meee ! ❤

You - Haha I'd never leave you girls ❤ now bye.

Jade ✨ - bye babe !

Perrie 🧚🏻‍♀️ - bye you sexy minx 😏

Leigh - bye hun 💙

*-*-*

Smiling to yourself, you put your phone away, to see Lewis looking at you with a raised eyebrow. "Who was it?" "Just the girls" you said, cuddling back up to him. "What did they say?" Giggling, you looked up to him and kissed his neck. "They said they're going to file a noise complaint. And they asked me if we were going for a round two" "Were we really that loud?" He asked, looking at you in surprise. "Yeah, even Leigh heard us and she's at the end of the hall!" "Damn" Lewis said laughing. "Well," he said, looking at you again, with a cheeky look in his eye, "they were right about one thing" "And what is that?" You asked, smiling at him mischievously. "We are going for a round two"

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

@maxverstappenx @grandestrategia (because you are worth it 🦋💙)

[darylsgirl]

You know you want this

Request for non con :- Daryl and reader were previously in a relationship but Daryl broke up with her and left her hurting. But Daryl realises later on that he really wants to be with the reader so he goes to her place to talk to her, but she can't go through all that hurt again so she says no. This angers Daryl and he leaves and comes back drunk after some time. Then the non con part. But I also want the reader to come around after some time?Request two :  What about Norman edging the reader? Request three:  Can you do one where the reader tells Daryl she wants to try squirting and he’s down for it and she does it repeatedly so many time they just become addicted to it. Alexandria time.

Summary: Daryl breaks your heart after you let your feelings for him slip, Breaking you completely Spencer helps to put the pieces back together, Finally starting to feel like yourself again Daryl decides he wants you back and he’s not going to take no for an answer

A/N: Hey lovelies! Sorry this has taken me so long to write! I had a dream last night for another story so hopefully it won’t take as long for the next one! Thank you all for your patience! If you have any requests let me know! I’m always happy to add them to the list :) 

Hope you like this! Have a lovely day <3

Love Jen :)

Trigger Warning: Smut starts as Non-Consensual, Edging, Squirting, Violence, Eating disorder, Self deprecating thoughts. 18+ only please! 

                                           Masterlist

It had taken months to be able to look at his face without feeling your heart shattering, You had avoided him at every possible opportunity. Excusing yourself whenever he came into a room biting back the tears. 

When people had started to notice you moping around you knew you had to reserve your heart break for when you were alone, When you and Daryl had been together you had kept it a secret wanting to have something just for you both, Not wanting to share your secret happiness with others yet. You could see why he wanted too; he was a very secretive person not wanting to let anyone into his high walls. 

The trouble with this is when one night after over a year of spending the night in his arms you let it slip, Happily curled around him you’d told him you loved him. He instantly froze. 

“Go to sleep Y/N Ya drunk” He had muttered. When you woke in the morning he was gone leaving just a note on the bedside table “You can’t love me, Goodbye Y/N” 

Jumping out of bed you had searched for him around Alexandria to be told he had taken off hunting earlier that morning. When he finally came back he wouldn’t even look at you. You had followed him home desperately trying to get him to talk to you. 

“Please Daryl just talk to me! I know you feel the same way”  

“Nah, Go home Y/N I don’t love ya and I never asked yer to say ya loved me either!, Ya knew what this was” He sneered before slamming the door in your face. 

Hearing him say he didn’t love you was all it took for you to run home locking yourself inside for days, You tried to settle in the bed but his scent was everywhere. Dragging your pillow and a blanket from the bed you had curled up on the floor 

You stayed in the same position for days only moving when your bladder felt like hot knives were being poked through it. You’d heard as various people had come knocking to check on you but you just weren’t ready to see anyone yet.

When you did finally surface a week later you could feel your clothes falling more loosely around you, You were always slim but now you looked painfully so. Carol gave you a sad smile offering you a bottle of water that you took gratefully. Carol was the only person you thought had known about you and Daryl, She had never said anything but from the pitiful look she was giving you now, She must have known. 

“Why don’t I fix you something to eat Y/N” She offered, Her hand motioning to her house. You shook your head quickly. You couldn’t go there, That’s where he would be. 

“No” You croaked your voice raspy speaking for the first time in a week. “ I’m ok, I ate earlier” She raised her eyebrow not believing you but letting it go all the same. 

You spent your weeks like this only eating small amounts if you had no other choice than to accept, Feeling your clothes get looser and looser. 

Spencer had been the one to get you to eat a full meal for the first time, Sitting with you patiently at the cook out you had been reluctant to go to. He sat with you well after dark letting you eat at your own pace, While he filled the silence with idle chatter. 

You found yourself laughing at his stories, The sound startling you when it first came out a small smile crossing your lips. You stayed with him happily forgetting for a while. That was until you heard a loud snort from the other side of the table. 

Looking over your eyes met Daryl’s briefly, You hadn’t realised he was there listening to your entire conversation. Standing quickly you looked at Spencer “I’m sorry i have to go” 

Turning on your heel you ran towards your house. “Wait Y/N! Wait” Spencer said catching up to you within a few feet. You jumped in alarm when you felt his hand on your arm. 

“What's the rush? Hey listen, I was meaning to ask you. Can I make you dinner sometime?” You looked at him shocked not saying anything when he continued. 

“Just thought we could spend some time together, Yano just us.” You thought for a moment. 

He did seem to be a nice guy and he definitely wasn’t embarrassed about being with you.

Nodding slowly, you agreed not sure why he wanted to have dinner with you, making Spencer grin “Cool! Tomorrow? I’ll come by your place at 6 to get you?” 

Nodding again you let him give you a warm hug before turning again and heading straight for your house. 

Locking the door behind you, You let out a small smile, maybe this was what you needed to get over him, someone who seemed to care about you and might return your affections. 

The date had been nice and you had become a regular thing, He had taken to walking you to and from work holding your hand and smiling down at you every time his lips brushed yours to say goodbye. He had continued to be incredibly patient with you letting you warm up to him and letting your walls come down slowly. 

It wasn’t like it was with Daryl it wasn’t a passionate burning love, It was sweet, Caring and different. Your eating problems soon behind you with Spencer, Your heart still hadn’t fully recovered but he was doing a good job of trying to glue it back together. 

It still hurt every time you saw Daryl, His eyes starting lingering on you more now since you had gone public with Spencer. You tried to avoid his gaze, Reminding yourself of the hurt he had caused you and that it was Spencer who had picked up the pieces.

6pm was soon rolling around, Spencer and you had made this a regular thing every Friday you had a date night, You wanted tonight to be different, The more Daryl looked at you the more your lust for him was returning, You had to get him out of your head and give your all to this loving patient man.  

Pulling on the red figure hugging dress you found in the back of the closet you smoothed it down hoping it would signal to him that you were ready. Pulling your hair into a loose bun and picking out some loose wavy bits to hang around your face pulling the maroon lipstick out Daryl had found for you on a run.

You had only previously worn this in bed with Daryl, It was one of his kinks, He liked to see the lipstick smeared across his body where you had left your hot kisses. Making him increasingly harder when he saw the marks around his cock.

You felt your thighs brushing together feeling yourself heat up at these memories. Shaking your head you looked at yourself in the mirror smoothing the dress down nervously. You heard as Spencer knocked on the door. Applying the lipstick you smiled at yourself feeling hot, Before heading to the door. 

As you opened it you were shocked to see not Spencer but a very awkward looking Daryl standing in front of you, He didn’t ask if he could come inside before brushing past you into the living room. 

Your heart pounding in your chest you closed the door slowly following him timidly into the living room. 

Both in silence for a few minutes before you finally found your voice, “Wh...What are you doing here?” 

His eyes wandered over your body taking in your dress before staring at the lipstick. His eyes opened wide when he recognised it

His eyes looked pained now taking a deep breath “’m so fuckin stupid Y/N, I miss ya, I want ya back....For real....I want ya to be mine” 

Daryl had never been that forward with his feelings before. Your heart pounding in your chest, You wanted to fall back into his arms, But it wasn’t fair of him to ask that of you, This wasn’t fair at all. The anger bubbling up now, The fucking nerve of this man! 

“Get out” Shaking your head you felt the anger build “Get out Daryl! No, No you don’t get to do this!! You don’t get to see me happy and moving on, Trying to forget you and just think you can walk back in and it can go back to how it was!” 

“But....Y/N please. I-I” 

Cutting him off trying to cut the emotion from your voice “Spencer will be here any minute, Get the fuck out!” 

You took a step back as he started towards you, He watched as you flinched at his movements, Seeing the fear in your eyes. He was close too close, You could feel your body burning for him, It terrified you how much power this man had over you.

“Ya don’t have to be scared of me Y/N i wont hurt ya....Yer know that..” 

“Too late Daryl, You already did! GET OUT!” Pushing his chest harshly seemed to snap him out of it. Not saying another word he turned on his heel slamming the back door behind him. 

It took a few minutes to compose yourself, Grabbing the whiskey bottle from the cupboard you took a few deep swigs settling it back down and fixing what you thought was a convincing smile back on your face as someone knocked on the door again. 

Thank god, It was Spencer this time!” 

“Holy shit…… Sorry! Hey baby...,. You loook….. Incredible” Spencer said his jaw dropping when he saw you. 

Stifling your giggle you lent up kissing his cheek, Biting your lower lip slightly as you saw the Kiss mark on his face. The blush was rising in your cheeks the alcohol was definitely hitting you fast.

“Shall we” He asked, still in awe holding his arm out to you. Taking his arm you stepped out of the house closing the door behind you. The moment your feet hit the pavement, You almost walked straight into Daryl.  

“Watch where ya goin” He growled. Spencer feeling the tension put his arm around your shoulders protectively pulling you out of Daryl’s way into his chest. 

“C’mon babe, Dinner will be getting cold” You tore your eyes from Daryl’s turning your attention to Spencer as he kissed your hair. Smiling sweetly at him you let him pull you away down the street towards his house, Glancing backwards you saw that Daryl was glaring at you now with those dark eyes. Putting your arm around Spencer's back you tried to shake off his glare. 

He had looked pissed.. But what fucking right did he have to be upset? What did he think was going to happen? You were going to live the rest of your life as a nun moping around and starving yourself because of him?  Or that you would just forget all of it and just fall back into his eyes like the pathetic woman he thought you were? Fuck no! You tried not to let the anger build. 

During your meal you had tried to concentrate on Spencer but your mind kept wandering back to Daryl. You drank more that night than you had on any of your other dates trying to get up the courage to take things further. As you sat on the couch together kissing sweetly, You decided now was the time. 

Standing up you straddled his hips moving your dress up enough to give your legs space to move. Grabbing his face you kissed him eagerly. Moaning as his hands came to your thighs rubbing them gently before moving to the small of your back pulling your core and chest tight to him. 

Moving your lips now to his neck you kissed him hungrily. “Y/N….Y/N stop” 

Pushing away from him you looked at him confused “Why….?” 

“I really want you….REALLY want you but your so drunk!, it’s not right doing this now”

He saw the surprise and rejection in your eyes. Putting his hand in your hair he pressed your lips against his gently. 

“Baby I want to make love to you, So fucking much but not while your like this. But soon. I promise ok?”

You nodded giving him a small smile, He was a good guy and you appreciated that about him. 

“Guess i should go then…” You trailed off standing up from him and smoothing your dress back down. 

“Want me to walk you home babe?” 

Shaking your head “No it’s okay its only a block down i can manage” He stood walking you to the door he gave you one last kiss before wiping the slightly smeared lipstick from your face. Giggling you left. 

Walking slowly up the street enjoying the light breeze before sighing and heading into your house, Leaving the lights off you walked straight into your bedroom. 

That’s when you saw him. Lying on your bed, The same Jealous glare in his eyes. The previously full bottle of whiskey laying empty at his side.

“What the hell are you doing here Daryl?” You asked, trying to keep the nervousness out of your voice. 

“What are you doin with him?” he retorted standing up from the bed now. He walked slowly to you.

Stuttering “He’s my boyfriend… Why wouldn’t i be with him” 

“Ya fuckin mine! Not His!!Tell me Y/N Ya let him touch you?” 

“What fucking business it of yours, I told you to leave me alone!” You snapped. He was standing directly in front of your now so close you could feel the breath on your cheek. 

“You wanna be a whore, Walkin around with the likes of him, I’ll treat ya like a whore Y/N only had to ask….”

Leaning into you he pressed his mouth to your ear “Bet he can’t make yer feel as good as i can” 

You froze as you felt him now his hands pulling you to him kissing your neck feverishly. 

“Stop!” You cried putting your hands to his chest. “You don’t get to do this! Break my heart then think you can just what...Come in here and I’ll fall back into bed with you? Fuck you Dixon” Your voice full of venom. 

You heard the growl rise in his chest, “That’s the fuckin plan” He sneered down at you. 

Gripping your throat tightly he threw you onto the bed hands quick as lightning he pushed your skirt up revealing the lacy underwear you had put on for Spencer. Throwing his body onto yours he tried to kiss you. 

Panicked you bit his lip hard drawing blood “Get the fuck off me….What are you doing!! I’m with Spencer!” 

Wiping his lip he grinned at you “Still feisty Y/N Fuck Spencer. I’m gonna show ya what yer missin with him”

His voice now a low growl “You know you want this”

Putting his hand into your hair he gripped it tightly pulling your head back and keeping it in place while he attacked your neck again struggling against his body he kept you pinned.. 

“Daryl….Please...Please stop this!” You cried feeling the tears hit your eyes as his hand ripped your underwear from you. 

