#An eight-month-old baby girl died

[xxchumanixx]

hiii, could you write a Tim Bradford X Grey!reader? She is sergeant grey’s daughter but adopted, so everyone can imagine themselves as they want 💕!

and they have to sneak around because she is “off limits”, also maybe younger than him??

and one day, while they are at her house and they are doing it (idk if you write smut, if you don’t you don’t have to go into details ofc). Wade goes at her house because she was not answering her phone and finds them while she is literally on top of him ??

Not just any man

Tim Bradford x Grey!reader

Warnings/Tags: 18+ mdni!, smut, p in v (wrap it before you tap it!), language, fluff, secret relationship, reader is Grey's adoptive daughter

Word count: 1.722

Authors note: Hey love, thanks for the request! Yes, I do write smut. I hope this fits your expectations! I really appreciate the idea with the reader being adopted, so everyone can imagine the reader as they like!

Enjoy!

There was a lot you had Wade Grey to thank for.

Catching you with your boyfriend wasn't one of those things, though. Especially when your boyfriend was one of his officers and he was older than you.

You were in so much trouble.

It had all began when you met Tim at a charity event hosted at the police station (not the best place for an event like this, as your father later would always like to mention).

It had instantly clicked.

The thrill of doing this behind everyone's back was what excited you the most the first few months - that was, until Tim confessed his feelings to you.

You were deeply in love with each other, and no one would be able to separate you - not even your father, even when he decided to fire Tim, if he ever found out.

When you were a baby, barely a few months old, Wade had adopted you.

Your parents died a few days prior, losing everything, including their lives, when a drug deal went horribly wrong.

You didn't know much about them, but you didn't care. The Grey's were your family, not them.

Family didn't end in blood.

You were a little older than their biological daughter, but you were still your fathers little girl.

Which meant you were off limits - to everyone, including Tim. Not that it would have stopped you, though.

You had to sneak around of course, but someday your parents eventually had to find out - especially if you wanted to spend the rest of your life with Tim.

It just wasn't supposed to be that day, especially not like this.

You and Tim had been busy that day, you both had a day off and had been cooking together, went shopping (yes, you did that together, when your parents weren't near), and watched movies.

All that time you didn't look at your phone, though - missing several calls from your father.

Now, you were very busy with Tim, as he placed kisses down your neck, making you shiver in delight.

Your naked body's pressed together, his fingers brushing over the curves of your breasts, wandering further down.

Your fingers touched him wherever they reached - his muscular chest, his back and his arms, brushing through his short hair as his fingers pleasured you.

His lips found yours, muffling a moan, as his fingers went in and out of your tight pussy, his palm brushing your clit in the process, sending shivers up your body.

You loved every second of it.

You loved the way he always took care of you, the way he took his sweet time.

The knot in your stomach tightened, as he quickened the pace of his fingers. Gasping his name your fingers dug into his shoulders, his lips ghosting over your neck, as his thumb drew figure eights on your clit.

With a few last strokes you came, moaning his name, pure bliss pulsing through you, blinding you momentarily. You rode out your high on his fingers, before he removed them, smirking down at you as you gasped for air.

He was breathtakingly beautiful. His eyes that shined like the stars at night, full of love. His face, his lips and his hair - he was perfect the way he was.

And he was all yours.

His lips found yours again and he stroked himself, before he aligned his dick with your entrance.

Slowly, he inched forward, stretching you out in just the right way, the initial pain quickly fading into a feeling that was so much better.

When he was fully settled, he started to move, not giving you much time to adjust.

A throaty moan passed your lips, as his hands gripped your hips to steady himself. You fell into a steady rhythm, the familiar knot in your belly already forming again.

"Fuck." he breathed, one of his hands finding your breast, pinching your nipple. Moaning loudly your legs wrapped around his middle, taking him even deeper.

He thrust into you vigorously, your moans mixing together. But you wanted a change in position.

Pushing him back you sat up, his brows furrowing in confusion. You pushed him onto his back, causing him to chuckle knowingly, as he realized what you were doing.

Smirking, you straddled him, not wasting any time to sink down on him again. He groaned, his hands gripping your hips, steadying you.

“Oh fuck…” His moan was like music to your ears, raw and unfiltered, as you started to move, up and down and up and down.

Skin slapped on skin, as he gripped your ass, helping you in your movement, when he suddenly stiffened, pulling you into his arms to cover you up.

"Tim wha-" you wanted to ask what happened, when you heard it.

"You better be kidding me!"

Flinching, your head snapped in the direction of your father's voice, body pressed against Tim, as your eyes widened.

"What the hell?" you yelled, your father's back turned towards you, one hand on his pistol.

"What the fuck?" Tim cut in. "What the hell is he doing here?"

"What the hell am I doing here?" your father bellowed, as you climbed off Tim, frantically searching for your clothes. "What the hell am I doing in my daughter's house? WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?"

He shouted - never a good sign.

Tim searched for the right words, not sure how to explain, as you threw his shirt at him.

When you were both fully clothed your father had already left the bedroom, pacing in your living room.

Walking towards him you tried to come up with an explanation. It would have been useless to lie, so you decided to confront him with the truth.

"We're together." you spoke, swallowing. Fast and painless - just rip the bandaid off in one move.

Your gaze fixed on your father who so suddenly stopped, you thought time had paused for a second.

"You are what?" he yelled, anger clear as day on his face, a vein on his neck popping out. Tim stood somewhere behind you, not daring to say anything.

After all he was still his boss.

"We. Are. Together." you repeated word after word. "We are in a relationship. We love each other."

Your father's eyes nearly bulged from their sockets, as he stared at you, mouth agape.

How we're you to explain, if he suddenly had a heart attack?

"You of all people!" he spoke angrily, pointing at Tim and you stood in front of him, blocking his way as your father took a step closer. Giving him a pointed look, he fell silent.

"Dad, I'm not thirteen anymore!" you tried to reason, shaking your head at him. "Im twenty-six! You don't have to protect me from men - and you definitely don't have the right to tell me who I date and who I don't!"

Blinking rapidly he tried to process your words.

"But-" he started, irritation clear on his face. "Y/N, you're my daughter! I told them you're off limits!"

Furrowing your brows you looked at him in disbelieve. "You did what?" you almost shouted. "God, you're so embarrassing!" His eyes were wide. "I am embarrassing? Seeing my daughter naked with a man - that is embarrassing!"

Your cheeks flushed, not wanting to be reminded of that, as you looked away.

Sighing he tried to find the right words, only making unintelligible sounds, though. "I can decide on my own who I want to be with, dad." you explained, brushing away a lose strand of hair.

"But-" he tried again, brows furrowed in sadness, and your heart grew heavy. "You're my daughter, my little girl! I can't just hand you off to any random guy!"

