#ANYWAY. sorry for making the same post over and over the last couple days. talking abt it on here has helped me feel a lot calmer

[toastsnaffler]

I slept rly deeply last night even tho it took me a while to get to sleep but I think that was bc I had acid reflux and I'd been playing videogames too late not anything else.... still only got 6 hrs but doing pretty okay all things considered 😚

[empty-movement]

May I ask what scanners / equipment / software you're using in the utena art book project? I'm an artist and half the reason I rarely do traditional art is because I'm never happy with the artwork after it's scanned in. But the level of detail even in the blacks of Utena's uniform were all captured so beautifully! And even the very light colors are showing up so well! I'd love to know how you manage!

You know what's really fun? This used to be something you put in your site information section, the software and tools used! Not something that's as normal anymore, but let's give it a go, sorry it's long because I don't know what's new information and what's not! Herein: VANNA'S 'THIS IS AS SPECIFIC AS MY BREAK IS LONG' GUIDE/AIMLESS UNEDITED RAMBLE ABOUT SCANNING IMAGES

Scanning: Modern scanners, by and large, are shit for this. The audience for scanning has narrowed to business and work from home applications that favor text OCR, speed, and efficiency over archiving and scanning of photos and other such visual media. It makes sense--there was a time when scanning your family photographs and such was a popular expected use of a scanner, but these days, the presumption is anything like that is already digital--what would you need the scanner to do that for? The scanner I used for this project is the same one I have been using for *checks notes* a decade now. I use an Epson Perfection V500. Because it is explicitly intended to be a photo scanner, it does threebthings that at this point, you will pay a niche user premium for in a scanner: extremely high DPI (dots per inch), extremely wide color range, and true lossless raws (BMP/TIFF.) I scan low quality print media at 600dpi, high quality print media at 1200 dpi, and this artbook I scanned at 2400 dpi. This is obscene and results in files that are entire GB in size, but for my purposes and my approach, the largest, clearest, rawest copy of whatever I'm scanning is my goal. I don't rely on the scanner to do any post-processing. (At these sizes, the post-processing capacity of the scanner is rendered moot, anyway.) I will replace this scanner when it breaks by buying another identical one if I can find it. I have dropped, disassembled to clean, and abused this thing for a decade and I can't believe it still tolerates my shit. The trade off? Only a couple of my computers will run the ancient capture software right. LMAO. I spent a good week investigating scanners because of the insane Newtype project on my backburner, and the quality available to me now in a scanner is so depleted without spending over a thousand on one, that I'd probably just spin up a computer with Windows 7 on it just to use this one. That's how much of a difference the decade has made in what scanners do and why. (Enshittification attacks! Yes, there are multiple consumer computer products that have actually declined in quality over the last decade.)

Post-processing: Photoshop. Sorry. I have been using Photoshop for literally decades now, it's the demon I know. While CSP is absolutely probably the better piece of software for most uses (art,) Photoshop is...well it's in the name. In all likelihood though, CSP can do all these things, and is a better product to give money to. I just don't know how. NOTENOTENOTE: Anywhere I discuss descreening and print moire I am specifically talking about how to clean up *printed media.* If you are scanning your own painting, this will not be a problem, but everything else about this advice will stand! The first thing you do with a 2400 dpi scan of Utena and Anthy hugging? Well, you open it in Photoshop, which you may or may not have paid for. Then you use a third party developer's plug-in to Descreen the image. I use Sattva. Now this may or may not be what you want in archiving!!! If fidelity to the original scan is the point, you may pass on this part--you are trying to preserve the print screen, moire, half-tones, and other ways print media tricks the eye. If you're me, this tool helps translate the raw scan of the printed dots on the page into the smooth color image you see in person. From there, the vast majority of your efforts will boil down to the following Photoshop tools: Levels/Curves, Color Balance, and Selective Color. Dust and Scratches, Median, Blur, and Remove Noise will also be close friends of the printed page to digital format archiver. Once you're happy with the broad strokes, you can start cropping and sizing it down to something reasonable. If you are dealing with lots of images with the same needs, like when I've scanned doujinshi pages, you can often streamline a lot of this using Photoshop Actions.

My blacks and whites are coming out so vivid this time because I do all color post-processing in Photoshop after the fact, after a descreen tool has been used to translate the dot matrix colors to solids they're intended to portray--in my experience trying to color correct for dark and light colors is a hot mess until that process is done, because Photoshop sees the full range of the dots on the image and the colors they comprise, instead of actually blending them into their intended shades. I don't correct the levels until I've descreened to some extent.

As you can see, the print pattern contains the information of the original painting, but if you try to correct the blacks and whites, you'll get a janky mess. *Then* you change the Levels:

If you've ever edited audio, then dealing with photo Levels and Curves will be familiar to you! A well cut and cleaned piece of audio will not cut off the highs and lows, but also will make sure it uses the full range available to it. Modern scanners are trying to do this all for you, so they blow out the colors and increase the brightness and contrast significantly, because solid blacks and solid whites are often the entire thing you're aiming for--document scanning, basically. This is like when audio is made so loud details at the high and low get cut off. Boo.

What I get instead is as much detail as possible, but also at a volume that needs correcting:

Cutting off the unused color ranges (in this case it's all dark), you get the best chance of capturing the original black and white range:

In some cases, I edit beyond this--for doujinshi scans, I aim for solid blacks and whites, because I need the file sizes to be normal and can't spend gigs of space on dust. For accuracy though, this is where I'd generally stop.

For scanning artwork, the major factor here that may be fucking up your game? Yep. The scanner. Modern scanners are like cheap microphones that blow out the audio, when what you want is the ancient microphone that captures your cat farting in the next room over. While you can compensate A LOT in Photoshop and bring out blacks and whites that scanners fuck up, at the end of the day, what's probably stopping you up is that you want to use your scanner for something scanners are no longer designed to do well. If you aren't crazy like me and likely to get a vintage scanner for this purpose, keep in mind that what you are looking for is specifically *a photo scanner.* These are the ones designed to capture the most range, and at the highest DPI. It will be a flatbed. Don't waste your time with anything else.

Hot tip: if you aren't scanning often, look into your local library or photo processing store. They will have access to modern scanners that specialize in the same priorities I've listed here, and many will scan to your specifications (high dpi, lossless.)

Ahem. I hope that helps, and or was interesting to someone!!!

[malfoyswand]

𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐬

pairing: draco malfoy x reader

summary: draco malfoy comforts you about your biggest insecurity.

word count: 1.5k

genre: fluff

warnings: bullying, insecurities, one instance of swearing, a little bit of nudity (but nothing sexual)

author's note: honestly writing this was like free therapy to me. i plan to write and post a part two to this (featuring smut, everybody cheer) in a couple of days too!

➪ masterlist | requests

You couldn't help but let a sigh escape from your lips as you heard the sound of knocking on your door. Truthfully, if you could have it your way, you would be content with not seeing another human being for the rest of the day.

"Can you come back later? I'm trying to sleep." You called out from your bed, pulling your blankets over your head to block out the knocking. Sleep was far from your mind, you only wished to be alone with your sorrow.

The knocking ceased. Just as you thought whoever it was had walked away, you heard the door creak open anyway. It was probably one of your roommates, you hoped they would leave soon enough. 

You felt someone lift up the blankets slightly and lay down next to you in the bed. Turning your head slightly, you saw it was Draco Malfoy. Your heart skipped a beat when you saw him, but the pain in his eyes saddened you further.

"We both know you're not going to sleep yet, (Y/N)." Draco spoke softly, one of his arms wrapping itself around your shoulders. "Now, please tell me what happened out there."

The last thing you wanted to do was talk about that, but you knew your boyfriend deserved some sort of explanation for your sudden behavior. 

The last Saturday of May was always spent with Draco and his group of friends. It was tradition at this point to spend the whole day at the Black Lake, swimming and getting into all sorts of mischief. However, this year was slightly different. Draco Malfoy had finally asked you to be his girlfriend a few months prior.

While it seemed as if everyone else in the group was ecstatic, Pansy Parkinson was not. You had known for a long time that she had developed a crush on Draco, and wasn't too pleased when Draco had turned her down. Ever since, the tension between the girl who used to be your best friend and yourself has been difficult for you to manage. 

Pansy had finally snapped at the Black Lake and told you how she had felt. While you were watching the Slytherin boys play some sort of game near the water, Pansy sat next to you. The conversation started off pleasant, but it quickly turned brutal.

It started off with Pansy complimenting your navy blue bikini, but in the same breath, she mentioned that "it's brave of you to wear something that revealing, considering your marks and all." Her hands touched the stretch marks on your stomach and thighs, giving them a pinch. You felt your breath become trapped in your throat, she knew they were your biggest insecurity. 

Before you could even think, you found yourself running away from the lake, not even noticing Draco was following your footsteps. 

As you told this story to him, you could see him clench his jaw in anger. "That bitch. Does she not realize what she did was cruel? I'm going to have a talk with her tomorrow, and if she continues, let me know. I will fix this, she can’t talk to you like this and get away with it."

"Draco, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to run off like that. Just give me a minute, I'll come back-" Before you could finish the offer, you felt his lips press softly against yours. He pulled away all too soon, resting his forehead on yours. 

"Oh hush, darling. They'll be alright without us, we're staying right here." To further his point, he pulled you into his arms. There was no other place you would rather be trapped. Only then did you realize he was still in his swim trunks, with no shirt. "I need to make sure that you know you are beautiful."

"I-I'm not." It came out as a quiet, defeated whisper as you felt the sobs begin again. Your insecurities were something you never shared with your boyfriend before, you didn't want to burden him any further. 

"Oh.." Draco slightly panicked, not sure exactly what to do. He had never seen you cry before. "No, no. Please don't say that. Pansy couldn't have been more wrong, you look like an angel. Why would you think any different?"

It was hard to speak, between your cries and your voice being muffled from Draco pulling you closer to him. He wiped away each tear that fell, listening intently as you spoke. 

"Because of what she said. I mean, she was right. I have stretch marks all over me, and the bikini only just shows them even more. I don't know what I was thinking! They make me so ugly and it's embarrassing, when no other girl there had them."

One of his hands moved your chin upwards, forcing your eyes to meet his gray ones. "Stop it right there, (Y/N). You are not ugly, and who cares about some marks? You are absolutely perfect in my eyes."

He must have been able to tell that a part of you didn't believe him. You knew he loved you and would never lie to you, he truly did think you were beautiful. But you couldn't bring yourself to think of yourself in that way.

You felt him shift next to you as he sat up, moving the blankets away so he could see you fully. You were still in that cursed bikini, biting your lip as you realized he could now see you in broad daylight. "Draco, what are you doing?"

"Well if you won't believe my words, maybe you'll believe my actions." A small smile spread on his face as his hands gently found themselves roaming down your body, his eyes soaking in every piece of exposed skin he could. You were about to protest to explain that you weren't in the mood for anything his mind might come up with.

"Before you ask, no, I'm not trying to initiate anything else. Would it be okay if I touched your stomach?" It was as if he could read your mind. You were terrified that if Draco touched your stomach and felt the marks that had invaded your skin, he would become disgusted. But at the same time, his touch was comforting. It was something you knew could calm you down. 

With a nod, he grinned and lowered himself down until his eyes were level with your stomach. His fingertips gently caressed down until they reached your lower abdomen. "Merlin, you're beautiful. You belong in a museum of art, my love."

His words made you blush bright red, as your hands covered your face to hide this fact. "Hardly." That was all you could manage to choke out between your embarrassment and the sobs that still begged to break free from your chest.

"Please, look at me." You obeyed, placing your hands at your side once more and looking down to look at Draco. "I'm not kidding around, you are stunning. If anything, these marks make you even more so."

You felt his fingertips gently graze upon each stretch mark, your breath hitching as he did so. His lips replaced them in an instant, as he kissed each mark he could find. Eventually, the path of marks led him to pulling down your bikini bottom very slightly to only kiss the ones on your hips. 

You knew he could feel every slight bump on his lips, the thought of it filled you with shame. His kisses were feather-like, it was as if he was afraid that if he kissed your skin too hard, you would break underneath him. But as you looked at him, he didn't seem to mind.

If anything, Draco Malfoy seemed to adore it. He kept his eyes mostly on yours, but occasionally, he would look down at the stretch marks before him. His kisses were slow, as if he was trying to take his time in memorizing every curve of each mark. His hands gently rubbed the curves of your waist, smiling to himself as he felt your body relax at his touch.

Once he was finally done kissing each mark he could find, you couldn't help but smile at the look of achievement on his face. His eyes seemed to have a glimmer to them, as if he had just won a prize.

"Actually, I take back my statement from before. You're not just something to be put in a museum for people to look at, until they get bored and move along. You deserve something much more permanent, like a sculpture to last the ages."

"What?" A look of confusion spread across your face. What was Malfoy going on about, comparing you to pieces that belonged in some sort of art collection?

"What I mean is," a soft laugh came from Draco's lips as he laid down next to you again, his fingers caressing your jawline this time around. "You should be worshiped, darling. Please never repeat the words you said earlier. Those marks are breathtaking, I could spend eternity kissing them.”

You could feel the tears form in the corner of your eyes, but from joy instead of sorrow. Draco was puzzled, worried that his words may have hurt you unintentionally. You learned your head into the crook of his neck, feeling his hands caress your back. 

“I thought you would hate them, you know?” You managed to whisper into his shirt. He responded by shushing you, his fingertips finding their way through your hair.

“I could never, (Y/N). I’ve never seen anything, or anyone, more beautiful.”

[justkennadi]

Seeing Nerd!Armin’s dorm for the first time

Notes: Kinda continuation of my nervous nerd post but it doesn’t have to be if u don’t want to

content: Nerd!Armin x blk/fem!reader, mostly fluff, a bit suggestive here and there but nothing too explicit 👍🏾

- Armin called you the second he got back to his dorm, he just loves ur voice sm!

-The boy was obsessed i tell y’all…

- You guys talked for hours that night and for the next few weeks you guys would talk every night until like 3am talking about whatever…

- “Sooo, you got a roommate or sum?”, You’d ask one night.

-“Oh, not really. I live in the coed mini apartments. We have our own rooms…I guess it still counts though huh…” Armin softly said.

-Come to find out y’all both do!

-After learning this you asked to come over one day.

-Armin was a nervous wreck. He spent hours trying to clean up and make the place look nice before you came over. He also begged Eren to leave too.

-“Why?” Eren asked but Armin not wanting to really say just responded in a squeaky, “…Because!”

-Eren just stared for a second and then busted out laughing, “OHhhh, i see..😏”

-Armin tried to explain that’s not what was happening here but Eren just yelled back, “Have fun!” as he left out the door.

- Armin was in the middle of cleaning his glasses when you knocked on the door. He jumped a bit as his heart began to beat and he stared to blush at the thought of you seeing where he stayed.

-After one last quick check in the mirror he opened the door, greeted you and to his surprise you gave him a hug!

-He kinda just froze and smiled. Very awkward but cute..

-You wore a cute plain green dress that went to your knees, a black jean jacket to go over it and some black uggs. You also had your hair in a bun(if u don’t have enough for a bun sorry just pretend u got a wig on or something). He loved how good you looked even in simple outfits.

-He let you in as you looked around admiring how neat it was. “It’s so cleannn up in here, y’all might be the cleanest college boys i know!” You exclaimed. “Where is your roommate anyway?”

- “Oh, um, out..” Armin said blushing a little at your compliment.

- “Is he a smarty pants like you too?”

-“No, um, not at all..” Armin said. He stared at you as you laughed at that. He couldn’t believe you were in the place he stayed.. He fr had a girl over!!

- Armin showed you around a bit, avoiding Eren’s messy room and saving his own for last. He mainly focused on his favorite parts like the plants by the window and the bookshelf in the hallway.

- “So, what do you want to do now y/n?” Armin asked after he finished showing you the tiny kitchen. You smiled at how he said your name. It kinda had a sultry tone but you didn’t know if he meant that or not.

- “Um…i don’t know. Can i see your room?” You kind of hesitated to ask cause you didn’t want him to think you wanted to do anything crazy just yet, tbh you just wanted to see😭

- “Oh! Uh, sure, follow me…” He led you to his room and opened the door and stepped aside so you could go in..

- It was really clean and definitely showed his nerdy personality. Book, books and more books first of all. His desk was clean but also messy at the same time? Papers and folders and a couple textbooks covers the top and on the desk hutch there were more books and some pencils.

- His bed was made and he seems to go for a black and white theme throughout the room. He had black bedsheets, his desk was white and his curtain had a black and white pattern. Oh and it smelled nice, like fresh laundry.

- “I like your room, Arlert.” You turned to him and saw his whole face was red.

-“Oh, um yeah, thanks…” He mumbled. He was just flustered at the fact a girl was in his room!

-You laughed at this and poked him and teased, “Stop being so nervous, boy!”

-He just smiled at you and laughed a bit. This is when you noticed how soft and blue his eyes were behind his lens.

- Y’all spent the rest of that evening really chilling and watching shows on hulu/netflix/whatevr. Armin ordered a pizza which was plain but you weren’t complaining cause it was a sweet gesture.

-You left at around 8 but before you got out you hugged Armin again to say bye and Eren walked in.

-“Heyyy, pretty lady.” He smirked after seeing you. You pulled away from Armin and he rolled his eyes. Eren laughed it off and said he was joking(he already had eyes on another girl anyways). You just waved and left.

-“Sooooo?” Eren asked looking over at a very embarrassed Armin who just said, “No, we did not.”

- You both ofc called each other again that night to talk about that day and when Armin should come over to your place next time.

-You both felt closer than ever after that day ❤️

[trutrustories]

STUDY IN LOKI ROMANCE Part 1: Ouroboros

Since we're only a few days away from the last episode, I decided to COUNT DOWN everything we´ve got so far ( that can be interpreted very easily as romantic ) and discuss what the actual fuck is going on with second season. Because even though I shipped lokius practically from S1E2, I absolutely did NOT expect this kind of development. (Not that I´m complaining) Warning: This is gonna be LONG post, lots of screenshots, lots of SPOILERS, lot of "oh-my-god-they-so-cute" language, and little bit of meta. I originally thought that this post would be everything at once, but since I have just too many screenshots this time around, I´ll have to split it. so every post will be one episode. Color coding means:

IIIIIIIIII = anything, that coud potentialy be just acting choice.

IIIIIIIIII = everything else (tzn.: whatever was written, and/or carefully prepared by filmmakers. )

side note: I already wrote, about how amazing it is, that Mobius is unable to fight but fights anyway and how beautifuly, and ridiculously brave he is HERE. But this is about Loki/Mobius interactions, so I´ll try my best not to talk about THAT. (Even when I´m really happy, that s2 continues with this formula and Mobius is still his completely defenseless while aggressively brave self. I love him, btw.)

Soooo EPISODE 1, le´t go: 1)"Mobius It´s me!" few second in and we have slowmo chasing scene with detail on Loki, and Mobius and then THIS Loki´s heartbreaking look on his face here.

2) "Tell me, you recognize me!" (Loki trying to desperetly find Mobius, and then running towards him) Also If this Time slipping didn´t triggered anything external, but It´s just his own, unlocked power - I honestly don´t know, how they will explain that - does that mean, that he unknowingly unlocked this power, because he was send by Silvie into the past, and then he was simply desperete and Mobius couldn´t recognized him so his body reacted by time slipping to place and time, where Mobius would know who he is???

3) this very unexpected exhibition of touches (meaning Mobius practicaly glueing himself to Loki for this entire section)

I´m sorry, but my man here is like "no, I´m not about to let you have a personal space. NOT. AN. OPTION. let me hold you some more" xD

4) This scene in in an elevator first of all, that was a second time, he slipped and was RIGHT back with Mobius, the very next second. secondly: Mobius being scared for Loki and insisting he needs immediate help thirdly: Loki reassuring Mobius, It´s not that bad.

also this "we just had sex in a cabin" shot:

and lastly...

Big thanks to the film crew for this shot to give us an idea just HOW MUCH OF AN UNUSED SPACE was in the elevator! 👌

5) Mobius and Loki talking to OB. being perfectly coordinated team and smoothly working together, while standing on a same spot, but in a completely different time.

poetry... just poetry!

6) Distressed God and his Happy Face just so we know: how long is it, since their reunion? Because I would swear that not even five minutes ago Loki was in state of complete panic, and look at him now:

Look at him smiling, enjoying view at struggling mobius 💚

few minutes with this man, and HE forgets all about his trauma and just vibing.

me too, Loki. Me too 🥲

btw, this thing over here?!!!!

7) bickering, like married couple, part 1

8) "Mobius if I don´t make it back" and "You´ll make it back". What was it, what where you about to say Loki? It sounded important! next time TALK FASTER!

9) Mobius risking his life SKIN for loki and refusing to give up on him.

10) Loki saves Mobius in an epic fashion and they end up in a hug: also they roll around the floor together

I mean... this whole scene was absolute TOP! So yeah. That was a first episode. before the premiere I was litteraly hoping, that I will see our Loki and our Mobius together at least ONCE, before first end credits. I actually couldn´t believe my own eyes, holy shit!

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for writing a paragraph on how I want to drop my friends?

(15F for ref, everyone in here is also F and around the same age)

In 2022, I returned from a six-week camp session with friends I only see once a year (pretty shitty experience ngl, but I still had fun), A couple days later, they accused me of stealing this girl's shirt since I was the last one to wear it. I told her I didn't and I wouldn't. I had a similar steal it because. They proceed to accuse me, so to get out my feelings I write this lengthy paragraph in my notes app expressing my thoughts and what I don't like about the group. This never gets sent out, and we stay friends.

In 2023, they went to camp again (for the last eligible year so it was very special to them), but I stayed home due to pre-existing commitments. This was also the time when the notes app trend was going on, a.k .a. where people would post their notes app and all the antics they wrote. I also posted a video like this, and on the sixth slide, I put the paragraph that I wrote in 2022 (it said 2022 at the top). They didn't immediately see this because they weren't allowed to have their phones, but I private the video before they got back due to a mental health issue I had accidentally aired out. At this time, I saw nothing wrong with the paragraph being included because all the issues had blown over.

A couple months later, I un-privated the video because YOLO and the group found it and immediately got hated on so hard for the video. They post pictures of me to social media stories write paragraphs about how awful of a person I am, create lies about me, and comment on all of my Tiktok posts where I talk about the issue, despite me being vague.

I don't know where I stand in this issue because yeah, I didn't go to the trip this year, and the paragraph was admittedly rude, but they didn't even give me a chance to explain, and getting body shamed on a private Snapchat story when they know I had an ED isn't something i think I deserve, but I need outsider perspective.

The paragraph for reference:

I’m sorry but I can’t do this anymore. The whole entire time I was at camp I felt isolated because I was not as involved and as social with the boys as you guys were/are, and that might not be your fault, but you guys have no care in that being the only thing you discuss on this group chat. Every time I text about something else, it always gets pushed to the side and now you are accusing me of stealing (name)’s top. I agree, I was the last on to wear it, but distinctly remember throwing it back into (name)'s trunk. I am sorry it did not make the trip back home, but it is not my fault. I don’t want your slutty top anyways, I only borrowed it because my ebb to street wasn’t going to work. I have done so much for you guys, like letting everyone borrow my clothes, giving away my lululemon, and while some of my pieces were stolen, I am not pointing fingers at random people because I have control of my feelings. So many words have been wasted protecting the reputation of Cabin 10 from others who think you guys are attention-seeking whores (you want names? It’s the whole fucking camp), and everyone looked at me in pity when I cried into my hands because I was so sad. I have heard you guys talk shit about me in front of my face (*giggling and whispering* Are you going to try out for the play? No that’s weird. Both heads turn towards me, and laughter erupts out of the two mouths. You know who you are), and you guys have talked shit about each other to me, so I can only imagine what has been said about me. I felt ashamed about my passions, the only personality trait you guys addressed was that I was so mean and I was smart (you only revealed the latter on in private, the former was told to everyone). I am done feeling horrible about myself because you guys are so wrapped up in what every (camp) boy thinks of you, so I am cutting contact. You have ruined my camp experience to the point where I am not coming back.

What are these acronyms?

[selfcarecap]

You're My Holiday [p.p]

Summary: You and Peter finally go on that holiday you’ve been planning for ages. With the two of you sharing a hotel room and spending all day together half-naked in the soft sand or chilling at the pool with cocktails, you and Peter are closer than ever. It finally feels like you’re ready to take your friendship to the next level. You can only hope that he feels the same, and you’re not just imagining it.

Warnings: smut (18+, brief m masturbation, oral, fingering, handjob, protected vaginal penetration), alcohol, mentions of fear of flying, friends (aka idiots) to lovers (who move very quickly bc this is a fictional fairytale <3)

Word count: 21k… there’s seven/eight days of their holiday though and there’s a little heading for every new day so you can split it up into multiple reading sessions if you feel like it <3

I know it’s not really summer anymore but I started writing this last october and i was not gonna wait another year to post it during peak summer weather lol, also thanks ksi for the title <33 lmaoo😭

(i’ve used that pic of him so many times he’s just the cutest ever 🫶)

teaser | moodboard

Day One

It’s six in the morning and your flight leaves at twelve, so, naturally, you’re on your way to the airport. 

MJ would never admit it but she’s been dropping hints that she gets nervous about being late to things like this, so you gladly got up a few hours later if it helped your friend relax, even though your bed felt extra comfy this morning.

Following MJ’s text that her taxi is in front of your door you rush down, only to see someone else next to MJ in the back of the car. 

You put your suitcase in the boot and join MJ and her partner Chris on the back seats.

“Hii!” MJ hugs you, unusually excited. You assume she’s also trying to compensate for the fact that she didn’t tell you she invited her partner at the last minute. 

