#why? ‘cause i have a good relationship with my dad………..hope that helps!

[michi-chelle]

if i got anything out of kouichi’s route it’s this image aka the best haru image ever

[shouyuus]

─── Ⅵ CHAPTER FIVE: DON'T HATE THE PLAYERS

violet; 5,460 words; fluff, suggestive content, drama, hockey!vi, figure skater!reader, smau-intermissions, miscommunication, fake dating, lesbian situationships rly hit diff, toxic ex!cait, simp!vi, rival!sevika, inappropriate use of locker rooms, vi is down so horrifically bad its kind of sad tbh

summary: in which instagrams are posted, texts are sent, hockey games are played, and you try your best to make it back in time to gie vi her present.

a/n: a lot of things happen here. LOL but i promise they're not all bad! ALSO. the insta post picture IS NOT PERFECT but it was the best i could do. and i didn't have time to commission an artist to draw the exact image that i wanted :( but i hope it at least gives the vibe of the post. and... it starts getting frisky here so... yall have been warned!

< table of contents

─── Ⅵ "OH SHIT, she said that?”

Vi grunts, rolling her eyes as she drops the deadlift bar with a loud thunk, flicking her belt off with her thumb.

“Yeah. I told her to fuck off.”

“Atta girl!” Jayce says, thumping her on the shoulder. Vi casts him a disgusted look.

“If you value your future offspring, Talis, never call me that again.”

Jayce laughs, reaching down to help Vi put the weights back onto the rack.

“I honestly thought it was gonna take much longer for you to, y’know —”

Vi pauses before straightening to pin him with a look.

“What? You thought I’d super hung up on her or something?”

Jayce shrugs, “Well, yeah. You seemed pretty deep in it when you two were together so…”

Vi sighs, carding a hand through her sweat-slicked hair.

“I mean, I was, but… I dunno… seeing her with that new girlfriend of hers… and just… her reaching out to try and — what… sabotage my…” Vi bites back the word ‘relationship’ so she just makes a vague sort of gesture and continues, “really kinda put things into perspective for me.”

Jayce hums thoughtfully, “Yeah, but that Nolen girl’s no joke either. Her whole family’s been in the military — her dad’s some sort of war hero, and her mom’s the daughter of a politician, I think.”

Vi casts him a sidelong glance before scoffing, “Wow. Mel really did her research, huh?”

At this, Jayce jerks up, sputtering, “Well — she just — you know — her family’s also — I —”

Vi laughs, waving him off, “Whatever dude… but I already knew all that — why d’you think Caitlyn even ditched me in the first place?”

Jayce frowns, “Wasn’t it… because her mom didn’t approve of you or something like that?”

“Yep. We had one dinner together, and her mother made it very clear that she didn’t think someone of ‘my elk’ was worthy of being with her daughter. Apparently, having an adoptive father who owns a local watering hole and coaches college hockey isn’t the exact pedigree she’s looking for.”

Jayce lets out a low whistle.

Vi grabs a dumbbell for bicep curls.

“And… it seems like Caitlyn really look her mother’s words to heart. Cause a few weeks later… well, you know the rest.”

Jayce sighs, “That’s… unfortunate. But hey, look on the bright side. Without Cait’s mom, you would’ve never had the chance to date an Olympic athlete, right?”

Vi’s mouth twists into a half-grimace as she puffs out a breath and flexes her arm up, her eyes focused on her form in the mirror.

“Yeah well — not sure what exactly we are right now so… who knows.”

Jayce folds his arms, “Give her time. I haven’t known her as long as Mel has but she’s still a really good friend and…” Jayce allows himself a tiny, slanted grin as Vi pushes through her reps, “Mel wasn’t lying when she told you that we’ve never seen her like this with anyone else before.”

Vi finishes her first set with a loud exhale, glancing up at him.

“Don’t go getting my hopes up like that, pretty boy,” but she’s smiling when Jayce bends down to hand her a bottle of Gatorade, “hasn’t anyone told you it’s not good manners to toy with a girl’s feelings?” she pitches her voice up at the end, wiggling her fingers through the air even as Jayce rolls his eyes.

A few minutes later, Jayce frowns as he turns back to Vi.

“You’ve blocked her number, right?”

Vi huffs, still counting beneath her breath, “— twenty-two, twenty-three — who? What? — Twenty-four —”

“Caitlyn’s.”

Vi grunts, straining through a few more reps before stopping to glance up at Jayce.

“No. Why? Should I?”

Jayce licks his lips, frowning slightly.

“Yeah. Might be a good idea.”

Vi shrugs, “Yeah. I’ll do it later.”

Jayce nods, “Good. Alright — abs, lets go.”

You’re antsy all the way to the airport, checking your phone every four seconds, your knee bouncing even as the cab driver pulls up into the terminal and opens the trunk to grab your bag with a smile.

You bolt through the doors, thanking the heavens that the TSA Pre line is nearly empty.

Just as soon as you get through security, Mel calls.

“Have you got it?” you ask, without even saying hello.

Mel sigh, “Yes, yes, but it won’t do much good if you’re not here to give it to her —”

“I know! I know — I’m at the airport, and just got through security. Are you and Jayce —”

“I’ll come pick you up at the airport — thank god it’s only 16 minutes away from campus.”

“And you’re sure we’ll still make it on time for the game?”

“So long as your flight doesn’t get delayed —”

“It won’t.”

Mel laughs, the sound soft as you speed-walk your way through the terminal, slumping down next to your designated one with a long breath.

“Alright then, darling. I’ll see you in a few hours,” Mel says.

You make a loud kissing noise into the speaker and hang up, your fingers automatically flicking through the open windows till you come to yours and Vi’s text history.

You grin down at it stupidly for a few more seconds before jolting out of your seat as one of the gate agents comes to shake your hand and help you board first. As you sink into the wide, business-class seat, you close your eyes, taking a few deep breaths. Your fingers fiddle with a thin gold chain around your neck and you bite back another grin.

You tug out the small teardrop locket dangling from the chain and flick open the clasp. Inside is nestled a single violet flower, pressed and perfect, preserved behind a thin pane of shimmering glass.

Vi makes a round of the rink, scanning the crowd with furrowed brows.

Nope. Nope. Nope…

She swears silently to herself, rolling her shoulders as the crowd roars.

You promised you’d be here tonight.

“And tonight, we’ve got our season’s top two favorites for the NCAA’s Frozen Four Championship — the Piltover Enforcers, and the Zaunite Barons!”

Vi grins as the stadium positively shakes with applause. It’s always nice playing on home-ice. Across the rink, she can see the huge, lumbering shapes of the Barons, and her jaw clenches as she catches Sevika’s eye.

They’d been something like childhood friends once upon a time. But after a falling out of meteoric proportions, they’d settled somewhere between grudging acquaintances and mortal enemies. Where they land on the scale on any particular day typically depends on the weather, the orbital tide height, and whether or not Mercury is currently in retrograde.

Though judging by the smirk that’s visible from beneath Sevika’s helmet, Vi thinks it’s nearing the mortal enemies end of the spectrum today.

All the players line up for the face off.

Vi bites down on her mouth guard and smacks her stick against the ice. Sevika skates up to her, bending down so close their helmets clack.

And for a brief, interminable second, Vi thinks Sevika’s going to stay quiet. But the moment passes and Sevika chuckles, the sound low and hoarse and utterly derisive. It sets Vi’s teeth on edge even before the first word leaves her mouth.

“Heard America’s snowflake-sweetheart’s got you wrapped around her little finger.”

“Tch. What’s it to you?” Vi’s eyes flash up.

Sevika’s smirk has morphed into a full blown grin, sharp as freshly turned blades.

She shrugs, keeping her voice low as the official says something or other to both the teams.

“Well… just a lotta people buzzin’ online about her perfect skate at her competition this past weekend and I’m just thinkin’… man… you must not be fuckin’ her right —”

“You —” Vi nearly jerks up, but Sevika presses in just a bit tighter and Vi grounds her teeth down over the mouth guard.

“Cause if you lemme **take her for a spin, you can bet your scrawny ass that she won’t even be able to stand up straight, let alone skate clean.”

The puck hits the ice as if in slow motion; Vi feels a white-hot anger mixed with something very much like hurt surging up the length of her spine as she watches Sevika’s stick make contact with the puck first. But she doesn’t care — she slams her body forward and feels her shoulder check into Sevika’s chest as they both go sprawling across the ice and the puck goes wide.

They scramble up and take off after the puck, now in Zaunite possession, Sevika’s shoulder ramming reflectively into Vi’s as they jostle down the length of the rink.

Vi cracks her shoulder back into Sevika and the momentary gap is all she needs to break away, circling wide behind the goal. Someone shouts Reverse! and Vi feels more than sees the tiny black puck make contact with her stick. Her body moves on instinct, and she’s halfway down the rink before the others catch up to her.

She allows herself a single, tight-lipped grin before someone slams into her back with the force of a speeding firetruck. The world spins, but a second later, Vi hears the unmistakable sounds of Sevika’s heaving breaths.

“Ha. Aren’t you glad your little girlfriend isn’t here to see you eat shit?”

Vi flips around and before she knows it, she’s swinging her left arm into Sevika’s helmet, knocking it askew.

“Vi!”

Vi’s whole body seizes at the sound of your voice, and she looks up wildly, but she pays for it a moment later as Sevika’s fist connects with her jaw and her head snaps back. She brings her elbow down against Sevika’s extended arm, her free hand grappling to keep Sevika’s head shoved against the ice.

A whistle blows and they shove apart, shaking their heads and spitting blood. Vi tastes iron on her tongue and winces as she rotates her jaw. There’ll be a nasty bruise, but it’s not dislocated, and Vi’s suffered much worse at Sevika’s hands.

Half a foot from her, Sevika is shaking out her arm, looking murderous as the official comes up to point them towards the penalty box.

Vi looks around, and halfway across the rink, she sees you, your eyes wide, your hands pressed over your mouth, Mel and Jayce sitting next to you, both looking worried. But you’ve got dark streaks painted on your cheeks, and it takes her a second to recognize the large “VI” written there — her number, her name.

The world melts around her as she meets your eyes, and you look so worried that she almost laughs. This is nothing, she wants to say, you ain’t seen nothing yet, princess.

But the second is short lived as the official skates over and jerks his head towards the penalty box. She sighs, begrudgingly skating over and settling herself as far away from Sevika as humanly possible as the clock starts on their five minutes.

When all’s said and done, the game is a good one — with the final score of 3-2 in Piltover’ s favor. Sevika gets another penalty, but Vi manages to keep her cool. And by the end, everyone’s sweaty and tired, but riding high, and Vi can’t help the way she once more scans the cheering crowd for your face.

But, you’re not there. The seat next to Jayce and Mel is empty, and Vi can’t help the clawing, hollowing sensation that burrows up her chest from the base of her stomach.

“Don’t look so disappointed,” Margot teases, bumping Vi as they all clamber off the ice.

Vi narrows her eyes, “What’dyou mean?”

Margot only grins, shooting Vi a wink before following the rest of the team towards the lockers.

Her phone buzzes and Vi glances down, only to see a single line of text from you:

come to the figure skating lockers. i’ve got a present for you.

Electricity zings up Vi’s limbs as she pivots hard left and makes her way down the heavily padded hallway towards the figure skating lockers, tugging off her gear as she goes. By the time she gets there, she’s managed to get most of her upper pads off, shucking them outside the door, leaving her in her loose jersey and pants.

She pushes through the thick metal door into the figure skating lockers. They’re smaller, brighter, and generally cleaner than the hockey team lockers. Vi’s never thought herself a stickler for things like nicer locker rooms but stepping in, she can’t help the way that her eyebrows shoot up.

“Whoa.”

“They’re not all this nice.”

Vi whips her head around so fast she almost gets a crick in her neck at the sound of your voice. And there — standing next to the far row of pure white lockers, with your hands behind your back and her number (her name still painted on your cheek), you.

“Yeah?” she asks, even as she drops her helmet on the thickly padded floor and shuffles forward in her skates. She takes her time looking you over — and objectively, she knows it’s only been a few days since she’d last seen you, but it feels like forever, the way time stretches endless when you’re a little kid on the playground and eternity is just another thing you can take for granted.

You purse your lips around a shy grin and Vi almost groans as she notices the bright pink ribbon tied around your neck like a choker. You’re wearing the little black dress that you’d worn to that sorority party, the one that’s been the subject of one too many of her dirty daydreams — her varsity jacket slung around your shoulders.

“Sweet god, princess… is this the present you have for me? Please tell me it is —”

You let out a soft puff of exasperated laughter.

“No! I mean —” your eyes cut away as you shift your weight from one foot to another, falling back half a step as Vi takes a few steps closer. “I-if you want it to be — this can be — uhm — an additional present —”

“Mm… I don’t think I want any other present if I’ve got this one —” Vi says, inwardly thanking the heavens that she’d kept her skates on as they give her a few more inches as she corners you against a row of snow-white lockers, so bright they’re almost blinding.

“I — well that’s —”

“Mm… cat got your tongue, princess?” Vi asks, reaching up to tug your chin back towards her as you try to glance away.

You suck in a short breath, your lashes fluttering as you meet her gaze with yours — dark to light, amber and ice.

There’s adrenaline coursing through her system, and Vi knows she’s still riding high off the win, off the knowledge that you’re here, and that you’re here for her. She looks you over with reverent eyes, her gaze lingering on the dark paint now slightly smeared across your cheeks in a large “VI”.

“I… I got this for you a while back…” you say, pressing something into her chest. Vi pauses, glancing down to see a small black box wrapped in a length of bright pink ribbon the exact same make and color as the one around your neck.

Vi falls back a step to take the box in her hands, turning it over.

“What is it?”

You shrug, a tiny, bird-like movement. Sweet and almost daring.

Vi grins as she traces a finger along a single ear of the perfectly tied bow.

“Can I?” she asks.

You nod, chewing on your bottom lip.

Vi tugs on the ribbon and it comes loose with a whisper. She opens the box to reveal a simple, teardrop locket set on a golden chain. She picks it up, letting the locket dangle from her fingers.

“Go on, open it,” you prompt, looking both bashful and eager. Vi gives you one more glance before fumbling open the locket to reveal a single snowflake, carved into the thick glass set into the middle of the locket.

“Oh.” Vi breathes, her voice nothing but a whisper. She stare at the locket, at the simplicity and delicacy of it. And then, she looks back up at you.

“It’s — Mel and Jayce helped me pick it — I didn’t know if you even wore stuff like this but —”

“I’ll wear it,” Vi says, letting the pendant drop into the palm of her opened hand. She offers it to you with a lopsided grin. “Can you help me put it on?”

You nod, a bit breathless, even as you take the locket from her and undo the clasp with trembling fingers. Vi grins as she leans in to let you fasten the chain around her neck, reveling in the tiny kiss of cold metal against her sweaty skin as she pulls back.

“So? How’s it look?” she asks.

You stare at the locket, and then up at her, and she swears she can see your eyes go molten.

“It looks… good.”

“Good,” Vi whispers, reaching up to finger at the tiny pink bow still tied around your neck. You suck in a breath, going still against her as she ghosts her breath along the long column of your neck. And she thinks she can almost hear the sound of your heart pounding against your ribcage by the way your pulse flutters in your neck — she sure as hell can feel her own traitorous heart thundering away in her chest as she glances from the bow around your neck up to you and back down again.

“Can I?” she asks again, though this time, her voice is gentle, imploring, something like a plea as opposed to question.

She revels in the way your pulse flutters beneath the bright pink of the satin.

“Y-yeah —” you say, your own voice a harsh scrape of sound over a burgeoning need that Vi can almost taste on her tongue. But, she wants to take her time with you, she thinks, so she trails her fingers up to your neck and teases at the rabbit ears of the butterfly bow before tugging one end loose. And just like before, the ribbon gives way much too easily, and something gold shimmers as it drops from beneath the pink satin.

She stares.

It’s a gold chain identical to the one around her neck, with a teardrop pendant strung from it that mirrors her own.

This time, when she glances up, her eyes are wide, almost disbelieving.

Your throat bobs as you clench your fingers at your sides, resisting the urge to lift your hands and help her.

“What…” her voice trails off, disbelieving.

You lick your lips. “Go on — open it.”

Vi nearly fumbles the locket twice before she gets it open, and her short intake of breath is the only sign you get that she’s seen what’s inside. You hold your own breath, watching her face as it flickers through a film-frame series of emotions.

“Is that —” her voice is hoarse; she clears her throat, running a thumb over the glass.

“Yeah,” you say, reaching up to take the open pendant from her, glancing down at it yourself, heat pricking into your cheeks as your eyes settle on the pressed violet.

She’s kissing you before either of you can say another word, and the force of it nearly slams your head back into the lockers but Vi’s hand is somehow there to cushion you, her fingers digging into your hair as you gasp open for her wanting mouth. It’s not a sweet kiss and there’s nothing gentle in the sting of her nails raking against your scalp as she presses you close, and then closer.

It’s a clash of teeth and tongue, skin and sound — your tiny, surprised squeak eclipsed by the low moan that reverberates from her chest to yours as she licks into the hot cavern of your mouth and feels you soften against her — sweet as sun-warmed honey.

“F-fuck princess —” Vi hisses, pulling back with a panting breath as you let your head fall back, gasping for air even as she yanks you towards her till both of you are toppling onto one of the long benches, your legs falling open to straddle her thighs, her hands poised over the round of your hips.

You look down at her, running your thumbs along her cheeks eyes flickering over her face — and the admiration caught behind the fractured glass of your eyes is so obvious that Vi almost turns away, embarrassed. Instead, she leans up to nose into the triangle of your threading pulse, delighting in the shiver that chases down the shape of you, in the involuntary way your thighs squeeze on either side of hers.

She grins, inching her fingers beneath the hem of your little black dress, groaning as she finds the winged hollows of your hipbones and realizes, half a breath later, that you’re not wearing any panties.

“Holy shit — w-were you like this the whole game?” she asks, her eyes going wide with awe.

You bite your lips, cocking your head to one side as you reach up to brush away a strand of hair from her forehead.

“No…” you say, but your voice trails off and you glance towards the side. She follows your gaze to the left, only to find your bookbag sagging against one of the far lockers. A smirk twists her lips as her eyes slingshot back to you.

“Oh wow… so…” she drawls, trailing her fingers ever so slowly up the bare skin of your hips, hitching the hem of your tight black dress further and further up till it’s barely covering what she now knows is your bare cunt.

“You came in here and took them off… just for me?” she bats her lashes at you, her skylight eyes going dark and liquid as she watches you fidget above her. Your tongue swipes across your bottom lip and Vi has to physically bite back a moan.

“Maybe I did — what of it?”

Vi’s smirk stretches as she reaches up to tug your face down towards hers, so close you can taste her breath dissolving on your tongue like sugar into tea.

“Princess…” she says, and her voice is so thick with desire it might’ve been spread there with a butter knife, “I thought… you wanted to take things slow.” Her fingers have successfully rucked your dress up high enough for it to gather at your waist, though she keeps her eyes on yours and makes no move to take advantage of the fact that you’re now entirely naked from the waist down.

You shrug up a single shoulder.

“Right… but I also remember telling you that I’m not the best with impulsivity…”

Vi laughs, the sound bright and honest. You giggle, pursing your lips, your cheeks tinted such a darling shade of crimson that Vi doubts rosy-fingered dawn would’ve had the power to eclipse it.

“Good,” she says, reaching up to cup your face with both her hands, bringing you down to tease her lips over yours, her words soft and indulgent, “cause honestly, I’ve never been the best with that either.”

She’s about to kiss you again, content to lose herself in the intoxicating drag of your lips on hers, but a text message alarm blips from her pants pocket and it jars the both of you from your desire-induced trance.

You blink, a slight frown creasing your forehead as she reaches into her hockey pants and digs out her phone. You sit back slightly as Vi clicks on her screen to see a slew of notifications dating back till god knows when, but the latest is sent from a few seconds ago and only reads:

New iMessage from cupcake 🧁

“What the —” Vi frowns.

But a second later, you’re pushing off her lap, and Vi catches a glint of the hurt in your eyes before you’re tugging down your dress and wrapping your arms around yourself.

“That’s Caitlyn, right?” you ask, your voice tenuous.

And for a second, Vi seriously considers lying to you, telling you that it’s someone else — that it’s Powder or even one of the girls from the hockey team, but she sees the fractured look in your eyes and knows that she can’t.

“Y-yeah — it is but —”

You suck in a deep breath, your fingers twisting in front of you even as Vi pushes up from the bench to try and reach for you. You jerk away, your back hitting the lockers with a loud clang that set’s Vi’s teeth on edge, even as she clenches her fist and drops her arm.

“No, it’s — it’s fine,” you say, making your swift way to your bag and snatching it up, digging around for your phone before shouldering the straps and rounding the benches again. And maybe it’s the sheer desperation curling up her chest, or the fact that the name had just come up on her screen but when she opens her mouth again, Vi says the worst possible combination of words —

“Wait, cupcake —”

You physically flinch at the pet name and Vi squeezes her eyes shut with sigh. Fuck.

When she opens her eyes again, you’re by the locker room door, your hand poised on the handle. You shoot her a single, broken backwards glance before pulling it open and slipping away.

Vi stands there, held still by the oppressive silence and the bleached-white metal all around her. She’s frozen for a single second longer before she swings her fist into the row of lockers next to her and pain ricochets up her arm from her knuckles, and her fingers pull away, already bruised.

“Fuck!”

Your fingers are shaking so badly it takes you three tries before you manage to punch the call button on Mel’s speed dial. She picks up after a single ring.

“Hey there, darling — well that was quick — we’re all heading to the after party if you —”

“Mel — c-can you come and p-pick me up?”

Mel goes quiet, and then —

“Darling? What’s wrong? What’s happened?”

“N-Nothing I just — can you come pick me up?” you hiccup halfway through your sentence, wiping at the fat, traitorous tears welling up in the corners of your eyes.

Distantly, you can hear Mel saying something and Jayce’s voice answering back. A moment later, she’s back on the line.

“I’ll come get you, but you have to tell me what’s wrong. Why’re you crying? Did Vi do something?”

“No — it’s — it’s nothing — I just d-don’t feel very good —”

Mel sighs, “Alright then, stay where you are and I’ll come get you. I’ll be right there, okay?”

“Yeah — t-thanks Mel.”

You hang up the phone and dart into the nearly abandoned parking lot, the crowds have long since dispersed, leaving you thankfully alone. You slump against the outer wall of the rink and suck in a deep, shuddering breath, reaching up to rub at your eyes with an angry palm. You cast your eyes up at the ruefully clear autumn night, the moon hanging fat and low, the stars twinkling with their cold, far-off light.

Approximately five minutes later, Mel pulls into the parking lot, mercifully alone, rolling down the windows as you rush forward and let yourself into the passenger’s side of the car, sinking into the seat with a bitten-off sob.

“Oh my darling… what happened?” Mel reaches over to give your hand a squeeze.

You bite your lips, blinking hard at the dark tarp roof of her convertible, clutching at your bag.

“Sh-she got a text from ‘cupcake’.”

Mel stares at you for a solid three seconds before slumping back into her seat and reaching up to pinch her nose bridge.

“I’m going to murder Jayce.”

“I fucked up — I fucked up —”

“Whoa, whoa — slow down — what the hell happened?”

Vi nearly chucks her skates into the already dented lockers just as Jayce makes an abortive move forward as if to stop her. She drops her skates and buries her face in her hands instead.

“Caitlyn texted me, and — and I never changed her contact from ‘cupcake’ —”

Jayce groans, running a hand through his hair.

“I thought I told you to block her?”

“I forgot, okay?” Vi says, tugging so hard on her own hair that Jayce has to reach out and smack her hands away.

Jayce sighs, leaning back against the lockers, looking over the shape of her. He can’t help the tiny grin that hitches his lips or the small puff of helpless laughter.

“Wow.”

Vi looks up, “What?”

Jayce just shrugs, “No, it’s just — been a while since I’ve seen you down this bad.”

Vi flips him off, “Fuck you, Talis. Yeah, laugh it up — look! It’s Vi! Piltover’s favorite train-crash lesbian, fumbling yet another —”

“Y’know, one of the things about being in a nice, committed, completely non-toxic long-term relationship —” Jayce says loudly, cutting her off despite the murderous look in Vi’s eyes, “is that you learn real quick that you’re always gonna be the one that’s wrong, and that your dear, darling, perfect girlfriend will always be the one that’s right.”

He grins, bitten-lipped and open-palmed. Like this, he looks almost like the politician that Vi knows Mel’s parents so desperately want him to be.

Vi frowns, “What’re you getting at, pretty boy? Spit it the fuck out — I don’t have the patience for your bullshit right —”

“And you know what people do when they’re wrong?” Jayce continues in that chipper, Sunday-morning commercial voice of his. He leans forward even as Vi leans back, the frown digging ever deeper between her brows.

“Uh… cry and punch things and shoot for a new PR at the gym?”

Jayce snorts, but at least Vi’s smiling.

“No, you fuckin’ fratbro son of a — you apologize.”

Vi’s gaze goes flat. “Ah. Right. Of course — why didn’t I think of —”

“And then — ” Jayce continues, raising his voice even higher, a finger pointed up in the air as if he were delivering the valedictorian speech at graduation, before he twists his hand and pokes it into Vi’s jersey-clad chest.

“You do better.”

Vi’s breath catches; she blinks up at Jayce before swallowing around the peach pit in her throat.

“R-right…”

Jayce hikes both of his eyebrows comically high. Vi glances up towards them before puffing out a breath.

“Think you can do that?” Jayce asks, his voice now finally back to normal.

Vi chews on the inside of her cheek before shrugging up a shoulder.

“Dunno, but… I really wanna try.”

Jayce thumps a fist into her chest.

“Good answer, Lanes. Now. Phone.” He opens his hand palm up.

She blinks at it for a second before sighing and digging her phone from her pocket and dropping it into his hand.

Jayce punches in the password without breaking eye contact, pulling up her text history and turning the phone around to face Vi as he clicks — Contact > Info > Block Caller — on Caitlyn’s number.

He hands it back just as the screen goes dark.