"What?" Tim interrupted, stepping forward. Rolling his eyes your father shook his head, fully knowing he could trust Tim Bradford.

If anyone, it was him.

It grew quiet, as you bit your lip, nervousness washing over you in waves. Would he fire Tim? Destroy his entire career just because he loved his daughter?

He sighed heavily, wiping over his face with his hand.

"Look, you didn't answer your phone all day so I got worried - and then I find you with him!" he explained, briefly pointing at Tim, who grabbed your hand, not letting go even as your father's jaw clenched at the sight.

"I'm not ready to hand you off just yet."

Closing your eyes for a moment you took a deep breath. "Sarge, I love your daughter and I want to be with her." Tim started, giving your hand a reassuring squeeze.

It would all be good.

"I'm not willing to give her up, just because you can't let go."

Your father's brows rose at the bluntness of his words, but he kept quiet, chewing on his cheek as he thought.

"What if you break her heart?" he wanted to know after a while, tilting his head. "Won't happen." Tim returned without a moment's hesitation.

You couldn't help but smile at his words. You loved him with all your heart and you knew he did the same.

Your father swallowed, nodding after a while, eyes glistening. "If you just so much as look at her in the wrong way, I will make the rest of your life a living hell." he swore Tim, huffing at his emotions taking over.

Letting go of Tim's hand you walked to your father, hugging him in relief. He returned the hug, his arms the same shelter as when you were just a small child.

"Thank you." you whispered, happy tears filling your eyes. "When he hurts you, just tell me and I'll get rid of him." he offered, letting go of you.

Judging by Tim's huff he heard his words, but you were sure he did it intentionally.

"I love you, dad." He smiled down at you, the emotions still clear on his distraught face. "I love you too, kiddo."

Rolling your eyes you hugged him again, before letting go and walking towards Tim.

Smiling up at him you took his hand back in yours. It would all be good. He returned the smile, still a little hesitant because of your father's presence.

Standing on your tip toes you kissed him, causing your father to immediately protest.

"No!"

[alloftheimagines]

joel miller | complications

masterlist | tag list

words: 2.9k warnings: 18+ | angst, near death experience, blood, reader has a traumatic birth w/complications, PTSD naturally, joel reminded of sarah's death, newbown baby (yes they can be spooky! but this one is cute and safe), (please just somebody take that poor man's pain away) (or not because then what would we write about?) (also he and ellie are a little estranged like in tlou2) prompt: I was thinking maybe Jackson! Joel era and pregnant reader and then she almost dies while giving birth to the baby! Gives room for a lot of drama and angst, and potential comfort right at the end for our favorite old man. tags: (i know it's been a while since I last posted so let me know if you want to be untagged) @sweetbabygirlsworld @m4tthewmurd0ck @domaniquessidehoe @spideysimpossiblegirl note: you can read this as pedro's joel if you so wish, but i am in my game!joel feels rn

“I can’t do this, Joel.” Your face creased with pain as another contraction wracked through you. You’d known that labour would hurt, of course, but you hadn’t expected it to come on this quickly, and so strong. You hadn’t yet passed the eight-month mark, and you weren’t prepared. Not even a little. You hadn’t even sorted the nursery yet, or found a crib.

Joel held your hand on the floor of your living room, keeping you supported while you braced against the couch. He brushed the hair from your face, calm and unreadable as ever, but even you didn’t miss the way his fingers trembled against your skin. “You got this, baby girl. I know you can.”

“Don’t think you have much of a choice.” Your doctor, one of the few midwives in town, lifted her head. She sat at your feet, peeling off her gloves after your examination. “You’re fully dilated. This baby is coming right now.”

“There’s no time to get to the infirmary?” you questioned, voice rising in panic. The contractions had barely started an hour ago, and sure, you’d left it a little late before confessing that they were getting painful. Ellie had rushed out not fifteen minutes ago to call for your midwife’s help, and now…

Now, the baby was coming, and all you could think was that it wasn’t supposed to be like this. The pregnancy had been a shock to your system. You hadn’t even been sure that Joel would want to go through with it after everything he’d experienced before. But he’d held your hand through each ultrasound, felt your belly for the first kick, and even when you saw fear — dread, even — cross his features, you could easily reassure him that this time was different. This time, it was safe. You’d lived in Jackson for over a year now, and it was the security of the community that had made motherhood feel possible. 

The midwife shook her head. “I’m sorry. You need to start pushing on your next contraction.”

“Oh, god,” you whispered, teeth chattering as the weight of the situation hit you.

“Hey, look at me.” Joel tilted your chin gently. “It’s gonna be just fine, darlin’. You just breathe and push, okay? We’ll do the rest.” 

“Right, just breathe and push,” you muttered. “Of course, you forgot the part about shoving a small human out of my hoo-ha.” 

He smirked, planting a kiss on your forehead. “Oh, right. That little detail.”

“I kinda hate you right now.” Just as you said it, another contraction hit, and your head fell back as you moaned. 

“Push now if you feel like you should!” your midwife reminded. Then, to Ellie: “Go get some clean towels, hon. Lots of ‘em.”

In the doorway, Ellie looked grateful to be given a job and scampered off. 

You did as instructed, dipping your chin into your chest as you pushed, pushed, pushed. A scream ripped through you at the pain it brought, each moment worse than the last. 

“You’re doing so good, baby. So good. She’s gonna be here so soon,” Joel whispered, his grip around you the only thing keeping you tethered to the here and now. 

Dizziness consumed you as your contraction finally eased. “Is she okay?”

“I’m seeing the head.” The midwife beamed. “Just a few more pushes, okay?”

Somehow, you breathed, and you pushed, and you felt your way through the pain as your body broke and mended and then broke again. Joel kept his grip on your hand tight, reassuring, but you saw him bite his lip toward the end and knew that he might have been just as terrified as you. 

The final push finally came, and you sunk back as the newborn's cry rang out.

“She’s here. You did it,” Joel murmured, kissing your clammy temple. He laughed into your skin, the sound of joy and disbelief sending a shiver through you. You tried to lift your head, to see your daughter, but everything felt wrong. Heavy. It still hurt, and black spots dotted your vision. 

“Le’ me see her.” Your words were slurred, your voice far away.

The last thing you heard was Joel calling your name, his voice raw and broken — terrified. 

***

“What’s wrong with her?” he demanded. 

“She’s bleeding too heavily. I need to get her to the infirmary.”  The midwife shook her head, handing him the screaming newborn. His screaming newborn. It had taken months to quell the panic of becoming a father again — not that he had ever truly stopped. Sarah had lived in his heart all these years, and Ellie was his daughter, even if she hated him for what he did. 