“Ya know ya want me Y/N Why else would you be wearin a dress like this, Or that lipstick i got ya. Stop fuckin fighting this, I need ya now, You need me too” His hand now undoing his own pants as his teeth bit harshly into your neck and chest. 

In one quick motion he was inside you. “See” he growled “So fuckin wet for me” At first you were ashamed of your body’s reaction to him, Then your mind started clouding feeling yourself get wetter and wetter. He pulled his teeth back now replacing it with warm wet kisses.

You couldn’t stop the moan that ripped from your throat as his huge member touched that delicious spot inside you making your chest arch to meet his. 

You felt him smirk against your neck. Feeling the fight leave your body being replaced by the pleasure he was giving you he released your hair and lightened the pressure he had on your arms. 

Instinctively you raised your arms to his neck tangling your fingers in his hair pulling his lips back to meet yours, Every part of your fight gone now. Just loving this feeling you had been denied for so long. 

He kissed you wildly, his tongue pushing into your mouth groaning into the kiss when your tongue danced with his. 

“Tell me how much ya love this cock Y/N” He growled lips moving back to your ear nibbling softly. 

Your eyes rolled into the back of your head at the sound of his voice feeling your body give in fully to him all thoughts of Spencer wiped fully from your head. 

“Tell me Y/N! Tell me how you love my cock more than Spencer’s” he demanded. At Spencer's name your eyes flashed back to his. 

“We didn’t….We never….Oh god Daryl!” You were so close. 

Tormentingly his hips stopped then. “What d’ya mean ya didn’t? Is he fuckin crazy...Look at you...Look at this fucking dress” His hands went back to the hem of your dress which was now lying haphazardly across your stomach. Lifting your torso slightly he pulled it free from you. 

“Oh god, Y/N I’ve missed this sexy fucking body” His head darting down to kiss your exposed breast, Groaning you felt him pull out of you his lips moving down your body. 

“Daryl please, I was so close!” You begged, Missing the incredible full feeling you had moments ago. 

Grinning up at you he ducked his head again running his tongue down and around your navel.  

“Stand up” He ordered. It took a moment for your legs to respond, Standing with him knelt in front of you, He kissed both of your hips before kissing you harshly on your aching bud. 

Licking from bottom to top a few times before starting to suckle softly at first then with growing intensity as his fingers found your heat, Once he had buried his fingers into you, You felt your knees growing weak again. Tangling your fingers into his hair and desperately pulling his incredible mouth closer as it swirled around whilst rocking against his fingers. His fingers curling inside you hitting your g-spot perfectly. 

Just as you were feeling that blissful heat about to explode he pulled his mouth away, Fighting with him slightly you tried to pull him back, Grinning up at you he tutted “Not yet Y/N.” Removing his fingers from you he stood pulling you with him and pushing you up against the back wall. 

Kissing you deeply and lightly brushing his fingers up and down your sides. You were panting heavily feeling the frustratingly close high fade away. Once your breath was back under control he knelt in front of you again.

“Trust me” His voice a dark gravel breath as he moved his body between your legs lifting one foot from the floor and putting it over his shoulder. 

He gave you a swift wink before grabbing the other leg and putting that over his other shoulder. His hands on your hips to steady you he stood with you on his shoulders, Bracing yourself hands on the ceiling you let out a surprised yelp. 

His teeth meeting the inside of your thigh. “Oh yes, Daryl!” you groaned. He turned his face nipping your other thigh before hungrily staring down his main target. 

His tongue darted out of his mouth resuming its earlier attack on your aching clit, “Ahh please Daryl!” You begged as you felt your self building straight back up instantly.

Your walls were clenching tighter and tighter desperate for this knot to be unwound. Arching your chest, your head hitting against the wall a squealing moan escaping your chest as he nibbled softly on you. 

Your breaths getting deeper as you got close again. And just like the other two times he pulled his mouth away. Manoeuvring you off his shoulders into his strong arms before dropping you back to the ground. 

Your pleasure quickly turning into a frustrated rage. “What the fuck Daryl!” You swiped your arm at him trying to hit him in the chest, Catching your arms lazily he smirked at you not saying anything. 

You could feel the tears of humiliation springing back to his eyes, turning away from him you wrapped your arms around your naked body. He had to be messing with you, This was cruel and if you were honest kind of painful. 

“Get the fuck out” you yelled towards the wall not wanting him to see just how frustrated you were. 

As his arms reached out for you, You felt the shift in his mood. At first you tried to shrug him away but he persisted pulling you into his chest. Leading you back to the bed he lay down next to you. 

Still not saying a word he kissed you again sweetly this time. Letting you open back up to him as he slowly crawled back over to you, Nudging your knees open his mouth still on yours as he entered you again. 

You looked at him nervously as he moved slowly not wanting to ignite that heat again, Worried he was going to take it from you again. 

Hearing the deep moans coming from his throat as he kissed you, You allowed yourself to just enjoy the moment. He felt so good. 

Every thrust was slow and deep, Filling you so completely like no one else ever could. He knew just how much you loved the slow torture. Moaning back for him you could feel your walls clenching down again. 

Separating your lips you tried to control your high and calm your body down. Daryl watched as you squirmed, your chest heaving with your deep breaths. 

Bringing his nose to your hair nuzzling it slightly before whispering “Cum for me Y/N” His eyes meeting yours, You prayed he was being sincere as you couldn’t hold it back much longer. 

His hand coming up to your chest tweaking your erect nipples as he started to move faster in you. 

“Oh fuck! Daryl” You whined, Your entire body feeling on fire as your every nerve responded to his words and actions. You felt a different type of pressure build in your groin, It was the sweetest pain you had ever felt. 

Your body started to violently shake as it felt like lightning was ripping through your heat. 

That’s when you felt it, It was like you had been paralysed as Daryl pulls out quickly replacing his throbbing cock with his fingers again. 

Curling them back up to your g-spot his other hand palming your clit. 

“OH FUCKKKKKK” you screamed as the first wave exploded through you. You could feel the waves of wetness exploding from you. Staring at Daryl incredulously he looked just as surprised as you did at your squirt. 

You didn’t know what the fuck was happening to you all you knew was that it was the most incredible feeling you had ever had. 

It seemed never ending as arc after arc of juices spilled out of you hitting his chest, His groin and soaking the bed. Pushing his desperate cock feverishly back into you, He hit into you harder than before. 

Your juices were still leaking around him as he cried out. “Holy Fuck Y/N! I love ya,Yer fucking incredible!” 

Your orgasm still ripping through you “Ah fuck Daryl!!!” You screamed as you felt it hit its highest point before your body started to slowly climb down. 

“Ahhhh Y/N. Fuck” He cried out again as you felt him explode deep into you, You didn’t have the cognitive ability to comprehend what he had just said as you were clinging to  his neck like you had just survived a tidal wave. 

Not sure how long you had both stayed that way you felt as the sheets under you turned freezing cold from your juices. 

Daryl moved off from you then pausing to kiss your forehead. Collapsing at the side of you it took him a few more minutes of deep breaths to compose himself. Both just lying there in stunned silence. 

“That was…” He mumbled. “Incredible” you finished still seeing stars. 

Turning to place a loving kiss on your lips. Your brain finally starting to work again. 

“Wait….Daryl did you say…?” He pulled an arm over his face, his cheeks glowing red. 

“Yah and what if i do?” He asked you slightly angrily. 

“You don’t Daryl, If you did you wouldn’t have left like you did” You could feel the pain returning to your chest, All those months pining after him not able to eat or sleep with his absence. 

“I do Y/N I just didn’ deserve ya, Didn’ want ya to fall for someone like me when you could have someone better for ya, Someone like Him” His arm still draped across his face not looking at you. 

This was the most you had ever heard him talk about his feelings, Lifting yourself just enough off the bed to move upwards to his eye level you moved his arm away from his face making him look at you. 

“I don’t want someone like him, You’re the best there is. I wanted you, And you broke me” 

He looked at you guiltily “It damn near broke me too Y/N” He whispered. 

The silence was awkward now, Giving you a small smile “We should uh get cleaned up, Didn’ know ya could do that....” he joked motioning at the juices still covering his chest. He got up and you tried to follow your legs instantly, going weak before you hit the floor. He caught you with a chuckle.

Pulling you in his arms he kissed you passionately moaning into his kiss you pulled back “I didn’t know i could do that either, Can we do it again?” You asked innocently, your eyes still closed. 

He sighed heavily “I want to do that every fucking...Day” He growled you felt his member stir between you. 

Carrying you to the shower and turning it on he set you down on your feet before taking you again and again. When you finally both came up for air you washed each other off and went back to the bedroom changing the sheets quickly and sinking into a happy blissful sleep with his arms wrapped around you tightly. 

Waking up the next morning you were surprised to find the bed cold when you reached out next to you. Grumbling you opened your eyes searching for him, Eyes locking on him as he was pacing by the end of the bed fully dressed. 

“Morning sugar” You grinned seeing him still with you,

“Good mornin Beautiful” He whispered. You let yourself bask in the happy morning glow. 

“Y/N…..Y/N ‘M so fuckin sorry. ‘M gonna go just waited till ya wer awake, Needed ya to know how sorry i am” His voice full of emotion, He had glanced over to you occasionally not meeting your eyes. 

You looked at him quizzically “Why are you sorry?” 

Coming and kneeling at the side of the bed, He grasped your hand desperately in both of his. 

“Ya know why Y/N I…..uh…..I” Stammering his words, his chest rising heavily, his grip on your hand starting to feel painful. 

“I fucking forced ya!” You heard the emotion run over now as the sobs racked his body. 

Not sure how to respond to this, You had to admit it sure started out that way but if you were being completely honest you had loved how rough he was with you, How much he needed you. The jealousy that overtook his whiskey addled brain. 

He stood ripping his hands off you which brought you back to reality. 

“I’ll go, I’ll leave ya don’ have ta see me again Y/N ‘m so sorry” 

“Noo!!” You half screamed throwing yourself up from the bed and towards him completely forgetting about your state of undress.

Your hands gripping at his vest desperately, “No please! Daryl Please!! Don’t leave me i won’t survive it again, You can’t leave me” You were begging now trying to get his eyes to meet yours. 

He finally gave in seeing the pain on your face. You shivered slightly and he immediately wrapped you in his arms holding you to his chest, His heart pounding in time with yours. 

“But i...i….i hurt ya Y/N, I fuckin hurt ya.”

“No you didn’t Daryl. Look at me i’m fine! I’m ok! Please don’t leave! I just got you back” 

“I am lookin at ya!” He growled. Pulling you towards the bathroom he pushed you in front of the mirror. “Look!!” He half yelled. 

Letting a sharp gasp escape as you looked at your appearance. You were covered in bruises. There were clear finger marks on your neck, Marks from his teeth there too.

Looking down the bruises trailed across your hips with a few on your thighs. 

After assessing them for a moment and determining that none of them actually hurt, The longer you looked the more you remembered about how those bruises got there. Biting your lip you turned to look at him. 

Wrapping your hands around his waist, “Daryl really i’m ok! I bruise super easy, they look worse than they are, I promise. You didn’t hurt me.” Your voice dropping to a whisper “I want a repeat of last night, It was incredible” Feeling your cheeks flush you saw him looking at you incredulously. 

Pulling away from him slowly you walked backwards towards the bed keeping your eyes on him, You could see the internal struggle as he internally fought with himself. 

“C’mere baby i need you” You purred. Grinning as you saw the better side of him win, He rushed over covering your body with his kissing you feverishly, Lying you much more gently on the bed this time. Moaning into his mouth when your tongues met. 

This man was a 100 different types of perfection, His clothes hitting the floor desperate to feel your skin on his again. 

“For fuck sake!!!!” you whimpered as someone started knocking on the door. Panic in your chest as you tried to remember if you locked the door. Daryl stood quickly pulling his jeans back on swiftly.

“Y/N? Y/N you okay love?” He called through your locked front door.

Sitting up quickly and pulling the blanket around your chest hiding your body from his view. 

You hand covering your mouth it was Spencer, God he couldn’t find you like this. You felt tears spring to your eyes as you realised the depth of your betrayal. 

“Oh god, What am I going to tell him, He’s such a good guy and I did this. I’m scum!” 

Daryl scoffed “He ain’t a good guy Y/N and yer aint scum, Yer worth ‘undred of him!” 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” 

“Exactly what i said, He aint a good guy. Yer don’t wanna hear it Y/N”

Pulling the blanket tighter around your body

“Don’t tell me what i want to hear, Tell me now!” 

Daryl looked completely away from you running his hand through his hair, his other hand balling into a fist. 

“He had a bet Y/N, Him and that asshole brother of his, On how long it would take him to bed ya, Said he were gonna let his brother have ya when he was done. Ta up the stakes he bet he could make ya fall in love with him first…” He trailed off his anger palpable. 

The shock evident on your face, You had trusted him, Thought he had really cared but you were just a bet to him? Fuck this! 

Daryl was hot on your heels as you ran full speed down the stairs and to the door. Ripping it open Spencer had just hit the bottom step as you appeared. 

“Hey baby…” Looking from your face to the blanket wrapped around your naked body. He took the steps back two at a time. “Mmm should i join you” He winked. Stopping just before the door he took in your appearance. 

The amusement dropped from his face as he saw the bruises “Babe what the hell happened? Are you ok?” 

Letting the fury show on your face you pushed the door open wider revealing the shirtless Daryl behind you “Yeah im great! Sorry you're too late asshole, Guess you lost the bet huh?” You spat with as much venom as you could. 

Daryl took a protective step towards you now as Spencer got closer. 