Vi stares at the long crack running through the center of her screen before the phone lights up again, this time, with a text from an unknown number.

Jayce barely glances at it before smiling.

“That’ll be Mel.”

Vi’s eyebrows knit as she flicks open the screen. There are two texts in quick succession:

i’ve gotten her to agree to come to the afterparty.

Do not. Fuck this up.

taglist: @traiitorjoe@rizzscary @wetcat020 @alex-thegiraffeboyy @nanasemo @saturnhas82moons @unear7hly@drsnowrose @grantaires-waistcoat @isab3lita @ally-all-around @starrysetup22@lipsent @lewd_alien @jack-frost-2010 @starsfortaylor @onesockcat @lesbian-useless@armins-slvt@lin-elizabeth @ryescapades @kingkamk @princesssmars @chobssss @mybelovedvi @bouqette @noietta @brooks-lin @ally-all-around @bunnyrose01 @stumpystump @lia-winther @folklore13lover @sawaagyapong @sevikas-whore @sunflowerwinds @taurtel @tourmalinetyrone @oidloid @marcylated @krisziepowlet @vikaswife @pa-co @devotedlyelectronicartisan @aliluvszs @elliecoochieeater

[thewildernesschooses]

My Man, a readerxtravis oneshot

a criminal lack of travis content. he’s so fun to write! oh well, i guess i have to be the change i want to see in the world and whatever.

reader and travis knew each other before the crash. You weren’t friends but something changed out there.

Travis was a dick, there was no denying that. You knew that before the crash and you had no expectations that a freak accident would make him kinder. But this was beyond the pale.

He didn’t get to be a dick to Javi like that. You understood that he was grieving, even understood how his complicated relationship with his father was making this worse, but he needed to buck up.

Javi was a good kid, he was stubborn sometimes but who wasn’t? You cared about that little boy, you babysat him back when you were JV. When Travis was recovering from his surgery there were so many appointments and hospital stays. Coach didn’t want to cancel any practice and god forbid he let his assistant coach assist him in coaching a varsity game.

You guys would order pizza and watch Pixar. You didn’t even have a license yet so you couldn’t do anything fun. Javi was always nice though, a sweet boy who listened well and never wanted to cause any fuss. You weren’t ever particularly good with kids but Javi was an easy person to be around. That’s why when Travis started to wrestle Javi too roughly you lost your shit.

You stormed out of the cabin to hear Travis yelling at his brother to spit something out, you can only assume he’s talking about that stale gum Javi couldn't let go of. You were actually going to talk about it with him after lunch, about coping with grief, but of course, Travis was too impulsive to move slowly.

“Hey, dickwad, let him go!”

But it was too late, Travis had forcibly opened Javi's mouth and made him spit out the gum. You were hoping he would be able to voluntarily release it, that it would help Javi psychologically accept the loss like how you talked about in AP psych. Obviously, Travis could only get into the bullshit health class where they don’t teach you anything about being a normal, decent person.

Javi didn’t react well. He stormed off and you were going to follow him until you looked at Travis and your heart broke for some reason.

“You shouldn’t have done that.” You knew he knew that. “The world is only going to get harder on us, the least you could do is be gentle with him.”

Everyone still seemed to be committed to rescue but you knew it had been too long. You went a weird way on a sketchy private plane. Nobody knew where you were and it increasingly looked like you only had each other.

Travis looked up from the ground with his big, sad eyes. “I…I just wanted him to stop smacking on that gum and…I don’t know.” You believed that he came in with no solid reasoning or plan, that sounded on brand for him.

You stepped closer because he was talking quietly. You kept going until you were closer than you had been in the four years you had spent catching rides home with Coach Martinez because your mom worked late. “Listen, you should find him in a little bit and apologize. I know you don’t mean to hurt his feelings but you need to cut all of this out.” Travis didn’t even have the heart to argue with you. “I know this sucks worse for you than for anyone else but with coach Ben’s leg, you’re the man here. You need to be level-headed and strong. Not just for Javi, but for all of us.”

All of Travis’s life, he had only wanted to feel like a man. Out there in the real world, he had failed. He wasn’t athletic and for a good portion of his adolescence, he was literally medically advised against exercising or lifting weights of any kind. When all the boys in middle school were doing push-up contests, he was going to orthopedic specialists for back brace fittings.

But Travis’s spinal fusion was successful, even if the healing was brutal. And he was seeing a place to prove himself. He needed to show his dad he could step up and be a man. He could take care of Javi and the girls and he would go back and take care of his mom too. This is the last time he and his dad will be in the same place and Travis will leave here a man if he can help it.

He oddly wanted to prove it to you too. You were around when he was worse off. One of his father's little pets he liked to keep from the team. You saw how debilitating the pain was before the surgery, saw how recovery was slow and isolating. And you saw all the in-between at school. Flex.

He never quite put together that you would have a lot of insight on him but now that he thinks about it, you may be the person to know the most. Which is sad because you don’t even seem to like him that much.

He takes your advice, though. Javi doesn’t accept it immediately but it seems like they eventually figure it out from your point of view. Of course, Travis is the same angry boy but he’s trying to temper himself into something stronger, less likely to break.

Travis keeps coming to you for advice. You’re not sure why, you never got along. You spent fifteen minutes with him 3 days a week (at the very least) for the last four years and you had developed no camaraderie during that but desperate times, you guessed.

It started with just his relationship with Javi. You were his babysitter after all and the kid talked about you like invented the Lion King DVD. You were more sensitive to him than Travis naturally was. Neither of you would acknowledge that this was the dynamic Coach Martinez and his wife had but you both felt the weight of it. You were the closest thing Javi had to parents out here. It didn’t matter if either of you liked it, you were mom and dad.

After a while, Travis started to ask you about more things. What plants were edible, how you mended things so well, what you did to make his dad like you so much. You didn’t have a clear answer for the last one. Travis seemed to know what you meant when you said you had no idea how Coach felt about you except for the fact he trusted you enough to watch over Javi. He was a man that spoke more with actions but that meant so much was left unsaid. You wished you had asked him why he took a shine to you. You weren’t the best defender. Was it pity for not having a dad? Or a mom that worked too much? You’ll never know now.

Then things got complicated when he started coming to you about a girl. He wouldn’t say who he needed advice about but you could assume. He had spent so much time alone with Natalie, it could only be her.

It made sense too. They both had a compatible jaggedness that seemed to slot together well. They both had to feel the pressure of being hunters, and the judgment when they came back empty-handed.

You weren’t expecting for it to… affect you. You couldn’t tell what it was at first. Initially, you thought you just didn’t like the idea of some poor girl being subjected to Travis’s courtship. Then you realized that he had grown and someone out here could maybe have a lovely relationship with him. Then you thought it was an extension of that irrational judgment, that the hunters should be focused on game and not frivolous crushes but even that was off base. You thought he and Nat deserved some respite.

It wasn’t until you were making sure Javi was tucked in well on a cold, rainy fall night that you realized it was because you were jealous. Travis slept one spot away from you with Javi in the middle and you looked at him already looking at you two. You thought about how glad you were he wasn’t closer to the door with Natalie.

Neither of you looked away for a minute. It felt so domestic like you were over at his house while his parents were out. Watching Bambi after Javi had fallen asleep halfway. What it maybe could’ve been if either of you had given the other one a chance.

You looked away first to make sure Javi was breathing deeply. You went to bed with the heavy feeling that you were helping push the boy you liked towards a much prettier girl, with more experience and bravery than you would probably ever have the chance of gaining at this rate.

The next day, you and Travis were stringing up herbs to start drying them in the meat shed when he asked, “How do you let a girl know you like her and not have it blow up if she doesn’t like you back?”

“Well, I don’t know how to answer that because no one’s ever liked me like that.” It was painful to say out loud but if you weren’t willing to admit that here and now, where would you?

He stopped what he was bundling and looked incredulous. “You mean, you’ve just never had to tell someone you don’t like them, right?

And man did that make you feel like a loser. Even perpetual virgin Travis was in disbelief at the lack of play you got back home. “No, that’s not what I meant,” you said quietly, cutting off some twine.

It was silent for a minute. God, he was awkward. Why did you even like him? He was just looking at you all weirdly and he hadn’t gathered the next bundle so you had idle hands.

He obviously deduced that you had a slight (massive) thing for him. You were too obvious last night, forcing him to play house with you. You were practically Misty Quigley-level delusional.

“I’m sure some guy has been pining after you and you just don’t know.”

“Oh yeah, that’s why I wasn’t rejecting boys left and right back home, I’m just too intimidating for anyone to ever confess to me.” The sarcasm was plain in your tone. “I’m just too pretty and smart for anyone to ever believe they could have a chance with me, is that right?”

“I know you’re trying to joke right now but you’re not wrong.” He said it all fast, like the words tripped out of him. He made his eyes go all big and soft which made it impossible for you to continue being aloof with him.

“Shut up, you don’t have to lie and make me feel good.”

“What if I’m not? What if I know for a fact that I’m right? That there is a guy out there pining over you.”

You laughed. It was torturous because the delusional part of you believed he must be talking about himself but you knew better. You didn’t get the boy in the end. You don’t get what you want.

“Yeah. Who? Sean from trig? I watched him pick his nose and put it under his desk like two weeks before our plane crashed, I’m good.” Joking usually helped you out in situations but it seemed to frustrate Travis further. He must be really weirded out by your liking him.

Travis took the twine and the knife from your still hands, the task abandoned long ago. He got close to you, the way you had gotten close to him that first time. “No. Not Sean. Me. I’ve been pining after you in these stupid woods and you’re the only one who can’t see that!”

“You mean Natalie? You’ve been asking me for advice on how to make her like you for weeks!”

Travis started pulling at his hair. It had gotten so long out here and had made him unfairly attractive. He shouldn’t distract you like this during serious conversation. “I’ve been asking you for advice on how to make you like me! Jesus Christ, aren’t you usually smart?”

“Oh.” Wow. That was not what you were expecting at all.

“Oh? What does that mean?” You never told him how to tell the girl without making it awkward so he didn’t know what to do after this. You just frustrated him into transparency like you usually did.

You were looking at his face for a moment, checking if this was a trick or something. When you only saw sincerity, you said “I like you too.” He exhaled, apparently waiting on bated breath for your answer.

He took the hand that was holding the twine and held it between his, just holding it, warming up your fingers. He stepped more into your space. He whispered, “I…I don’t know how to do this.”

You returned his intensity with your eyes, really just dropping down the walls you had built around letting your feelings for him show.

“I don’t know how to do any of it either. I was telling the truth when I told you no one has ever liked me like that before.”

He scoffed, “Their loss.”

“Yeah,” you quietly laughed out. Anything louder would’ve felt like yelling.

Then he kissed you. It was both of your first kisses, but he kissed you like a man. He put one hand on your hip and another caressed the side of your neck as he dropped that last physical boundary between you too. You couldn’t go much further because of your mutual inexperience and general breathlessness but it was more than satisfying to you both.

You would both have to leave the shed soon. You needed to check on Javi and talk to him about his whittling. You were trying to talk to him about historical events and books you remembered from school. Fall had come and he should be back in school.

You both lingered. Finally having some type of resolution to anything felt significant out here where things get started but never properly finished.

“So…Are you my girlfriend now?”

You grinned a little. At least this thing between you was good, sacred.

“Yes, and you’re my man.”

[visionsofyouandme]

pull the plug, make it painless

𝚜𝚢𝚗𝚘𝚙𝚜𝚒𝚜: A reveal changes everything for you and Joel.

𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝: 2.7k

𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜/𝚝𝚊𝚐𝚜:  No Outbreak!dbf!Joel Miller x F!Reader. Reader has absolutely no descriptors other than having messy hair. Legal age gap (reader is at least in her 20s, Joel is in his late 40s-early 50s). Established secret relationship. Angst (and I mean ANGST). Reader has a named dad and a named major in college. Reader has MAJOR daddy issues. Swearing. No Sarah or Ellie. Open ending. Not proofread, as usual.

𝙰/𝙽: Well, I was craving some angst and, well... Here we are. I apparently love writing dbf!Joel because of my unresolved daddy issues? Idk. My therapist or a psychologist should definitely look into that... Anyway, if you guys want to see more of this dynamic let me know :) Happy reading!

“I can’t do this anymore.”

A beat of silence. Tension skyrocketed.

“Why?” 

Joel sat on the armchair in the corner of the hotel room, his eyes flitting up to yours. He was leaned over, about to tie his boots up. Sunlight was trying to peek in from behind the curtains, keeping both you and Joel in secrecy.

Secrecy that couldn’t be tolerated. Not anymore. 

He watched you as you pulled your suitcase onto the bed, facing it and started to attempt to fold things neatly to put in there. It was like you were struggling to find normalcy in the sea of emotion that caused the room to become too hot, too stifling, despite the icy weather outside of the lodge’s hotel room.

“Because. It’s getting to be too much. We’re rounding closer and closer to the edge, far too close to the sun. Somebody’s gonna find out.” 

Joel rose slowly, his heart hammering in his chest.

No. No, it couldn’t end like this.

“Darlin’, please-” he began, but you threw a pair of jeans down with an alarming force, rounding to him. You look infuriated, tears brimming in your eyes. He could see how upset you were, he knew all the tell-tale signs of it now. He knew you better than the lines on his hand, better than the certainty that the seasons will change. 

It had been a year of this. Of the sneaking around, of the stolen kisses, glances, touches. It was fun at first, you had just said moments before. But, he could see the slight tremble of your shoulders. That’s when you started folding clothes, itching to do something with your hands, with your energy. But, I just.. It can’t happen. Not anymore.

And then you said the words that completely shattered him.

“Joel, be fucking realistic,” you hissed, and he swallowed. You looked so angry, like the fury of the gods were behind your gaze. He had seen it before, focused on outside factors, on your ex, your father, your life, but not him. 

He felt small and weak under your gaze. Not in a good way that humbled him, but a way that made him feel horrible. 

“Dad’s gonna find out. I mean, Tommy already knows- He could tell Dad at any second. We’ve been getting worse at this, sloppy, harder at hiding things. Dinner the other night, that- that was too much. Too close.” you said, and he knew you were building the case against him. Against the two of you. Damn your pursuit of a law degree, damn your commanding personality and observant mind. 

But, he wouldn’t have it any other way. 

You were always pulling him into your orbit. It felt like a trap at first, but over time, his mind became clouded with you and your wants, your needs- but also your hopes and dreams that he wanted to help you with. He knew all about your wanting to move away from town, to do something substantial in your life, to make a difference. You had such a big heart, and that was what drew him to you in the first place.

Now, you were slinging him lightyears away from your field of gravity. Cast out, creating distance. He knew he would lose sight of you soon and be on his own in the galaxy again. 

That was the last thing he wanted. 

“I know, and I’m sorry. I can fix it-”

“This isn’t a goddamn fence or a leaky faucet that you can just fix. This isn’t simple, it’s not! Not anymore. We- It’s just gone too far. I don’t want-” you said, and he could see the hesitation in your eyes. You could be honest, or use that sharp, quick tongue of yours to tear him down easily. He wouldn’t believe you if it were the latter. He just knew you too damn well.

“I don’t want you to get hurt.” you whispered. Joel took a few steps towards you, and your eyes moved down, turning your body back to the suitcase. More distance.

“Don’t worry about me. I know what I did, and I don’t regret it. Not for one goddamn second.” he said firmly, his voice having more strength than he thought. He saw you visibly flinch, and he reached out for you, putting his hand on your arm but you quickly swatted it away, turning to him and taking a few steps back. 

“Yeah, well… It’s done. We’re done, Joel.” 

“Let me talk to your dad, we can work something out. Come on, darlin’-” 

“Stop fucking calling me that!” you shouted, and it was Joel’s turn to flinch. You wouldn’t back down, though. You never did. “You don’t get that luxury anymore. I’m not yours, I-I never was.” 

Ah, there it was.

Your voice broke. A crack in the tough exterior.

“That’s a damn lie, and you know it.” Joel hissed, and you shook your head, like you were trying to rid yourself of the feeling. 

“I told you I loved you. I meant it. You’re telling me you don’t feel just… just a bit of it, too? You never let me in all the way, you always left me out. But I don’t care. I just want you, I want every piece of you-”

“Stop it!” you cried, and came closer to him, pushing him with every ounce of strength. It caused him to take a few steps back, and when he reached out for your extended hands, you quickly withdrew them like he was a flame you got too close to. Like he would give you third degree burns if you lingered. “You can’t have me, Joel. That’s… that’s just not how things are. They can’t be this way-”

“Goddamn it. Just…” he said, and turned to the side, feeling exasperated and exhausted, something twisting in his gut. It was fear now, not guilt. He had accepted that a long time ago. He didn’t feel it anymore. All he could feel now was you. He said your name softly, coming out like the last breath of a dying man, and he turned to you.

“Stop. Stop acting like a child-”

“ME?! Acting like a child?” you cried, and then started laughing. But, it was strained, sarcastic, and scalding. Like pouring boiling water over his head. “You’re the one who’s still- who’s still living in this fantasy. That things will be fine, that we’ll have some kind of fucked up happy ending-”

He said your name firmly now. Commanding. 

“You want this to stop? Fine,” he said, and you finally looked at him. Whatever emotions you were feeling fell from your face. You were in lawyer mode now. Nothing could betray your feelings. You were shutting him out again. But, he would pull you out of it. He had to find a way. “But, you better look into my damn eyes and tell me you feel nothing. That all this was just stress relief- a way to forget every shitty thing in your life. You look at me, and you tell me that.”

The neutral face continued, and he thought you would actually admit it. Maybe not truthfully, but enough to push him away. He was bracing for it. Your silence was deafening. He wanted to shake you, to beg you to give him a chance. He would get on his knees if he had to.

But, he saw it. That look in your eyes that was coming back, the slight droop of your shoulders, and your lips parted. Lips he had kissed so many times, that he had heard spill the most lovely sounds, lips that he could remember and come back to.

“Joel-”

But there was a knock on the door, so firm and loud and jarring that you both jumped. You looked over your shoulder at the door, and Joel’s stomach twisted so hard and so fast he thought he would double over. Your dad’s voice called out your name, muffled by the wooden door. 

“Hold on, I’m- I’m on the phone-” you called back, and Joel’s hands began to tremble. 

Fuck.

“I know he’s in there.”

You looked at Joel, and he was staring holes into the door. His chest was surprisingly steady, and his hands curled into fists. 

“Dad-”

“Open the door.” 

He wasn’t asking. You knew that. Joel knew that. 

Joel knew you and him couldn’t hide in this room forever. Just like you couldn’t hide what you had together. Not anymore.

Joel was the first one to move, and you stepped in front of him to stop him, but he put a hand on your shoulder. He looked down at you, and you swallowed. He knew this may be the last time he touched you, the last time he would look at your face. 

You shook your head, mouthing a “please,” and he smiled gently, sadly, apologizing.

“I love you,” he mouthed, and touched your cheek gently. You stood, watching him, and leaned your face into his hand, and he could see the tears in your eyes. He looked away and let his hand drop, walking to the door. He gripped it hard, and then opened it slowly. 

Your dad stood, and he didn’t look mad, or upset. But, he shared that similarity with you that you would shut down all emotions until it got too much. It terrified Joel, if he was being honest.

“Mike-” Joel began, but then Mike’s fist swung, and collided with Joel’s jaw. He heard you cry out, and he stumbled back, your dad pushing the door open to step into the hotel room. Your dad was never violent, never lifted a hand to anyone. He typically used words as his weapon, so his outburst took you both by surprise. But at the same time, it was warranted.

“What the fuck, Miller?! I- I can’t fucking believe this. You- She’s my daughter-” Mike stammered, his voice trembling with anger and Joel stood straight, hands raised in defense as he stood between you and your dad. 

“Come on, Mike, just- just listen, okay?” Joel pleaded, knowing he probably sounded pathetic. Mike shook his head, coming into the room and the door shut behind him. 

“Dad-”

“You,” he said, raising his finger and shook his head minutely. “You stay out of this.” 

“I’m a full grown adult. I don’t need anyone speaking for me-”

“You’re my daughter and you’ll do as I say!”

“You’re being fucking ridiculous, Dad! I’m not a child-”

“I trusted him with you! And he threw it back in my face, God- You’re disgusting.” Mike said, shaking his head and Joel’s heart dropped in his stomach. But, he refused to let it end like this.

“I love your daughter, more than anything. And you can’t-”

“Like hell I can, I can press rape charges.” Mike said, and Joel nearly stumbled forward as you shoved past Joel, standing in front of him now. 

“Oh, can you? Cause I’m your property? I’m damaged now? No, Dad, this isn’t fucking 1950 and I’m not a minor. If you so much as lift a finger against him, you’ll never hear from me again.” 

Mike looked at you, and Joel thought he would relent, that he would back down. He could see his chest rise and fall a little slower, but that anger was still in his eyes. 

“Fine. If you’ve found yourself someone, then you don’t need my help. You don’t need to live with me, you don’t need my money for school- It’s all over. You can be on your own to make your own goddamn decisions.” he said coldly, and Joel began to see red.

“Jesus Christ, Mike, do you hear yourself?!” he yelled, his chest feeling like an elephant was crushing it. “She’s your daughter, you can’t do this! You’re just going to abandon her?!” 

Joel was stopped by your hand smacking against his chest and he nearly doubled over. His hand flew over yours, and he looked at you with glassy brown eyes. You weren’t looking at him, though. You were looking at your father, and Joel knew the gravity of this situation was monumental. 

“You’ll get nothing from me. Nothing. Do you understand that?” he said, and Joel shook his head. Your father was the one helping you through law school, the one who was giving you this opportunity. You had worked so hard, worked every damn day and night to get yourself through this. You still had a year left, and you would be free. This was your life, your future, everything you ever wanted… And he was just going to take that away?

“I’ve never wanted anything from you. Ever.” you said, your voice steady, biting, sharp. He looked down to see your hand still on his chest, holding him back or giving yourself something to hold on to. He wasn’t sure which. 

“You can have your fucking money. I don’t want it. I don’t want anything to do with you.” you said, venom in your voice and a fatal blow with every word. If your father thought he was ripping the rug out from under you, he was clearly wrong. At least, that’s how it appeared to Joel. 

“Good. You’ve always been so ungrateful. Just like your mother.”

“You- Oh,” you laughed mirthlessly, “You asshole! You mother f-!” Joel’s arm wrapped around you so quick before you were able to lunge at your dad, and you kicked and clawed at Joel. “Joel, get off of me!” you shouted, and there was a knock at the door, loud and insistent. 

“Security, open up.” A stern voice said, and you slumped against Joel’s chest, your breathing heavy and angry as Joel’s was quick and anxious. Mike shook his head and opened the door, two security guards standing there.

“We had reports of a disturbance. Everything alright?” One of them said, and Joel could feel you begin to tremble in his arms, your hands wrapping around his arms like a vice. Not to push him away, but to keep him there.

“Ma’am? Are you alright?” The other questioned, eyes locked on you as Joel was holding you tightly. You shook your head, and pointed at your dad,

“Get… get him out.” you said, your voice wavering. The security men regarded Mike with a quick glance, and one extended his arm out,

“Sir, you better come with us.” he said, and Mike looked back at you and Joel, his eyes sharp, cutting deep into Joel’s chest.

“I better never hear from either of you again-”

“Don’t worry, you won’t.” You spat, and Mike looked like he wanted to say something more, spout some more poison, but the security guard called for him again. Watching you, Mike only scoffed and shook his head, muttering something under his breath as he walked out with the two guards. 

When he disappeared from view, the first guard still stood. He looked between you and Joel,

“Are you sure you’re-”

You nodded, sniffing, and Joel’s heart broke a little more if that were even possible. 

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry for the interruption, sir.” you said, and Joel’s grip lessened on your waist, and you stood on your own. The guard nodded, looking at Joel and then let the door close behind him. 

You stood, and Joel was about to let go completely until you halfway turned and collapsed, causing him to wrap you up in his arms once more. Your face pressed into his shoulder, and he felt it grow damp, your body shaking slightly in silent sobs. Your hand reached up to curl around his arm, holding on for dear life. He held an arm around you, supporting you, holding you, loving you. He knew you needed it now more than ever. 

His other hand pressed against the back of your head, and he rocked you gently forward and back. You didn’t let out a sound except the occasional sniff, but your grip never lifted from his arm. 

“I've got you, babygirl,” he whispered quietly, the uncertain future growing before him like a vast, never ending, terrifying void. But in that void, you were there, too.

You two had each other, faced against the darkness.

Thank you for reading! Comments, likes, reblogs are appreciated <3

Divider by @/saradika-graphics !

[pretty-little-mind33]

Hello! 😊 I absolutely love your latest Pietro headcanons. 💙 Only if think if it’s no trouble, (and because I love sharing thoughts with you about it) what would you think about headcanons of Tony Stark’s daughter being in a relationship with Pietro? It’s completely up to you. Have a good one and take care! 👋

~ hi! i can def write some headcanons! it helps with my writers block 💕 plus i adore stark!reader hehe! hope you enjoy! ~

• as Tony Stark's daughter, you choose your boyfriend's very carefully. they have to be a certain way to appease your dad lmao (and you have high standards)

• Pietro Maximoff starts off as the exact opposite of the boys you would usually date. you know he's the last boy your father would approve of so you keep your feelings hidden, eventually convincing yourself they're feelings of hate.

• Pietro knows he should hate you. you're Tony Stark's daughter. he pretends he does, enjoying the little game you both have, but in reality he knows he doesn't (mostly because Wanda very quickly knocked some sense into him haha)

• you both bicker and banter. Pietro constantly sets little pranks for you. harmless ones that only annoy you.

• Tony notices the exchanges very quickly and he knows exactly what's happening even before you do!

• he doesn't approve of Pietro but he wants to understand. so one day he corners Pietro and demands he explain why he's all over you.

• at this point, Pietro's hatred for Tony has dwindled, and he's not intimidated by him. he'll tell him plain and simple: "I'm in love with your daughter."

• Tony will be a little taken aback by his boldness but will smirk and let him go with a warning to be careful around you. you don't look it but you're fragile.

• one night, at an Avengers party, everything changes.