He made the mistake of looking at you, and the sight of the blood made him sick. So much of it. There was so damn much of it. He’d seen a lot of people bleed out, but he couldn’t remember ever seeing this much. 

“Shit," he cursed.

He didn’t know when Ellie had returned, but she stood wan and she’ll shocked beside him now.

“Please, take her.” He shoved the baby into her arms before lowering back to his knees to grab your hand. “Don’t you dare do this to me, baby. Not now.” 

“Can you carry her to the infirmary?” the midwife asked desperately.

He didn’t think twice, slipping his arms under your limp body. 

“Joel! She’s gonna be alright, right?” Ellie stuttered, and he heard the panic in her voice, too, as she swayed the baby from side to side, swaddling her in blankets. You were the closest thing Ellie had to a mother. If either of them lost you…

He couldn’t even try to find an answer, as much as he wanted it to be yes.

He gritted his teeth, hauling you up on shaky legs. Thankfully, the infirmary was only a few blocks away, and nobody was there to slow him down so late at night. 

He couldn’t make sense of it. One minute, he’d been settling down for the night after a long patrol shift. The next, you were curled up in pain, claiming the baby was coming. 

“Stay with me,” he pleaded, fingers curling into your old sweater. His old sweater, if he was being particular, but you’d stolen it from him so long ago that it smelled completely of you now: soap and fresh air. Blood. 

He staggered into the infirmary with that smell still in his nostrils, dampness spreading across his hands, and he damn near passed out on the threshold. But he wouldn’t, couldn’t, leave you, even when flashes of him holding Sarah this exact way raced through his mind. Even when a broken sob stuck in his throat, because he was holding on, and you weren’t, and she wasn’t, and why did he always have to be the one to watch the life seep from them? To end the night with nothing but their blood on his hands?

He set you down on the first bed he came to, drawing the alarmed attention of the nurses, who had a moment ago been ready to dose off on their night shift. In such a small community, they weren’t often needed after dark.

Behind him, the midwife called out orders, wheeling you away into the surgery theatre. He watched you disappear into a white-walled room, a tiny thing that never would have sufficed in the old world. 

In the old world, you probably wouldn’t have given birth in a living room. In the old world, he wouldn’t be stiff with a fear he couldn’t control, frozen with memories that refused to ever leave him.

He spun around and felt unsettled to see Ellie cradling the baby, mouth agape with the same cluelessness he felt. His baby. His. He had to be a father now, but he didn’t know how when you weren’t here with him. He felt like that thing he was always losing in his dreams was finally gone for good. Ripped from him one last time.

He couldn’t look at the baby’s cherubic face. Couldn’t even look at Ellie.

He couldn’t remember why he’d been so relaxed just yesterday to think of the little life you’d both been impatiently waiting to begin. Couldn’t remember how he’d found the strength to sing a lullaby to your bump, laughing when a foot kicked his palm as though telling him to shut the hell up. 

What the fuck was he supposed to do now? She was so tiny and pink and new, wrapped in bloody blankets, and he…

“Go give her to one of the nurses,” he whispered. 

“Joel—” Ellie made to protest, but he couldn’t hear it. Wouldn't.

“Ellie,” he snapped. “Go give her to one of the damn nurses. I can’t.”

“Well, you don’t have a fucking choice, because she’s yours now.” Ellie shoved her into his hands without warning. He tensed with the new weight, bile rising in his stomach. No. No. No. Everything he held, he broke. 

But then the baby let out a gurgle, her feet kicking his palm just like the night before when she was still safe in your belly, and he couldn’t keep from looking down at her. Couldn’t keep from seeing you in all her innocent features. Eyes, nose, even the fine tuft of hair on her head. 

“I can clean her down and check she’s doing okay,” a nurse offered, and suddenly, he was reluctant to let her go. 

And then he remembered you, the blood, your motionless body after so long spent screaming, Ellie’s hatred, Tess, Sarah, and he was glad for somebody else to take care of her. The further away that kid was, the better. He was a fucking curse, and she…

He scraped a hand over his face, pacing over to the surgery room. He didn’t dare march in, no matter how badly he wanted to. 

“She’s going to be okay,” Ellie said from behind him gently. “She’s strong, and I’m sure shit like this happens all the time.” 

“I told her we’d be okay,” Joel rasped out, face crumpling finally. “I told her that it would turn out alright, that we could be… That we could make something good here.”

“And you will,” Ellie said. 

He shook his head. “I might as well have killed her my damn self.” He looked down at his bloodied hands as though they weren’t his. They shook more than they ever had before. 

“Stop it! She’s going to make it. She has to!” Ellie’s yell took him aback, piercing in such a quiet, echoey space. She jabbed a finger into Joel’s shoulder. “And you have to hold it together. I know it’s fucking hard, alright, but you don’t get to lose it now! You can’t blame yourself for everything that goes wrong in our lives, Joel! That’s not how it works!”

He swallowed down his own self-loathing, head bowed. “I can’t do it without her,” he whispered. 

The rawness in his voice must have been visceral, because Ellie paused, her eyes filling with tears. 

And then she hugged him, tight enough that he thought maybe she was trying to keep him in one piece. He let out a ragged breath and held her. And then he did what she asked. He tried to hold it together. 

***

You woke to whispers and gurgles and wondered for a moment if you were dreaming. Your lids were heavy, body distant, and you couldn’t quite remember where you were or who was supposed to be with you. 

Until you prised your eyes open and found IVs plugged into your veins. 

“There she is,” a voice said softly. 

You blinked, searching for the source, and found it in a bleary version of Joel. He sat in a chair beside your bed, a tiny baby in his arms. His smile was shaky, distorted, and you didn’t know why. Not until he leaned forward and brushed your hair from your face with his free arm.

“Thought you’d left me there for a second.” 

“Is she okay?” Your throat was hoarse. 

He nodded. “Right as rain. It’s you we were worried about.” 

You frowned, trying to remember. One minute, you were pushing as though your life depended on it, and then the next, you were just… gone. 

“You had a heavy bleed. Needed a transfusion,” Joel explained finally. “But they reckon you’re gonna be okay, thank god.” 

“But she’s okay?” You stared at the baby nestled against his chest, not quite sure how she was here. When had this being growing inside of you become a real, tangible thing? How much of her life had you already missed?

Joel sighed impatiently. “Yes, baby. She’s perfect. Takes after her mom in that department.”

He moved to perch beside you so that you could get a closer look. He was right, of course. She was a little smaller than most newborns, but she was perfect. Pink apple cheeks, wide eyes, tiny fingernails. Looking at her felt like everything had finally fallen into place. You tickled her chin and her lips twitched with something content. Something right.

“How’s it feel, being a daddy again?” you asked gently, looking up at him. 