“What the fuck Y/N what the fuck is he doing here? Did he do that?” 

Raising your voice so the crowd gathering on the street could hear. “Don’t fucking start Spencer! I know all about your little bet!! You were going to trick me into falling for you, Fuck you and then hand me off to your brother? Who the fuck do you think you are? You and your brother can go fuck each other.” 

Humiliated Spencer snapped his false demeanour vanishing “So you let the dirty old Redneck fuck you eh? You really will fuck anyone won’t you!” Glancing between you and Daryl. Daryl moving forward and wrapping an arm around you ready to move you out of the way if this got any worse.

“You can keep the bitch, She’ll have fucked half the town soon enough Buddy. Just what Alexandria needed a whore who will drop her pants for anyone if they give her a drink, Tried to fuck me last night too had to pry the dirty bitch off” he spat. 

You couldn’t have held him back if you had wanted to, Daryl had flung himself at Spencer knocking him down the steps onto the street and straight on his ass. Straddling his hips he rained blow after blow, blood pouring from Spencer's face a mess of blood when Rick and Abe finally managed to pull him off.

Yelling at Spencer who was starting to get up timidly looking like he was about to hide behind his mother. 

“I ever hear ya talk about Y/N that way again i’ll fuckin kill ya! Ya fuckin hear me!!! Yer or yer fuckin dumbass brother so much as look at my woman again they’ll be no savin ya!” 

Pulling himself out of Rick’s and Abe’s grasp for a moment he threw a hard kick in the direction of Spencer's head. 

“Daryl Stop!! He’s not worth it!” Your voice shaking as you tried to get Daryl’s attention, placing your hand gently on his cheek he stopped fighting. 

“I ain’t lettin him talk to ya like that Y/N!” He almost whined trying to excuse himself. 

“I know baby, But it’s ok he aint worth it! You taught him his lesson, I love you, I’m yours! Let’s go back inside!” Very aware now of all the eyes on you both, You still in just a blanket and Daryl only in his Jeans. 

Daryl’s eyes softened pulling away from Abe and Rick again he pulled you to him.

“I love ya Y/N Ya are mine and now all these pricks know it” He half chuckled. 

“C’mon, I’d like to get back to our earlier activities before this prick interrupted” Giggling as his eyes grew dark. Throwing a dirty look at Spencer you let Daryl throw you over his shoulder, His arms clamped around the blanket to cover your body.

He ran with you back up the stairs. You heard as Abe guffawed letting out a wolf whistle as Daryl slammed the door behind you both, Moving to the curtains he slammed them shut. 

As he turned back to you, You dropped the towel swaying your hips as you walked over to him. 

“Show me how your’s i am Daryl” You purred forgetting all about the incident just moments ago. 

Your bodies collided, He showed you every spare moment he had just how much you belonged to each other, You couldn’t have even dreamt of how happy you were together. Spencer never hassled you again not even looking in your direction after that day, Much to Daryl’s amusement. 

His group had accepted you as family instantly. Never once questioning your love just embracing it.

Even though the situation that brought you both back together hadn’t been ideal you couldn’t help the grin on your face every time he drank whiskey. 

Thank god for Whiskey and Daryl fucking Dixon. 

                                                   Masterlist

Taglist <3 

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[kaiparker-avengerssmut]

Their Doll 8

Let me in

B.Barnes x Reader, S.Rogers x Stark!Reader

series synopsis:  y/n Stark, all records of her non existent, and yet Hydra still find her. When she is kidnapped by a certain super-soldier and no one believes her, she finds herself searching for unexpected familiarity in her not-so-distant past.

Series Warnings: smut, violence, torture, swearing

Chapter Summary: y/n gets emotional

Warnings: swearing, feelings

A/n: The timeline in this has been altered, as there I things I wanted to include but I also wanted this fic to follow the storyline/timeline of Winter Soldier and Civil war.So for purposes of this fanfic, Peter Parker was discovered by Tony at a much younger age - when he was bitten - and has been an intern with him since, almost like a protégée.(For the purposes of this story Peter was bitten much younger too - more like when he was 9 or ten rather than 14/15)

Masterlist | Series Masterlist

Life at the tower was...tiring, to say the least. During my free time I often found myself in the gym, lobbing knives at a target and trying my hardest not to biting one in Steve's chest every time he would correct my technique. When I wasn't trying to murder the avenger in cold blood, I was usually dragged into things by the other: briefings and debriefing for missions I'd never go on, my dad's parties, group training sessions and study periods with Bruce in his labs to name a few.

But for now, I was huddled in my rooms - fresh out of a hot shower after a brutal two hour training session and four mile run with Natasha - curled up on my bed and attempting to catch up on a few of the films I'd missed. But the exhaustion and drowsiness clouded my eyes, the noise from the TV merely in the background as I felt my eyes growing heavier by the second.

A sharp knock at the door snapped my out of my lowsey state, the people movie across the screen simple a blur of colour as my eyes darted past the tv and over to the door.

"Mr Stark is waiting at your door. Would you like me to let him in?" FRIDAY's evenly calm voice chimed, making me groan and mumble a 'no' into my pillows. The last person I wanted to see right now was my dad.

"Come on kid, let me in." My dad called from the other side of the door, and I could practically hear him roll his eyes and shake his head when I stayed silent. When he spoke again, it wasn't directed at me. "FRIDAY, override command and open the door."

"Wait! That's hardly fair!" I whined like a five year old, groaning again when the door swung open and my dad stood on the other side, quite clearly just as exhausted as I was.

"Get used to it, kiddo. Life isn't fair." Tony chided, walking over to my bed. I tried to shuffle away slightly when I felt the bed dip, my dad perching on the edge as his eyes scanned over the room. "I see you haven't decorated yet." He commented casually, as if nothing had ever happened between us.

"Yeah, well, I thought It'd be a shame to spend so much time on something when you're probably waiting to kick me out anyway." I mumbled, refusing to look at him.

"What the hell is wrong with you, y/n? Ever since you got back you've been-"

"Acting different?" I cut in, and when Tony simply swallowed thickly I nodded. "Funny that, seeing as I was kidnapped and tortured for three years. Not to mention made to kill people for another year after that."

"Y/n I'm sorry..."

"But you're not! You can't be, otherwise you'd actually have tried to save me, rather than leaving me to rot!" My voice cracked, tears pricked at my eyes and I now sat up straight in my bed, facing my dad but not looking him in the eye. "And you can't change that, you can't go back in the past and fix your mistake. And trying to fix it now sure as hell won't work, so I suggest you leave before I'm tempted to use you as my target for my training session tomorrow." I raised my voice, eyes now keeping his captive as the tears rolled freely down my cheeks.

"Oh, kid, they broke you." Tony murmured, cupping my cheek with his hand, eyes swimming with sorrow. Sorrow that I didn't want.

"You can't fix me either, because I'm not broken!" I said harsher now, voice only getting louder. "I don't need to be fixed..." I trailed off, voice barely above a whisper Joe as my eyes broke the contact, averting to my lap as the tears dropped onto the bed sheets.

That's how I found myself in my fathers arms, face pressed against his shoulder as the sobs made my body shake, hiccups escaping me as I tried to speak.

"A-all I needed W-was my D-dad, and yo- you took him f-from me!" I wailed, hands clutching my dad's shirt and his arms wrapped protectively around my shoulder, hands rubbing circles over my back soothingly.

"I know, kiddo. I'm sorry."

...

"Who is that?" Clint frowned, staring at the pictures scattered over the table in front of Natasha and Steve as they studied them deeply,  brows creased in thought.

"Our newest pain in the ass." Tony answered for them, slapping a thick folder down in front of Clint as he said so. The marksman was quick to pick it up, flicking through the documents, news stories and information sheets greedily.

"The...winter soldier?" He asked, looking at the three superheroes in front of him as if they'd gone mad. "But he's a ghost story!"

"I've seen him. Been shot by him, actually." Nat said, an sadistically proud smirk forming on her lips with her last words, almost as if it were an achievement.

"We're trying to find out more about him, maybe that way we can beat him." Steve explained, sitting back in his chair with crossed arms as he huffed in defeat, sick to death with staring at the same five pictures all morning.

Y/n walked in, a skip in her step as she crossed the room to Tony.

"Morning, dad." She greeted, placing a quick kiss to his cheek and heading over to the cupboard to grab a mug. Clint and Natasha frowned in confusion, looking between the two as if they'd witnessed pigs fly.

Tony shrugged, y/n too preoccupied with making herself a coffee to notice the avengers' reactions. When her coffee was done, y/n swiped her mug from under the machine and sipped happily, letting out a content sigh before wandering over to stand behind Natasha.

"What are you working on?" She asked, peering over the spy's shoulder to get a glimpse of the pictures.

A loud smash crashed through the room, Tony's eyes widening in shock and Natasha jumping from her seat in order to not get covered in spilt coffee. Y/n stood paralysed, eyes never leaving the photo in front of her as she started at the Soldier. Steve frowned deeply, studying the girl as her eyes glossed over with with what seemed to be...sadness.

Clint was already at her side, a comforting hand on her shoulder as they all asked y/n what had happened and if she was alright. It was like a constant ringing in her ear interrupted their words before they reached her ears, and y/n suddenly felt nauseous as she starred at the bright red star on the soldier's arm, his long and messy dark hair shrouding his face and his leather clad, muscular body. Only his cerulean blue eyes could be seen, the rest of his face covered in a black mask she didn't usually see him in.

"I-I need some air." She stuttered, stumbling blindly out of the room and down the stairs, tipping over a few steps from the bottom and tumbling down the last few. She quickly pulled herself to her feet, hearing still ringing and vision offset, hazy, as she scrambled for the double glass doors. Luckily they already stood open, so she flew through them and out into the busy streets of New York.

Y/n found herself colliding will someone almost instantly, angry shouts of 'hey, watch it!' And 'look where the fuck you're going, kid!' Being called after her like a chorus as she pushed through the bustling people.

She finally stopped, dropping to her knees and simply staring straight ahead, no intended subject in her line of vision as she tried to comprehend the-the grief, at seeing the a soldier's face again.

It had only been two weeks, and yet two weeks without him, his touch, his scent - it felt like an eternity to y/n now. She hasn't registered what her feeling meant for him before, liking him beyond a source of comfort had just felt...wrong, after all he'd done, and yet y/n couldn't deny it.

She was in love with the Winter Soldier, and she didn't even know his name.

...

I wasn't aware of when someone had found me, nor of how they got me back to the tower or even how I was now stood staring blankly out of the window that stood next to my bed. I gazed longingly, almost as if I stared long enough, hard enough, he'd appear.

But of course he wouldn't, he was probably half way across the world, knowing HYDRA. A soft knock on my door and my head was turning, facing my visitor with a look of pure grief and want. Desperate, unhinged want that could eat you up from inside out and you'd still feel it.

"Hey, y/n. Can I talk to you for a moment?" Nat asked tentatively, clearing trying to to disturb my shaken up state. I nodded, offering a small smile which she returned as I now faced her. She walked up to me, talking my hands him hers and playing with the as she spoke, eyes kind and full of understanding.

"There's a mission, and we want you to go." She said calmly, almost as if the mere thought of it would send me into some kind of heart attack.

"Okay," I begun, eyes flitting down to the floor before back up again. "What is it? Aren't you scared that I'm still HYDRA and all I'd do is stab someone in the back?"

"Not exactly." Nat informed me with a smile, amusement glinting in her eyes at my assumption. "For starters, we all trust you, well maybe not steve - but everyone else does." Nat and I both laughed slightly. "And I think you wouldn't have it any other way it to go on the mission yourself." Nat finished.

"How come?" I asked, brow raised.

"There's been a lead..." she started. "On the winter soldier. We thought you might want to help check it out, possibly capture him. Your powers may be the best chance we have a detaining someone as strong as him." Nat spoke. "And if we can detain him.."

"We can save him." I finished.

"Exactly."

[oswaldsleftbicep]

lucia, levy, & mikael going to a haunted house with their gn!so

sndkjsdhf so i'm stupid and accidentally posted this before it was done and then i panicked and copied the text and then just deleted the whole post which in turn deleted the ask, so to whoever requested this i'm sorry!!

the request: OKAY how about going on a haunted house with Lucia, Levy and Mikael.. That would be fun

ok now i'll just paste what i originally wrote :)

idc if it's march, halloween is all the time; this takes place in modern times btw, and i interpreted this ask as like a fake haunted house attraction, so if you want to read them going to a real haunted house with actual ghosts lmk!!

genre: fluff, crack, angst if you like really squint

cw: slight language, descriptions of blood and gore but not too detailed

Lucia

❧ as soon as he heard about a local haunted house attraction opening up, he was begging you to go with him

❧ whether you like those kinds of things or not, you went with him

❧ the attraction was at this old run down hotel think hell house llc but without the demons and it had a kid friendly tour and an adult tour

❧ the adult tour was later at night obviously so y'all had to wait a bit; the place was pretty busy so you're kinda glad he made y'all come like two hours early

❧ as you get further up the line you can hear the screams from inside the building and ngl you're getting kinda nervous

❧ lucia notices this and he's like "don't worry babe, i got you, i'll protect you, you got your big strong handsome boyfriend here to protect you"

❧ so your turn comes, and how it's set up is that each group goes in alone, like one at a time type thing, so it's just the two of you alone in this house

❧ he's holding your hand to comfort you and is kinda leading the way

❧ but then the first scare comes, it's just a girl with bloody makeup and she pops on out of a door, screaming bloody murder; not the scariest but lucia's grip on your hand tightens a bit lol

❧ the next couple of rooms aren't too bad, just more visual gore stuff like fake human parts and blood, some creepy looking people just standing and lurking

❧ y'all go upstairs and look around, and there's an actor who comes out of a room and just follows the two of you for a bit which puts lucia on edge cuz he doesn't like being followed that closely

❧ but she eventually stops and goes into another room, and just as lucia breathes a sigh of relief, bam! a new actor pops out of nowhere and rushes at the two of you

❧ this makes him let out a bit of a yelp as he ushers the two of you into the nearest room; you tease him a bit, asking if he was scared, but he brushes it off saying he was just looking out for you

❧ ok so the upstairs part is done and y'all go back downstairs for the last few rooms, and you hear a noise in one room and go off to check it out

❧ lucia is only a few steps behind you but it's still too far and the door separating the rooms slams shut and locks the two of you away from one another

❧ he's trying to keep his cool like "haha very funny, unlock the door" but he can hear that you aren't able; again, he's trying to keep his cool since this is all part of the tour

❧ but then he hears a loud, machine like noise and you start screaming

❧ now he's really trying to get this door down, but it ain't budging

❧ it's only when you stop screaming and house has gone quiet that the door opens, and he rushes into the room and looks around for you, but he can't find you anywhere

❧ he's genuinely in a bit of a panic cuz he knows haunted attractions like this are full of shady people and dangerous places and you're just gone, this is the last room too so there's nowhere for you to go but out and they don't let you out unless the entire group is together

❧ so he's looking in the cupboards and the closets and under a table, with no luck

❧ and then someone comes up behind him and jumps on his back, yelling absolute gibberish and now he's screaming cuz wtf??