• you brought a boy from your uni class and Pietro is fuming. he can see that boy doesn't treat you right; he doesn't dance with you when you ask, or hold your drink, or tell you how beautiful you look. Pietro is angry you've chosen that over him.

• so he'll excuse himself from his conversation with Clint and invite you to dance. right in front of your date.

• you're a little shocked but you'll take any escape at this point so you take Pietro's arm and he leads you to where some guests are dancing. it's not a slow dance but Pietro keeps himself close, asking why you would date someone so pathetic.

• his tone is harsh and you're conflicted. he's also so close you can barley breathe, let alone think. butterflies erupt in your stomach.

• you bite back a snarky answer, which causes Pietro to chuckle and he leans in, his lips near your ear.

• "You don't really think that, do you, Princezna (Princess)."

• one thing leads to another and you end up in the hallway, kissing Pietro like your life depends on it.

• for the first few months, you keep your relationship secret— or so you think.

• all the Avengers know you're dating, even your dad, because Pietro can never keep his eyes off you. he's extremely protective, especially on the field so he keeps you safe.

• Tony waits for you to tell him. he can see that Pietro is good to you, so he doesn't want to risk your unhappiness by messing this up. he loves you more than he loves his pride!

• eventually, you do tell your dad and he's just smirking because he already knows.

• once Tony is on board, you and Pietro date publicly. you're like a power couple!

• you still bicker and banter, but now lovingly. you move into the same room in the tower, much to Tony's dismay, but you're an adult he can't stop you.

• Pietro likes being around you. he loves taking walks and holding your hand, or just sitting and lounging around next to each other. he usually has a hard time being still, but he really tries with you!

• you're like peas in a pod 🥺

• a very unlikely couple, but you work perfectly! and you're good teammates too! you like training together!

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for coming to dinner with my ex and his new GF uninvited?

This situation is long and messy, so I'll try to include the relevant info only. I (F32) broke up with my long time partner (M33) right before COVID hit. We stayed in the same house during lockdown and continued to live together after lockdown was lifted, because we generally get along and we had a child (F11) to raise together. Over the last 3 years we've been roommates and co-parents and that's it.

One day he was supposed to take our daughter to buy new school clothes, and she came back 10 minutes later in tears. She said they were on their way to the store when his new GF called, and he drove her back home and dropped her off so he could go spend time with her. He even asked our daughter to lie to me for him, but she was tired of covering for him (implying she'd been lying for him for a while now).

When he got home we had a massive argument. I didn't care if he dated other girls, I cared that for some reason he thought he had to sneak around, and it made him act like a jerk to me and our daughter. I told him if he had been a man about this new girl and just introduced me to her then maybe we could have all been friends, but instead he had to act like a horny teenager. It ended with him moving out to live with his parents.

A couple days later he called and apologized. He said he hoped it wasn't too late for him to do things right, and he hopes we can all be friends. I was hopeful that we could finally co-parent in peace for the sake of our child.

This is where I may be TA: I have always been close with my ex's parents, to the point where even after we broke up I would be invited over regularly for dinner. They said even if I wasn't their son's partner I'm still their grandchild's mother, and that makes me family.

So one day when my daughter texts me while at my ex's parent's house and invites me to dinner because they're having my favorite meal, I don't think twice about coming over even though my ex and his GF I've never met now live there. I figured everyone had to be okay with it, since my daughter was inviting me.

I end up having dinner with my ex's parents and daughter, but my ex only comes upstairs to grab two plates of food and goes back downstairs. I ask my ex's mom why and she says his GF doesn't feel well today. Whatever, I think. She's just sick and I'll meet her another day. I have a perfectly pleasant dinner with my ex in-laws, help clean up, and make a promise to bring them a coconut cake (ex father-in-law's favorite) and take my daughter home.

Later my ex blows up my phone with texts and calls, saying it was so weird and rude that I came over for dinner uninvited. That I made his new GF uncomfortable, and like she wasn't welcome there. And that I caused trouble in their relationship because she assumes we must still be in love for me to come over and see his parents out of the blue like that, because "exes don't do that. it's creepy."

I had a talk with my daughter and asked her calmly if she had asked everyone else if it was ok if I come over before she texted me, and she sheepishly said she didn't know she had to ask since it had never been a problem before. (I didn't tell her about her dad's meltdown at me, or tell her dad that she's the one who invited me. She's a child and shouldn't be involved)

Instead I just told him I'm sorry me dropping by made things awkward, but I thought he wanted us all to be friends from now on and I figured this was a good place to start being friends. He said there was no way she'd want to be my friend now that I made her feel uncomfortable in her own home.

It wasn't my intention to make anyone uncomfortable, but I admit I'd be perturbed if he brought this woman into MY home and I had not even been warned first. So AITA?

What are these acronyms?

[hwaslayer]

the space between us three (jyh) | one.

⇢series masterlist | series playlist

⇢summary: while juggling the demands of life, yunho continues to do his best to raise his independent 11 yr old daughter, seora. throughout the years, they've built a strong foundation, an unbreakable bond— one that consists of late night talks and food runs, father/daughter dates, and sideline cheerleading at her basketball games. so when you unexpectedly come into their world, things shift. despite the uncertainty and the fear of stepping outside of their comfort zone, yunho and seora eventually learn how to open their hearts and learn how to rebuild a home where three can thrive together.

⇢pairing: single dad!yunho x f. reader

⇢genre: (18+ - minors dni) strangers to lovers, single dad au | fluff, angst, eventual smut

⇢word count: 7k

⇢chapter content/warnings: not much - just a basic intro to yunho x seora, yunho is 31 and seora is 11, cussing, mentions of character death, mentions of a tragic car accident by drunk driving, mentions of casual relationships (not yunho), mentions of distant/unsupportive parents

⇢a/n: it's finally here! i hope you all enjoy this journey and tysm for coming along! i'm not sure what the update schedule will be for this, but i'll try my best to update in between wildfire; this series came to me suddenly so i barely did any prior planning or writing. 😭 anywho, ty again for your support on this! <33

"Seora." Yunho calls her name one last time as he pops in two toaster strudels into the toaster. He lets out a small sigh, pausing when he doesn't hear any movements coming from her room. Just as he finishes getting his coffee together, he turns on his heel to head back down the hallway to check on his 11-year old daughter.

"I'm up." She mumbles, dragging herself across the hallway and into the bathroom. Yunho stands there for a minute, doing a slight head tilt before heading back to the kitchen.

"Well, that was slightly easy today." He finishes packing her lunch [some quickly made spam masubi], making sure she has all her favorite snacks tucked neatly in her lunch box. He nibbles onto some hardboiled eggs he made for himself, plopping Seora's toaster strudels onto a plate. She takes about a good 30 minutes before she's out and dressed in her uniform, hair neatly brushed and pulled back into a low ponytail. "Morning." He hands her the plate after she pours herself some milk. "How'd you sleep?"

"Fine, I guess." She sits and takes a bite before looking at her dad, leaning against the counter. "Just wish it was still the weekend." Yunho chuckles.

"Told you to stop sleeping late. Scrolling through TikTok and all that mess."

"Dad. I beg to differ." She says so matter-of-factly. "I get a lot from TikTok. If anything, I'm up late cause I'm learning."

"Please. You could also learn alot from those books you carry into the school I pay heavily for." 

"Yes, okay, but I learn other things. Like how to do cute hairstyles for myself. How to cook one pot dishes. What's important in an emergency kit. How to file taxes. Ou, and let's not forget the cool goodies on TikTok shop—"

"Why would you learn filing taxes on there?" Yunho furrows his brows. "It's not even something you need to worry about now."

"It's helping me prepare for the real world." She cocks a brow up and turns slightly. "What if you get too busy and forget to teach me?"

"Like you're not gonna pick up the phone to call me and have me do it for you when you get older." Yunho crosses his arms and leans back against the counter.

"See, no. I'll learn."

"Jeez, times really have changed." 

"You're only 31 but you sure sound like you're turning 80." She looks at him with a small teasing smile even though he's squinting his eyes at her.

"I'll just act like you didn't say that." He playfully scoffs. 

"Dad, don't you ever go on Instagram or Twitter? Anything?"

"Not like I used to. My Instagram is probably collecting cobwebs." She chuckles. "I just don't find it useful."

"I mean, you can see what your friends are up to. Like Uncle Hwa or Uncle Mingi. They post alot, no?"

"Your uncles don't even do anything fun. They aren't even fun." 

"Uncle Mingi travels a lot!" Yunho shrugs and nods in agreement. "Anyway, there's also good resources on there, actually."

"I would have never thought Twitter or Instagram could be categorized as resources."

"Pushing 85 now." He's playfully rolling his eyes now.

"Hurry and eat so we can get you to school on time." He checks his watch. "You have practice today, right?"

"Mhm."

"Are you riding home with Chan-mi?" 

"Yup!"

"Sorry, ace. I'll be home a bit after you, okay?" Seora smiles toothlessly at her father when she hears the beloved nickname slip from his lips. It had been a long time coming with that nickname, but Seora loves every bit of it. She knows it's her dad's way of saying he's proud of her in every way; all the good grades she gets, the games she plays, the hard days in and out of practice.

She is his ace, his everything.

"No big." She cleans up her plate and drinks the rest of her milk before washing her dishes. 

"Text me what you want for dinner later." She nods, facing him after setting the dishes on the rack.

"Ready." She throws her backpack strap over her shoulder.

"Alright." He grabs his bag and his thermos before handing Seora her lunch bag. He takes one last look around the kitchen to make sure all is good and unplugged before heading out the door to the car. Seora is patiently waiting at the passenger's door, already scrolling away on her phone. 

"Goodmorning you two!" Auntie Love, the next door neighbor, calls out. Yunho and Seora have grown a fond, wholesome relationship with their neighbors— they call themselves Auntie Love and Uncle Po. Despite having that relationship, Yunho feels like he doesn't know much about them besides the fact that their kids are grown and off doing their own thing— barely visiting cause of busy lives. At least, he's never seen them visit while he's around. They're sweet, and they always bring over food and check up on Seora when she's home alone while Yunho is still finishing up at work. "Where's my sweet girl?" Auntie Love comes running out in her pajamas just to give Seora a big bear hug. "Yunho, she grows more and more beautiful every day."

"Yeah she does, and the attitude grows, too!" She laughs just as he hops in the driver's seat, waving them off for the day.

"Dad." She buckles her seatbelt at the same time as he father, giving him the green light to drive off.

"That's me." Seora snorts. "What's up?"

"Have you ever met Auntie Love and Uncle Po's kids?"

"Never." Granted, Yunho and Seora just moved to their current spot about a year and a half ago, starting fresh in a smaller house that would be perfect for the two of them. But, he does find it a little odd that he's never even ran into them once. "I know they exist, I just never see them when I'm around. It's also kinda crazy cause Auntie Love said her daughter works at the same hospital as me, but it's such a huge hospital, I don't think we'd ever cross paths."

"That's pretty crazy if you did and you just didn't know it." Seora looks out the window. "I wonder why they don't visit often. They seem like such cool parents." 

"People get busy and have their own lives to end to. Plus, the sad thing about parenting is that we prepare our kids to tough it out in the world without us." Yunho playfully pinches her cheeks, making her laugh a bit.

"I'll always need you." Yunho smiles.

"You say that now, but once you find your footing in the world and someone who will take care of you, I'll be a long distant memory."

"Stop. Don't say that. I'll always need you." She repeats, tugging onto his free arm and hugging onto it like a koala. Yunho laughs at her as she continues to tug on his arm, giving it a few more playful tugs before she's letting go. "Dad."

"Yes?"

"Can you take me and my friends shopping this weekend?"

"Oh, so that's why you were being that way?" He pokes fun at her and she laughs.

"No! It's obviously because I love you."

"I love you, too." He smiles. "What're you guys trying to do?"

"I wanna buy more stuff for my scrapbook. Like stickers and stuff. And they just wanna walk around an shop. Do cute girly things." She shimmies a bit in her seat.

"Don't you have a ton of scrapbooking supplies sitting on your desk?" Yunho flawlessly turns down the street, approaching the lot to her school.

"I'm running through them. Plus, I need more highlighters and pens. And there's a new edition of the sticker books I buy." She pouts and pleads. "Please, please, please!"

"Seora." He laughs. "Yeah, cause you could certainly use more." He jokes. "Sure. Just let me know. But!"

"But?" She looks at him.

"As long as I can drag one of your uncles along."

"Duh." She laughs. "You're the best." She mumbles as she types away on her phone, Yunho pulling into a spot to walk her towards the school entrance. He helps her with her backpack, duffle bag and lunch bag, trailing behind his daughter with his hands in his pockets. He greets a few parents and teachers, pausing in his tracks just as they get to the steps. She turns to look at him, a smile on her face. Yunho looks at her and still can't believe his babygirl is already 11, going on 12 soon. She's tall, just like her father. She's got the same eyes and smile, but she definitely has similarities to Eunha. She's become quite the athlete, head deep in her books.

Time sure flies.

"See you later, ace. Have a good day at school and practice, k? Remember, text me when you get home and what you're craving for dinner." She nods, throwing her arms around her dad before they do their little handshake.

"I will. Have a good day too, gramps." He rolls his eyes again and shakes his head as he watches her walk up the steps and disappear into the main lobby of the school. 

"Goodmorning Yunho." One of the moms passing by waves and smiles sweetly at him, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as she tries to keep her blushing subtle. He gives her a simple nod of acknowledgement with a tiny smile, slipping into his car to head to work.

Yunho can't really remember the time he went on a real date. 

He has met a few women, but super casually. He didn't really feel anything special with anyone, and he's someone who loves to connect with people. Otherwise, he finds it to be a waste of time. He's not sure how people [aka Uncle Mingi and Uncle Seonghwa] slept around without getting attached; he doesn't think he could pull it off the same way.

Plus, he comes with a forever plus one. His Seora, his babygirl, his ace. And he will always put her before anything, anyone.

Maybe Yunho was just numb. Losing Eunha was the hardest thing he's ever had to endure, and he still feels it 'till this day, as if that accident was yesterday. Seora had been shy over 4 years old when she was tragically struck by an oncoming drunk driver, leaving her car to flip off the highway. Seora barely got to live her life with her mother and that's what aches the most for Yunho. He knows she's fine, and he knows he's tried his best all these years to help shape her into who she is today. But, he knows there is a part of her that misses her mother terribly, that yearns for a mother's love even though Yunho has done everything he can to fill the shoes for both.

So, he thinks about that when he goes on dates. He could never replace Eunha, but he also knows him and Seora are good with where they're at. No one else needed to come into the mix to disrupt their flow for now. Although, he yearns for love too, though. He is scared, but he is equally sad that the truest, most raw form of love he's ever experienced was stripped away from him so fast— he barely got to indulge in Eunha being there as his wife. He's not sure if he'll ever move past it, even though Seonghwa and Mingi tell him time and time again that he deserves to experience love despite everything that's happened.

That he's still deserving of it, and that he should try to open his heart up to it.

He isn't sure how Seora would be though, and that's the most important thing for him. Because he just wants his daughter to be happy. He will always put her first.

When he drives off to work, he pulls into the staff garage and flashes his badge to the security guard waiting at the booth. He drives down to the 2nd level before he's able to find a spot and reverses into it flawlessly. He shuts off the car and grabs his backpack, heading straight to the stairs to bring him back up to the ground level and entrance of the main hospital.

The main hospital has 8 floors, with the emergency room off to the side and valet at the front for patient pickup. It's connected to an adjacent building, the older hospital— which has 3 floors and the older emergency room at the back end of the building. The pediatrics hospital is right behind the main hospital but there isn't a bridge connecting the two; staff typically have to take a 5-10 minute walk over if they need anything on that end. Along the ways are food trucks and mobile coffee trucks, with cafeterias and smaller cafés and shops situated inside the buildings itself.

The hospital is huge and could literally float and function as its own island if it wanted to. 

"Morning, Yunho!" One of the front desk staff members greets him. Yunho sends them a small salute, before smiling and responding back.

"Goodmorning!" Yunho's dressed in jeans and a thick black sweater, the colder weather slowly making its way in at this time of the year. He heads up to the second floor, his office nestled in the corner of the huge office space dedicated to his IT team and part of the administrative team. He greets everyone goodmorning on the way over, setting his things down before he comes out to chat a bit with his team members.

"Yo." He leans against an empty desk while sipping on his coffee.

"Sup boss." Taehyun swings around in his chair, while his other two coworkers, Kyung-soo and Jihoon plop into their chairs. "How's it going?"

"Alright, not too bad." Yunho chuckles. "How about you?"

"All good, can't complain." His main team is made up of 10 people— Taehyun being the team lead, the others branching into specifics like system administrators, helpdesk techs and cybersecurity. His team alone supports a few departments since the hospital is so huge— other IT teams are spread out to cover other remaining wings; plus, the older hospital and the pediatrics corner. From time to time, they'll hop in and help if needed. Without Taehyun's help triaging and prioritizing certain tasks, Yunho wouldn't be able to focus on the high-level aspects of his job. Of course, their team meshes with so many different departments within the hospital— they're all involved deeply in current ongoing and new developments.

"Didn't seem like we got too many tickets last night? Any urgent action items come up in the last hour or so?" Taehyun shakes his head.

"Not really. We've been sorting through and closing out those tickets. Most have been quick fixes." Yunho nods.

"Sounds good. I gotta work on that new clinical project that's opening up on the fifth floor soon. Might loop some of you guys in to help with the Epic implementation and other tweaks we might need to incorporate for patient ordering." 

"Aye! They're finally moving forward with it?" Yunho chuckles.

"Yeah, I guess they've slowly been recruiting patients for their program so they've been moving at a quick pace for the space and everything."

"Sick, that'll be a big project."

"Yup, already starting to feel like it. Thanks for handling those tickets. If we can make sure we stay on top of the queue and help get the AV system going for the board meeting happening in the next hour, that would be great." Yunho goes through a few other priorities he needs his team members to focus on, thanking them for all their hardwork before excusing himself to the office and beginning his own project planning and schedule organization.

He's got a few higher-level meetings to hop into, especially to debrief about the new clinical department opening up and its current timeline. He also needs to set some time aside to brainstorm the data migration request he got a few days ago for another department, along with figuring out how to structure this new department's servers, bandwidth and storage.

It doesn't sound like much, but Yunho definitely has his day cut out for him.

And as he expected, he's barely getting a moment to breathe. Especially when Taehyun pulls him into an urgent server issue that has him thinking on his feet for close to 15 minutes until he realizes the best way to move forward without any major data loss. Then, he's making it to the next meeting but he is already exhausted and hungry. He doesn't get the chance to grab lunch until 1:30pm— Yunho rushing over to the cafeteria to grab today's lunch special before they stop offering hot food. 

"Today ended up being a lot busier than expected." Yunho mumbles as he slips into a seat, Taehyun and Jihoon following suit in the spaces in front of him.

"Seriously. Thanks for your help with the servers."

"All good." Yunho chuckles. "Sooner or later, we'll find better ways to tackle those issues. I know we're gonna have to work on upgrades soon."

"Agreed. And it's probably about time." Jihoon chimes in. "I know we were kinda brushing it off for a bit but I'm slowly seeing it crumble." Yunho nods.

"Nah, I agree. I'll think about it over the next few days. Let me know if you guys have any ideas." Yunho sips his water. "I'll also need your help for the clinical project a lot sooner than expected. I'll forward any invites so you two can start attending meetings. It'll be good for you to get involved now so you have a better idea of the setting and the trials taking place in this new department."

"Sounds good! Let me know if you need anything else, we'll be happy to help out." Yunho smiles and cocks his head to the side.

"Thanks. How's everything else been with you guys? I've been going through candidates, but I expect us to interview and wrap up the whole thing by next month. We'll get some extra help."

"Thanks, boss. That's good to hear." Taehyun hums. "And hm, I think everyone's completely fine and taking it day by day. No one seems to be unhappy."

"We've got a good team and good people around us so I can't complain either. Days are busy but wouldn't want it any other way." Jihoon takes a spoonful of food into his mouth and shrugs. "Got a good manager." He points at Yunho.

"Well, least I'm doing something right?" Taehyun laughs and shakes his head.

"Have a little faith, will you?" Taehyun smiles. "The team doesn't go anywhere without you."

"I think it's the other way around for sure."

"Hey." Seonghwa pops in and sits next to Yunho. Taehyun and Jihoon nod at Seonghwa and send their usual greetings, Yunho knitting his brows at how flustered he looks.

"You okay? Should I even ask?" Seonghwa shakes his head.

"Just tired." Seonghwa takes a bite of the sandwich he brought over. "This health fair we've been planning is driving me crazy. Vendors have been too flakey and our deadline to finalize everything is next week. Plus, I gotta get those interviews and articles done for the new department by next week, too." Seonghwa is one of the marketing and communications managers for the hospital. He had been working here for a bit longer than Yunho, and actually introduced him to the hiring manager and IT director when they were in dire need of building a new team to support the growth of the new main hospital. They had both been working there for a couple of years, Seonghwa organically growing from the bottom up since he had started. Yunho respects him alot [besides the fact that he's one of his bestfriends], and admires his work ethic. Seonghwa is probably one of the constants in his life that helps push him to where he needs to be and serves as a reminder that he needs to keep going regardless of what life brings to the table. 

"I bet you're hella roped into the fine details for that." Taehyun says.

"Yeah, and it doesn't help that the core faculty members are all crazy busy. They're all psychiatrists and neurosurgeons. I can barely get them to respond about meeting with me to talk about it." Seonghwa sighs. "Anyway, that's all. I just needed to let that out, so thanks." They all chuckle.

"Yeah." Yunho looks at him. "Going to that huge introductory meeting later this week then?"

"Mhm." 

"By the way, how's you and Seora?" Taehyun asks. 

"My ace!" Seonghwa adds.

"We're as good as we can be." Yunho smiles, eyes looking down at the polaroid on the back of his phone that Seora slipped in. It's a picture of them two at the amusement park, wearing cute headbands per her request.

"That's good. School and basketball still treating her okay?" Yunho nods. "Cool. I'm glad you're doing okay. I just wasn't sure when I could ask since you've been so busy."

"You can always pop into my office." Yunho laughs. "But, thank you. I appreciate you guys for asking and for all your help."

"Does she have a game soon?" Seonghwa cuts in to ask.

"Think so. Pretty sure."

"Let me know. I'll try and make it." Seonghwa's eyes are traveling across the room, situated on a person as they grab their lunch and sit at a table on the opposite end of the room. 

"How's that going?" Yunho follows his gaze and lets out a small laugh. Jihoon and Taehyun can't help themselves either, subtly looking over their shoulder to see what has gotten Seonghwa all quiet. It's Yoori, one of the Directors of Space and Planning, and the same girl he had been seeing recently.

"I dunno. It's alright I guess."

"Do you think you'll end up in something serious with her?"

"No." Seonghwa chuckles it off, but internally, he's torn between keeping Yoori as his past-time or his full-time.

"She seems to like you a lot already." Yunho continues to look at Yoori as she talks to her coworkers. She's about 4 years older than them. Was in a long term relationship that ended a few months ago, according to Seonghwa. He thought it was a good opportunity to get to know her and have some fun, assuming she wouldn't be ready for a relationship. He might've been wrong because yeah, she does like him a lot already. She's been hinting at it a lot. It's not that Seonghwa can't see them being something serious— he's just not sure if he's ready to jump into that or take that road right now.

He likes his independence and he likes having fun, he's not gonna lie about it.

"Yeah, but we already talked about where we were at and she agreed on it, so." 

"Uh huh.." Yunho responds. "You know, it's okay to want something serious." He chuckles. But, before Seonghwa can respond, he nods towards the aisle ahead.

"Hm." Seonghwa hums. "Speaking of something serious to get into."

"Hey Yunho!" One of the nurses, Ara, passes by with her friends, smiling at him. "Seonghwa, Taehyun, Jihoon." She gives them nods of acknowledgements.

"Sup!" They all say in their own way.

"Hey Ara." He looks up at her.

"Haven't seen you around for awhile?"

"Just been running around is all."

"Locked up in his office actually—" Taehyun says, causing Yunho to press on his foot under the table. "Ouch— yeah, we've all been busy."

"I see." She giggles. "How's Seora?"

"Good!"

"Give her a big hug for me." Ara smiles. "We should definitely grab some dinner one day and hang out. Bring Seora, too!"

"For sure! Sounds fun."

"See you around then, maybe?" She subtly bites onto her bottom lip as her friends giggle away and hurry along to a table.

"Yeah, I'll see you." She waves for one last goodbye before reuniting with her friends. Seonghwa lets out a small snort, while Taehyun and Jihoon quietly poke away at their food with a smirk growing on their lips.

"Um, so." Jihoon laughs when he's the first to break the silence. "She's definitely interested."

"And Yunho definitely should take the opportunity." Seonghwa responds right away, making Yunho shake his head.

"Nah."

"Why not? She's literally opening the door in front of you. Doesn't hurt to try."

"Could be fun. Doesn't have to be serious." Jihoon adds. "She's cute."

"You should see where it takes you. No harm in letting it go if it doesn't pan out as expected." Taehyun also adds his two cents.

"Was not expecting to get lectured by you three during lunch." They laugh.

"Seriously." Seonghwa looks at him. "It's been awhile since you've went on a date. Just see where it goes." Yunho stays silent as he pokes at his food, thinking about the whole thing. It couldn't hurt just to see where it'd take him— and quite frankly, he could use someone new to talk to and hang out with. It doesn't necessarily mean it needs to work out into anything. "I will literally sit at home with Seora and keep her occupied when you take Ara out." Yunho sighs and finally meets his gaze.

"Really now? I'm holding you to it."

"Yes! Not like I haven't before. Could use time to hangout with my ace and bring back the favorite uncle title." Yunho chuckles.

"Yeah, gotta say. Mingi has been taking over." Yunho says just to rile him up even though there's no such thing for Seora; she loves her uncles equally.

"Well, fuck Mingi." Taehyun and Jihoon laugh. "Ask her later. Or tomorrow. Promise me. It doesn't have to turn into anything but at least get out of the house and hang out with a fresh face." Seonghwa turns back to his food. "But for your sake, I hope it does." He mumbles, causing Yunho to nudge him.