“Right now, it feels like hell. You can’t go scaring me like that.” He wouldn’t look at you, frown set firmly on his daughter. “Thought I was gonna have a heart attack."

“I’m sorry.” You couldn’t imagine how scared he must have been. After everything, you’d finally thought that danger, terror, was a thing of the past. You’d done a great job of ruining that, even if it wasn’t on purpose. Joel had lost too much before to deal with all this, and you had no idea how you’d cope in his shoes. 

He chuckled. “You’re sorry.” Shook his head. “I ain’t trying to make you apologise for almost dying, darlin’. You don’t gotta worry about me.”

“We said we could do this right,” you whispered. “I promised you it’d be different.” 

“Yeah, well… feels like things’ll never be different for me.” 

You snapped your head up. “What’s that mean?” 

“Nothin’.” He sighed, kissing your temple, and yet still, he wouldn’t meet your eye. “How about you get some rest? I’ll keep the little missus company.” 

“Joel.” You cupped his jaw, pleading now. Everything felt so wrong. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Even though the proof was right in front of you, it was hard to believe your baby was happy and healthy after all the trauma you’d faced. “We’re not gonna start her life this way. Tell me what you mean.”

He placed the baby down in the crib beside your bed before pinching the bridge of his nose. “I keep having to plan a life where I’m alone again, and honestly, I don’t know how I’d do it if I had to. Not this time.”

“But you’re not alone. I’m right here.”

“But you weren’t. For a minute there, I thought…” His voice grew thick, and he shook his head. “Sarah’s gone. Ellie hates me. Why the hell did I think it’d be third time lucky? She’s not even a day old, and she almost lost her mom! And there was nothing I could do. There’s never anything I can do.”

Your heart ached for him. One day, you prayed he wouldn’t hold the responsibility of every single person he loved on his shoulders. Maybe he was right. Maybe you’d been foolish to go into this thinking it could be better. The world would never be safe, not even here in Jackson, and the pain he must live with every day sure as hell wouldn’t ease now he had another daughter to raise. 

You felt hollow at the thought that maybe he’d leave. You wouldn’t blame him, not really. You were scared, too. But you’d only found the strength to do this because you were together, and you’d survived the odds so far. If that stopped feeling true… what then?

Devastation must have been written all over your face, because he pursed his lips. “Don’t listen to me, baby. I shouldn’t be sayin’ all this. You’re barely out of the woods.” 

“I don’t think we can keep doing this if you don’t let some of that guilt and blame go, Joel,” you admitted. “I think your daughter is gonna need a man who doesn’t hate himself for every single thing that’s wrong in the world. You’re right. There was nothing you could have done to stop this from happening. It was my body, and things like this happened even before the outbreak. I can’t imagine how scared you were, love, but fuck, you can’t keep making it your fault. It isn’t. It never was, especially not with Sarah. And this baby? She isn't Sarah." 

He winced at her name, as he often still did. Collapsing back in his chair, he took your hand. Slowly, his lower lip began to wobble as he finally met your gaze. “I love you too much to lose you. And her… How the hell am I gonna do this?” 

“I can’t answer that,” you said. “We knew it wouldn’t be easy.”

He snorted. “Ain’t that the truth.” Then, he bowed his head to press a kiss to the back of your hand. “Gonna try to be better. I promise. I'll hold it together."

“You don’t need to be better, and you don't need to hold it together. You’re already a good man, and talking about all this is important - for both of us. And for her.” You squeezed his fingers tightly. “I love you so much.” You teared up as you looked at the baby dozing in her crib. “And god, I love her. Can you believe we made her?” 

He hummed. “What the hell are we gonna call her?” 

“And where the hell are we gonna put her?” you added, worrying at your lip. “We never even found a crib.”

He shrugged, teasing. “I’m sure we’ll find a corner somewhere.” He leaned forward, tracing circles along your arm. “We’ll make do. Between the four of us, we’ll find a way. I’ll cut the damn trees down and build us a place from scratch myself if I have to.”

You smiled, peace finally flooding your exhausted body. You saw Ellie standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame with her arms crossed, and knew Joel was right. Your family was complete now. It would be a little broken at times, as all things were, but you’d do everything in your power to keep it whole. 

Even if it meant reminding Joel every damn day that he had to be gentle with himself.

[dimsilver]

I hate to say “go inform yourself on this terrible evil thing” but you really should know what’s happening to Indi Gregory.

(She’s an eight-month-old baby with a mitochondrial issue. Britain’s NHS is ordering that she be removed from care and die. Italy has granted her citizenship and is willing to fly her there for special treatment at no cost to Britain. She is not a ward of the state or anything; her parents want to take her to Italy. NHS and the British court system won’t let her go. At least three other infants and a 19-year-old girl have died this way.)

[chuunai]

I had an idea for the 100 followers thingy- so like the babies thing but you’re a single mother (maybe teen mom?) and dazai (pm) falls in love with you and your baby :} ps- I LOVE YOU TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF SUGAR 💗‼️‼️‼️

I’m trying I swear TvT

✧˚ · . you’re a virgin and I’m just a meth head - pm! dazai osamu

the new hire at the port mafia interests him. the baby, too.

summary ⋆ ★ comfort, fluff with a sprinkle of angst, mentions of teen pregnancy, reader and PM! dazai are seventeen, SFW, mentions of a former abusive relationship, mentions of suicide (it’s fucking dazai), happy ending.

Assistants were something he never cared for much.

They came and go, either requesting to work for a different department in the Port Mafia after witnessing his peculiarities or dying. He hadn’t ever formed any bonds with them. Hell, he hardly knew their names. Dazai preferred to give them childish nicknames such as ‘four-eyes’ for the ones with glasses or ‘baldy’ for the ones who had barely began balding.

No use in actually getting to know them.

All they were good for anyway was organizing his work and making a schedule of meetings and pointless missions he’d hardly follow. And what could they do? Nothing.

Once, he had attempted to get Ango to apply for the job during an outing at Bar Lupin, but that four-eyes declined. So did Oda. Geez, his friends lacked faith in him. Dazai wasn’t that bad of a boss. His subordinates didn’t die that often compared to the others.

Then again, his most recent assistant had died via overdosing. Straight from the Port Mafia’s warehouses, too. Dying of his own stupidity because karma struck him down. The high may have been sending him to the clouds, but he got too close to the sun just as Icarus did and burned—or in this case, vomited—to death. Fun.

A replacement would be needed, yes, but that would involve looking through so many applications and that was boring compared to strangling himself or pulling Chuuya’s hair when the redhead was speaking with Kouyou.

He’d pick irritating the slug over paperwork any day. At least one was fun.

