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‿̩͙⊱♱༻Forgive♱Me༺♱⊰‿̩͙

Chapter Four: Signing

Owen Taylor x Delilah Young (OC)

They’d spend the next day or two driving a straight line from their small town in Kentucky to Miami. It was possibly the longest road trip Delilah had ever been on. They’d switch spots every now and then, and it was in those small moments of peace where Delilah’s hands were gripping the steering wheel, that she got to look at a peacefully sleeping Owen and dwell all that had come to this point. 

Her mind was rarely silent during these times. Questioning if she had done the right thing, wondering how he had noticed her out of all the women that stared at him. She wondered how her dad was doing, hoping that he had at least woken up, or was still on the uphill path of recovery. What about her mother? Had those angry tears been out of worry for her daughter or hatred that she had tried to come back? What about Misty? What would she think, coming home and hearing that her husband had run away with that strange girl she had been worried about? 

Her mind would run in circles until Owen would move in his seat or wake up, pulling her mind away from the chaotic past and bringing her to the impossibly, believable present. 

They were at a motel in Miami when the thoughts started to become too difficult to ignore. Only a couple of miles from the airport, the second that Owen sold his car they’d be off to a new future — a new world that Delilah was shaking to visit. 

Visit? Stay? Her chest felt heavy. 

Her new pajamas felt weird on her skin. She was always used to stiff dresses that itched against her skin and left her looking a rectangle at any point. She had asked for new clothes, on one of their many road trip stops. She had seen the souvenir shirt and fluffy baggy pants. The material sparked something in her, that she was going to do whatever she wanted… finally. She was getting that freedom, thanks to someone she had fallen in love with. 

She lifted the fuzzy pants as she stepped into the motel pool. Owen was outside the gate, she could see him, hear him, as he spit out the details of his car to someone. Was it finally going to happen? Were they going to get out? 

Her mind was hazy, the freezing cold water sending jolts of electricity to her nervous system, but nothing that stuck. 

“Hey!” Owen’s voice snapped her away. “Finally found someone to buy my car! So we can leave tomorrow.” 

She spared him a small smile as he clapped in victory. They were going to be getting out of here, out of this… cage Owen had brought light to her. 

He moved around the sidewalk, coming into the gated pool to grab her shoulders and kiss her temple. He paused for a moment, long enough for Delilah to look at him with a raised eyebrow. His eyes were scanning her up and down. 

“I like this new look on you.” He said, voice low and quiet. 

She smiled at him again, pecking him on the cheek as he crouched down on the spiky ground. Delilah sat with him, feet still in the freezing water. 

They stayed there, silent, listening to the water ripple and move as their hands and feet swayed in the freezing conditions. Soon enough she’d be able to feel much more than just spiky concrete and chlorinated water. She’d hear dolphin clicks and sand under the arch of her feet. 

“You excited?” He asked, nudging her side softly. 

“Yeah…” The answer was quiet, almost not spoken at all. 

His eyebrows furrowed at her. “What’s wrong?” His freezing hand grabbed her shoulder, the wet digits massaging into the muscle. He was trying to be comforting, but all it did was leave her uncomfortable… it’s not like she said anything though. 

“It’s just…” There were so many questions that weighed heavy on her, she wondered how his fingers weren’t crushing as they massaged her. “Will there be places for me to sing… when we get there?” Her eyes connected with his, there was something she was trying to read, yet nothing came up. 

“Babe…” There was a tug at the corner of his mouth, it made something swirl in her stomach. Was her question stupid? “There’s gonna be so many places.” He shifted to his knees, leaning over enough to kiss her temple, her cheek, and finally a long and deep kiss on her lips. 

They almost all felt the same to her, just small pits of fluff to keep down the stress that was building in her. She kept it all down, forced it all down as he asked her to get lunch with him, a small and stupid date, something to congratulate winning this escape to freedom. 

[space-signals]

‿̩͙⊱♱༻Forgive♱Me༺♱⊰‿̩͙

Chapter Three: Get Away

Owen Taylor x Delilah Young (OC)

Some light smut at the end

He had told Misty that he was off to get Delilah situated at the church, but as his hand massaged a spot on her thigh, she knew they weren’t going in that direction in the slightest. 

“So.” He looked at her for only a second before going back to the road, but it was enough to hatch butterflies in her stomach. “You think she’s just gonna let us in or…?” 

She tilted her head side to side, trying to figure out the best course of action. “I do– um…” Her face blossomed red. “I do keep my window a little open just so I could… um…” 

There was a smug smile growing on his lips and he squeezed her thigh. “Naughty.” 

“Stop it!” She scolded through her teeth as he laughed at her humiliation. It flowered through her, spreading through her bones alongside the realization that after this, she wasn’t gonna have to sneak out any more windows. That life was going to be far behind her when they went to Puerto Rico. 

Hopefully she’d like it there. 

He parked on the side of the road, a little farther from her house so it wouldn’t be entirely suspicious. The car was in the driveway and all the bikes were parked in their places; it was strange not seeing her’s next to the rest of them. 

Her heart began drumming in her ears, she could feel the blood pulsing through her veins as he massaged that spot in her thigh. She always snuck back in at night, when everyone was sleeping — or at least when she thought everyone was sleeping. The sun was right up in that bright blue sky, and from their curtained windows Delilah could see the blurry outlines of her siblings and her mother. 

Her dad was missing from the picture… maybe they could come back when he started to feel better… just so she could see him. 

“C’mon.” Owen nodded, pushing open her door while he then climbed out of his side. They kept their heads down and bodies slightly crouched as they hurried through the grass, their shoes making deep imprints from the wet soil.

They stuck their bodies to the side of the house, ducking from windows and keeping as quiet as they could until they came to her room — the window was open barely an inch, barely noticeable.

She pushed it open, squeezing her face. After all this time of climbing through her window she thought that maybe it’s be easier for her to open, but it always gave her a hard time. Sometimes she’d think that maybe it was a sign, telling her to stay in her bed and go to sleep… that was too late to be acting like this. 

She fell through the window, landing on the springiness of her bed. Her body dissolved into the covers, her tense muscles getting some rest after turning and tossing all night on that old couch. Owen climbed through right after her, landing right next to her with a huff. 

Her eyes gravitated towards him, the air felt thick in her room. It had only been one night she hadn’t slept under her light pink covers and somehow her room had aged centuries. 

His fingers grabbed the tips of hers, gentle with his rough hands. It was something she had never focused on, but it made sense why his hands were so callous, all those long days in the garden, all that farmwork he had accrued in Puerto Rico. It made her body hot thinking about all the times she felt them against her skin, the rips of the skin where he picked them against the softness of her stomach. She could feel it last night, as his hand climbed further up her dress, his rough fingertips scratching so tenderly. 

His eyes pulled away from her’s to observe around the room. It was all a soft pink, something she hadn’t grown out of since she was a kid. Crosses hung on the wall, some carved into wood, intricate while others were done with gnarly crayon coloring. Bibles snuggled into her bookcase, pressed against other books, autobiographies of musicians, coloring books, some of them were fake, to old things she was embarrassed to have even at her age. One of them was carved out of a flip phone that Owen had given her. She remembered the night she had done it. The book was old, something she had read when she was younger, the plot was barely a blip in her mind as she cut out the pages. 

She wouldn’t need that phone anymore. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever been in your room before.” He commented, voice low as they could hear the ruckus of family life right out the closed, white-wooden door. 

A soft smile pulled at the corners of her lips. “You like it?” The question was small — she felt small, surrounded by trinkets and keepsakes she had had since she was just a baby. 

“It’s cute.” He responded, turning back to her. He was like a panther as he moved slowly, body overtaking her as he looked down at her. There was a look in his eyes, something dark that made her bite the bottom of her lip to keep herself grounded in reality.

His hand floated between her legs, the push of his hand parting them ever so slightly so his thumb could rest on her underwear. There was a smugness which appeared on his face at the touch, Delilah quickly turned away. 

“So quick to get so excited.” His thumb motioned in small circles. Her head pressed deeper into her mattress as her mouth opened in reflex at the sensations which rippled through her. 

“Owen…” She mumbled breathlessly as his lips dipped into the crook of her neck. He put his weight on his knees to pull down more of her dress with his free hand. His lips brushed against her collarbones. 

He kissed a spot on her dress, right in the middle of her bra, right where his lips would be sweetly kissing her nipple. His head tilted up at her, he grabbed her chin and pulled her eyes towards him. 

“Get changed.” The demand sent shivers through her body, electricity jolting where his thumb swiped up and down. 

“What?” Delilah asked softly, mind dazed from the hands and lips on her body. 

“You should get changed before we leave.” 

The request confused her a bit, but she nodded despite the puzzlement. She pushed her body up, his floated right alongside like they were two magnets on the same side. 

It became clear to her as she swept her legs off the bed and stood on her feet, he wanted to watch her. 

He leaned back on his hands as she sifted through her closet, putting out outfits and shirts that she’d be able to wear for her new place while also trying to find something to wear for their elopement. 

Despite the stagnant air in her bedroom, her body felt cold as she slowly undressed. Her boots, her socks, unzipping her dress and letting it fall to the floor with a soft thud. Her back was facing him, she couldn’t see his face, but she could hear his low grunts and the rustling of his jeans. 

The click of her bra unclicking rang through her ears. They had never gotten this far, it was always clothes on, so that maybe they could deny it — that maybe they could hide. What was weirdest is that he wasn’t even the one doing it, her own hands were trailing down her body, helping the straps of her bra fall down her arms. Her hands were wrapped around the edges of her underwear, fingers touching the lace outlining, but the shake in her hands got the best of her. 

Her underwear stayed stuck to her as she stepped towards her dresser. His groans and sounds of his jeans kept going, not going any louder, just continuing as she put on a new bra. 

When her underwear finally dropped to the floor, there was a soft utterance of something terrible. The word sent shrills through her body, the butterflies swarmed her as her finger shook through her unmentionables drawer. 

If was ever going to ask her if her underwear choice was on purpose, she’d be sure to vehemently deny — yet in her mind the soft stutter which danced on his tongue was part of the reason she chose such a pair with a small little bow on the back. 

Her body was covered once again, soft flowing clothes. She wondered what clothes she’d be able to get where they were staying… She wondered about her job. Hopefully there would be libraries she could stay at… maybe get close to and get a new job. 

His mouth was agape, and his chest heaved with heavy, desperate breaths when she turned around. 

“You’re beautiful.” He whispered, hand falling from his jeans and going back to prop himself up. 

Delilah smiled, big and proud as her body swayed back and forth, making her clothes catch in the wind she was creating. 

He helped her pack her clothes. Stuff almost everything in a duffel back, more into some old backpacks stuffed in her closet and hung on the back of her door. They joked, and prodded, and threw things at each other. There was such a light feeling in Delilah’s chest she had almost forgotten what exactly she was doing. 

The door opened with a loud and sudden creak. The pair snapped their heads to see Rebecca, standing in the doorway looking at them as if they were a pair of ghosts. 

“Delilah?” It was soft and quiet, fear shaking her voice and quivering her lip. 

Owen grabbed her arm, his hand wrapping around it like he was trying to hold her back. Delilah stood to her full height, straightening her back as she kept her eyes on her sister. 

“Mom what… mom feels so guilty she— she was trying to look for you all night.” She looked so small right now, looking up at her big sister with large, regretful eyes. “We were gonna go out and look for you after breakfast. Where—” Her face fell as her eyes focused on something… something behind her sister. 

He squeezed her arm tighter, with more warning. 

Rebecca yelled for their mom, the sound piercing Delilah’s ears and setting her off like a firecracker. The pair quickly grabbed the bags, tossing them out of the window while they clamored through the small entrance. Their laughter reverberated through the woods as the bags swung around and hit their bodies. Delilah could hear the sound of her front door whipping open. The sound was fresh in her memory, banging against the sides of her skull as she saw the same stars in the sky she had seen last night. They threw the bags in the backseat as her mother’s voice called out behind them. They were grouped in with a bundle of bags Owen had brought for himself, all their essentials huddled together becoming a gang of their own. 

She saw her mother right before Owen slammed down on the gas pedal. Her face was a flurry of red, tears were already falling from her eyes, and the scream that pooled from her throat left a disgusting taste in Delilah’s mouth. 

However, laughter began to bubble up in her stomach. It grew and it grew until it spilled from her lips, she tried to cover it, bite it back down, but it couldn’t be stopped. Her laughter bounced against the walls of the car, hitting against the windows and smacking her in the face. 

Owen’s eyes darted between her and the road before a fit of giggles fell from his lips. He kept one hand on the wheel as his other wrapped around her shoulders, his hand keeping hold her. 

She turned to face him, head falling against the headrest of her passenger seat. Her hand grabbed at his chin, forcing his head in her direction as she leaned in and kissed his lips. She could taste the last cigarette had smoked, she could feel it clouding up her lungs. 

“Baby.” He mumbled, his words getting caught on her throat. “Baby, I gotta drive.” 

Delilah hummed. “But…” There was something heavy in her breath. “Owen, I want…”

His eyes went wide for just a second, he was able to look at her for only a moment before his lips were captured again. 

Her kisses traveled down his throat, kissing through his shirt and traveling down his stomach, her lips following the contour of his abs. He sucked in a breath as her hand let go of his chin, letting him focus solely on the road — yet the feel of her mouth on his body was making it entirely difficult. 

Delilah unbuckled her seatbelt and laid her stomach flat on the center console so she could mouth at the center of his jeans. The denim was rough on her tongue and left her lips feeling raw, but the feeling of warmth and growth from him made it all worth it. 

They somehow arrived at their first hotel with no serious injuries. 

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‿̩͙⊱♱༻Forgive♱Me༺♱⊰‿̩͙

Chapter Two: Anywhere in the World

Owen Taylor x Delilah Young (OC)

She hadn’t been in his house in what felt like a century. It smelled the same, like him; looked the same, it was always so put-together tidy, she always felt ashamed about what her house looked like… well… 

“What’s going on?” Misty waddled in from some dark hallway, she rubbed her eyes free of the sleep that was still clinging onto her stature.

Owen tensed up next to her. “Hey, go over to the couch, alright?” He leaned in close, his voice kissing the side of her face. 

She nodded feverishly and twisted herself from his side to go plop her body on that sunken couch — the same on where they had almost gotten caught. The thought of it made her heart skip a couple beats. She tried to take deep, thought clearing breaths, but it was difficult as the more her thoughts cleared, the better she could focus on Owen and Misty whispering. 