"Fine, but no promises on a specific outcome."

"My job here is done." Seonghwa sips on his soda and tosses a crumpled napkin into the sandwich wrapper.

"Shoulda known."

"I was just gonna catch up with you guys, not my fault she happened to walk by at the same time." Seonghwa chuckles and stands. "Gotta get back to my desk and start pressing people for answers. See you guys around." He stands and grabs his trash, making his way to the trash can before walking off out of the cafeteria.

"He's right." Taehyun shrugs. "Gotta try and see where it goes. You deserve to take a break and have some fun. You always work so damn hard."

"And we all know how much Seora means to you and comes first, but you gotta think about yourself, too." Yunho chuckles as he takes his last forkful and sits back in his seat.

"Thanks guys."

"Just looking out for you." Jihoon stretches. "Anyway, time to head back?"

"Yup. I gotta get ready for my next meeting." They all stand and slowly make their way out of the cafeteria, throwing their trash into the appropriate bins.

Yunho's day ends a little after 5:45pm, which is when rush hour hits. He's heading downtown to pick up the food Seora requested, making sure to place the order ahead of time so he can just pick it up and go. As expected, he hits traffic and it takes him an extra 15 minutes to get deep into downtown. It's crazy everywhere, and all Yunho can do is look forward to getting home.

seora: daddy-o i am home

seora: honey-soy glazed fried chicken and kimchi fried rice from chick'n coop pls!

seora: pls pls pls <3333 love youuu

Luckily, he's able to snag a spot in front of the restaurant. It's a 15 minute spot, so he quickly runs in and grabs the food, thanking the friendly staff before running out and getting back into the car. He's not entirely excited about the trek home in all this chaos, but he finds it worth it when he reminds himself of how happy Seora will be when he gets home with her current craving.

So, his usual 30 min drive home ends up being 45 from inner downtown with all the traffic. He parks his car out front before grabbing his things and pulling on his car handle to make sure the doors are locked. When Yunho unlocks the front door, the house is quiet but it doesn't worry him one bit because he knows exactly where Seora is. He kicks off his shoes, setting the bag of food down on the counter before placing his bag down on a dining table chair. He turns down the hallway towards Seora's room, her door slightly ajar. He gives it a few knocks before he's poking his head in, finding her deep in her books at her desk— those huge Bose headphones she asked for last Christmas sitting on her head while she works on her homework.

"Ace." She surprisingly turns her head towards the door, but it's probably because she felt her father's looming figure standing there. She smiles and shoves off her headphones, playfully jumping on her dad while he wraps his arms around her and hugs her tightly.

"You're home!" Yunho laughs as she gently hops off.

"How was school and practice?" She shrugs, walking back to her desk.

"Um, it was okay? The usual."

"Got lots of homework?" She shakes her head.

"Not really. I'm about to finish up!"

"Why don't you wrap it up so we can have dinner and watch our show together?" She chuckles.

"Okay. I'll be out in a sec." Yunho nods, shutting her door before heading out to wash up and get comfy for the evening. He heads to his room and takes a piping hot shower before completing his routine and slipping into a shirt and some flannel pajamas. He heads into the kitchen to unpack dinner, setting out the plates and utensils for him and Seora. He's not usually a stickler about these things— there are days when the two of them sit at the table and talk about everything and anything, then there's days where they'll plop onto the living room floor to eat at the coffee table and watch a show or movie. Any moment spent with Seora is a cherished moment for Yunho, and he'll never take any of it for granted;

Not when she's growing up so damn fast.

Yunho remembers when Seora was born— him and Eunha were shy over 20 years old. Young, dumb and naive; so incredibly unsure of how they'd move forward with having a child so young, how they'd make it without the support they hoped to have. Both their parents didn't think they were ready and tried to force other agendas on them, ones that didn't include being in Seora's life and Eunha was almost convinced it was the better route solely because of all the noise and talk in her ear. But, Yunho didn't want any of it at all. He wanted to be in Seora's life, he wanted to raise her, he wanted to go through life's ups and downs with her— even if that meant their parents wouldn't agree and would cut off ties. 

All that mattered was Seora and Eunha.

So, they had her. Yunho and Eunha had the hardest, most challenging time trying to work to get by, all while finishing school over the years. They packed up and moved to different in-laws, renting rooms in random homes until they could afford a tiny studio to build in for awhile. They pushed through no matter how rough it got because they were both on the same page and understood the end goal: providing for Seora and being able to give her a comfortable life. Their parents weren't the happiest; hence, the disconnect between Seora and both her grandparents. When Eunha passed, her parents cut off ties completely because they claimed it was too painful to. Yunho's parents on the other hand, will see their granddaughter once in a blue moon over a quick meal. Otherwise, they send over birthday and holiday cards with extra cash wishing her the best. Yunho doesn't really have a great relationship with them anyway, and when he does manage to have dinner with them, he tries to keep it civil. 

Keyword: tries.

Things changed when Seora hit 7 years old and was smart enough to pick up on their cues. She realized her grandparents didn't really wanna be a part of her life like that and that was hurtful for Yunho to see. She'd question why they weren't there to see her exceed during the sports competitions in summer camp, she'd question why they wouldn't go to her little school dance recitals. She'd question why they weren't there when she'd win Student of the Month or when they'd have fall and spring family festivals.

She questioned why they weren't there and Yunho didn't have an answer for her. 

But, since they are his parents, he tries to keep that window open out of respect. In the end, he knows it would truly just be them two against the world, and that was completely fine. Yunho made it this far throughout all the trials and tribulations— he's sure he can handle anything else that comes their way.

"Yay!" Seora squeals when she comes out into the living room and plops next to her dad on the floor. "Thank you." She smiles at him and he chuckles.

"You're welcome. Good choice for dinner." She begins to plop some fried rice onto her plate, followed by pieces of the honey-soy glazed chicken wings. 

"Been craving it for so long."

"You could've just asked for it." Yunho switches it to their favorite zombie apocalypse show. 

"I know, but I know you have long days at work so I feel bad for asking you to stop by."

"I appreciate that." Yunho laughs. "But, I want you to know that I don't mind, okay? Just let me know and I'll make the stop."

"You really are the best." She mutters just as she takes a bite into her chicken. 

"You know what we haven't done in awhile?"

"Hm?" Her eyes widen at the scene, and she lets out a small 'oh my god, run!' in between.

"We haven't gone out for our usual father/daughter dates."

"You're right." She takes a spoonful of rice into her mouth. "Can we go next weekend? I think I have a game that Saturday, but in the morning."

"Yeah, what do you wanna do?" She grabs the remote to pause the show.

"Hold on, I need to think about this." She looks up in thought. "I wanna go to the movies to catch Wicked. But, I wanna go to the theater that has the cute suites with the couches inside."

"Okay. But, let me get this straight." Yunho laughs and takes a sip of his beer. "You wanna do that with me and not your friends?"

"They're surprisingly not all that into it. We might later on, but I definitely wanna watch it with you cause I know you'll enjoy it either way." Yunho nods.

"What else? More shopping? More eating out?"

"They opened up that new dog café downtown."

"Let's go then." 

"Bbq after it all?"

"Sounds like a good date to me."

"Dad, for the next-next one, we should drive somewhere or do something outdoorsy or active. Like those indoor rock climbing gyms."

"Woah." He laughs loudly. "Yeah, actually. We should. I'll start planning something for a weekend you don't have any games."

"Woohoo! Sick. Now I can beat you at rock climbing and rub it in your face." She claps and gently headbutts her dad's arm before resuming the show.

"Seora." Yunho looks over at her with a fond smile.

"Uh huh? Holy crap—" She responds to the show before quickly glancing over at him, then back to the TV. "Yeah, dad?"

"Love you." He makes it a point to always remind her because he doesn't want her to feel like she's lacking in love anywhere, despite no longer having her mother or her grandparents around. He is hoping he's enough to fill their shoes. "You know that, right?" He gently tickles her and she squeals.

"Yes! Oh my god, don't do that!" He laughs. "I love you too." Yunho sits back against the couch and fully immerses himself in dinner and the show— responding just as animatedly as Seora. They get through about four 50-min episodes, a little bit into the fifth before Seora is beginning to yawn like crazy, almost falling asleep on the opposite end of the couch.

"Ace." Yunho gently shakes her by the shoulder after pausing the show and slowly cleaning up the coffee table.

"I'm definitely not falling asleep." He snorts.

"You sure are. We'll pick this up again tomorrow. You had a long day." She sits up and yawns, stretching before she rubs at her eyes.

"Practice killed me today. Coach had us running suicides up and down the court for warm up."

"That's a good way to start practice." She nods and sleepily begins her walk off to the bathroom to brush her teeth and do her nightly routine.

"I'm off!" 

"Goodnight, sleep well. Don't stay up on your phone for too long."

"I won't, I won't. Actually—" She lazily pauses and walks back to give Yunho a hug. "Night dad." He playfully squeezes her before planting a chaste kiss to the top of her head and ruffling her hair.

"Night." He watches her finally walk off to the bathroom before turning his attention to the dishes in the sink. He takes his time washing them thoroughly before wiping down the kitchen counters, the dining table and living room coffee table. He slips the leftovers into Seora's tupperware for lunch tomorrow, prepping snacks for himself and Seora to take as well.

He'll probably head to the cafeteria and buy himself something to eat.

Once he's satisfied with his cleaning, he shuts off the lights and double checks the doors before heading into his room on the opposite side of Seora's. He lets out a sigh, exhaustion fully hitting him at this time. He gets himself ready for bed, brushing his teeth and doing his final round of skincare before plopping onto his bed and turning on his own TV. He lowers the volume slightly, the TV now just giving off soft background noise to fill the void. Before he could really settle in, his phone rings— a call coming in from his other bestfriend.

"What?" Mingi scoffs hearing Yunho's greeting.

"You're such a dick, you know that?" Yunho laughs as Mingi continues to whine. "I called to check on you and that's all I get?"

"Jesus, relax. What's wrong?"

"I'm just saying! You didn't even text me back."

"Sorry, I got caught up. Work was busy today, then I stopped by to grab some food Seora's been craving. We were watching our show all night and just finished up not too long ago." Yunho briefly puts him on speaker phone to check Mingi's text. 

mingi: wanna do something this weekend?

"I just asked if you wanted to do something this weekend." Yunho responds anyway, just to give him what he wants.

yunho: no

"Well, okay. It doesn't even matter anymore, why are you responding now?!" Mingi's voice turns up a pitch.

"You wanted me to text you back." Yunho laughs. "No can do anyway. I told Seora I'd take her and the girls shopping. Unless.. you wanna tag along?"

"How sweet. You want me to keep you company?" 

"We can go on our own date while they shop." Mingi chuckles.

"Yeah, sure."

"What did you have in mind originally?"

"Just walking around the city or grabbing dinner. Nothing too fancy."

"What's Hwa doing? Saw him earlier but didn't really get a chance to ask."

"Hanging out with that girl he's been talking to for a two weeks and three days. What's her name? Yoori?"

"Mhm. You're oddly specific." Yunho snorts.

"I don't think it'll last, if I'm being honest." Mingi laughs.

"He's having fun."

"As with the others. Anyway. When's ace's next game?"

"The following Saturday. I gotta check the exact time, but it's an early one. Was planning to take her out afterwards."

"No invite to that?"

"No, dude. My time with my daughter." He sighs.

"I want one."

"Then stop fucking around and settle down." Yunho chuckles. "Also not just something you can want like a toy, Mingi. You know it's way more than that."

"No, I know. You and Eunha did well with Seora, seriously. You're like her bestfriend."

"That's my girl." Mingi nods to himself because he does eventually wanna settle down and have a family, but he's mainly proud of the way Yunho has gracefully tackled life despite all the ups and downs. He wasn't afraid to ask for help when he really needed it, leaning on him and Seonghwa when times were incredibly trying. Taking turns babysitting and driving the girl to and from places, helping buy groceries or cook for the two. Sometimes, Seonghwa or Mingi would offer to hang out with her for a day or so just so Yunho could get some time to himself. For the most part though, Yunho and Eunha did their best. Yunho did his best to pick himself up and carry on for the both of them after Eunha passed. He's not sure how he managed, but he did. He commends Yunho cause he isn't sure how he'd do it if he was in his place.

He hopes his bestfriend can be genuinely happy one day. Yunho says he is but Mingi knows he isn't. There's always gonna be that empty space and that void that he'll look past, and he's worried it'll be too much to bear when times get tough again. Yunho feels like he has everything being by Seora's side and Mingi doesn't doubt that at all.

Still, it must get lonely at times.

"Anyway, I'll let you be. Just wanted to check in. Tell ace I said hi and give her a big hug for me. Send me the details of her game when you can and what time you need me to be ready this weekend."

"Yeah, I will."

"Alright, peaaace." Yunho ends the call and sticks his phone onto the charger. On his nightstand is a photo of him, Eunha and Seora when Seora just turned three— they took her up to the snow so she could play around and enjoy herself. He picks up the photo and smiles as he stares at Eunha's face, truly missing her presence until this day.

That's probably the one other thing that stops him when he thinks about seriously dating again and seeing people. He knows he shouldn't compare but he can't help himself when Eunha was ripped away from his life so suddenly; all he knows is Eunha. They were always on the same page. They weren't perfect, and they sure as hell had their ups and downs. But, they both had the end goal of making it together and being the best parents Seora could have. There was that mutual understanding, that same determination and grit to push through regardless of how tough it got.

He doesn't think he could find a partner in crime like that ever again. Maybe, he just isn't destined to.

And for now, that's okay.

It's okay because he has Seora, and she is the biggest reminder, the biggest vessel of love that he needs.

For now, he thinks he's okay.

⇢taglist: @asjkdk @interweab @woojirang @svintsandghosts @cheolliehugs @persphonesorchid @mxnsxngie @jycas @cowboydk @nopension @curse-of-art @thechaotictheoryy @likexaxdaydream @dalsuwaha @enha-stars @yasuraokaa @professormingisglasses @yunyunrin @pommelex @astral-trashcan @laura1399 @domfikeluva @tournesol155 @hwaskookies

[bluebutterflytattooed]

Loser Lesbian Ellie Williams x Mean Girl Reader

CHAPTER TEN

For a week, you’ve been Ellie’s girlfriend. For a week, you haven’t taunted her in the cruel way you used to. For a week, you’ve been working hard on your film project, talking and even laughing occasionally with Riley after Ellie chewed her out for a whole hour. According to Dina, she’s never seen Ellie more mad then when she confronted Riley about scaring you away from her. Since then, filming for your project has been smooth sailing. The acting part for you has wrapped up, and it’s moved onto the three nerds editing the footage.

You’ve been around Ellie constantly. Either you’re at her house, or she’s at your house, or you’re driving around town in her old blue Chevrolet truck. You went to a drive in movie with her, which turned into a heated makeout in the bed of her truck. You cooked dinner with her dad, and even helped around the farm a little bit one morning. Every night has ended with you fast asleep in her bed, and every morning has begun with her sprawled on top of you. You’ve scolded her about leaving hickeys at least four times (They cover your whole chest at this point. You cover the ones on your neck up with concealer, but the dark, angry ones on your thighs are a lost cause). Ellie is now best friends with Cherry, who moved between your houses very often.

Despite all of this, you have yet to become public about your relationship.

Heading into week two of your relationship with Ellie, none of your friends know who it is that’s constantly leaving marks on your skin and making you happier than you ever have been before. But you haven’t told them anything. You’re not ashamed, you’re just still… scared.

But it’s driving Ellie insane. She wants people to know about you guys. She needs it, she’s been sticking this out for years in hopes that one day, you’d fall for her too. Now, it’s finally happened, and barely anyone knows!

She needs to bring it up with you, she knows she does, but when?

Unfortunately for her, her awkwardness and untimeliness gets the best of her as she grabs your arm in the hallway one day before lunch, pulling you aside, a stern look on her face.

“Els? What’s wrong?” You ask her, genuinely concerned. You tuck a lock of hair behind your ear, taking a step closer to her.

“Do you hate me?” She pouts, crossing her arms. You try to keep your eyes off the way her biceps flex, which turns out to be very difficult.

You guffaw, staring at her like she grew a third head. “What? No! Why would you think that?” That’s the most insane thing you’ve ever heard. Sure, you used to hate her, but you don’t anymore.

“You haven’t told anyone about us. No one! Not a single person! So you probably hate me!” She looks so cute with her pouty lips you almost kiss her in the middle of the hallway. But her expression is heartbreaking. She looks dejected, as if she truly believes that you don’t like her. Her eyes are watery, and her brow is furrowed so deeply it could become permanent.

“Els, I…” You trail off, an idea slowly forming in your head. Using words to declare things is much too difficult for you, it’s always been a struggle, especially around friends who couldn’t care less about words. “Come with me.” Your voice is firm, and so is the grasp you have on her hand once you grab it, intertwining your fingers with hers and dragging her into the cafeteria. She stumbles a bit behind you, her eyes widening with confusion as you pull her all the way to the table that’s filled with your friends. They all look up at you.

“Hey, Y/N, you look good,” Abby says, grinning at you before setting her gaze on Ellie. “What’s up with this?” She raises her eyebrows at the sight before her.

You shrug. “This is Ellie.” They all know who Ellie is, they’ve tormented her as well. “My girlfriend.” Several jaws at the table drop, someone pops their bubblegum, and one of your guy friends whispers “oh shit” under his breath.

“Yeah right. No one believes that. This a new joke or something?” Abby scoffs. You shake your head at her, holding Ellie’s hand tighter.

“No.” You say simply, popping your hip out and narrowing her eyes at her.

“Sure, Y/N. Prove it then, cause I don’t believe this shit for a second.” She laughs at herself, smiling and all proud of how she’s clearly backed you into a corner.

But she hasn’t. You just smile sweetly back at her, place a hand on the back of Ellie’s neck, and kiss her hard. You kiss Ellie, your girlfriend, right in the middle of school. Her eyes are open wide in surprise and confusion for a moment, but she sinks into it quickly. You can feel her smirking against your lips, satisfied once she hears Abby almost scream ‘What the hell?’. She’s always wanted this, for the whole school to know your hers. All your horrible friends, finally knowing that you belong to her and they stake no hold on you any longer.

Someone in the cafeteria, a guy neither of you know, lets out a hoot and claps a few times. At that, you pull away from Ellie, smiling smugly.

“Proof enough, Abs, or do you need a bigger show?” She grimaces at your proud tone.

“That’s enough,” She waves you off, and you hook a finger through the belt loop of Ellie’s dirty jeans (they’re Joel’s, she took them because she thinks they make her look cool) and drag her over to Dina and Riley’s table.

Dina whistles slowly.

“Didn’t think you had it in ya,” Riley says to you. You shrug your shoulders at her and sit down, Ellie taking a seat next to you. She looks as if she’s been struck by lighting.

“Ellie?” You ask the poor, confused girl. “Baby, are you alright?”

“You just kissed me in front of the whole school,” Her voice is practically a wheeze. She’s never been more star-struck, if you can even call it that, in her whole life.

“Yeah, I like you a little bit,” With that, you take a can of Alani (perhaps you have an addiction) out of your bag and crack it open. The whole time, Ellie’s mouth is open in shock, all because you kissed her.

————————————————————————

The film for class was a huge success. Your acting was shockingly good, and combined with Ellie’s filming skills and Dina and Riley’s editing, it’s perfect. Your teacher loved it. The story you told was that of a girl finding herself in the middle of a strange apocalypse-ridden Earth, and even though it was fictional, you ended up finding yourself throughout this project as well. As the character struggled with this new truth of her world, so too did you. She accepted it, the odd beauty in it, just like you did. Who knew Ellie’s weird little fictional world could relate to your current situation so well?

Once class is over, you, Ellie, Dina, and Riley go out for milkshakes. Ellie insists on buying for you, even though she only has wads of wrinkled cash shoved in her bag. Not surprising at all. She remembers that you like strawberry milkshakes, and she gets a sickeningly sweet maraschino cherry for the top. You love it. She gets a mint chip shake, which is gag-worthy, but at this point you’ve figured out that nothing about Ellie is normal. You love it. You love the comfortable conversation you fall into with her friends (“Do you think a glow in the dark strap could be used like a nightlight? But like, inside of someone,” Very thoughtful conversation from Riley), the way her hoodie (it has the Batman logo on it) is draped over your shoulders to keep you warm, the way her thumb rubs circles on your thigh (it makes you shiver when her thumb gets too close to your inner thigh). You love it all.

Eventually, you will love Ellie, and you will tell her that. You don’t know that yet. You’ll know it soon.

You also don’t know that in a few months, you’ll go to college. Ellie will go to college only a few hours away from you. She’ll drive to see you every weekend in her truck.

You don’t know that she’ll get more piercings, through her ears and tongue, and then you will too, in your bellybutton and ears. You will both get tattoos of a weird little mushroom, like the one from Ellie’s fake apocalyptic world.

After high school, you will take over Joel’s farm. You will become a successful psychologist and well-known speaker, who tours the country and talks about how drugs can ruin the lives of children. Ellie will farm and be a little tech nerd, then get shockingly rich when she invents something you can’t even begin to explain.

You will get married to Ellie Williams. Joel, Dina and Riley will attend. Riley will sob with happiness the whole way through.

But now, as you sip on a strawberry milkshake and try not to think about Ellie’s touch on your thigh, you know none of that.

“Y/N!” Ellie exclaims suddenly. Your head quickly turns to look at her.

“Yeah?”

“We should get those Lego figure keychains, but like, of each other.” Her smile is so huge it must hurt her face. You raise your eyebrows at her, laughing a bit.

“Oh my god, you’re such a loser.”

——————————————————————————

heyyy i have sad news… this is the last chapter PLEASE DONT HATE ME!!! i’m really bad at ending things, which is why this lowkey sucks☹️

don’t worry, i have many more projects coming up SPECIFICALLY rugby player sevika which i’m so excited about.

let me know if you want any more scenes with these two, just request them and i’ll write out a blurb!

i love you guys so much, thank you for supporting this story!!

-Blue🦋

tag list: @vahnilla @elliesngirl @naniiiii12 @liztreez @eriiwaiii2 @elliesgffrfr @nymanas @yashirawr @leeidk87 @imvioletscupcake @caffeine-pup

[starhvney]

hiya! for the winter event could i order for gene <3 i think he’d like a coffee with cream with a side of sugar cookies! thank you so much for hosting this, your work is amazing :3

𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝟎𝟏: 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐮𝐩 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫!!

𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐬: established relationship, fluff, domestic/family

𝐚/𝐧: i don’t have a lot of editing capabilities cause i don’t have my computer right now. hope you guys still like it! this one is so cute!

𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 ☆ 𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓

“Your mom’s gonna be real upset with me if you get oil all over that new sweater, bub. Take a step back while I do this and just hold the flashlight, okay?”

A soft, quiet laugh huffs through your nose as you stand in the garage doorway, silently aweing over the scene. Your son, obliging to his dad’s request, pouts his lip out while nodding and taking a step back. He’s crouched beside where Gene was inspecting the underside of his motorcycle—his pride and joy that was second to the family he’s made with you.

“Dad when I’m-“ your son’s adorable squeaky voice speaks up. “When I’m, um, older… like fifteen? Can I have a motorcycle too?”

“Is fifteen old?” Gene lets out a small disbelieving laugh. “Oh man…”

“Yeah,” your son says, completely serious as he slowly inches closer again.

Your husband scoffs. “Then what am I?”

“Like, super duper old.”

This time Gene’s laughter turns boisterous, echoing across the cool garage as he scoots back out, his hand reaching up to quickly pinch the boy’s cheek. “Hey, now!”

“Ack! Dad, your hands are yucky!” your son squeals, squirming away with unrestrained giggles.

Fond laughter is returned by Gene as he relents, hoisting himself up onto his elbows. His once harsh eyes from long ago are only filled with fond affection, none of it even slightly dissipating when he spots you from the corner of his eye.

“Oh, there’s a pretty woman spying on us.”

The boy’s round face excitedly turns to you, a smile stretching across his now oil smudged cheek. You repress a sigh at the sight, unable to force yourself to be any sort of upset about it when the scene in front of you is so unbelievably adorable.

“Hi mom! I’m helping dad with the motorcycle, see?” he grins proudly at you with his tongue sticking out of the gap in his missing tooth, holding up the flashlight and a wrench he likely had no idea how to use.

“I see that, sweetheart! Good job!” you applaud proudly, before recalling why you’d come in here before getting distracted. “Why don’t the two of you find a stopping point here and get cleaned up for dinner?”

“Yes ma’am.” Gene nods with a smirk, raising his eyebrow at the little boy when he says nothing.

“Oh, yes ma’am!”

Gene gives his hand a proud squeeze, before gesturing towards the door. “Go on, bud. Wash up your hands and face. I’m almost done here.”

His shoulders dejectedly drop.

“But…!”

“Listen to your mom. I’ll be done with this in a just a second anyways, alright?”

“Okay…” He stands, milking any ounce of pity Gene might hold by dragging his feet with a puppy dog pout. It doesn’t work, of course, but you can still see a small bit of guilt on the man’s face regardless.

You ruffle his messy black hair when he walks by, scooping him up to place a kiss against his forehead. He kicks his little feet, trying to groan at the affection but unable to hold back his shy smile. Once he’s down the hall again, you make your way over to Gene, who was watching you closely from his same spot on the cold floor.

“Just a second, right?” You softly murmur, leaning down to kiss his slightly chapped lips.

“Mhm. Like I said, doll,” he stares up at you with a smirk still plastered on his lips. “One more kiss might make me work a little faster, though.”

Rolling your eyes, you can’t resist his head tilt and expectant face, leaning down to give a longer kiss, pulling away when he sneakily attempts to deepen it. He sighs, letting his head drop back as he closes his eyes, seeming to relish in the ghost feeling of your mouth on his before determinedly laying back down. You stand to leave, but stop in your tracks with a confused hum when he suddenly sighs.

“…What?”

“He took my flashlight.”

©starhvney 2024. do not plagiarize, feed to any AI, or repost my works to any sites.