So he just had Mori pick one out. As long as they wouldn’t be a nuisance and knew their place, he didn’t care who it was. Boy, girl, whatever. All ages welcomed. Dazai preferred younger though. The old farts were annoying and so utterly dumb! So when a subordinate gave him a file for his new assistant, he didn’t think anything of it. He always got those for record keeping.

Although this particular individual piqued his interest as his eyes gazed over the information attached.

The age was young—seventeen, same as him. A girl. According to the report, you were previously stationed as a secretary for some lower ranking member. And you’d just joined, too. Only a few blissful months ago. Just barely a baby in the crime world. All dewy-eyed and truly unknowing of the dark underbelly of Yokohama.

Most interesting, though, and the thing that struck his curiosity was the fact that a small sticky note was attached to the last page.

‘Single mother of eight month old girl’

There weren’t many parents in the Mafia, much less teenage ones. Nobody had time to have a baby with the lack of safety. But you did. Someone desperate enough to provide for their child to the point where they joined an illegal organization without even being an adult yet. That took will and selflessness. Something he lacked.

And without having even met you yet, Dazai found himself fascinated by you.

Murmuring your name to himself, he found himself a bit startled at how smooth it rolled off his tongue. He liked it, too. Your name was nice to say.

Tossing the file onto his desk carelessly, Dazai tapped his fingers on the desk, mind wandering once more. If you had a child then you’d probably work your best to support them. You’d be competent enough for him.

Apparently competent enough to the point where you felt like you could handle bringing the baby to the Mafia HQ.

“I don’t remember hiring two assistants.”

Dazai’s voice came out as slightly amused and startled. There you were, standing in-front of his desk while occasionally shushing your…daughter? It looked like a girl, anyway.

“Sorry- her sitter wasn’t available and I-“

His eyes stared at your reddening cheeks—embarrassment and shame, he could tell—as you spoke again.

“I don’t really have anyone to watch her. I’m so sorry, sir.”

Sir? You called him sir? That made him wave his hand a bit dismissively. The only people who called him ‘sir’ were the random grunts and gunmen that served under him. Or people who were scared shitless of him.

“Dazai. Not sir.”

Sitting up languidly, his uncovered eye focused on the baby. Curls of dark hair fell over her forehead while her tiny hands grabbed at your shirt and hair. Funny, he thought.

“And the baby can stay.”

She reminded him of some of the orphans Oda took care of. Especially Sakura. Maybe they had the same name, too. Unlikely, though. She didn’t look like a Sakura, really.

Picking up a pen, he pointed it at you, a small smile on her face.

“Speaking of, may I know her mother’s name?”

He knew it already. But it felt more right if he convinced himself you told him.

“Oh! Yes, uhm, I’m (L/N) (Y/N). And her name,” Tapping your baby’s forehead, she released a small coo, giggling slightly. “is (L/N) Yukirou.”

“Winter baby, huh. I’ll guess, December 16th?”

This was so much fun for him so far. Maybe Yukirou really could be his second assistant. As a joke, of course.

Nodding, you began to ramble on about the baby as he relaxed back in his chair, spinning around and making funny faces at Yukirou. The small child giggled and outreached her fingers to him, probably infatuated by his bandages and messy hair. He didn’t touch her, though. No need to let such a good small thing interact with a person like him.

And so minutes went by. Technically, he should’ve been doling out tasks and trying to kill himself again—he had heard of a technique where one could inject apple juice into their neck and die, but he wasn’t sure it’d work—but it slipped out of his grasp. Maybe it was the fact you two were so close in age. The fact that in another universe you could’ve been classmates fueled this moment. Dazai didn’t really know people his age other than Chuuya, but Chuuya was Chuuya. You were new.

New to everything in this line of business. The killing, the release of morals. Then again, you were just an assistant. You’d never directly be involved with that. Just helping him out with whatever was needed.

Dazai thought that was a smart choice, whether or not you intended for it to be. As an assistant, you’d be safe from the gunfire and outermost threats. More likely to live and protect your daughter.

So caring in a line of work where lives were dispensable.

He wondered how you got there. Not to the Port Mafia—the file told him. But how you took on such a frowned upon job to solely provide for your child. Was the father a deadbeat? Or actually dead? His father was the same. Dead five years into Dazai’s life.

His mother tried her best, but she died too and he slipped onto Mori’s grasp. Hopefully your baby wouldn’t end up in the same situation.

The peaceful moment was interrupted by one of his men who dropped off a load of documents, side-eyeing you before leaving.

Dazai wished you hadn’t turned the conversation back to work.

“Sir, sorry- Dazai-san, would you like me to organize the papers..?”

Why did he forget that you were just an assistant of his? The medication must be making his mind woozy again.

“By date and incident, yep. Also, if you see any that mentioned a Chuuya, please throw them out. Or burn them. Preferably the burning part.”

His office was always to be kept rid of that ginger.

“On it.”

And so he doodled a noose on the wood of his desk while you slowly put the papers away. It soon became clear to him that Yukirou was making the job a tad difficult by trying to grab at the papers.

A slight idea of letting her crawl loose in Mori’s office and destroying it entered his mind, but it quickly left.

“Y’know, if she’s being a devil, I can play with her for a bit. I swear I’ll be good!”

The words left him before he could really process them. Next thing he knew he was wearing the baby carrier with tiny fingers pulling at his shirt. Instructions poured from your lips as he nodded and patted the baby’s back.

“I’ll kill you if anything goes wrong.”

He couldn’t help but laugh at the sound of that. You? Kill him? Never going to happen. Unless it were a double suicide, but you probably wouldn’t say yes.

And he replied when the slight fear in your eyes registered after remembering that he was your boss in the Mafia.

“If course, cutie. I give you permission to kill me if theoretically anything goes wrong.”

Dazai made sure to sneak a peek at your reddening cheeks before leaving his office with the baby strapped to his chest and tugging at his bandages like a little snake.

That’s how it all started. A boy and a girl who happened to have a baby.

He’d never regret how months went by as you two became closer and closer. Joking around, complaining about work, all the stuff friends did. Hell, Dazai even watched Yukirou sometimes.

Thank god Chuuya wasn’t there to see him watching children’s cartoons on your couch with a baby in his lap and a stuffed animal in the other.

Or how he insisted on covering some of your rent when you were struggling. Yukirou needs a home, after all. He sees himself in her a bit. And he didn’t want her to turn out like him. If he couldn’t change his own life for the better, he’d change hers.

And yours.

Much better than that dickhead that fathered Yukirou. You told Dazai about it one night when he stayed over after babysitting once more. Yukirou was napping in her nursery, and you two were sitting on the couch just talking.

Talking turned into sharing details of your lives, and he came up. Your old flame who ditched you. Breaking a promise that he’d be there for the baby and you. Dazai was silent all throughout it. Quiet when you spoke of the emotional abuse and stress that you had, quiet when you began crying over the fact you never got to graduate high school.