❧ and then the person starts laughing

❧ it's you lmao

❧ the one place he didn't look was behind the door he came through, and you had apparently teamed up with the actor last minute to scare him there's a secret door that the actors go through so that's why the actor was gone

❧ he's so upset lmao, he's embarrassed and scared and worried and pissed at you for scaring him

❧ so he just scoffs, grabs your hand, and leads the two of you through the exit and back outside while you laugh your ass off at him

❧ overall, he's pretty good with haunted attractions, he only gets scared a couple of times and his main focus is on making sure you're okay

❧ i guess it's like he gets more creeped out than actually scared, but when he does get scared his reactions are pretty good

Levy

❧ you're totally the one that dragged him to going to a field of screams type attraction, so a large scale, open air attraction with lots of scares

❧ he was less than thrilled to go, cuz even though he's into battles and war history, he's pretty squeamish and not a fan of horror

❧ so you compromise and promise to go early so it's still light outside and not as scary

❧ but you hadn't anticipated how popular the site would be, like the place was packed so even though you got there like an hour before it opens, the line was already pretty long

❧ which meant that when you finally got to the front of the line, the sun had already begun to set

❧ levy's not mad cuz it's not your fault for it being so crowded and taking so long, but the longer the two of you stay in line and listen to the noises and screams, the more nervous he gets

❧ it also doesn't help that there are a few actors that walk up and down the line to keep the crowd entertained, and their way of entertaining is scaring and messing with people

❧ and after a long while of suffering and torment on his end, you get to the front of the line and finally get to enter the field

❧ he's reassured by the fact that the actors can't touch the patrons cuz he does not want to get closer to these people than he needs to lol

❧ most of them just stand in one place like in a cage or they pace back and forth in front of a pile of remains, which levy is fine with, he can handle that cuz he can just look away and keep walking

❧ then there's the actors that actually come up to you and walk with you while yelling things and acting crazy

❧ levy likes this a bit less, like he's already walking pretty fast, he's a few steps ahead of you at all times, so when these actors match his pace he has to hold himself back from straight up sprinting away

❧ the only reasons he doesn't run through the whole tour is because he doesn't want to leave you too far behind and he doesn't want to look like even more of a wimp lol

❧ he probably even answers back to the actors like: "why don't you come with me, i could use your help with something" "no thank you." "your skin would make a reallyy nice shirt" "it really wouldn't."

❧ and then you get to the last section of the tour

❧ the exit is right there, you can see the lights of the parking lot, but standing in between the two of you and the exit is a man holding a chainsaw. great.

❧ the man starts up the chainsaw and he's just standing there, menacingly, watching the two of you carefully

❧ levy backs up a few steps to stand next to you and grabs your hand for the first time this entire tour

❧ the man starts walking to the two of you slowly, and levy tells you that on his signal the two of you should run around the guy and toward the exit

❧ but just as he was about to give the signal, the actor charges toward the two of you at full speed, pulling his chainsaw back as if he was going to swing as soon as he got to the two of you

❧ you were thinking that now was y'all's chance to run for the exit, but to your surprise levy pushes you behind him so that he's between you and chainsaw guy, he's got his arms spread out and everything so that he's putting as much of him between you and the danger

❧ you think this is super sweet and chivalrous of him, but the exit is wide open now so you just grab this fool's arm and run the two of you over to the exit

❧ the chainsaw guy was going too fast to turn around quick and properly enough to chase after y'all, not to mention the chainsaw was heavy and bulky which slowed him down even more

❧ so the two of you were able to make it through the exit unscathed and y'all stop to catch your breaths about a hundred feet from the exit lol

❧ once y'all calm down a bit, he grabs your hand gently and leads the two of you to his car so y'all can get the hell out of there

❧ he totally doesn't want to talk about anything that happened in the tour, especially how scared he was, but there's an unspoken appreciation between the two of you for keeping one another safe

❧ overall, he's awful with these kinds of things, he gets scared so easily and has a terrible time, but when it comes down to it, your safety is always above his own

Mikael

❧ ok so there's a little historical site nearby that does a haunted attraction every year for tourism and you wanted to go check it out

❧ but you knew mikael would never go to one of those, so you decide to bring out your secret weapon: ricardo and noel

❧ you told mikael that the three of you had planned to go to this thing but people have to go in groups of two at a time so it would be better if he came along too so he could keep you company

❧ he was hesitant at first but when you told him it'd either be you alone, paired up with ricardo or noel, or paired up with some random guy, he was like "ok fine i'll go *eye roll*" lol jealous much?

❧ so the four of you get to the place, and the lines aren't too long so y'all get to the front real quick, ricardo and noel go through first

❧ it's a classy looking haunted attraction, nothing too gory or childish, but instead kinda gothic and lowkey

❧ but when you get inside it's a whole different story

❧ the reason you could only go in groups of two is because the halls are narrow as hell; it's an old site and everything is cramped and cold

❧ but they somehow managed to fit the actors into really good hiding spots

❧ there were some under tables that would grab at feet and ankles while crying out, there was even a couple pinned up to the walls

❧ when y'all started out, you were leading the way with mikael trailing loosely behind you; you offered your hand to him but he declined cuz he was grumpy lol

❧ ok so the hall gets to a point where it branches off into two paths and there's an actor keeping guard; they tell you to each go down a separate path, that one of them was safe and the other was "dangerous" and basically full of scares

❧ so y'all pick your paths and head down them

❧ you picked the safe one, all it had was scary decor and sound effects, and one side of the hall has a one way mirror, so you can see mikael and like walk with him in a way

❧ poor mikael tho, he picked the scary one

❧ he thought it was weird that the hall suddenly got wider, and that the door slammed shut behind him, and that it was completely lined with mirrors

❧ but he brushed it off and kept walking calmly forward, although he could feel eyes on him the whole time

❧ as he walks down he can't help but glance toward the mirrors a few times, only seeing his reflection

❧ that is, until he sees something else

❧ there's a gap in the middle of the mirror on one side and standing in that gap is a person in a cloak

❧ weird right? but mikael decides to keep walking, but the cloak person follows him

❧ they're scarily close to him and out of the corner of his eye he sees in the mirror that the cloak person has unsheathed a blade of some sort and starts raising it up

❧ so mikael's like "oh shit" and starts running, but this cloak person runs after him, always just a few steps behind

❧ the hall seems to go on forever, like y'all are in the catacombs or something, and every now and then there's gaps in the wall of mirrors that hold a new cloaked person, and one by one they all join in on the chase

❧ so it's mikael just being chased by like seven cloaked people down this extensive hallway for a solid two minutes

❧ and then finally, finally, he sees the exit, that glorious rectangle of light shining into the dimmed hall, and he bursts through the door, panting with his hands on his knees

❧ you meet up with him shortly after, having run along with him on the other side of the mirror so you're kinda out of breath too

❧ you ask if he's alright and all he does is glare at you like "that sucked, why did you bring me" lol

❧ and right as he finally catches his breath and stands upright, wham! someone grabs him from behind with a yell and scares the hell out of him

❧ it's ricardo

❧ he and noel saw the two of you exit and he wanted to scare mikael a bit, noel tried to tell him no but he did it anyway smh

❧ after ricardo gets a smack to the head, the four of you head home

❧ overall, he's pretty nonchalant about the whole ordeal but he trusts his gut feelings; if his instincts are telling him somethings off he'll listen, otherwise he'll just be chilling

❧ you better tell him a happy, fun story to get his mind off of what he went through or he'll have dreams about being chased for days

[artisqueer]

RetroBangBoy AU - The Hangover (ao3)

Notes: 

hang·o·ver /ˈhaNGˌōvər/ noun 1. a thing that has survived from the past. Example: "a hangover from the fifties" 2. a severe headache or other after-effects caused by an excessive intake of alcohol or drugs

Characters: OT7

Word Count: 2.3k

Warnings: Brief mentions of alcohol.

Jungkook wakes up parched, hungry, and with a pounding in his head. He pushes the covers off his face and down his chest. His long fluffy hair standing from the static of the sheets. He stretches out his arms above his head, dragging out a groggy yawn. It feels like he’s just woken up from a century-long nap. He looks up past his hands outstretched in the air. The posters above his bed are the same. He looks down, past his bare feet at the bottom of the bed. His drum set, books, and gadgets are all in their place too.

Huh…what year is it?

A heavy thump on the other side of the wall startles him out of bed. The crash is immediately followed by a low moan. Jungkook dashes out to the hall where Yoongi is already standing at the entrance of the bedroom next door. His eldest roommate chuckles behind a mug of coffee, head tilted 90 degrees to the side. Jungkook peers inside the room to see the source of the ruckus, his round head naturally tilts to the side as well. They both stand in the doorway, observing their housemate, Namjoon.

On the floor, upside down, legs folded over his shoulders.

“Where are we?” he asks as he looks up at them from between his thighs.

Yoongi shuffles back to the kitchen, holding his head in pain. “It looks like we’re not in Jeju anymore…” His voice is raspy and deep.

***

Jungkook’s round eyes bounce back and forth across their house, looking for clues to explain their current predicament. His head is throbbing with pain too. He suddenly remembers his thirst and runs to the kitchen for water.

Once Namjoon has restored himself to a perpendicular position, he joins them in the kitchen too.

“Why does my head hurt? Did we get shit-faced last night?” Jungkook groans into the kitchen counter.

“I can’t remember,” Yoongi grimaces between gulps of coffee.

“Is it a week-day? We have never gone out on a school night… I would never go out on a school night!” Namjoon folds his thick arms across his chest and blinks. “I’m so hungry.”

Jungkook turns away from the sink and his eyes pop at the sight. A whole ass meal, complaining about the lack of a meal...in the kitchen of all places. pls.

“Me too. We better go out for food. There’s nothing to eat here.” Yoongi says with very little energy.

“How can that be? I always stock up on groceries!” Namjoon frantically checks the cabinets and cupboards, finding them all bare.

“What the hell did we do?” The two eldest housemates look at one another, dumbfounded. Jungkook leans into the kitchen wall, aggressively chewing on his thumb. He's nervous, eyes big and wide. He opens his mouth to speak when the phone rings.

Ring ring ring.

Namjoon answers it, rather desperately. “Hello?”

“Good, you’re home.” The voice on the other end breathes out a sigh of relief. “It’s me. Taehyung. Emergency meeting. Your place. Now!”

***

“So, we’re all blacked out from yesterday. We have the worst hangover of our lives. And Bighead and Jin are missing…” Jungkook repeats as he paces back and forth the living room.

Hoseok enters the breakfast nook and sets down an extra-large pan of sunny side eggs and sausage. He steps back before the starved men wipe it clean.

“What’s gotten into you? You’re all so hungry today,” Hoseok scorns them as a smile grows on his lips. He’s thrilled that he finally gets to cook for them. Jin normally does all the cooking.

“You’re not going to eat?” Jimin asks him from behind a mouth full of food.

“I just don’t feel hungry,” Hoseok shrugs. He wipes his hands on his apron. “I brought us enough groceries to last through the week, so eat well.” Oddly, Hoseok has more energy than everyone in the room put together.

Taehyung speaks from the head of the table. “Guys, we’re not all blacked out—which is why I called everyone here..."

They look up at him from their plates, still eating like the food will be taken away if they stop.

"I remember everything.”

Jungkook interrupts. “Wait. Has anyone checked the date?!” He wiggles out of his chair and nearly trips running to the front porch, where the Sunday paper should be.

Having just eaten to the brim, Yoongi yawns and casually turns on the TV set, out of habit. The display does something completely new. Huh, TVs don't have color? Jimin and Hoseok are most mesmerized by this, moving to sit at the foot of the screen as a Coca-Cola commercial plays:

It's more than taste,

Bigger than a name,

As big as your best times,

As good as your best friends,

As real as the way you feel…

Jungkook runs back with the newspaper all spread out into disarray like his long dark hair. “Um…guys?”

There’s a long pause in the room.