Owen took Misty to the side, his hand light on her arm. “She’s just gonna be staying the night.” He explained. “Her mom kicked her out, tomorrow I can see if there’s a place at the church she can bunker down in.”

Misty’s face tightened, and her arms stuck closer to her body. “Can’t you just bring her over to the church now?” She asked. “How did she get here, anyway? Maybe give her a flashlight if she rode her bike.” 

His eyebrows furrowed, he looked at his wife as if she was a stranger that just walked into their house. “Why are you saying this? It’s fine, it’s just the night.” 

There was a small huff and she twisted her head quick enough to spare a glance towards the visitor on their couch. “I don’t… She’s a strange girl… is she not?” 

“Misty!” He snapped, still trying to keep his voice down the best he could. 

“What!” Her arms slapped against her sides in frustration. “Her behavior is incredibly weird — the thing with your uncle—” 

“That was probably a misunderstanding.” He defended. “You know he can be dramatic, you’ve hung out around him enough.” 

“Well! Y’know I still don’t believe that she didn’t key my car.” 

Owen huffed, and he pinched the bridge of his nose. “Just because she got a little upset doesn’t mean she could go to that length.” 

“Then who did?” 

“I don’t know, Misty!” He snapped. “Maybe someone parked like an— an— an asshole! Or maybe some other pissed off god-fearing individual scratched your car because y’know you aren’t perfect either!” 

Her posture straightened and her head tilted in disbelief. 

The house was quiet, echoing with the soft muffled noises coming from Delilah and the heavy, frustrated breathing coming from Owen. 

“Look just… go back to bed… I’ll be with you in a second.” His hand was back on her arm, gently pushing her in the direction he wanted her to go. 

Her eyes stayed on him as her feet moved beneath her, as if her body had been split in two segments. 

When he came back with a couple pillows, and a thick blanket, Delilah was trembling on her spot on the couch. Her breaths were short and shallow, her chest was constricting and her lungs were getting smaller. 

“I’m sorry.” She whimpered as soon as he came into vincity. “I’m sorry— I— I shouldn’t have come here— I’m—” 

“Hey, hey.” He dropped the blanket and pillows to the side of her as he knelt down to look her in the eyes. “Nonono.” His hands took hers before she could pull them up to her face, shielding herself from her remorse. “I don’t care, I’m glad you’re here rather than anywhere else. I mean… I didn’t want you out there alone.” 

Her body was shaking slightly, yet her hands were the steadiest they had been all night. “You sure…?” 

His smile was lopsided, comforting. “I promise, ‘Lilah.” 

Her cheeks flushed a sunburnt red as she turned her head away from him. There was a small smile prodding at her lips. 

Owen’s smile widened and he grabbed at her chin, trying to pull her towards him, but she kept twisting her neck away. “What’s got you so smiley, pretty girl?” 

There was a slight giggle as she faced towards him, but keeping her head down in embarrassment. “You always call me ‘Lilah.” 

He arched an eyebrow. “That a problem?” 

“No!” She shook her head enthusiastically. “No! I promise it’s not! It’s…” She bit her lip, trying to keep away the smile on her face. “It’s nice… it’s… nicer…” 

His nose crinkled as his smile went as wide as it had been in awhile. It was so refreshing, a weight had been lifted off her shoulders as that frown was no longer targeted towards her. “My little ‘Lilah.” He pounced on her, snuggling his face into the crook of her neck, and placing light kisses where her dress dipped. 

She covered her mouth as she giggled, knowing that Misty, his wife, was so close by. It made her heart pound in her ears and the blood pulse in her fingertips. She felt herself losing into his lips as the light kisses turned deeper, and longer, and she could feel his hands start to ride up underneath her dress. 

“Wait, wait, wait.” She pressed against his shoulders, pushing him away from her despite how stuck he was to her side. “Wait, I wanna… can you… um…” The worst were jumbled in her throat, the more she wanted to say it the less it was able to come out. Embarrassment flooded her body and wanted to curl into herself for wanting something so simple. 

His brows furrowed together, his head tilted like a curious dog before looking behind her shoulder. “You gotta be quiet okay?” He whispered, nodding to make sure she understood as his hand began to glide further up her thigh. 

She straightened her arms. “No!” She whispered. “Not that! Not— Not now!” 

“Oh.” That tone, that loss of excitement in her eyes. It almost made her feel bad for not wanting it — it’s not like she didn’t! But… only a couple hours ago he was completely ignoring her… it felt… weird. 

“Can you just… hold me?” 

His features softened. “Yeah, of course.” He leaned over and grabbed the stuff he had brought over to make her sleepover a bit more enjoyable. 

Delilah shuffled around on the couch, turning and making as much room as she could as he climbed under the blanket with her. They rarely slept together, if they did it was quick naps where Owen would bolt awake and realize how much time had passed. As the blanket engulfed them, and his arm supported her neck while the other wrapped around her waist, there was a sense of peace that she was submerged in. His soft breathing tickled the back of her neck, but it almost felt as comforting as the heavy weight of his arm. 

He hummed, pressing his body further into her. “You never changed after going into the pond?” 

Delilah swallowed, having to remember what happened earlier that day. “Mhm…” She shook her head ever so softly, making sure not to shuffle her hair in his face. 

The silence swallowed both of them. It was so quiet, Delilah was afraid to breathe, that even the slightest movement beneath the blanket would get Misty’s attention and she’d see them. It was weird to think how close she was, yet he was willing to be so intimate with her… at least she wasn’t stuck in a bathroom this time.  

She wondered, as the exhaustion of the day began to weigh on her brain, could it be like this forever? If she was able to stay at the church, could she keep this up with Owen? But… What if they disowned her? What if they all found out what she did at the pond and she was forever forsaken from their church — the thought made her sick. But… even if that did happen, would Owen still want to see her? Maybe it’d be easier actually. 

“Hey…” His voice was quiet, there was a soft and gentle hand in her hair, running its fingers through the strands. “Remember that question I asked you a while ago… if you could go anywhere outside of Kentucky where would it be?” 

Delilah huffed out a laugh. “Yeah, ‘cause you made fun of me ‘cause I couldn’t think of anything.” 

She could feel the way he breathlessly laughed, the way his chest jerked and the air blew on her skin. “Yeah well… What do you think about Puerto Rico?” 

The question made her jump, she skyrocketed into a seat position, almost knocking him off the couch. 

“What?” She hissed, staring at him like he was crazed — he was crazed! 

He sat up, pushing on his hands and moving her legs so he could sit without fear of falling off. “What do you think?” 

“Wh— Owen.” Her tongue stuttered over what she wanted to say, there were too many things she was feeling. “What do you mean, ‘What do you think?’ That’s— What?” It was difficult to keep her volume low, it was a question she had never even thought she’d be asked in a million years. 

“Look, ‘Lilah.” He took her hands. “You get me, you do. I don’t… this place isn’t fit for me and you see that. I see it for you too, alright? We’re the only ones who see each other in a different view from how everyone else sees us — we know that we’re different.” 

The only thing Delilah could wonder is why she had to be different. “But you’re… I can’t leave.” The idea seemed absurd. Her hands hit the blanket with a soft thud, she couldn’t wrap her head around what the world she was being asked. “My family is here —” 

“Your mother just kicked you out, Delilah.” 

“I was born and raised here —”

“So?” There was desperate hanging at the tip of his tongue, glowing against the white of his teeth. “It’s not like you caged here forever. You’re allowed to leave.” 

“It’s all I’ve ever known.” 

“What about everything you don’t know?” He took her hands again, it felt ironic that they were pressed together as if in prayer. 

Really… It felt wrong. 

“About the beaches?” He continued. “The sand, the ocean, the dolphins — I saw that look in your eyes! I saw that light when you looked at those photos, I know I did.” 

She shook her head. “You just — you can’t be serious!” 

“As anything.” 

She tried to find it — find that he was lying. A twitch of his lip, maybe a curve of his eyebrow, yet there was nothing. The begging… it was heavy on his shoulders now as he looked at her, staring directly at her in a way that appeared as if he could see everything. She felt naked under his gaze — something she had yet to be around him. Her stomach churned. 

“What about Misty?” 

“It doesn't matter.” 

“You’re family.” 

“Mhm.” He shook his head. 

“You’re —” Her excuses were running thin, the fuse was growing closer to the bomb. “Owen.” 

“Delilah.” His hands were on her face and he was between her legs, pulling their foreheads together like they’d melt. “I don’t want to be without you.” 

“I don’t…” Her lip trembled, this felt like the worst confession one could make. “I can’t be without you either.” 

His breath was brushing against her lips, and in a moment his stubble was rubbing against her face. Her lips moved with his, a rhythm that they were so familiar with. It’s like it had been engraved in her DNA since before she met him. 

“So what do you say?” He said against her lips, his hands were tied and tangled in her hair while hers were planted so strongly on the sides of his face. 

Her breathing felt too heavy for her chest, like the intake of air was going to suffocate her, yet it felt like she couldn’t breath at all. “Fine.” 

He titled his head in skepticism, however Delilah could see that smile on his face plain as day. “Fine?” 

“Okay.” 

“Okay?” He grit through his teeth, kissing her deeply and pulling her so she’d lay on her back. 

There was a small gasp which escaped her lips as he began to kiss down her body, pressing as hard as he could in belief that the plush of his lips could evaporate the cloth which covered her. 

 She grabbed his face before he went too far for her to keep quiet anymore. He looked at her with big eyes, eyes that held the stars outside in the night sky. “I’d love to.” 

His smile was squished from the pressure of her hands. “Okay.” He whispered, climbing back up and kissing her softly on the lips. “I’ll get you tomorrow. We’ll get some of your stuff and then we’ll be out of here.” 

“Okay.” She pulled him into another kiss, one that lasted long enough for him to get off the couch and have him pull their lips apart. 

“Now I’m gonna go sleep in my bed and pretend like you aren’t the best cuddler in the world.” 

She giggled as he walked away, winking before disappearing into a dark hallway. It was almost a little frightening watching his body get absorbed into the abyss like that — some part of her thought maybe it was a sign, but… a sign for what? 

When she cuddled herself tighter under the blanket, a whiff of it came wafting into her face, making her realize the smell of him had stuck to the fabric. 

She held it tighter.

[space-signals]

‿̩͙⊱♱༻Forgive♱Me༺♱⊰‿̩͙

Chapter One: The Confession

Owen Taylor x Delilah Young (OC)

The walk home was miserable. Delilah was slowly drying off, yet still soaked head to toe. The cold water was dripping from her hair and falling onto her arms, forcing her to shiver more as she walked alongside the road back to her house.

She wondered how her siblings got home, hopefully one of their aunts took them, she had left the keys with Noah — maybe Mr. Taylor was able to drive them home, that would’ve been nice… he is a holy man… so is his brother. 

Delilah tried convincing herself several times throughout her walk that what Ben did was simply out of concern for her, due to his courting, but she couldn’t hold it in her head for very long. She didn’t like the man, there were wrinkles on his face, and a lack of light in his eyes — it frightened her. 

The house was strangely silent when she walked up to the driveway. It sent chills all over her body, more than what she already had due to the freezing lake. There was a pit in her stomach as she walked up to the door; She could see the scene which was about to play out in front of her. 

A single light in the living room. Her mother sitting on the couch, smoking — Delilah was petrified. 

She pressed her body close to the door as she entered, feeling far smaller than she was — yet again that’s always how she felt around her mother. It was always as if she was still looking up at her, wishing and begging for her to pick her up because her legs were tired or because the grass tickled her legs in a way that itched — yet her mother always declined. 

“Where is everyone?” Her voice felt distant in her throat, she wasn’t the one speaking, or at least it felt like it wasn’t. 

“Mrs. Stone’s house.” Her mother took a drag of her cigarette. She was far more distant than Delilah, zoning out onto a spot of the TV that her daughter couldn’t make out. 

There was a pit in Delilah’s stomach. Everything from today’s events faded from her memory, all she could think about was her dad. It was only her mom, maybe something that happened — something bad that the kids needed to go away and they needed to stay away. 

“Is it dad?” 

“Pastor Taylor called.” She snapped her head towards her daughter. Her words were sharp against Delilah’s skin. “About Ben… on top of everything else, and I said that must have been some kind of joke. She wouldn’t do that.” 

There was a tremble in her lip, a quilt tremble one that caused tears to start pricking her eyes and the pit in her stomach to deepen even further. She bit her lip, biting hard on her bottom lip as her mother’s eyes stared deep into her soul. 

“He wouldn’t leave me alone, mama.” 

“How did he now?” 

She dug her thumb deep into her palms, her sweaty and somehow still damp palms. “Mama… please.” She begged as her mother ran her hands through her short hair. There were huffs and puffs of disbelief and there was a shake in Delilah’s body, from more than just the cold. “He wouldn’t, mama. I kept telling him to leave me alone and he wouldn’t.” 

“So you try to drown him!?” Her mother screamed, causing her to flinch, jerk into herself and pressed further into the door. 

“I wasn’t drowning him, mama!” 

“Then what were you doing!” 

“I was trying to get him to stop!” 

“Stop what!” 

Delilah clenched her hands bringing them up to her face as she boiled with anger. Her heart shook with frustration as her mother’s red face stared right back at her. There were so many words which danced at the tip of her tongue, and yet none of them would come out. “Annoying me!” 

“You!” Her mother stood up. “Are a wicked woman!” 

“What?” All her anger floated from her body, flying into the air like steam from a bubbling pot. Her heart fell to the floor and her body melted as that word hit her system like a heavy brick. The tremble was back and there was a tight squeeze on her throat, a dryness that begged for her to start choking. 

“We’ve have done so much for you.” The words spat from the tight press of her mother’s teeth. “And you repay us by trying to drown the only man wanting to court you.” 

Delilah stayed silent other than her gasps of breaths as tears began to flow down her face. “Mama, you don’t understand.” 

“No!” She was cornering her now, her steps drumming like giants in Delilah’s ears. “You don’t understand!” Her pointed finger was so like a knife, it scared her daughter the exact same way. “You are not my daughter, you are some forgetful, sinful, wicked woman who has trespassed on my house, on my life, on my family!” 

“Mama!” Her wrist was violently grabbed and her body was whipped away from the front door. 

The cold air froze the water still soaked into her clothes and hair, the door had been slammed open from her mother’s fury. Fear rippled through the younger woman’s system as the realization of what her mother’s actions meant. “Mama— no! Please—” 

“Every word from your mouth!” Her mother yanked her body out the door, causing pain to flare up in her wrist. “Is Satan flapping your tongue!” 