He was just there, daring to awkwardly rub your back as you vented. He wondered if you had talked about it before. Probably not.

Dazai felt like he too needed to share a story of his childhood too in exchange for yours. So he told you about the poor neighborhood he grew up in and the horrors he saw daily.

Did it lessen the impact of your venting? Most likely, but in his opinion, he was trying to show you that he trusted you now too. He assumed it worked when you fell asleep on his shoulder. He took care of Yukirou when she woke crying an hour later. He would’ve been a much better father than that bastard.

It didn’t help either that Yukirou began to see him as her daddy. He was there when she turned a year old, gifting her all sorts of things. Scolding her when she nibbled on his hands. Doing nearly everything a dad would.

Even when she managed to say ‘mama’ and ‘dada’ for the first time, it was when all three of you were in the room together. In her tiny mind, it was her family. Her mama and Dazai—her papa. Oda congratulated him for becoming a father when you came along one day with him to Bar Lupin.

It didn’t live up to Chuuya’s reaction when he first heard one of his guys call Dazai a doting father. The shortstack had gone up to him asking if he really was Yukirou’s dad—rumors went around at HQ quickly—and Dazai had to sadly reply that he wasn’t. Sometimes he wished he was. Months of time with you led to nights in bed where he dreamed of a universe that he was really the dad. That Yukirou had his brown eyes instead of her dad’s blue ones.

It wasn’t fair.

Nor were his growing feelings.

Dazai was smart. A genius thinker and planner. So of course he noticed how his heart began to rapidly beat around you. The sweating of his usually cold hands.

He’d had crushes in the past, sure. But it didn’t equate to this. Such a strong connection only made it worse. Was it wrong his Google history lately was filled with questions about confessing to and dating a single mom?

Did you even like him back?

That question couldn’t be answered by anyone but you. It scared him. You probably didn’t. Not as more than a brother, anyway. His suicidal ideation and tendencies scared off any woman who wanted more than sex. But he probably wouldn’t be living long anyway. So he’d have to shoot his shot eventually.

Which he did after another five months of consideration and thought. Dazai committed this act by simply asking you to sort out some notes for him. A total of eight. Each one had a single word on it. If you correctly put them together, it spelled:

‘I like you. Do you like me back?’

Much to his relief and shock, you did. You did, and he had hugged you so tightly. Tightening their bond, too.

So he became your boyfriend. And he wore the title of ‘dad’ to Yukirou gladly. The little girl saw him as her papa, and he couldn’t deny it. Even if it wasn’t biologically, she was his. And yours.

Dazai’s life used to be mundane and slow, yet with his new…family, he felt genuine happiness for once. A reason to live.

That was the greatest gift he could receive of all.

Regular Tags: @twst-om-lover, @xxcandlelightxx, @sinfulthoughtsposts.

Tags for everyone who interacted with this post (it’s over 100): @walking-simp, @hypocritic-trash-baby, @heartsfourdazai, @cheriiyaya, @depressed-monarch, @nyxt0t, @baby-tini, @h0nk3rs, @internet-angell, @cupidszvlvr, @owosamu, @my-dear-melancholy, @dazaibae, @nekomafumafufan18-blog, @cvsmois, @lizsano, @nanamiinto, @inojuuy, @reomarys, @mayanakahara, @briiscoolig, @maislovebot, @syona-sachyo, @xieqq2, @angelof-darkness, @moriiko, @fuckthisfuckingshit, @daushu, @wrynue, @amnda-ft-fyodor, @rain-alucard, @hanayoshiii, @moemoekunn, @thatwasa, @miiiloo, @probablyzombiedinosaurs, @mauviese, @chips-and-vinegar, @https-dazai, @rragudoru, @leyla3x0, @cheetozai, @jillyfsh, @rylerboi, @linaaeatsfamilies, @zorizoras, @onlinewhisper14, @komicoral, @anim3-simps, @theoddsinner, @caayye, @scaramow, @such-a-silly-little-gy, @bunnybs-stuff, @psychiclovecollective, @sleepy-yumi516, @fromjas, @suzurans-world, @mrstengenuzui, @mitislm, @tealover111, @edgarallanpoeswifey, @baby-tini, @yaz4luvv, @deliciouscandysalad, @isrealityevenreal, @briefcreationcandy, @astr3eaa, @underscoredaniii, @nolongerhooman, @notalooo, @ratinawetsocksweater, @tomiroro,

Rest in comments I’m crying now also if your tag is white it’s because you didn’t pop up when I was doing the @‘s

[endo-bunny]

His Light in the Darkness

Summary: When Joel finds love ten years into the apocalypse and has a daughter with that woman two years later, he has to deal with the death of his beloved. He had to deal with a child that he doesn’t want, the child that took his whole world. That was, until a couple months after your birth. Now you will have to go with your father, Joel, and “The Cargo,” Ellie. As you go through this traumatizing yet exciting new adventure, you will have to learn a lot of things if you wish to survive in this world.

Paring: Joel x daughter!reader

Series Warnings:Mentions of violence, using both the game lore and show lore, Tess being a mother figure to reader, reader is eight years old, attempted SA, attempted kidnapping, kidnapping, slaves, death, dialogue and actions/scenes not being exactly the same or close to original, nicknames for reader(Little Light, honey, sweetie, baby girl), anxiety attacks, anxiety alluded to but not specified, symptoms of ptsd but not specified, reader is Joel's biological daughter, mother’s looks not specified, reader is a child so she will cry a lot (please don’t complain about this) this is normal for children

Chapter Warnings: Mentions of violence, using both the game lore and show lore, Tess being a mother figure to reader, reader is eight years old, panic attack

Word Count: 3,465

******

Chapter 1 - The Light at the End of the Tunnel

Winter 2015

Cries were what filled the room. A female that looked to be in her mid thirties was laid out on a worn down mattress. In her arms was a baby, the one that was producing those beautiful sounds. Her breaths were shallow, hands bloody as her eyes met those of her lover. There beside her was Joel. He stared lovingly at the woman, your mother. She taught him how to love again, and you were also someone that was going to help teach him how to love once more in the future. The woman had already known there was a chance of not surviving through childbirth. Hell, they were living in the fucking apocalypse. They didn’t have the same materials and medical help or equipment that they had twelve years ago.

She felt weak, she wasn’t gaining any strength back. She had children before the outbreak but upon outbreak day and thereafter, they had died in front of her eyes. That was one of the many things that the two lovers confided in and shared with each other. Her other births had been similar to this birth; but her other times were much different when it came to the time after giving birth. She wasn’t gaining any strength back like she usually would, she was only losing it. She could feel her heart that had previously been pounding in her chest slowly start to slow down to an alarmingly slow speed. Her breaths that had previously been easier to have were quickly becoming harder and harder to inhale.