“We’re not in the fifties anymore…”

What—

Their wide eyes look from him to the television and back. There’s only one thing that could mean coming from Jungkook…and it’s not good.

“We, uh, must’ve jumped twenty-seven years into the future,” he scratches the back of his round head. “It’s...1985.”

Taehyung clears his throat. “You guys will need to sit down for this. I can explain.”

***

They gather in the living room. Namjoon and Yoongi take up the couch, Jungkook sits on the floor between them, and Hoseok and Jimin share the love seat.

Taehyung’s knack for taking pictures and love for journalism make him a natural storyteller. His fine hands sway in the air as he talks. “You all have varying degrees of memory loss. For some very strange reason, I can remember everything that’s happened to us in the last 48 hours.”

Tae recounts their field trip and the events leading up to the portal inside the Manjjanggul Lava tube. How Jin wanted to hide the portal from the lab, Heaven Inc., but Jungkook wanted to destroy it. How Namjoon, Hoseok, Jimin, and Yoongi stormed the cave clearing as Jungkook was opening the portal gate. How Namjoon and Jin fought each other as the cave collapsed. And most importantly, how they were all unexpectedly pulled into the warp after Jungkook. All, except Jin and their beloved Bighead.

Their memories start coming back to them, piece by piece. Oddly, it’s as though only Taehyung could trigger their recollections.

“I don’t understand.” Namjoon finds his glasses and puts them on. Suddenly, he looks more like a professor than a biker. Big-tiddied mathematician. “Why is Taehyung the only one who remembers what happened?”

Taehyung thinks for a moment before an unusual blush forms at his cheeks. “Probably ‘cause I appreciate art. So, I remembered.”

“Uhm, ok. And why doesn’t Hoseok have hangover symptoms like the rest of us?” Yoongi crosses his arms, which seemingly grew thicker in the micro-span of the jump.

Hoseok vibrates from his place next to Jimin. His bright smile radiating through the room. “Ooh, I know I know. ‘Cause I’m your hope! Everyone was totally beat, but I could give you my energy. Like sunshine to a dying plant or light at the end of a dark tunnel or a—”

“—mOtH tO a FlAmE,” the rest mock. Apparently, no one forgot Hoseok’s notorious house party pick-up lines. They all laugh.

Could this be? Do some of the jocks have certain abilities now? What about the bikers?

“We have another problem: where is Sweetcheeks, and Seokjin?” Taehyung seems frustrated.

“And another problem: why did we all get warped with Jungkook in the first place?” Jimin pouts. “What about our families, and my—”

“—Cat! Your cat! Cats have nine lives. For three they play, for three they stray and for the last three, they stay. Why...did I just say that? It feels so familiar, so stran—” Yoongi stops talking out loud, resorting to mumbling to himself instead. He quickly grabs the paper from Jungkook and begins searching it for something.

The others continue to talk over each other, flooded with their worries and bits of things they’re starting to remember. The upcoming homecoming game, the unattended house parties, mourning parents, exams, etc.

“Quiet!” Namjoon’s clear and booming voice silences the room.

“I don’t know,” Jungkook fiddles with his tattooed fingers. “I-I don’t know why I dragged you all here with me. That’s what I have to figure out. I will figure it out. I promise. I’m worried too. If Bighead and Jin didn’t get warped here with us, maybe they, they ended up in a different d—” they sit in silence, thinking the worst.

“No no, that can’t be,” Namjoon reassures. “Given everyone’s memory lapse and their expert recklessness, they may have just wandered off.”

“We have to go back,” Jungkook says. “We have to go back to 1958.”

“How? We’re stuck here,” Yoongi deadpans, his nose still in the paper.

“Actually,” Jimin recalls, “on my way over here I stopped by the coffee shop…and um…well my boss didn’t recognize me at all. He didn’t even know my name.” Jimin’s worries grow. It’s unlike Jimin to walk down the street without a single greeting. He is—was—very popular.

“It's starting to make sense...” Jungkook says under his breath.

“What does, Jungkook.” Namjoon’s jaw does the thing.

“People don’t recognize us in this place because,” he pauses, “because we’re not from here. I don’t mean this town, I mean, this dimension.”

Namjoon presses a finger to his lips, thinking.

“We should pick new names and find temporary jobs. To blend in. We can't go back to school, we don't have identification. We need the money anyway,” Yoongi advises, “to support ourselves while Jungkook figures out a way back.” Yoongi seems to have become incredibly wiser after the jump. He peels the paper apart, pen in hand, circling jobs from the employment section. He looks up from the paper again. “How did I know to say that?”

“Whoa, are you like, a genius now?” Jimin sasses, as much to tease him as to distract from the impending doom that is being stuck in the future.

“No.” Yoongi scoffs, withholding a severe blush. “It’s like I’ve read all the books at the library, and lived nine lives since we left 1958. I just, know things.”

Namjoon nods in agreement. “It’s the best plan we’ve got. If twenty-seven years have passed since our “disappearance”, then our sudden re-emergence could bring unwanted attention, or worse…”

“Could someone still be looking for us after all years?” Jimin asks Tae. Hoseok instantly understands and wraps him in a comforting embrace.

“We need to sort this out as quietly as possible. Let’s keep low profiles until we figure out a way to get back to 1958. I don’t want us to get tangled in loose ends.” Namjoon sighs somberly. Being the leader of the biker gang has made him a suitable leader for whatever mish-mosh-of-a-gang this is now. “We’re in a different dimension and we don’t entirely know what that means. It could be dangerous, but as long as we stick together we will be okay. My priority is to keep us all safe.”

At this declaration, all eyes sparkle. Especially, Jungkook’s.

“I got us here, Joon. You can trust me to find us a way home,” Jungkook gets up from the floor, making for the door.

“Stop!” Jimin interrupts. “We can’t go out dressed like this.”

They look down at their clothes. They are still in their 50s outfits.

“What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?” Yoongi puts down the paper and pouts.

Hoseok pounces off the sofa, “YES! New clothes…get up get up! We’re off to the mall!” He tosses his apron aside and leads them out the front door. Namjoon and Yoongi groan, dragging their feet toward the back of the group.

Jungkook smiles ear to ear. Maybe the world is not quite right, but everything he truly wants is right here with him.

[we-dragons]

I'm from a different dimension actually Chapter 5 Damian x reader

Pulled away to another world, Y/N uses magic science and a Little bird to help her get back home and possibly be rid of an apocalyptic event. "So, will you succumb to your doubts completely or step into the sun of this new world?"

" A few days, but I didn't expect the entire week, thank god for Molly." The emotional stress I had felt in the beginning influenced the behavior of the scales on my skin it took more hot water and hydrogen peroxide than I had originally would have needed. Even after all that, my skin was turned ashen and my breath was so shallow that Nightmare could lap from it as if it was his water bowl. The scales I have removed were not ready for healing uses yet, at least not for another three days. Nightmare had remained at my side barely even moving from his spot curled up on the pillow next to mine, the only time he moved is when Molly came over. Molly would drop off the homework, she told me she took the written project to Damian and he was ready to deliver it when it was due in 10 days from now. Molly would come by every day at 4, made sure I and Nightmare ate and rested well, told me about herself self and left. And I thank god I'm feeling better after all of that.

Today was Friday and I still wasn't feeling the best even after she left, Nightmare crawled up onto my lap while I had sat on the couch watching the news. I never liked watching the news but considering that I had an unexpected visitor I had hoped to find out more. I'm not disappointed, Vigilanties that appear in Gotham with the exception of Nightwing who occasionally visited from Blüdhaven the sister city of Gotham, and the character Red Hood an anti-hero who fights for his own needs, he arrived in Gotham a few years ago and became a crime fighter. Then there were the other three, Red robin seen with the dynamic duo Batman and Robin, seen all over Gotham. All of them well known and on the news constantly in a large group even that fight bad guys of all sorts a from a clown, to plant creatures and more.

"Wow their just like them." I feel a wave of nostalgia float over me, I remember what it was like at home. In Minnesota. With the tall evergreens and the marvelous lilacs that mom would grow in our backyard, my family, and friends. Everything at least before all the drama in New York happened. "Dear God, I'm becoming an over-sentimental sad sack I can't think of them now, not yet." I get up from my seat to head to the kitchen Nightmare jumping off me when I hear a knock from my balcony. I continue my walk to the kitchen to peer out at it, I didn't see anything there even so I open it. Nightmare runs out before me hissing at something on the left.

"Nightmare what are you-Oh...." Robin stares at me from the railing of the balcony. He's leaning back on it a scornful look upon his face. Confusion settles in me as I just stare at him.

"Are you sick?" He asks walking to me while doing so.

"Y-yeah I was out too long in the rain." He stops just in front of me.

"Don't you bring an umbrella with you?"

"Not that day," I clear my throat a little. "why are you here?" He pauses as if coming up with the reason shocks even himself. He arches his arm back behind his back, slowly moving his arm out.

"My box! So you did take it," I exclaim grabbing the box tenderly opeining the lid, I smile sadly looking at the glinting scales inside the box. " did they help you." I look back up, his faces move to confusion.

"I stole them from you and you're asking me if they helped me?"

"Well, you also needed it more than me, and I can see it did wonders. Your up and running again." I start hacking for a strait minute and grab onto the railing. I look up to the door moving to pick up Nightmare. "Would you like to come in for some tea," NIghtmare squirms in my arms jumping out when I enter the kitchen from the balcony. I open the cupboard and pull out the only three kinds of tea I have, setting aside the box with the X on it. "There's peppermint, cinnamon chai, and pumpkin if your interested." He stares at me from the entryway.

"No thank you," He says " I need to leave, I wasn't supposed to be here anyway." I set the pot on the stove anyway and pull out the pumpkin tea and my favorite mug with Arab henna designs decorating even the inside. I look back to the outside, he is still standing in the entryway shifting uncomfortably.

"You Know, the fact that you haven't left yet contradicts your own words, Robin." I pour the hot water over my tea while I wait for him to answer. He stirs slightly moving back and forth on his feet.

"I'll come back tomorrow," I spit out my tea.

"What didn't you say you weren't supposed to be here?"

He shrugs pulling a grappling hook from his belt and swang off. If I wasn't feeling so sick and had just spat out some tea causing me to cough some more, I would have gone after him. I just stared out through the night air as the familiar feeling of dread washed over me, I close the door to the outside and look at the box. NIghtmare gave me a look moving the box and pawing the X on the top.

"We can't call him yet, didn't you hear, their back. If I call him now it compromises everything they have worked for," I pick up the box and move over to the couch, Nightmare followed suit, we both laid down, me clutching the box. "We can't do anything yet anyway, it violates the treaty. We have to wait for the first kill."

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

True to his word he came back, he arrived sometime after Molly left, I don't know exactly when he arrived but I know it wasn't long. It was 2 pm when Molly forced meds in my mouth and put me to sleep. It was 2:40 when I heard him clatter in my kitchen nearly killing him with the broom. He was making tea he brought, he told me that he said it works for sore throats, even though it's just lemon juice, water, and honey.

" You realize this is twice you have broken and entered into my home right?" He tsked crossing his arms from his where he is seated across from me.

"The first time was not on purpose."

"I mean you did break my window."

"I crashed through it."

"Pretty sure that there was broken glass I had to pull out of you and sweep off my floor." I laugh for a little bit while he grunts in his seat in front of me.

"Hey why are you here anyway, You dropped off my box, you're healed up why are you back?"

He moves forward resting his arms on the table. "what do you know about the Crows?"

My mug shatters the pieces scattered on the floor, my hands are shaking and that feeling of dread washes over me again.

"Oops sorry, my hands must have slipped even as I'm feeling better I see I didn't recover all my strength, haha..." I stand up to get the broom.

"They killed three people that day," I froze turning to Nightmare who was resting on the counter, his ears are folded back, his hair also standing on end." six were maimed they were monsters that said their names in the third person. They said they are looking for 'the scaled one' and I believe they are looking for you." The air becomes cold around us to a literal point where I can see my breath.

"They drew first blood," The words finally sink in my fears had manifested themselves, I know that I should have guessed it when I saw him but I had hoped they weren't going to be in physical form yet. I rush to my closet pull another box out from the top, a black box big enough to hold a dress, bearing the same markings as the smaller one. I bring it to the table Robin and I are seated at and set it down pulling off the top.

"How much do you know about The Crows already?" I begin pulling out the things inside one by one, recalling their names and what they are for, looking for my com piece.

"That's what I'm asking you, what is all this?"

"They come from an interdimensional planetary void, The Crow where once a proud and advance society until the gave up their freedom for more knowledge, Jal-sein holds their control now. They are dangerous and they are after the very thing that nearly killed everyone on my earth. Ah! Found it!" I move to my living room pushing away my coffee table setting it on the ground making sure there is enough space. Robin had moved up from the kitchen a worried look set on his face.

"What is Jal-sein? What is this other earth aren't you from Minnesota?"

"Yep but here's the thing," I press the silver X on the com and it starts calling, lights flicker in the room from the device as the figure forms."I'm from another dimension actually."

The figure in the holographic com finalizes and I smile at the old man I see.

"Hello Y/N, I suppose they have found you then? It good to see you even in such circumstances?" His voice is grim and shallow, he sounds older than usual and his head is covered with a silver helmet with tubes coming from it.

"Yes, they have, It"s good to see you, Professor X."

[beebubbly]

Made for loving you

AN- I thought I would post this after writing If you ever come back.

Set in the time jump of Book 2.

Ethan wasn't sure what he expected when Casey had text him asking for him to wait for her after his shift at the hospital.