“Mama!” She tried to run back into the house, but the door was slammed against her body at just the last second. She couldn’t even process the pain as her hand went as fast as it could to the knob, yet the sound of the lock clicking echoed in her brain. She banged against the door, screaming against the glass panes in hopes that maybe her mother would change her mind. 

Her head hit against the door with a thud, there were too many tears in her eyes to see her mother walk away, but she could feel in her heart that she was alone on that doorstep. 

Her sobs followed her as she grabbed her bike and rode her way through their town. 

By the time she arrived at Owen’s doorstep, there was only the tightness of her tear tracks pulling at her skin. Her hand shook as she knocked against the door. A small voice in her head repeated a prayer, hoping and wishing that it was going to be Owen that opened the door and not Misty — the only thing she wanted was Owen. 

There was a grumble as the door opened. “ ‘Lilah?” His voice was rough from sleep, yet as his half-lidded eyes looked upon the women in front of him, it was as if someone had slapped him across the face. “Why are you here?” He spit, closing the door as quickly and quietly as he could. 

As their eyes connected, Delilah felt that brick hit her once again, right in her stomach. She cried out, tears and sorrow overtaking her as she fell into Owen. His hands caught her keeping her upright as she spilled her confession of sin. 

“She kicked me out!” Her body felt weak against him, not even his warm touch could bring her back from this deep despair which riddled her bones. 

“What? Wh— What do you mean?” 

“My mama!” She took her arm from his hand to cover her teary eyes. “She kicked me out she— she called me wicked! She— she—” Her legs finally gave out, knees buckling as her body pulled towards the floor. Owen went down with her, his grip tightening as she cried harder. 

“Is…is it because of my uncle?”

She nodded slowly as she gasped, hyperventilating and taking in all the air in the world as if it was going to be her last breath. “And just… everything else.” 

Despite how blurry her world appeared, she could see the look on his face had changed, contorted into something that sent waves of guilt into her body. “She doesn’t… know about…?” 

The shakes of her head were quick and fast, corroded with anxiety. “No— No she doesn’t! I— I wouldn’t— I wouldn’t let her know I promise! I promise, I don’t…” She swallowed thickly, her body trembled as he held her with more force. “I don’t want you to hate me more than you already d— do!” 

His face fell and his grip loosened. “What…?” He whispered, his breath warm against her face, making her realize just how close he really was to her. Their bundle of limbs twisted together as he tried to comfort her. “No… ‘Lilah no— I don’t… I don’t hate you.” 

She sniffed as her head snapped up. She wiped the tears from her eyes to see the man better, yet it was in vain as more just filled their place. 

“No… no…” His hands went to her shoulders, squeezing them and rubbing them despite the cotton that separated their skin. “I promise I don’t hate you. When… when I said I wanted to pray on it, I… I wasn’t trying to shove you away.” 

There was a deep, purple bruise on her heart where Owen had told her to get out of his car… that he needed to leave… There was a white and glowing bandage that was wrapping tightly around that bruise, the purple disappearing from a gangly purple to a blushing red as she stared into the youth pastor’s eyes. 

Her breathing quickened and her head fell onto his shoulder. He pulled their bodies closer as she cried, soaking the shoulder of his night-shirt. His chin pressed against her shoulder, and despite how overwhelming the smell of his body wash was, she could feel the way his head moved side to side, maybe looking at everything around them as she cried in his arms. 

“Hey…” He whispered softly, pulling her head away from his shoulder as if it was the strongest magnet in the world and he was a block of metal. “Let’s go inside, okay?” His thumbs wiped the tears from her eyes, and she finally got a good and clear look at her savior. 

She nodded again, slow and understanding. “Okay.” The word barely left her lips, barely audible against the sounds of nocturnal wild-life which surrounded them. 

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‿̩͙⊱♱༻Forgive♱Me༺♱⊰‿̩͙

Delilah Young is just trying to get through life without paying attention to her distancing relationship with the religion she's been brought up to obey for the rest of her life. It's when Owen Taylor comes home that her crisis of faith becomes more and more difficult to ignore.

The Confession

Anywhere in the World

Get Away

Singing

This is where I ended this quick little story thing. Cuz I feel this is where I'd change Delilah's story if it kept mostly with the same story of the movie. Also liked to comment that yes I feel like Owen is still manipulating her, I feel like this very intense religious community leaves women still very naive and vulnerable to men that believe they know more. So while I am portraying their relationship in a mostly positive light I do comment on the strange parts of their relationship. Just wanted to give an fyi

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*None of this is beta read/grammatically or spell checked this was like something I had in my google docs and just wanted to get out lol.

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Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: James “Bucky” Barnes/Sam Wilson Characters: Sam Wilson (Marvel), James “Bucky” Barnes Additional Tags: side characters, Side: Yelena Belova, Fluff and Slight Angst, Romance, hating each other as a love language, they’re always in the media, angst takes place divorced era, Fluff with Angst ending? Summary:

After a Journalist tries to pry a little too far in Sam Wilson’s private life, him and Bucky have taken it upon themselves to diminish any idea of them being together…

By being incredibly aggressively hostile to one another in the papers.

[space-signals]

y'know something I think is funny, and that I promise I don't hate, is that out of all the posts gaining traction on this account it's all my old and bad harringrove fics like.... god that stuff is so old and really terrible I feel but okay!!!

[space-signals]

˚₊‧꒰ა Locked♱In ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

Eylias Celani is freshman in college, studying psychology and striving to become a therapist/psychiatrist for the criminally insane. Moving to Philadelphia to pursue her passion, she buys a house next to an unexpecting family. That's when she meets Mr. Abbott, and the rest of her life goes upside down.

Empty House

The Dinner

Unpacking

Chapter 4 kinda has an outline and so does the rest of the story, but I haven't been in my Cooper Trap obsession in like... awhile so unless I really want to finish this or people find interest in this then maybe I'll finish this!!!

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*None of this stuff is beta read or grammatically/spell checked so I cannot imagine its amazing don't hate it cuz of that okay ajdfajwdfi this was a silly little passion project

[space-signals]

˚₊‧꒰ა Locked♱In ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

Chapter Three: Unpacking

Cooper Abbott x Eylias Celani (My OC!)

Eylias had been nervous all day. They hadn’t even been able to appreciate the way Cooper looked in the morning because they were so nervous about what was going to happen later when he came over. She hadn’t been able to pay attention in her classes, despite the few she had on fridays. Her brain had been too occupied imagining what Mr. Abbott was going to look like helping her unpack… all… out of breath and sweaty and… she was getting herself way too riled up for this. 

When she got home she didn’t see the kids clamor out of their mom’s white car. No, instead she saw them hop out of their dad’s black car. 

Her breath hitched and she made a very speedy walk to her door. 

“Eylias!” His voice struck her down. 

She let a defeated sigh escape her as she spun on her heels to face the man.

“I’m gonna go inside to do some stuff, but I’ll be over soon to help.” 

“Sounds like a plan.” She replied with a smile, snapping a finger gun at the man.

His head tilted with a smile and he shot back at her. 

Eylias faked a gunshot wound before realizing her flirting was getting out of hand and shamefully walked to her house. 

She tried to clean up the best she could. Threw away stray food wrappers, swept away the soil she had dragged into the house, hid the dozens of instant noodles she kept in her pantry. Cooper was aware she was a mess, but it’s not like Eylias had to prove him right. 

He came over not that soon after, ringing her doorbell and greeting her with a kind smile. 

Her heart started having palpitations when she saw him, so in a panic she asked the first thing to remind her of his predicament. “Rachel and the kids aren’t here?” 

“No,” he shook his head, “the kids have their school work and I don’t want to bother Rachel with this.”

What an awful lie. She knew it was an awful lie, did he know that she knew it was an awful lie? Eylias really could’ve just been going crazy and her stupid psychology brain was focusing on all the wrong details. He was probably a completely normal man that Eylias had the hots for. 

She realized she had just been standing there when he tilted his head. “Ya gonna let me in?” 

Eylias gasped. “Yeah! Sorry.” She sidestepped and let his heavy boots hit the wooden floor. The sound made her heart jump in two places and her eyes couldn’t peel off of the boots he was wearing. 

She closed the door behind him as he put his hands on his hips, surveying the place. She wondered how much he was judging her, asking himself why he’d let himself enter such a disorganized and disgusting place.

He clapped his hands and turned around. “Where are we starting?” 

Eylias couldn’t help but laugh. During her week of disarray, Eylias had at least organized the boxes where they needed to go which made the process of starting much easier. They deemed it would be best if they started at opposite ends, considering it would cover more ground and they’d meet in the middle to judge the other’s work. Really it was just Eylias judging Cooper as he was the one stuck with decorating her foyer and living room. He had actually suggested to cover that area since, in his words, “living with Rachel has turned me into an interior decorator”; as all wives did to their husbands. 

The kitchen was not as easy as it should’ve been. Partly because all Eylias had been doing that week was digging through the box of utensils to eat her cupped noodles or the food that she had stolen from campus — the other reason was because she just could not focus on the task at hand while Cooper Abbott was across the house very intensely decorating her home! 

If she didn’t have a crush on that man by now, she wasn’t attracted to men anymore! 

It was sickening and made her stomach twist in all sorts of knots as she struggled to figure out where what should go where.

“Ya need help?” 

Eylias yelped, jerking her body to see Cooper right behind her. In the panic she dropped a handful of utensils, creating a large metal clash on the ground.

She tried to calm herself while Cooper snapped to the floor to help pick up. 

“What was that?” He laughed like a dad, looking up at her from the floor. 

The way he was looking at her made her heart spike, which was the last thing she needed. “I just— wow.” Why had she gotten so scared? How had he been so quiet? “You scared me!” 

He laughed again, “I get that a lot,” standing to his full height to sort the utensils in the drawer that was open. 

Eylias looked at the man in confusion. “How?” She asked playfully. “You’re like a giant, Mr. Abbott.”

“Cooper.” He corrected. 

“Hmm?” 

“Just call me Cooper.” 

It wasn’t intimate, but Eylias couldn’t help but feel that it was. “Well,” She leaned against the counter with a sly look. “Cooper, you are a giant.” 

He gave a look before barking out a laugh. The two melting into a fit of gigglings, echoing through the house. It was the first time there had ever been some heavy laughter in her house — most of the time it was just her obnoxiously laughing at her phone, but this was different. This warmed her chest and made her feel as if she was finally living in a home. 

But of course Cooper Abbott was the one to blame. 

After they finished setting up the kitchen, they made their way upstairs. On their way, Cooper gave small appreciation to the minimal decoration she had done to her staircase. Photos of her family and friends hung on the walls. Photos of people she hadn’t seen in so long.  

Cooper had offered to help with the decor again while Eylias dealt with the monster that was her room. It shouldn’t have been such a mess, but with getting used to her classes, stressing over unpacking, and crushing on Cooper it wasn’t like her brain could function normally to keep a clean room. It couldn’t even function when she walked into it after giving Cooper free reign of her upstairs. 

There were so many boxes, so many outfits strewn about, her bed was a complete mess. Her skin felt uncomfortable, like the air had too much moisture and she could feel the mold begin to grow. 

The exhaustion continued to grow throughout her body as she struggled to organize. It was her eyes first, tired of searching around her room to imagine where she wanted her posters and stuffed animals and music collection; it was then her arms, heavy with the weight of carrying things to each corner and then back again because she didn’t like how it looked; finally it was her legs, crumbling under her and forcing her to sit on her bed — defeated. 

Her bed felt too warm, but the floor was too hard, and her chest was entirely empty. Eylias had no idea why she moved, and why so far. She could’ve gone to some nice Ivy League in New Hampshire, but no she had to get away. She was carrying this home on her shoulders, all alone. 

There was a knock and her door was slightly pushed open. Cooper’s worried face made her heart melt. 

“Everything okay?” 

It was as if he could completely read her — completely see her. His eyes absolutely pierced through her soul, it was frightening. It should’ve been comforting, knowing that there was finally someone who might’ve finally known her, but instead it felt cold. It almost made her feel more alone. 

Eylias put on a smile and rubbed her knees to try and rejuvenate some life inside her. “Yeah I’m just—” he made his way in, closing the door softly, “I just got a little overwhelmed is all.” 

He nodded, leaning against the door. When had her room gotten so small? “I remember when I got my first apartment.” He huffed out a breath remembering those times. “I was petrified. I don’t know how you’re even surviving right now.” 

She giggled. “I don’t know either!” 

His hum was soft and gentle, some that reverberated through her body. That made her warm and comforted — maybe it was just his eyes… everything else about him seemed fine enough. Eylias noticed the muscles in his forearms as he crossed his arms — very fine. 

“You okay if I help you with this?” He asked, then putting his hands up. “I’ll be at your every command don’t worry.” 

The thought of him obeying her every command made her flush, but she needed to get back on track. Eylias looked around… she hadn’t really done much, and it would be nice to get some help from someone who seemed actually capable enough. 

Eylias shrugged. “I mean if you’re forcing me!” 

He chuckled. “You’re funny, missy.” 

And he did listen to her every command. They settled on organizing the room in sections, starting closest to her door and then expanding out. He helped her set up drapery outside her door to set the mood of what was going to become a princess wonderland. He didn’t comment on it immediately, just raising his eyebrows dramatically as Eylias pulled out a lot of pretty pink and delicate decor. Her extravagant vanity right across from her bed began to make a lot more sense as the pieces of her theme began to fit together. 

It was when they were hanging up a canopy above her bed that he finally said something. 

“Your bed doesn’t really match the whole princess theme.” He said, looking up at her. 

Eylias looked down with a raised eyebrow, silently appreciating the view point. 

He gestured to her slightly messy bed. “I mean everything around here is so…” he looked around, “pretty and pink and your bed is so modern.” 

“Oh.” Eylias huffed out a giggle as she sat down on her bed. Her comforters were a little lacking compared to the fantasy landscape she had created around herself. Something so jarring and opposite to her more dark persona which she wore. She shrugged with a smile. “Maybe it is a bit… dull. I can always just get a new one.” 

He tilted his head in curiosity. “You have a job?” 

“Yep!” 

“Where do you work?” 

“Paid internship at this mental facility.”

He raised his eyebrows in shock, Eylias laughed at the response. 