With just one look, Joel knew what she was about to tell him. This couldn’t be happening. He couldn’t lose his lover; his light in the dark. Tears flooded his eyes, racing down his face shortly after. He choked out a sob. As carefully as he could, he gingerly held her in his arms. They stayed like that for hours, even after she had taken her final breath. She had been able to breastfeed their child with the help of Joel.

As he continued to lay there, your mother still in his arms, the door was quietly opened. Tess stepped in, grief upon her face at seeing Joel with his deceased lover. She walked over, getting close enough to touch Joel’s shoulder. His eyes snapped up to meet hers. This was the most vulnerability that Joel has ever shown Tess. She saw how much pain he was in, and she couldn’t do anything to help him. He muttered something to her after he calmed down a little.

“Take the baby, I don’t want the thing that took away the love of my life.”

She was shocked to say the least. She never thought that he would ever say anything such as that. He always seemed so happy when talk of the two’s unborn child was brought up. As Tess sighed, she lightly shook her head side to side, rejecting his request; or rather demand. She couldn’t do that. He looked angry, more than angry. He was extremely pissed to say the least. He snarled at her, even more so when she started to talk about burying your mother. The rest of it all was just a blur in his mind. He blocked everything else. He didn’t want to deal with anything else, especially you.

A couple months passed by, Joel hating every moment of it. On one surprisingly warmer day, his view towards you was swiftly changed. He had put you down on the couch, not fully caring if you fell or not. It didn’t feel like it was his responsibility. He was looking over everything that he would need for his and Tess’ next run. Something in him caused him to turn his gaze towards you. There you were, smiling over at him as if he was the greatest thing in the entire universe. In a sense, he was, to you.

Once you saw that his gaze had turned towards you, you erupted into a fit of adorable little giggles. He had never heard that beautiful sound come from your tiny body. The moment he heard it, he was immediately transported to the first time he heard that same noise come from Sarah.

Right then and there, he knew how disappointed and angry Sarah and your mother would have been at him. He was beyond ashamed of how he acted and treated you. You were his daughter, he was your father, he was supposed to love and protect you. He knew then that he needed to change the person that he was, but only for you. He wasn’t going to allow himself to be any different towards anyone else, he couldn’t trust anyone else in this newer world. As for now, for the first time since your mothers death, he picked you up lovingly and smiled.

“Hi, my Little Light. Daddy’s here now.”

******

Autumn 2023

Giggles erupted from you as you played with your toys; your fathers warning to not make any noise while he wasn’t there escaping your mind. All noises stopped however once you heard the front door open, close, and then voices. All you could hear was your fathers voice before you were sprinting out to him, jumping into his arms that weren’t ready to catch you.

“Daddy!”

He huffed, trying to keep you from falling out of his arms. He looked at you with love in his eyes, but he still had his mask up due to the fact that there was a teenage girl being present.The teenager looked surprised to see this man that has been nothing but cold and rude to her, be so loving and even have a child. You finally looked at her curiosity in your eyes.

“Who’s she Daddy?”

Joel cursed under his breath, “She’s no one, just some cargo,” He had hoped that you would simply just accept that she was there for a tiny bit and then just never bring her up ever.

The teen scoffed at him, “Hi there?” Her voice seemed on edge, “I’m Ellie, the cargo.”

You giggled at her, finding the new girl funny.

“Go and stay in your room baby girl, I’m gonna stay out here, ok?”

You nodded your head, perfectly fine with going back to playing with your toys.

Thirty minutes passed, Ellie snooping through Joel's stuff the entire time. She froze though when she heard a door down the hall open. You padded down the hall, trying to be as stealthy as possible, failing however seeing as you are just eight years old and not fully aware of your surroundings. Once you reached the living room, you jumped. Looking around you saw Ellie looking at you. She also jumped, not expecting your reaction. Seeing her jump causes you to giggle, and while she is weary of you, she does find it a little cute.

“What are you doing? Didn’t the old man tell you to stay back there?”

She honestly didn’t fully care what you were doing but she was still at least a little curious.

You stared at her while your child brain worked to try and think of something, “Nothing?”

Before she could say anything else, you ran over to her. You came up to about her waist, a little lower. You’ve heard Joel and Tess talk about how you’re small for your age. They summed it up to being that you weren’t getting the right nutrients and needed to eat a little more vegetables and meat.

“Why did Daddy say that you’re cargo?”

“‘Cause he’s taking me somewhere,” She sounded grumpy and slightly irritated.

“Who are you?” Ellie was quick to ask you a question of her own.

Telling her your name, you looked down at what she was holding

In her hands were dog tags. You looked back up towards her with a perplexed gaze set in your eyes. She looked down at her hands, having completely forgotten that she was holding them.

“Oh, those are mine.”

“Are you a Firefly?”

Your question caught her really off guard. She had no idea that someone who seems as young as you would know anything about the Firefly’s.

“Uh, no, but someone that I loved was.”

You know by the tone in her voice and the look in her eyes that it was time to shut up. You walked over to your father and sat down on the ground. She watched you before returning to whatever she had been doing. You zoned her out as you found some of the crayons that you had left on the coffee table. Joel had found that he could melt down some of the broken crayons and make new ones.

You made multiple drawings, knowing that all of them would end up on something in the apartment. You looked up once you zoned back into reality. It was dark out and Joel was still asleep. Giggling quietly to yourself, you climbed onto the couch and hopped onto his chest. He jumped awake. Both from you and the nightmare that he had.

“Did you know that you talk in your sleep?”

Ellie was looking at something in your hands. Your dad picked you up and sat you down on the couch. As he sat up, he started to say but you found the fraying threads of the couch much more interesting. Although it became much less intriguing once you heard a certain someone’s voice. Tess walked in through the door, saying something to Joel and Ellie. You looked up at her, quickly getting up to go to her.

“Mama!” You somewhat calmly walked over to her, unlike how you did earlier to Joel.

She greeted you and then looked at Joel.

“Can I talk to you in the other room?”

He looked hesitant towards you before nodding, going to his room. Ellie looked at you curiously, as well as you. Once the door closed, you both turned your gazes to each other.

“So, was that your mom?”

“Not really, I just call her Mama. Daddy told me that my real mama was in a better place and that I would never be able to see her again, but that she loved me. What about you?”

“Yeah, same I guess.”

You smile brightly at the older girl. Right once you opened your mouth, beginning to say something, Tess and Joel walked back in. Joel is quick to pick you up and get you away from Ellie. As you got comfy in his large arms, resting your head against his warm chest, your eyes dropped shut.