You can’t bring yourself to be mad at MJ though, first of all because it’s basically still the middle of the night, but also because MJ is in love. You know she wouldn’t just invite a third person along if she wasn’t absolutely infatuated and sure that you’d get along well.

Still, she should have talked to you first. You probably wouldn’t have had the heart to say no anyways.

It’s not that you don’t like Chris, but it was supposed to be just you and MJ, and now you’ll be third-wheeling on a vacation that you planned.

Unless…

Your mind drifts to Peter, who is probably sound asleep. Like all best friends, you’ve talked about going on vacation together for years. This would be your opportunity to finally go on that trip you’ve been planning forever and to save yourself from being alone with a couple who is annoyingly in love.

You try not to get your hopes up too soon though. It’s spontaneous, you don’t even know if Peter wants to or if he’s busy, and you have no idea if the flight and hotel are fully booked and he can’t come anyway. But if Chris was able to, then maybe there’s still room for Peter too.

Before you disturb Peter’s slumber, you make some calls and check online. Butterflies erupt in you when you find out that Peter could actually come - if he wants to. You make the taxi driver stop just as you pass Peter’s street and tell MJ and Chris you’ll meet them at the airport, taking your suitcase out and dragging it up the stairs to Peter’s apartment.

He opens the door rubbing his eyes, shirtless and only in boxers that you can’t stop yourself from glancing at. You rarely see him with so much of his bare skin showing, and it’s like a treat every time. “Oh, hi, sorry. I thought you were the mailman,” he puts a hand over his crotch and you resist the urge to stare at it directly.

“I’m here to pick you up to go to the airport with me,” you give him your most charming smile, taking a step closer to him.

“Fuck was I supposed to drive you? Sorry I didn‘—”

“No no, no, you‘re good. I wanted to ask if you wanna come with me. MJ spontaneously invited Chris and I don’t wanna third-wheel. And we’ve talked about travelling together so many times. But I get if it’s too spontaneous or anything, you can say no.”

“You-you’re asking me to come with you? To Mexico?” He asks, suddenly wide awake, keeping his mouth shut to hide his widening grin, but it comes out when he talks, “I-I, they probably won’t even have any rooms will they? And-and the flight–”

“I checked and we can get you a ticket on the plane and a room at the hotel.”

You check your phone, “We still have a few hours.”

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Okay,” he repeats, eyes full of excitement, cheeks rosy in anticipation.

“Oh my god, really?” You’re only just starting to realise what this means, how much fun you’re going to have and how lucky you are. It’s going to be a trip you’ll remember for the rest of your life - going on vacation with your two best friends.

“Yes, of course, I would never say no to that.”

He opens his arms for you to hug him and he squeezes you, lifting you in the air while you squeal - both out of general excitement and also out of being literally swept off your feet with no warning. You don’t let go of each other when he sets you down again. After a few seconds you become too conscious of how naked he is right now and you let go, skipping off into his room to help him pack.

You text MJ.

You (7:01 am)

Peter is coming toooooooo

We’ll meet you at the airport

MJ (7:02 am)

Yay, double date vacation

Don’t be late !!!

You (7:02 am)

Ha ha

You mean me and Peter 3rd and 4th wheeling on your unexpected couple vacation? 

You owe me for that btw, no offence to your relationship

MJ (7:04 am)

I already called the hotel and upgraded us to an all-inclusive package (my dad’s paying lol)

You’ll be thanking me for the free 24/7 cocktails

I’m sure they can make them virgin for Peter :)

Oh and there’s massages (!!!)

You drop your phone when Peter comes up behind you. You hope he didn’t see MJ’s message about calling you and Peter a couple (and about him being inexperienced).

She’s been nagging you about how obviously in love you and Peter are since all three of you first hung out ages ago but you’ve been denying it, unsure if she’s right but also as an attempt to protect yourself from being hurt because you desperately want her to be right.

You two freak out over the upgrade and you quickly text MJ to thank her before you help Peter.

He brushes his teeth and (unfortunately) puts on a shirt before you begin packing. You should have enough time but with New York traffic every minute can count, so you hurry up.

“Wait, May works near the airport. She‘s just getting breakfast but maybe we can skip the taxi money and drive with her.”

He goes to the kitchen to call May and you listen to him telling her the news all excited, ending with a “Thanks, love you.”

He comes back to his room, “May’s driving us.”

“Great, can I help you pack?”

“Yeah just put any clothes in,” he opens his suitcase on top of his bed and disappears into the bathroom. While Peter gets all his stuff from there you stand in front of his closet, trying to find nice clothes for the beach amongst the mess in there.

He comes back out, his arms full of small bottles of shampoo and toothpaste, “Oh my god, just put it all in,” he laughs and takes out a big heap of clothing and drops it in his suitcase, folding some of it so it’ll fit better.

“Okay, okay,” you do the same, taking about 5 random pieces of clothes, “Just didn‘t want you having a meltdown again because you can‘t find a good outfit,” you tease.

“Hey, that was years ago, okay? And don‘t act like you weren‘t crying the day before prom because you suddenly hated the dress.”

“Yeah but unlike you I just picked another outfit and pulled it off.”

“You did, you looked perfect,” he tells you sincerely and you don’t dare look at him to see his accompanying look that always makes you think his affection is more than platonic. He’s never implied that you should be more than friends, so you hate the flutter in your belly you get at the smallest signs that there could be more.

“And we’ll be at the beach most of the time, so I don’t even need any clothes anyway,” he says and your cheeks feel hot as you immediately imagine Peter completely naked. He still means he’ll be wearing swimming shorts. Even that image is enough to make you feel a little warmer than usual though.

He zips his suitcase up a few minutes later, “I think I‘ve got everything.”

May comes through the door a moment later, greeting you with a hug and an air kiss and a short while later she’s driving you to the airport.

You and Peter smile at each other in the backseats, tiredness settling back in, but you’re also floored by how exciting this situation is. You were already thrilled to be going on the trip, but Peter unexpectedly coming too makes everything ten times better.

At the airport, you realise you need to pack some shower products into your suitcase so you open it in the back of the car and rearrange a few things, and you overhear a conversation between May and Peter while they talk behind the car.

You hear Peter’s hushed voice, “Why are you holding… what am I supposed to do with those?”

“Just in case, you need to be safe. You’ll be spending a lot of time together, more than usual and in fewer clothes than normal. You were talking to me about how you feel about her just last week. All that tension between you might finally–”

“I don‘t... don‘t need them.”

May sighs, “Well it won’t hurt to take them then. I didn’t know you were so awkward about sex and–”

“Okay! Okay, I’ll take them.”

Just as you zip up your suitcase and walk over to them, you see Peter pushing something into a tiny opening on the side of his case.

“Hey, what did May give you just then?” You ask Peter a few minutes later after hugging May goodbye and waving as she drives off.

“Oh uh,” his already red face turns a few shades darker, “Uh, nothing. Hey, I can see MJ and Chris over there!”

You fall asleep leaning against Peter’s shoulder while you’re waiting to get on the plane. You wake up when Peter warns MJ not to take a picture of you two - she already has, of course - and a few moments later there’s an announcement that you can start boarding your plane.

Turns out Peter and Chris only got seats because a couple behind you and MJ cancelled their tickets, so you end up sitting next to Peter with MJ and Chris in the row in front of you.

Through all the excitement, you nearly forgot how nervous flying makes you. You try to take deep breaths as you watch the security demonstration and hope you can ignore the pounding in your chest.

“Hey, are you nervous?” Peter asks in a soft voice. You lean forward as the plane starts moving, getting closer and closer to the runway.

“Um.. just a bit. I haven‘t flown in so long and I‘ve always found flying a bit.. unsettling.”

“Do you want to hold my hand?” 

You look into his eyes and see how concerned Peter is for you. You quickly nod and interlace your fingers with his, directing your eyes back out the window to see how far you are.

“Maybe don’t look out, okay? You‘ll feel when we take off but it won‘t last long until you even forget we‘re flying.”

“What should I look at then?” You ask, still looking out the window. 

You feel his hand on your chin, gently pulling you to face him, “Look at me.”

You maintain eye contact with Peter for a while, one hand still in his, and now your heart isn’t only beating fast because of your fear of flying.

“When are we taking off?” You ask, eyes not leaving Peter’s.

He looks past you and out of the window, “Any second now. But don‘t worry, it won‘t feel any different from going on a rollercoaster. Hey, we‘ve been on so many rollercoasters together. This is so harmless in comparison,” he reasons, smiling at you.

You think back to how many amusement parks you and Peter have been to, where you even outdid Peter and went on rides that he was too scared to go on. You feel the pressure in your chest ease up, but a second later you’re pressed back into your seat as the plane takes off. Your eyes flit towards the window on the other side of the plane and you see how high you already are.

“Look at me,” Peter says again and you quickly put your other hand on top of your and his intertwined ones. He adds his own hand on top, firmly lying it on yours, and you feel a tiny bit safer.

“Now… close your eyes and imagine we‘re on a rollercoaster together, yeah? I‘ll do it with you,” you watch him close his eyes and do the same, calming down enough to imagine one of the rollercoasters you’ve been on together, smiling at the memory. 

“Kind of a lame rollercoaster,” you smile, not opening your eyes, getting used to the sensation of flying up.

“I know, right? Really boring,” you can hear the smile in his voice and his thumb starts stroking over the back of your hand. 

“That‘s actually really helpful, I think I‘m good now,” you slowly open your eyes at the same time as Peter. There’s a small jolt and you squeeze your eyes shut again, grabbing Peter’s hands tighter.

“All good, that‘s part of the rollercoaster. We‘re just going around one of those corners where it feels like you‘re about to fall out but you never do…” 

You take a deep breath and open your eyes again. Peter’s are still closed and there’s a smile on his face as he continues. “You know you‘re not going to fall out and yet you always cling to me and I laugh and pretend to be fine even though I also feel like I‘m about to fall out and I need to hold on to you just as much as you need to hold on to me.”

“What are you two dumbasses doing?” You suddenly hear MJ and find her face squished between the seats in front of you.

Your eyes meet Peter’s and you both look around, noticing that you’re in the air now, the plane finally horizontal again “Oh, we’re… Thanks,” you shyly smile at Peter and reluctantly let go of his hands.

Before you can stress over some slight turbulences, you fall asleep with your head on Peter’s shoulder once more a few minutes later. The bang the plane makes as it lands a few hours later wakes you up and when you sit up you see Peter smiling at you, probably happy that you slept through the part of the plane ride that would have made you anxious again.

You don’t realise that you’re still holding Peter’s hand until you’re in the airport, waiting for your luggage. You decide to go to the bathroom, but there’s a resistance when you start walking - it’s your hand in Peter’s, and he didn’t notice how you were walking away.

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t realise I was holding your hand,” you say.

“Oh it’s, it’s okay. You going to the restroom? Do you want me to come with you?” He asks, getting up.

“It’s fine, MJ’s coming with me. But thanks.”

It’s a lot hotter here than it was in New York, so you take off your hoodie and swap it for the short top you had with you. Three of your suitcases are there already when you get back so you stand around your luggage as you wait for the last one to arrive.

“Stop drooling over my best friend and do what you’re here for,” you hear MJ while you’re pretending to not notice Peter looking at your revealing top. MJ points to her suitcase on the conveyer and Peter gets it, picking up two more suitcases after MJ tells him to.

“What, Peter can‘t carry all of that,” you say, trying to take one off him.

“No it‘s fine,” he says, carrying them outside with ease. You try not to let your eyes linger on Peter’s biceps or how his shirt slightly lifts at the bottom. You’ll be seeing him half-naked at the beach soon enough, and you’ll be able to stare less obviously.

The hotel is just as nice as it looked in the pictures, and excitement replaces your tiredness once again. Peter is just across the hall from your, MJ and Chris’s shared room.

While your roommates still unpack, you go to knock on Peter’s door, bikini ready under your clothes. “Wanna go explore?” You ask when you see him, his swimming shorts already on with a simple white shirt that looks incredible on him.

It takes you nearly an hour until you’ve seen all the important spots of the resort and after a dip in the pool and a trip to the spa to plan your spa day later this week, you end up at the bar. You don’t want to worsen your slight sleepiness with alcohol, so you just get a fruit smoothie. 

You take in the view of the ocean, a cooling breeze flying across your skin. You and Peter clink your glasses, “To the next, wonderful week of our lives.”

“To an unforgettable week of our lives,” you add, not taking your eyes off Peter as you taste the liquid heaven. “If summer vacation was a drink it would taste like this,” you grin at Peter and he nods, smiling and finishing his drink quickly and already getting up to get you two more.

The beach is a part of the resort, about a three-minute walk from your room. You spend most of your day there, soaking up the sun and resting from your flight and the early start to the day. Peter looks adorable with the sunscreen all over his face. “Where?” he asks after you told him to rub it in a bit more, a wide white stripe on his nose.

“Here, let me…” you sit down on your knees in front of him, soft sand giving in under your legs, a few grains of it spilling onto your towel. You swallow as you get close to him, stroking your hand over his nose to let the sunscreen soak into his skin more.

Peter closes his eyes in delight, like a dog being scratched behind the ear, so you rub it in as long as you can without him realising that you finished ages ago. 

“Should I get your back?” You ask, unsure if having your hands on Peter is a good idea, but you want to do it anyway.

“Yes, thanks, if you don’t mind,” he smiles sleepily, the lack of rest catching up to him. You would offer him your sunscreen mist, so he can spray his back himself, but you can’t resist him when he rolls over onto his stomach and rests his head on his arms and his wide, defined shoulders are staring at you.

You straddle his hips, which is admittedly unnecessary, and slowly squirt sunscreen all over his back, taking your time with rubbing it all in, getting more on your hands to make sure his shoulders are covered. 

You don’t know if it’s the jetlag or the holiday atmosphere, but right now it’s not your first priority to hide your crush on Peter from him. You just want to enjoy yourself, and that includes being close to Peter. As long as he doesn’t mind, you don’t see any harm. If he comments on it, you’ll blame it on the carelessness that comes with being on holiday.

“Didn’t know all-inclusive meant getting a massage from you. Who needs the spa when I have you?” He practically purrs, cheek squished against his arm. You hum in response, licking your lips at hearing him so relaxed from your simple touch.

Peter thanks you when you get off him, leaving his head on his folded arms. A few moments later, you hear gentle snoring and you turn onto your side to watch him sleep peacefully.

His skin looks so soft, still shiny from the sunscreen. There’s a slight furrow in his eyebrows, his forehead creasing, and you realise the sun is right in his eyes. You carefully adjust the parasol above you, so his face is in the shade.

You get bored after a while and stand up to get a book from your room. As you get up, Peter wakes up, “Where are you going?” He mumbles.

“Just getting something from my room, you need anything?” 

“No thanks,” he murmurs, lying back down. You bend down to kiss his temple, stroking his hair for a second. He smiles softly and falls asleep again. Your heart is so full of love for him as you kneel beside him for another minute or two before getting your book.

You read for a while before you look at the ocean in front of you, only a few feet of sand separating you from it. You don’t want to go alone though, so you tap Peter on the shoulder a few times.

All he does is roll on his back with a sleepy groan and you almost feel bad for waking him up. But then you focus on the sound of the waves and you know it’ll be nice for him too.

“Peter,” you whisper multiple times but he refuses to open his eyes. You straddle him and hover above his hips like you’ve done countless times before when you were playfighting. Only this time you’re in a bikini.

His eyes open immediately and he gulps, hands reaching out to grab your hips but stopping last second. You can tell he’s having a hard time trying not to look at your chest - he fails multiple times as his eyes drift down for only a second each time they do.

You don’t know how you’ll survive a week of him looking at you like that. It’s something you’re scared of - both of you giving in to the sexual attraction but being unsure about your romantic feelings for each other.

It’s clear that Peter is physically attracted to you. But for a guy who is friends with a pretty woman, it doesn’t mean much. You’re sexually attracted to him too, and you don’t mind his attention - it’s always respectful and you know he’d easily manage to control himself if you expressed any discomfort at him staring. He probably thinks he’s being subtle though, but he’s not.

When you’re someone’s best friend who, in your eyes, is a potential romantic partner too, it’s fucking hard to figure out of their affection is strictly platonic. Peter is a loving person and so it’s not easy to tell if his love is friendly or romantic. You doubt romantic affection would feel very different from his platonic love.

You couldn’t bare having sex with him and later find out that’s all he wants from you besides friendship. It would destroy you and so for now, while you’re strong-willed and it’s only the first day that you’re spending together half-naked, you get off of him to prevent anything more from happening.

“Come swim with me,” you smile charmingly and he sits up and yawns, stretching before he stands up. “Last one in the water has to pay for the next drink,” he yells as he sprints into the water, making you laugh.

“They’re free,” you shout after him, following him into the water. He helps you through the first few feet of the water, making sure you don’t step on any spiky stones in the sand.

You enjoy the feeling of zero gravity in the water, splashing each other and joining a group of people who are playing with a ball. Peter looks at you every time something funny happens, which you only know because you’re doing the same with him, and you wonder how it’s possible that every moment spent with him makes you appreciate him even more.

As you sit on the beach with towels around you, you share snacks that you brought and decide to go to the pool now. You don’t say anything for ages, your eyes saying more than words can.

You get in the water together, holding hands as you float on your backs. 

Just this morning, you randomly showed up in front of a sleepy Peter’s door; now you’re in sunny Mexico, having the time of your lives, feeling closer to Peter than ever.

“I can’t believe we’re actually here. I knew it would be good but this is incredible,” you say, swimming upright again. This end of the pool isn’t deep, so you can stand.

“I know. Thanks for inviting me. I can’t even tell you how happy I am,” he grins at you and you grin back. 

Your smiles don’t stop and his gaze hasn’t left yours. You wonder who’s going to give in first. Peter wraps his arms around your waist, pulling you close. Your heart is pounding and you can’t hide your smile.

It’s finally happening.

You lean in at the same time, closing your eyes already as you feel his breath against your lips. Suddenly, someone jumps into the pool right next to you, splashing you enough to ruin the moment.

It’s MJ and Chris who obviously didn’t realise what they were interrupting. The moment is over and you immediately start talking to them, splashing water against your face to cool you down. You can’t believe what was about to happen.

Peter’s eyes on you didn’t feel platonic at all. There was romance, a deep appreciation and want for you, as more than a friend. But what if it’s just the holiday magic? Or the jetlag? You don’t know if you’d be able to let him kiss you until you’re back home again.

He gets out of the water somewhat in a huff, not mad at you but frustrated somehow. You can’t talk to him if it’s about you though. Normally, you can talk about everything. But not about the thing that might ruin your friendship. 

You try to shake the feeling that something special was about to happen, it’s the first day of your holiday and you’re not used to the situation yet. Maybe it was just the heat of the moment.

Peter doesn’t avoid you, but he’s not with you as much as he usually is either. You’d hate if there was tension between you on what is supposed to be the trip of your dreams.

You all eat together in silence and go to bed early. Despite the unsure air between you and your best friend slash secret crush, you’re excited for the days ahead of you. You’re sure Peter doesn’t want anything to get between you and ruin the vacation when it’s something that can wait until you’re back home. You’re okay with that too, you’ve liked him for months if not years and not said or done anything about it; you can easily manage another week and act as if you just like Peter as a friend.

You don’t want him to just see this as a holiday fling, get your hopes up, and go back to being just your friend when you’re home. The moment earlier didn’t feel like just sexual attraction, but you couldn’t bear to have an adult talk with him about your feelings and be shot down - not this week.

Exhaustion fills your every limb, and you’re about to drift off.

“Is she asleep?” It’s MJ’s voice. You hear shuffling from her and Chris’s bed.

“I think so.”

You’re too tired to lift your head and see what’s going on or ask them if they need you, but you jump as soon as you hear them kissing, “Nope. I’m leaving.”

For the few moments that you walk over to Peter’s hotel room, you forget all about the weird mood between you two. You knock again, “Hey Pete, it’s just me.”

He opens the door with a naked and sweaty chest, his cheeks pink. “Oh sorry were you…working out or something?” You ask.

“No uh, it‘s just uh, hot. Come in,” he smiles, happy to see you. Has he forgotten about nearly kissing you or is he over it already? Or maybe your tries to communicate with him telepathically during dinner worked. You were trying to tell him not to make things weird for you two as not to risk having a nice stay.

“I was just wondering if I could sleep here tonight because MJ and Chris were about to have sex. On the bed right next to me, so..”

“Of course. I was wondering from the start why we didn‘t just share a room. I didn‘t know if you wanted to have some, I don’t know, time without me or something. You can move into my room if you want.”

You look around, “I think I’ll be fine on the sofa, just tonight, but..”

“What? No, no you can sleep in my bed. It‘s so huge and it‘s not like we‘ve never shared a bed.”

“You sure?” You ask, hoping he’d say that. 

“Yeah. I wouldn‘t even be in this beautiful place without you, the least I can do is share a room with you. And I want to,” he smiles, cleaning up one half of his bed.

“Thank you. I’ll stay here then. I‘ll get all my things tomorrow… hey, is that my shirt?”

His cheeks go red as he looks at your t-shirt on his mattress, “O-oh how did.. how did that get there?” 

“I must have accidentally put it in your bag,” you reason. His sunglasses ended up in your bag too. 

“Y-yeah and then I somehow- maybe I didn‘t realise I got it out while I was getting something else out..” Peter scratches the back of his neck and turns away from you, “Do you need to use the bathroom? I was gonna go take a shower.”

“I‘m fine, thanks. Don‘t worry about me. I was about to fall asleep before Chris and MJ… y’know, so I think I’ll go to bed now if that’s okay.” You smile at each other and you hug him goodnight. You’re too tired to wonder why Peter is acting so weird and you’re nearly asleep when he sinks into the bed next to you twenty minutes later. 

You feel at peace with him by your side.

Day Two

You wake up with Peter’s beautiful face right in front of yours. He’s softly smiling in his sleep, and he looks so innocent. You look around and it sinks in that you’ll be staying with Peter for the rest of the week, and that means you’ll spend even more time together. You grin at the thought of it and doze off again a few times before Peter wakes up too. You stay in bed for at least half an hour, waking up together and talking, laughing, and planning what you’ll do today. 

After getting ready together, you set off for the day, just the two of you. 

That one moment between you is forgotten completely, the tension all gone, and you’re just looking forward to the dreamy beach. 

You’re simply hanging out with your best friend who loves you a lot. And you don’t love him too, and not for no reason. You know he’d never jeopardise your friendship or a picture-perfect vacation by kissing you when he’s not sure how he feels about you. So if it happens again, although you’re not trying to get your hopes up, you’ll trust him, and you’ll let it happen.

You’re both very affectionate in your friendship though, and it’s been going on for so long that it’s hard to find the boundaries between platonic feelings and more. The only thing that would change is that you’d kiss and be sexually intimate. You already cuddle and share intimacy - intimate conversations, looks, everything. It’s hard to tell if the looks he’s giving you this morning are what they usually are or if you’re overinterpreting some romantic feelings into them because that’s what you’re hoping for.

A pleasant breeze sweeps across your skin and you look out onto the ocean. You close your eyes and breathe. A sense of calmness fills you, and you decide you’ll just let things happen organically.

If you kiss, you kiss. If you don’t, you don’t. But you’re not going to let useless overthinking dictate how much you enjoy this heavenly place. With your best friends by your side, there’s more than enough to enjoy, even if everything between you and Peter stays the way it is and the near kiss was just a meaningless moment - you’ll survive. But most importantly, you’ll try to make this the best holiday regardless of what happens.

Chris and MJ join you at the beach around noon, and you feel it lift your spirits even more. You’re knocked out after lunch and take a nap on your towel, the sun casting a pleasant warmth over your whole body. 

You wake up to Peter spraying your sunscreen on your chest and belly. 

“Sorry, didn’t wanna wake you,” he says softly, “Just wanted to make sure your skin is protected.”

“Aww, thank you.” You want to kiss his cheek but you force yourself to stay on your back. You’re so full of love for him at that moment and maybe it’s just your sleepy state, but you can’t imagine only staying Peter’s friend for the rest of your life.

It doesn‘t help you that MJ and Chris are nowhere to be found, and it’s just you and him. 

You wander to the outside bar by the pool, and you try a new cocktail while Peter drinks the one from yesterday. He sips from your straw when you offer him to try your drink and you make yourself wait a few seconds before taking another sip. It‘s nearly pathetic how eager you are to share an indirect kiss, put your lips where his just were. 

As soon as Peter walks to the bar to get another round, a guy is standing in front of your table. He‘s wearing turquoise-tinted glasses and looks like a dick. 

“Hi, beautiful, I saw you sitting alone and wanted to introduce myself.”

You’ve barely been sitting alone for ten seconds but somehow he still managed to bother you. 

You’re not scared of him, he seems harmless and you’re in this busy bar. But is he annoying you? Yes. You can’t even be on holiday alone without some random guy coming up to you and wasting your precious time. But you’re outside in broad daylight and you’ve already made eye contact with Peter. You scratch your right eyebrow with your left hand - your signal for him to come save you - and he comes hurrying over. 

He sits down next to you and puts an arm around you, kissing your cheek, “Hi babe. Who’s this?”

The guy lifts his hands in defeat, “Sorry man, I didn’t know she was yours.”

“She—”

You slap Peter’s leg quietly. You know he’ll go on a rant about how if you were his girlfriend you still wouldn’t be his but you’re still your own person et cetera. This guy doesn’t need to hear that though because it won’t change his mind anyway.

“Have a day, man,” Peter says to the guy. The guy gives you two a last funny look before walking off. 

“Have a day?” You laugh. 

“I didn’t wanna say have a good day because he was bothering you and doesn’t deserve a good day, but I didn’t wanna say have a bad day because he didn’t do anything awful, so my brain just blanked.”

“I guess he will have a day,” you agree, clinking your glass with Peter’s, “Thanks.”