He was exhausted from the many patients they had seen come into the free clinic since they decided to focus all their efforts to helping as many people as possible before Edenbrook shut.

"Hey" a voice came through the open window of his car as hands slapped onto the roof making the attending jump slightly.

"Jesus, are you trying to give me a heart attack?" he asked looking up to see Casey grinning down at him.

"Just keeping you on your toes old man" Casey replied before she circled the car and opened the door sliding into the passenger seat.

"Old man? That's not the impression I got at the gala" Ethan shot back at her as he started the engine.

"Mhhh" Casey hummed softly as she brushed a strand of hair from her face.

Ethan was a little concerned by the lack of reply from the younger doctor but he didn't comment on it, instead he concentrated on pulling out of the car parking space.

"So, where are we going?" Ethan asked her, glancing at Casey for a second before turning his attention back to the front.

"You can take me home, I just wanted to spend a little more time with you especially since we hardly get to see each other at the hospital"

Ethan gently took Casey's soft, small hand in his larger one, tentivly linking their fingers together.

"I know, I wish we could but with everything going on we need to focus on helping as many people as we can" Ethan said softly.

Casey gave his hand a small reassuring squeeze.

"I know and I'm glad we're doing all we can, I love helping so many people..." Casey trailed off biting her lip as she turned her gaze to look out of her window.

"But?" Ethan prompted gently.

"But, I'm exhausted and by the time our shifts finish we're too tried to spend time together"

"I understand" Ethan said softly. He brought their joined hands to his lips and placed a soft kiss to her knuckles.

They fell into a comfortable silence as Ethan drove, he glanced at Casey from time to time, but her attention remained on the window next to her.

"This isn't the way to my apartment" Casey said suddenly as Ethan turned the car to the left.

"It's not, I thought we'd go back to mine"

"Wait? Seriously? I can't go to yours, I have to shower and get some sleep for tomorrow's shift" Casey said turning to look at the attending.

"So? You can do all that at my place, and I get more time with you this way" Ethan gave her a soft smile.

Casey smiled brightly at his words, she couldn't believe he was actually suggesting she stayed at his place when they had work in the morning.

Once inside the apartment, Ethan ordered Casey to take a shower while he ordered take out for them before he made a start on some paperwork.

Absorbed in the task, Ethan was surprised when he felt arms around his shoulders and the smell of his shampoo filled filled nose.

"Are you planning on working all evening?" Casey asked placing a kiss to his cheek.

"Paperwork can wait" Ethan replied as he turned in his seat to wrap his arms around Casey's waist.

"Good, because I'd go home if that was the case" Casey quipped with a smirk as she ran her hands through his soft hair.

"I'm not letting you go anywhere" Ethan muttered into her chest, he felt her laugh vibrate through him.

He noted that she was wearing one of his white shirts, it fell to her knees and her legs were bare.

Just then the buzzer went making Ethan sigh and pull away from Casey. He went and paid for the take out and returned to find Casey in the kitchen.

She was standing on her tiptoes reaching up into one of the cupboards where he kept the wine glasses. Placing the food onto the counter, Ethan moved behind Casey and effortlessly reached around her to get the glasses. He pressed his body close to hers as he lowered his arm and placed the glass on the counter top.

"Why thank you Dr Ramsey" Casey smiled turning around to wrap her arms around his neck as his hands went to her waist.

"You're welcome Dr Valentine" he whispered back as she leaned in and placed a soft kiss to his lips.

Before he could deepen the kiss Casey pulled back and fall back onto her heels giving him a soft smile.

"We should leave that for later, or our food will go cold"

"I can think of something else I can eat" Ethan said in a gravily tone into her ear, his breath tickling her ear.

"Seems I've become a bad influence on you, Ethan" Casey chuckled lightly as his fingers squeezed her waist.

"Hmm, it appears so"

Casey wriggled from his grasp and moved around the taller man before she grabbed the take out bag.

The pair comfortably moved in sync as they dished out food and poured each other some wine. They settled down on Ethan's couch and Ethan put on a movie for them to watch.

Once they had eaten and Ethan had cleaned the dishes, they settled down on the couch to finish the movie. Casey moved so she could settle on Ethan's chest. Ethan moved to lay down and his arms wrapped around her.

Ethan felt his chest warm at the feeling of Casey in his arms. He gently ran a hand up and down her back as the credits began to roll. Neither of them moved, too comfy and too tired to head to bed.

Ethan gently kissed the top of Casey's head as he closed his eyes. It had been too long since they could relax, and after everything they had been though together... Ethan couldn't imagine life without Casey in it.

It was if she was made for loving him, she was the light in his dark and gloomy world, stuck in a rut of revolving interns making the same mistakes again and again.

Right here in the moment, Ethan realised he had everything he needed to be happy.

[mshermia]

There... And Back Again?

Febuwhum2021 Day 12 - Who Are You

Summary:

For decades, Tony managed to lock his childhood memories away, never to be talked about again, but with the daughter he adored getting older and more curious, with the boy who he pulled back into his life as nothing less than a son, there were questions coming up, that Tony couldn't suppress any longer.

The Stark's drive upstate to the old Masion where Tony grew up. To Tony's horror, the trip takes him and the kids a lot further down memory lane than anyone could have predicted.

Read on AO3

--------------------

Part I

"Wait, you've never been there either?" Peter's voice rang clearly surprised.

"Nope," Morgan bubbled cheerfully, then paused. "Is that weird?"

They had left New York City about an hour ago. Super conveniently, Pepper had to attend an emergency meeting and sent Tony ahead with the kids on this trip from hell, which was great. Just great. Tony was only about 45% sure that she had set it up like this, forcing him to engage. He'd had little say in the matter as the fateful trip was arranged. A trip to his ancestral home. With a hyper-active Spider-kid and a chaotic 6-year-old in the back seat, it would be his hardest part playing 'Respectable Adult' to deliver yet.

Peter - to Tony's horror - had asked to be picked up on Bleeker Street instead of the Parker's apartment in Queens. It wasn't the first time that Tony had heard the odd clue that Peter had grown interested in what they were doing in that Sanctum. He would need to have a bit of a talk with Strange when they got back. The kid dabbling in witchcraft - or whatever it was those dudes were up to in the Sanctum - that just wouldn't do.

His eyes on the road, even with the excited voices chattering in the backseat, Tony couldn't help but hold onto his gloom. He had missed his window of opportunity. In all honesty, Tony had just been a coward, hoping that if he ignored every little mention of his parents, they'd just stay in the deep hole where he had buried all those memories years ago. Decades ago.

First, it had been pain and anger that had kept him determined to keep all of it hidden there. Years, he had carried all that baggage like a ball and chain around his ankle, the weight of it dragging him down for too long, never really allowing him to just let go of the past.

There had been moments along the way, that had lit up these flames before. When Tony had found out about how his parents had really died. The Snap and the loss that followed. Morgan's birth, when he had held his baby girl, while Pepper was sleeping, recovering from labor.

What wouldn't he have given for his mom to live to see Morgan, to hold her. To just be there and tell him what to do, how to do right by this little girl. Both of his girls, really. 

At the same time, there were no words for the relief he felt that his father would never get the chance to touch Morgan. Would never get the opportunity to make either of his kids feel inadequate and small. To make them hate their lives like he had always made Tony hate his.

Howard would never get the chance to do that to his kids. And that sure felt like liberation.

There was a single portrait of his mother on the wall out in the hallway of the cabin right next to the black and white wedding picture of Pepper's parents. When they brought Morgan home from the hospital, Tony added another portrait. One of his father that still sat behind the framed picture of Tony and Peter in the kitchen cupboard. It was there as an ever-present reminder for Tony just in case, so he'd remember every day what he didn't want to be.

Tony had managed to suppress the topic of his parents, the good and the bad. But he didn't want to be trapped in the labyrinth of right and wrong anymore. Just sick of holding onto the pain. It was all too much.

So maybe the cracks had started with him, but Morgan had surely been a catalyst.

It took a few more years though till Tony had to outright confront what he had kept at a safe distance for so long. With the daughter he adored getting older and more curious, with the boy who he pulled back into his life as nothing less than a son, there were questions coming up, that Tony couldn't suppress any longer.

Howard Stark. The Titan. Maria Stark, the quiet, good soul. The anchor in Tony's youth. There came a time when the kids couldn't be held back with empty words, that had just not been enough to nip the whole topic in the bud. Maybe because Tony had never been the kind of father that would cut his kids' excitement and curiosity off like that. Maybe he could at least pretend that this was the father he had truly become. The patient and giving kind. There was still a chance that he could fake this, sell it just right so that the kids would never know what a disappointment he had been to his own parents. So that his kids would never know the coldness and heartache that had been the baseline of his childhood and adolescence.

Darkness had fallen shortly after they had left the city. What had hung as a heavy fog in Manhattan had quickly turned into even nastier weather, storm clouds gathering ready to wreak havoc. But the spirits in the car were high. Despite the dread Tony was trying to hide at the very prospect of this trip, the kids sure amused themself looking up the old house on the internet.

"Whoa! That's huge," Peter gasped. "How many rooms is that?" 

"Let me see, let me see," Morgan begged. Judging by the commotion in the back, she was trying to wrangle the phone out of Peter's hand. "Whoa!"

Tony couldn't help but smirk at how she imitated Peter more and more often.

"Daddy, why have we never been to the Mansion?"

Tony cringed. He hated it when people called it that. The Mansion. It was what his father had called it, though it had probably been for the best since it had surely never been a home, at least not for Tony.

"We've been waiting for you to be old enough to clean it. It's a lot of rooms." He found the kids' eyes in the review mirror. "A lot!"

Morgan wrinkled her nose. "Why do I have to do the cleaning?"

"That job is always for the youngest sibling," Peter jumped in.

"But... but that's not fair! It's a lot of rooms!" She gasped, excitement nevertheless vibrating off her. "Maybe Doctor Strange knows a cleaning spell."

Peter spluttered out a laugh, but Morgan was adamant, grilling Peter for everything he had already learned from the wizard, which - at least so he claimed and Tony could only hope it was true - was nothing really. It wasn't until Peter gave in and spun Morgan a tale about ancient rituals, of witches and spirits that he had allegedly read about at the Sanctum that she stopped interrupting and hung on every single word. It was also the point where Tony once again regretted that his girl had ever even heard of Strange and his godforsaken Sanctum.

"It only happens every few millennia." Peter had turned towards her, his voice drowning out the rain that was pattering against the roof of the car, but not so much the soft thunder in the distance. "It happens when the sun reaches just the right position in the sky, its beams able to penetrate the earth's crusts and open the door to the underworld. It was in one of those nights when witches and ghosts formed their first secret pact, bringing back to life things and creatures that have been dead for a long time and--"

"Pete, seriously..." Tony looked up into the review mirror trying to catch his eye. "Can you not? I don't want Morgan up all night, terrified of some dumb ghosts."

"Come on, it's just a story, Tony. Morgan knows I made it all up, right?" Peter winked at her, then wiggled his eyebrows in a way that seemed kind of familiar.

"Yeah, daddy." But Morgan was full-on ignoring Tony, her eyes on Peter trying to imitate the wink and wiggly eyebrows he had just sent her way. "It's just a story."

He could do little more than groan as Peter continued to spin a tale of spirits and witches, ancient pacts and promises that had to be kept, ransoms that the spirits had vowed to retrieve.

"It was a night very much like tonight," Peter continued, his voice low and full of dreadful foreboding, "that the witches broke that pact they had signed with the blood of the innocent..."

Morgan's gasp morphed into a giddy giggle while Tony could only rub a hand across his brow and mumbled, "Blood of the innocent, give me a fucking break..."

But if either of the kids had heard, they weren't interested in his opinion.

"...and the spirits, they vowed to come back and settle the score one day. One day when the sun and moon would once again be perfectly aligned with the door to the underworld..."

"When did the moon become a part of this?" Tony braced his elbow against the window frame, cradling his head.

"...then they will come back and collect the price that they were promised so many centuries ago."

"What's the price?" Morgan whispered.

"The soul of mankind's bravest hero to punish humanity once and forever. The soul of the hero, that this world can't endure without."

Morgan gasped while Tony rolled his eyes hard enough to potentially sprain some eye muscles.

"In fact..." Peter hesitated, then drew in a deep breath, slamming his lips shut.

"What," Morgan asked, her voice slightly trembling with what Tony could only pray was excitement still.

"In fact, the way the moon and stars are aligned right now, it... it would suggest that the sun--"

Morgan gasped again and Tony was losing his last nerve.

"It's raining harder than it has in like 10 years," Tony groaned. "How could you possibly be able to tell how the moon and stars are aligned, huh? The sun went down 3 hours ago!"

"It's the vibes of the cosmos, Tony. I can feel them. Their energy calls onto me." Peter caught his eyes in the review mirror, sending him a looked that vibed a different message. Something like 'Why are you ruining this for me, man?' Then his eyes found Morgan again. "I feel like... like tonight might be the night. Tonight might--"

There was a flash of lightning that clearly wanted to turn the night into day, a strong current of energy that split the sky in two, followed by a massive bang and deep growling thunder. 

Tony bolted upright in his seat, both hands now clutching the steering wheel as the car skidded across the drenched road onto the other lane before Tony countersteered and brought it back under control. Morgan was shrieking like a banshee in the backseat. At least she didn't catch the imaginative chain of curses that slipped over Tony's lips as he brought the car to a sudden stop. He spun around still panting, darting his eyes from one kid to the other.

"You guys okay?"

"Jeezes, Tony!" Peter panted, his face a little white. Morgan had immediately leaned over to him, both arms wrapped around his torso. "I didn't realize you were this freaked out by witches and spirits."