“I know,” she continued, “but I’m not doing anything crazy and I’m never with the more… ‘dangerous’ patients. I usually help the younger people there,  and I help with a lot of therapists since… well that’ll hopefully be my future career.”

He hummed. “Hopefully.” Silence began to settle between them. His mouth moved to the side for a moment before he snapped his fingers. “I have a spare bed set that I think would go perfect for this room.” 

Her face went hot. “You don’t have to do that—” 

“I want to!” He cut her off, not even letting her a chance to defend her position. “We’ve had it in our attic for so long it’s pointless to keep it.” 

“Why’d you have it in the first place then?” 

“It was a bed set for Riley,” He explained, “but she started to grow out of it and wanted more… loud colors.” He grimaced slightly. 

Eylias hadn’t seen the kid’s room, but she could certainly imagine now. She couldn’t help her soft chuckle. “Well, I greatly appreciate it… you really are too sweet.” 

He shrugged. “I like being a gentleman. There should be more in the world.” 

Eylias barked out a condescending laugh. “You don’t gotta tell me twice!” She slid off her bed and the two continued to rearrange and decorate her room. 

It was around noon when they finally finished the entire house, going back and forth to see if everything was perfect and prestein. Eylias didn’t really care about everything looking ‘perfect’, but Cooper very much insisted. His excuse was that it was her first house! It should look perfect for her. 

The end of that excuse made her stomach twist in all sorts of directions… for her. He was doing this all for her. How was she supposed to feel normal when he was saying shit like that. It was starting to make her concerned, she had always had crushes on older men, married men, men with kids, but she knew that none of them would ever end up into something. This was the first time that had changed, as he helped her break down boxes and go through her doors, it was starting to feel like something could happen. It might’ve just been her imagination — her awful delusions trying to convince her that her manifestations were working, but everything on his end just felt too real.

He was being a nice neighbor, but… was he too nice? The worst part about it all was that Eylias didn’t know. She had never experienced living on her own, having neighbors would be so nice, she had never known any of this! Her psychology obsessed brain was taking over and forcing her to psychoanalyze all their moves, when in reality maybe this was normal! 

Eylias hoped she never found out the truth, because in all honesty living in this delusional world was making her a lot happier. 

They stood in her living room, checking out the overall composition of it all while his eyes kept drifting around to her backyard. She could tell he was being hypnotized and dragged away by something, she could only assume it was her garden. Was he nervous to ask about it? Maybe it was just they had been silent for so long so he didn’t know how to speak up again, but he was a grown man not a loser like Eylias. 

“Could I check out your flowers?” He finally asked, a sheepish smile on his face. 

Eylias just wanted to pinch his cheeks. “Oh, of course.” It was always nice when people would ask about her garden, even when she had a much smaller one when she lived with her parents.

“It’s just—” He stuttered while they walked to the back. “Rachel would probably kill if I didn’t at least take a couple pictures for her.” 

“Is she into gardening?” Eylias asked, staying on her porch while Cooper entered her backyard. “She hadn’t mentioned it at dinner last night.” 

He shook his hand side to side, coupled with a noise of uncertainty. “She really wants to get into it, though.” 

Cooper had never looked more like a dad than when he was taking photos of her flowers. It also made Eylias reevaluate her crush choices, watching him hold the horizontal phone away from his face while squinting. She began to wonder when he’d soon be entering one of those retirement homes. 

Her mind began to drift to her flowers, their intricacy, their native homes, and what kind of benefits and dangers they harbored up in those beautiful petals. Her skin began to itch as she stared at them intensely. Her eyes wandered over the new sprouts that had begun to pop up, wondering how’d they mature and if she was taking good enough care. 

“ … peep hole…” 

The word took her out of her trance, sending electrical shocks down her body as her head snapped towards Cooper who was kneeling at an area of her fence. 

“What?” She asked, voice wavering slightly. 

He had a humorous smile on his face. “You got a peep hole!” He made a ring around his eye with his pointer and thumb. “Well… I hope it isn’t another kind of hole…” He looked back at her fence. “Doesn’t look big enough.” He mumbled. 

Eylias gave him a half hearted laugh. Her skin was on fire, the itching increased tenfold. Peep hole, peeping, watching, observing right into their yard. Her breath was getting shorter, her head felt light. 

Cooper put his eye close to the hole. “Pretty good view.” She heard him say, her heartbeat quickened. What an awful thing for him to say. “I should really be given a best mowing award,” he joked, “because Jesus Christ I’m amazing.” He looked back at her with a crooked smile. 

Eylias gave another laugh because this was funny! Everything was just down right hilarious! The muscles in her fingers began twitching, pulsating so she crossed her arms like nothing was happening. 

Her eyes followed Cooper as he took a couple more pictures. She didn’t want to, she was screaming at herself to stop, but they followed anyway. They examined the stance he took, his finger when he clicked the button, the shutter sound of his phone. It all echoed in her brain, banging against her skull like a criminal wanting out. 

He looked at her with a smile. “I think I got everything I wanted!”

Eylias was light headed as she nodded and made her way through the house. She could hear his boots behind her, drumming in her ears to make them bleed. Her nervous system was blaring its red alarms, her skin felt raw as if she could feel the air around her. 

“Thank you so much for helping.” She said, opening the door to let Cooper out. She tried to avoid eye contact but it was no use, she was staring up at him. It was even worse that he wouldn’t look away — his eyes stayed just on her. 

“Of course, I had fun.” He gave a soft chuckle, Eylias tried to reciprocate. She didn’t know if she was successful because she could feel her brain dripping out of her nostrils. “If you need any help with anything else just tell me, okay?” 

Eylias nodded, finding herself unable to speak without getting her breath taken away. Her throat had gone dry.  She kept going back to her fence, that supposed peephole. Maybe he was just lying, but why would he be lying? 

“I’ll see you around, Eylias. Have a good day.” The wink was so unnoticeable Eylias was sure it was a trick of the light. Even if it had been, her stomach twisted in all sorts of knots. 

“You too.” She struggled out, closing the door as Cooper turned his back. 

She turned back around, breathing heavily as her mind raced. She felt around in her pocket for her phone, fingers shaking as they tapped and clicked throughout her phone to find the number she was looking for. Her entire body was shaking as she could feel tears prick her eyes, a tight chest and throat was telling her she was having a panic attack.

Someone knocking at her door made her jump. She craned her neck back around, thumb shakingly hovering over the call button. 

When she didn’t rush to the door the knocking turned into very aggressive pounding. She jumped to the door, opening it quickly to see Cooper smiling kindly. He was much closer than she anticipated, causing her to jolt back a bit. 

“You forgot to lock your door.” The whiplash between his gentle tone and strange words knocked Eylias speechless. 

She stuttered, tongue feeling heavy as her heartbeat and the sound of boots echoed in her ears. “What?” 

“You forgot to lock your door.” He repeated. 

Eylias’ eyes darted to her door knob. How did he know that? Had he been standing there the whole time waiting for her to lock it? No that would’ve been weird — but how else would he have known that? 

Her mind went back to the fence, she needed to take that call.  

She shook her head to clear her head, it was no use. “Oh um… thank you. I’ll— thank you.” 

He nodded with a squinty smile. His eyes not matching the kindness he was trying to convey, it sent chills down her body. 

She closed the door cautiously with a forced smile, the click of her door gaining her no relief. 

Her forehead leaned against the wood. It was almost like she could feel him on the other side of the door. His tall statue, his smile, his boots, his hands, those eyes — those god awful eyes. 

Finally she turned the lock on her door, and with a sigh she could feel him leave. Eylias didn’t know what it was, but a weight had been lifted off her shoulders… it had to have been him. 

She clicked the call button. 

Eylias slept on the couch that night. Not finding the courage to sleep in her bed that was so close to that bastard window in her room. She was also advised to not sleep in that room, to stay close to the comfort of her garden. It helped a little, but she found herself thinking about her fence far too often. What an awful place to find something like a peephole, right into her sacred area — an area she wouldn’t bastardize under any means. 

The itching was unbearable.

She couldn’t go into her garden the following morning, finding it far too difficult. It almost felt like a betrayal, something so deep and personal to her heart it had to be. It wasn’t like the flowers had made that peephole, the only person she had to blame was herself. Maybe her subconscious had seen the peephole and chose the house anyway, sabotaging her. 

Eylias wished she had an alter ego subconscious like that, it would’ve made denial a lot easier. 

She skipped her entire morning routine, she had stayed in too long anyway looking through the glassdoor to her backyard. Some part of her was itching to climb outside, snake her way to the fence and see if Cooper had been telling the truth. 

Eylias decided against it and sought after getting changed to not miss her classes. She stopped dead in her tracks once reaching the stairs. 

At the very bottom sat one of the pictures she had up on the wall, one of her and some highschool classmates. It sent a shiver down her spine as she found an empty spot on the wall. 

Her mind began racing with questions, a multitude gave her an unshakeable worry that someone had definitely broken into her home. It would’ve meant something if the picture had been hanging at least around the spot where she had found out, but it hadn’t. That meant whoever broke in wanted her to know they had broken in, but why? Never when breaking in do you want the person to actually know you were there! 

A knock at the door shook her. Her head snapped towards it. 

The picture was shaking in her hands, it was ridiculous but her mind pounded with the worry that that was her burglar. She took careful steps towards the door, the path appearing much longer than usual. 

Another knock, this time much more violent. A familiarity popped into her head, the relief she felt was barely noticeable amongst her fear. 

Her hand held the doorknob, vibrating ever so slightly. The picture was tight in her grip, an involuntary move that hurt her fingers. Eylias whipped the door open and was greeted by:

“Mr. Abbott?” 

He chuckled softly, his cheeks seemed a little pink. “Cooper.” 

Eylias just stared at him, mouth agape as she struggled to figure out why he was at her porch — wasn’t like she minded all that much. Her eyes widened in realization. “Oh! Right, sorry… Cooper.” The name sent butterflies to her stomach — it was just his name! She shook her head clear. “Why are you here?” 

His pink cheeks transformed into a pink face. He smiled sheepishly at her. “I was just— You weren’t on your porch.” He sucked in a breath. “I was… worried.” His laugh was awkward and embarrassed. 

Her heart melted, pouring onto their feet. A frown tugged at Eylias’ mouth, why was he so sweet? The butterflies were really kicking her ass. “That’s very sweet, Cooper.” 

His smile was wider, but his eyes were darting to the picture frame in her hand. Eylias couldn’t help but follow her eyes and she looked down at her hand. Her knuckles had turned white and her fingernails were starting to bend against the glass. She quickly loosened her grip before she broke the glass along with her skin. 

“Redecorating already?” He asked, trying to figure out why she wasn’t on her porch. 

Eylias stammered, bringing the photo up. “Yeah, um… well no.” There was no use in lying, and Cooper was a firefighter, maybe he could help! “I found this picture on my stairs and it was hanging up before which makes me scared that um… someone broken in.” 

His face widened with shock. “You think?” 

Eylias shrugged. “I don’t know what I didn’t lock, but it doesn’t look like it fell anywhere,” she said while turning the picture to inspect it, “it just looked like someone placed it down at the bottom of my stairs.” There was a deep pit in her stomach, a hole festering with fear. 

Cooper scratched at his neck, looking down at the photo rather than Eylias. “Well, I mean, I didn’t notice any vulnerable points when I was over.” There was a jerk in Eylias’ stomach. Something deep in her wanted to ask why he was checking for vulnerable points, but he was a firefighter, maybe it was his job. 

“But hey,” he continued with a warm hand on her shoulder, “if this happens again tell me immediately.” His stern eyes and voice were enough to completely suck all the air out of Eylias’ lungs. “I get the whole damn battalion out here for you.” His chuckle was light and airy, Eylias gave a small laugh back. 

He let her go to say goodbye before walking over to his car. Eylias watched every movement he made, each step, each flex of his muscles under that unreasonably tight shirt, and every sway of his arms. Her grip on the picture frame grew tighter, the skin around her knuckles felt tight and numb as she squeezed tighter. 

There was a crack, liquid pooled from her fingertips, small pieces of glass littered to the floor. The pain sent shocks up her arm that Eylias couldn’t pay attention to, she was too focused on the grip Cooper had with his door as he sat himself in his car. 

Eylias finally looked down. The picture’s glass had exploded with cracks, a few pieces gently falling to the ground like snowflakes. Her bloody finger tips crumbled the picture below. The glass was sharp and cloudy where she had bore holes into the protective material.

She took a deep breath, the pain finally pinching her enough to drop the frame and letting the glass shatter even more. Shards glistened in her blood as it dripped off her fingertips. 

[space-signals]

˚₊‧꒰ა Locked♱In ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

Chapter Two: The Dinner

Cooper Abbott x Eylias Celani (My OC!)

After a week the house was still unfurnished and boxes were strewn about the place. The only thing Eylias had really done was steal a lot of campus food for home and sulk around in an disorganized frenzy. It was getting to her head, so many boxes, so many of them unlabeled, this was a brand new house where was she to put everything? Her parents weren’t here to help her; she was completely on her own — the spiral she was going down was dizzying. 

Besides wallowing in their own despair and kicking around boxes to make a maze of a pathway through their house, Eylias was also figuring out the layout of their house. This did include a window in her bedroom which was parallel to that of the upstairs bedroom of the Abbott house, she found that out one day when she was walking in and saw the family man himself stripping. 

He had seen her and the two shared a silent laugh across their houses. Mr. Abbott didn’t mention it whenever she saw him in the morning, but now Eylias could see his toned body even underneath the uniform he was wearing. She wanted to know where he was going and what the logo on his shirt meant, but her brain stopped her from being a creep and looking him up. 

That week there was a knock on her door. 

“Oh!” They opened in surprise to see: “Mr. and Mrs. Abbott, hi there!” 

“Hi, Eylias.” His wife said sweetly, Cooper’s eyes just surveyed the home… and the homeowner. “How have you been?” 

“Good!” She could feel the emptiness of her house. “Real good, yeah.” 

“You’ve barely unpacked.” His voice carried so much… worry it made Eylias sick for not telling him sooner. They never talked in the first place, so it was strange. 

“Yeah,” she said awkwardly, bringing a hand to her neck to rub at it comfortingly, “no one told me owning a house for the first time was this stressful.” Her voice transformed into its usual stand up comedian act despite the fact she now technically knew these people. 

She caught the slightest scrunch of Cooper’s face… could he tell what she was doing? 

“Aww, sweetie,” Rachel cooed, “I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it all soon enough.” 