“Can’t blame the guy, I guess,” Peter mumbles beside you, “I’d wanna talk to you too.”

He sits back as if he didn’t say anything out of the ordinary, as if he didn’t just send you down a spiral as you wonder how he means what he just said. 

Does he mean he’s happy to have you as a friend, and that he’s happy he gets to talk with you?

Or does he mean you’re attractive and he’d want to talk to you to ask you out?

You take a big sip of your drink and slowly blow air out of your mouth, sitting back. 

You both notice at the same time that Peter’s arm is still around you from when he was pretending to be your boyfriend. 

“Oh uh, sorry.”

“I.. I don’t mind it,” you tell him, sipping more of your drink and not looking at him. All you know is that his arm stays around you and you feel warm, and this time it’s not from the sun. 

.

Chris and MJ are back at the beach when you go there, and you’re grateful for the distraction from Peter when you go swimming with just the two of them. When you come out of the water Peter’s gone but you find a text on your phone. He says he’ll be back soon and he’s just in your room.

You soak up the sun for a while until MJ asks you about Peter for the third time, “He’s been gone for a while, you should really go check on him.”

You don’t open your eyes, “He’s a big boy, he can look after himself. I’m sure he’s fine. Maybe he’s taking a nap or something.”

You sit up when you hear MJ and Chris whispering something to each other and that’s when you realise they’re indirectly asking you for some couple time, some alone time without you where they’ll be all cheesy and in love. “Yup. I’ll be going then,” you leave your things at the beach because it’s not late yet - you’ll come back later.

The coolness bouncing off the marble floors inside the hotel clears your head and makes you feel like you’ve suddenly dried off completely. You can’t imagine going back to the beach today. Maybe you’ll join Peter and take a nap too.

You scan your key card and open the door to your room as quietly as possible in case Peter really is sleeping. Your heart skips a beat when you realise what you’re walking in on.

Peter is shirtless, the light white covers pulled up to his hips but they don’t hide him jerking off. He has your panties wrapped around his hand as he strokes himself, breaths short and loud.

His eyes go wide at the same time as yours and it takes him a second to cover himself up and another second for you to close the door, stuttering an unintelligible apology.

You awkwardly stand in front of the door for a bit, your hand still on the door handle as you process what just happened. There’s shuffling on the other side of the door but Peter doesn’t come out.

Looking around to check if anyone saw you, you pat the bottom of your beach dress down, pretending like the sudden wetness between your legs isn’t because of Peter. You take a few deep breaths to slow down your rapidly beating heart and you make your way to the other side of the resort – as far away from Peter as possible, so you can think about what just happened.

You sit at the pool with a cool drink to combat the lasting warmness on your cheeks and inside of you. If that’s not a clear sign that Peter likes you then you don’t know what is. It might not mean that he likes you romantically but you’re even more certain that he’s attracted to you now. There’s not a single doubt left about that. This and him almost kissing you in the pool is enough for you to imagine a future together, no matter how small those signs might seem.

The heat just won’t go away and you find yourself smiling at what you just witnessed. It wasn’t an ideal situation, sure, and Peter is probably more embarrassed than he’s ever been but you like him so much and now you know there’s at least some sort of reciprocation. 

You can already see yourself reminding him of this situation in a few months, years even, and you’ll laugh and find it cute how flustered he will be even after ages of being together just because that’s the type of person he is.

You’d scold yourself for thinking that way, he was just jerking off with your panties. If you told anyone, they’d probably think he’s being gross and maybe he is - he definitely is - but you like him so much that even this small thing makes you like him even more because it’s giving you hope. And right now that hope is much nicer to think about than being rational and waiting until you’ve actually talked and you have clarity about his feelings towards you.

This little spark of hope means so much and even if it’s not the most romantic sign, it is a sign.

You were wearing those panties in the morning and Peter walked in on you while you were changing, bikini top on paired with your panties. He didn’t see anything that he shouldn’t have but his cheeks went red immediately and you could feel the blush radiating off of him when you asked him to tie your bikini at the back.

He must have played with the strings for at least twenty seconds and you’d bet all your money that he took so long because he was staring at your body, at how good your ass looks in those panties.

You thanked him and shooed him away so you could change but also so he wouldn’t realise that you’d gotten just as flustered as him. It was an accident that you left your panties on the bed when you left your room this morning but it’s come back to do you good.

Now you just have to decide what to do next. But all you can think of is Peter getting off and the only thing you want to do is go back and sit on his lap.

You set off, your knees weak if you think about what’s about to happen, and your palms are clammy as you open the door.

You find the bed made, the bathroom empty and Peter nowhere to be seen. You can’t help but frown, your shoulders sagging. You check your phone if Peter has texted you (he hasn’t) and text MJ to ask if Peter’s with her (he’s not).

Unsure what to do, you wash off the saltwater in the shower, feeling stupid as you stay in your towel extra long afterwards, hoping that Peter will come in.

You stay in your room all alone, sulking, until dinner time. You just want Peter right now. You get that he’s probably embarrassed but you just realised that there’s an even bigger chance that he really does like you, and you can’t stand him hiding from you. Nothing embarrassing he could ever do would make you want him to avoid you.

MJ knocks at your door, “Hey, you ready? Peter’s waiting at the restaurant.”

You get off of the bed when you hear Peter’s name, rushing past MJ and Chris to go and see Peter. You freeze when you see him sitting at the table. He looks so worried that it breaks your heart; your annoyance about him hiding from you melts away in an instant.

He’s got his eyebrows pulled together, he’s gnawing on his bottom lip with his hands folded together in front of him, wiping them on his trousers every few seconds. He gets up as soon as he spots you, and you give him a weak smile. You can’t tell what he’s about to say.

You pull him into a quiet corner, “Hey…”

“I’m so sorry. I-I-I shouldn’t have. And I’m sorry you had to see - I mean, what.. how much did you see?”

“I… you know what I saw,” you play dumb, “The blanket was in the way but I assume I know what you’re doing.”

“That’s all you saw? You didn’t see..”

“I didn’t see your dick if that’s what you mean,” you lie, hoping he can stop worrying and go back to enjoying his holiday.

“Oh and you didn’t…? Oh. Good. I’m still sorry you walked in on me–”

“No, I’m sorry. I should have knocked.”

At this point, you just want to end the conversation and you don’t like your own serious tone at all. You wanted to declare your love for him and here he was worried sick. Even now that he knows - or thinks - you didn’t see that he had your underwear, there’s still concern in his eyes.

“And it’s fine if you need some alone time, just let me know and I’ll go,” you continue, smiling so he can finally relax, “Or, you know, I don’t mind if you do it in the bathroom or whatever. I can turn the tv up real loud if you want. And now stop worrying.”

You grab his neck to pull him into a hug and he rests his forehead against your shoulder, sighing, which you hope is him letting go of the last bits of embarrassment.

“Same goes for you, by the way,” he says when you step apart, and he’s finally standing taller again, “If you need the room for yourself, just tell me. Don’t feel like you, uh, have to hold back or anything because of me.”

You grin, a playful tone on your lips, “Don’t worry, I haven’t been holding back anyway.”

You haven’t masturbated since you’ve been here, especially not when Peter was in the hotel room with you, but it won’t hurt to put that idea into his head - now that you’ve seen what he’s been doing behind closed doors.

His jaw drops, nothing but a few stuttered words falling out of his mouth, and you walk to the buffet beaming, happy with how you managed to put something completely new into his mind. It won’t leave any room for his embarrassment to return and hopefully give him an idea of how far he can go with you.

You won’t mind making the first step now that you know what you know, but it’ll be fun to try and make him kiss you first.

He joins you all at the table a few minutes later, cheeks still glowing like the moment you implied you’ve masturbated not far away from Peter.

MJ and Chris are too in love to notice anything, but there’s more tension between you and Peter than ever before. He looks like he hasn’t decided between being flustered and turned on or confident and turned on yet but you’re sure he‘ll decide soon enough.

You smile at him over dinner innocently enough to keep him guessing the slightest bit but whenever your eyes meet you know you feel it both; the attraction, the want, maybe a bit of suspense too.

You have no idea how long you’ll manage this, you just want to kiss him silly if you’re honest. But you don’t mind watching him feel the same thing. He’s obvious about it now, staring at you as if you’re a goddess.

At home, you’d just drag him into a separate room alone and kiss him and tell him what you feel. But the holiday magic is doing something to you, making you excited to drag this out a bit because you know the payoff will be even better if you’ve waited longer. The ocean, your friends and the overall situation also make a nice distraction while you wait for Peter to finally kiss you. 

You’ve gone years without kissing him, so no matter how much you want to end that period of your life where you’re not regularly making out with Peter Parker, you’ve worked up enough discipline - and up until not long ago uncertainty - to stop you from kissing him for just a bit longer.

You take another quick shower when you get back to your room at night, and you get lost in the pleasant stream of water and the luxurious soap smell floating through the air. The shower is huge and takes up half of the bathroom, and there’s just a wall of glass separating the shower from the rest of the bathroom. There’s no curtain to cover you, just a blur effect in the middle of the glass.

A knock pulls you from your trance, “No pressure, but will you be long?” Peter calls, “I have something stuck in my teeth and it’s driving me crazy.”

You chuckle, “You can come in, door’s unlocked.”

He sprints to the mirror and grabs his floss, but freezes when he sees your reflection. The glass of the shower that separates you and Peter is blurry but you know he can still make out the shape of your body. His mouth open, he watches you for a few seconds, mesmerised. 

When you look over to smile at him through the mirror he immediately looks away as if he’s been caught doing something he shouldn’t. A bashful smile on his face, he flosses his teeth, looking down. 

You get out of the shower while Peter is still in the bathroom, grabbing your towel before he can see you naked. You wrap it around you loosely, letting it hang far down your back. 

He’s seen you in a bikini, and you’re more covered now, but the tension in the air is thick and you have to bite the inside of your cheek to stop yourself from smiling at how nice you feel next to Peter. 

He starts brushing his teeth while you do your skincare, your elbows bumping into each other every few moments. 

You pull a new pair of panties on under your towel, aware that you might expose everything any second, your grip on the towel loose. 

You let go of the towel with Peter still next to you - he’s on his fifth minute of brushing his teeth - and you’re only covering your nipples with your forearm as you put on your sleep shirt. Peter stays with you until you’re done brushing your own teeth. 

You slip into bed together, suddenly tired. 

Maybe you’re just lying closer to Peter than last night, but suddenly the bed feels a lot smaller. You’re brushing up against Peter and you want to get even closer. 

You can’t even see him right now but he’s so irresistible. You don’t know why you didn’t just kiss him earlier. Now you’re tired and you don’t want your first kiss to be half asleep. You don’t know how far he is into sleeping either. 

You decide you won’t kiss him now, but you want to cuddle at least. You scoot over, putting your arm over Peter’s waist and he pulls you closer in an instant, wrapping an arm around you. It makes you nearly forget that you still don’t know if he actually likes you romantically; you’re just sure about the sexual side. But you hope he feels as nice having you in his arms as you feel being in them.

“I’m so happy how things turned out,” you tell him, knowing now that he’s still awake. 

“Me too. This place is so beautiful. And we’re sharing a room. And I love it here, don’t get me wrong, but you’re definitely the best part. You make everything ten times better.”

Your heart melts right then and there and you grip his arm tighter, pressing a small kiss to his shoulder. 

You don’t say much more, mainly because you’re scared of confessing your love to him. And no matter that you want to stay up longer, because going to sleep means you’ll be without Peter, a yawn forces its way out of your throat, and soon your eyes fall shut. 

Day Three

You sleep like a baby and then you feel like crying when you wake up without Peter. You try to listen for the shower, but you’re alone. 

Peter comes through the door just as you’re about to stand up. He grins when he sees you, a tray full of food in his hands. 

You lie back down and let him place the tray next to you, reaching up so you can hug him. 

“Is this for me?” You ask, pursing your lips with a twinkle in your eyes. 

“It is. You were sleeping so peacefully but they stop serving breakfast in a few minutes, so I went and got you some in case you want it.”

“Thank you,” you smile, unable to deal with so much cuteness two minutes after waking up, “Have you had breakfast?”

“Uh, no. But don’t worry about me.”

“No. Come and eat with me,” you pat the bed, making him share your breakfast with you. 

You have a lazy morning together, and you walk to the beach with your hands brushing so often that you may as well be walking hand in hand. 

You meet Chris and MJ at the beach but you barely acknowledge them. You’d feel sorry but that’s exactly what MJ’s been like since her relationship with Chris so you’re sure she understands. She’s probably still too obsessed with Chris to even notice and you’re still so happy for them whenever you think about it. They leave you two for a spa day shortly after anyway.

You can’t tell if Peter is being clingy today or if you are. Either way, you’re together all day.

When one of you and Peter goes into the water, so does the other. Same with the pool or the bar or when you go to your room because you forgot something - Peter comes with you.

He puts his towel next to yours when you decide to take a nap on the beach and he’s still in the same position when you wake up, lying next to you on his side, facing you, impatiently waiting like a little child until he can spend time with you again.

You push yourself up from lying on your stomach, supporting yourself on your elbows. 

“Wait wait wait,” Peter nearly shouts, eyes on your chest and then he quickly looks up at the sky, “Your bikini uh, uh–”

“Oh,” you say, realising the straps of your bikini top must have come undone while you were asleep and the cups are everywhere but on your boobs. You quickly readjust them, pulling the fabric over your chest, “Thanks. I’m good now. Did you see anything?” The question makes you feel like Peter, except you’re not asking out of embarrassment but to tease him.

“No, not, uh not really,” he answers, cheeks red and he’s still looking away.

You sit up and laugh, “Don’t worry, was just wondering. You wanna go for a swim?”

It’s windy when you come out of the water and Peter hands you his towel. He says it’s “bigger and cozier” than yours. He takes your thin towel but he looks freezing with his skin still wet from the cold ocean water, the wind cool against your faces.

“Come here,” you stretch out your arm towards him and he immediately scoots over. You put half of the towel over his shoulders and he instantly relaxes. The towel is big but not quite big enough to cover the two of you, so you’re impossibly close, pressed up against each other.

Your heart starts beating faster and the only thing you want to do is sink into Peter. He notices the goosebumps on your skin and puts his arm around you, pulling you even closer and you rest your head on his shoulder.

The sun comes back from behind the clouds and the wind stops blowing, but you don’t move. You stay cuddled up against Peter even though it’s almost becoming too warm again.

When you sit up after a few minutes and look at Peter, he’s smiling. It’s a soft smile that makes you feel safe and loved and understood.

You have no idea how you’ve managed to not kiss him yet. It was bearable all day when you were a few feet apart but now that his adorable face is right next to yours, his skin pressed up against you, you don’t think you can withstand the urge to kiss him anymore.

Who cares if you kiss him first or he initiates it? You don’t know what you were thinking, trying to tease him and test how far you can go. All you want to do is finally make out with him.

You lean in and he does the same, and your heart feels like it’s in heaven. Just as your lips are about to touch, a voice interrupts you. It’s MJ and Chris coming back from the spa.

“We just had the best massage of our lives,” MJ says, looking at her phone so she probably didn’t see that you were about to kiss. You and Peter share one last look that acknowledges what was about to happen and while you wish you hadn’t been interrupted, you have no doubt that you’ll kiss soon. The line between you being friends and more has vanished. You’re ready to risk it now, you can’t be certain how much he likes you until you ask him, or kiss him and see his reaction anyway.

You don’t want to wait until he kisses you or writes you a love letter. Right now, it’s just pure desire. There’s more to it than that, so much more. But you haven’t been able to stop thinking about what it would be like to have sex with Peter. And your gut feeling tells you the rest will fall in place too. You know he’s not the type for casual sex anyway. So if it happens, you know it’ll mean something.

You sit back down on your own towels and spend some time with MJ and Chris. They met some nice employee at the hotel who brings you cocktails every hour and you’re pleasantly tipsy before the evening, too happy to worry about you and Peter.

You’re all giggly and clumsy over dinner and at night you and Peter end up at the pool, your legs dangling in the water, only up to your ankles.

“You know, I’ve always wanted to get wet with clothes on,” Peter muses.

In your tipsy mind, wet is the only word you hear, “If you had a vagina that would be no problem,” you giggle.

“Oh my god,” he puts his hands over his blushing face, “No I mean, like, get in a pool with clothes.”

“No one’s stopping you,” you say and you watch Peter curiously as he gets up and walks a few steps away. Then he starts running and jumps into the pool, hugging his legs to his chest mid-jump. You can’t stop laughing when water splashes everywhere and Peter laughs with you.

“How is it?” You ask.

He laughs, “Very uncomfortable.”

He swims towards you and you hold your hand out for him. He ignores your help and instead swims right in front of you. Before you register what he’s doing, he’s lifting your legs over his shoulders and picks you up, his face between your thighs. 

He starts walking further into the pool and you’re shouting for him to put you back, and at the same time you’re laughing so hard that you nearly lose balance. When you’re far away enough from the edge of the pool, Peter throws you in and for a few minutes you’re just laughing, grateful that the pool is shallow enough for you to stand because otherwise you’d be too busy giggling to keep yourself above water.

It’s all even funnier because you’re tipsy but you regret drinking when your laughter dies down and you realise how close you and Peter are. You’re not blackout drunk but the alcohol is definitely affecting you. You know you wouldn’t regret kissing Peter but it’s hard to tell how drunk he is, so you force yourself to swim away from him.

“Okay you’re right, wet clothes are super uncomfortable. Let’s get out and get changed.”

He lets you shower first and this time you take your clothes into the bathroom and lock the door, you don’t know what would happen if one of you saw the other one naked again. You’ll have to wait until tomorrow when you’re sober for anything to happen between you two.

“Bathroom’s free,” you say when you get out of the bathroom only to see that Peter has fallen asleep on the bed, still in his wet clothes.

You rush over to him, half laughing, and try to wake him. “Peter, you need to take off your clothes.”

He stirs and lifts his head, smiling, “You take them off me.”

You quickly tug his shirt off before you can let yourself think about what he’s saying. You unbutton his jeans and pull them off, and then you tap him on the shoulder to get him to fully wake up, “I’m not doing your underwear.” It’s not that you’d mind but he’d probably be embarrassed or regret it in the morning, so you pull him out of bed and turn around until he’s changed into dry boxers.

“God, Peter,” you laugh as you get into your side of the bed and feel how wet his side is.

“It’s fine, I’ll just sleep with you,” he jumps onto the bed and snuggles up against you, making you laugh. He puts his arm around your waist and you don’t mind him sleeping on your side at all. You switch off the bedside lamp and settle into Peter’s arms.

“Is it okay that I’m half naked?” He suddenly asks you after a few minutes.

“What?”

“I mean, are you comfortable? Because we’re so close and I’m only wearing boxers,” he sounds sober now, and more awake, and it makes you grin how important it is to him that you’re comfortable.

“I’m comfortable, don’t worry. Good night, Peter,” you turn your face to kiss the top of his head and then you allow yourself to drift off, thinking that falling asleep in Peter’s arms could soon be a regular thing.

Day Four

You wake up with a headache and with Peter’s morning wood pressed against your ass. You notice it when you try to get up and push your hips back a bit to sit. You don’t have to see it, you can feel that it’s huge.

You’re horny immediately but when you try to turn around - which is hard because Peter’s arm is locked around you - your headache really hits you. You weren’t even that drunk but maybe the drinks together with the burning sun was what did it.

Ignoring Peter, you manage to lift his arm and go to the bathroom where you take some painkillers. You get a glass of water for Peter but he’s already awake when you put them down next to the bed. He’s on his stomach now and his ears are red.

“Hey,” he says, his morning voice doing things to you even through your hangover, “Didn’t think I got that drunk,” he says and by his pained face you know his headache is even worse than yours.

“You remember everything?” You ask, sitting down next to him.

“I think I do. Thanks for uh, taking off my clothes. And, oh God,” he looks as if he’s remembering how he got his side of the bed all wet and slept on yours, “you probably didn’t have any room, sorry for–”

“It’s okay,” you say, “I didn’t mind it.” You hope he realises that by it you mean being cuddled up to him in your sleep, and his soft smile tells you he does.

You stay in bed until the afternoon and decide to check out the spa Chris and MJ told you about - they’re already there, recovering from their hangover too. Peter gets a different massage from the rest of you, and you don’t remember the last time you were without him but you’re glad that you can catch up with your other two friends while you wait for your massages to start.

“I really love this place,” Chris says, “I’m glad I could come. And your Peter too.”

Your cheeks heat up at how they call him your Peter.

“MJ, how much have you told Chris about me and Peter, by the way?” You ask MJ and Chris.

“Not much, why?”

“Do you think Peter seems like he likes me?” You don’t need someone else’s validation. No one but Peter knows how he really feels. But you’re curious to see what your relationship looks like from the outside.

Chris hesitates, “Yeah, of course. Why wouldn’t he?”

“No, I’m asking like.. do you think he’s into me.”

“Again, yeah, Why wouldn’t he?” They repeat.

All three of you stare at each other for a second, wondering where the miscommunication is. Chris is the first to start again, “Okay so… you’re asking me if I think your boyfriend likes you… and it definitely seems like he does, so yes.”

“Oh. Oh oh, no it’s…” you can’t hide your smile, “He’s not my boyfriend.”

“What?” Chris shouts, making you and MJ laugh, “You’re telling me you two are not together?”

“We’re not,” you say.

“Well, you’re obviously in love with each other. But, um, sorry for assuming I guess?”

“No it’s okay, that answers my question perfectly, thanks.”

The fact that Chris, who barely knows you and Peter and your complicated friendship, thinks you’re a couple makes you smile so much that your cheeks hurt. It feels so nice that even the massage seems unnecessary now and you hug Peter when you see him again after the spa. Hugging him almost feels like a second massage.

You start getting ready for dinner a few hours later. “Have you seen my lip balm?” You walk into the bathroom to ask Peter. The smell of his cologne hits you as soon as you’re in the room, “You smell good,” it comes out of your mouth the second you’re thinking it.

He smiles, “Thanks. And I think your lip balm was on the table next to the bed.”

You don’t move. His scent is intoxicating. It’s earthy and sweet and it’s exactly Peter.

“Have you been wearing that all week?” 

“No, I found it in my suitcase today. Forgot I brought it with me, it’s new.”

“Well, it’s really, really nice,” still not leaving the room, you’re now in front of Peter, trying to get his scent to take over your whole being.

He smiles at you, putting down the gel he was applying to his hair.

“Give me another smell,” you say, ignoring the heat on your face, and you lean forward to smell where he sprayed the cologne on his neck. You close your eyes and inhale it, feeling stupid but you also couldn’t care less because the scent is perfect for Peter and you want to bury yourself in him now. Even more than usual.

“You like it?” He giggles, his face getting red now.

“Mhmm, this makes me wanna eat you up. I’ve never smelled anything this good,” you can’t control what you’re saying anymore, it’s just your body responding to him and his cologne. That, and the feelings and want for him that you’ve felt for years.

“We-we can get room service and you can just, like, smell me all night,” he smiles awkwardly and you fall for him even more.

“You’re so cute,” you say, placing a kiss on the side of his neck, getting a last smell before you force yourself away.

You get your lip balm and sit on the bed, using your phone camera as a mirror while you apply it. When you’re done, you look past the opened bathroom door, finding Peter still flustered, his eyes still following you. He scratches the back of his head when he sees you noticing him, “I, uh… yeah,” he closes the door a bit and goes back to touching his hair.

You’re looking out of the window while you wait for MJ and Chris to be ready for dinner, Peter lying on the bed. You’re admiring the view of the ocean, with the sunset giving the waves a red glow.

When you turn around another wave of Peter’s cologne hits you and literally makes you weak in your knees. You don’t know how much longer you can do this. You decide to finally do something. You’re not getting anywhere like this.

When you sit down on the bed, you straddle Peter, “Do you plan on giving in soon?” You ask, placing your hands on his shoulders, “Cause I’d really love to fuck you to this view before we go.”

Peter’s mouth is open, but nothing comes out. His hands find your hips and he looks outside, taking in the view as he nervously swallows. He stutters something but the words won’t come out and when he adjusts his position his hips push up against yours, making you flustered too.

You don’t say anything but you both just start grinning. Despite you sitting on top of him right now, the romantic energy between surfaces. 

It’s not all about sex, and deep down you’ve known it for a while. You’ve been looking for a grand gesture when really it’s obvious from all the small things Peter does and says to you, even how he looks at you has always made you feel like there’s more. You were just too scared to risk it and lose your best friend. But now you’re ready. Finally.

You cup his cheek as you both lean in. 

Then there’s a knock. You don’t move, both considering if you should just ignore it and finally get to kiss each other after being interrupted god knows how many times.

You decide to kiss him but just before your lips are on his, MJ shouts, “Let’s go. I’m hungry.”

“Coming,” you say, slowly getting off of Peter and recomposing yourself. Peter doesn’t actually roll his eyes but the bashful smile he gives you before you open the door suggests that that’s exactly what he wants to do. You squeeze his hand before going out into the hallway.

Dinner feels like one whole night and one whole day and at the same time like ten seconds, the divine scent of his cologne still killing you whenever he leans closer to you. At some point, you see Peter’s leg nervously bouncing up and down and you put your hand on his knee, calming him.

You hope you haven’t made him too nervous. It just felt right in that moment. But he seemed to enjoy it too, happy that you finally made a move; it just wasn’t ideal that you were interrupted yet again. And you hope you didn’t put any pressure on him to have sex with you while you’re still on holiday. The romantic side is much more important than the sexual one to you, but you know he doesn’t have a lot of sexual experience and worries about this kind of thing.