"There is no such thing as witches and spirits," Tony hissed through his teeth. His shoulders slumping with a deep exhale, he reached out for Morgan's leg, petting her in an attempt to make light of this. "You okay, Morguna?"

She nodded into Peter's chest. Her eyes were wide, shock clearly still clinging to her. In fact, she looked like she was only moments away from crying.

On a whim, Tony figured his only chance to turn this around was to just lean into the ghost stuff. Despite his still trembling knees, he plastered a wide grin on his lips and wiggled his fingers in the universal warning of a tickle attack. 

"Well, just wait till the ghosts come and get you then."

Peter - jumping right into the abyss with him - pulled Morgan tight, tickling her sides, and like a miracle she didn't cry but burst out laughing as hard as he had ever seen her, squirming against her seat belt. Neither of them could resist joining into her joy and the shock from just moments before slowly slipped away. 

Blowing out a deep breath of relief, Tony turned his eyes back on the road. It was time to just freaking get there. Get it over with. They were only half an hour away from the Stark Mansion. The closer they got, the darker the night seemed to turn. The trees were growing closer and closer to the road. There were fewer crossings that lead off to other towns, other houses. The Stark Mansion had after all been picked by his father first and foremost for its secluded location. Hard to get there, hard to get away.

It wasn't just the world outside the car that took a darker turn. The mood inside of it was slowly deteriorating too. Another glance in the review mirror confirmed that Morgan was still snuggled tightly against Peter, her eyes open wide, staring into the void. Peter had a hand in her hair, softly combing through it, his own gaze turned to the woods that stretched along either side of the road. The rain was still strong, drumming on the roof of the car.

15 more minutes. The kids would feel a whole lot better once they were there, some hot chocolate to calm the nerves - maybe with a pinch of rum for Tony's own - and by the time the sun would rise the next day, by the time Pepper would get there to help him with this mess, everything would be alright.

It turned out, that that next morning would not come as fast as Tony had wished for. The rain had still been lashing as he carried his exhausted, strung up little girl through the doors of the large mansion. Even as he sat her down in her pajamas in the ensuite of his old room to blowdry her rain-soaked hair, the mood was still foul. Not even the hot chocolate she was clutching seemed to make a difference.

"But I don't want to go to bed," she whined.

"It's already past 11 pm, Morguna. Look at you, you're all cranky. You need your sleep."

"But I don't want to." Big tears rolled down her cheeks, bambi-eyes turned up at Tony. "Daddy, please don't go." She hiccoughed stumbling through the words. "Please. The spirits will come and get you."

"On honey, baby..." He pulled her close against him, not failing to send a fiery glance at the Spiderling who was lingering in the door frame sporting a rosy flush on his cheeks. "That was just a story. Peter made that all up because you wanted to hear a scary story."

"It's true, Morg." To his credit, Peter was fast to slip into the bathroom and crouch down in front of Morgan. "I just made it up. It's not true at all."

"But the lightning," she sobbed into Tony's chest. "It was the door to the underworld that opened back up!"

"That was just pure coincidence! There are no wizards, no ghosts—"

"But Doctor Strange is a wizard. You said he's a wizard." Her little hands still clung to Tony's shirt, but slowly she peeked out from under Tony's arm at Peter.

"But... but that's different, erm..." Peter scratched his head looking to Tony for help.

"He's a good wizard, bambina," Tony tried. "You know the... universe-saving kind." He cringed at his own uselessness. "Come on now, you're just tired. Everything will be just fine in the morning, you'll see."

Between the two of them, they managed to get Morgan into bed at least, but it wasn't until Peter volunteered to sleep in her room for the night that Morgan was finally settling down. Tony pressed a long kiss against her forehead as he knelt next to the bed, letting her pull him close once again until his knees protested and he pushed himself back to his feet. By the time Tony had reached the door of the room, turned off the light, and shot a last glance at his kids, Morgan had already guilted Peter into slipping under the covers on the narrow bed, snuggling against him.

It was moments like this that made it all worth it. All of it. Moments, he had never been supposed to see, would have never been able to cherish if it hadn't been for his brave boy who had pulled him back to this life. Who had given him another chance.

"Love you, kids. Sleep tight."

Morgan's eyes were already closed, as she hummed an affirmative mumbled response that Tony could only decipher as "me too, daddy" because he had heard it so often. Peter squinted at him, his lips pulled into a smirk.

"Night, dad," he purred overly dramatic.

They weren't quite there yet. Peter never called him that unless it could be loosely interpreted as him playing along with either the jokes and teases the team made or for Morgan's sake who had by now unequivocally embraced him as her older brother. Still, Tony made sure that there never was any doubt about what his own feelings on the matter were. He loved the kid like he was his own. And Peter was his in every way that mattered.

The house was already getting to him. Tony didn't seem to be able to stop his thoughts drifting to his parents. He couldn't help but think of his mom. He wished that she could have seen those two rascals. Just as much, Tony would have loved to rub a moment like this in Howard's face. His father would have been mortified, scandalized even and Tony would have lapped up every second of it, bathing in the satisfaction that he didn't let that man break him. That he didn't care what Howard's bullshit parenting had tried to beat out of him. 

It took all the strength and adult responsibility for Tony to close the door and not lean into his mushy feelings. He would just rile the kids back up, the way he was craving another big hug and mumbled declarations of eternal love. It had been a long day, a difficult drive. He just needed to get some shut-eye himself. His feet carried him down the dark corridor but he paused in front of the large authentic walnut door to the master bedroom. 

It had been his parents' room for many years. In fact, Tony had never spent a night in there, not even as a kid. It would have been unthinkable for him to crawl into this room in the dead of the night during a storm like the one that was raging above them, or after he had been woken by a nightmare. No, a Stark was supposed to toughen it out. He was supposed to become a leader. Leaders didn't cry. They didn't whine either. Composure and class didn't include clinging to his mother's apron strings, let alone looking for comfort from his father.

A heavy lump in his throat, Tony reached for the doorknob but before his hand even touched it, he turned away. There had been enough talk of ghosts for one day. He could face those particular once another night. Preferably with Pepper by his side. Instead, his feet carried him back to the end of the hallway where he hit the stairs that brought him all the way down to his father's old workshop.

It was the one part of the house he hadn't had Pepper completely remodel. As he settled at his father's old workbench and wiped away decades of dust from the surface, Tony couldn't help but think of his old man. Of how different things would have been if the old bastard had been a little different. If he had at least tried and—

He pushed the thought away. What did it matter? All that was over with. Done and done. It was down there in the old armchair that stood by the open fireplace that Tony hadn't bothered to light that he fell asleep for the night.

Quiet knocking sounds woke him the next morning. For a second, cold dread had him freeze in the chair until he remembered. The Mansion. The trip. The kids were still upstairs probably up already, looking for him. Tony didn't hesitate. His limbs hurt from the odd angle but he would have to make sure not to mention any of it or there would be one of Pepper's lectures on sleeping on things that weren't designated sleeping surfaces.

The stairs leading up from the basement seemed to drag on and on but with every step, his muscles woke up a little more, felt a little more alive. Still, he took a short break to stretch in the landing, to shake the needles pricking his muscles from his legs, before he climbed up into the first floor to make sure the kids weren't already up to their usual shenanigans. As he arched his back and blew out a groan, he spotted a large picture frame on the sideboard right next to the stairs. Like a sack of rice, he imploded mid-stretch, reaching for the picture.  

"What the..."

It was a family portrait. His mother, Howard, and little Tony. Smiles on all their faces. Decked out in their best suits. It made him want to gag from all the fakeness just looking at it.

"But..." Tony frowned. He had gotten rid of those. Had Pepper... no she wouldn't, would she? He had been clear that he didn't want any of these around.

There was a high pitched scream echoing through the hall. The frame slipped from Tony's hands and shattered on the floor as he sprinted up the stairs, forgotten all the aches from last night's uneasy sleep.

He pushed open the door to his old room, expecting blood or broken bones, but instead, he found his little girl on the bed, squirming in laughter. Next to her on the floor, Peter was holding his stomach, tears in his eyes while he could barely breathe from how hard he was laughing.

It took Tony a second to reboot his brain and realize what Peter was pointing at. "Sweet Jesus..."

There was a portrait on the far wall of the room. A portrait, well, that implied some form of artful expression, no. There was an abomination that covered half the wall. A painting his parents had commissioned when he had been roughly Morgan's age. A painting that he was sure, he had burned more than 30 years ago.

Tony's mouth was flapping open and close but he had no word.

"Daddy, is that really you?" Morgan sat up straight, eyes shining with utter joy. "You were so cute! Look at your hair! It's all so... curly!"

"No wonder you didn't want us to turn up the lights last night." Peter was still holding his stomach. "Are you wearing tights? Oh my—"

"Those are stockings," Tony growled like it was helpful. "It's Edwardian."

Peter snorted, rubbing the tears from his eyes. "But why?"

"Anthony Edward..." He shook his head, hands tangled in his messy hair like it could undo the ghost pains of those hair roller pulling at his scalp. "How in the world is this possible." He glared at Peter. "Stop it with the hysterics, okay?"

"I'm sorry, Tony, I just don't think I'll ever be able to unsee this." The smirk on Peter's face only deepened as he pulled up his phone. "And neither will Twitter."

The phone almost dropped to the ground only saved by Peter's fast reflexes as the door to the room swung open once again and hit the wall with a forceful slam.

"What in the world is going on in here!"

Tony's vision whiting out around the edges. His hands fumbled for something that would keep him upright but there was nothing, only sheer panic that was flooding all of his senses at once.

There was a man in the door frame. Taller than him, grey-ish hair. A man that looked an aweful lot like his father. Howard Stark, there was no doubt in Tony's mind no matter how impossible it was, that was his father who stood in the doorway glaring at him.

"Anthony, what the hell is--" He stopped the frown on his face turning even dark. "Who the hell are you and what... what is this?! What is—"

There was no time to think, no room for a single coherent thought as Tony lunged for him. With strength his trembling hands pulled out of thin air, he pushed Howard back far enough to slam the door shut right in his face. He turned the key twice, bolting the door shut, then spun around and leaned his back against it like it would keep the ghosts of the past out.

There was a beat of silence, only Tony's heavy pants echoing off the walls. His eyes flickered to Morgan who still sat up high on the bed that wasn't the bed he had put her in the night before any longer but held the old, dark wood frame of the bed Tony had slept in for most of his childhood.

Panic. That was all he could think of. That he was drifting into a full-on anxiety attack. This couldn't be happening. It was impossible. It had to be a dream or—

He squinted at Peter. "What did you do?"

Peter's eyes went wide. "What did I do?" He shook his head in bewilderment, frozen just like Morgan was. "What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything!" Tony's voice was hoarse. This could still be a dream. He could still wake up but given his track record... "Did you bring back some mumbo jumbo from the wizards?"

"No!" He shook his head, scrambling to his feet.

"Peter, you need to tell me the truth! Did you bring them here? This is serious! What if—"

The door vibrated as Howard banged his fist against the other side of it. "Open the goddamn door! This instance! I will not repeat myself!"

Tony braced himself against the door like the devil was knocking from the other side, which in all honesty, it felt like he was.

--------------------

To be continued...

For your amusement, the picture I used as inspiration for Tony's portrait:

[justkeeptrekkin]

Sharing a bed for the first time and spooning / hugging. Nothing too explicit but a lot of affection and comfort. I have this headcanon but I can't find any good fic about this

“You know, I’ve heard that the best way to warm up is body heat.”

Hope you enjoy this prompt anon!

***

The neighbours have noticed. The whole street has lost its central heating, the entire place is freezing apart from Aziraphale’s bookshop, and the neighbours have noticed. They aren’t pleased. 

There are many cases in which Aziraphale has used his miracle abilities for selfish reasons, for his own comfort. There’s, of course, the whole situation with those nasty mafia type men wanting to buy his bookshop from him, who he’s… dealt with. There’s also all the customers he persuades not to buy any of the books, gently escorting them from the shop with an angelic smile till they find themselves outside, not knowing how they got there. 

Today, there’s the central heating. It’s very easy, really, to keep the whole shop warm. And he might have been able to fix it for the whole street, but Heaven still aren’t very happy with him about Armageddon and he doesn’t want to attract unnecessary attention. And, what with the neighbours noticing how toasty his shop is and complaining and causing a fuss, it doesn’t seem worth the trouble. 

So now, he’s lying in his bed, something he rarely uses- it also happens to have a duvet, which is helpful on this particular occasion- he’s wearing three jumpers, and he is still absolutely freezing. Lying in the foetal position beneath the sheets, he weighs up his options. 

As far as he sees it, he only has one. 

That is how, a twenty minute cab ride later, he finds himself at Crowley’s apartment building. After ringing the intercom, it takes a moment for anyone to answer. He dances a little jig on the spot, trying to keep warm, his breath pouring out of him in clouds of steam. 

Then:

“What is it?”

“It’s me- sorry to disturb you, I’m- good Lord, it’s so cold-”

“It’s all this post-not-apocalypse business, angel, it‘s messed with the weather,” Crowley says, without missing a beat. “Come on up.”

The door buzzes, Aziraphale pushes it open, and as soon as he steps inside, he’s amazed by the difference. It’s so warm. It’s the warmest he’s been in hours, and it’s making his skin tingle. The elevator journey up to Crowley’s floor is quick, and as soon as the doors slide open, Aziraphale sees him- leaning against the doorframe, waiting.

“Why didn’t you text me you were coming over,” he grumbles.