Eylias nodded her head in agreement. “No definitely! I’ve just… been in a small slump of course.” There was a pause and it struck Eylias that the couple must’ve been there for a reason. “So! Did you just wanna stop by and say hi or do you need some sugar?” 

The couple shared a soft chuckle. 

“Oh, we were just wondering if you’d like to join us for dinner.” Rachel asked sweetly. 

Eylias’ heart melted. She had never been around people so nice, it’s like they had taken her into the family as soon as they met her at that picket fence. She put a hand to her chest, was she about to start crying? “Oh I couldn’t—” 

“C’mon, I’m sure you haven’t eaten anything homecooked in awhile.” His eyes flickered behind her, to all the boxes — to her shame.

“That’s… true.” She gave an awkward laugh. In all honestly she really wanted to, but it felt wrong. They were just her neighbors, and she also had a crush on the family patriarch. Finally she shrugged. “Why not!” 

Rachel took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “The kids don’t know so they’re going to be ecstatic.” 

Eylias cooed this time. “You guys are so sweet.” 

The couple laughed as if that was a foreign compliment to them. She exited her house with them, forgetting to lock the door.  Eylias didn’t realize until they were in the Abbott’s driveway, she looked back and could see the smallest sliver of her copper door knob lock in the wrong direction. It sent a shiver down her spine, but before she could act on it Cooper was opening the door in front of her. 

“Eylias,” Cooper’s voice shook her. It appeared so quiet, as if he was telling her a secret, “if you need any help at all don’t be afraid to call.” 

Eylias looked up at the man in awe. “Thank you, Mr. Abbott. That means a lot.” 

There was something in his eyes telling her he wanted to say more, but she was already consumed by the grandeur of their house. 

It was incredibly cozy, with warm lights being used in every inch to give the house an overall sleepy feel. Eylias could feel herself getting tired already. There were toys everywhere from Riley and her brother, but it wasn’t chaotic it was… homely. This was a lived in home, where their children could roam free and not feel the fear of their parents. Eylias wondered how many psychology reports had been done on that. 

The smell from the kitchen was overwhelming, savory and hypnotizing. She could see herself getting lost in here forever, wandering in circles as she took in the sweet smells and calming lights. 

“Your house is gorgeous.” She spilled out of her mouth as Rachel guided her to a chair. 

“Thank you so much sweetie, dinner will be ready in a few.” She called down the kids as she floated over to the kitchen. 

Cooper began cleaning up the spare toys around the house, eyes absent as his body went into seemingly autopilot. It was sickening how much Eylias loved watching him, roaming her eyes all over his body and seeing his breath in deep as he would bend over. It was soothing watching his clothes move with his body, watching his eyes survey over the obstacles, just… watching. Eylias watched him in the morning, wished she could watch him in the afternoon, and would every now and then watch him at night. Her head peeking ever so slightly out of the blinds in her bedroom where she could see almost his entire room… and almost the entirety of him. 

It was nothing serious, though — nothing she had to worry about, just a sweet simple crush. 

After a couple moments of chaos, everyone was sitting at the table and eating. Eylias was directly across from Cooper, which was something she was pointedly trying to ignore. Something very difficult when Cooper kept looking at her. 

“Do you like college?” Logan asked on her left. 

Eylias smiled. “I do, yeah.” She answered. “It can be stressful sometimes, but it really all depends on your major.” 

“Is psychology hard?” Riley followed up. 

Eylias shrugged. “Some aspects, yeah. I mean this isn’t some random trade field, y’know? There’s a lot of intellect that goes into psychology.” 

“So you have to be like super smart?” 

“Looks like you couldn’t go into Psychology.” Logan teased his sister. 

Eylias felt some movement under the table and it was obvious the girl had just kicked her brother. Rachel scolded them for being ridiculous while Cooper… kept his eyes on Eylias.  

“Do you think I’d like psychology?” Riley asked after a few moments of arguing with her brother.

Eylias hadn’t expected to get back into the investigation chair so quickly. It wasn’t that she minded, she always got questions like this… but with Cooper’s eyes on her it was difficult to keep her mind straight.  

Rachel laughed. “Riley does this a lot,” the little girl gave her mom a look, “she learns something new about the world and decides she wants to do it too.” 

Eylias huffed out a soft laugh. “I was like that as a kid, it’s fun so I don’t blame her.” 

Riley’s face lit up, and so did Eylias’ heart. 

“It’s fun imagining your future career…” she continued, “I think psychology was the last thing I planned on, though. But! You might like it!” Eylias realized that this wasn’t exactly encouraging the kid to pursue her quickly thought of dream. “There’s even some sections of the field where you need to deal with serial killers and creeps.” She fluttered her fingers like she did when they first met, emphasizing the weirdness which encapsulated those people. 

“We have a serial killer here in Philadelphia.” 

“Logan!” 

“Oh?” Eylias was seriously intrigued. “I’m surprised I haven’t heard about this. I mean… I take a ‘how to get away with murder class’,” Rachel gave a smile at the reference, “so I’m pretty shocked.”

The husband shook his head. “It isn’t really a serial killer,” he corrected like a fan, “it’s just some creep who cuts up one or two bodies a year. We don’t even know if it’s the same person.” 

“Well, it’s quite a coincidence. How many bodies have they found?” 

Rachel cringed. “I’m not sure we should be talking about this… especially not at the dinner table.” 

Eylias’ face went red. “Oh my goodness, yes you’re right I’m so sorry—” 

“Don’t be. We got carried away!” 

“Of course, yes.” There was a deep sense of shame building up in her chest. Why hadn’t she stopped the conversation when it first started? Of course talking about a serial killer was the last thing to do at dinner. 

Cooper didn’t let the silence get awkward, quickly seizing on the opportunity to grill his guest some more. “How come you don’t live on campus?” 

She felt like her brain was firing sparks all over the place. Her neck hurt from the amount of whiplash she just got. “Um!” They laughed awkwardly as their misfiring brain tried to come up with an answer. “My family we are… well enough off that when I was given the option to live off campus I took it. I also hate freshman boys.” 

Everyone laughed at that. Rachel a little bit more than everyone else. 

“Oh I totally get you, honey!” Her laughter filled the house, she was such a sweet woman. It made Eylias feel 10x worse that she was crushing on her husband. 

Cooper sucked in a breath. “I’m hurt, darling.” 

“Ohhh,” she waved a dismissive hand at him, “you were different.” 

The pet name made her mouth water, but she had to act normal. “You two met in college?” 

“Yes, we did.” Rachel gave her husband a loving look while reaching for his hand. 

He squinted his eyes at her, lovingly, of course. 

“That’s so sweet,” Eylias cooed, “I don’t think I could ever… and with all those freshman boys? Ugh!” 

“So you’d like someone older?” 

Eylias choked on her food. The piece that she had been eating came out immediately, but the shock of the question kept her coughing. The air had been sucked out of her and she was struggling for it back, but she waved her hands dismissively in front of her to let the family know she wasn’t dying. 

She heard Rachel scold her husband playfully but Eylias had to dismiss that rumor quickly. “No, no,” her voice was still scratchy and she coughed in between her words, “completely— completely coincidental.” She drank her glass of water and took a moment to collect herself. 

What kind of question was that? Who asks that!? Her heart was beating rapidly and she could feel her body getting hot… was he? No…. nooo… that wasn’t possible and it wasn’t even going to be a thought which crossed her mind. 

“I don’t think I’m…” how was she to word this? Why was this a conversation they were having in the first place!? “I’m not really in the game of romance right now.” 

“And you don’t have to be!” Rachel told her like a stern mother. “Don’t worry about romance until you’re completely ready for it!” 

Eylias laughed, moving around the food on her plate. “I wasn’t planning on it.” 

The rest of dinner went fairly smoothly, the heat had been taken off of Eylias and moved onto the family sitting around her. They were sweet and funny and she got to learn about the kids’ school life and how smart they were in every subject. Eylias sat in awe as Rachel told stories about her 5th grade music classes and the theater club she ran and how surprisingly talented all those young kids were. They were really a spectacular family, but when it got to Cooper, there was so subtle hesitation. 

“You gonna be able to pay for some unpackers to help you?” 

There it was with the boxes, why was he so obsessed with helping her unpack? She wondered if she could ask her professors about this. “Maybe! Might just do it all myself, wouldn’t that be cheaper?” 

It felt as if he was… trying to intimidate her. His body structure seemed very stiff and rigid when he knew she was trying not to look at him, he was trying to appear bigger. It was strange, what did he gain from backing her into such a small corner? Perhaps he was just a man who felt intimidated by a new woman ready to take on the world. 

He gave her a look. “Why won’t you let us help you?” 

He was so insistent, it was almost hot. She smirked, what game was he playing and how could she join in? “I have a lot of boxes around my house and…” she squinted her eyes, “I’m not sure you’d be able to carry some of them.” 

His kids ‘ooh’ed at the teasing of his strength which got Mr. Abbott to raise his eyebrows. “Baby, I’m a firefighter, I can lift anything.” 

“So that’s what that uniform I see you in morning is!” Caught bitch! The pet name wanted to make her melt into a puddle onto the floor, but she had got him! It felt far too rewarding. She was reminded of her early mornings with him, watching him come out of the house to get the mail before going back in to drive away in his sleek black car. The uniform he wore was always so… flattering, it was tight in all the right places and showed off muscles Eylias didn’t even know to care about. He also just looked important, which was hot enough. 

His face flashed for a second, something of shock and anger. She had won his game and he was struggling with the defeat, it was so obvious, and so intriguing. He hummed something of annoyance before chuckling. 

“You see him in the morning?” 

Eylias’ face went hot. It occurred to her very suddenly that she was not alone with Cooper, teasingly flirting with him like her brain had made her believe. She was actually at a dinner table teasing him with his wife and kids in the audience. Eylias stuttered with her response. “Yeah! I wake up pretty early to drink coffee on my porch and… water my flowers.” The mention of her garden set her heart rate back to normal. She could see the kids’ eyes light up and they immediately asked about her flowers. 

Even Cooper’s unwavering stares weren’t able to deter her from smiling about her garden. She ranted and raved about the different seed packets she had planted and all the potted plants she had transferred into the ground soil — if Eylias could write a 1000 page novel on flowers, she would’ve. 

She ranted until she had to say her goodbyes. Mrs. Abbott had offered her dessert, Eylias had refused, and she ended up with a small plate of brownies. 

Mr. Abbott was the one to walk her home, despite her initial refusal of his kindness. The cool, fall breeze wasn’t able to help her inferno of a body. She could feel her skin melting into the grass as his band hovered just above the small of her back — he was toying with her. 

“Are you going to hire a landscaper?” He asked as they took their first steps on her porch. 

“Oh.” Eylias darted her eyes over to her lawn, it didn’t look anything unruly, but it wasn’t as pretty as the lawns next to it. “I’ll probably just hire some loser teenage boy to mow it for me.” She laughed at herself. 

Cooper huffed out a laugh. “Let me.” 

Eylias turned around as they got to her door. “Mr. Abbott, please. You’re doing more than enough with helping me unpack.” 

“Is it wrong to be a gentleman?” 

They pursued their lips into a straight line, it was obvious what he was doing, but they couldn’t keep themself from falling. He was such a gentleman and it was making every part of her erupt into fire. In her mind she could see him taking her right on this porch, mind absent of all their spectators — she didn’t care. 

“I just don’t want you to push yourself.” 

He gave them a gentle smile. “That’s sweet, Eylias. But I promise you, I know how to pace myself.” 

Her breath hitched, he was so nasty. That voice and that look in his eyes, god he was evil. She stopped breathing all together as he began to lean in, arm reaching out. Eylias couldn’t think properly as his face grew closer to her, what was she to do? She couldn’t say no, but she had to! He was married — Jesus Christ he was married! 

There was a click and the cold air of her empty house brushed against her back. 

“You left your door unlocked.” 

Eylias swallowed, every thought which had ever graced her brain was gone. She was left dumbfounded, staring up at Cooper as he kept their lack of distance. “I did… yeah I—” She took a stumbling step back into her house, Cooper sticking his hands out to catch but she put her arms out to keep them away. 

“I’m okay!” She laughed awkwardly. “I’m— thank you! I’ll see you—” 

“Tomorrow.” 

Eylias nodded. “Tomorrow!” 

[space-signals]

˚₊‧꒰ა Locked♱In ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

Chapter One: Empty House

Cooper Abbott x Eylias Celani (My OC!)

She was starting college when it all happened. Eylias Celani had just moved to Philadelphia to pursue a career in psychology, they were in a new state, new city, and in a completely new home. 

She had started out as just his neighbor, and technically she still was. The circumstances were just… different now. 

His family had been sweet, sickly sweet when she first moved in. They were climbing out of some white car — presumably the wife’s since she was coming out of the driver’s side — when they noticed the truck, and the boxes, and Eylias helping the movers carry out their things to the driveway. 

They were absolutely enamored, as if they had never seen someone move in before. She made eye contact with them and their faces erupted. 

“Hi there!” The little boy exclaimed, waving his hand frantically just like his older sister. 

The parents seemed bashful as they made their way over to the white picket fence and grass patch separating their driveways. 

Eylias gave them a small smile. “Hi.” She reciprocated as she set one of the boxes down and walked over. “Guess I’m your new neighbor, huh?” 

Their dad was… exceptionally handsome, he was very sweet looking and had kind eyes that… for some strange reason put Eylias off ever so slightly. But he also looked incredibly coy — embarrassed about his kids’ extroverted behavior. 

“No one’s lived in that house for a while,” The girl told her, “so this is super exciting.” 

They were your average suburban family, it hit even harder with the blonde pretty wife. They looked extremely normal, it intrigued her. 

“Well, I’m glad to be living next to such sweet kids.” 

The wife seemed flattered. “Where you coming from?” She asked sweetly. 

“New Hampshire.” She revealed and they all seemed very interested. “I know, long ways away from home.” Eylias jokingly rolled their eyes. 

“It’s not that far!” The wife reassured her.

She laughed. “I know, it’s like the same area!” Eylias was exaggerating, she couldn’t help it. “I mean we have all the same sports.” 

The dad made a scoffing noise. “If you start comparing the Patriots and the Eagles we’re gonna have some problems.” 

Eylias couldn’t help the smile which ripped across their mouth. “Well good for you, I don't care about sports all that much.” 

The dad hit his fist straight into his heart, as if her words had hurt him. It was strange… His topic of football felt so forced to her, like he wanted her to know even more that they were just your average and normal family. 