You try to get him alone all night, not only to kiss him but more so to reassure him, to tell him it’s okay just in case he wants to wait, but somehow MJ and Chris are always with you. You‘re not sure if he‘s ignoring you or if he‘s simply too worried to look at you and not see in your gaze what he wants. Or maybe he’s not even ignoring you at all and you’re the one who’s worrying. You just want to pull him to the side and kiss him and tell him it‘s okay and you like him. 

Before you all go up to your rooms, you go for a walk along the beach. Peter pulls you to sit down with him while MJ and Chris continue walking. You can tell he wants to do something, or say something at least but there are too many people. 

So instead of talking or kissing you just put your head on his shoulder and hope that he feels as nice as you do when you‘re together. The kiss he places on your head tells you that he at least feels something. 

Maybe this trip isn‘t where you and Peter kiss for the first time, and that‘s okay. Maybe it‘s just a wonderful trip to Mexico with your best friends and that‘s more than enough. 

You wordlessly walk up to your room together, and you lazily unlock the door and close it when Peter is inside too. 

Just as you turn around to walk to the bed, Peter‘s hands gently find your waist and he walks you back to the closed door, carefully pressing your back against it. 

He quickly looks from your eyes to your lips and back again and asks, “Can I kiss you?”

Your heart wildly flutters in your chest and you grip Peter’s shirt out of instinct, “You don’t have to ask,” you whisper and you both start smiling as you lean in for the kiss. 

You fully expect something to come between you again, a knock, or maybe a fire alarm, or a phone ringing. But this time the universe gives you your moment and lets you kiss Peter. 

It’s everything you ever wanted, and you’re addicted to him immediately. You’re addicted to the feeling of his smile against your mouth and you’re addicted to how his lips taste and how his hand wanders down to your thigh. You wrap your leg around his hip, his hand staying on your leg, holding you there as if his life depended on it. 

You lean back against the door and wrap one arm around Peter’s shoulders and the other one under his arm, placing your hand on his back to grab his shirt again. You feel too good, you have to just grab something to channel your energy and pure need into. 

Peter sucks on your bottom lip and you gasp, nearly moaning, and you push your tongue between his lips. You’re nearly overwhelmed with how much is going on, how badly you need him and how badly he needs you. 

You pull back from the kiss but Peter can’t let go of your lips yet, chasing them and giving you five more quick kisses until he can tear himself away. You link your hands together behind his back to keep him close, both of you still panting and grinning. 

“You were so on edge during dinner after I told you I want you, I wasn’t sure if you were nervous about having to reject me later,” you smile, now able to be honest because you know you were wrong. 

“I was dying from anticipation. There were so many moments in the last few days when we nearly kissed and it was killing me that we never got to actually do it. Then you were literally on top of me, and somehow it still didn’t happen.”

“Well, it’s finally happening,” you smile and kiss him again, your hand on his cheek. 

Without letting go of your lips, he tries to pull you to the bed but you both stumble and decide you can stop kissing until you’re sitting on the bed. 

“So,” he kisses you, “I haven’t been imagining how you’ve been in the last few days? You really do like me?”

“I do. And have for ages. But I didn’t know if you felt the same and didn’t wanna risk ruining our frienship. But when I saw you jerking off with my underwear, things got a little clearer,” you tease, kissing him again but his mouth is open and he’s mortified. 

“I-I thought you didn’t see. I’m so sorry, it wasn’t okay of me and—”

“Shh, Peter. I don’t mind, it’s okay, good even. It was so hot I had to go sit down for a few minutes to calm down.”

His smile returns and he lets out a relieved breath. But just as he opens his mouth he realises, at the same time as you, how hot it is in your room. You both look up and realise you forgot to turn the AC on before leaving for dinner, and it’s boiling. 

“Fuck,” Peter says as he gets up to switch it back on. You see how his shirt sticks to his back and you feel a bead of sweat running down your belly, and it makes you really realise how hot it is. The kissing didn’t exactly cool you down either.

“Can I shower first?” You ask, a charming smile on your face but when you meet Peter’s eyes you realise, “Oh. Or we could, like, shower together?”

“Save water?” He muses, licking his lips at the idea. 

You walk over to him, playing with his shirt again, “I can, you know, put my bikini on or something if you want.”

“Oh—no, no you don’t have to. Unless that’s what you want, I don’t mind.”

“Okay,” you say and pull your top over your head and slip out of your skirt, “You coming?” You ask, walking into the bathroom and taking off your underwear. Peter nearly trips when he takes off his shirt and then nearly falls again when he pulls off his trousers. Now you remember why teasing Peter is so much fun. As long as you know you’ve got him, it’s fun to play with him. 

You turn the water on and step into the shower together. 

“You’re drooling,” you tell him and gently push his chin up to close his mouth. 

“Yeah. Because you look like this,” you feel your cheeks heating up at his compliment and you kiss him to distract from it. You know that you’re beautiful but it’s still nice to hear it from the man you like. And you know Peter would like you naked no matter what your body looks like but the straightforward compliment makes you even more confident. 

Peter kisses your shoulders and neck and face whenever he has the chance while you’re in the shower. You kiss him back every time and the anticipation of what’s to come is killing you. 

He squirms every time his hard dick brushes up against you, profusely apologising and covering himself with his hands or turning away. But this time you grab his shoulders so he stays facing you and you kiss him, gliding your hands down his abs until you’re touching him where he really wants you. 

“This okay?” You ask, your fingertip lightly running down the length of him. 

“Fuck— yeah.” He’s already panting and you haven’t even started yet. 

You look into his eyes as you start stroking him. You turn down the water and the pearls of water drip down both your bodies. 

You don’t have to say anything and neither does he. Your thumb gently glides over the head of his cock and Peter puts one hand over your shoulder and against the wall to hold himself up, trapping you between him and the wall but you wouldn’t wish to be anywhere else. 

He’s having a hard time keeping his eyes open and his mouth closed, moans escaping every few moments. You know he’s on the edge and that’s when you start speeding up and finally looking down as you stroke him. 

He has no time to warn you when he cums. You’re jerking him off onto your belly, his cum landing on your stomach. You’re getting so wet watching him cum, his eyes squeezed shut and his eyebrows pulled together, mouth open in a groan. 

You’re out of breath too as you finish touching him, squeezing him to prolong his pleasure as much as you can. He leans forward to rest his forehead against yours when he’s finished, opening his eyes to look right into yours, kissing you for what feels like an eternity. 

You frown when he gently washes your belly to clean his cum off of you and when he sees your pout he quickly kisses it away. 

“What?” He asks, a teasing smile on his lips. 

“Nothing,” you shake your head and kiss him before he can ask more questions. You have enough time to figure out each other’s kinks but now it’s your turn. 

It’s like he reads your mind because when you turn around to turn the water off fully you feel his lips on your neck, making his way down your back with soft kisses to your wet skin. He’s breathing heavily again, just from kissing your body. “Hmm?” You hum and his response is a small bite into your bum cheek. 

He’s kneeling behind you now and you take a step back and lean your chest against the wall to give him better access. He’s slow, and you don’t know if it’s just him being gentle or if he’s deliberately teasing you, so you push back into him. 

He answers your command immediately and spreads your ass cheeks, pressing a kiss onto your pussy. His lips go back to your ass cheeks, kissing your skin there while he reaches around your hips to play with your clit. 

But you can’t have his mouth so close on you and not have him use it, so you turn around and put one leg on his shoulder. “Can you eat me out?” You ask, not sure how far Peter wants to go yet. But he nods eagerly and his tongue is between your legs immediately. 

He looks up at you as he starts eating your pussy, his hand lifting your thigh. He stops for a second, “You’re so fucking pretty.” You grin and bury your hand in his hair, pushing him closer to your pussy again. 

He smiles before he starts running his tongue up and down your pussy, sucking on your clit every now and then. Your legs buckle every time he does it and no matter how good it feels, you have to ask him to move it into the bedroom because you’re scared you’ll fall over when you cum. 

Peter dries you off and makes out with you while he pulls a towel over himself, waiting for you two to dry enough. Then he carries you to the bed and lies you down, putting one of your legs over his shoulder again when he lies between your thighs, his tongue on your clit. 

Now, freshly showered and naked, with the AC on full blast it’s too cold. “Come closer, I’m cold.”

He looks up, hands still around your hips. “But then I can’t eat you out.”

“Just..” You pull him to sit next to you and place his hand on your clit, lying one of your legs over Peter’s and pulling the other one up against your chest. 

He’s mesmerised as he looks down at your pussy, rubbing your clit up and down and you probably look just as mesmerised looking at his concentrated face. He catches you looking at him and his hand stops moving. “You’re so fucking beautiful,” he says. You smile, “Mmh, don’t stop.” You move his hand yourself now to rub your pussy with his fingers and he starts moving again, his finger slipping inside of you a few times so he can bring it up to his mouth to taste you again, humming when he does. 

You bring his hand back to your pussy every time, and although you really just want to cum it’s also cute that he doesn’t realise what he’s doing to you, but you’re too tired and too close to coming to talk right now. You’re holding your hand over his now to make sure he keeps touching your clit how you need him to. 

“I can’t believe this is happening,” he mumbles, his face right next to yours. You start kissing him, half distracted by his fingers on your pussy, and you look down when you’re about to cum.

“Don’t fucking stop, okay? That feels so good—” you moan and kiss his jaw to quieten yourself and this time he gets it, not stopping when he hears your gasps and feels how your hand tightens around his. 

You cum when you start grinding against his hand, your moans quiet and soft in his ear and he doesn’t stop until you’re pulling his hand away. He sucks his fingers into his mouth again, and you take his hand before he gets the second finger. You wrap your lips around his finger and suck off your juices and Peter closes his mouth to muffle the soft moan he lets out. 

“Can I taste you again? Just one second. I need to.” He moves between your legs and you nod with a laugh as his tongue trails up your pussy to taste you, a look of content on his face before you tell him he has to stop because you’re getting too tired. All the feelings of the day are starting to catch up with you and you can’t stifle a yawn. 

“I need to go pee,” you say, kissing him. 

“Noo don’t leave me,” Peter frowns and takes your hand. 

“I’ll just be a minute, you baby,” you kiss him again and scoot to the edge of the bed.

“Your baby,” he says. You look at him and he looks at you and you both cringe at the same time. “Ew sorry, let’s pretend I never said that,” he adds. 

“Said what?”

Peter has underwear and your pyjamas laid out for you when you come out of the bathroom and he kisses you as if he hasn’t seen you in years. Your heart melts.

When you lie down to cuddle before going to sleep Peter pulls you to his side of the bed. “This is where it happened,” he says proudly. 

“What?” You laugh.

“Where everything changed. If you hadn’t say on my lap and asked me when I’d kiss you, I wouldn’t have kissed you tonight and who knows what would have happened then.”

“I’m sure the world would have ended,” you say as you look up, pretending to be deep in thought. You’re just trying to tease him but it really does feel like something special with him. 

“It would have,” he confirms and kisses you on your lips. You’re ready to go to sleep but he starts kissing every part of your body at least once, lifting your legs and flipping you around on your belly to make sure he kisses every part of you. 

“You’re so adorable,” you hold his face when he’s back to your lips and you kiss him on the nose.

He looks at you for a few seconds before he says, “And you’re fucking beautiful.”

“Thank you,” you grin, “You’ve said that.”

“I know. And I’ll say it again. Because it’s the truth.”

“You’re pretty,” you tell him this time and watch his cheeks flush, “What? It’s the truth.” You bury your fingers in his hair, making sure you can look at him and he can’t hide his cute blush from you. 

“You’re prettier.”

You shake your head. “We’re both pretty.”

“No one’s as pretty as you.”

“I like you,” you say, playing with his hair. 

He grins and leans down to kiss you for a bit. “Good. Because I like you too.”

“Really? I find that hard to believe,” you joke, putting on a serious face. 

“I know, but it’s true. That’s why I’m on top of you right now and kissing you.”

“Oh, so that’s why! I wasn’t sure.”

You can’t stop yourself from grinning and kissing Peter again. He gets off of you and lies next to you instead, pulling you close and putting an arm around you. 

You snuggle into his side and put one of your legs between his knees. You don’t have to say much, feeling his fingertips running up and down your spine feels more intimate than anything he could say. 

You turn your head to kiss him one last time before you feel yourself falling asleep.

Day Five 

The next morning, your limbs are still tangled with Peter’s but you make no attempt to move. You watch his face and count the freckles on his nose before his eyes flutter open a while later and he grins as soon as he sees you. 

It’s hard to keep your hands off each other in your hotel room but it’s even harder at the beach, because here you actualy have to. You needed last night to free yourselves of the tension that had been building up between you, all the looks and the closeness and the anticipation, the almost kisses. But right now you just want to cuddle him. 

You’ve decided not to tell MJ and Chris yet. You want to spend some time with just the two of you knowing that you finally did what you’ve been wanting to do for so long. 

It can be for just you and Peter now, and it‘s not like you‘re officially together yet. 

You‘re at the beach now, lying your towels down and getting out your things. You tell Peter to turn around so you can put sunscreen on his back. 

First you’re distracted by how attractive it is when he reaches behind his neck and pulls his shirt off but your smile is wiped off your face when you see how red his entire back is. 

“Oh my god, Peter..”

“What?” He turns his head. 

“You have the biggest sunburn on your back. I’m so sorry,” you frown, gently touching his back to see if it hurts. 

He turns around fully, “It’s not your fault,” he laughs, “And it doesn’t hurt, so don’t worry.”

“But I always put the sunscreen on your back, but I guess I didn’t do it properly.” You know it’s not your fault, but you just don’t want Peter to be hurt and you know you could have prevented it. 

He giggles, “It’s literally fine. Don’t worry, I can’t even feel it.” He leans in to kiss you and you immediately start smiling again. He seems fine so why should you worry. 

You want to keep kissing him but you don‘t want your friends to see yet. 

You slather an extra big amount of sunscreen onto Peter’s back every few hours and manage to keep the touching to a minimum while Chris and MJ are around. 

They don’t catch you until the late afternoon, when you and Peter are asleep on the beach, his arm around you, your head tucked into his shoulder and your leg over his. You could have probably still gotten away with saying it’s just platonic cuddling like you’ve done loads of times before, but when MJ wakes you two up to congratulate you, Peter pulls you closer and sleepily kisses the side of your face. 

You can’t help but smile and lean into him more and you decide it doesn’t really matter that they now know. It just means you can openly be affectionate around them - maybe you’ll even give them a run for their money as the cutest couple around. 

You walk around town hand in hand in the evening, buying souvenirs for your friends at home.

Peter buys you a necklace and you get matching bracelets for him and you. His is a light pink with red and white woven into it, yours is brown and white and baby pink. The bracelets are thin and will probably fall off before you‘re home but you like that you and Peter are matching (ignoring the probably hundreds of tourists that have bought the same bracelets in the last week. But you don‘t care about them, you only care about Peter.)

Peter invites you on a date that entails room service dinner and a film.

Your feet are on Peter’s lap and he’s stroking your leg by the anklet you got a few days ago. You keep freaking out when you’re in the ocean, saying some fish touched your foot but in the end it’s just your anklet.

Peter can never decide whether to laugh or protect you. Usually he picks you up first to show you that it’s just your anklet and once you’re in his arms, bridal style, floating in the water, he starts laughing. You don’t know how you still had doubts when you were doing stuff like that all the time.

You’re sneaking in kisses every few minutes and barely pay attention to the film. At midnight you order another snack that you eat when you start your second movie. You’re in Peter’s lap and he’s holding you as if he’ll never let go. You fall asleep like that. 

Day Six

After you’ve woken up and stretched a bit, you catch Peter standing in front of the window the next morning, looking at the ocean. You hug him from behind and kiss his cheek, “You know what I said about, uh, wanting to have sex to this view - we really don’t have to. No pressure at all. I’m okay with waiting however long you want to, I just said that to tease you.”

Peter turns around, his mouth open. “No, no. I want to. I want you to fuck me all day, every day, whenever, wherever.”

“Oh,” you smile, kissing him, “Good. We can arrange that.”

He turns you around and lifts your legs up around his waist, pressing you against the window. He starts kissing you gently and you take his face into your hands as you eagerly kiss him back. 

Just as your hand slides down his front, his tummy growls loudly. His smile turns shy and he looks down, “Maybe I should uh, maybe I need some food first.”

“Good idea,” you pat his stomach and hold his hand as you make your way downstairs for breakfast. 

You end up going to the pool with MJ and Chris but you and Peter are both thinking about sex. Your subtle glances and his not-so-subtle glances excite you both and you only manage fourty-five minutes before you sneak upstairs. 

You trip on your way to the bed but Peter catches you, carefully lowering you onto the floor and following you. You’re making out on the floor for a few minutes before you take off your bikini top. 

Peter‘s hands reach out for your waist, his eyes glued to your chest. “Can.. Can I?” He asks, voice shaky and excited. You take his hands and place them on your tits as you grind your hips up and into his but he’s not as eager as you anymore. 

He’s licking his lips, breaths broken and shallow. You stop what you’re doing and take his hands off your chest. “Are you nervous?”

“I don’t know. No. Kind of. I’ve never been with anyone that I’ve wanted to impress as much as I wanna impress you.”

You don’t know how many (or how few) people Peter has slept with exactly and you won’t ask if he doesn’t bring it up himself, you don’t care. What you do care about is that Peter is relaxed and comfortable. That’s how you feel when you’re with him. 

“I promise you, you impress me just by being you. And to have you care about my pleasure is all that I need,” you kiss him and he relaxes into you. His smile lights up his face, and his shoulders relax but his hips become more tense as he pushes into you. 

“You wanna do this?” You mumble against his face. He responds by moaning into your mouth, kissing you deeper but you pull away. 

“You need to say it,” you whisper, holding his hand as you start kissing along his jaw. 

“Yes, of course I wanna do this. I’ve waited all my life to be with you.” You know it’s an exaggeration, you’ve only known him for a few years. But it feels like that for you too. You’ve waited all your life for him. 

You get up and pull Peter with you, slipping out of your bikini pants before you lie on the bed. He quickly takes off his shorts, his upper thighs slightly lighter than the rest of his tanned legs, the sight making you smile. 

“C’mere,” you take his hand to pull him to the bed with you but your smile falls when you realise, “Oh. I don’t have any condoms.”

Peter looks down and gets off of the bed, “Uh I.. I have some.” He takes some out of his suitcase and joins you again. 

You smirk, “Were you planning this?”

He shakes his head. “I’ll tell you later,” he mumbles quickly and starts kissing you again, hovering over you. 

You wrap your arms around his neck and kiss him, your lips on his face and his jaw and his neck and his shoulders. You reach for the condoms but Peter stops you, his cheeks pink. “I wanna go down on you first.”

He kisses down your body quickly and you bury your hand in his hair as he lifts your legs over his shoulders and wraps his arms around your thighs. 

His lips are on your inner thighs first and then on your hair above your pussy. “Peter…” you whisper, not allowing your voice to be louder because you know it’ll sound desperate. 

He looks up and his eyes meet yours. Your look in them must be enough to tell him what you need because he spends no more time teasing you. 

His tongue is on your pussy in an instant, playing with your clit as if his life depended on it. He’s much better than he was a few days ago and you wonder how much he’s thought about it since then. 

You let yourself sink into the pillows and you spread your legs more; you’re doused in pleasure. One hand on your belly, the other spreading your lips, Peter is fully engrossed in eating you out, his mouth loud against your wet pussy. 

“Fuck,” you moan, your hand in Peter’s hair tightening when he gets faster with his movements, tongue flicking against your clit. 

You don’t know who’s moaning more; you’re biting into the back of your hand - because you’d hate to be that hotel couple that has loud sex - and Peter’s moans are muffled by your pussy. 

It’s hard to say anything when he has you so close to coming so fast, and the only thing you can do as you cum is grip his hair harder and let the waves of pleasure roll through you, Peter sucking your clit. 

When you come down from your high, you ease your grip on Peter’s hair while he keeps kissing your clit a few times. “Ow,” he says. 

“W-what?” You lift your head up, still dazed. 

“My hair,” he says, but he’s smiling so you know you haven’t seriously hurt him. 

You sit up, pulling your legs away from Peter’s grip and kiss the top of his head a few times, “I’m sorry,” you mumble into his soft and messy strands. 

“Don’t worry, I’m okay,” he says and pulls your chin down so you can kiss his lips instead of his hair. You make out for a few minutes, hands wandering but you haven’t touched him where he really needs it yet. 

You sit back and put the condom on him. “Can you be on top?” Peter asks, a shy grin gracing his face. 

“Mhmm,” you say and switch positions, fluffing up the pillows for Peter before he lies down and he grins at your gesture as if you just gave him a diamond ring. You lean down to kiss him, your hands on his cheeks.

He puts his hands on your hips when you sit up. You place a hand on his chest to steady yourself when you take his dick and rub it through your folds a few times, your knees feeling weaker from the stimulation on your clit.

“Fuck, I need you,” he moans, his hands gripping you tighter. You don’t want to go even another second without him inside of you either so you slowly sit down on him, both of you gasping when he’s fully inside of you.

“Mmm,” you close your eyes, feeling him inside of you and adjusting. You slowly start moving and find a rhythm that feels good. He‘s filling you so good and it feels even better when he starts rubbing your clit. 

You open your eyes when you start moving faster, his cock hitting that sweet spot deep inside with every time you come down. Peter’s eyes are locked on you. He looks as if he can’t believe what he’s seeing right now, that you’re actually this beautiful. 

“You feel so fucking good,” he says, voice half broken from how desperate he is, “And you’re so fucking wet, oh my god, and so so pretty. And so–fuck.” He’s losing track of what he’s saying, his hand now on your ass. His thumb on your clit is sloppy and he’s unfocused but you can’t blame him. 

You take his hands and place one on your chest, and he gently squeezes you, thumb playing with your nipple. You put his other arm around your waist and lean forward, your chest closer to his, so you’re close enough to kiss him, and you do.

You lift up your ass while you start rubbing your clit just how you like it, tracing tight circles on your pussy. Peter holds your waist tight and starts fucking into you from below, his skin slapping against yours - you don’t know if that’s louder or if your moans are, but all you can focus on is Peter’s face in front of yours, and the sounds of him thrusting into your wet pussy.

“I’ve wanted this for so long,” Peter says in between breaths and gasps and moans. 

You have a hand next to his head to hold yourself up, the other one on your clit, and you’re so so close, you can almost taste it.

“Me too, me too me too,” you squeak, eyes closing as your orgasm washes through you and you let out a long gasp. Peter starts fucking you faster, compliments on his lips that you can barely hear through your pleasure and his mumbling while he cums with you.

It both takes you a while to come down from your highs. You collapse and he catches you, holding you tight while you both get your heartbeat back to normal. When you’ve calmed down, you turn your face to look at him, only to find him softly smiling at you already.

“That was better than I ever dreamed of,” Peter tells you, and you grin and take his face to kiss him.

“I’m so glad we finally did this. I love being with you,” you say, cuddling back into his side.

“Me too.” He beams, kissing your temple and not letting you go.

You shower together, lazily massaging the shower gel onto each other’s bodies, kissing the other every chance you get. You cuddle while you have your towels around your bodies, waiting much longer than you need to to dry off. You just don’t want to let him go. When you peek past the closed curtains in your room, you see that it‘s still light outside. 

You go back to the beach, hand in hand, to look at the ocean, maybe read something or listen to some music. Or just to lie next to Peter. Yeah, that sounds good.

“Hope you used protection,” MJ briefly looks up from her book and you feel the skin on your face burning up. You give her a dirty look and turn to Peter. 

“I was gonna ask, where did you get them?” You ask Peter quietly and he looks away quickly.

“Uh… May gave them to me. Just in case.”

You hide your face in Peter’s neck, not sure if you can look May in the eyes again for a while. You know she’s definitely no prude, and you imagine it was great growing up with her, with proper sex education. But you did not need to know that. “Was I that obvious?”

“No, I was obvious and she’s always known that I like you. And we did talk about you last week. She‘s my best friend, after you, she knows almost everything.”

You kiss him and smile, looking out into the ocean, the sand covering your feet, and you realise how lucky you are to experience something like this. A beautiful trip with your beautiful friends and beautiful Peter.

It wasn’t how you imagined your vacation to go. Not at all. Instead of a girls trip it turned into a one week long double date, but you loved sharing the experience with MJ. You’re both happy, so it’s a good holiday, whether it was how you expected or not.

While you’re getting ready for bed that night, you get a few texts from MJ. She’s sent you a bunch of pictures and the word ‘Ew’.

They’re all pictures of you and Peter, mostly you taking a nap with your head on his shoulder. One at the airport, on in the plane, and at least four of you and Peter sleeping at the beach and pool.

Peter comes up behind you and you show him the pictures.

You grin at him while he looks at them and he puts his arms around your waist, holding you from behind. “You’re so beautiful,” he says but you know he means so much more than just that. He’s happy that you feel so safe around him, safe enough to sleep anywhere, as long as you have him to protect you. He’s asleep in some of the pictures too, but those are even more beautiful. You want to print them out and hang them up everywhere.

There are more pictures, some with the stunning view of the ocean in the back. You and Peter are just talking in them, but both of your faces are lit up so brightly, grins so wide. And those photos were from before you kissed. If you’d seen yourself and Peter from the outside, you would have never doubted that you’re meant for each other.

You turn around to kiss him when you’ve looked at all the pictures, and you make out for a few minutes, his warm lips pressed against your mouth.

You know it won’t lead to sex, you just want to kiss him, appreciate him, show him how much he means to you.

“I want to print out the pictures and permanently tape them to my forehead,” he says and you let out the loudest laugh, and he looks at you like this was the moment he decided to give you his whole heart. 

But it’s your last full day tomorrow, and you worry what will happen after.