“I still don’t like it, Crowley.” Referring to the iPhone that Crowley’s fobbed off on him, which he’s encouraging Aziraphale to use and is failing to do so monumentally. “Every time I try and open up the message thing, it thinks I’m clicking on something called iTunes, and then it starts playing music without warning, and it’s just horrible.”

Crowley steps back to let Aziraphale through. “You’d get the hang of it if you tried. Problem with you, angel, ‘s you’re too stubborn.”

Aziraphale ignores him, as he often does when he’s being insulted like this. Crowley’s flat is deliciously warm, and Aziraphale shrugs off his coat with a contented sigh. 

“What brings you here this fine evening?” Crowley says in a jokingly formal tone. 

“Central heating is buggered,” Aziraphale says, hanging up his coat by the door. He pulls off his scarf, thus shimmying off his bow tie a little, and Crowley appears fascinated by the action. “And you know how hard it is to perform any miracles these days.”

Crowley growls. “I don’t understand-” his whole body slumps with exhaustion and infuriation, “-Why they still won’t leave us alone. Didn’t we scare them enough? Why do they still care? Their plan went to shit, so why? Why?”

“Who knows, dear,” Aziraphale gently drapes the scarf over the coat stand hook, turns to measure Crowley- who’s sloped off to sit at his desk sulkily. Aziraphale watches him from the corridor, continues, “Better not to dwell on these things.”

“Better than being melted with holy water. Or burned with Hellfire.”

“Well, quite.”

Crowley is draped over his chair. Aziraphale stands and lingers. His nose is still cold. Actually, despite it being toasty in here, he thinks it might take a while for his body to reacclimatise. Crowley casts his golden eyes over towards him, where he hangs awkwardly in the sparse room. 

“So you’re coming to mooch off me, are you?”

Aziraphale tuts. “No. I had rather thought that the offer was still open.”

“What offer?”He hesitates.

“The- well. The one you made in Tadfield. On the bench. Before we got the bus to London that was actually for Oxford.”

Something in Crowley’s expression shifts. And something in his shoulders, too- his whole body tenses a little. Like someone who’d been expecting a friend to walk into the room has suddenly found the Queen, asking if she can make herself at home. 

“Right. Yes, right. You- hang on.”

Crowley launches himself from his chair, snaps his fingers, conjures sofas. Not the Spartan, minimalist type either- no, these are soft and tartan and very much Aziraphale’s style. 

“Oh! Lovely. I’ve been telling you for months that you need a proper living room,” Aziraphale notes, rather pleased with how the place looks now. “See how much more homey it is?”

“Right,” Crowley replies, like he’s not really listening. “Um. So, you’re thinking of staying the night then?”

“Ah. Well, if you’d rather I didn’t-”

“Nope. S’fine. All fine, this is fine,” Crowley rushes. “This is fine. Uuuuuuuuuuuuuh- OK.”

And Aziraphale marvels at how suddenly flustered he is, spinning round in panicked circles before magicking blankets into existence, fetching a bottle of Rioja from his cupboards, turning side lights on and main lights off so the place looks warmer, less cave-like, and doing one thousand other things at once that makes Aziraphale soften. 

He’s already soft enough, but this is all too endearing for Aziraphale to handle. He’s always taken pleasure from Crowley fussing over him. Right now, the sight of him bustling about the living room- it lifts something inside of him. Something in his chest lifts like bubbles rising to the surface of a still lake.

“Crowley. Crowley,” he repeats, when the demon doesn’t hear him. After the second time, Aziraphale receives a startled expression, brows raised and mouth hanging open a little. Surprised by the interruption. “My dear, you don’t have to do all this. I’m perfectly happy just being here. With.”

With you, he thinks. With you. Just say it, Aziraphale, you coward.

He doesn’t. He closes his mouth, stares at Crowley’s slack expression, then at the wall directly behind him. 

“Thank you,” he eventually says. Adds a nervous smile. “For putting me up.”

“Don’t- don’t thank me, you don’t need to thank me, I offered, remember? Just…” Crowley hovers in the makeshift living room. His lips twist nervously, he stuffs his hands in his barely-there trouser pockets, kicks the sofa. “What is it that changed your mind?”

“How do you mean?”

“About staying over. You said. Back then, you said your side wouldn’t like it. Now?”

Aziraphale thinks about this. He looks above the cold apartment- warm physically, cold emotionally- and then at the sofas that have just been produced. Purely for Aziraphale’s comfort. 

“I’m comfortable with you,” he says quietly, too quietly.

“What?”

“I’m- it’s nothing.”

It’s not nothing. Aziraphale’s been chasing after comfort for his whole existence, never really finding it except for in the company of one person. The one person he’s not meant to want to be with. 

But-

“Well, even if you won’t accept my thank you, I’m offering it nonetheless,” Aziraphale ploughs on- Crowley frowns at him, but allows the change in subject. “So it’s there. If you want to accept it.”

After a pause, Crowley’s frown melts, and he shrugs. He collapses on the sofa. He puts on the telly.

“Alright, alright, don’t go on about it. Let’s see if there’s anything less depressing than the news on.”

***

It’s not that the sofa isn’t comfortable. It’s just that Aziraphale feels at a bit of a loose end. 

He’d confidently assured Crowley that he could leave Aziraphale to it and retire for the night. But without his books, and in such a sparse flat, he’s sitting here feeling a little bit of a lemon. 

He’s thought about sleeping. He tried, and it just didn’t seem like he’d drop off. He’s only just got the hang of this whole sleeping business anyway- he had a very successful nap after Armageddon, but it appears that he still needs practice. So, giving up, he’s resorted to looking out of the window and staring at the people down below, walking about Westminster in the cold. After a while even that gets a bit dull, so he sits on the sofa again and turns on the television, puts it on mute so as not to disturb Crowley. 

And, amazingly, he’s still cold. Not because the apartment itself is cold, but because his body is still acclimatising. He sighs. And he thinks, as he stares at the silent television, that he may need a bath to warm up properly.

The sound of the door bursting open makes him jump out of his skin. 

He turns around and looks at the door- it’s open, but no one’s there. “Crowley?”

“I can hear you sighing from all the way in here,” he calls out from his bedroom. “Just get in here.”

“Pardon?”

“You said you could entertain yourself, but you obviously can’t.”

Aziraphale stares about the living room, at a loss. Crowley’s acting as if there isn’t anything remotely intimate about him inviting Aziraphale into his room. Back on that bench in Tadfield, he’d been rather casual then too, offering to let him stay over. Aziraphale had been scandalised and tempted. He’s feeling similarly now. 

This time, though, he’s leaning towards tempted. 

And so, brushing himself off, straightening his cardigan uselessly, he stands up from the sofa and steps uncertainly into Crowley’s room. 

He’s under the covers, laptop leaning against his raised knees. The room is equally sparse, except from a huge piece of modern artwork that- for all that Aziraphale can tell- is simply a large canvas painted black with a little white blob on it. He tilts his head and stares at it for a while. 

“Planning on standing there all night?”

Aziraphale’s attention flits to Crowley. He’s sat there, peering at him over the edge of his laptop screen. Huge, yellow eyes. Watchful- and possibly a little bit guarded. He’s growing his hair out, too- it’s looking more like it did a couple of years ago, half tied up in a messy bun. 

“Sorry?”

“Just. Don’t think standing and watching me from the doorway is going to be much more entertaining than whatever you were doing next door. You. You could.” His word catch in his throat. “You could actually get in.”

“A-ah. Yes.” 

Aziraphale nods to himself, straightens his cardigan out again and walks purposefully towards the bed. When he gets there, he hesitates awkwardly- Crowley watching with wry amusement. He pulls the duvet back and covers himself, knees in the air. Back, uncomfortably, against the railing of the bed. 

“Well done, you managed,” Crowley drawls. 

“Stop it.”

“Just a bed, angel,” he adds, though the tone is too light.

“I don’t use them very often.”

“Yes, but, see, I was under the impression you still knew how they worked. Just then you looked like you’d forgotten the function of a duvet.”

Aziraphale shoots him a look, but Crowley’s doing something on his laptop. He seems pleased with himself.

Aziraphale straightens out his legs, wiggles his toes. 

“It is very warm in here,” Aziraphale admits. “I can see why you like napping so much.”

“Like being warm,” he mumbles, continuing to do something on his laptop that Aziraphale can’t understand. 

“What are you doing?”

Crowley sighs. “You’re so nosy.”

“No I’m- I beg your pardon. I thought you were meant to encourage curiosity, snake?”

He snorts. “I’m catching up on Love Island.”

“What’s Love Island?”

“You…” he wrinkles his nose. “You don’t want to know.”

“It sounds nice.”

“It’s- ha! It’s really not.”

“Oh. Is it one of yours?”

“Yep.”

“I see.”

Crowley looks at him. And there’s a strange expression on his face; strange in that it’s almost childlike. Wide eyed and vulnerable. 

“I can watch it later,” he says, lips barely moving.

“Oh- no, don’t let me stop you-”

“Nah. Nah, you know what, I’ll watch it tomorrow,” he announces too loudly, closes his laptop loudly, drops it on the floor loudly. “Let’s just sit. Sit and talk. When’s the last time we talked? Just sat and talked.”

“I believe we do that almost every day. And have done for a few millennia now.”

“Yeah, but.”

Not like this, Aziraphale thinks, though he’s too scared to acknowledge that thought. No, he ignores it stoically like a dog being offered medicine, wrapped up in ham. He eats around the pill. 

As it turns out, neither of them want to approach whatever direction that conversation was going. So they end up instead talking about nothing. Things that Aziraphale will forget about tomorrow, but are enjoyable in the moment. Eventually, he gives up on leaning against the railing and lies down, and then so does Crowley, until they’re laying side by side. It’s easy to imagine that they’re outside, on some grassy knoll, looking up at the stars. Or the clouds. Heaven. 

“I think I’m only just about warming up, now,” Aziraphale sighs, after an extensive conversation about glacier cherries and which side invented them.

“Only just?” Crowley asks, aghast. “I laid out all those sodding blankets for nothing?”

“No, no, you- you did wonderfully, dear.” Aziraphale doesn’t miss the way Crowley turns his head away and stares at the ceiling with a deep set frown. “I just don’t think my corporeal form is used to being cold for so long. If ever I was cold before, I’d just…”

Aziraphale snaps his fingers. Nothing happens, of course; he’s being careful these days. 

“Being human sounds rubbish, doesn’t it. Being cold all the time. Getting hungry. Doing exams and running out of phone battery.”

“It has its perks.”

“Yeah. Least we get to experience the good stuff.”

Aziraphale has been watching Crowley, lying on his back with his cheek pressed against the pillow. He’s been watching the way his hair is falling out of its loose ties, red curls around his face in tendrils. He also keeps finding little stray red hairs over his own cardigan; proof that this whole sharing-a-bed thing happened, in case he ever forgets (he never will). 

And he thinks of all the things that Crowley has done for him over the millennia. Everything, from the Bastille to books to apocalypses to offering a warm place to stay. He thinks of how much Crowley gives, despite never receiving; thinks of his trial in Hell, and all the cruelty that he’s experienced from the beginning; thinks about how, actually, he understands how that feels. To not be good (or bad) enough, to not be worth the attention, to be treated so coldly. Aziraphale thinks that he understands, in many ways, how Crowley feels- and he thinks of what he can give back, after everything Crowley has done. 

“You know, I’ve heard that the best way to warm up is body heat.”

It sounds ridiculous when he says it, not like him at all. But he knows that the only way he’ll be able to give Crowley a cuddle is by dressing it up. By making it seem like he’s asking for a favour, rather than giving Crowley what he deserves. Crowley will readily grant Aziraphale a favour, but will bear his fangs at the sight of a compliment. Aziraphale sees all the demon’s insecurities, and it’ll take every trick in the book to get past those defences.

Crowley’s head turns towards him. Eyes darting about his face. “Oh yeah?”

“Yes. So. If- that is, if you’re a willing participant, you could be that body.”

Crowley huffs a laugh. “An offer I can’t refuse.”

At first, it sounds like a joke. The mocking tone is there, but beneath it, there’s sincerity. It’s so genuine and affectionate and intimate- and that feeling returns in his chest, the happy-nervous bubbles rising to the surface. 

“Right,” Aziraphale breathes. Watching the indescribably soft expression on Crowley’s face. “Well, that’s decided then.”

“Suppose it is.”

Now he’s suggested it, though, Aziraphale’s not brave enough to move. Luckily for him, Crowley is. Crowley’s always the braver one of the two, even if he’s technically the bad one. 

And so Crowley lifts up an arm, a gesture for Aziraphale to lay his head on his chest. And he does, after a bit of shuffling. Crowley is bony and sharp, but there’s also an obvious landscape to him that makes it easy for Aziraphale to get comfortable- like a particularly chair shaped rock at the beach. Although it takes him a minute to find the right spot, and Crowley grumbles at him to stop moving and sort yourself out, angel. Eventually, though, they find themselves still. Cuddled up, Crowley’s arms around him The feeling of his chest rising and falling, breath tickling Aziraphale’s forehead. His smell. His hair, too close to be able to focus on properly- just a blur of red. 

Aziraphale can’t believe his luck. 

And at some point, he dozes off. They both do. Aziraphale knows this, because when he wakes up, he finds their roles reversed- they’re lying on their sides, and Crowley’s curled up beneath his chin. Their legs are tangled and so is Aziraphale’s heart. 

He simply lies there. He lies there and brings in Crowley close, holds him. Embraces him, offers him all the softness, all the attention that he deserves. Wraps him up in his arms like he belongs there.