But it’s not like she could focus on that very hard when his eyes were so stupidly gorgeous and Eylias was trying not to make a fool of herself in front of his family. 

“Are you in college?” The little boy asked. 

She laughed. “Yes I am, aren’t you astute!”

“What are you going for?” The girl followed up. 

“Psychology. I’ve always been interested in strangers and weirdos.” She fluttered her fingers to emphasize how ‘weird’ she was. 

The little boy nudged his sister. “She’s a weirdo so I’m sure you’ll like her.” 

“You’re more of a weirdo!” 

The two started to bicker so the wife gently put a hand between them, scolding them quietly. It was difficult to focus on the relationship between the kids when Eylias could feel the dad’s eyes trained on her. 

“Psychology, huh?” He asked, his demeanor shifted slightly — no longer the happy, grilling, football dad.

She nodded courteously. “Therapist in training.” She crossed her fingers with a grimacing smile. “I love digging into other people's brains because,” the words spilled out of her mouth, “I can’t seem to figure out what’s wrong with my own.” Eylias tried to cover up the random spill of emotions with an awkward smile. 

The dad just gave a soft smile in return. It made her chest feel way too warm. 

He shoved his hands in his pockets. “It was nice meeting you…?” 

“Eylias.” 

He raised his eyebrows. “Hopefully Dr. Eylias in a few years.” 

She giggled. “Oh, well then it’d be Dr. Celani.” There was a tick in their brain, what a strange way to figure out their last name. Whatever he was doing, she was completely falling for it. “And you’d be…?” 

“Cooper.” He smiled, reaching out his hand. 

“Mr. Cooper?” She turned his technique back on him, grabbing his hand and squeezing it tight. 

There was a look in his eyes, he knew what she was doing. “Mr. Abbott.” 

His wife giggled as they let go. “Rachel.” She said, shaking hands with Eylias next. “And this Logan and Riley.” 

She made a noise of shock like she hadn’t been talking to them for some time now. There was a softness in her heart as the kids’ faces glowed happily. 

“It was nice meeting you all. I’m glad to be your neighbor.” She looked behind her, the movers were getting the last couple of boxes. 

“Do you need help unpacking?” 

Mr. Abbotts voice scared her. “Oh!” It was embarrassing how hot her face got. “No, I— I’ll be fine… Thank you. But I should get going, to… unpack y’know?” How lame could she be? 

He nodded.

“We need to have dinner anyway.” His wife explained. “Maybe you can come over one of these days!” 

“Maybe! I’d love that, Mrs. Abbott.” 

Riley’s finger poked at her. “It was nice meeting you.” 

“Same!” The boy joined in. 

Eylias couldn’t help but laugh. “Can’t wait to see you around.” 

They all said their goodbyes, heading back to their respective homes. Eylias couldn’t help when she looked over her shoulder, but she could help whipping her head back around when her eyes connected with that of Mr. Abbott’s. Her heart picked up in face and her body went into a hot flash. 

What was his deal? Those eyes, that attitude, his quickly shifting demeanor — he was a psychologist wet dream, later that night she found out he was also her’s… for a different reason. 

The days went by with friendly waves and hellos — she’d catch Cooper every now and then in the mornings when she needed to get to her earlier classes; a soft wink and smile from him made her start drinking coffee out on her porch in the morning everyday. Eylias would also catch the kids in the afternoon during her short days, a brutal reminder that the man she had the hots for had an entire family that he loved. 

Life was undoubtedly cruel. 

[space-signals]

Masterlist!

AEW

No One Find Out (Orangehausen)

Chocolate (Orangehausen , Hookhausen)

18+ Bloody Oranges (Orange Taylor)

Partners (Trent Barretta/Tony Nese)

Kiss It Better (Orangehausen)

Harringrove

18+ ish Bite Marks of Love

Hospital Room Full of Guilt

Lip Gloss

That Time Max Found Out

Bruises

Ring Pop Proposals

Josh Hartnett

18+ Jail Cell (Eben Oleson x Reader)

˚₊‧꒰ა Locked♱In ໒꒱ ‧₊˚ (Cooper Abbott x Eylias Celani (OC))

Lewis Pullman

‿̩͙⊱♱༻Forgive♱Me༺♱⊰‿̩͙ (Owen Taylor x Delilah Young (OC))

[space-signals]

Ring Pop Proposals

Just kinda a stupid thing to go w/ the Harringrove Week propmts list. Fair Mart, a summer holiday, and Max + Cheese {The last 2 have very small roles.... very.} Also warning for gay slurs because Hawkins is ho-ho-homophobic

Billy and Steve had gotten into a pretty nasty fight this afternoon. Robin had come over and made a one off-joke about how Steve should’ve gotten with someone better than Billy, and that was supposed to be the end of it, but Billy felt insecure about it because Steve had agreed with her. Jokingly or not, he had agreed with her and that just rubbed Billy the wrong way. 

Billy Hargrove was famous for not caring about what other people thought, but he cared about what Steve thought about him. So Billy had brought it up while they were making lunch, and Steve got defensive, and Billy spit out that he didn’t like Robin, and one thing led to another and spilled macaroni was all over their kitchen floor while they screamed at each other. 

And now they were both silent in Billy’s car as they drove to Fair Mart to get some birthday supplies because they had totally forgotten it was Max’s birthday. That was a new low for Billy. Despite whatever happened to him, he never forgot Max’s birthday. But of course, Steve Harrington had to change that. 

They were both well aware that Fair Mart would only have the bare minimums for what could be seen as ‘party food’, but the party was in 30 minutes and they had a 20 minute drive from their place to Max’s trailer park. They stormed out of the car and went into the small store, splitting up to find things that Max would like. 

Billy was looking around for some drinks to bring that those freshman losers would like when he turned his head to see Steve in the candy aisle, trying to remember what type Billy’s step-sister liked the best. He stopped searching for drinks and instead focused his attention on Steve as his nose was scrunched up and eyebrows were furrowed, pouring all his concentration into finding the right candy for that little redhead. 

And Billy couldn’t stay mad at him. Steve was his god damn everything. Steve was his fucking world. Steve didn’t even know how important he was to Billy, but he didn’t mind. He was more than satisfied to remind Steve every single day how important he was to the former bully. Billy was willing to wake up a little earlier to make them both coffee. Billy found a new movie that he might wanna watch? If Steve didn’t want to watch it, Billy would throw it out the window. Steve was struggling with something in his class? Who cares if Billy had a paper due the next morning? He was willing to push it to the side to help Steve. 

Steve could find someone better than him, Billy didn’t doubt that. He definitely had his moments, like when some 30-something-dude in his science class wouldn’t shut up and Billy chucked a water bottle at his head. Or when Max was getting too annoying, so he clamped his hand over her mouth for her to finally shut up. Or when Billy snapped at some cashier for dropping his food. Yeah, he could be an asshole, and yeah, Steve could get with someone so much better than him, but Steve had stayed. They had been together for a good 2 years now and Steve had yet to leave! He had every opportunity to! Billy had given him plenty of chances when he was at his lowest, but Steve fucking stayed. 

Who cares what Robin thought? Who cares what anyone thought about the two of them? Steve was Billy’s shining moon in his darkest nights, and no one could take that away from him. 

So Billy stomped his way into the candy aisle and snatched a ring pop from one shelf. To Steve’s surprise, Billy popped open the packaging, holding just the ring pop, and kneeled down on one knee. 

Steve gasped and held a hand to his mouth. There were like two other people in the store besides them and the cashier, and Billy was doing this. 

“Steve Harrington-” 

“Billy.”

“Shut up, listen.” Steve held both hands to his mouth, his eyes wide with shock. “You, Steve Harrington, are my fucking moon. You’re my stars in this deep existential void we call space, and I couldn’t be fucking happier. Why should I care what Robin thinks? Why should I care what anyone thinks? I’ve been with you for two long years and you haven’t left me yet, so why should I be insecure now?” Billy could see the cashier from the corner of his eye, and she was staring. “The point of life isn’t about caring what other people think! It’s about delaying your inevitable death and having a fun as fuck time doing it!” Billy pulled Steve’s arm down so he could take his hand. “So, Steve Harrington, will you delay your death with me and have a fun time doing it for the rest of our lives?” 

“Billy…” 

“And not care about what other people think.” He added. “And will you forgive me for our fight earlier? Jesus shit- I’m sorry- I should’ve written this down I-” 

“Yes!” Steve yelped, and Billy looked at him with wide eyes. “Yes! Just- Fucking- Yes to all of it!” 

Billy hopped to his feet and planted a big kiss to Steve’s lips while also messily putting the ring pop on Steve’s finger. Billy had never felt happier while kissing his now… fiance? They should probably work out what they wanted to call each other from now on. Billy was content with calling Steve anything he wanted. It was stupid, and this whole thing would usually make Billy gag because it was so ‘cute’ and Billy Hargrove wasn’t cute, but this was Steve. This was his Steve. It might’ve been a little cutesy, but he didn’t care, because he was doing it with Steve.  

The cashier gasped. “You guys are faggots!” 

“Shit!” Steve hissed, but Billy was already sprinting. 

“Get the candy!” He screamed while holding a liter of coke and rushing out the door with Steve not far behind him with an armful of sour patch kids. 

They both hurried into the car and started it. Billy’s heart was beating so loud he was completely positive that Steve could hear it - hell, Billy was sure that the entirety of Hawkins could hear it. They were so going to get killed. Billy was going to wake up one day in this apartment and have it burning because some homophobic assholes decided they weren’t worthy enough to live. 

And one of those people that wanted to kill Billy and Steve was one of the store patrons who came out behind them, yelling vulgar obscenities and picking up a stray brick to throw at the car. It nearly hit them, but they got away. They were cheering loudly, screaming at the top of their lungs because holy shit was that an adrenaline rush. Billy proposing with a ring pop, stealing shit from Fair Mart, and some angry asshole throwing a brick at them. What else could you ask for on a sunny summer birthday for a step-sister? 

Steve was running his hands through his and his wide pupils made it look like had been on some type of acid. “Holy shit- My- Holy shit! My parents are going to find out! Holy fuck- people are going to talk! So- so many people are going to talk! I can’t-” 

“Steve-” Billy put his hand on the man’s thigh, but he continued babbling nonsense. 

“I mean, they already suspected a lot of things when I moved in with you, but- wow! Wow! They’re gonna fucking know! Oh my god! Oh-” 

“Steve!” Billy shouted and Steve snapped his head towards his boyfriend. Fiance? Husband!? “What did I say?” He laughed. 

Steve stared at him for a moment, mouth gaping and eyes squinted in confusion before his memory snapped in place. “I don’t care if they know, but like… Holy shit man, they’re gonna know.” 

“You’re living with me now. You don’t gotta worry ‘bout your parents.” 

“I know, but,” Steve slumped down in his passenger seat. “Jesus shit, my parents are going to know.” 

“Hey,” Billy took Steve’s hand. Eyes pulling away from the empty road to stare at his… lover. “I love you. That should be the only thing that matters.” 

Steve’s eyes looked like they were filled with stars. “Yeah… yeah it is.” He sat up in his seat and pulled Billy in for a quick kiss before pushing his head back to look at the road. 

And when they showed up at Susan’s with a ring pop around Steve’s ring finger, the kids all smiled.

[space-signals]

Bruises

Just a small Harringrove fic of Billy standing up for his boyfriend mentions of fighting + brusies

Steve got in Billy’s car with a huff. No amount of loud music, or tobacco smoke, or strong alcohol could make his day better. He had a shitty morning and an even shitter afternoon, and all he wanted was to spend his day relaxing with his boyfriend. But he was still pretty pissed about his day and decided to take it out on Billy. 

Billy said nothing when Steve slammed the Camaro door shut and pressed his whole body into the door. He stared for a second, but respected that Steve was pissed and obviously didn’t want to talk. But Billy couldn’t ignore the red and purple spot on the side of Steve’s face near his right eye. 

“So, are we going to talk about it?” He spoke up for the first time since they had started this car ride to the park. 

“Talk about what?” Steve was acting oblivious, and it was painfully obvious. 

“The bruise, dumbass!” Billy said. He didn’t appreciate it when Steve was acting oblivious. Yeah, sometimes he was a cute-oblivious, but right now he was just trying to avoid something. 

“It’s nothing!” He snapped back. 

“It doesn’t seem like nothing. It seems like someone hit you!” 

“And so what? I can take care of myself.” Steve curled deeper into himself and closer to the car door, like he was preparing to jump out. “I don’t need you worrying about me.” 

A bunch of answers ran through Billy’s head. The first thing was Steve’s dad. Billy knew how his own dad was, but the only thing about Mr. Harrington that he heard from Steve was that he was a Grad-A Asshole. Maybe that bruise was from his dad, maybe Steve did something and Mr. Harrington viewed that as wrong and delivered the punishment… Billy knew that from experience. 

“Was it your dad?” Billy whispered. 

“What?” Steve looked at him this time. The bruise was more visible on his face, a yellow and red color with hints of purple around his right eye and cheek. Whoever had hit him had hit him good and hard. Billy would’ve been impressed if this wasn’t his boyfriend. “No, no,” Steve quickly turned back around. “It wasn’t my dad. It was just some… asshole kids…”

“The ones that you babysit? How in the world could-” 

“No! God It’s- fuck…” Steve ran a hand through his hair. “It’s… It was fucking Tommy H. and Carol.” His body slumped as he finally sat correctly in the seat. 

“Those assholes? Why the fuck are they messing with you?” Billy didn’t like Tommy H. anyway, he was annoying and always had Billy’s side like a stupid fucking dog. It really got on his nerves sometimes. Yes, he appreciated a good yes-man every now and again, but when it was constant 24/7, it was just irritating. 

“I don’t know! They have it out for me since I ditched them for being rude to Nancy.” Steve crossed his arms. “I was at my job and they started being rude to my friend Robin, you know her, so I told them to fucking cut it out and Tommy just punched me for no good reason.” 

Billy shook his head and his hands tightened on his steering wheel. He couldn’t believe that Tommy of all people sucker punched his boyfriend. You don’t do that Billy Hargrove’s boyfriend. “I never liked them, anyway. Both are total airheads.” 

Steve let out a soft laugh, and Billy’s heart fluttered at the sight of the man’s pretty smile. 

Steve was hanging out at the pool with Robin and the kids. They had been hanging out for an hour or 2, doing nothing. While that could get boring sometimes, Billy watching over them in nothing but red swim trunks was always a pleasant sight to see.