When you come back to the mundane everyday life full of studying and work and being busy. But when you look at Peter and watch him fall asleep, his gentle snores calming down your heartbeat, you can only think of this moment; and it’s gorgeous. You have nothing to worry about.

Day Seven

The last day feels like it lasts only a few hours. You make use of your all-inclusive package one last time, going to the beach and the pool and the spa, getting your favourite foods and cocktails. You watch the sunset from the beach and all talk late into the night, going on a last walk through the balmy evening.

You’re tired when you come up to your room but you toss and turn for at least half an hour before you realise you don’t want to go to sleep. You don’t want this holiday to end.

“Are you awake?” Peter whispers from beside you.

“Yeah, can’t sleep,” you turn around to get closer to him.

“Same,” he says, kissing your cheek and holding you.

Your eyes have adjusted to the darkness in the room, and they land on the bathtub that’s in the middle of the bedroom. “We never used that,” you point towards it.

“Is it an actual bathtub that you can use? I thought it was a weird decoration.”

With that, you’re up on your feet and Peter opens one of the curtains, the light of the moon illuminating the whole room through the floor-to-ceiling windows, and he opens all the curtains. It looks magical.

You open the tap of the tub and the water comes out, “I’m getting in,” you say, taking off your shirt and underwear and Peter quickly undresses too.

The bathtub is huge but you still stay close to Peter while the tub is still filling up. First you lie between his legs, his arms around you, but you’re awake now and Peter’s erection poking into your backside certainly isn’t making you sleepy either. You turn off the tap early so you don’t make a mess and splash water all over the floor (and so you don’t drown while trying to suck Peter’s dick).

You turn around so you’re on your hands and knees in front of Peter. “Hi,” you smirk, your eyes trailing from his face down his body.

“Hi,” he says, eyes following yours to his dick, and he puts his hands over it, “I don’t… uh, we don’t have to do anything. It’s just you’re naked and you were like right here.” You kiss him to get him to stop talking, and you take his hands away from his lap.

“I wanna go down on you,” you tell him, kissing his neck. He nods so hard that you hear a click in his neck but he says he’s fine.

You kiss his chest and lick your way down his abs, letting your tongue glide down his happy trail. His abs are contracted and tense, he’s waiting for you to finally touch him, but you gently squeeze his thighs to tease him some more first.

When he tries but fails to stop a whimper from escaping him, you decide he’s earned it.

You bend down to lick the head of his cock as lightly as you can, your tongue barely touching his skin. Peter’s gripping the edge of the bathtub now, trying not to make any noise from how needy he is.

Finally letting him have it, you wrap your lips around him, letting your spit drip down. You take him further, your wet mouth on his dick. You look up at Peter, and you can tell he’s trying so hard not to cum yet, and it nearly makes him look like he’s in pain when really he’s feeling too much pleasure.

“Fuuckk,” he groans, cupping your face with one hand as you take him into your mouth once more, going all the way down until his hairs tickle your lips. You pull your lips off of him and kiss up the side of his cock, your tongue leaving a light trail of spit on him.

You’re about to wrap your lips around him again, but he stops you. “If you wanna continue after this you have to stop now because I’m about to cum.” You frown for a second but then sit up. You still wanna feel him inside of you tonight and you’ll have plenty of time to suck his dick in the future, when he can maybe go more than once because it’s not the middle of the night.

He pulls you up so you can kiss him and you immediately get lost in it. You don’t know how you’ve gone all your life without kissing Peter Parker every day.

He sneaks a hand between your legs and you grind against it, it feels nice with your lower body half just barely in the water. Your pussy is right at the surface of the water, and the splashing against your clit adds something light and teasing that makes you feel so fucking nice. You definitely need to opt for a bath instead of a shower more often.

“I’m so fucking wet, Pete. I want you now,” you whisper into his ear, carefully taking his earlobe between your teeth. Peter sighs when you do it, and starts mumbling something. You patiently wait for him to recompose himself, to drag himself out of the pleasure and his dazed mind to say what he wants to say.

“I’m wet too,” he says, gesturing to the water and smiling all proudly at his joke.

You kiss him, not being able to stop yourself from loving the joke, “You’re ridiculous,” you laugh, “Get the condoms.” He reaches for them, half hanging out of the bathtub to get them from the small table by the foot of the bed.

Taking advantage of all the space you have in this bathtub, you turn around and lean forward to get into a reverse cowgirl position. Peter grabs your ass and spreads your cheeks, reaching between your legs, his middle finger finding your clit and playing with it. You look back at him with a smile on your face, but you can’t decide if you should start fucking him or let him make you cum first.

His eyes meet yours and he leans forward to kiss your back. “You’re so gorgeous,” he says, eyes not leaving your face and it makes you turn around completely just so you can properly kiss him.

You turn back around and wrap your hand around him so you can guide him to your pussy. With Peter’s hands on your ass, you lower yourself onto him, and his hands go to your waist to steady you.

Even though you just want to look back at Peter, you force yourself to look out of the window. You said you’d fuck him to this view. The moon casts a white shine on the ocean and the waves almost have the same rhythm as the water splashing around in the bath while you ride Peter. 

You reach back to pull his hand so you can show him the view too, but he’s looking at your pussy swallowing his dick with every one of your bounces.

“No, look at the moon,” you laugh, stopping your movements.

“You’re more beautiful,” he says, not taking his eyes off you, “Only wanna look at you.” You roll your eyes and grab his face to look out of the huge windows.

“Oh, that is quite nice,” he says, surprise in his voice, “But I’d still rather look at you.”

You lick your lips when you feel a throb in your pussy and it‘s like your neediness washes all over you more intensely than it did before. You adjust your position so you can sit on Peter‘s dick again but he pulls you towards him. 

“I’m not gonna last much longer,” he says quietly and you turn your head to him to smile, making sure he doesn’t think you’re mad, “I’m.. I’m not used to it yet so uh, can I make you cum first?”

You nod with a soft smile, “Mhm. Where do you want me?”

He pulls you to sit between his legs, your back against his chest, and he reaches his arm around you and finds your clit. “Wait,” you say, sitting up more and bending your legs. You line him up with your pussy and slowly sink down on his cock. 

With no effort at all, Peter supports you enough so you’re comfortable sitting on him. You close your eyes and try to focus on Peter’s finger on your clit, focus on how good it feels to be pressed up against him, both of your bodies comfortably wet and slotted into each other.

Every time you squeeze around him or lean back against him some more, you hear Peter’s quiet moans right in your ear. You reach back to put your hand on the side of his neck, holding him even closer as he rubs circles into your clit while he’s fully inside of you, moving ever so slightly.

You communicate via moans and gasps, the silence is peaceful and you can just cherish the feeling of him rubbing your clit, hearing nothing but your lover’s quiet noises and your wet pussy. You let out a high-pitched gasp when you reach your high, your eyes screwed shut as the pleasure pulses through you.

Your pussy squeezing him tightly, Peter lifts you up a bit so he can fuck into you, but he doesn’t stop rubbing your clit. Your voices and the splashing subside a little bit after you both stop moving and he turns your face to kiss you.

You let in some new water to take a proper bath this time and you wrap your whole body around Peter’s, sitting in his lap and facing him this time.

“Can I ask you something?” He asks after a few minutes of comfortable silence.

“Of course.”

He takes a deep breath, and you can feel his heart hammering in his chest.

“Um. I know it’s early, I know it’s so so early. And it’s totally okay if you need more time. But I was just wondering, because, you know, I really really like you and I have for so long. And I just.. do you want to, or I mean maybe we could.. make this official and.. do you want to be my girlfriend?”

You bite your lip to stop your smile and pretend to think for a bit. It’s absurd to you that he thinks you might say no. “You’re right. I mean we don’t need a talking stage, we’ve been talking for years and know each other well. We’ve kissed and had sex and spent 24/7 with each other on more occasions than this week,” you try to think of more reasons that you don’t actually have to say out loud but Peter’s face is almost comically frozen in anticipation so you think you’ve teased him enough. 

You kiss him to snap him out of it, “Of course I want to. Do you also wanna be my boyfriend?” You ask in a cute voice, taking his hand. 

“You don’t have to ask,” he says and kisses you, grinning against your face. “Wait, really?” He asks again when he pulls away.

“You really though I’d say no?”

“I hoped you wouldn’t. I couldn’t imagine you would. But it is early, so, you’d have every right to reject me,” he shrugs.

“Yeah but we’ve known each other for so long. Liked each other for so long, so I think it’s a little different than if we’d just met each other last week. I know you, and I know I want to be with you.”

“Same” is all he can say in his adoring daze, looking at you as if you he just discovered love for the first time.

You hug him tight and kiss the side of his head. He squeezes you back and doesn’t let go for a few minutes.

“How about we try out all the features this fancy bathtub has and then we go to bed?” You ask, and Peter nods happily, turning on the faucet closest to him. There are about six different buttons in total. Some make water flow into the bathtub from the sides of it and one turns on the faucet at the other end of the tub. It’s slightly higher than the edge of the bathtub and a thick stream of water comes out in a circular shape, water flowing into the bath. 

Peter smirks at you and turns you around, facing you towards the faucet. He maneouvres you to the other end of the tub and lifts your legs up so they’re folded against your chest. You can’t imagine he’s comfortable with your full body weight on him, but he chose to put himself into this position.

You giggle when you realise that he’s trying to position your pussy under the stream so you can cum again, “I like the way you think.”

After some adjusting, the water finally sprays right onto your clit, and you gasp and clutch the edge of the tub when you first feel the stream between your legs. It’s powerful but it’s big, so it’s spread out nicely when it meets your pussy.

You lean your head against Peter’s shoulder, enjoying the way he’s holding you and how good the water feels on your clit.

Peter starts whispering compliments into your ear, kissing the side of your face or your neck every few moments.

“You’re so fucking pretty. And you’re the sexiest woman who has ever walked this earth,” he kisses your shoulder and looks over it, watching the stream of water, “And I’m so jealous of this water because it’s touching your pussy right now and I’m not.”

You laugh and quickly kiss his cheek, “Is that your idea of dirty talk?” 

“Maybe. I mean it’s working, you can’t tell me you’re not wet,” he lifts his eyebrows.

“No more wet jokes, okay, I just wanna cum and go to sleep.”

You hear a hum of agreement from Peter and hold one of his hands, placing it on your tummy and moving so your pussy is back under the stream. Peter lets go of your hand and his fingers wander down to your thigh, spreading your legs some more.

He moves to your pussy and spreads your lips, making the water go directly onto your clit. “Yes, yes, fuck. Just like that,” you gasp and flinch as you immediately feel close to an orgasm.

You try to move your hips up to get more friction but the water isn’t quite enough and a whimper makes its way past your lips - you’re so close. Suddenly you feel Peter’s finger on your clit and it’s exactly what you need to finally tip over the edge. You put your hand on his just to make sure he keeps going until you’re finished. It’s the best orgasm you’ve had in days. It reaches your whole body, soaking you in bliss from head to toe. 

Your body goes slack on top of Peter’s but he scoots back and lets you lean your head against his chest. You look up and he kisses you from above, missing your lips but it doesn’t matter because you’re close to him either way.

“I wish I had a bathtub as big as that at home,” you say, your eyes closed, sinking into Peter’s arms.

He huffs out a small laugh and tightens his arms around you, “I’m sure we’ll manage to have sex in your small bath too.”

You sit up, the water splashing around your sides, “Who says I wasn’t just thinking about taking a nice innocent bath in a big bathtub?”

“I know you too well for that,” he strokes your belly, hand going up and down, the water moving slightly with Peter.

“You do know me well,” you lean up to kiss his jaw and before you sit back down, you look into his eyes. They’re looking right back into yours and you feel like you could just stay like that for days and not get bored.

“I…” you start, stopping yourself from saying something stupid. You only just officially started your relationship, and even that happened very early. You’re probably just confused and tired and in the honeymoon phase, but you don’t want to say those three words too early, so instead you say, “I think we should go to bed. My fingers are all wrinkly.” 

You lift your hands to show Peter, but he takes them and kisses all your knuckles and then your fingertips individually. You stay in the bath for a few more minutes, just kissing.

Last Day 

Your flight back home isn’t until noon, but since you stayed up for so long you sleep longer and end up stressing about making it to the airport in time anyway. 

You make it to the plane and somehow luck is on your side, because the third seat next to you and Peter is empty, so you have more space in your row. 

As the crew closes the door and does their security announcement and demonstrations, you feel your heartbeat picking up speed. With all the stress of getting here, you forgot about the stress you might have once you’re on here.

A baby starts crying somewhere in the back and a cat in the row in front of you keeps scratching the travel box it’s in and their owner is bashfully trying to shush their cat but that only makes more noise. 

It’s overstimulating and you feel sweat gathering under your arms. Forcing yourself to take deep breaths isn’t helping much.

Suddenly you feel Peter’s hand on yours and you look up to see him smiling softly, holding up his big over-ear headphones. “Thanks,” you say, turning towards him so he can fit them over your ears and adjust them over your head. It’s already quieter and calmer, now you only have to worry about your fear of taking off and landing, not the noises around you.

You laugh when Peter turns on the music and it’s some nature inspired meditation song, “Normal music is fine,” you smile, lifting off one side of the headphones “Are you sure you don’t want your headphones?”

“I’m fine. Do you want some space? Since there is some,” he nods towards the empty seat.

You shake your head, “No, I wanna hold your hand. But thanks.” Peter kisses your cheek and you take your intertwined hands into your lap, putting on some music and closing your eyes.

A few minutes later, when you’re calmer but still on edge, you only hear the end of an announcement through the plane’s speakers.

Peter leans in to fill you in and tell you that you missed your slot and might need to wait another thirty minutes or longer until you can take off. You take a deep breath and try to focus on that. You can’t do anything about it but at least you get thirty more minutes of peace.

Peter puts his arm around you and pulls you into his side when you yawn, and you relax against his shoulder. You open your eyes every few minutes, waiting to catch MJ taking another picture of you from between the seats in front of you, where she and Chris are sitting. But the third time you open your eyes, expecting to find MJ taking a picture, you look out the window and realise you’re above the clouds.

You check your phone but you’ve only been asleep for about twenty minutes. You look at Peter, your eyes still sleepy and half shut. The smile he gives you is sheepish.

“What?” You ask.

“When they made the announcement they may have only said that they’ll be fifteen more minutes. But I knew you were tired so I hoped you would be able to relax and fall asleep so you wouldn’t be awake for the take off.”

You press a quick kiss to his cheek. What he did wasn’t a big gesture and there was no guarantee it would work. But he tried anyway and it helped you avoid a whole lot of panic.

You’re looking at him and you see the tenderness and warmth in his eyes and you can only imagine there’s a similar look of adoration in yours.

“I love you,” you say, smiling softly, and then your face falls when you realise what you just said. “Shit, sorry. Oh god that was way too early I—”

“Did you mean it?” He asks, face nothing like the woman he kissed for the first time this week just told him she loves him. 

You swallow and think. You do love him. You’ve loved him as a friend for years now and felt more for him for ages too. You still love him as a friend but now you love him even more. “I mean it.”

He grins as if he just hit the jackpot, “Good, because I love you too.”

You hold the eye contact for a few more moments and then you both laugh quietly, unable to contain the amount of joy there is in you.

Any little doubt you had just flows away. You know that the feelings you have for Peter and what happened between you wasn’t just a result of the holiday magic that made you more careless and lowered your inhibitions. Even on this crowded plane and after the abrupt ending your holiday had with you and Peter oversleeping - you still like him, even more now. You love him, you probably always have. And you have no doubt he feels the same.

You’re jolted awake when you land. You fell asleep on Peter yet again and you don’t know how it’s possible that you feel so nice and comfortable with him that you can fall asleep on him even with your fears right around the corner.

Your fingers are still in his and his thumb is stroking the back of your hand. You can’t take your eyes off of him and he can’t stop looking at you either. You know this was meant to happen, and it would have still happened some other time if he hadn’t come on holiday with you.

It doesn’t matter that you’ve left the paradise you just spent a week in because you’re each other’s escape, every day, no matter where you are. 

He’s your holiday, and you know you’ll start loving him even more every day. The holiday magic had nothing to do with you two finally getting closer, the magic is the feelings you have for each other and the bond you’ve created over all the time you’ve known the other - that’s what has pushed you two closer. 

And the way Peter is smiling at you tells you everything you need to know:

He feels the same, and the real love story is only just beginning.

☆.｡.:*support a writer and reblog if you enjoyed, it helps out a lot.｡.:*☆

[fromdarzaitoleeza]

Ahh it's the last day of 2023 already?

I am expecting a call from a friend although the possibility of this happening is very slim it always felt nice to hear the voice of an old friend ( I'm not a text person I've realised this over time but I am stuck to be a text person) .

I can't wait for spring to come in 2024 , spring provides an intense amount of healing to my soul.

The next four months are very crucial in my life if they go well I can survive the rest of the year, I have died a couple of times this year and I am amazed that I am alive i didn't honestly thought i would make it to the end of this year ( especially in the last 3 months , I badly needed help but i didn't wanted others to pity me so i spoke to none about it ) anyways I don't want to talk about it , i don't want to make it sound blue than it already is,a i am really sorry about the fact all my posts are blue I sincerely wish it wasn't that way( altho i haven't posted anything here with as much as devotion I use to do , partly cuz i created an Instagram acc but that's not all reason I ve been sad nonetheless) and sorry for all the "anon/asks" that i haven't answered

I have made no achievements this year and there is little to no progress towards my self love or self growth, but I think that's okay I can do it in the upcoming year, time flies so quick i can't believe Its been so many years since I was 16 I miss being 16 honestly I had more in me back then than i have now , i have lost of confidence my vision and my smile over the years it's as if I am very different person now , i certainly wish I wasn't this way i really thought i would be so much more and better in my early 20s but it is what it is , acceptance is haredest of all emotions in my opinion , you know things are harder to accept when you know you could have done better .

Just like in the last 2 years even this year I didn't make any real life friends with whom I can hang out with i think it's partly due to the fact some people are destined to be alone and I am afraid to admit I am one of them , I did make 2 online friends this year .

I don't want to share any life lessons i learnt this year but if there is something i would love to share is choose yourself one more time each time you feel it's the last time you are doing it , choose one more time to live,one more time to hope, one more time to have faith , one more time to start again [ the fact I am the one telling you this is rediciculosly funny ] .

Unlike most people i don't have a lot of goals for the new year I just got things i want to avoid ( idk if that's the same thing?) Avoid my leftover heart's heartbreak, avoiding what takes away my peace, avoiding what can cause me discomfort, avoiding things that make me question myself ( in any negative way) ,i think that's a little too much but that's it .

As I was writing this Google photos sent me a notification saying " 3 years back today with a photo of mine " and it broke my heart a little, now I am questioning myself how did i let so much happen to me , I wish I treated certain things as the last time instead of always stupidly believing in future ( my worse trait yes).

There is a lot to say as always, i wonder if I open my mouth i would never stop sharing things that go inside my mind , but i also know there is no use of it if i can't find people who can understand it , maybe that's how I end up ranting here .

Not to mention I love people who are patient, i believe in the near future i would only like to talk with people who could be patient with me and with my silence . I believe everyone deserves people who can be patient with them .

Nothing really matters in the end but at the same time everything you do matters ❤️‍🩹

[harringtonstilinski]

Master of Puppets - Eddie Munson

Author: @harringtonstilinski​ Characters: Eddie Munson x Henderson!Reader Word Count: 8,013 Warnings: flashing gif, fluff, flashback in italics; eddie has shoulder length hair, angst out the fucking ass, Requested: no | yes; Smut: no | yes; A/N: Hi, friends! I made a post about this fic, and received some postive feedback! Like I said in that post, I showed my daughter the Upside Down Concert scene, and I immediately saw Reader standing/sitting/squatting on top of the trailer. If you like this chapter, please do not hesitate to reblog and give some feedback, whether it be in the reblogs, comments, or my inbox. As always, read at your own risk and enjoy 😊

eddie munson masterlist

You never thought you’d be going into the Upside Down again. But, here you are in a big ass grassy area with your boyfriend, Eddie. As well as your brother Dustin, Nancy, Robin and Steve, the Sinclair siblings, and Max. You had been roped into the adventures of the Upside Down ever since the beginning.

Steve and Nancy were a part of the adventures from the beginning, Max joined during Dart’s adventure, Robin and Erica joining you lot last year. Now, your boyfriend was a part of this adventure; The Adventures of Vecna, as you liked to call it. 

You watched as Eddie and Dustin hammered some nails into a couple of tin garbage can lids. 

“So, how did you two end up together?” Dustin asked. “Neither of you really talked about it.”

You looked at Eddie and he at you, a small smile on his face before he went back to hammering. “Well, she caught my eye when I was sophomore, a scared little freshman-”

“I wasn’t scared!” you exclaimed.

Both boys chuckled at your exclamation before Eddie continued. “Okay. Not scared, but… confused. She was confused. Not knowing where to go. I walked up to her as she was looking at her schedule like she was mad at it.”

“When he walked up to me, I got scared. Like, jumping out of my skin, scared. I didn’t know he was walking up to me, despite all the chains he was sporting.” You chuckled at Eddie’s smile. He was proud of his chains. 

“It was loud and busy with all the freshmen trying to make their way around,” he chuckled. Going back to his task, he cleared his throat. “Anyway. I showed her where her locker was and looked at her schedule, seeing that most of her classes were near mine.”

“He took me to every single one,” you smiled, remembering that day as if it were yesterday.

“I saw her at one of the lunch tables, sitting alone with a book in her hands as she ate lunch. I ditched my friends to go and talk to her, but she didn’t talk back.”

“So, Eddie, here, had slipped a note into my locker after lunch, telling me to meet him in the woods right behind the school.” You were taken back to that day as Eddie explained your meeting in the woods.

Walking around in the woods was something you never found yourself doing, but here you were. In the woods. After school. To meet a boy. A cute boy with shoulder length hair, wearing a denim jacket and black jeans. The very same boy that you were thinking about appeared out of nowhere in the woods, scaring you.

He held up a hand, a smile on his face as he said, “Sorry.”

With a hand over your heart, you exhaled, trying to get your heartbeat back to normal. “No, that’s okay. You’re fine. It’s my fault, really, for getting scared. I didn’t hear you walk up.”

“You didn’t hear the leaves?”

Shaking your head, you tried to hold back a smile. “Nope.”

He tried to hide his own smile as he looked off to the side a little. “I’m Eddie, by the way. Eddie Munson.  I don’t know if I told you my name at lunch.”

You shook your head again, lips between your teeth. “Nope, but it’s very nice to meet you, Eddie. I’m Y/N Henderson.”

“Well, it’s very nice to meet you, M’lady Henderson.”

A giggle erupted from your throat, your hand flying to your mouth to try and conceal it. Looking over to the picnic table, you gestured over to it, asking Eddie if he wanted to sit down and talk, to which he agreed.

Eddie could swear that by hearing you laugh, he wanted to hear it forever. As the two of you sat down, you looked at his shirt, seeing the words Hellfire Club on it with some type of dice, a sword, a demon head and morning star weapon.

“What’s Hellfire Club?” you asked.

Looking down at his shirt, Eddie explained, “Oh, it’s this club I started last year.”

You raised a brow, your interest piqued. “What kind of club?”

“D&D.” When he looked back up at you, he saw a very confused look on your face. Chuckling, he said, “Dungeons and Dragons. It’s a fantasy board game.”

“Wait, with like, monsters and shit?”

Letting out a light laugh while looking down at the table, Eddie said, “Yeah. With monsters and shit.”

Bringing your arm up to the table, you rested your elbow on the tabletop, resting your chin in your hand. “I think my little brother is trying to get into it. Him and his little friends keep talking about it.”

“You have a little brother?” Eddie asked.

Nodding, you smiled a little. “I do. He’s annoying, like most younger siblings are, but I’m more than grateful to have him. He’s the missing piece my mom and I didn’t know we needed.”

Eddie wanted to know more about you. “What about your dad?” Waving him off, you replied, “Eh, he’s deadbeat. Well, not really. He just… took off not long after Dustin was born.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It’s fine. He was an asshole anyway, from what I can remember.” You looked into Eddie’s eyes and wanted to know about him instead of talking about yourself. “What about you? What’s your family like?”

“There’s not much to say, really. My dad’s in prison, and my mom died when I was young.”

“Oh, Eddie,” you said, hesitantly reaching your hand across the table. “I’m so sorry to hear that.”

He looked at your hand before timidly putting his hand on yours, instantly finding comfort. Eddie was fifteen and you were fourteen, but that didn’t stop the tingles that shot through both of your hands. 

Flipping your hand over, you watched as Eddie lightly traced random shapes into your palm. “You know, uhm, this isn’t the first time we’ve… hung out.”

Confused as ever, you looked at him with scrunched eyebrows. “No?”

Stopping his fingers, he looked at you, asking, “You don’t remember?”

Trying to rack your brain, your eyes danced all around; at his shirt, his rings, the trees behind him, the tabletop, but you ended up coming up short. “I’m sorry. I-”

“That’s okay,” he said.

Watching as he looked past you for a moment, you wanted to say something that would help to put his mind at ease, but a gasp sounding from you had the words dying in your throat as Eddie pretended to stab himself in the heart, falling from the table bench.

“Oh, my god!” you exclaimed.

“I wouldn’t remember me either, Y/N,” Eddie said, standing up. Brushing the leaves from his body, you giggled, watching as he ran his fingers through his hair, asking, “Do I have something in my hair?”

It felt like forever since you genuinely laughed at someone being so silly. You weren’t used to it anymore. Hanging out with your best friend, Steve Harrington, would do that to you, especially when it came to watching his basketball practices and then heading straight home.

But laughing at Eddie’s antics felt natural, like you’d been doing it your whole life. You wanted to have that feeling for a long time with him. 