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[thewertsearch]

TT: I should have gone looking for her. TT: Why didn't I? [...] GG: because you were busy trying to make the best of this situation? TT: John was too. But he went to look for his father. [...] GG: john was being john, and you were being you, which i guess meant taking our problems very seriously and putting all your attention on solving them! GG: and anyway, you and your mom had a much trickier relationship than john and his dad didnt you?

I'm with Jade on this. Presumably, Rose decided that analyzing the game was a more productive use of her time than searching for Mom - a lady who, let's not forget, deliberately abandoned her. Can you really blame her for avoiding the woman?

For a thirteen-year-old, Rose's tactical calls have actually been pretty good. The problem is that Scratch keeps redirecting her plans in directions that benefit him.

GG: now we have all lost guardians GG: dave lost his, and i lost mine in a weird way… uuum even though that was pretty much definitely my fault :\ GG: and even the trolls all lost their monster guardians GG: i think that maybe it is an inevitable part of a game that can be cruel sometimes

I didn’t want this to come to pass, but it always seemed somewhat inevitable.

After all, says Skaia, how are you going to focus on creating a new world, if we don't cut all ties to your old one?

TT: For some reason, despite all the danger, I never thought she was in any trouble. TT: I never believed she would actually die. […] TT: I didn't actually need the ectobiological verification that she was like a mother and a sister at the same time. I always understood that somehow. TT: And I felt she had knowledge and ability beyond what she let on. It was always intimidating, but nonetheless a source of respect which was childishly begrudging on my part.

She worked directly for Skaianet. I'm sure she knew exactly what was coming - and honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if her foresight included her own fate. Prophecy is abundant in this world, and her boss was time-traveling through the session before it even existed.

But... think about this for a second, Rose. If your mother knew everything that awaited you, then it's actually a really good sign that she's been helping you from behind the scenes.

Because if things were truly hopeless, then why was she out there killing monsters for you?

What would be the point, if there was no light at the end of the tunnel?

I'm just saying - that's not the punch of a woman with no hope.

GG: i just hope you arent thinking of doing something rash TT: I already was. TT: I was going to go to sleep, fly to a sun bigger than our universe, drop a bomb in it, and kill myself. […] TT: So if my course of action is to change on account of my mood, it can only become less impetuous, don't you think?

...I’m willing to hear you out.

TT: You never liked my plan very much anyway. […] TT: I made it without a full understanding of the nature of the Scratch. […] TT: Maybe I will go kill Jack myself. TT: Right now.

Oh, man.

Ohhhh, man.

Look. Rose. I'm loving how proactive you're being here, but this plan will kill you instantly - and even if you're dream-revived, you'll die for good when you deliver the Tumor.

Is this what causes the Blackout, then? Is Rose about to power up for this fight, overwhelming the session with eldritch energy?

This fucking guy -_-

[creedslove]

WHO KNEW? 💍💔

No outbreak!Joel Miller x f!reader

"You took my hand, you showed me how

You promised me you'd be around (...)

I took your words and I believed in everything you said to me (...)

If someone said three years from now, you'd be long gone, I'd stand up and punch them out, 'cause they're all wrong

I know better, 'cause you said forever, and ever, who knew?"

Summary: You and Joel had been married for a few months when he broke things up with you because he'd fallen in love with someone else, Sarah's mom. You parted ways but more than a decade later you end up meeting Sarah and that leads you to face your ex-husband one more time

• Inspired by this amazing HEADCANON request ❤️

Warnings: angst, broken hearts, asshole!Joel, divorce, infidelity, pregnancy, fluff (a little, maybe?) age gap (Joel is four to five years older than reader and the time skip is 12 to 14 years (Sarah's age) but feel free to imagine whatever you want)

A/N: Hi guys!!! I got obsessed with this story ever since I received that ask and turned into a headcanon but it wasn't enough, I had to write a longer, fuller version of this story! I think it's so appealing because we are all used to Joel being our knight in shining armor, always the perfect husband/boyfriend and well, here we can see another part of him. It's not a crime to fall in love with someone else, but the way he broke reader's heart was very mean. Also, I didn't specify reader's profession, just keep in mind she studied A LOT and now she makes good money, but feel free to idealize her job the way you want. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this story, besties ❤️

10.6k words

You never really understood why some people told you getting married so young would be a mistake. It didn't make sense to you, at all. You and your soon-to-be husband Joel, were young, yes, but you loved each other deeply. You figured it didn't take much more than that to make a happy marriage.

You were fresh from highschool, always had good grades and it didn't take long for you to be accepted in many different institutions, and yet, you decided it would be a good idea to take a sabbatical year in order to get yourself sorted out, maybe get a job and save up some money and enjoy your marriage a little. Joel was very supportive of you, even if he knew you would eventually leave for college and you would both have to make it work long distance.

Joel was just a couple of years older, he'd just left the military and he also needed to know what to do in life, in order to support his wife, he didn't have the book smarts his girl did, but he was kind-hearted and hard-working. He also hadn't planned on getting married that young, but before he could even try to make any sense out of it, he was deeply in love with you.

So Joel proposed, you said yes, his dad helped him get a small, but cute house and the two of you started your new wed life.

For the first few months, everything was a bed of roses; you were so in love, that man was simply intoxicating. His touches, his kisses, his body, his smell, everything about him was addictive to you and you couldn't be without it.

You had found yourself a part time job as a sales clerk at a baby clothes store at the mall, just as Joel was working as an apprentice in the construction business, it was a very hard job, and just in a matter of a couple of months, you saw your boyfriend becoming bigger and more muscular. He worked hard for you, for your relationship, your marriage and the future family you would build in a couple of years. Even if your friends had told you it was madness getting married so young and your family had asked you not to do it, everything was just fine, what could go wrong?

Every single day, Joel would come back home, tired from work, and he would be welcomed by you in your fullest housewife version. Dinner all ready, house spotless clean and a loving wife dying to be in his arms. He would not disappoint you, taking you into his arms, lifting you up, pressing you against the wall, his kisses were so urgent, so needy of you, his hands roamed all over your body as you felt his cock throbbing. Every night next to your handsome husband Joel was a delight, it was your personal piece of heaven, nothing could stop the two of you when you were together, but eventually, it happened.

You didn't know exactly how it started, or when for that matter, it was all a thick fog in your mind, being unable to say precisely when your marriage began falling apart. Perhaps it happened sooner than you thought but you were just too naive or too blind to see; first thing you noticed, were the kisses; they were gone. No kissing before going to work in the morning but you shrugged it off, thinking that maybe Joel was just in a rush to get to work. Though you really missed them, your skin seemed to burn and ache for his touch, you didn't want to seem like a clingy wife, or nag him with unimportant things. Whenever he came back from work, he was still all yours; that's why it took you long enough to notice it.

Every evening, he came back with the same hunger he felt, only this time, he didn't seem to have felt that hunger for you per se, more like a desire within that needed to have you to help him relieve it.

He took you every single night, he gave you pleasure, simple, raw, indifferent pleasure. You didn't actually remember the last time you actually made love, because everytime Joel touched you, he always had you on your hands and knees for him, always fucking you on your back. At the time you thought it was just some kink or something like that, but now it was pretty clear to you it was just the easiest way for Joel to close his eyes and pretend you were someone else.

It was just simply fucking, a means to get to an end.

Then, he began getting home later and later, sometimes he would be too late for dinner, or he would just skip it entirely. Never explaining exactly what he was doing or why he was spending less and less time at home.

"Sorry babe, just had a sandwich with the guys"

That's what he would say before shrugging and going straight to the bedroom; not taking his time to actually see you'd cooked his favorite or that you were starving because you'd waited for him until that hour. The weekends weren't different at all, at first, right after you two got married, you'd spend the entire day in bed, just enjoying each other's company, each other's bodies and love; caresses full of affection carried with lust, turned into nothing more than just a memory some months later. Every weekend Joel simply got up, had breakfast and told you he was heading for work; and he would spend the entire day there, no phone calls to let you know he wouldn't be back for lunch nor calls to tell you he would grab a few drinks with the guys.

Always the guys, and as much as you tried to convince yourself it was indeed just one drink, or a burger, or a soccer match with the guys, your heart was sending you signals, trying to warn you there was something seriously wrong. Yet, you chose not to believe it, you told yourself it was actually kind of cruel of you to have such thoughts about your poor hard-working husband. What kind of wife would you be if you became paranoid while Joel was just working hard to provide you a good life?!

Joel was so busy with his work he barely even noticed when you asked for a double shift on Saturdays. Not that you liked working at the mall, but if you were going to stay alone all the time, you figured you would at least earn some money. Maybe Joel was just stressed about having to put up with the bills all by himself, you reminded yourself. Perhaps things would be back at what they were in the beginning, you were now marking six months of marriage and you knew this wasn't supposed to be happening. Your husband wasn't supposed to be that uninterested in you, he wasn't supposed to be indifferent towards your presence or so ungrateful, and yet you decided to fight for his love, after all, you loved him more than anything, more than anyone, it was an overwhelming feeling but you simply couldn't move on from it.

You waited for Joel another night, you'd made dinner, but of course he said he wasn't very hungry because he had grabbed a bite to eat with the guys.

Your heart clenched, he didn't kiss you, nor held you, it was like you were two different people sharing the same house; not lovers, not husband and wife, perhaps not even friends anymore. It felt each time more and more empty next to Joel, but you tried. You sat down and had dinner on your own, as he glued himself to the TV, watching whatever it was on. You knew him enough to know his mind was drifting away, thinking of something or someone, you weren't sure, the only thing you were a hundred percent sure was that he did everything at his willpower so he wouldn't have to spend time with you. It hurt, like a knife piercing through your chest, it was humiliating and you still didn't know why you were insisting. You swallowed after dinner and walked to the couch, he was nearly asleep and you ran your hands through his hair, feeling how soft his curls were; you had missed dearly times like that, it had been only a few months prior and yet, it felt like an eternity. The way your Joel would come to you, crave your touch, and just overall pay attention to you, unlike the haunting reality that you had to face, in which your husband simply began to ignore you, as if you weren't much more than a shadow, or an invisible and yet quite annoying presence. You looked down at his sleepy and peaceful form, he always looked so young and innocent when he slept it always warmed your heart.

The tip of your fingers ran through his scalp once more, he had always loved that particular display of affection. Minutes passed while you stroked his hair, you could feel Joel shifting softly under your touch, satisfied groans coming out like purrs as he began to slowly open his eyes

"Angela.." he murmured under his breath, but it was loud enough for you to catch it.

At that moment you felt as if you'd lost all balance, gripping the couch and staring at him in disbelief

"Who's Angela?" Your voice suddenly loud and serious, making Joel snap away from the sleeping haze he was in and stare into your eyes. He was carefully not to give it away immediately

"What are you talking about?" He got up from the couch, determined to turn his back to you

"You said a name. Angela, who's she?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, Y/N, stop being crazy"

Your blood boiled at the accusation.

For months all you did was try to be the perfect housewife, you cooked, cleaned, worked and brought home the little money you made in order to win back your husband's attention, not only that, you didn't want to have to give away to everyone who told you you would be making a mistake by marrying so young. It had been so difficult to actually admit to yourself your marriage was at a risk, and now you just had enough proof. After months of indifference, your husband was now mumbling another woman's name; as if it wasn't bad enough, he was trying to make the tables turn by accusing you of being crazy. That was so typical of men, but not of your Joel, you thought he would never do that, you were so sure he was honest, honorable, a decent human being, he wouldn't hurt you on purpose in order to prove his point. Or so you thought.

"Don't you fucking dare call me crazy, Joel Miller, for the past couple of months you haven't given a shit about me, you're never home, you never spend time with me, you don't hug me, don't kiss me, you don't even fuck me anymore, and now you are mumbling someone else's name? Who's she? Is she your mistress? How long have you been with her?"

Again, you tried being strong, you really did, but your voice cracked, and the tears threatening to escape now ran freely down your cheeks, he'd walked away from you, but you managed to corner him in the kitchen, you were tired of being blinded by your own feelings, at the same time you were tired of being played by Joel, he had no right to act that way.

"Answer me, Joel!!! Who's the fucking whore?!" You yelled at him, the impatience and anxiety creating an explosive combination inside of you. You were so close to solving the mystery that haunted you at the same time you didn't wanna hear any further word. You just wished you could close your eyes and make all that away, you wish you could just wake up and see the last couple of months were nothing but a nightmare and that you still had the same good old loving Joel Miller as the best husband in the world; instead, he simply groaned, rubbing his face and looked down, not having the courage of look at you in the eyes.

"She's not a whore, don't call her that. I-We.. we're in love. I met her at work, she's the receptionist there and we hit it off… she's gorgeous, funny and I fell for her" he swallowed not sure where the strength to be honest with you about his feelings was coming from, but it was enough to make eye contact "I've never cheated on you, Y/N, I haven't slept with her yet, I haven't even kissed her, but I think she's the one, I wanna be with her, I'm not gonna lie to you anymore"

"You don't love me anymore?" That was all you could ask, out of all the cruel and raw information he suddenly threw on you, the only thing you could register was the lack of feelings from the man who swore to love you forever one day.

"Jesus, Y/N, let's not do this now" he groaned, wanting to shift all that anger towards you, somehow blaming you for what happened so he wouldn't be consumed by his own guilt. He wasn't blind, he knew you loved him, he knew you waited at the door for him every single day, with dinner ready a pie in the oven and giving you those sad, heart eyes in hopes of receiving his affection once more. You reminded him of a puppy, as bad as it sounded, all it took you to be happy was a crumble of his love. What angered Joel was that you weren't satisfied with just crumbles, you wanted more and more from him, and he was unavailable; he simply couldn't give it to you, because his heart belonged to someone else. He hadn't planned on that happening, if it were up to him, he would've honored the vows he took on his wedding day, but Angela walked into his life without a warning and swept him off his feet. He couldn't stay with you out of pity, you deserved to be happy and so did you, but you weren't meant to be together.

"Do you love me or not, Joel?! Did you even love me?" Another grunt from his lips, you were so frustrated you didn't know how to rationalize, how to wrap your head around the fact he proposed to you, he had promised you the world and yet now he was treating you as if you had never mattered to him. His cowardice made you sick, he wasn't even man enough to look you in the eyes, you felt so angry a part of you was glad his body blocked your access to the silverware set because if you got your hands into it you knew at that moment you were willing to make a mistake. You gripped his shirt, slapping his chest and scratching him in a sloppy way, demanding answers from him. He could stop you at any moment, Joel was bigger and stronger than you, but he let you have your moment of hurting him out of pity, before calming gripping your arms and pushing you away

"I guess it's obvious I don't love you anymore, I love Angela, it's not my fault, it just happened, but I'm sure I want to be with her, you and I can't keep lying to ourselves, you can't keep lying to yourself, we're over, just as the love I felt from you, it's over…"

•••

You didn't remember much more after that. Some flashes of the following days, where the initial shock was still going strong, the waves of sadness mixed with anger, how Joel gathered some of his clothes and left the house that same night - probably to go to Angela's, how you refused to eat for the couple of days, you didn't talk to anyone, just spent your time alternating between crying yourself to sleep and actually sleeping, were just moments of blur. At some point you remember Tommy - Joel's brother checking up on you just to make sure you were alright. Tommy was the youngest of the Miller brothers, he was said to be the inconsequential one, but he would never do what his older brother had done.

Only after a few days Joel stopped by the house you once had shared, he had heard from his brother the pitiful mess you'd become because of him, and though a part of him didn't have the courage to ever face you again, another part - a more honorable one - insisted on it because he had to give you some kind of explanation. So after work, he didn't drive to Angela's like he'd been doing for the last few days, becoming his sweet routine and bringing so much joy now that he was free to love her just as much as she wanted to love him. Instead of going to his happy place, Joel drove back to the house that used to be his home for a while, a place where he'd been happy but it hadn't been enough for him. It was funny how he expected things to be drastically different, because his life had taken a dramatic turn just as yours had, and yet, things were just the same, or they appeared to be at least. He got off his truck, seeing that not a lot had changed, but this time there wasn't music coming from the house, it didn't smell like fresh cooked dinner, simply the living room with the lights on were the only thing that showed there was still someone in the house.

When he walked in, he expected to see you crying, depressed and begging him to get back, but much to his surprise, all your bags were already nearly packed and though it was visible you'd had some rough time by dark circles under your eyes and how pale your skin was, you welcomed him with a emotionless expression on your face, pointing at the couch, so he would take a seat and you could talk things through. After all the crying and suffering, you felt as if something had clicked and suddenly you went from heartbroken to numb. You knew the swirl of feelings would come and go, but taking advantage of your numbness, you put your head into place as best as you could and packed all your things, you didn't want to stay at that place surrounded by Joel memories, knowing he'd left the place you once called home and you were both so happy and also so unhappy in a short span of time. You wanted to put yourself back together, heal from him, forget he ever existed, go back to studying and focus on yourself only. But for that to happen, you wanted closure, not only wanting, you needed closure.

His low apologies combined with the rambling that came out of Joel's mouth was getting on your nerves, why couldn't he man up and actually tell you what he needed to in order to finally close that chapter in your lives.

"If you're not getting straight to the point, I will, Joel… I packed my bags, I am leaving this house, it's yours, your family managed to help you with it and I wouldn't feel comfortable living here. I'll go to college as soon as the next semester starts and I'll be waiting for the divorce papers, sign it as soon as possible, and pretend this never happened"

"Wait… what?! You want to divorce?!" Joel was quite shocked, not that he didn't want to divorce, because he did, so he could finally be officially with Angela, but he didn't think it would be that easy for you to agree, let alone be the one suggesting it.

You laughed. It was a dry, ironic laughter, because honestly, you didn't think Joel was that much of a dick, it was fascinating how he broke your heart and he still found a way to have his ego bruised by the fact you wouldn't accept being in a submission position, that you wouldn't cry and beg for him.

"What did you expect Joel?! That I would stay here, legally married to you, cooking and washing your dirty underwear while you go out of the door and keep cheating on me with that whore? Seriously? That's how low you think of me?"

"I already told you she isn't a whore and I have never cheated on you, that's why I want to divorce, us getting married was clearly a mistake and it's not my fault if I don't love you anymore.."

"So whose fault is it? Mine?! Do you really think what you did isn't cheating, Joel? Just because you hadn't fucked her while we were still together, but you had spent time with her, emotionally connected with her, fuck, just the fact you let her get closer to you even though you were married, that's cheating! You say it isn't because you don't want to feel guilty, but deep down inside you just know it is! I agree with you on one thing, though: our marriage was a stupid mistake, because of you I delayed a whole year of my life, I almost sacrificed my future because I really took your words and believed them, that we would be together, I never thought out of all the people in the world, you would be the one to hurt me! I trusted you, do you even know how many times I cried and sulked because I blamed myself for your behavior? The amount of times I felt guilty for even remotely considering the possibility of you having someone else? Because in my mind you'd always been the perfect husband and yet, you were backstabbing me day after day, with that slut!"

"Don't you fucking call her a slut! She's not a slut, she's not a whore! It's not her fault if you are a petty envious woman!"

"She is a slut Joel, I'm sure of it, because if she had any decency she wouldn't have come closer to a married man, my husband! She is probably excited about the thrill, but I'm certain that once the reality hits and she sees herself locked inside having to carry out chores everyday, take care of the house, the husband and even the kids if you two ever come to it, it's not gonna be as fun, and then you'll meet her for real. I don't wish you anything bad, but god help you if you ever have to face a disappointment as big as mine"

You dried your tears and began removing your wedding ring, it was quite pricey taking into account how complicated your financial situation was. You intended to return it to him, but the mere thought of maybe Joel taking the ring and handing it to his former mistress and soon-to-be official girlfriend, was enough to make you nauseated. You gave up removing it and left the ring right there.

"I'm leaving this place tomorrow, you can send the divorce papers over to my parents' and I hope I'll never see you again, Joel"

•••

You wished you could say that was the last time you ever saw Joel Miller in your life, but unfortunately, things weren't too easy for you. Only two months before you could finally enter college and forget about the disastrous year you had, you were working double shifts at the mall, in hopes of saving a decent amount of money for yourself. It was supposed to be another lazy evening, in which you would have to kill time until you could go home, you had just had your break and as you walked back into the store, you couldn't help but pay attention to your left hand. The wedding ring still there. It brought you shame and embarrassment, the mere fact you left it there. You often lied to people and to yourself by saying it was a way of keeping disrespectful customers away, but the truth was, you just didn't know why it was so hard to do it. It felt like a weight you couldn't get rid of, a part of your life that seemed like nothing but delusion.

You were scared of removing that ring, it was a sign that Joel wouldn't be much more than a memory to you, and even if you knew that was exactly what you needed, your heart still yearned for him. It wasn't fair, to still love the person who had hurt you the most, burying deep those feelings but also knowing they were there was nerve wracking.

You were ready to get back to work, just about to enter the store you were so used to spending your whole day when you felt paralyzed.

"What do you think of this one, darling? Do you think our baby will like it?"

It was Joel's voice.

His voice.

Darling.

Our baby.

You stopped yourself right there, too far away from their distracted eyes, taking in all the colorful and beautiful options they had before them, but also close enough so you could actually hear the conversation. Joel Miller was going to be a dad, it was a fact, you weren't having a nightmare that you were about to wake up in cold sweat at any minute, instead, he was there, with her, the woman he dumped you for, the woman who was now carrying his child. Under the shelves you'd been hiding, you could only catch a glimpse of her baby bump, and the way Joel's hand rested over it in a protective way. It was enough to make your stomach upset, your eyes burning with the tears that once more insisted on appearing. He had moved on from you, much faster than you had moved on from him; their happiness could be beautiful to anyone, but to you it was disgusting, infuriating, they had no right to come to your place of work and be so glad about life itself.

You couldn't actually see Angela's face, all you were able to watch from where you stood was Joel's hand on her womb, his right one, but the moment he rested his left one on her waist, you gasped softly. The wedding ring was gone.

Joel wasn't feeling that comfortable about being at that particular store, though it was the only decent baby clothing store at the mall, he knew you worked there or at least used to; but Angela wanted new baby stuff and he was going to be a dad, so it was his duty to take her and help her sort things out. He thought of you, not having seen you or listened to your voice in months he sort of missed you? He couldn't lie to himself, he was glad to be divorced, he was happy in a relationship with a baby on the way, but you'd been important to him too, he wished things didn't have to end the way they did, he has gotten used to living with you, seeing you, kissing you, touching you, it was natural that he missed the dynamics you two had established. A part of him sort of wanted to run into you at the store, he wanted to see how you were doing, if you were taking good care of yourself, but it was a relief to everyone you weren't there. It would be just awkward and embarrassing to be baby clothes shopping in front of you. And of course, he never wanted to hurt you more than he had already done it, but you would have probably interpreted it as provocation.

He scratched down his head while Angela picked all her favorites, Joel tried hard not to pay attention to the price tags, money was still a delicate matter for the two of them, but he had managed to get some by selling his wedding ring. Of course the pair would've been worth a lot more, but he couldn't go after you to ask for your ring, so he just negotiated his own and took the money. It wasn't the ideal situation, but in a few months they'd welcome the tiny little person that would become the most important thing in Joel's life.

You were too hurt to continue watching their display of happiness, you turned your back to the place you were hiding and you returned to the small break room. That was indeed the last time you'd seen Joel Miller; that was it until you also met someone who brought chaos but also colors into your life.

•••

"Aren't you too old to sell cookies door to door for school?" Joel asked while chewing his scrambled eggs and slurped his coffee, watching as his daughter rolled her eyes at him

"Aren't you too old not to eat your vegetables?" She snapped back at him in their usual morning routine.

Sarah was a teenager, much to Joel's sadness, as he still had serious attachments to when she was younger. He knew it was part of life, and watching her blossoming into a beautiful young girl made him proud and hopeful about the future, he knew his sweet Sarah would go far. But that also made him scared, because no matter how irrational it was, Sarah always reminded him of you; and he knew that if any guy ever dared to do to his baby girl, what he did to you, he would be really to kill him in no time. Joel Miller would like to think he had improved a lot as a human being, after all, he wasn't a young man anymore, he was a full grown adult, who had to get himself together and mature after he was abandoned by his girlfriend with a newborn baby. Life was full of irony and he was one to witness it, being left by the woman he loved and trusted a little more than a year after he was the one who walked away from someone who loved and trusted him. It was what everyone said: karma is really a bitch.

Through the years, Joel really felt an urge to call you, perhaps ask you to meet him, so you could catch up and he could finally apologize to you, but he had lost all contact with you. In fact he had no idea what you were up to through the decades, the few times your parents ran into him on the street or at the grocery store and made sure to ignore his presence and pretend they'd never met. He just couldn't approach them and ask for your phone number. Besides, what would he even tell you?

"Hey, I just wanted to tell you the woman I left you for also left me, so now I'm a lonely single dad and I realized I took you for granted and maybe if you ain't busy, we could go for a cup of coffee or something?!"

It would be just straight up stupid, not to mention he was sure you would've found someone nice, someone worthy of you, probably you'd be married by then, perhaps you'd have a kid or two, and he was sure you'd be an amazing mother, because he just knew you were an amazing wife, and he was the only one to blame for not treating you the way you deserved it.

So Joel decided it was best if he pretended nothing ever happened just like you did with him, of course destiny had other plans.

He gave Sarah a ride to school and went to work. It would be another busy day, like all of his days, in which he would work hard in order to save as much money as he could, wanting to assure his daughter the future she deserved. For Sarah, it meant another day of classes and selling cookies. She didn't like the activity, but she didn't hate it either. In fact, on that particular day she felt kind of excited as she was about to head towards the 'good' part of the neighborhood, where most houses were big and seemed expensive. Getting her backpack and her stash of goodies to sell, she left home and went on with her day.

You, on the other hand, hadn't planned on coming back to Austin so soon, as the years turned into a decade, and then a little bit more than that, you had dedicated yourself fully to your academic and professional life, focusing on yourself only, managing to bury deep your memories of Joel and never paying attention to anything remotely close to a love life.

Yes, you'd had relationships, affairs, and you'd been with a few guys: one of them was Javier, he was a handsome but very slutty cop who you had a no-string relationship with; it was good for a while, he was handsome, sexy and he fucked like no other, but he had a taste for women that unabled himself to keep it inside of his pants. You liked the freedom, but that was too much.