He was on a floating pool mat and letting the sun rays tan his body (hopefully like Billy’s), when he heard the annoying and irritating sound of: 

“Oh, my god!” Carol gawked. “There’s so many losers here. I thought you said this pool was fucking empty.” 

“Yeah, how was I supposed to know a fucking spaz would be here.” 

Steve opened one of his eyes and saw Tommy H. and Carol looking directly at him with smug looks on their faces. Steve rolled his eyes and rolled off the man into the pool. He hated getting his hair wet, but if it meant those two cunts leaving him alone, then who cares? 

In the corner of his eye, when he popped up out of the water, he could see Billy already making his way over to the entrance of the pool where Tommy and Carol were standing. Steve watched with fascination as Billy leaned in to talk to the couple. He swam up to the edge of the pool to listen in on his boyfriend’s conversation with the assholes. 

“Hey guys, what are you doing here?” Billy asked. 

Carol looked at him as if he was dumb. “Uh… not sure if you’re blind. We’re at the pool. We’re gonna hang out at the pool.” 

Billy hummed. His hands were on his waist like some sassy mother. “Right, right, well, you guys can’t be here.” 

“What!?” they both exclaimed. “Why the fuck not?” Tommy asked. 

“I’ve been hearing… complaints about un-family-friendly bodily fluids in the pool.” Tommy and Carol’s faces both went red as Steve’s jaw dropped. “And now I should ask you if you guys are blind because this isn’t some orgy party, this is a fucking pool. So I’m kindly asking you to leave.” 

“Look, just ‘cause there’s been some complaints doesn’t mean we’re banned from the pool.” Tommy argued. 

“I will ban you from the pool if you proceed to not listen to me, like you’re doing right now.” 

“Dude just-” Tommy pushed Billy’s shoulder to move past him, but almost like a natural response, Billy kneed Tommy H. in his groin. Tommy yelled in pain and fell to the floor while Carol began screaming at Billy for hurting her boyfriend, but Billy could care less and smacked her in the face with the back of his right hand. 

Almost everyone in the pool gasped. “Holy shit!” Dustin screamed. “He hit a girl!” 

Billy turned to everyone staring at him in the pool and waved them off to continue their normal business of having fun in the pool. Some pool manager came out and helped escort Tommy and Carol out while Billy went back to his lifeguarding station. He made serious eye contact with Steve that made his swim trunks feel tight even while in the water. 

It didn’t matter that Billy was Steve’s first boyfriend; he was going to be the best one Steve ever got.

[space-signals]

That time Max found out

Max finds about her brother and babysitter. warning for light smut? It's just Billy + Steve making out and teasing each other idk how else to describe it aldjflsdj

Susan and Neil were gone for the day, going on a date since today was everyone’s day off. Billy was told by Neil to stay home with Max and because he had no plans to go out today, he was going to be obeying those commands and staying in the confined space of his Hawkins home. He was working out in his bedroom with the music blaring loud and trying to distract himself from the burning in his body and the sore bruise on his lower back after Neil had slammed him into the kitchen counter. A knock at his window threw him out of his zone. Despite the blaring music, he would always hear a knock at his window, because a knock at his window meant only one person was there. 

He let the dumbbell bar drop to the floor, adding to the dozens of dents in his hardwood floor, Neil never really went into his room so he could do whatever he wanted here, which included acting out his silent anger against stupid Hawkins, Indiana. He pushed aside his curtains and found a doe-eyed Steve Harrington looking back at him. Billy groaned with annoyance, but in actuality, he couldn’t be happier to see the fucker. 

Billy opened the window and Harrington climbed in. Thankfully, their house was only one story, so Steve didn’t need to worry about climbing several feet just to reach his boyfriend. “You know,” Steve said as he entered the room. “I don’t think your muscles can get any bigger than that, dufus.” Steve lightly punched his boyfriend’s exposed arm. 

Billy raised an eyebrow at him. “You wanna bet?” Billy was completely ready to show off in front of Steve how much he could bench press. 

“Yeah, I do.” Steve shoved Billy’s shoulder as the man moved closer to him. “I think you need a new exercise than just… weights.” 

Billy wasn’t getting what Steve was talking about until Steve’s legs hit the side of Billy’s bed and Billy was about 2 inches away from the freak. That’s when it finally hit him and he got an impressed look on his face. 

“Harrington?” Billy wrapped his hands around Steve’s waist. “You’re nasty.” he gasped.  

Steve blushed and put his hands on Billy’s chest. His hands felt so cold on Billy’s hot chest covered in sweat, it felt like he was in one of those cheesy pornos he watched. “You’ve said worse.” 

“I’ve said a lot worse.” Billy agreed as he leaned Steve down onto his bed. “But you’re the prude in this relationship and you barely say any dirty shit.” Billy pressed Steve into the bed, holding down his waist as Billy straddled his boyfriend. “But I like this new attitude on you, Harrington. I wanna see you more freakish.” 

Billy leaned down and started making out with Steve’s neck and his hands found Billy’s curly hair. Steve let out a moan that only furthered Billy’s passion of making out with his neck. 

“Have I ever told you how pretty you are?” Steve said through his moans. 

Billy pulled away to look at him. “You really are a charmer, aren’t you, Harrington?” 

Steve’s hands traveled from Billy’s hair all the way under his pants to press against the man’s underwear covered bulge. Billy leaned his head back with a groan as a smirk pressed to Steve’s lips. 

“Some would say so.” 

Billy’s smile and eyes turned dangerous as he looked at Steve. A fire of pure lust clouded his vision as he leaned in and the two lovers shared a passionate kiss. 

“Hey Billy, do you-” Max opened the door and everyone shared a quick loud scream as they all jerked away from their positions. Steve kicked Billy off of him and Max slammed the door shut in all what seemed to be a second. 

Steve and Billy stayed frozen where they were until the seconds turned into minutes and it seemed they were safe when no one else was coming to the door. Billy looked like he was 5 seconds away from crying when he looked up at Steve and said. “You need to leave.” 

“Yeah, I know.” Steve said as he stood from Billy’s bed and began brushing himself off because Billy’s smell or anything might’ve transferred over to him. Billy stood to his feet and his chest was heaving as they both looked out the window that Steve was about to climb out. It was pouring rain. 

Billy really did not want to make his boyfriend run through the rain back to his car, but then again his heart was beating faster with every second that Max could be walking towards the phone to tell Neil what she had just seen. Max had known of her brother’s… ‘unnatural’ ways and never really had a problem with it, but maybe she had suddenly changed her mind. Steve then looked at him with those big sad eyes and Billy crumbled. He sighed and grabbed his jacket off the rack attached to his door and outstretched his hand to give the jacket to Steve. 

The man’s face got even redder, and he gingerly took the jacket from Billy, like this was something illegal.

“I’m gonna need that back.” Billy grumbled. 

“I’m aware.” 

Billy watched with childish glee as Steve put on the jacket and covered his head as he opened the window and began running through the rain to his car, parked somewhere deep in the woods where no one would find it. 

Steve was working the counter when a very awkward and sheepish Max walked into the ice cream shop, and Steve froze. Billy had refused Steve coming over his house after what happened with Max, like Billy had angrily refused. That didn’t stop them from hanging out, of course, it just gave them one less option to run away to. 

Max had yet to confront the boys about what she had seen. She had actually been avoiding them since that day. Max refused to speak to Billy or really look at him and every time the kids wanted ice cream, Max would go shopping while they got her the flavor she wanted. 

But now she was here, standing in front of Steve, and looking down at the floor. 

“Um…” He stuttered. “Would you like something to uh… eat?” 

She swallowed. “I actually needed to talk to you.” 

“About what…?” 

She looked up at him and mentally said, ‘really?’ Steve knew what this was about. He turned around and opened the sliding doors to the back room, where Robin was reading something. “Hey Robin.” He whispered, and the girl looked at him. “Can you cover the counter really quickly?” 

She gave him a confused look. “Why would I do that?” 

“Because you love me and I really need you to do this.” 

She gave him a dead eye stare, so in return he gave her this pleading look that he used with Billy all the time. And like Billy, it always worked. Robin sighed and got up out of her chair to switch places with Steve while the sailor boy opened the counter door for Max to walk through. Robin gave the two a suspicious glare while Steve led the teenage girl all the way into the back hallway, where they got their shipments. 

The two leaned up against opposite walls as Steve waited for Max to talk and Max struggled to find the right words. 

“So are… Are you and Billy like… together?” She asked, and Steve’s face went a bright red. 

He had never really thought about it if he was being honest. Yeah, he loved Billy, and he hoped Billy loved him back, but he had never really asked if they were really dating. That was something scary to Steve, dating a guy. Steve had never seen himself dating or really ever being in love with a guy, well… he had thought about it, but he had never seen that as his future. Billy wasn't supposed to be the one Steve fell in love with. Steve, as per everyone around him, was supposed to fall in love with someone like Nancy. 

“I uh… I guess?” His entire body felt feverish. It was like saying yes to this question was something illegal. Well… it was technically. Steve had no idea how these types of people lived. Maybe some place like California would be more open to it, but Indiana? No, not at all. “I mean, we like each other.” 

Max nodded and swayed her body side again, sliding against the drywall of the hallway making this droning scratching sound. Steve thought he was going to pull his hair out. It was so quiet and he was so uncomfortable.

“I don’t think that’s weird or anything.” Max comforted his worries with her tiny voice. “Back in California there were a lot of people like that… They hid it pretty well, but sometimes you could see tiny things and it gave it away if you knew what to look for.” 

Steve nodded. “You haven’t told anyone, right?” 

Max shook her head. “Billy would kill me, and I think Neil would kill Billy.” 

Steve didn’t know the extent of Neil’s violence. All he knew was that Billy absolutely despised him. Every time he talked about Neil, he would get overwhelmed and lash out, like he threw Steve’s basketball so hard the ball ended up popping. Steve now knew not to ask about it because it was such a sensitive subject. 

“Billy loves you.” Max said out of their silence. Steve looked at her with surprise in his eyes. “I think you’re the first person that he really loves… besides himself… and his mom.” Steve knew that Billy’s mom had left him when he was really young. Billy had come to his pool one night with his face streaked with red because he tried to celebrate his mother’s birthday in peace, but his dad wasn’t letting that happen. 

“Like… whenever you come over to pick him up to go somewhere or- or if you’re just anywhere near us anytime and he looks at you? It looks like he’s staring straight at the stars or something. Like he’s seen the face of god and he can’t pull away from it.” Max seemed slightly disgusted with how enamored Billy was with Steve. Steve was shocked. “It’s like he’s never seen someone like you before.” 

Steve’s breath made a small hitch, and he really hoped Max didn’t notice. He was in love with Billy, he really was. And to hear that Billy looked at him like he had hung up the moon and stars? It was exhilarating. It was so much more than any ‘I love you’ to come out of the guy’s mouth. 

“You really think so?” Steve whispered. What if this was some set up? What if someone was peering around the corner and listening to this entire conversation just so his dad can come out and beat his ass? Steve was scared to death. 

Max nodded. “Yeah, it’s kinda gross.” 

Steve chuckled and hung his head, trying to head the painful blush that had spread more across his face. 

“I was just telling you so you know I’m cool with you guys.” Max said. “And because I wanna embarrass him, since he probably doesn’t say he loves you enough.” 

Steve shook his head. “Yeah, but… he has a lot going on, so I don’t blame him.” It was only in the darkest of shadows or the quietest of places where Billy whispered to him and he loved Steve. Other times, it was in his actions. Like when he lets Steve win basketball or gets him water or drives him places or gives him a gracious tip. Steve didn’t care though, he was just happy Billy was with him. 

“So uh… Does this mean I get free ice cream?” 

“What? No.” 

“What if I blackmailed you?” 

“Why would you do that? That’s not cool, man.” 

“True… What if… You give me free ice cream or I blackmail you?” 

“That’s the same THING.” 

“Oh… Can I just get free ice cream?” 

“Oh, my god…”

[space-signals]

Lip Gloss

Steve Harrington shamefully wears girly lip gloss. Actually, he shamefully does a lot of girly things, but you can blame all that on Nancy Wheeler. 

Steve was just so infatuated with how she got to be so soft. It was the one reason he was dating her, because she was so pretty and soft. So naturally, back when they were dating, he asked her what her secret was and after some blissful teasing; she told him. From moisturizers to lip scrubs, Nancy Wheeler educated Steve on how to keep your body fresh and smooth. Naturally, Steve adopted all of these habits. Being the prettiest boy in Hawkins comes with a cost, okay? 

So now, every night before Steve went to bed and every morning before he went to work, he would do this extensive routine that kept his face shining like a waxed car. It was great. No one knew about it until one weekend when Steve had forgotten to hide his self-care products and Billy was over and went into the bathroom. 

“Do you have a sister?” Billy yelled from across the house. 

“What?” Steve was lying on his bed, reading some lame magazine and not even thinking about why Billy might’ve asked that. 

“Do you have a sister?” Billy asked again as he picked up a small jar of something that said ‘body butter’ with the hand that wasn’t currently zipping his pants up after peeing. 

Steve scoffed and stood up off his bed. “No, what would make you think thaa-…” Steve stopped in the middle of the hallway when he saw Billy holding a bottle of face spray that was supposed to hydrate your face in the morning. 

“So I can safely assume that these are all yours?” Billy asked with a smug look on his face. 

Steve bit his lip. He wanted to curl into a ball and explode. Why did Billy Hargrove have to be the one to find out about Steve’s most embarrassing secret? Twice!! Has the man done this, and both times did Steve hate it. 

“Maybe…” he whispered, and Billy’s smug face grew into an annoying smile. 

“I never took you for a pansy.” Billy teased as he picked up a bottle of his face cleanser. 

“I’m not a pansy for taking care of myself.” Steve bit back as he ripped the two skin-care products and slammed them back onto the sink counter. 

Billy spun him around by his waist, pushing him into the marble counter. “No, of course you’re not.” He agreed and smiled lazily at Steve. Leaning in to kiss him slowly, Steve’s heart fluttered with love as his hands hovered over the sides of Billy’s face. “I always wondered how you kept your lips so soft, and now I blame Noxzema.” 

“I actually use a lip scrub I made from honey and sugar.” Steve corrected. 

Billy rolled his eyes. “You’re so lame.” He said before leaning in for another slow kiss. 