Bringing you out of your thoughts, Eddie asked, “You don’t remember me?” with his arms crossed, a small smile on his face.

Chuckling, you responded, “I’m sorry.”

“Middle school,” he said. “Talent show. You were doing this dance thing. Ya’know, the-” He shimmied, which caused you to giggle at him. “-thing that you do. It was pretty cool, actually. You were a really good dancer.”

“Still am,” you smiled. “I still dance.”

He smirked, saying, “And I… I was with my band.”

As if a bus hit you with realization, you gasped, holding your hands up before exclaiming, “Corroded Coffin!”

At the same time he punched his own hand and turned around, saying, “Corro– you do remember!” you were also saying, “Oh, my god! Yes, of course! With a name like that, how could I forget? You guys introduced me to metal!”

“I knew it,” he said, coming back to the table to lean on the top, your foreheads almost touching. “You’re a freak.”

“Yeah,” you chuckled. “Thanks to you. But you just… you looked totally-”

“Different? Yeah, well, my hair was buzzed and I didn’t have any tattoos yet.”

“You have tattoos?” you asked, almost too excitedly.

“One.” Shifting on the bench to face his right arm towards you, he lifted his sleeve, showing a two legged dragon. “It’s called a wyvern. It’s a creature from D&D.”

Leaning on the table with a small smile, you brought your hand up to trace the outside of his permanent ink. “It looks creepy, but it’s cool. But you’re a minor. How did you get it?”

Slowly pulling his sleeve back down as you sat back on the bench, he sighed. “My dad. Said he wanted to give me a birthday present to remember. So, he took me to the tattoo shop last year for my fourteenth birthday, and said to pick out any design they had. I ended up talking to the tattoo artist about D&D for a little while. The dude said he would tattoo something, and out came this.”

“Is that how you got into D&D or had you been into it for a while before that?” you wondered.

“Was into it for a little while. Where I was at within the campaigns, I hadn’t come across the wyvern yet.” He looked you, something shining in his eyes that you couldn’t decipher. “Hey, thanks.”

“For what?” you asked, tucking your lips between your teeth.

Shrugging, he said, “For listening.”

Smiling, you said, “No problem. Now, back to the band thing. You played guitar, right?”

Eddie nodded, looking at your hand before reaching across the table to continue his shapes from earlier. “Still do. Still do.” He looked back into your eyes, seeing that they were already on him before he added, “You should come see us. We play at The Hideout on Tuesday’s.”

“Isn’t that a bar?” you asked.

“My uncle knows the owner,” he whispered, slightly narrowed eyes.

You nodded and breathed out a chuckle. “Okay.”

“It’s pretty cool. We actually get a crowd of about five… drunks.”

Laughing again, you couldn’t help but let yourself get immersed in the boy that was Eddie Munson. “Doesn’t seem like it’s Madison Square.”

“It’s not,” he agreed. “But you gotta start somewhere, right? So…”

After a moment of comfortable silence between the two of you, you couldn’t help but talk without your filter. “Ya’know, you’re not what I’d thought you’d be like.”

“Mean and scary?” he asked, quietly.

“Yeah,” you whispered.

“Yeah, well, I actually thought you’d be kind of mean and scary.” “Me?” you exclaimed.

“Terrifying,” he smiled. “What, with your quietness and reading and shit.”

All you could do was look at him, a small smile on your lips. The two of you talked until you could hear the distant ringing of your name being called, Eddie being kind enough to walk you to the edge of the woods, where Steve was waiting for you.

Turning to Eddie, you placed a hand on his arm and said, “I had a nice time, Eddie. Really.”

Grabbing your hand, Eddie wrapped your fingers around his before he bent and kissed your knuckles, a smile on his face as he replied, “Until next time, m’lady.”

After that day in the woods, you two hung out on Tuesday nights, and when you weren’t hanging out with Steve. Before long, the two of you were a couple. Hearing the whispers about you two didn’t bother you at all. Eddie made you realize that you didn’t care what others thought about you.

You still dressed in what he would call your “preppy” clothes, and he still dressed in his. The moment he let you wear his denim jacket on a date because you were cold, you stole it and never returned it. He didn’t mind, though, because for your very first Christmas together, you had bought him the exact jacket he gave you.

He ended up cutting the sleeves off of it and glued something about Dio on the back of it, band buttons on the front of it with a patch that you had ironed on for him.

Your parents weren’t too thrilled that you were dating Eddie. They wanted you to date Steve instead, but you protested, as well as Steve, to the point where your parents relented. You ended up turning into a little bookworm, as Eddie had given you a few books he thought you’d enjoy. Now, here you two were, five years later, still together, still going strong. 

As Eddie told Dustin the story, he had finished hammering the nails into the tin garbage lids. He stood, grabbing the one he was working on.

“How’s she feeling?” Dustin asked.

Turning and holding out his makeshift shield, Eddie replied, “Light,-” before holding the lid nail side down, saying, “-but durable.” Holding it out again, he added, “Deadly,-” before lowering it to add, “-but reliable.”

You and Dustin laughed at Eddie’s antics, something you fall even more in love with about him. With an ever dramatic voice as he propped his foot on the crate he’d been sitting on, Eddie reached out a hand towards Dustin, saying, “Hear me now. There will be no more retreating…” Going back to his own voice, he looked at you and said, “...from Eddie the Banished.”

Standing up with his own makeshift shield, Dustin said, “Hey, you’re really ready for bat-tle.”

You and Eddie looked at each other before casting your eyes over to Dustin, as he chortled. “You get it?”

did i forget to mention that your little group minus the younger teens had jumped into lovers lake after steve and ended up having your own little adventure in the upside down? no. oh. well. ya’did!

“Bat-tle.” As Dustin looked at yours and Eddie’s please explain looks, he sighed out, “B-A-T. No?”

Eddie looked at you before he handed you his shield as Dustin set his down, saying, “I thought it was a good one,” before your boyfriend all but tackled him with a playful yell, the younger teen caught off guard. “What are you doing?!”

You had to drop the shield as Eddie pushed your brother towards you, your hands coming up to his back to stop him from running into you. He stood up straighter before saying, “Son of a bitch!” before charging at Eddie, who let out another playful yell.

Laughing out loud, you watched as your boyfriend reached down to give your brother a wedgie, who protested by saying, “No wedgies! No wedgies!”

They both stood up straighter, Eddie’s hands on either side of your brother, saying, “Never change.” They both looked at each other as he said, “Dustin Henderson.”

You walked over to them, moving the hair that was in Eddie’s mouth right before he added, “Promise me?”

As if he were getting emotional, Dustin said, “Wasn’t planning on it.”

“Good,” Eddie said. “Good.” He looked over at you and kissed you before turning towards the Sinclairs, saying, “Hey, Sinclair’s! How are those, uhh… spears coming on?”

Watching as Lucas gave a thumbs up, you chuckled when you noticed the look on Erica’s face. Shaking your head, you looked down at the shields, your smile falling fast. Dustin noticed before Eddie did, your brother walking over to you and putting a hand on your shoulder.

“What’s up, sis?” he asked. He looked at your waterline, seeing tears lining them. Looking over at Eddie, he whispered his name as a tear slipped down your cheek.

“Baby?” Eddie said, standing in front of you. He cupped your cheeks, lifting your head as you took a shaky breath in. “Princess, what’s wrong?”

With your eyes dancing between his, you quietly asked, “What if we don’t make it out this time?” You grabbed his forearms, keeping his arms in place as you added, “What if one of us dies? I can’t… I can’t lose anyone else.” Gripping his forearms a little tighter, you said through gritted teeth, “Especially you.”

Shaking his head, Eddie said, “You’re not gonna lose me.”

“Do you promise me?”

He grabbed one of your hands after removing one of his from your cheek, bringing your hand to palm at his chest. “With my whole heart.” With the hand that was still cupping your cheek, he brought your face closer to his, sealing his promise with a kiss. 

Dustin cleared his throat, causing the two of you to break apart. You pressed your foreheads together, your eyes shut, Eddie’s still open as he quietly said, “I love you, princess.”

“I love you, too, Dungeon Master.”

“Okay, if you two can stop having a gross moment, can we practice a little bit?” Dustin asked.

Reluctantly, Eddie pulled away to grab his shield, practicing fighting the demobats as you watched them, giggles and chuckles sounding out of you as you did. You laughed when Eddie jumped over Dustin like a leap frog.

A little while later, everyone geared up with their weapons and battle clothes. Your group got back into the Winnebago, everyone quiet as the realness of what was to come started to set it. Steve was driving while Nancy sat next to him in the passenger seat. Erica, Lucas and Max sat in the kitchen/dining area. Dustin, Robin, you and Eddie sat in the very back. 

You were sitting between Eddie and Dustin, your arm around Eddie’s, your head resting on his shoulder as he had his hand resting on the inside of your thigh. You couldn’t help but play with the ring on his finger, it bringing the both of you some form of comfort.

Looking at Eddie, you weren’t surprised to see him already looking at you, tightening his hold on you just the slightest. You looked at Dustin, seeing the worry on his face. You knew he had the same concerns that you did, but he never voiced them. Grabbing his hand, you held on tight as he looked out of the window, the hold he was giving your hand was the same you had on his.

Steve eventually pulled up to the Creel house, letting Max, Lucas and Erica off before he drove you to a secluded area near the trailer park, Forest Hills, where you all ran through the phases one more time that Nancy had set in place.

Phase One: Meet Erica at the playground, where she’ll signal Max and Lucas.

Phase Two: Max baits Vecna.

Phase Three: you, Eddie and Dustin distract the bats. 

Phase Four: Flambe.

Once you were all sure of the plan and that no one was going to deter away from it, the six of you hopped off of the Winnebago to head to Eddie’s trailer, where Chrissy’s gate was. When you all reached the trailer, Steve went in first, everyone else following suit. 

When you walked in, you watched as Steve the makeshift rope that Dustin had made to bring you back from the Upside Down, flipping before landing on his feet.

“Ooooh, what does he want us to do, applaud?” Robin mocked.

You chuckled as you watched him place a mattress on the other side of the gate for safe landing. Nancy went next after dropping her backpack. As carefully as you and Dustin could, you both tossed their gear up into the gate, the backpack and gun landing on the mattress on the other side.

Eddie went next, smiling up at you, telling you to come on with the motion of his hand. With Robin and Dustin’s help, you climbed the rope before falling onto the mattress with your eyes closed, only to see Eddie right above you when you opened them. “Now this looks familiar.”

Chuckling, you playfully shoved him away, saying, “Keep it in your pants, Munson.”

He helped you up before his shield, Robin and her backpack, the spears and your brother came crashing down, Steve and Eddie grabbing his shirt and hoisting him up.

When you all exited the trailer, Steve turned around and said, “Hey, you two, listen.”

“Uhm, three,” you corrected, pushing your way between your brother and boyfriend.

“No, two. You’re coming with us.”

Crossing your arms, you said, “Like hell, I am.” He sighed your nickname before you interrupted him. “No, Steven. You don’t get to make that choice. Not this time. I need to stay with them.”

“Because of-” Steve started, only for you to interrupt him again by saying, “Because of them.” You walked towards Steve, placing your hands on his shoulders. “Look, I know my parents tried with us, and I know it’s what you wanted, too, but I can’t help the fact that I fell in love with Eddie. He’s never experienced this shit before. I need to be here to protect him. And Dustin.”

Sighing, he nodded. “Alright.” Steve looked back at Dustin and Eddie, but directed his next words at the three of you. “If things here start to go South, like, at all-” He looked at you as he said, “-abort. Okay?” Looking back at Dustin and Eddie, he added, “Draw the attention of the bats, keep them busy for a minute or two while we take care of Vecna.”

“Steve,” you whispered, tears lining your eyes.

“Don’t try to be cute or heroes or whatever. You three are just-”

“Decoys,” you and Dustin said.

Gaining Steve’s attention, you said, “Don’t worry, Steve. Can play the hero this time.”

“Absolutely,” Eddie said. “I mean, look at us. We are noooooooot heroes.”

Before Steve walked off with Nancy and Robin, he looked at you and his face softened. At the same time, the two of you hugged tightly. Squeezing each other the way you did as kids when his parents would fight. 

His attention was gained when Eddie called his name. You turned to look at him as he said, “Make him pay.”

When you turned back to Steve, you cupped his neck, his hands going to your triceps. “Be careful, or I swear to fuck, Steve, I will kill you myself.”

“I’ll be careful, love.” Resting his forehead against yours, he quietly added, “I promise.”

“You better,” you whispered. Pulling back to look into his eyes, you added, “I can’t live without my best friend.” 

Steve kissed your forehead before walking off with Nance and Robin right before you turned to Eddie and Dustin, walking straight for the love of your life, cupping his cheeks. 

“You’re my hero,” you said, eyes dancing between his. 

Eddie knew about your close relationship with Steve. When you two not-so-intimate like you just were, it did bother him a little, but he knew that nothing would come of it. Eddie knew you loved him, but he couldn’t help that pang of jealousy that he knew shouldn’t be there.

“I love you.”

“I love you, too, princess.” He placed his lips on yours, your lips moving in sync for a moment before you both pulled away, knowing that if you kept going, your brother would be scarred for life.

Three of you got to work; cutting up chain-linked fences, gathering sheets of metal, posts, whatever you could get your hands on to start building a small shelter on the porch of the trailer, leaving one of the doors on the front clear for easy access. A ladder was leaning against it to the side so that you all could get up on the roof.

You looked at his trailer, backing up and taking Eddie with you, Dustin following. Once the three of you were back for enough, you looked at each boy, a smile forming on their faces. 

“Not bad,” Eddie said.

“Not bad at all,” Dustin agreed.

Eddie chuckled, tapping Dustin’s shoulder around our own before bringing you into his side, kissing the side of your head. “Now for the fun part.” He took you hand in his, all but dragging you into the trailer towards his bedroom, where he opened the door.

He stopped, almost making you run into him. “Babe, what the fu-”

“Jesus Chr-” he said. 

“Wha- oh, my god. Eddie,” you whispered, placing your hand on his shoulder. “She’s beautiful.”

“It’s like…” he said, walking towards his mirrored dresser. “...she was destined for an alternate dimension.” When he got closer, he said, “What do you say, Hendersons?” After grabbing his guitar, he turned around while asking, “Are you two ready for the most metal concert in the history of the world?”

You and Dustin looked at each other, smiling before you turned to Eddie, and said in unison, “Is that a rhetorical question?”

Putting the strap on his shoulder, Eddie looked at you again, before whispering, “Let’s do it,” and throwing the instrument over his shoulder.

For some reason, you were excited about Eddie putting on a little concert. You loved watching him play, so actually seeing him play wasn’t what was making you excited. It was the fact that you didn’t know what he was going to play.

It was decided after the three of you climbed onto the trailer's roof that this little concert would be dedicated to Chrissy Cunningham, the cheerleader that had, unfortunately, been Vecna’s first victim.

Eddie had told you that Chrissy came to him for some weed to help with the “voices” in her head; a voice that turned out to be Vecna trying to lure her into his trap… which ultimately worked, unfortunately. 

You’d met Chrissy because of you being on the dance team, having done football games and basketball games together. You considered her a friend before you and Steve graduated. Upon hearing about her death, you were obviously heartbroken. So, when Eddie asked if he could dedicate the concert to her, you quickly agreed to it, loving him even more than you already did.

Everyone thought that Eddie was this mean and scary freak, but the truth of the matter is, he was just a metalhead, fantasy game playing teddy bear with a heart of gold. Right after you plugged the cord into his guitar, you gave him a kiss, telling him to knock ‘em dead before standing next to your brother.

Robin’s voice came through the walkie-talkie saying, “She’s in. Move on to Phase Three.”

Dustin replied, saying, “Copy that. Initiating Phase Three,” before grabbing the cords, saying, “Let’s hope they hear this,” right before he plugged the amp into the extension cord.

Turning the amp all the way up, you looked at Eddie, who locked eyes with you as you blew him a kiss. “Chrissy,�� he said, reaching for his guitar pick necklace, ripping the pick off. “This is for you.” Strumming the first chord of the song, he yelled out and you instantly knew the song he was playing; Master of Puppets by Metallica. 

You stood behind Dustin as Eddie played the first few notes of the song, placing your hands on his shoulders and headbanging along with your brother. Watching as Eddie had his concentration face on, you tried not to let your mind go there.

It was the same face he sported when you two fucked and he was trying to reach climax with you.

You did a couple little jumps, using Dustin to brace yourself when Eddie shook his head, something you loved seeing him do while he played. You looked forward to Tuesday nights because that meant you got to watch Eddie in his element, doing what he loves.

He walked closer to you and Dustin, bending the slightest bit as the three of you headbanged together to the beat of the song. When he got to the chorus, he propped his foot up on the smaller amp that was sitting near him, much like he did with crate hours earlier.

Dustin’s hand tapping your own had you looking down, seeing the binoculars in his hand. Taking them from him, you turned to face the woods, bringing them up to your eyes, not seeing the demobats yet. You turned back to Dustin, giving them back as Eddie tilted his head back, playing two notes for the word Master, two times, headbanging with Dustin.

When Eddie started playing the bridge of the song right before the guitar solo, yours and Dustin’s attention was brought to the shrieking of the demobats, your brother standing to look through the binoculars.

“Dusty!” you said, loud enough for him to hear.

“Thirty seconds!” he responded.

Turning to look at Eddie, you said, “Babe!” He looked at you, while playing your favorite part of the song. “Gotta lock down in thirty seconds!”

He curtly nodded at you, your attention caught in between his and Dustin’s.

“Twenty!” Dustin said.

“Babe, you got twenty seconds! Do the solo near the end!”

Wasting no time, Eddie got right into it as your anxiety started to show as you placed your hand on Dustin’s shoulder, who said ten not a moment later.

“Baby, ten!” Your eyes never left the bats as you and Dustin said, “Five!”

“One!”

You ran over towards Eddie as the notes started to fade out as he ended the song. 

“Babe, go!” Eddie yelled, gently pulling you to jump from the top of the trailer to the top of the truck below and into the bed. “Move! Move! Move!” he yelled at Dustin, the both of them following your lead as you jumped from the bed, turning around for a second.

“Y/N/N, get your ass in the house!” Dustin shouted as he ran past you.

Eddie grabbed your arms and turned you around to run around the side of the trailer, both of you stumbling into the makeshift shelter.

“Baby, shut it!” you shouted, Eddie doing exactly that; shutting the chain link door, putting a two by four on it at a diagonal to essentially lock it. Grabbing at his arm, you pulled him behind you as the bats slammed into the walls and door. “Baby, come on!”

When the two of you backed into the trailer, you stood in between him and your brother, taking deep breaths as you tried to calm yourself down. You and Eddie looked at each other at the same time before he took the steps he needed to get closer to you, your lips locking in heated exchange. You just chalked it up to the adrenaline. 

“Dude!” Dustin said, causing the two of you to break apart. “Most. Metal. Ever!”

The three of you jumped and cheered in excitement, Eddie picking you up and spinning you around, like he did every Tuesday night after his show when you’d meet him at the back of the bar.

When he set you down, he kissed you again, holding it for a moment before moving his lips against yours. 

“I hate-” Kiss. “-to break-” Kiss. “- this up-” Kiss. You lightly pushed him away, looking into his eyes. “Dungeon Master, I love you, but we are currently being swarmed by the very same bats that almost ate Steve.”

Coming back to reality, Eddie looked at Dustin, who already had their spears in his hands. Apparently, you didn’t have anything to protect yourself with because when you tried to make your own shield and had asked the Sinclair siblings to make you one, Eddie protested and said you didn’t need anything because he had said, “They’ll have to go through me to get to you.”

So, you were standing in the middle of two of them, their backs to you as they circled you, the bats continuing their swarming and shrieking. Every time they slammed back against the outside of the trailer, you jumped a little, which if we’re being honest, you were jumping a lot.

When the noises finally started to calm down, your brother thought that that was a good time to yell out, “Hey, dipshiiiiiiiiiiiits! Give up that easy, huh?!”

Covering his mouth, you shushed him. “I don’t plan on becoming demobat chow, Dusty, now shut the fuck up.”

Clattering above you gained all of your attention, your eyes being casted up towards the ceiling.

“They’re on the roof,” Eddie said.

“Baby, I love you, but now’s not the time to be a sarcastic shithead,” you whispered.

With all three of your attention on the roof, you followed the sounds of their walking, the phrase, “Shit, shit, shit,” spilling from yours and Dustin’s mouths with the occasional, “Fucking hell,” being spilled from yours.

Spotting where they were going, you spotted the vent in the kitchen. “Eddie,” you said, his response being an acknowledging hum. “I don’t think we covered the vent.”

“They can’t get in through there, can they?” Dustin asked.

Without missing a freaking beat, one of the bats broke the vent, sending the metal down to the ground, a gasp coming from Dustin, a scream coming from you, and silence coming from Eddie before they yelled out a battle cry and began stabbing the creature through the vent.

You had taken a couple of steps back when Eddie went around you, keeping your eyes on the creature they were stabbing, your breathing coming out in pants, your anxiety reaching max levels.

Eddie turned to face you, saying, “Babe, get out of the way!” to which you obliged, watching as he grabbed one of the chairs from the small table you were standing beside. “Get out of the way! Get out of the way!” he said, making his way towards Dustin. 

He stood on the chair with his nail shield, putting it in the ceiling to block the creatures from going inside, letting go after a second. “Holy shit. Holy shit.”

“Nice,” Dustin said.

“Thanks.”

They gave each other high fives, their attention being put on you when you exclaimed, “Hello?! Damsel in distress over here!”

“Sorry, babe,” Eddie said, jumping down from the chair and walking towards you. He wrapped you in a hug, the lingering scent of his cologne from two days prior calming you just the smallest bit.

“Are there any other vents?” Dustin asked, breaking your moment.

“Oh, shit,” Eddie breathed. He turned away, telling you to stay put as he grabbed his spear and went into his bedroom, Dustin following behind. You weren’t one to listen, so you followed, screaming when the creatures popped from the corner of Eddie’s room from the floor vent.

Turning toward you, Dustin pushed you back as Eddie backed out of his room, closing the door. The creatures started to claw their way through the door, Eddie and Dustin holding their spears, Eddie’s more so in protection before he grabbed Dustin’s shield.

“That’s not gonna hold!” you and Dustin screamed.

“Let’s go!” Eddie screamed. “Let’s go!”

Dustin started to climb up the sheets first, making it halfway up before you started climbing up, watching Eddie every so often. 

When you felt the sheets tug beneath you, you looked down, sighing in small relief when you watched Eddie start his climb. Your head made it through the Hawkins gate when you felt the sheets below you go slack.

You tried your best to look down, seeing Eddie reach for his protection, his name falling from your lips on a shout, trying your best to gain his attention. When you did gain it, he looked conflicted as he said, “I love you. So fucking much,” before cutting the sheets, sending you down into Hawkins with Dustin.

You screamed as you fell through, your front hitting the mattress as Eddie moved on the other side. When you stood up, you watched him shove the mattress away. “Babe! What the fuck are you doing?” you yelled, looking up at him. 

He looked up at you before saying, “I’m buying more time,” before walking away.

“NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!” you screamed, your throat feeling raw at the exertion. Looking at your brother, you said, hoarsely, “Dustin Wade, get me something to stand or climb up on.”

“Why?” he asked.

Looking back up into Upside Down Hawkins, you said, “Because I can’t let him die.”

“Move the mattress.”

As you moved it, he grabbed a chair from the table, setting it under the gate. After you climbed on it, you looked at your brother, cupping the side of his head as you said, “I love you, Dusty. Don’t… follow me,” before jumping up as hard as you could, grabbing onto the side of the gate before pulling yourself up.

You flipped yourself, dangling for a moment before dropping to your feet in a, what Dustin would call, heroic squat. When you heard Eddie’s voice, your feet started moving before you could even think about what to do.

Once you were outside, you heard him yell, “Come get me, you sons of bitches!” before you started moving once more towards him. You looked around for discarded bikes, but couldn’t see any, so you just… ran.

You can as fast your feet could carry you. Watching as a demobat knocked him off the bike, you ran even faster, which you didn’t think was possible. “EDDIE!” you yelled, seeing him roll on the ground before standing.

He looked at you for a slight moment before he started running again, a pained expression on his face at seeing you before he just… stopped running. 

Squeals and screams came from you as the bats started making their way towards you as you continued your running. A hand grabbing you and turning you around had you screaming in surprise. At first, you thought it was Steve coming to your rescue… again, but once you felt that warm feeling go through your body, you knew it was Eddie.

He held his shield up, blocking the two of you from the demobats as they flew themselves at the two of you, Eddie yelling while they did so before they started flying around the two of you in circles.

“Eddie, what do we do?” you asked, fear lacing your voice. “What do we do?!”

“I fight,” he said. 

“Edd-”

“I’ll protect you, and you’ll walk out of here, unharmed.”

“So the fuck will you!” you exclaimed, gaining his attention. “We’re gonna make it out. We’re, Eddie. We are. Plural. Me and you. Together.” From the corner of your eye, you saw a bat make its way out of the circle to make its way towards you, a scream tearing from your throat before Eddie slashed at it with his spear.

You could very faintly hear Dustin calling your name, but you didn’t care enough to risk your life anymore than you already were to run to your brother.

Eddie fought them as they came, standing in front of you the whole time, yelling out “Come on!” at one point. Turning his head a little towards you, he asked, “How you doing, babe?”

“All things considered?!” you shouted.

A few moments later, a bat wrapped its tail around Eddie’s throat and you jumped into action, grabbing the creature to unwrap it. Grabbing the spear, you carefully slashed at it, cutting it from the hold it had.

You did this for every creature that came at Eddie. Knowing they wanted to make him chow, you weren’t about to let that happen. He used his shield to knock them away. Turning your back for a second, you felt a pain go through your leg, a pained scream tearing from your lips as you went down to the ground, stabbing at the bat that had bitten your leg.