You also dated a guy named Dave for a brief period, he was nice, also painfully handsome, a tiny bit mysterious about his high profile government job, but he wanted a family, not just another relationship. He wanted marriage and kids, and you were just out of it in no time. The last straw was when you were traveling back home and during one stop for dinner at a small, cozy bar, a guy dressed entirely in cowboy attire came onto you. It was the undeniable proof you weren't made for relationships at all; it was like Joel Miller had casted a spell, or worse, a curse on you: it had become impossible for you to be in a relationship. Still, that wasn't your main concern, not more than why you had to move back to Austin after all those years shifting from New York to Boston, Texas and even a brief period in Spain which led you into an affair with another guy named Javier, but well, that was definitely another story. You'd simply got a phone call from your parents talking about a family emergency and once you had asked for a leave, your boss had mentioned the opportunity of you working for the Austin branch, it was a promising one, with a lot of chances of career growth and becoming the head of the office would actually come in handy, so you had no other option than say yes and pack your stuff. When you got back to Texas, despite the suffocating heat, you were also welcomed with suffocating news of your grandmother's passing, and a couple of weeks later, the news she'd left you a house in the suburbs, a real good area with many families, easy traffic and a lot of space. Having become an apartment person over the years, you first thought it was so odd to live in a house, especially by yourself. Everything seemed so big but now you didn't have to worry about having to clean it all, being able to afford someone to do so, you found your way by decorating everything exactly the way you liked it, using the spare rooms to build your home office, your closet space and a guest room, you slowly turned grandma's house into your own. However, the exterior still bothered you: there was a great space in the backyard, but the swimming pool was empty and dirty, and you could definitely have a barbecue area built so you could welcome your friends and family on weekends. As it wasn't your priority, you didn't bother so much about it, turning your attention to settling into your new office first.

•••

"Oh, hi ma'am, I'm selling cookies to help our school fund, would you be interested?" Sarah displayed a wide grin, hoping that would soften up the very annoyed looking old woman who opened the door. She noticed how the old lady looked at her up and down and just groaned a 'no' before practically slamming the door shut. Sarah sighed and shook her head, and there she was thinking the people who lived in the wealthier part of the neighborhood were more generous, but apparently they were just a bunch of snobbish cunts. Her stomach growled in hunger as she walked some more, she knew she should've eaten before going to sell the cookies, but she didn't have time at that moment. She insisted some more, knocking on another door, having no clue she was actually knocking on her father's ex-wife's door.

Sighing tiredly as you closed your laptop, you looked around and focused on what you would do next. You knew you needed to go grocery shopping soon, but you just didn't feel like driving to the store and pick up vegetables, so instead, you left your study and went to the living room, getting comfortable on the couch and groaning slightly the moment the doorbell rang. You were just so comfortable on the couch, you considered ignoring whoever was on the other side of the door, but for some reason, a slight wave of guilt made its presence and you obliged to answer whoever was disturbing you.

"Hello! My name's Sarah Miller and we're selling cookies for the school fund, would you be interested?" The smiley girl repeated her memorized speech the moment you open the door, she discreetly watched you, seeing you didn't seem so closed like the woman from the previous house, but still she wasn't sure if you were friendly, not when you stared at her with a seemingly shocked look.

Miller.

Her name was Miller.

Your heart raced and lost track of what she was saying, knowing you desperately needed to get your shit back together; Miller wasn't an uncommon name at all, quite the opposite, you had met a few people who also coincidentally had the same last name as your ex-husband, so your reaction to the girl's name was just absurd. Maybe it was because you were back in Austin, where everything happened, but then again, you reminded yourself Joel wasn't the only person named Miller in Texas.

"I-I'm sorry… I got distracted but yeah, I'll take two boxes" you smiled at the girl, she was a teenager, a very pretty one, she was pretty good at expressing herself though she looked exhausted and sweaty.

"Would you like to drink some water?" You offered her, feeling sorry for her at the realization she had probably been walking under the sunlight for quite some time. Sarah didn't think twice before nodding eagerly as she stepped inside, dragging her school bag and her cookie cart along. You let her in, finding sweet how she looked all over the place, taking in the different details from your home and enjoying that environment.

You guided her to the kitchen, getting her a tall glass of iced water, frowning at the fact she wasn't following you anymore. Instead, she stood in front of your bookshelf, looking at it up and down, trying to take in as many titles as she could. Sarah would love to have her own bookshelf like that, she loved reading ever since she was a little girl and though she used the school's library a lot, she thought the idea of having her own things was appealing, but she understood her dad couldn't simply splurge on books for her whenever she wanted to.

"Do you like books?" You asked her, walking closer and handing her the glass of water, which she killed with only a few gulps.

"Have you read all of them?!" Her surprised voice made you chuckle, she was such a sweet girl, you had no idea why you instantly liked her, but you did.

"Well, not all of them… I've just bought some of them and I haven't had the time yet, why? Did any of them interest you?"

"Well…" she said shyly and hesitantly ran her fingers through them, only pulling one out to read the description at your encouraging nod. "This one seems nice…"

"It is nice… do you want it? You can take it!" You smiled at how she blinked a little confused but nodded, so thankful for your kindness. Even if she didn't know you, Sarah already liked you. She smiled at the book and placed the glass down.

"Have you had lunch?" She shook her head shyly and you smiled "come on, I'll make you a sandwich…"

For the next hour, you and Sarah talked about several things: she told you about her school, her interests and how much she loved reading. She had assured you she would return you the book as soon as she finished it and you assured her she could borrow as many as she would like. She also briefly talked about her family, mentioning she lived with her dad on the other side of the neighborhood and you told her a little bit more about yourself.

She widened her eyes the moment she saw what time it really was, and quickly grabbed her backpack and the book you'd lent her, thank you several times as she walked towards the door "go before your mom gets worried about you" you told her without much thinking, but she shrugged "mom's not around… I live with my dad only, but it was really nice meeting you, Y/N"

•••

And for the next month, at least once a week you'd get a visit from Sarah. It had become a habit of hers to just stop by, spend a couple of hours with you, return you the book she'd borrowed the week before and get a new one. She didn't talk much about her family, it was mostly about school, friends and boy crushes and books. You were kind of suspicious she was missing a feminine figure, since she briefly told you her mom left a couple of months after she was born without looking back, you picked up the hint she wasn't open to talk about it yet, and you respected it. You were glad you unexpectedly got a new friend, a very young friend, and at first you thought it was kind of odd, until you realized she sort of resembled a daughter figure to you. After all, if you had had children with Joel, your child would be around Sarah's age.

Joel also thought it was kind of weird his daughter made an adult friend, he was well aware of how dangerous things were in the world, especially for young, innocent girls like Sarah, but when she told him her new friend was a woman, single, childless woman, who was nice, definitely had some money but also seemed quite lonely, he assumed she was one of those old cat lady kind of women; in his mind, his daughter's mysterious friend was probably a widow, who didn't have any kids and now had to approach random people for attention so she wouldn't be alone all the time. If only he knew how wrong he was, he would've asked your name, but he didn't. And he also knew he should've done it, perhaps even asked for your phone number so he could call you in case of god forbid, an emergency. But he worked so hard, not only that, he was going through a very stressful period too, so he didn't pay as much attention as he should have towards several things.

Sarah had become acquainted with several aspects of your life, from the time you spent together in your weird version of a book club. Mostly the conversations were about her and the struggles she often faced as a teenager, but sometimes you let out information, plans or complaints here and there. It wasn't different the day you were very displeased with how your backyard was looking; it had potential to be a beautiful place but it needed fixing and remodeling. Perhaps it'd been the stress at work, but for whatever reason the way that place looked was bothering you and making you cranky, if any other given day you wouldn't give a crap about it, but at that moment you did, and not only that, you mentioned it to Sarah, who tried to be useful and told you she could ask her dad to take a look at it, after all, he was in the business and could help you with it. You said yes and told her you'd be expecting the two of them on Saturday morning. Only when the girl had left happily carrying another book in hands, was that you realized that maybe, and just maybe, you should've asked her father's name.

•••

"So, you're really sure this friend of yours wants to get some stuff remodeled? And that she can afford it?" Joel glanced at Sarah before focusing again on the street as he drove to her new friend's house. He wasn't truly convinced you would actually want to hire his services, it just seemed too good to be true. He held back a smile at the way Sarah rolled her eyes at him, she'd told him hundreds of times that yes, you needed someone to repair and remodel the backyard, if anything, he could at least indicate you someone who could provide the service you were looking for.

"Fine, let's help the old lady then" he grunted at the same time his daughter turned to him "what old lady?!"

"Your friend… isn't she old? I mean, she's lonely and she lets you hang out… I thought she'd be like our neighbor an-"

"Dad, she's younger than you, I think! And she's pretty too…"

At that information Joel was more curious about you. Why was a pretty young woman all alone and willing to be friends with a girl who could roughly be her kid's age?! Were you really pretty? And did you really want your backyard remodeled or was Sarah playing matchmaker? He really hoped she wasn't, otherwise he would be very angry. Joel didn't need a new relationship, he didn't want to, having failed the two major ones he had in his life, the first one being so immature and cruel to his sweet young wife and the second one he didn't exactly where he screwed up, perhaps he had just been naive and thought the woman who wanted nothing more than just some fun was actually willing to build a life with, or maybe he wanted her to take over your place, after all, you'd set the bar pretty high for Angela when it came on being a dedicated housewife. The raw fact was that Joel was alone all those years later, his first wife was hopefully living her best years with someone who truly deserved her and Angela was God knows where but he didn't give a single fuck. She'd been dead to him from the moment she walked out of his door, denying her own baby, and all that passion he felt turned into hurt and anger. Unlike the feelings he had for you: as the years passed and he grew older, he thought of several times he could've treated you better than he did, he thought of how he would have tried not hurting you as much as he did, even if the situation the two of you were was tricky, he often fantasized about a version of your marriage where he hadn't ruined everything, where he had been honest without being cruel, without playing with your feelings, he didn't know if it was just his conscious weighing heavily on him or what, but he always thought of you with affection and love. At that time he was sure he didn't love you anymore, the passion he felt for the other woman was too intense, too much, it blinded and deafened him from everything around, everything that mattered the most to him at the time. But all those years later, Joel was sure the love for you was still there, perhaps it was just hidden away, or it got stuck under all that shit that went on, still, he didn't know who you had become, what you looked like or where you were at that moment, so it was a fairly assumption he was still in love with a memory and nothing more than that.

"Fine, so what's her name after all?" He questioned his daughter after some moment of silence but before she could answer, Joel parked his truck in front of your home.

You heard the engine and you went to the window, checking the unknown car parked in front of your place and though you couldn't actually see them inside, you knew it was Sarah and her dad. Just as you went to the door, he exited the car, his back to the entrance as you walked to them and greeted Sarah, at the sound of your voice he immediately turned around and the two of you froze in time as you watched each other there.

Joel.

You felt as if you were trapped in a weird dream, the ones you know you are just dreaming and yet you can't move or speak, just taking the role of the audience of a bizarre picture that formed before your eyes. Joel on the other hand, stared at you in complete silence, you couldn't really read him, it was impossible to know what was going on in his mind, in his heart, you could just feel his eyes roaming over your body, taking all the image of you as if he was trying to make sure you were actually what he saw in front of him. He couldn't believe it, after all those years, after everything he did to you, you were there, beautiful as you'd always been, even more so, the fancy lifestyle really suited you, he could tell by your clothes, your nails perfectly done, your hair looking gorgeous and styled nicely, you had succeeded, you had had a life he knew he could never provide you, and for that he felt kind of relieved, at least one good thing came out of your divorce: the chance of you having the success you deserved it, you weren't that housewife who needed to still work part time at the mall, you were above that now, and Joel was so damn proud of you for it.

"I-I.. yo-"

"Nice to meet you, you must be Sarah's dad" you interrupted him before he could say your name and extended your hand to him, pretending you'd just met. He was confused but you tilted your head very discreetly towards his daughter, being sure she didn't know anything that had happened between the both of you. He immediately picked up the hint and introduced himself, as if you were meeting for the first time. His hand engulfed yours like it always did, Joel Miller had always had big and strong hands, surely they got calloused through the years, but you knew damn well what they were capable of doing to you. He was older, looking more handsome than you thought he would, he aged like a fine wine, streaks of silver here and there but the majority of his hair still dark and soft like always, he was bigger too, he was stronger, broad and grew several muscles, all of it a result of years of hard-working. No matter if he had broken your heart, there was no denying he was an extremely attractive man.

He appreciated how heartfelt you were towards his daughter and gladly followed you inside once you invited him into the backyard to discuss what could be done. Sarah was right behind the two of you, but you turned to her, smiling big

"I went to the bookstore yesterday and I think you might enjoy what I bought, wanna take a look at it? They're all in the living room" you suggested to her who nodded and happily went after the books.

Once you and Joel got into the backyard, he stuttered some apologies but you immediately cut him off.

"I don't want apologies Joel, I didn't know Sarah was your daughter and I probably wouldn't have let her in if I knew who she was, but now I got attached to her and I hope our situation isn't going to prevent us from being friends" you told him honestly and watched as he nodded

"You know, her mom, Angela, she left us and I'm very sorry I left you for her.. "

"I don't wanna hear it, Joel. As I said, I don't wanna hear it about her mom or the apologies or anything at all, I mean, Sarah told me what happened and it's enough, you and I aren't together anymore, we're better off without each other, so let's just overcome this part and focus on the job I need you to do…"

"You know, I can indicate you another contractor to do it for you, so it won't be weird…"

"No, you can do it, unless you are feeling uncomfortable but other than that, I'd rather you do it, besides, Sarah would find it awkward"

And like that, Joel got into his professional mood and the two of you discussed the project you had in mind, hiring his services, he told you he could start the next Monday and he would take care of it himself, to make sure things would go according to your wishes. He noticed you didn't wear any commitment rings, nor there were pictures of you and any guy indicating a relationship and in his heart, the hope of perhaps taking you out for a coffee and getting to know you, the woman you'd become after those years, after growing mature and changing your life completely, growing in his heart. It was a fair assumption Joel had an immediate crush on you, the feelings he held within, were now blossoming more, at how beautiful, intelligent and attractive you were and suddenly, the roles were reversed: if more than ten years ago you had it bad for him, now he was the one who felt like a sick love puppy towards you.

The first week of working wasn't so bad at all, Joel would arrive at yours earlier than you expected and would start working. You didn't stay around much, letting him do his job while you were probably working in the living room or any other part of the house whenever you didn't have to go to work per se. He tried making small talk during some of his breaks and since you didn't see any harm in it, you chatted briefly, that was how he'd learned what you did for a living, where you'd been after you left Austin, and stuff like that. He told you some things about his life, mostly about how it'd been the experience of raising a child on his own, but whenever he got near bringing up your past or trying to apologize, you'd cut up any kind of interaction with him. At the end of the day you and him had nothing but a professional relationship. He understood your reasons, and yet, he hoped you would find at least a small breach in your heart to let him in, he really hoped he could show you he was a better man now, that he could be suitable for you, and yet, you kept yourself all the way distant and protecting yourself from him.

So it became a very common scene to always escape from Joel, moving seats or rooms whenever he was around, you didn't know how else to act, what he expected from you. It wasn't like you were old buddies catching up after years in a long-distance relationship. And he always got displeased.

It was about the third week of working at your house, he asked if he could use your kitchen to have lunch, heating up the food he'd eat, you smiled at yourself as you were taken back by the memories of times where you would prepare him lunches and send it in his lunchbox, how you would worry about him being hungry so you would always make sure there was something fresh out of the oven for him to nibble on as soon as he got home from work and chuckled softly, shaking your head and excusing yourself. He'd thought you would at least have lunch next to him, but you weren't willing to do that at all, and that both pained and pissed him off.

"Would it kill you to spend time with me? Look at me? Or act like a human being instead of being all stiff like a robot whenever I'm around?" He asked, breaking the silence, you could see he was frustrated and that puzzled you to no end.

"What are you talking about, Joel?!"

"You don't talk to me, Y/N, I try making small talk, you don't answer me, you don't even look at me, suddenly I'm not worth your time? You're too good to even acknowledge I am next to you?"

"Do you really want to talk about not being worth someone's time? Really Joel? I thought you had grown up during all these years but I can see you are just the same shallow fuckboy who gets pissed off when you see I'm not crawling towards you…"

"Stop being unfair to me! All I'm trying to do is to show you I've changed, I am a better man, a better person, I'm not that same immature Joel you met so many years ago, I'm trying to make you see I'm a new man…" he went from angry to desperate, you took a step closer and looked into his eyes, not breaking the eye contact for one second.

"I know Joel, I know you've changed… you've grown into this hardworking man, this amazing father, I can see it, I hear it every time Sarah comes over, but you don't have to try too hard, it's not gonna change anything… You and I are two different people, we have nothing to do with each other anymore"

"You can't say that, I want you to see we could try it again, I still love you, Y/N!"

"Joel, we'll never try it again, the marks of your betrayal still linger here, all over me, forgetting you was the hardest thing I've ever done, and I don't want to ever feel it again. You don't love me, Joel. You love the idea of me, of picking up the shattered parts of your broken life and making it right, you love the thought of building up a family, of giving your daughter the mom she deserves, and it's all because it didn't work out with that woman. We both know it… if she hadn't left you wouldn't even be thinking of me" you looked down, trying to hold back a tear that insisted on falling, but failing at that matter. "I wasn't good enough to be by your side, to build a family with you, you can't just expect me to throw myself into your arms as if nothing had happened, what exactly do you think would happen between us in the first place? I'd be waiting for you every single night with dinner ready? Those days were over, Joel…" you sniffed and he sighed, placing his hand on his waist.

"Give me a chance, go on a date with me, please… before you say no, just think about it, of what we could have together… please! You don't have to answer me now, think about it and when I finish the job, you can tell me your answer"

•••

The following weeks were as normal as they could be; you hadn't told Joel yes but you hadn't told him no either and even if it pained you to admit it, you sometimes thought of his proposition. Sarah was still coming over, your bond was now stronger, you really liked each other and despite everything that happened, you were thankful Joel wasn't against your friendship. You two had agreed on not telling her anything about your shared past at the moment, but in case you two decided she needed to know it for whatever reason, Joel would be the one to tell her, it would only make sense. You also thought about his words and you decided to be nicer to him, actually stopping to talk to him, or having lunch next to him instead of rushing away as fast as you could and in retribution, he stopped with the feelings talk. The deadline was coming to an end, as your backyard remodeling was getting prettier and prettier each passing day. It was odd and awkward and you wanted to get things over with as soon as possible at the same time a strange fascination with watching Joel caught you. It was hard to explain, but when the final day came, when Joel and his assistant showed you the word ready and done, and after you paid them the large wage you owed them for the services, your ex-husband asked to talk to you. He had hope in his eyes, he was wearing his flannel, and he'd combed his hair a little, which made him look painfully handsome, your heart clenched. Even before he could say anything, you already had your answer. He stood in front of you, baffled at the fact you threw your arms around his body, pulling him for a hug. His hands locked around your waist, strong grip not wanting to let go, while you sank into his warmth. He was your old Joel, the one you'd loved so deeply and broke your heart, but nonetheless your Joel.

Taking your hand to his face, you stroked it gently, feeling his beard scratching your palm a little and you smiled "I forgive you, Joel… I don't know if you wanted my forgiveness or not, but I forgive you anyway, I don't resent you anymore, what's gone, it's gone and now we can only focus on our future. I know that if I tried looking for a space in my heart, I would find it a part that still keeps all the love I felt for you, but we've changed, for the best and that teaches us we should never make the same mistakes from the past, so you do understand why we can't go on this date, right? We can't be together, I'm sorry Joel, but you know it's true… I just need one last thing from you…"

You told him, leaning towards him and pecking his lips. After all that time, it still felt like your favorite place in the world, your heart raced the moment he groaned into your mouth and his hands tightened his dominating grip on you. It was quite pathetic how he still had the same effect over you and if he hadn't hurt you as much as he did and condemned you two to a relationship based on lack of trust, perhaps you could even consider trying again. Forgiving and forgetting were different things, whereas you didn't resent him anymore, you hadn't forgotten about how broken he left your heart. You would never be able to trust him again, always worrying he had found someone better like he did once, you couldn't do that to yourself, you loved yourself too much to go back to Joel Miller. That last kiss you cherished, you would keep it in your memories, but it wouldn't go further than that. You and Joel were done for years and nothing would convince you otherwise.

____

A/N: I hope you enjoyed it 😭💔

[forsaken-headcanons]

Okay!!! Seems people really like my pretty heavy angst of 007n7 and c00lkidd!! As promised, here are some of my mostly non-angsty headcanons, even though they aren’t as good as the last ones- I still added some more angst headcanons to this cause why not?

- Before 007n7 started to care for c00lkidd, he was fat. I also believe in fat 007n7 supremacy, BUT after he got c00lkidd, he started to lose the weight in an unhealthy manner. As in, he started to not eat as much anymore, though he isn’t stranger to stress eating. However, c00lkidd is more so on the plump side due to his father making sure that he eats, at least more than he does now. Unfortunately, 007n7 never really gained the weight back, even during the events of Forsaken. Dare I say it might’ve gotten worse.

- c00lkidd has a strange fascination with fire. He would sometimes set small things ablaze like sticks and paper. And no surprise that there were a few times where he accidentally almost burned down the house. 007 is worried that he might be an arsonist one day. This thought especially came into light when c00lkidd set Elliot’s pizza place into a giant inferno.

- c00lkidd used to wear a blue bandana around his neck, which was a gift from his father and allowed him to match with him since 007n7’s main shirt is blue. He unfortunately lost it by the time he arrived in the world of Forsaken.

- c00lkidd owns a drakkobloxxer onesie. It was a Christmas gift and he would almost wear it 24/7.

- Since c00lkidd nor 007n7 know when c00l’s actual birthday was, they decided it would just be the day he arrived at 007’s doorstep.

- Whenever c00lkidd saw that his father is having a bad day, he would try anything to help him feel better. Like giving him frequent hugs, trying to play with him, perhaps even watch a tv show/movie together and relax, etc. These often work since 007 usually feels at peace whenever he’s with c00lkidd.

- 007 has of course tried to get babysitters in the past to keep an eye on c00lkidd, but they all could only take care of him for a few hours before deciding never again. So, c00lkidd was home alone most of the time.

- 007 does not wish for a relationship with anyone back then and perhaps even now as he believes he does not have time for it.

- c00lkidd is usually pretty clingy with his dad, almost always wanting his attention and expecting his time and care back. He whines and sometimes whenever 007 has to leave for work most of the time. 007 always tries to make up for this by giving c00lkidd attention when he gets back, even if he is tired.

- 007n7 has gotten plushies before for c00l in hopes of making him feel less lonely, but they were either all torn to shreds or lit ablaze.

I do have some more headcanons but guys.. do we fw creature-like c00lkidd, like I just want to see him with a tail, digitigrade legs, and paws… make him somewhat inspired by the drakkobloxxer or a dinosaur or dragon perhaps… if we do I will maybe post my headcanons for those..

I love all of those. And yes, I do fw creature-like C00lkidd very much. Please send your thoughts on that as well.

[halitis]

Any thoughts on Roy and Hal?

How they would interact with eachother in Roy's Speedy era?

Hal becoming Roys 2nd Parent?

DO I HAVE THOUGHTS

BOY OH BOY DO I HAVE THOUGHTS. ALWAYS. my two faves :DDD

hal is really quite good with kids! probably one of the best in the league i'd argue. it's because he treats them like independent people with thoughts and feelings. while roy loved that at first, it ended up causing some light strife between the two when ollie started going off travelling. because he HAD enough independence, he didn't want more. he wanted someone there.

while hal and roy are close now, they weren't really close before the events of 'snowbirds dont fly'. hal thought roy was a good kid, with a lot of love in his heart (although, sure a bit rebellious but thats to be expected). hal helping roy out like that, helping to save his life, it really put a foothold into their relationship. hal started to realise what roy needed, was different to what he himself needed as a kid and adjusts accordingly. roy loves it and that hal is willing to put in the work for him.

i, personally, don't see hal as roy's parent. i don't think roy needs or wants another parent, he had brave bow and he has ollie and dinah. that isn't to say they aren't family! i just don't think they have a strict label on what they are to each other, they are just family. if anything though, i'd label them either as cousins or hal as his uncle. (this isn't to say i am judging or whatever if you view hal as roy's father! i do incredibly understand why and i do see the potential).

[continued under the read more]

they Bicker a LOT... but it is how roy shows love. hal was concerned at first because during his speedy era, sure roy would tease but he would never argue with him. it took a bit to realise "oh he's just growing up" (hal went through a brief crisis over that one). now you can find them having pedantic arguments over nothing, and if someone interrupts or tries to stop them; they are just like "???? we weren't fighting ????"

hal and roy ended up bonding over sports, hal would take him out to baseball games because it was An Iconic Part of American Culture and he cannot BELIEVE ollie deprived his son of this (roy could not have given less of a fuck), but he ended up getting really into it. to this day they will call each other just to talk about the teams on for each season. sometimes they will go months without talking, only to message out of the blue going "did you SEE that angels game. what the fuck was that!!?"

hal helped out with lian a bit when she was a baby, he's used to dealing with kids and would babysit her when roy just needed a break. now however, lian doesn't really know him that much. roy wants to try and keep her life as stable as possible and hal isn't around enough for roy to trust him to stay a presence... hal adores lian though, roy will silently send through photos and videos and what not and hal will always compliment her. it's so tragic, and hal really hates it but at the same time he does understand. he would probably do the same in roy's position afterall.

roy looked up to hal so much as a speedy, like that is his dad's cool best friend who has seen SPACE and his entire thing is being FEARLESS omg omg. cue hal being smug about this to ollie, that his son thinks hal is cooler than him. ollie is quick to disabuse this notion to roy, with many mortifying videos of the green lantern. roy never looks at hal the same way again.

hal and roy bond over their complicated relationships with carol and jade, it's a lot of sighing and gossiping. it's not a competition, but roy somehow always wins (hal takes a guilty joy in thinking 'at least i'm not roy'). i think they should get to have a girls night. as a treat. let them do each others hair and watch movies and gossip about girls!

i had more to say abt them, but it's 3am and i am so Bone Tired..... hope this fits what u were looking for op! thanks for the ask MWAAAH!