And so now Billy Hargrove shamelessly always has chapstick in the back pocket of his jeans, or lip oil in his middle compartment, or some face serum in his glove box. There was always something there for Steve in case he forgot or believed he needed to touch himself up, which Billy thought was never because Steve was perfect in his eyes. And then he would gag himself right after thinking that. 

Steve’s habits didn’t go without teasing, of course. Steve would apply his chapstick and Billy would grab him by the neck and kiss him roughly before complementing the flavor, and Steve would have to reapply the chapstick, only for Billy to kiss him all over again. There were lots of times where Steve would put hand cream and Billy would mock him for masturbating at such a strange time, and when Steve did his nightly routine Billy would always make sure to point out the wrinkles that Steve did not have with a: “You missed your smile lines, grandma. Gotta put more cream on.” And Steve would slam his bathroom door shut. 

And of course, with all these feminine products lying around wherever Billy was, people were obviously going to notice. Like when Max found lip oil and lip gloss in Billy’s middle compartment of his car and hurriedly went to Steve and said: 

“Steve, I think Billy’s cheating on you.” Max whispered at the ice cream counter. 

Steve’s heart dropped because Billy and him had been doing so well and now all of sudden Max was coming to him and telling him that Billy was cheating!? Yeah he flirted with some of the moms at the pool, but that was because Billy was an ass who enjoyed fucking with people, but he wouldn’t cheat on Steve with a fucking mom! 

“What!?” He spit, a little too loud for the privacy of their conversation. 

“Yeah! I saw like lip oil and lip gloss in the compartment of his car.” 

Steve froze. Why did life have to play out this way for him? Why did Billy have to be such a caring boyfriend and let Steve leave his stuff around? Why the fuck did he have to be such a pansy? “Yeah, Max, that’s uh…” He didn’t know how to say this. Really, he could’ve played along with Max and been absolutely shocked that Billy was cheating on him. “That’s my stuff.” 

Max’s face contoured in confusion. “What…?” 

Steve sucked in a breath as he scratched his neck awkwardly. “Yeaah… I use… lip oil.” 

“And lip gloss?” 

Steve shamefully nodded his head. 

Max’s shoulders slumped. “Wow.” She said in amazement. “How is my brother dating you?” 

“I have no idea- Are you going to buy some ice cream?” 

Max stared at him for a second before saying yes and buying some chocolate ice cream and leaving in a daze. Robin opened up the glass dividers. 

“What was that about?” She asked. 

“I…” Steve turned around and leaned against the counter. “I don’t want to tell you.” 

“That’s a little rude, Stevie.” 

“What have I said about you calling me that?” He groaned. 

“That you love it.” 

“Oh, my- shut up.” He turned back around as Robin closed the glass dividers with little girl giggles. 

One thing that Steve loved about Billy was that he didn’t care, that was his favorite thing about his boyfriend. Billy didn’t give a single fuck about what anyone thought of him, and that included people thinking he was weird for carrying such feminine products on his person. Like the one time after the Starcourt incident when Billy, Robin, and him were walking out of a movie theater and Steve’s lips were feeling dry after eating all that popcorn. He started patting down his pockets for his chapstick, but he just couldn’t find any. 

Billy stopped and whipped something out of his pocket and handed Steve lip gloss.

“Oh, thanks.” Steve gleefully took the tube and applied it to his lips. And then a snort took him away from his self care to see Robin staring at the two of them. Steve sighed and dreaded the thought that he had to expose his most embarrassing secret to another person. 

“What?” Billy hissed. “You’ve never seen a man have lip gloss?” 

Steve stared in awe as Billy took the blame for the lip gloss. 

Robin held her hands up in defense. “No, I just think it’s funny.” 

“Taking care of yourself isn’t funny, Robin.” Billy took the tube away from Steve. “You know you would do some good if you took care of yourself every once in a while. Maybe try some eye cream, your eye bags are showing.” Billy shoved past Robin to his car. 

The two friends were standing still in shock, their jaws touching the floor because holy fuck, Billy Hargrove did not just take the blame for Steve’s feminine ways. 

“Hey assholes!” Billy yelled from his car. “Let’s get on with it! There’s a party down at Tommy’s! I wanna crash it!” 

Steve was well aware he was in love with Billy Hargrove, and he was well aware Billy Hargrove was in love with him. But holy shit, did Steve now know that they were in love. Because what other manly guy would pretend to know all about self-care to protect his boyfriend’s self-esteem? 

He barked out a laugh at Robin before jogging away to Billy’s car. Robin soon followed with a defeated look in her eyes.

[space-signals]

A Hospital Room Full of Guilt

Once again with another hopsital fic because these poor kids cannot catch A BREAK. This is in an AU of Billy being alive in s4 and getting cursed instead of Max. I guess this is techinally spoilers for s4?

Steve was sitting next to Billy’s hospital bed, humming to the ABBA song playing softly in the background. He hoped that by playing Billy’s least favorite songs, he would wake up out of his coma just to tell Steve to turn it off. 

He was reading Wuthering Heights, a book that ‘romance nerd’ Billy Hargrove suggested to him before all of this happened. It was almost funny that Steve was reading this book now, a book about a doomed romance. Hilarious. 

The air conditioning in this room was trying to freeze Steve to death. He had tried adjusting the temperature, but it had somehow gotten colder. Luckily, Billy had forced given Steve his brown denim jacket when he had returned from the Upside Down. Steve had taken his shirt off to dive into Lover’s Lake. Once everyone else got with him, Eddie had given him his vest. When they were back in ‘normal’ Hawkins, Billy had asked who he got the vest from and told Steve to take it off and put on his jacket. But Billy claims he’s not jealous or possessive… of course he’s not. 

And now, when Steve has to go back to his empty house whenever he needs to get things done, he has Billy’s jacket around him since Billy couldn’t be. 

…

It still broke his heart. Every time he woke up in that uncomfortable pull out couch and looked up at Billy, his heart broke. Steve had collapsed on the floor when bell chimes had rang because he knew he had lost Billy and he promised him - Steve promised him - that he would keep him safe. Nancy and Robin had gotten him to his feet and together they rode back to Eddie’s trailer, trying to flee from the cracking ground beneath their bike tires. 

That’s when he had seen Dustin cradling Eddie’s bleeding body. It reminded Steve so much of Starcourt. Steve didn’t know how to take it, really. He had barely known the dude, but he had just sacrificed himself for them. They weren’t able to bring Eddie’s body through the portal, so they had to leave him while Dustin hysterically sobbed. 

They deemed it was no longer safe to go through the portal because they had no idea what would happen if they went back in. What if Billy came back somehow, and the gates closed up, leaving them trapped inside? Of course, Billy coming back would be something of a miracle. Maybe El finally got her powers back and was defeating Vecna in some weird mind world? What if Vecna had died when Nancy shot him through the window? His body just wasn’t there because he had disintegrated.

The small group of four stayed in the RV that they had stolen. Trying to ignore the screams of the people living inside the trailer park as the gate to hell opened up under their feet. They all kept together as the RV was filled with cries and panic. They didn’t know how everyone was doing back at the Creel house. 

It wasn’t until a couple of minutes had passed when the ground started shaking once more and Steve looked out the window to see that the cracks in the ground were closing up. In the span of a second, Steve was turning the RV on and racing towards the Creel House. Once they all arrived at the abandoned house, there was an ambulance sitting out in the front, getting ready to leave. Erica and Lucas noticed the RV and ran to them.

Steve followed the ambulance all the way to the hospital.

But now, after all of that, he had been staying in Billy’s hospital room for a little over a week. Max was also staying with him, in the hospital room and in his house. There had yet to be word from Max’s mother and no first responders had found her body yet, so it was safe to assume Max wouldn’t be seeing her again. 

And now he was sitting in Billy’s hospital room, humming to ABBA, reading some stupid romance book, and looking over the Hargrove-Mayfield siblings. 

“Read me something from your book.” Max said, tearing her attention from her own book, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. A book that was supposed to belong to Billy Hargrove for his birthday, but things got in the way. 

Steve sighed and flipped through some pages randomly. “You said I killed you - haunt me, then.” Steve read. “Be with me always - take any form - drive me mad. Only do not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you.” Steve finished reading, and his eyes inadvertently darted up to Billy’s unconscious body. He hoped that Billy’s mind wasn’t in a dark abyss, but in the sunny beaches of California. El hadn’t told them what she saw when she went into Billy’s mind the first time she visited, but the look on her face afterwards could only mean it wasn’t good. 

He hated thinking like this. Steve hated having these kinds of thoughts, but with El’s face and the fact that Billy’s heart had stopped for an entire minute, he wondered if they should keep him like this. Steve knew what someone being brain dead was, it meant that they were legally dead. Jesus Christ- Billy couldn’t breathe without fucking machines. Why should they keep him like this? You can’t come back from being dead and Steve knew they were living in a world where Demogorgons and fucking alternate realities were real, but you can’t come back from being fucking dead. Steve was wondered if any of this was worth it. 

There was a silence between Steve and Max. A wonder between both of them. Where was Billy’s mind if it was not with them? 

“Billy would haunt us, right?” Steve asked. 

“Oh, definitely.” Max giggled. “Probably leave stupid notes everywhere.” 

Steve laughed and turned to Max, who was sitting on the pullout couch and hunched over her book. “He’d open all my cabinets just to drive me crazy.” 

They laughed loudly. There was a small unspoken hope between the 2 that Billy wasn’t haunting them right now, for obvious reasons. Yeah, there was now smoke pouring out the cracks in the ground of Hawkins, but Billy’s heart monitor was still beeping. Their laughter turned into giggles, which soon fizzled around into comfortable silence once again. I Will Follow Him by The Passions started playing on their small radio, and Steve thought it was funny. He watched Billy’s chest slowly rise and fall with his now mechanical breathing. He would follow Billy wherever he went, California or to death. 

“Can I tell you something?” Max said quickly. 

“Go crazy, kid.” Steve placed a bookmark in his book and closed it on Billy’s bedside table. He turned in the chair and was now facing the redhead. 

Max and him had gotten pretty close ever since he started dating Billy again. Not even a week after they got back together, she had found out about them and, thankfully, had been very supportive. She was always the one suggesting they go to the community pool and not Steve’s, she was always the one telling them when Neil and Susan would come home, and she was always the one to say excuses for them when the party started thinking how weird it was Billy and Steve were friends now. 

Max took a deep breath. She was playing with the Walkman in her lap, the same Kate Bush song repeating so she would never forget Billy’s favorite song. “When Billy was trying to bait Venca over to him, he said he had wished he died that day, in Starcourt, because for years he had seen himself like his father and if he died doing something his dad couldn’t ever dream of doing, then he’d be happy.” Her eyes were glossy and her voice was wavering. Steve’s heart was pinching because he had heard Billy’s wishes of death too many times before. “He- He said that if we were happy about his death, he wouldn’t blame us because he had been such a dick to us.” She sniffled and paused for a moment, letting a tear roll down her cheek. Steve slid out of his chair and onto the pullout couch, holding Max tightly. “He said he wouldn’t blame me if I wanted him to die because he had been so mean to me, and the worst part is that I wish he did.” Max broke out in choked sobs, holding onto Steve tightly. 

He stayed quiet as he continued to hold Max, letting her sob into his shoulder. Steve didn’t want to tell her that was a terrible thing to say, especially with what was going on now, because he understood Max. Her and Billy’s relationship was pretty bad, according to the both of them. They snapped at each other a lot, got mean, yelled, and Billy had never hit Max, but he had been seconds away from doing so many times. Billy had apologized for the pain he had done to his sister and their relationship slowly mended. But, of course, there was still unresolved tension in their relationship. 

“I had always prayed for something bad to happen to him.” She cried. “He’d drive his car too fast, he’d get cancer, Neil would go too far, I just wanted something to happen to him and- and then it did.” Her body was trembling as she held Steve at an arm’s length, tears falling down her cheeks like waterfalls. “I had never been so guilty in my entire life and I was so happy that he was okay, but now… now after all this time of knowing him, I’m scared it happened again.” 

“What happened again?” Steve asked, brushing Max’s messed up hair down. 

“My prayers got answered.” She was a mess. Red, teary eyes and a puffy red nose with snot fall down her chin and tears falling down her jaw. 

Steve sighed and took her back into a tight hug, tears soaking up into Billy’s jacket and snot rubbing on Steve’s shirt. He could wipe it off later. When the Starcourt incident happened, he felt terrible. He had never felt more guilty. Steve had resented Billy for a couple days before everything had happened because he had stood Steve up for their date, later he would find out that Billy was actually on his way to Steve’s house before he got possessed. He had no idea and had felt guilty for ages afterwards, thinking that his anger towards Billy somehow got him possessed and almost killed. For days, he had thought about what would have happened if he just checked up on Billy sooner. Would they have been able to get the Mind Flayer out of him before everything went shit? 

“Max.” He said, holding her out so she could look at his face. “I’m going to tell you something, and I’m not sure how upset this might make you, but you need to know this.” He let her process what he was about to tell her. “God isn’t real. I know we live in a world where D&D creatures have come to life, but this is one thing I can tell you for certain. God isn’t real.” She looked at him with a blank face. “No amount of whispering towards the sky could’ve made whatever happened to Billy happen, okay?” 

Her lips were trembling. “Really?” She whispered. 

“Really.” Steve stated. “If you want to blame someone, blame Billy.” 

“What?” She laughed, a smile coming from her sad face. 

“Yeah, blame that asshole.” He pointed towards Billy. “Sacrificed himself twice for us. I mean, why can’t he just be normal and not be a good person?” 

Max’s giggling filled up the room, like the sun peaking through the curtains. “Yeah, what an asshole.” She said in between her laughing fits. She wiped her eyes as the smile on her face stayed, Steve laughing alongside her. 

“The first time didn’t even make any sense. Sacrificing yourself for a girl you barely knew?” Steve joked. “No divine intervention can make you that stupid.” 

Max burst out laughing. “What an idiot!” 

Their laughter was louder than the Queen song that was playing on the radio. Making the blaring white hospital room finally have some color as they laughed and joked about how stupidly sweet Billy Hargrove is… was. 

“And he denies every day that he’s not sweet.” Max giggled. 

Steve laughed with her. “Yeah, like the guy who likes romance novels and sweet poetry isn’t sweet.” 

Max burst out in laughter, wiping the happy tears from her eyes as she doubled over. 

And then there was a whisper between the Queen song and loud laughter. 

“I’m not sweet.”