Feeling another pain go through you, again you screamed, not sure where the pain was coming from as you heard Eddie’s pained cries mix with your own. Taking the spear, you slashed and stabbed at the creatures, your blood making your clothes stick your body from where the bats were trying to chow down on you.

“Get the hell off my boyfriend!” you screamed, standing on your good leg to scream and stab all the bats that were making their way to his torso, just like they did with Steve. Before you could even process what was happening, the bats just started falling from where they were circling the two of you.

Dropping the spear, you looked around, breathing heavily before a weak voice called your name. Looking down at Eddie, you gasped and sat beside him, seeing all the blood on him. “Oh, my god. No, no, no, no, no, no.” You hadn’t realized you started crying until you looked up, seeing Dustin. “Dusty!!” you screamed, noticing the limp he had. 

Looking back down at Eddie, you grabbed his body and pulled him against you. “Bad, huh, babe?”

“Shut the fuck up, you’re gonna be fine,” you said, through your tears. Looking up at Dustin, you said, “Give me your jacket.” When he didn’t give it to you, you sighed and exclaimed, “I need to stop the bleeding! Gimme your jacket!”

Once he took his gear off and handed you his jacket, you applied pressure to the wounds on Eddie’s abdomen, a pained cry leaving his lips. “I’m so sorry,” you whispered, kissing his forehead through his bandana. “I’ll patch you up when we can get you back to the trailer.”

“P-patch?” he asked, grunting.

“I’ve had to stitch up Steve one or twice, it’s no big deal.” You went to move, but Eddie’s voice stopped you when he said, “Babe, I need a second, okay?”

Letting out a soft sob, you leaned your forehead against his, letting the tears start their descent. Through gritted teeth, Eddie asked, “I didn’t run away this time, right?”

You let out a louder sob, shaking your head, “No. No, you didn’t. My fucking hero.”

“Dustin,” he said, gaining your brother's attention. “You’re gonna have to look after those little sheep for me, okay?”

“You’re not fucking dying!” you yelled, sobbing. “Dustin, tell him he’s not dying.”

“You’re gonna do that yourself,” Dustin sobbed.

“Nah, Hendersons,” Eddie said. Nothing else needed to be said as he looked you dead in your eyes, smiling. “I’m actually gonna graduate.”

Nodding your head fast, you sobbed out, “Yeah. And I’m gonna be there with Hellfire and your Uncle Wayne, cheering you on.

“I think it’s my year, Hendersons.” Seeing the tears welling up in his eyes only made you cry harder. “I think it’s f-f-finally my year.”

“He’s losing too much blood,” you said, pressing harder on his wounds, another pained cry leaving him. “Dustin, help me carry him back to the trailer.” Looking at Eddie as Dustin moved to his feet, you said, “We’re gonna carry you now, baby. It’s gonna hurt like hell. Are you ready?”

He nodded, closing his eyes and trying his best to take a deep breath. 

“Okay, Dusty, ready?” You locked eyes with your brother. “One, two, three.” You both stood up as best you could with one of Dustin’s legs being broken, and with your own injuries.

“What about you?” Dustin asked, looking down at your leg as you walked backwards, also limping.

“I’ll be fine. I’m more worried about Eddie right now.”

With an understanding nod, you both grunted as you made your way back to the trailer. “Baby, keep talking. Please keep talking. I need to hear that amazing voice of yours.”

“I play the solo good?” he asked, struggling to take another breath.

“So fucking good, baby. I jumped against Dustin’s shoulders,” you said, breathing out a chuckle.

Eddie’s chuckle was weak, and he was starting to get heavier in your arms, a bad sign you had come to know.

“No, no, no. Keep talking. Stay awake. Just stay awake! Eddie, stay awake!”

~~~

“Hold still… You gotta hold still… I’m gonna poke your fucking eye out if you don’t stop.”

A groan slipped past his lips as you messed with his hair, a pair of scissors and a comb in your hand. His hair had grown out a little since coming back from the Upside Down, depression hitting him like a bus.

Dustin walked into your room, letting out a small yelp at seeing you straddling a body. “Oh, my god! My eyes.”

You slowly turned your head over your shoulder, looking at your brother the best you could with slightly narrowed eyes. “Can you not? I’m trying to trim his bangs.”

The boy you were currently sitting on sighed, tossing his head back onto your wall. “They’re not that bad.”

“Not that bad?” you said, turning to face the boy in question. “Eddie, I haven’t trimmed them since after Christmas break.”

“And they’re fine.”

Giving a deadpan expression, you slumped your shoulders a little, saying, “You can’t even see. You’re doing that shaking thing with your head so that you can see, babe.”

Eddie’s eyes danced around as he thought about what you were saying before doing exactly what you had he did, before saying, “I do not.”

“Just you did!” you exclaimed, a smile on your face. Before you could lean in and kiss him, Dustin said, “Uhh, before something happens between the two of you, I should probably tell you that Mom is asking for suggestions for dinner.”

“Whatever she wants to make,” you and Eddie said. You two weren’t picky when it came to your mom’s cooking. 

“Anything is better than Spaghetti O’s,” Eddie deadpanned.

You looked at him and started laughing, covering your mouth as you did. 

Reaching towards you, Eddie grabbed the scissors from your hand as he said, “Okay, let me take these out of your hand so that you don’t get more stitches.”

The first couple of weeks after you all came back from the Upside Down were rough; nightmares every night, waking up in a cold sweat, you constantly checking on Eddie’s breathing despite your head resting on his chest. Dustin had slept in your room for the first week back, calming you when Eddie didn’t wake from his own nightmares. 

Your nightmares consisted of Eddie or Dustin dying, being under Vecna’s trances, or you being eaten alive by demobats. Eddie’s mostly consisted of you and Dustin dying or himself being eaten by demobats.

Once the nightmares had stopped, however, you two still checked on each other nightly. Making sure the other was breathing, checking your wounds to see the healing process, the whole nine. You called Steve, Robin and Nancy every single day to make sure they were doing good, their nightmares being completely different from yours and Eddie’s. 

The last time you had called Steve was to ask about his own wounds he had, him telling you that they were fine and healing quite nicely. You two had plans to hang out, but ultimately canceled when Eddie woke from a nap, breathing heavily. You wanted to stay with your boyfriend to make sure he was fine.

“Well…,” Dustin said, bringing you out of your thoughts. “I-I think you guys should come see.”

Sighing, you dropped your head, your chin meeting your chest. “Okay.” As you were lifting yourself off of Eddie’s lap, he placed his hands on your thighs, keeping you in place. You looked at him with a raised brow.

Tapping his lips, he said, “Kiss first.”

Chuckling, you shook your head, and leaned forward, saying, “You’re so stupid,” before placing your lips on his, careful not to press down on his wounds.

“You love me, though,” he said against your lips, a smile on his face.

“That I do,” you smiled. “That I do.” Before getting off his lap, you pecked his lips, your feet meeting the floor before you helped him from your bed.

You guys made your way to the living room, stopping your tracks at seeing all your friends standing around. Covering your mouth, you laughed at seeing Gareth and Jeff holding up a get well sign.

You looked up at Eddie, happy your life was heading in the right direction with the man of your dreams… monster fighting and all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N 2:  hi, friends! let me know what you thought! again, please do not hesitate to reblog and give some feedback, whether it be in the reblogs, comments, or my inbox.

Additional Notes: i'm trying to add the character masterlists onto all my one-shots from here on out! let me know if it makes it easier for y'all to back and choose!

~~~

Forever / Everything Taglist: @stiles-o-dylan24 @stixnstripesworld @fandom-princess-forevermore @quanticobae @mischiefandi @kellyashcroft @lauren-novak​

If you’re tagged and didn’t want to be, please let me know.