[touchtheinvisiblestars]

Imagine Pope telling Benny you've gone missing while on a stakeout

"Come on man, why all the cloak and dagger?" Benny jibed, "you're going to have to tell us why we're here anyway. Why did we have to follow some ridiculous instructions to get here."

"'cause we're all probably being watched, I couldn't risk anything else going wrong with this mission."

"What do you mean?" Frankie questioned. The atmosphere suddenly got very thick and uneasy.

"I um, so-" Santiago paused, unsure of how to start.

"Spit it out Pope." Tom jumped in.

"Okay, so you know I mentioned the set timings they brought people in, under the cover of night so they had more privacy?" the silence continued, "so with them knowing who I am. I needed to bring in a face they wouldn't bat an eyelid at..."

All four men wore heavy set expressions, cogs turning in their minds at where Santiago was going with this. Benny shared a look with his brother. Not liking where this was going.

"So I called in some help. Just know I didn't force this okay. I asked for a favour."

"Christ man. Spit it out." Will snapped. Not liking how sheepish Santiago was acting.

"It's Y/N. Okay she was doing some night recon for me and two days ago she went radio silent. And we had a strict agreement to check in once every 24 hours. So I knew she was okay." Santiago blurted out.

"Are you fucking kidding?" Benny asked, not sure how to take the news.

"I can't tell you how much I wish I was Ben. I'm sorry."

All five men had a soft spot for you. Having known you for a number of years. Friendships had developed across continents with them. They all cared about your safety as they did each other. Spending time both on the battlefield and at home. You'd even moved cities to be closer to the group. Since then spending a huge chunk of your time with the Miller brothers. Well. One to be particular. Benny and you had a different kind of relationship. One that had never progressed from the gooey eyed longing looks at one another from across the pool table. Among every other place you guys hung out. You supported him ringside at every match. Cheering him on and giving him the push to fight just that little bit harder. Earning you the title of good luck charm after Bennys fourth win in a row once you started coming along.

Saying that you had a special place with all of the guys. You were a constant with Frankies family. Supporting his wife while Frankie had his drug charges cleared up.

You even introduced Will to his fiancée.

Tom had listened to your advice on how he would be able to start repairing his relationship with his daughter. Resulting in them going on their first dad-daughter camping weekend.

Pope had always been a bit of an enigma with the group. But you too had a special place with him. You helped him hash out many a crazy idea. Toning them down when he got too into the idea of taking down huge conglomerates widely known to be untouchable.

"Fuck. Where was she last supposed to reach you?" Benny asked, leaning forward in his seat.

"She always called my phone from a payphone just outside the market. At two o'clock. But that last two days I've heard nothing."

"Where was she staying?"

"At a hotel on the outskirts of town, room 203. Self catering kind of deal."

"Right, Fish and Will. Go to that payphone and see if there's any sign there. I'm going to stay put see if she turns up here. Benny-"

"Go to the hotel. Got it."

The boys sprung into motion. Grabbing what they needed and heading for the truck they arrived in.

"Benny, I'll drop you off at the hotel." Santiago offered, earning a nod from Ben.

He followed closely behind Santiago. Still on the fence about whether he should give him an earful in the car of the way.

"She better be alright."

"I know. You're gonna kick my ass if she isn't."

"Damn right. But I know you didn't do this on purpose."

The ride was pretty quiet from then on. Both men itching to get to the hotel to confirm their hopes.

Benny couldn't help but scan everyone's face as they passed. Hoping she would just appear on a street corner unharmed.

Pulling up in the car park to the hotel. Benny was out the door even before Santiago could turn off the engine. Scanning the room numbers he headed for the stairs. Taking them two at a time, he followed the descending numbers. 213, 212, 211... Round the corner to the side of the block. He continued, 206, 205, 204... Pausing as he locked eyes on 203. Bracing himself for the worst he reached to twist the door handle, light pressure made the already opened door swing fully open.

Letting out a quiet whistle. Signalling to Santiago, Benny reached for the pistol he had stashed in the back of his trousers. With the curtains pulled the room was dim, when he didn't immediately spot you his guard remained on high alert. The room didn't look trashed. But it didn't exactly look neat and tidy. There was some semblance of disarray.

Benny recognised your belongings though. The notebook you always scribbled in. The snacks you never went anywhere without. He even recognised one of his boxing sweatshirts in the messy bed.

Relaxing his stance, Santiago took over scanning the rest of the room. Benny looked through the ripped up paperwork on the bed, seeing you'd made notes about the targets for him. Santi headed for the bathroom, to cover all bases.

"Benny get in here now!" Santiagos voice jolted Benny out of his thoughts.

Preparing himself to see something he didn't want to, he practically ran into the bathroom. Almost tripping over a crouching Santi. Who was hovering over your unconscious figure slumped in between the wall and the toilet bowl.

[tinytalkingtina]

B.A.D. D.O.G.

Several months after starting to date two frat brothers from Sigma Alpha Chi, Eddie struggles to settle into his role in their new dynamic. Maybe someday he won't feel like Tommy and Steve's adopted stray mutt. Rated E | 7.7k words | Ao3 link

SFW-related Tags: Tommy/Steve/Eddie, established poly relationship, M/M/M threesome/polyamory, 2010's frat/college AU, Frat Boys Steve/Tommy, bratty diva Steve, eddie has ADHD and insecurities, Steve is Fast Food Royalty, Steve's Dad owns Scoops Ahoy, Steve has Good Parents (or at least realistic parents who don't understand everything but love their son), domestic fluff NSFW-related Tags: Dom Tommy, Sub Steve, Switch Eddie, puppy play/Puppy Steve, collars, cock rings, butt plugs, vibrators, blow jobs, spanking, anal sex, Bottom Tommy, Top Eddie, orgasm control, sexual overstimulation, nipple piercings, aftercare, cuddling/snuggling (in relation to the aftercare) This is a sequel to B(eta) E(psilon) G(amma) that picks up a few months after Steve and Tommy begin dating Eddie. The two stories can be read as standalone pieces, but feel free to read B.E.G. first to find out how Steve and Tommy introduced Eddie to their dynamic. Author's notes and pings are below the cut!

Eddie groaned and leaned back to balance on his chair’s back two legs. He pressed his hands to his eyes until he saw starbursts.

“This dev class is slowly killing me. Why are 'one-footed skipping’ and ‘hopping’ different milestones, and why does that matter for teaching high schoolers how to play chords and scales? For fucks sake it’s not like I’m gonna force kids to put balls into baskets, like some people I know.”

He waited for a delightfully bitchy little comment in reply to his dig, but several moments of silence passed without any retort. Peeking out between his fingers, Eddie saw his boyfriend staring into space.

“Steve?”

“What?” Steve snapped, making him jump a little. Eddie just stared back.

“Nothing, I just said—”

“Nothing? I don’t have time for ‘nothing’, leave me alone.”

“Excuse me?” Eddie growled back. Steve ignored him, his face stuck in a textbook.

What the fuck?

Eddie rose from his chair and stalked around the table, ready to bat that stupid book right out of Steve’s hands. He stopped short when he realized his boyfriend was swaying, the book held loosely in trembling hands with unfocused eyes.

Oh.

"Steve," Eddie asked, softening his voice. "Did you get any sleep last night, sweetheart?"

“Obviously,” Steve snarked back, still avoiding Eddie’s eyes. Eddie tried not to take the bait. If Tommy were here, he would have told Steve off for lying like that when all he was doing was hurting himself more. But Tommy wasn't here right now to help, and Steve looked ready to topple over onto the desk.

Eddie swallowed, hoping he wasn't overstepping as he added a touch of steel to his voice.

"I asked you a question, Steve, come on, tell me the truth."

“Fine, I didn’t get any last night, and only got a few hours on Monday and Tuesday, are you happy now?” his boyfriend spit out. Eddie had to fight not to get angry at the eye roll that accompanied Steve’s words.

"And why didn't you sleep, sweetheart?" He managed to get out more or less evenly

"Cause I have three prelims next week,” Steve mumbled back. "My dad's already on my case for the education major. If I don't do okay he'll rip me a new one for wasting his money dicking around."

He tugged at the hair sticking out from his snapback so hard Eddie was worried he’d pull it out entirely.

"And maybe he's right, I'm too stupid to do this. Nothing makes sense and it takes twice as long for me to figure it out as anyone else, so what’s the point?"

Steve's face twisted into a painful looking scowl, and Eddie's heart broke. He grabbed his boyfriend's face to break him out of his sleep-deprived spiral.

"Stevie, stop that."

He glanced around. They were tucked away in a cubby deep in the library stacks. He knew there were other students around, but nobody had a direct eyeline on them. Eddie leaned in closer to whisper.

"Don't talk about yourself like that.” Steve started to protest:

"But—"

"No, no buts allowed. My puppy isn't dumb." Steve opened his mouth to argue back some more but Eddie barreled on:

"I'm not arguing with you when you're running on fumes. You gonna behave and let me take care of you?"

Steve went quiet. It lasted long enough for Eddie to start panicking a little. He shouldn't have done this without his other boyfriend, who was he to tell Steve what to do on his own? They hadn't been dating for that long, maybe he'd only made things worse or—

A tinkling noise snapped him out of it, and he watched as Steve dug under his sweater and pulled out his dog tags. He bowed his head and made a little noise of frustration, but otherwise remained silent, waiting for Eddie to make a move.

Holy shit, it worked.

“Thank you, sweetheart, there’s my good boy.”

He gently slid his puppy’s glasses off his face and removed his snapback to card his hand through his hair. Stevie leaned into the touch with his eyes shut. Slowly, his shoulders unwound, and the crease between his brows flattened out.

“There you go. Feeling a little better?”

Stevie let out a little huff as he shifted to nuzzle his cheek into his hand. Eddie couldn’t help but smile.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. Come on, let’s go back to your room. I’m sure Tommy will want to cuddle you too.”

His puppy slid off the chair onto all fours and Eddie mentally smacked himself. Why did he put Stevie down now? Playing around for a willing audience at the frat house was one thing, but he shuddered imagining having to explain to the campus rent-a-cops what was happening: Oh, I’m so sorry, officer. Nonono he’s not on drugs, Steve here’s in dog mode is all. He’s sniffing your butt to be polite!

“I’m sorry sweetheart, but you’re gonna need to be up on two legs for us to go back.”

Stevie made a disgruntled little snort and parked his ass and hands on the ground.

“You know that’s not what I asked for puppy,” he hissed out. All that got him was another haughty huff and a nose in the air.

If Tommy was around and they were behind closed doors, his obstinance might have earned a couple smacks or some alone time in his cage. Here though, Eddie was wary of making too much noise. He kept quietly cajoling, but his boyfriend stubbornly refused to move.

Finally, inspiration struck. He wiggled out of his jacket and placed it on the linoleum underneath their table. His puppy pretended not to be interested, but Eddie caught him glancing as he smoothed it out.

“Go on, lay down,” he said, with a pointed finger towards his jacket. Stevie cocked his head, playing dumb even as his eyes lit up in delight.

“You’re gonna close your eyes right here next to me, okay? I’ll stay the whole time, make sure you’re safe. Please Stevie,” he asked softly, “come on, take a little nap for me. Think how much better you’ll feel afterwards.”

Mercifully, the solution seemed to amenable to his headstrong boyfriend. He crawled over to inspect the makeshift dog bed, his tags gently clinking against each other.

After a few seconds, Stevie made a small noise of satisfaction, circling around to curl up against his legs. Within a couple minutes, he was snoring away softly, and Eddie slumped against the desk in relief.

He took a photo and sent it to his other boyfriend:

Eddie bit his lip. Shit. He should be able to wrangle Stevie himself, right?

His boyfriend didn’t reply for a few minutes, eventually sending a thumbs up. Eddie swallowed his nerves. He’d be fine! Tommy had enough shit to deal with right now, he didn’t need to clean up any messes Eddie had created for himself. His boyfriend didn’t need to see the worst of him, not yet.

He hadn’t been fourteen-year old Eddie in a long time, that distracted fidgety mess of a kid who was so angry at the world. His guidance counselor calling Wayne in for a meeting and handing the two of them a pamphlet on ADHD had been a first step towards something new. But folks in his hometown had long memories. Didn’t matter if Wayne had taken him in and made sure he got his act together enough to graduate, or if he earned a full ride to a state college. They all saw Eddie as screw up Al Munson’s miniature screw up in waiting, ready to follow in his daddy’s footprints any minute.

Getting out of Hawkins had probably saved his life. No one on this campus got to know about his dad’s prison sentence, or that Wayne lived in a trailer park, or hell, even that he took Adderall, without Eddie telling them first.

And he was gonna get there with Tommy and Steve…someday. Well okay, they saw him taking his fucking pill in the morning when he stayed over, so that last one wasn’t a secret anymore. But the rest? He was gonna keep his mouth shut for the time being around them and their silver-spooned brothers. Eddie could enjoy being their drug-dealer turned adopted stray for a little longer.

A snuffle from Stevie pushed him back out of his mind. Shit, right. He had a puppy to get home. Eddie ruffled Stevie’s hair some more and considered his options.

In the end, he let his puppy sleep for another hour. Steve was still out of it when he woke up, but he had climbed back out of his doggy headspace enough that Eddie was able to corral him back home with an arm over his shoulder. Anyone looking at them would’ve assumed the two of them were hungover. Weird for so early in the afternoon on a Wednesday, but not out of the question for someone sporting a ΣΑΧ snapback.

A couple brothers looked up when they stumbled in through the front door.

“Y’know if Tommy’s back yet?” Eddie wheezed. Stupid fucking hill this stupid fucking frat house had to be built on top of.

The blonde guy on the left of the couch nodded. Eddie recognized him as the one who always lost his shirt at parties and bragged about all the T.A.’s he was banging…was his name Benny? Billy? Something like that.

“Just missed him.” Benny-or-maybe-just-Bill smirked. “Looked pretty wiped. Tell him if he’s too tired, I’ll take care of his mutt for the night. Don’t worry, I’ll let you watch. Maybe you’ll pick up some training tips.”

Eddie swallowed a scowl.

“Maybe next Friday, dude .” Asshole.

Ignoring the snickering, Eddie turned and practically dragged Steve up the stairs and into Tommy’s room.

As soon as he caught sight of his other owner, Stevie immediately dropped back down to all fours and ran over to Tommy.

Tommy laughed and fended off his puppy’s ‘kisses.’

“Down, Stevie! I missed you too puppy.”

Fuck.

Eddie’s already bad mood intensified. It was obvious who Stevie preferred, and not like he didn’t have plenty of people lining up to take Tommy’s place. What was the point in competing with any of them?

Caught up in his own head, Eddie didn’t notice Tommy making his way over to the door until his boyfriend was dragging him further inside.

“Thanks for taking care of the sneaky fucker for me. He didn’t give you too much trouble, right? I should’ve noticed Steve wasn’t sleeping. He tried to pull this shit last year around the same time too.”

When Eddie didn’t answer, Tommy gave him a look.

“Dude, helllooo?”

“What?” The snap came out reflexively. Tommy raised his eyebrows while giving Stevie some scritches behind his ear that the puppy was really leaning into.

“Ouch, didn’t realize you were in a bitchy mood too.”

If he’d been feeling better, the tease wouldn’t have come off as a barb that stuck under his skin. Today was not that day.

“Well I won’t darken your fucking doorstep anymore,” Eddie muttered, turning to go. Tommy grabbed for his shoulder.

“Just sleep it off here Eds, you keep saying you want to steal my mattress. I’ll take care of Stevie now, you don’t have to worry.”

Tommy’s bed was a lot comfier than the bed in his apartment. Eddie loved taking naps on that mattress. But his boyfriend standing there so confident, so self-assured, made him furious. Not even sleep deprived from his exam, or worried about splitting his attention between his real boyfriend and a screw up who was only good enough to sub in once in a while.

“Yeah, guess you fucking have to be better at everything, huh?” He bat away Tommy’s hand and turned again, only to find himself hauled around by the back of his shirt. “Hey fuck off—”

“Nope,” Tommy interrupted. “Sit down and shut up.” He shoved Eddie backwards until his butt hit the side of the bed, then full on climbed on top of him. All the air left his body with an ‘ ooof! ’ Before Eddie knew it, he was pinned against the mattress.

“You do know you’re kinda heavy right?” he wheezed.

“Don't really care," Tommy said, busy grabbing Eddie’s wrists to fully immobilize him. "I’m not moving until you’re over whatever the fuck this is.”

Eddie tried to kick out but his skinny legs were no match for someone who played a sport four times a week. He sat there stewing in his annoyance for a few minutes but…g-ddamnit. The weight and warmth of Tommy’s body was kind of soothing. His feet got further squished in while Stevie settled into the improvised puppy pile.

With a deep breath, Eddie let himself sink into the bed. Tommy bonked his head against Eddie’s.

“Better now?”

“…Yeah. Thanks.”

His boyfriend gave him a soft kiss.

“Whatever bullshit it was telling you, tell your brain to fuck off, ‘kay?” It took all of his willpower not to immediately turn into a pile of goo. Stevie gave a little wuff as he pawed at Eddie’s jeans. “See, the puppy says so too.”

At the attention, their puppy barked excitedly.

“Aww, is someone feeling left out?” Tommy crooned down at him, before glancing back towards Eddie. “You up to playing now? Think this one still has some energy to get out.” Eddie nodded, ready to push the focus back off his issues for a while and help Stevie settle better. His boyfriend grinned and gave him a much more forceful kiss in return. Okay, yeah, little Eddie was definitely ready to play now.

“Go get your collar Stevie,” Tommy ordered.

Their puppy immediately scampered off towards the trunk that held his toys. Eddie was mildly impressed that he managed to nudge the top open with just his teeth and nose. On all fours, the sides of the trunk came up to Stevie’s shoulders. He had to tilt his whole upper body in to search, leaving his ass and legs comically dangling in the air. After a few seconds, their puppy yipped triumphantly and tossed his collar out. He fell back onto the floor in a mass of flailing limbs.

Once Stevie re-oriented himself and had his prize in hand (or more accurately, in mouth), he raced over to deposit his collar in front of Eddie, looking up expectantly.

“Oh, umm…” he flushed, glancing at Tommy. “Can I?”

His boyfriend smirked.

“You know he’s trying to butter you up, right? Cause someone ,” Tommy slipped into a singsong high-pitched voice as he pinched their puppy’s cheek, “knows he’s been naughty today. Get naked puppy. Now.”

Stevie shed his clothes lightning fast and sat back on his haunches at Eddie’s feet, bowing his head for him for the second time that day. Eddie slipped off the dog tags and replaced them with Stevie’s collar, fumbling with the clasp in his haste.

Their puppy sighed, turning to nuzzle his face into his legs. Eddie couldn’t help but melt from the sweetness, reaching down to scratch at Stevie’s scalp.

“Oh sure, now that you get what you want you’re behaving,” Tommy complained. “Sorry, puppy, you know the rules. Now, stand and present.”

Stevie pouted, but got back on all fours and arched his back. He spread his legs wide, exposing his balls and hole, as a pink flush slowly spread across his body. Tommy moaned appreciatively. Their puppy turned his head to smirk as he swayed his ass back and forth a little. G-d, Stevie was such a vain attention-seeking diva.

He was also already half-hard from this little bit of show-boating. Tommy moved quickly, lubing up a silicon cock ring to sit just beneath the head of his dick. A matching band fit just above his balls, stretching them out away from his body. Eddie shivered as Stevie woofed happily, knowing firsthand from experience (thanks to a very enlightening weekend spent under Tommy’s hands) how intense orgasms felt with them on, even if their puppy would have to work a little harder to get there.

Once Stevie was properly collared everywhere, Eddie squirted some cold lube without warning directly over their puppy’s hole, enjoying both the shocked yip he got in response and Tommy’s snorting laughter.

He took his time to tease, stroking his fingers along all of the gorgeous skin presented in front of him. As he passed it, Eddie’d let the tip of his thumb just barely catch on Stevie’s rim. Their puppy whined and bucked around, trying to force it deeper.

“Hey, bad puppy, stay!” Tommy swatted at Stevie’s ass hard enough to leave a handprint. “Be happy Eddie’s being so nice, I wouldn’t give you anything after how much of a brat you were to him this afternoon.”

Eddie jumped and moved his hands away, feeling guilty.

“Shit, should I leave him alone?” Tommy cocked an eyebrow.

“Why? He’s yours too. Do what you want to him.” Their puppy woofed and laid his face on Eddie’s feet. Tommy smirked and gestured down as if to say see ?

Eddie flushed a little at the sign of support from both of them and nodded, picking back up with only light touches. He kept at it until Stevie was a whining slobbering mess, barely able to hold back from humping the air. It was only then that he finally picked up the tail-shaped butt plug and gently pushed it into their puppy’s waiting asshole.

Stevie barked and groaned at the intrusion, relaxing his muscles and rocking back and forth on the plug to pleasure himself. Eddie now knew he could take much bigger and thicker dildos, but the curved rubber tail brushing against their puppy’s ass with every movement drove him further and further into that warm fuzzy headspace.

“There you go sweetheart,” Eddie murmured. “Finally filled up the way you wanted?”

Their puppy whined, looking up with big sad eyes. Tommy snorted.

“Upset he didn’t fuck you with that nice thick dick of his first then plug you up?” he taunted. “Not tonight Stevie, you are being punished. Speaking of—” His other boyfriend tossed the remote to the tail’s vibrator towards Eddie. He squeaked in surprise at the projectile, only barely managing to catch it. Stupid frat bros and their jock reflexes. Tommy just laughed again.

“Don’t you go giving me a look too, you caught it, didn’t you?”

“I only quit smoking a month ago, don’t expect to turn me into an athlete anytime soon,” Eddie grumbled. He held up the remote. “What did you have in mind with this?”

“Well,” Tommy wandered over and slipped his hands underneath Eddie’s shirt to toy with his nipple piercing. Eddie let out a happy groan of his own. “Stevie still needs to get his spanking. Why don’t you lose your clothes? Enjoy the show, and keep our puppy on the edge.”

His boyfriend played with his nipples for a long torturous minute before walking back towards Stevie. He grinned at the sight of Eddie’s dick straining within the confines of his tight jeans, a wet patch just barely visible through the denim.

“Don’t come yet, got plans for you tonight too.”

Eddie groaned but nodded. He flew out of his clothes and leapt onto the bed as Tommy settled in on the beat up loveseat in the corner and beckoned Stevie over.

Their puppy crawled over reluctantly, whimpering the whole way. He cowered at Tommy’s feet, trying to appear as pathetic as possible. The groveling might have worked, had he not also glanced back at Eddie and stuck his butt higher in the air. Eddie had to stifle a laugh.

"Come on Stevie, don't give me that," Tommy snapped. "You know the rules. Dogs don't get to make decisions, their owners do. Get up here. Don't make me say it again." He pointed to his lap.

Stevie scrambled up then went limp. He obediently let Tommy arrange him so that he was stretched out over the sofa, his ass centered directly over his owner's thighs.

"There you go. See, it's not hard to be good, is it Stevie?" Tommy ruffled a hand through their puppy's hair, mussing it up and chuckling at the disgruntled huff he got in response.

G-d, the way he looked at Stevie, cheeks flushed and eyes soft, made Eddie's heart clench. His fingers itched to capture this moment in a song, so other people could get just a taste of the intimacy. But. He shouldn't be intruding on such a private moment between the two of them, right? He couldn’t hope to ever have Tommy look at him like that and—

“You gonna use the vibe on him, or want me to start first?”

Huh? Oh right. Belatedly Eddie realized the remote was cutting into his hand from the way he’d been holding it in a death grip this whole time.

Tommy finally glanced in his direction. And look, Eddie knew he was a terrible liar. Wayne had always said he wore his heart fluttering around right there on his sleeve. But he couldn’t help but feel caught out when his boyfriend quirked an eyebrow and gestured for him to join them on the sofa.

Stevie lifted his head enough for Eddie to slide his way into the empty seat, giving a happy little wuff now that he was positioned over both of them. He settled down to bury his nose in Eddie’s crotch, enthusiastically licking at his dick and balls with that heavenly tongue.

Tommy reached over to stroke his thumb against Eddie’s cheek.

“Guess the puppy wasn’t the only one who needed attention, huh.”

“Mhm.” Eddie squeezed his eyes shut and leaned into his boyfriend’s hand, basking in the affection. At least until he remembered he was still holding the remote. Again.

He finally turned the switch on. Stevie, in the middle of slobbering all over his ballsack trying to take everything into his mouth at once, gave an adorable squeal in surprise, and kept wriggling around as Eddie steadily increasing the vibe’s intensity.

His boyfriend caught his eye and grinned. Without warning, he brought his hand down on their puppy with a loud smack . Stevie jolted and cried out, his ass jiggling from the impact. Tommy wasn’t moved by the reaction.

“I barely touched you pup, shush.” He began to rain down blow after blow.

The sight of their puppy’s ass slowly growing redder was driving Eddie insane. Worse, all those little noises coming out of his mouth as he squirmed around vibrated right against Eddie’s dick.

With a lot of effort, Eddie only just managed to pull himself back from the edge.

Tommy saw him panting and paused his spanking. He grabbed one of Eddie’s hands and laid it on top of Stevie’s ass cheeks. Heat practically radiated off of them from the dark red blooming underneath his fingers.

His boyfriend winked at him before grabbing their puppy’s hair and yanking his head up. Stevie yelped, those pretty eyes shut tight from pain. Tommy waited until he opened them again to address him:

“Bad news pup, you distracted Eddie so much that I lost count watching. Guess I’ll have to restart. Poor thing,” he said with a fake condescending pout. “That mouth is always getting you into trouble, isn’t it. Maybe you should do something useful with it.”

He shoved Stevie’s head back down into Eddie’s crotch and started up again, steadily increasing the tempo of his strikes now that their puppy had been properly warmed up.

Obediently, Stevie opened his mouth and swallowed Eddie’s dick down. Every smack from Tommy urged him further and further, until their puppy’s nose was brushing against Eddie’s pubes. Once again, it took everything in Eddie’s power not to cum then and there from the warmth squeezing him tight. Tommy had mentioned that the two of them spent a good couple months training away Steve’s gag reflex and fuck , wasn’t Eddie a lucky bastard to reap their hard work.

He closed his eyes, resigned to the orgasm barreling towards him, when Tommy abruptly stood up, dumping Stevie off his lap in the process. Their puppy was caught off guard and went flying, landing on the floor with a yelp.

Laughing, his boyfriend finally started to take off his clothes.

“Sorry, but he was getting you too close. I told you, I’ve got plans involving your dick tonight.”

Eddie swallowed hard. His eyes traced over Tommy’s bare shoulders and chest, strong and built up from years of playing lacrosse. Unlike their puppy’s comparative jungle, Tommy’s chest only grew a smattering of hair. But there was more than enough for Eddie to run his greedy hands through it and enjoy the soft texture.

Pushing down his pants and briefs in one go, Tommy’s dick sprung free from its imprisonment to stick straight out. He really did have freckles everywhere. One of these days Eddie wanted to lick over each and every one of them.

“Like what you see Munson?” Oops, he’d been caught. Even worse, Tommy was using a jock nickname on him. Fifteen year-old Eddie would have been betrayed by how much it was doing it for him.

Eddie nodded, bouncing up to give Tommy a sloppy kiss. He returned the favor, only stopping to grab Eddie’s hand and gathering them both up in a fist, still kinda slick with remnants of lube.

Tommy directed him through a few rough strokes. Eddie moaned into his shoulder, finally giving into his own urge to bite and suck at the sun-speckled skin there.

A wuff coming from the floor interrupted his one-track thoughts. Stevie tried to hump their legs, only for Tommy to push him onto his back. His boyfriend chuckled as their puppy laid there pouting.

“What, you thought your punishment was over already? Not yet, Stevie. You’re going in your cage so your owners can have some fun together. That’s right, I’m the one who gets to ride Eddie for as long as I want tonight.” Their puppy whined in frustration.

Without hesitation, Tommy grabbed the back of Stevie’s collar and hauled him up so they were eye to eye.

“Behave,” he hissed. “We’re being nice, and letting you watch. Eddie and I could always go back to his place instead. Is that what you want? Locked up, all alone for the rest of the night?” Stevie shook his head and pawed at Tommy’s shirt, gasping a little for air.

Eddie grabbed ahold of their puppy’s shoulders and gently brought him down to the floor. Stevie curled up in his lap but couldn’t stay still, panting heavily and giving half-aborted little thrusts every few seconds. His dick twitched against Eddie’s thigh. Shit, he might gotten closer to coming than they wanted him to be right now.

He turned the vibrator down to a lower setting, enough to keep Stevie hard and wanting, but not in active danger. Their puppy moaned and burrowed deeper into Eddie’s arms. Tears and snot got smeared over his chest, but he didn’t mind.

“It’s okay sweetheart, shhh.” Eddie stroked the soft hairs on their puppy’s nape. “You’re being such a good boy, taking your punishment so well. Just a little more, it’s almost over.”

Tommy pressed a kiss to Stevie’s forehead.

“Think he’s good?”

Their puppy had quieted, his breathing no longer as labored. Eddie nodded.

In response, his boyfriend tilted his chin to stick his tongue in his mouth. When they parted, Tommy smirked at his dazed expression.

“Guess you’re good too. Put that one in his cage.” He sauntered over to his bed and grabbed the lube. “Come on, hurry up, I wanna feel full already.”

Eddie’s breath caught in his chest watching Tommy slick up two fingers on one hand and use the other to push a buttcheek to the side. His exposed asshole, adorned with a ring of freckles, greedily took one finger then another. The wet schlick s as he pumped in and out of himself filled the air, and Eddie’s dick was so hard it could cut glass.

A little moan underneath his feet reminded him of the task Tommy had left to him. Looking down, Eddie could see Stevie was similarly affected: his tongue was out and steadily dripping drool everywhere. If he didn’t act quickly, their puppy was probably thirty seconds away from leaping onto the bed and trying to take Tommy from behind.

Eddie tore his eyes away from his boyfriend’s ass, and ran over to the big dog cage in the corner.

“C’mere Stevie!” Eddie patted his legs and pointed to the plush dog bed inside. “Come on sweetheart, be a good boy, we’ll let you out soon, I promise,” he added hastily, seeing the dubious look on their puppy’s face.

Stevie took as circuitous a route as he could take, but eventually made his way over to the cage. He licked at Eddie’s hand, pleading with those expressive eyes of his. Eddie just barely restrained himself from giving in, and held the cage door open wider. Stevie huffed his displeasure. With his nose high in the air, he stepped into the cage, the picture of regal grace.

Their puppy occupied himself with getting comfy as Eddie locked him inside the cage. It was adorable the way he turned around a few times before curling up on himself, knees held close to his chest. The feigned nonchalance of the pose was ruined when Stevie peeked an eye open to make sure someone was still watching though.

It was Eddie’s turn to snort at this new tactic.

“Okay, yup, you totally don’t care sweetheart.”

A moan from Tommy called his attention back to the bed. Walking backwards, Eddie fiddled with the remote to give their puppy a taste of the vibe’s highest setting. Stevie yelped, limbs flying everywhere for a moment from the unexpected intensity. He glared at Eddie even as his hips ground down involuntarily.

Eddie giggled, giving their puppy a teasing grin. He set the remote to give random hard pulses, just to be a little mean. If Stevie wanted attention, he was going to have to work for it.

By the time Eddie rejoined him on the bed, Tommy was already three fingers deep in his own ass.

“Took you long enough, jeez,” he panted. “Come up here and fuck me already.”

Eddie didn’t need any more urging, and grabbed a condom, nearly tearing it in half in his haste to get the packet open.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Tommy trying not to laugh, which only made his fumbling worse, of course. Eventually his boyfriend smacked his hands away.

“That’s it, we’re all getting tested this week,” Tommy muttered mostly to himself as he rolled down a fresh one onto Eddie’s dick. A couple quick pumps had Eddie whimpering too, already close to coming again. “So eager to please, huh? Well here’s how you make me happy Eddie-baby.”

His boyfriend pushed Eddie down onto his back then moved to hover right over his dick. Eddie couldn’t help but stare. Tommy’s muscles barely even moved as he effortlessly held the position. Stupid hot athlete boyfriend with his stupid hot abs.

Tommy moved in close, his breath tickling Eddie’s ear as he whispered: “I want to come on your dick tonight, and only from your dick. Doesn’t matter how much you beg me to stop, not gonna until that happens. Got it?”

Eddie swallowed hard. His dick twitched with every heartbeat, way too interested in what his boyfriend wanted. He was half tempted to beg for a cock ring of his own. Stevie had more than one after all.

As if he could hear his thoughts, their puppy gave another pitiful whimper as the tail kicked up again. Tommy didn’t react in the slightest. He just stared down, chest rising and falling evenly as he waited for an answer. The flush slowly spreading across his cheeks was the only tell that he was even a little bit affected.

A drop of precum landed on Eddie’s stomach. Okay, maybe there were a few more signs.

Tommy’s dick was sticking straight out, and his hole gaped, still loose from his fingers and practically begging to be stuffed full and…oh fuck it. Eddie had always been a competitive little shit anyway.

“I can definitely do that,” he said, putting as much false bravado into his words as possible. Sure, doing theater in high school meant he was forever labeled a dork, but did come in handy for moments like this.

His boyfriend smirked.

“Good.”

Without any warning, he slid halfway way down Eddie’s dick in one smooth movement. All of the air escaped his lungs from the sudden tight heat.

“Don’t even think about coming Munson,” Tommy panted.

The next however many minutes were the longest who knows how long period of time in Eddie’s life. He held onto the sheets for dear life while his boyfriend rode him hard and fast. Eddie could feel his balls drawing up almost past the point of no return when Tommy reached down to pinch at his nipple piercing again, and it was all over. As soon as he finished twitching, his boyfriend pulled off. He tore off the now used condom, pulled a new one down, and remounted Eddie before he could blink, much less have his dick flag.

“I told you,” Tommy panted. “I’m not gonna stop if you come, so don’t bitch and moan too much.”

He winced and moaned anyway, oversensitive and overwhelmed. Not that it mattered though. By the time Tommy groaned and came all over their stomaches, he’d squeezed another mind shattering orgasm out of Eddie.

Tommy flopped over, still trying to catch his breath. Eddie beamed from where he’d melded into the mattress, happy that he’d managed to make his jock boyfriend work that hard.

Belatedly, he became aware of their puppy whining and whimpering in the corner.

“Don’t worry Stevie,” Tommy called out. “Gonna let you out now, as soon as someone gets his legs back.” Their puppy did not stop his begging, the little brat.

Still, he had been in the cage and teased mercilessly for a long while. Eddie blindly fumbled around until he found the remote and turned the tail’s vibrator off. Stevie moaned and relaxed a bit more in relief.

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Tommy wheezed, “keep your pants on pup.”

Finally, his boyfriend recovered his bearings enough to stumble over and free their puppy. Stevie tumbled out, equally unsteady after staying curled up for so long.

“You okay to move Stevie?” Tommy reached down and gently massaged their puppy’s legs. After a minute Stevie wuffed, and trotted over to the bed. Eddie reached out to help him up. He got their puppy arranged nicely on all fours before reaching a hand out to stroke his dick. Stevie moaned happily when Eddie slipped his other hand up to tease at his nipples. G-d , he loved how responsive he was.

“There you go Stevie,” Eddie said softly. “Poor thing, you must be aching everywhere, huh? All worked up, with nothing to hump.”

Their puppy whined in agreement. The whines kicked up a notch when the tail in his ass came to life again. Eddie looked over to see a grinning Tommy holding the remote.

“Come on, let’s let the doggy have his bone r.” Eddie groaned at the pun and his boyfriend cackled.

In the end, it didn’t take much. Eddie played with his nipples, Tommy gave a few gentle squeezes to their puppy’s balls, and they took turns alternating strokes to his dick.

The orgasm hit Steve hard. Underneath their hands he bucked and moaned in relief for seemingly forever. He finally dropped boneless to the bed with one last whimper.

Steve barely responded as Tommy went about removing the rings from his junk or the tail from his ass. But when Eddie went to unbuckle his collar, he grabbed his hand to hold it still.

“Five more minutes,” Steve begged, the words slurred and his voice a little raspy from disuse.

Eddie didn’t hesitate or wait for Tommy to give his opinion.

“Sure sweetheart, five more minutes.” Relief written all over his face, Steve closed his eyes and curled up into Eddie’s chest. He made a noise of satisfaction when Tommy slid in to cling to his back like a koala.

His boyfriend flopped a hand over Steve, letting it come to rest on Eddie’s chest. The weight and warmth of it grounded him as he laid there half drifting into a doze.

They stayed like that for a while and let time unspool around them, only broken by Steve’s little snores. Eddie’s brain even shut up for the occasion, not concerned with anything but the present.

Finally, Tommy stirred again.

“Fuck.” He poked at the drying sticky mess all over them. “We need to clean all this shit up, or we’re gonna get stuck together forever.”

Tommy directed Eddie to help him get Steve into the shower since he was still clumsy on his feet. They left his collar on the sink to deal with as tomorrow’s problem. The thing was already marked up with a lot of mysterious stains, what was one more gonna do at this point?

After the world’s fastest shower, the three of them all fell into a pile on the bed.

Steve settled down again in between Eddie and Tommy.

When Eddie finally came back to consciousness the next day, it was to Steve’s stomach growling.

He peeked open one eye to find his boyfriend reading a textbook, supporting it on top of Tommy’s head (who was splayed out and still snoring away on his chest). A beam of sunlight glinted off Steve’s glasses and made the two of them practically glow. Eddie’s heart lurched at seeing such a wonderful sight first thing after waking up.

Steve’s eyes flicked from the book over to him. He grimaced.

“Shit, sorry for waking you up Eds. Forgot you’re a lighter sleeper than Tom is.”

“It’s fine, whatimeisit,” Eddie slurred as he extracted himself from Tommy’s legs and stretched.

“Twelve thirty-ish. Was gonna go make some food, you hungry too?”

On cue, Eddie’s stomach made a noise. Steve grinned.

“That answers that. Hey, Tommy-” his boyfriend poked his human weighted blanket. “Want anything?”

Tommy shooed them both off.

“Shuddup m’sleepn’…” he muttered, flopping over and blindly groping around to find a replacement pillow.

Steve laughed and grabbed Eddie’s hand.

“Just the two of us. Come on, I’ll make some brunch.”

Eddie followed Steve downstairs and into a part of the house he hadn’t been in yet. Here, the fancy wood paneling was darker, and held rows and rows of framed photos of former Sigma Alpha Chi brothers from prior decades.

Just beyond the point where the photographs began to feature late 1800’s suits and silly facial hair, Steve opened a door helpfully labeled ‘Kitchen’, and turned on the lights.

If Eddie didn’t know better, he would have guessed this cavernous space made food for some Michelin star restaurant, with its pristine chrome appliances, glazed terracotta tiles, and white-washed walls. For fucks sake he could see his reflection mirrored back at him on practically every sparkling surface.

“What, no private chef?” he joked, valiantly resisting the urge to tamper with the expensive-looking mixer or leave behind fingerprints all over the island.

Steve shrugged and fiddled with the brim of his snapback.

“Oh, we do, today’s just her day off. You’re gonna love Maggie’s tiramisu, it’s so fucking good man.” Sigma Alpha Chi and their bottomless funds. With his back turned, Steve missed Eddie’s eyes popping out of his skull as he continued talking:

“Tommy’s been banned from coming in here since he freaking lit pasta in boiling water on fire. So, I need you to be my smoke detector and make sure this Kraft survives, okay?” Steve scooped Eddie up and deposited him on the counter next to the stove. If anyone asked, Eddie would deny the extremely manly ‘meep! ’ that fell out of his mouth in surprise. His boyfriend huffed out a laugh, kissed the tip of his nose, then got to work.

Eddie watched Steve putter around. There were still dark circles under his eyes that wouldn’t be solved by one good night’s sleep. But the Steve of this morning, er, afternoon, was nothing like yesterday. He moved around the kitchen confidently, humming like he was supposed to be here. Every so often he’d send little smiles Eddie’s way that absolutely wreaked havoc with his heart.

Twenty minutes later balancing several bowls of steaming yellow cheesy goodness in his hands, Eddie listened to Steve complain about his dad:

“He still not thrilled I decided not to run for and ‘let my boyfriend win.’ Pissed I let the streak of frat president Harringtons die. Like I want Tommy’s job.” Steve gestured to one photo out of the many frames lining the hallway as they passed.

The plaque underneath read "Sigma Alpha Chi Class of '86." In the center grinning at the camera was a guy with Steve's smile and a frankly impressive bushy blond mustache.

"Not that he really understands why I wanna be a teacher instead of following him into the family business either. I'm getting the management degree because he's convinced that by the time I graduate he can get me to work for him.”

"Don't want to join the ol’ law firm? Let him finally put the ‘& Son’ up on the sign?” Steve made a face.

“My mom's the family lawyer and she definitely doesn’t want me anywhere near her cases. My dad runs…you ever hear of Scoops Ahoy?"

"The ice cream chain? Yeah dude. Those commercials with the dorky admiral guy are hilarious. 'Set sail on an ocean of flavor with me!"

Steve groaned and hid his head behind his hands.

“We tried to get him to cast an actor but nope, had to be him. The stupid sailor outfits were his idea too, he's always been obsessed with nautical shit. Every year he hosts a murder mystery on his yacht and makes us all dress up in the dorkiest costumes with him, it's the worst."

Eddie blinked. Then blinked some more. Come to think of it the face of Scoops Ahoy had a very familiar crinkle to his hazel-colored eyes and sure his mustache was grey not blond but holy shit wait a minute—

“He…the Admiral is— your dad owns Scoops Ahoy??" he sputtered.

Oh my G-d he was dating fast food royalty. What was next, would Tommy reveal he was related to the King of Sweden?

With his free hand Eddie grabbed Steve’s shirt.

“Please tell me Tommy isn’t secretly Gustaf the Seventeenth,” he asked, his tone landing closer to ‘manic Swedish-obsessed axe murderer’ than intended.

Steve looked at him sideways.

“What?”

“He’s not from Sweden?” Steve grabbed their lunch out of Eddie’s hands after a couple noodles fell to their demise.

“Dude he’s from some town called Orangeville a couple hours outside of Indianapolis. It’s in the middle of bumfuck nowhere.”

“Okay, great.” Eddie wheezed. “Only one of you is the heir to an empire then. Tommy’s just normal fuck-off wealthy.”

Steve laughed.

“Yeah, I’m gonna regret introducing you to Dad, aren’t I. The two of you are gonna feed into each other’s dramatics, calling it now.” Eddie stopped in his tracks. Steve wanted him to meet his parents?

“Yeah, I’m sure we’ll get along great at graduation.” That’s all he meant, probably. No need to explain polyamory to baby boomers.

“Actually, was kinda hoping you were free for Spring Break, you didn’t mention any plans yet.” A couple spots of pink appeared on Steve’s cheeks. Was he…nervous? Before Eddie could do more than shake his head no his boyfriend pushed on:

“My parents want to meet my music teacher boyfriend and might have invited you to come on this year’s murder cruise. If you want. I won’t let them make you wear the cabin boy outfit even if it’s tradition for first-timers. Those shorts are like, ridiculously tiny and I will get distracted staring at your ass.” Steve grinned, like it wasn’t complete absurdity to introduce him to anyone.

“You’ve talked about me to your parents?” His boyfriend gave him a bitchy look.

“No, I didn’t want to tell my parents about my new amazing boyfriend who can play ten different instruments. Oh, right!” He snapped his fingers. “If you come, don’t bring your guitar. Dad will make you play ‘Barrett’s Privateers’ too many times.”

“What about Tommy?”

“What about him? He’s already called dibs on being the ‘second first mate.’’ Eddie threw up his hands in frustration. In hind sight, Steve was entirely correct to take the mac and cheese away from him.

“Steve, if I’m your new boyfriend, they’re gonna assume you and Tommy broke up!”

“Oh. Nah, my mom would kill me if I broke up with Tommy at this point, she loves him. They think I’m involved in some sort of millennial swingers club, but they sort of get it. And the offer’s still standing if you want to come. Don’t need to RSVP now or anything, think about it. It’ll be nice to have you there.”

Eddie stared at Steve’s face. This had to be a joke, no one wanted to ever take him home. He was the dirty secret, the screw up, the—

“ Tell your brain to fuck off ,” Tommy’s voice whispered in his ear.

Maybe, this didn’t have to be a joke. Maybe, he could meet Steve’s parents with Tommy there and have it go okay. And maybe, he could believe that the two of them wanted him to be there.

“I’ll have to see what my uncle’s plans were, but he’d probably be okay with moving our fishing trip to another weekend. We uh, usually do that, when I’m home on breaks.”

“Yes!” Steve smiled and pumped a fist in the air, somehow avoiding spilling any pasta while he did so like the talented dorky jock he was. Eddie couldn’t help but smile. Maybe things would work out this time, if he could get his boyfriends to smile back at him like that. The rest could come later.

Author's Notes -Thank you to @vthx for beta-ing, you really helped me drill down and nail Steve's mannerisms <3 Also thank you to anyone who sent in an emoji during WIP Weekend. It took six months, but this fic finally saw publication!

-Shout out to @dame-zoom-a-lot for walking me through how to create the cool texting workskin!

-In this story, I wanted Steve, Eddie, and Tommy to have met in college, so only Eddie gets to be from Hawkins! Due to the demands of running a restaurant empire, I imagine Steve lived somewhere near to Chicago so his dad could travel to and from the offices frequently. Tommy's town of Orangeville is super tiny (less than 1000 people) and was picked randomly off the map

-Billy is in fact extremely jealous that Steve chose someone else not once but twice, heh

-Tommy lighting pasta in boiling water on fire is in fact inspired by a true story, unfortunately. The person who did this is now a literal rocket scientist, which thankfully does not require cooking skills Also thank you to saradika for the dog bone divider!

Tag list for this fic (thank you for your patience and continued emoji-based support while it took some time to write <3)

@dame-zoom-a-lot @fkinkindagauche @little-annie @augustjustice

@fuctacles @stellarspecter @griefabyss69

[foofenders]

My Take on Portraits of Your Father (SCP)

[THIS ANALYSIS IS FOR MY FINAL GRADE IN ENGLISH 12 CLASS]

Some disclaimers!

It's been a while since I've properly analyzed this story, so I might have forgotten some elements or get something wrong

POTENTIALLY WRONG INTERPRETATIONS!!

So feel free to respond or correct me about anything I am going to say!

Terrible grammar structure..

Might sound ACCIDENTALLY CONDESCENDING/NEGATIVE DUE TO (probably) WRONG CHOICE OF WORDING!!! english isn't my first language D:

Me rambling

Thanks for reading my project :3

Spoilers if you haven't read it.

------

Fiction's theme is about grief (I guess..?),

The story itself is about Draven Kondraki, who is the father's (Benjamin Kondraki's) son and how he copes with his father's suicide. We get multiple glimpses of memories from Draven's childhood that shaped him now and subtle hints of how his dad wasn't necessarily a good father but tries either way. Not only that, throughout the story readers can see how Draven and his fiancé, James Talloran grieves and how they manage to get through it (or tries to) at the end of the story.

A community challenge/universal experience that can be seen throughout this tale is resilience, because it deals with

Loss of a beloved one

Navigating grief in complex relationships

Moving forward despite the unexpected situation.

---- Some evidences that builds up -------

“Can you hand me that bottle over there?”

“Mm. I think you’ve had enough for tonight, Director,” James says in the low, articulate voice Draven has only heard him use at lab presentations and with his alcoholic father in the throes of one of his episodes.

This explicitly says that the father is already an alcoholic, which would mean he's destroying himself. Draven and James must take on the role of caretakers, emotionally managing the adult who was supposed to care for them, that shows resilience. (But Draven's already an adult and most adults take care of their parents, so it makes sense.)

----

“…I don’t know. That you’ll…not turn out like me, yeah? How about that.” His father lets out a forced chuckle. “Just…don’t be like me. Ever. Don’t do anything I did. I guess that’s what I’m saying.”

“Dad.” Kondraki can’t believe how much his son has grown up — dark curly hair, just like his own. Clean shaven. Green eyes. Tactical gear sporting his name. “…Are you okay?”

He smiles.

“I’m fine, Draven.”

Key things to look at:

Kondraki's awareness of his failures and the pain he cause to himself.

A warning to avoid repeating destructive patterns, reflecting generational trauma.

Kondraki recognizes his own flaws and the negative impact he’s had on Draven’s life, which underscores his internal struggle and desire to protect his son from repeating his mistakes, even if he feels powerless to change himself.

------

A BUNCH OF GLIMPSES OF MEMORIES HERE!!

[CHAPTER 4]

He’s “the smartest man you’ve ever met” because of his books, his multilingual ability, and his impressive job. This reflects how children often elevate their parents to heroic status, meaning that they focus on small signs of greatness without fully understanding the complexities beneath the parent.

[CHAPTER 7]

Draven’s silent, agonizing questions — Why did you do it? Did it hurt? Would you have done it if I stayed?

That's grief. Witnessing his father’s suicide firsthand creates trauma, especially when having to see the dead body in front of you.

The hazy atmosphere reflects how Draven’s mind tries to process trauma. Draven feels a “soft kind of comfort” and warmth in this memory before the tragedy strikes. This moment shows a glimmer of hope, the memory that helps him find warmth and comfort even when the person in that memory doesn't exist anymore.

Waking up screaming from the nightmare shows that Draven hasn't forgotten and obviously is still deeply affected. But! He survives the shock, the pain, and the emotional devastation, showing resilience that takes it slowly, rather than quick recovery.

[CHAPTER 11]

Draven’s father is frantic, showing deep fear and love beneath his anger. His concern with "You could have died!” shows genuine vulnerability and the terror of potentially losing his son.

Despite the tension and harsh words, the moment ends with laughter and tenderness, a release of pent-up stress and a moment of connection. The laughter humanizes the father, showing his flawed but obvious attempts to be present and supportive.

Draven’s acceptance of his dad's presence “he’s there, just like he always is” shows emotional resilience because despite the imperfections, the bond remains a source of comfort.

Though this memory is set before Kondraki's death, there could be foreshadowing. His intense fear of losing Draven foreshadows the tragedy from the first chapter, hinting at the emotional weight both characters carry.

-------

[CHAPTER 12]

James and Draven found a Stephen King book; "Pet Cemetary" which indirectly tells both of them how Kondraki wants to peacefully go, by throwing his ashes into the sea.

"That’s all Draven needed to get an idea of what he wanted his dad’s final stunt to be. He grabs James’ keys from the table and a shovel from the garage and backs out of the driveway at 1am, feeling like Louis Creed."

--------

[FINAL CHAPTER]

You’ve been sad and you will be again, but right now James is saying that you should go to McDonalds before hitting the highway and you say hell yeah, we’re going to McDonalds, because right now the Foundation doesn’t matter and nothing can hold you back. When the dawn grey dissipates, you head onto the highway.

You’re painting a portrait of something old and something new, and everything inbetween.

Just like your father.

Despite the heavy weight of loss and ongoing grief, Draven wants to and chooses to embrace small moments of happiness such as driving around, goofing off, admiring a turtle, laughing with his fiancé. This is resilience as the courage to live fully even when sadness and grief is still there.

Wearing his father’s worn Columbia jacket symbolizes carrying forward his father’s memory not as a burden but as part of himself. It reflects how Draven is integrating past pain with his present self, showing strength in holding onto what matters while moving forward.

Resilience is shown in that scene but it’s subtle and quiet rather than dramatic.

It’s about how Draven and James choose to live and find joy despite the grief and trauma they've endured. The resilience is in the small, everyday acts: driving playfully, noticing a turtle, sharing laughter, and wearing the father's jacket as a symbol of carrying on. These moments reflect an ongoing process of healing and moving forward, which is the essence of resilience.

Yeah that's it thanks for reading.