Italics wouldn’t let me tag!

~~~

*Please don’t post my writing anywhere else without my consent. The author of this work will always and forever be @harringtonstilinski​.

All characters, story lines, and plot aside from y/n and her storyline & plot, are all of the work of The Duffer Brothers.

*These works contain material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited.

No part of these works may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author / publisher.

Posted on January 11, 2024

[genjispeace]

Mine - Part 1/2

In which Genji has to prove who you belong to.

tags (this part): protective! genji, possessive! genji, genji x reader, check next part for more tags

a/n: hi loves! i'm posting this in two parts as the POVs are slightly different. I'm also still writing part 2 as I want it to be absolutely perfect for you all, and I'm partially debating if I even want to post part 2 lol anyway!! i hope you all enjoy this!!

Genji is not somebody that loses control of his emotions. He always has them locked down. It’s one of the reasons he is so good at what he does. He’s able to turn himself off in a way that most people can’t. But it is also the reason that he is so damn frustrated. There’s one thing he can’t turn off, one person that demolishes his ability to control his emotions. You. 

The two of you have known each other for quite some time now. It’s hard to avoid somebody when you both live at Overwatch Headquarters. The building may be big, but the two of you always seemed to find each other. You’d had a fair amount of talks together, then one day you shocked him by inviting him to a movie night you were throwing with a couple of the other agents. He can still remember that night.

“Have you seen this one before?” You ask Genji, readjusting in your bean bag. He’s in the one next to you and glances over, his eyes taking in your entire form. The movie night was held in the training room, the floor to ceiling windows casting your frame in moonlight. 

“Nah, I don’t watch too many movies these days,” Genji replies. His eyes flutter to the screen where some horror movie plays. 

“How are you so calm? This is scary!” You say, pulling the blanket in your lap up higher. Genji doesn’t miss the way you lean a little closer to him now than you did while watching the first movie, which was a comedy. Part of Genji wants to say that he’s seen things, experienced things, scarier than anything that could be shown on a screen, but he can’t bring himself to dampen your mood. You are always so bright, and he doesn’t want to taint that. 

“I don’t-” he starts to say, but is cut off by a shrill noise from the screen. The killer jumps through a window and pins another victim, the jumpscare nearly making Genji jump in his seat. It takes a minute for his brain to realize it, but he feels your soft hair on his shoulder, and your ragged breaths against his neck. One of your hands is wrapped around his arm, clutching onto him. His hands twitch with the urge to hold you tighter, to run away any fear.

You start laughing softly, your face still buried in his neck. The soft sound and your touch brings goosebumps to his skin, and he longs to touch you. He gives in to that urge, just slightly, and places his hand atop yours. He squeezes it softly and he swears he hears a hitch in your breath, but you pull away. 

“I’m sorry,” you say, and Genji smiles, even if you can’t see it under the fabric mask he has on. Your cheeks are flushed pink, either from embarrassment or fear, and it makes Genji’s heart flip. 

That was a couple months ago, and Genji’s feelings shifted as time passed. He started longing for time spent with you. It’s the same now, but different. That longing transformed into a hunger, deep and insatiable. One he can feel in his bones, in his very soul, when he sees you. At first, he wrote it off as just being sexual desire, just a need, but he realized quickly that it was much more than that. Carnal urges were nothing compared to the hunger he had, still has, for you. 

Now, he has to watch as another agent flirts with you. Your bright smile and soft laugh shine through the large room, and Genji’s jaw ticks. That is a smile that should be his. Cassidy sits in the chair next to Genji and tries to ask him something, but Genji can’t focus on the conversation. Cassidy turns to follow Genji’s gaze, then sighs and shoots back the last of his whiskey. 

“You knew there was going to be flirting here tonight, Genji,” Cassidy says. It’s true. The sponsor evening was planned a long time ago, and while it is not meant for the agents, they are required to attend and often go home with each other. It’s one of the few times they’re all in the same area and able to openly socialize like this. 

“If he touches them one more time,  I’ll knock his teeth out,” Genji says through gritted teeth when the agent runs his hand down your arm. If he remembers correctly, the agent is named Gale. 

“Yeah, I’m sure that would go over well,” Cassidy grunts as he calls the bartender over for a refill. “Why don’t you just talk to them?” 

“It’s not that simple,” Genji shakes his head. He adjusts the suit he’s wearing until the shurikens tucked under his sleeve rattle. 

“No? And why is that?” Cassidy asks. He takes another sip from his now refilled glass. Genji’s eyes flick to the bar, debating ordering himself a drink. 

“One-sided shit never works,” Genji says and Cassidy barks out a harsh laugh. 

“One-sided? You’re so dense,” Cassidy starts. He turns and glances at you and then back again. “They’ve been stealing glances at you all night, even while talking with Gale.” 

“No-” Genji starts, his eyes darting to you. You are watching him, and a soft smile appears on your face when the two of you lock eyes. His heart dips at that smile, which is somehow completely different than the one you had been giving Gale. The two of you only keep eye contact for a few more seconds, then Gale steps in front of your gaze. 

“I thought somebody as observant as you would have noticed, Genji,” Cassidy says with a laugh. It appears that when it comes to you, Genji is different in every way. He’s utterly see-through and painfully dense, apparently. 

“Fuck you, Cassidy,” Genji says, ignoring the clear stab, and stands from his stool. Cassidy responds with a deep chuckle, then goes back to his whiskey. Genji starts to cross the large space, ignoring the few eyes watching him as he goes.He’s done watching you, not making a move. Done seeing others flirt with you. Done trying to be selfless. You’re his. You have been since that night in bean bags, even if neither of you knew it at the time. 

No more, little angel. You’re mine, and it’s time everybody knows that.

[mewhenimanonymous]

Paranoia

(Secret History/TSAA Tails x Paranoid!Reader)

A/N

i made this back in april and ngl this is not my best work but i spent a lot of time on it and i wanted to post it anyway. if this is deserving of a chapter 3 plz let me know but i thought it would be interesting to leave it as a blank canvas for everyone to think of what happened next yknow. anyway author note over plz enjoy my first sh tails fanfic <3

🌸 this is very inspired by other sh tails x reader fanfics on tumblr as well as tsaa 🌸

———————————————————————————

Chapter 1

“I just—I feel like something, or someone is watching me…” You look around nervously as you tell Sonic, one of your best friends, about your recent anxieties. For the past week, you’ve been extremely paranoid. You would hear rustling in the bushes, or see something out of the corner of your eye, and you’d always get the same sinking feeling in your stomach that there’s something there. You’ve closed your blinds and haven’t touched them, and you’ve stayed in your house as much as you could, but you know you couldn’t live like this forever. You wanted whatever was stalking you gone, and the only person you could trust enough to tell this to was the beloved hero and your best friend, Sonic the Hedgehog. He had saved you from Eggman’s control, and since then you were integrated into the friend group, but because of the encounter you were the closest with Sonic.

“If you want me to, I can stay here and keep guard until that thing goes away, unless I take care of it first!” Sonic grins at you at winks at the end of his sentence.

“Could you??” You grin back hopefully.

“It’d be no biggie! I bet I could take it out in a couple seconds!” Despite knowing it was his overconfidence talking, you still trust him. I mean, he saved your life after all—surely he had this in the bag.

“Oh, thank you Sonic!” You pull him into a tight hug and after a second he gently hugs you back.

“It’s no problem!” He lets go, gives you a reassuring smile, then gets up to stretch. “Do you have any chilidogs?”

“I can make them!” You get up and head to the kitchen.

For the rest of the day, you and Sonic played games, ate chilidogs, and just hung around. It was the most fun you’ve had in a while! But then it came time for you to go to bed.

“You’ll be alright, don’t worry.” Sonic places a hand on your shoulder. “If I see that stalker, I’ll kick its sorry butt!”

“Thanks, Sonic,” you giggle. You both hold eye contact for another moment before Sonic turns to leave your room.

“Goodnight Sonic, be careful!” You warn him, but he just laughs.

“When have I ever been careful?” He rubs his nose with his thumb, then goes to shut your door. “Goodnight, (Y/N).”

After another moment of silence you decide to get comfy under your bed and try to sleep. You’ve barely slept since this whole thing started, but you finally felt comfortable enough to doze off, knowing it will be handled.

Sonic really is amazing. You smile as you begin to phase out of consciousness.

***

You wake up feeling refreshed and happy for the first time in a while. While you get up and stretch, you remember last night and feel yourself smiling.

“Today’s gonna be a good day,” you exclaim to yourself.

You realize you should check on Sonic, so you start heading toward the living room.

Not here? You figured he’d end up crashing on the couch, but alas, empty.

You look around the house, quietly so as to not disturb him if he’s still asleep.

Did he leave early? But he said he’d be here… You start getting worried and check around the house one more time.

“Sonic?” You eventually call out to him.

Nothing.

“Maybe he fell asleep outside, that’s a Sonic thing to do,” you mumble to yourself, trying to convince yourself that he didn’t bail on you despite what it looked like.

You open the front door and look around.

Gone.

“No, there’s no way he’d leave me after yesterday…” You try to figure out what could’ve happened, but nothing made sense. Sonic is not one to bail out unless it has to do with romance, but he has Amy for that. And there’s no way he’d let someone kidnap him, let alone defeat him in a fight.

“Maybe he crashed at Tails’?” You remember Sonic’s little fox friend. Tails is the type of friend you’d only hang out with when he’s with the rest of the group, though on occasion Sonic would bring him along when you were hanging out with the former. But if he’s Sonic’s best friend, you trust him just as well.

So you start heading to his laboratory. Sonic brought you over there one time when he wanted to bring Tails along with you two, and it wasn’t hard to find.

Once you believe you’ve found it, you knock on the door.

After a moment Tails opens the door with a curious expression, but when he sees you he smiles awkwardly.

“Hey…!” He pauses for a moment, as if trying to remember your name. “What’re you doing here?”

“(Y/N).” You frown a bit.

“(Y/N)! Right, I’m sorry, I’ve just been so busy with my projects recently.” He chuckles half-heartedly.

“Is this a bad time then…?”

“No! Not at all! Are you alright?” Tails leans into you, studying your expression and demeanor.

“I just—did Sonic sleep here last night, by chance? Or have you seen him at all today?” You fiddle with your fingers nervously.

“No, I haven’t seen him since yesterday.” He puts his fingers on his chin like he’s thinking.

“That’s so weird…” You mumble to yourself, and Tails cocks his head to the side.

“I’ve, uh…” You look around, feeling paranoid again. There’s no way your stalker kidnapped Sonic, you tried to reassure yourself.

But what else could have happened? You knew Sonic better than for him to leave his friend—or anyone, for that matter—in a vulnerable state. You could feel that thing is still out there, so that could only mean Sonic lost.

You feel an arm wrap around your shoulders, taking you out of your dark thoughts.

“Hey, let’s go inside.” Tails looks at you with worry in his eyes, and he directs you inside his lab. Just before he shuts the door, however, he takes a good look behind him, making sure no one, nor anything was near.

You two sit down on a couch, which seems out of place for a workshop but you assume Tails would use it for one of his inventions, if he hadn’t already. Tails’ arm lingers on your back for a moment before he lets go of you.

“Well,” you begin, looking down at your lap. “I-I think someone has been stalking me for the past week, and I’ve been getting really paranoid… I talked to Sonic about it yesterday, and he said he’d stay at my place to keep watch for the stalker, but this morning I woke up, and…” Your voice began to crack and choke up. You thought crying over something like this was stupid, but you couldn’t help it. Your anxiety levels have been off the charts. “He was gone… I’m not a fighter—I mean, I know self defense, but…” You go to wipe a tear, but Tails takes your hand instead, which makes you look up at him.

“Oh no, I’m so sorry…” His voice is sugary-sweet and comforting. He wipes your tears with his other paw. “You know, I am Sonic’s best friend, but Sonic can be really stupid sometimes.”

“R…Really?” You tilt your head a bit in curiosity. You’ve idolized Sonic for as long as you can remember, and you never realized even he could have flaws.

“Oh yeah.” Tails’ tone immediately shifts, which catches you off guard. “I wouldn’t put it past him if he bailed on you. Do you know how easily distracted he gets? I would talk to him about a new invention of mine, and he would rummage through my stuff and even break things! Or when I make him an invention that could be potentially dangerous, he never listens and always reaps the consequences! Sometimes he even leaves mid-conversation because he saw a chilidog!”

That doesn’t sound like Sonic, was your initial thought, but the more you thought about it, the more it made sense: Sonic seems like the impatient and easily-distracted type, and you’re surprised you’ve never noticed it before. Any doubt in your mind was immediately brushed off because Tails has known Sonic way longer than you, or anyone else for that matter, so he would know Sonic better than anybody.

“I never knew that…” Tails nods at your comment, but before he could continue his rant you pipe in. “Are you sure my stalker didn’t kidnap him? Or something bad happened to him??”

“Has Sonic ever fought a battle he couldn’t win?”

You hesitate for a moment, but Tails doesn’t wait for a reply. “Never! He’s never lost a battle, and it’s been, what, 30 years now? Nothing stands a chance against Sonic, not even some weird stalker,” Tails says matter-of-factly.

“So, you really think Sonic bailed on me…?” You ask hesitantly, still uncertain of the validity of that claim. The way Tails was speaking sounded very truthful, but you still couldn’t wrap your head around why Sonic would do such a thing.

“That’s what it looks like.” Tails then squeezes your hand. “Hey! Why don’t I take care of your stalker, and you can stay here for a while so you feel more safe? I have an extra room that Sonic usually sleeps in, but you’re more important right now.”

More important than Sonic? His choice of words makes a part of you feel unsure, but you quickly push it aside.

“You’d do that for me?” Your eyes widen and you smile hopefully, surprised at Tails’ very kind gesture.

“It’s the least I can do! I want to make sure you’re okay, and I don’t want anything to hurt my friends!” He grins at you, which makes you grin as well.

“Oh, thank you Tails!” You give him a big bear hug, to which he chuckles and hugs you back.

“Of course!” He starts to rub your back with his paw.

“What are friends for?”

Chapter 2

“Alright, you can open your eyes now!”

You open your eyes and look at the strange machine in Tails’ paws. It looks like a mini robot version of Tails’ head but with cameras for eyes.

“With a flip of a switch on the bottom of the head, it will create an electrical force field to protect you from anyone coming near you! I have it set to where it can recognize you and me, so you don’t have to worry about any happy accidents.”

“Tails, that’s amazing!! How did you make this so quick?” You grin at Tails, who rubs the back of his head and gives a humble smile.

“I was already working on an upgraded security system for my lab, and I’ve made inventions like this before for fighting Eggman, so it wasn’t a challenge.” He takes your hand once again and sets the device in your palm. “Just stick this above your bed, and make sure it’s on before you go to sleep!”

“This is so kind of you! Thank you so much!!” Being a hugger, you pull Tails into another warm embrace, this time burying your head in his chest fluff. He lets out a low, unsettling giggle that immediately sends an uncomfortable feeling to your gut, but then Tails clears his throat and coughs.

“Sorry, got something in my throat.” He wraps his arms around you and hugs you tighter. “That’s what friends are for!”

Something about that giggle deeply disturbs you.

You’re just paranoid, you reassure yourself. At this point with your paranoia, you would freak out over the crack of a twig.

“I should get to bed.” You decide to try to brush it off, and you let go of Tails.

“Alright, goodnight!” He gives you a sweet smile. “If you need anything, I’ll be here!” You notice his cheeks have a pinkish tint.

You nod and head off toward your room (for the time being). You still wonder why Sonic would ditch you—you know he always puts others needs before his own, even if he gets easily-distracted. He’s a hero, after all! Did he really think a creepy stalker wasn’t that important? It didn’t make sense.

You stick Tails’ gadget on the wall above your bed and turn it on. Immediately you see blue electricity surrounding and taking the shape of your room, flickering briefly before becoming invisible. Seeing this, your anxieties quickly ease and you take a deep breath.

This looks promising.

You get under your bed covers and close your eyes, but just as you’re about to fall asleep your eyes shoot open.

That feeling again. That unsettling, disturbing feeling in your gut. That feeling of your throat closing up, being paralyzed with fear despite wanting to run and hide. Foreboding and helplessness. Knowing whatever is out there is out for you, unsure if you’ll be alive in the next second. Unknown eyes burning onto you and leaving scars on your mental psyche.

Someone is watching you.

You can’t do anything but wait. Wait, you know Tails’ gadget will work, so why hasn’t it gone off yet? Hesitantly, you sit up and look around, heart pounding. Dark and quiet. Alone. You look at the window to your left. Was it locked? You try to swallow, but your mouth is too dry. You crawl out of bed and keep low to the ground, so as to keep out of sight. Shaking, you reach your hand out to the window lock and check it—locked, good. Just to be sure, you unlock it briefly and quickly lock it again. You let go of the breath you just realized you were holding. Satisfied, you crawl back into bed and hide under the covers.

You should be fine as long as the force field is on and everything is locked.

Uh oh.

You look at the door to your right. Not locked. Crud.

You jump out of bed and run to the door, quickly lock it, then jump back into bed. Safe. You peek your head out of the covers and look around, just in case. Dark and quiet. Alone.

Yet that feeling won’t go away. Where is it coming from?

You scan the room to the best of your ability, with it being almost completely pitch black. Closet doors are shut. Window locked and blinds closed. Door locked.

Your eyes land on the force field gadget above your bed. It has cameras in it, doesn’t it? You stand on your bed and inspect the little Tails head. The cameras are for laying out the force field, right? You take it off the wall and try to look in the cameras, though it’s too dark for you to see anything. You take a step to find a light—

THUMP!

You had forgotten you were on your bed, and you fell hard on the ground.

“Ow…” Just as you’re about to get up, the door handle jiggles as if someone is trying to get in.

“(Y/N)? Are you alright?” You feel relieved hearing Tails’ muffled voice through the door. You get up, unlock the door, open it, and before you realize it tears are streaming down your face.

“Someone, someone is—” You look around, but Tails quickly directs your face toward him with his paws.

“(Y/N), look at me. Breathe.” He was serious, but caring in his expression, so you do as he says. As you’re taking deep breaths, you notice his eyes are gleaming in the moonlight with hurt, almost looking guilty.

You two continue to hold eye contact for a couple minutes, with him making sure you’ve calmed down before he speaks again.

“Do you need to sit down?”

You nod, and he directs you over to your bed to sit. You take another deep breath before speaking.

“I got the feeling again… that I was being watched…” You fold your arms across your chest and look down.

It’s silent for a couple moments, which makes you nervous. What could Tails be thinking?

Eventually, Tails scoots closer to you and sets a paw on your shoulder.

“Have you ever actually seen this stalker?” His voice is filled with concern. You think back to all the times you would have that intense anxiety feeling: leaving the house, hearing the wind blowing, hearing the slightest difference of air shifting to the hop of a rabbit.

“Well… no…” You feel embarrassed now—you realize you have no real evidence to support the validity of your fear.

“Did my force field react at all before I came?”

“No…”

“Is it possible that maybe… there is no stalker?”

You pause. You thought for absolute certain someone was constantly watching you. There were too many signs as far as hearing things and sensing someone staring at you, but those could have easily been mistaken for everyday things—maybe a duck was just watching you. The more you think about it, the more you realize Tails is right.

“I thought,” you begin, but you’re at a loss of words. All this anxiety over nothing. You wrapped up Tails and Sonic into this mess just for it to be all in your head. You feel so defeated. “I’m so sorry, Tails…”

“Shhh, it’s okay, (Y/N)!” Tails’ voice is a little cheery, which surprises you but you don’t think about it too much. He comes up behind you to give you a comforting hug, his arms wrapping around your waist. “You know, I have just the solution to your problem!”

Just as you’re about to cry again, you turn your head toward Tails, interested. “You do?”

“Mhm, it’s a simple procedure that will cure all the anxiety and paranoia you’ve been going through. You’ll be able to live normally again.” His voice is very soothing and reassuring in a similar manner to a hypnotist.

“Oh yes, Tails, please!” You quickly turn around to face him and hold your hands in a praying position, begging, “please help me!”

“Oh, I don’t know, (Y/N)… it’s very dangerous, and if done incorrectly, fatal.” You weren’t sure because of the dark room, but you could’ve sworn Tails had a little smirk.

“Tails, please. I’m so desperate… I just want my life back. I’ll do anything to be normal again.” Your eyes start to well up yet again. “You’ve already helped me so much… You’re the only person I trust right now, and without you, I don’t know what I would’ve done. I don’t want to scare anyone else away, I don’t want anyone to think I’m crazy. Please…”

A silent moment passes before Tails sets his paws on your shoulders, which then drape down your arms.

“Don’t worry, of course I’ll help you! There would be no one better for the job.” Tails sounds so sure of himself, which puts you at ease.

“Oh, thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!” You quickly pull Tails into another bear hug, which takes him by surprise, but he laughs.

You feel a paw stroking your hair.

“Of course, (Y/N)! What are friends for, after all?”

[gentlebeardsbarngrill]

I'm so glad you're normal about Taika/Rita because so many people haven't been. And unfortunately, a big chunk comes from people just not respecting Rita.

I'm not saying she's perfect, she's made some mistakes, she's human. But people have looked down on her for years, mostly for vey flimsy reasons like 'tries too hard'. I even found an article from 2014 that basically called her the 'punching bag of the music industry'. Even when she wasn't really on my radar, people on Twitter and Reddit kept saying shit like 'never seen a Rita Ora fan, how is she successful', even though its understandable to anyone with an actual brain who thinks about it for a minute.

I remember when it came out she and Taika were together, people were just so rude about her (this was a bit before the huge turn against Taika). Just saying stuff like 'what do they even TALK about???' etc. They clearly though she was beneath him. I know people can date for shallow reasons, but it was the just so mean and disrespectful. Not even considering that he might actually like her for more than just her appearence.

As i'm typing this, im realising this might be another reason they work together (obligatory i don't know them), they both know what its like to be unfairly targeted and ridiculed by the media and the internet. It's one thing to sympathise with someone, it's another to actual have them understand how it feels.

Hey Anon! Sorry for the delay, trying to catch up on asks, lots of write ins the last couple days! Thanks! I think a lot of us are a lot more normal about Taika/Rita but the assholes tend to be louder. I LOVE that I'm seeing so many people since that IG post of his really rally together and start pushing back. You all are so inspiring and sweet! I know some people are being shits though on twitter so remember to block if people start getting nasty because no one needs that kind of abuse. Some super sweet folks here are getting harassed on twitter and I'm getting very mama bear about it. To your point, you're right, she's human, she makes mistakes, we all do, seriously. If you don't like her, fine but don't be a dick about it? Like spreading rumors and being shitty does nothing but make you feel better (the royal you, not you anon!). That's an interesting point, it's possible they bonded over their both having to deal with trolls, and it seems like their personalities really match up-- they're both goofy and fun, so having someone who has had that same kind of life experience would be really helpful supportwise.

I think what we've learned from all of this is that people are just dicks sometimes and if we can, ignore/block them because not everyone feels that way and the more voice we give them the more they'll shout.

Anyway, thanks for writing in anon, I'm so glad to hear there's so much love and support for Taika and Rita despite their faults. <3 The more we talk about it, the more it'll become normalized again and we can help make that happen.

Hope you have a lovely weekend anon! Take care!

[blarrghe]

Shop talk! I know you're currently doing the whole writing and posting thing differently than before - like the whole thing is written, you're just editing and posting once a week. So what do you think of that? Do you prefer it over how you worked previously? Does it depend on the fic??

And how much editing are we talking? Both in terms of words changed as well as time spent on it? Do you do editing the next chapter for a whole week? Are you constantly editing all upcoming chapters??

Thanks for the ask! I love talking about this stuff :) Sorry for the obscenely long answer.

So it's the first time I've done that, and now that I'm in the posting part I am liking it a lot. I like the structure, I look forward to Wednesdays, I feel like I gathered a little bit of an audience that is there weekly with me as well, which is nice for everyone. I don't know if it makes any difference to people in terms of engagement if they hear that its completed in advance or see it posting regularly, but idk if it was me as a reader I would appreciate the regularity so I hope people do. At least one person has told me they're waiting to read it until it's finished/waited to start until it was over half posted, idk if I'll suddenly get new readers when its up in full or what but I def understand that. But yeah! The posting weekly thing has been nice. It feels productive even if I actually don't do a ton of writing every week.

Actually writing the thing took like two years though, specifically because there was absolutely no gratification to it haha. I didn't really even post wip snippets or talk about it much, because I wanted to keep my secrets. I was writing either Matchsies or A Complicated Match still when I had the idea and started plotting, so part of it taking so long is also that I was dividing my attention, and devoting more of it to the ongoing stuff I was actually posting. But I started this fic with the intention of letting it be a slow side-burner project so that I could make it "really good" by the time it went up. And that was a good call, because I did a lot of re-writes and re-structuring to elements of it, especially some of the early chapters, when I got further into the plot. To be clear, it's had the same outline all along, but there were connecting details that didn't work, like logistical travel time things that would have been glaringly annoying if I'd posted the first drafts of the first few chapters before writing the later ones. Also I re-vamped Sylvanna's character really early on into a more major role. She wasn't originally a bodyguard! Or really a main element of the story at all. Absolution came out at some point and I got Ideas.

Anyway, a lot of the editing that went into the fic before I started posting was pretty major, but by the time I was ready to actually start posting everything was much more concrete. I tend to edit the next chapter in the days before it goes up, and right before posting, mainly just for little details. But I try to give myself some distance and not overdo the constant editing so that when I do look at it right before posting I have some fresher eyes, right now I haven't looked at the next chapter (lying, I read it last night, but not from an EDITOR standpoint) in a couple weeks and I plan to put on editor glasses tomorrow morning before I post it. A big part of the editing that is ongoing is for how the prose reads, like I might come up with some gorgeous metaphor or re-do how a scene is described but keep the content the same. You get better all the time as a writer, so it's just about getting the Good Copy as Good as I can before it goes up. Every now and then I have a genius thought and go stick it in where it fits. Every now and then I also delete stuff or have a genius thought that doesn't actually fit and stick it in "CUT CONTENT" on the bottom of the doc. There's some Taren-perspective Bher stuff in there that didn't work with how I structured Ch. 20, for example. I was thinking for a sec I'd re-write that whole chapter and do a flashback chapter for him but it did not suit the flow at all and I only got a couple paragraphs in and then just... added like two lines of Taren Thoughts to get the point across instead haha. I also cut a couple chapters in half but didn't change them (19 and 20 are an example, which is also why a ch. 20 rewrite did not work.)

The most major edits I've made have been to the last two chapters, mainly to add in a few new ideas I had or to tie up loose ends I realised I was still leaving. I haven't majorly changed any of what was going to happen, it's more just me trying to really nail those last chapters. I am also constantly re-reading it in full (sometimes making minor tweaks to names in the narration ;) and also boring stuff like punctuation). I'll post a chapter and immediately get excited for the next one and go read from that point to the end...

There's also a "secret" epilogue that I wrote, really liked, and then cannibalized and entirely re-wrote like, yesterday. I wasn't initially sure I'd even post it but now I definitely will. So stay tuned for that ;)

[sapphyreopal5]

This fandom is stupid as hell…. Tinhats think he’s gay for Jared and hellers think he’s gay for Misha but it’s funny cause they are both HALF right…. Just both groups got the guy wrong

Oh boy oh boy, I think I know who you are talking about here Anon. Yes, I agree that if Jensen were to be doing it with any guy it is not anyone from the Supernatural cast seriously. I will admit my best friend and I looked at Justin's page and as I posted here, there are some awful interesting comments Jensen's left on Justin's page over the last few years. Of course, at the time I made my post I was having some weird issues not being able to see Jensen's comments on others' posts for a couplish weeks here. Since it started working again, I figured it out and decided you know what? I'm gonna go look on all Jared's posts yet again and see if Jensen EVER commented anything like the stuff he has on Justin's page.

The answer ladies and gentlemen? He has NOT ONCE made any remarks like he has on Justin's page using the 🔥 emoji, let alone said things like "solid as always" or "had too much fun mixing it up with you" and "let's do it again" on Jared's posts. The website wikihow.com states "The 🔥 means “It's totally lit.” A 🔥 is social media's universal symbol for anything cool, hip, or exciting. If this emoji pops up on your feed, chances are someone thinks you're pretty awesome."

Exhibit A, a couple samples of comments Jensen's left on Jared's page. Such romantic undertones here, right? CLEAR AS DAY (just like my sarcasm here is or should be anyways ha ha).

Jensen may suck at making Instagram lives but he sure has no problem hitting the like button and COMMENTING on people's posts. Another discovery? He commented on Justin's page more in the last 4ish years than he ever did on Jared's page and they both signed up for Instagram August 2015. This was a depressing discovery but I noticed even in posts where Jared clearly tagged Jensen all he got was a like, MAYBE 1 or 2 comments out of several obvious @ Jensen tags, even if that. Go look at Jared's page, Justin's page and hell even Misha's page and you will not find the same kind of comments on either of their pages that you will on Justin's. Yeah you can't tell me they are remotely the same. That comment on Jared's posts versus these ones on Justin's posts, I am just saying. And then Exhibit B, the comments Jensen's put on Justin's stuff. I'm sorry but the overall message here is "Jensen calm yourself!" Ha ha...

[ophelia-ophelian]

“Coffee calms me down” “...What?”

Summary: As someone who drinks coffee later in the day to calm down after a long day, the amount of people who have been bewildered by me are…a lot. So I’m turning the “people,” into the Brothers. And yes, some of the things the Brothers say are things actually said to me.💀 Also, I barely write kissy scenes, so I'm trying it out on this post, I'm open to criticism^^

You were filling out tasks and homework from RAD in a corner of the library at home, the click of the grandfather clock and the crackle of the fireplace left the place somewhat quiet. Of course, after years of living with the brothers, you’ve learned to drown out some of the more rambunctious noises. After finishing your last assignment, you put your stuff away and walked to the kitchen for some coffee so you could calm down and get a good night’s rest – without Mammon or Levi bursting in to talk or rant. As you get your mug and begin to walk out, you see him standing in the doorway with a curious look.

“Why are you getting coffee? Shouldn’t you be sleeping later?”

“Oh, I drink coffee to calm down. It helps me sleep, actually!”

Lucifer

…What? Was his first thought. Lucifer drinks – more like clings to – coffee everyday to stay somewhat awake and alert. How do you have the opposite effect? Is there something wrong with you? Or was that a normal thing for humans? Picking up on his confusion, you tell him that some people’s bodies process certain foods and drinks differently. As you two continue talking, your conversation shifts from Beel’s Fangol game, Asmo’s new vlog, Levi’s gaming channel, Mammon. 

“So, how are your tasks coming along, Dearest? Anything I can aid you with?”

“Not really,” you yawn and stretch, “It just gets boring sometimes, I don’t like sitting in class for hours and then doing assignments for a couple extra hours.”

“Well, if you would like, you can come to my office and you can work next to me. I can’t promise a conversation, but I can keep you company and on track.”

“You would do that for me?”

“Of course,” he moves to embrace you, “I could even get your own desk.” He brings you in closer and moves you on the counter top. “As long as you keep on task, you can stay,” he leans up to give you a chaste kiss. “And if you sleep in my bedroom more, I’ll let you use my coffee maker. But, now that you’ve finished your drink, come to bed.”

Mammon

“Huh? Is something wrong with ya?” He exclaims. Quickly trying to swallow his words, he waves his hands around trying to explain himself. “No no no, I ain’t mean it like that. It’s just that coffee wakes every demon up! I know yer a human, but Solomon drinks coffee to wake up. It’s not like I’m sayin’ that yer a bad kind of weird – I mean ya not weird! But how does that even work?” 

You smile at him annoyed, obviously you weren’t weird, it’s just that not every human reacts the same way to the same food or drink. You just say that not every human is the same and he laughs as if he already knew that. You both continue a casual conversation as he walks you back to your room, except he doesn’t leave at your door, he follows you in. So much for having a peaceful night…But it’s okay, he’s your first demon afterall.

Leviathan

“Oh, okay.”

Huh? Levi wasn’t confused? 

“I mean, one of my gaming buddies does that. I drink energy drinks as well to focus during hours-long raids. It doesn’t relax me, but it’s easier to focus.”

Well, that’s nice. You didn’t have to explain to him or deal with him being shocked or even calling you weird.

“Well anyways,” he walks over to the fridge and grabs an energy drink, “I found this new adaptation of TSL and it’s airing at midnight tonight. You can join me if you want BTW…even if I am just a yucky otaku.” 

You sigh inwardly, “Levi, we have the same interests. If you’re a yucky otaku, what does that make me?” He quickly starts shaking his head apologizing profusely, exclaiming That’s not what I meant, and, I’m so sorry. You laugh to yourself and move to hug and shush him. “Come on, let’s grab some snacks and head to your room.”

After you settle into his room, he lays on your lap and you play with his hair. Midnight finally comes and he shoots up, exclaiming It’s starting! It’s starting! He looks to you to start explaining the behind the scenes of this adaptation, just to see that you drifted off to sleep. He sighs and takes in the sight, you’re quite peaceful when you’re not breaking down doors and going along with his brothers’ schemes. 

A couple moments pass as he decides to shake you awake, “Come on, it’s starting soon.”

Satan

“Hm, interesting. I read somewhere online that some humans and some demons don’t get energy from stimulants such as caffeine. Although, I do wonder if angels are the same, I’ll have to ask Simeon later.”

You smile, you don’t have to explain. He begins talking about how some stimulants work for some as a depressant and vice versa. You listen intently, even if you already know – it’s nice to listen to his voice. You sit up on the counter and begin sipping, the warmness of the coffee being soothing already. He grabs a snack from the cabinet and walks up in front of you. He continues talking and you continue listening. He asks if you want a bite and you nod. He offers it up to your lips. 

How corny.

You take a bite and he wipes the corner of your mouth. He smiles and presses a soft kiss to your cheek and leans on your shoulder. You place your coffee down and rub his back as he rests his hands around your waist. You both just sit there enjoying each other’s presence. He mumbles something about going to bed and kisses your jaw. He chuckles at you squirming away from him and he pulls you in, ghosting his lips over yours before smiling and pulling away. He squeezes your thigh and moves to grab your hand, leading you away from the kitchen and to your room. As you reach your bedroom, he kisses your knuckles and then your forehead, wishing you sweet dreams.

Occasionally, when you’re awake late at night, there will conveniently be a warm cup of bitter coffee waiting for you on your nightstand.

Asmodeus

“Oh! You’re…interesting. Not in a bad way! But, you’re…different, aren’t you?”

You stare at him, is he being for real right now?

“Kidding! I love you matter what, babe,”

“Asmodeus.”

“I’m messing with youuuuuu. You can be weird in your own way, Pookie.”

You scoff, “You did not just call me that. I told you to stop calling me those weird nicknames.”

“But Shnookums…” Asmo trails on, elongating the ending syllables, beginning to hang on you. 

“Stop it, Asmo,” you say as you giggle, “they’re getting worse.” He leans more onto you and you try to push him off. He litters your face with kisses and traps you in his arms as you try to get away and laugh a bit harder.

“You can be my weird lover, you’ll balance out my extravagance. We can,” he squishes your face with his hands and kisses you, “be,” kiss, “the perfect,” kiss, “couple.” You laugh and cuddle into his arms. He sways and you laugh together.

“Although,” he continues, “you need a mint, you have coffee breath.”

“...Asmo I haven’t even drunk any yet,” you turn to him.

“Oh.”

You swat at his arm and he giggles and exclaims that he was kidding as he tries to hug you again. He ends up backing you against the counter as he leans over and kisses you. Breathing out softly against your lips, he smiles and slides your coffee off to the side.

“I love you,” he whispers against your neck and he places yet another soft kiss to your neck, then your jaw, up to the corner of your lips, and then…he steals your coffee and takes a drink. “Mmm, this is too sweet, I’ll make you something really bitter and send you off to sleep,” he smiles and starts brewing you a new cup.

Beelzebub

“Huh, cool,” he shrugs and moves to the fridge. “I used to drink coffee. Not for relaxation, but Asmo suggested it since it curbs hunger for some people. It didn’t curb my hunger, it just gave me a horrible stomach ache.” He shuffles through the shelves looking for nothing in particular. “I told him about it, actually, and he told me that no one should have coffee on an empty stomach because it makes you so prone to stomach pains,” he grabs a pudding cup and goes to the silverware drawer, “So, I stopped drinking it overall. But it’s cool that it works differently for everyone.

Lucifer uses it for staying awake, Levi doesn’t drink coffee but his energy drinks keep him focused I guess, I think Satan is more of a tea guy but I’ve seen him drink coffee. I don’t think Asmo drinks coffee anymore because it gives him such bad breath. Hm,” He ponders for a moment, “I wonder if Belphie will react like you. Can you brew another cup for him, please?”

As he begins eating his pudding cup and you go to brew another cup, Beel begins to talk about his Fangol game last weekend. As he recounts, you comment occasionally on what he looked like from the stands and how well he played. You finished the second cup and he grabbed it from you with a kiss on the forehead.

“Thank you, Love.”

Belphegor 

He hums, “Can I have some?”

“Sure thing, Bubs, I’ll grab another mug.”

“Nuh uh, come here,” he walks over to you and takes the mug from you. He takes a sip, “Thank you. It’s a bit too hot for you still so I’ll hold onto it till it cools down.” He raises it back to his lips and takes a longer sip.

“Hey! That’s for me, Belphegor,” as you go to grab it, he raises his arm, “Hey! That’s not going to work on me, give it to me.” He chuckles and hands it back to you. “Thank you,” you raise the mug to your lips, “...Belphegor. This is empty.”

“Oh hey! Would you look at that! Guess you will have to come with me and I can put you to sleep,” He leans on you and nuzzles into your neck. He traces his fingers up and down your arms and smiles into your neck when he feels you shiver. You squirm as you try to pry him off you.

“I want my coffee, Love. Let me make another cup.”

“It’s fine, I’ll make you one.”

“No, it’ll be too bitter.”

“Aw, don’t worry, I’ll make sure it’s sweet.”

“Belphegor, out of all of the coffee I’ve had, I can barely drink the coffee you make me because it’s so bitter.”

“Oh hush, just come to bed and I’ll put you to sleep.”

“Ugh, you’re so difficult. Now get off, I want my coffee.” Several moments pass. “Belphie? Belphie!” You nudge him and he grumbles, “Wake up. Fine, I’ll go to bed with you.” He perks up and smiles.

[iwonderwh0]

I accidentally wrote two more scenes, continuing the idea in this post (and associated reblogs) about Connor temporarily existing in Hank's devices (I don't reblog it this time, because I forgot to do that). One is below, and another one is not yet fully finished, so I'll probably post it later.

"Ah, fucking asshole!" Hank slammed the brakes.

"What happened?" Connor asked, his voice coming from a speaker.

"This prick just cut me off."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that."

"No, you're not," Hank glanced at the dash camera he previously found in his garage – it still wasn't plugged in and he wasn't even sure if it had any memory card inside, but now he thought that it might be a good idea to turn it on, or to try, at least. He slowed down at the traffic light and as his car came to a complete stop searched for the hanging cable.

"I just remembered that I have a dash cam."

"Are you going to turn it on?"

Hank plugged in the cable and pressed the "on" button – small LED informed him that recording has started.

"Nah."

From a satisfied sound Hank concluded that android found his way to now fully working dash camera.

"Thank you."

For a couple of minutes they drove in silence, interrupted only by some occasional static from the speaker.

"See that woman in front of you?" Connor asked at some point.

"The one with red Honda? I don't see who's driving it, but yeah, whatever. What about her?"

"She's an attorney. She has two kids and she recently filed a divorce, but her husband doesn't know it yet."

"And you're telling me this why exactly?"

"I don't know. I thought it was interesting, and I doubt you'll ever see her again – her vehicle is registered in a different state."

"You know, the way you can just do shit like that makes me...Shit, I don't even know. It's unnerving," Hank removed one of his hands from a steering wheel for a moment to gesture at the last sentence, even though he knew Connor wouldn't see it.

"I've only used publicly available information starting from her license plate number -- it is a part of the public record anyway -- and the rest of it wasn't too hard to find online, knowing her legal name."

"Not sure if it makes it better or worse."

"If it makes you feel better, there is not much I can find this way about you. Most of what I assume were your accounts are either deleted or haven't been updated in years. There are, however, other accounts that are referencing you, and some of them are quite active to this day."

"Even if I never posted anything at all, those jackals would do that for me," Hank shook his head, "Great. Not like I didn't know that already."

He tried to remember whatever it was Connor could even find on his abandoned profile. He barely used it in recent years and only kept it for the sake of getting reminded about upcoming birthdays, even though he didn't really care much about any of them. Still, it felt useful enough.

"And who the fuck is even referencing me?" He asked after a pause.

"It's not something recent, if that's what you're asking. Most of it is dated at least three years back."

"I'm asking names."

"Just your colleagues, mostly, and-"

"My ex wife?"

"Yes."

Hank thought about the last time he saw her. It was the day of Cole's funeral. He avoided looking in her direction during the whole ceremony, cautious not to make any eye-contact. He wasn't there for her, and neither was she. They didn't talk this day.

"Sometimes I wonder how she's doing..," Hank said, without actually meaning to. Over the past three days, it had started to happen to him more and more often - thinking something and blurting it out loud the same moment without a second thought. Not all of it was something he actually wanted to share or hear a response to, but at the same time there was some comfort in knowing that someone would listen, no matter what he had to say. He wondered if Connor was secretly getting tired of him, but at the same time, it didn't seem like he was, as whenever Hank remained quiet for longer than a couple of minutes, the android would say something himself and encouraged Hank to respond, say something. Anything, even if it's just a humming sound, acknowledging his presence.

Connor's voice brought Hank back from his thoughts.

"Do you want me to-"

"-No! Not like this. I just-," he tightened his grip on the steering wheel, thinking "I don't know, I don't want to know too much. Just wondering if..," he sighed, "Shit. Forget it, okay?"

For a while it was quiet, and Hank already decided that it was over when android spoke again.

"She's fine. It seems like she's in a relationships, but not engaged. No kids, two dogs."

"So she moved on, huh...Good to know."

"You're welcome."

"I didn't ask you to do that, by the way."

"Not directly, but I'm good at reading between the lines."

"Only when you don't need to."

"Hank?"

Hank hummed in response, turning on the signal lights to make a turn.

"Do you..."

For the second time of the day Hank hit the brakes when another vehicle abruptly squeezed into the tiny gap in front of him, coming dangerously close to hitting both his car and the one next in line.

"Shit, did you see that? Fucker needs his license recalled."

"I didn't catch it. I can only process a frame every three seconds or so."

"Wait, you serious? So all this time you've been watching a slideshow, not even a laggy video?"

"Basically. I can't process visual data at the same speed I can process audio, as it leaves me almost no space to process anything else, making it quite useless. I do, however, appreciate seeing something, even if it's just static images every couple of seconds."

Hearing it was...upsetting. More so than Hank expected, although he wasn't sure why. He abruptly thought if maybe his phone is too old and it was the time for an update anyway, but then remembered that Connor was saying something just before he got distracted.

"What were you saying before?"

"Oh.. I think you should turn here and go around, there's a huge traffic jam ahead."

"Really?" Hank frowned and glanced at his GPS unit. It usually warned him about things like traffic jams, but it seemed usual, no warnings of any kind. Hank thought about it for a moment, then turned to drive around anyway. Maybe Connor was right. Maybe he was lying. Hank didn't feel like questioning him this time. Maybe he will do that later, "Thanks."

For a few seconds there was some static coming from a speaker. It got louder for a few seconds, then became slightly softer, and after another second it disappeared completely.