The next time that you open your eyes, you’re strapped to your fathers chest. As you start to wake up, you realize that you're not in your home anymore. Were you outside? There weren’t any normal buildings around. Your question was soon answered when you heard guards talking. You were immediately thrown into a frenzy when someone started yelling at your group.

The next thing you know, your father is taking you out of the holder and setting you down directly next to him. Tears were streaming down your face as you frantically grasp onto his pants leg. Everyone’s kneeling and the guard is saying something. Everything happens so fast, your dad is suddenly beating the guard, Tess is grabbing the tester, and Ellie moves in front of you.

You're still crying as all the commotion settles down. You look up at Ellie, who is now sitting next to you with a panicked look on her now dirtier face. She was also looking up. As you reach out for her, wanting to be held to help calm you down, Tess is quick to step in.

“Get away from her.”

You look alarmed, confused why you couldn’t be near her. As you try to understand what's going on, Joel quickly scoops you up, getting away from Ellie just as fast. Tess has something in her hand that you can’t see very well. Tears are still falling from your now red and puffy eyes as your dad curses in frustration.

“Why are you so mad at her, Daddy?” Your small hands grasped onto his shirt, tugging slightly.

Everyone stopped at the sound of your small voice, realization that you were with them sinking into Joel and Tess’ minds. The reality of this situation was making itself loud and clear. Your question goes unanswered as the talking continues on. You were scared, you didn’t know what was going on and everything was terrifying. You just wanted to be at home, safe and sound, being held tightly under a blanket in your fathers arms.

Your breathing starts to quicken as it feels like you're losing control over your own body. Fresh tears sprout from your eyes and your heart is pounding in your ears. Were you dying? You didn’t want to die like this, not now. It felt like you couldn’t breathe. You weakly clutch at your chest as your throat closes up, small whimpers leaving the confines of your overworked lungs. Your tiny body was trembling, beginning to feel very hot in your own skin. Sweat collected on your forehead. Joel noticed very quickly what was happening.

“Hey, baby girl, breathe. You're okay. Look at me baby,” His hand guided your face to look towards him.

He talked you through it, although a lot of it sounded like you were underwater. Once you finally were back, panic attack taken care of to the best of their abilities, you noticed that it seemed like the problem from earlier was completely taken care of. You couldn’t tell when it was taken care of but it was.

Joel seemed to be in a bitterer mood than he was earlier. You stayed quiet, opting to just look around at everything since you had nothing else to do except sit there attached to your fathers chest. As you continued to walk, going somewhere but you didn’t know where, you finally arrived at a new area. It seemed to be a very rocky place. You couldn’t tell if it was a building or not, but it looked similar to one.

You father was the first to go in, holding you tight against his chest despite the fact that you were already tightly strapped to his chest. He looked around a little, making sure that the coast was clear, before telling Tess and Ellie to come in. They soon follow in after him, Tess’ immediate move is to look at you then around the place. As the four of you make your way through the building, the air seems to get tenser, as if something bad was about to happen. That feeling was proven right when Joel and you split up from Tess and Ellie. Your head was covered by the strap, Joel having done that the moment he sensed danger. You could barely move around, all you could do was listen to what was going on around you. You heard growling and your dad grunting every so often. At one point, you get jostled around a little more than normal, a muffled cry coming from your mouth. Joel is quick to put his hand on your back before taking his hand away. You hear a struggle going on before your father and Tess’ voices once again.

As your father uncovers your head, you can finally see once more. There's bodies of the infected all around, and your father is breathing heavily. You don’t get to look around much more before Joel is quickly walking again, trying to get this whole thing done and over with as fast as possible. You’re confused as to what was happening, and it seemed that Ellie seemed to be as well. The two adults however ignored your confused and concerned faces as the supposedly short journey continued on.

******

The trip was much more boring than you had expected. You were finally arriving at the building where Ellie was supposed to be dropped off at, but it seemed to be a little quiet. Joel went into protect mode almost immediately once he realized that something wasn’t right.

As he cautiously looked around, he found that everyone that should've been there was dead. He covered your eyes so that you wouldn’t have to see all of it, trying to keep you safe from the horrors of this world as much as he could. As everyone is looking around, Tess starts talking about where to go next.

“What the hell do you mean? The jobs finished, it’s time to go home,” Joel's ruff voice cuts Tess off mid sentence.

“I mean that I can’t go home,” Tess’ usually strong voice wavers as her eyes land on you.

Ellie gasps, understanding what the older woman meant. Tess pulled the neck of her shirt down to reveal a horrible looking bite. Joel didn’t know how to react, he didn’t want to believe that Tess was bitten. You didn’t understand what was going on, so you tried tugging on your fathers shirt in order to get his attention. He didn’t even look at you, just put his hand on your back.

“You have to get her to Tommy,” Tess goes over to Ellie and grips her arm, showing Joel the bite mark that Ellie had shown them earlier, “She has to be telling the truth. Look at this, this is only a few hours old and it’s already horrible,” She pulls down her own shirt collar once again while talking to further prove her point. Before Joel could respond, groaning and screeching could be heard outside. Tess rushed over to one of the boarded up windows, looking out of it to see outside.

“Get out of here, there's a hoard of those fuckers coming here,” Tess began rustling through her bag, looking for specific items.

She pulled a small object out of a little, purple bag that seemed to still be in good condition. Joel’s breath hitched the moment he realized what the bag was. Tess walked over to you, the small object and bag in her hands.

“Sweetheart, I may not be your real mother but I love you like you're my blood daughter. I’m going to have to go away for a very long time and I want you to have these,” She put the small object in your hand, “Look after your father for me, you’re His Light in the Darkness.”

As you looked at it, you saw that it was a locket. You opened it with confusion, having a little difficulty. Inside the locket were two pictures. One was a picture of your mother, father and Tess all together. Your mother was holding the camera, her arm outstretched as she smiled brightly at the camera. Joel was hugging her, a wide smile outstretched on his face as he looked at her, ignoring the camera. Tess had her hand on her gun, seeming to be on alert, but she still had a warm smile on as she stared at the camera. The second picture was one of your father and mother. Joel had his arm around your mother as she had both of hers on his chest, seeming to be laughing at something. They were in a room that looked similar to the room that your father slept in now, but some of the furniture wasn’t as it was now.

“Daddy look! It’s Mommy!” Your excited voice came out a little too loud as the sounds of groaning and clicking came closer.

Everyone else's eyes went wide upon hearing what was waiting for them outside. Tess quickly began pouring gasoline all over everything in the room, trying to make sure that everything was covered.

“Joel go! Get them out of here, take the girl to Tommy. I’ll lure them in here, then take the building with me,” Her eyes were filled to the brim with tears as she looked at the little girl that she helped raise, knowing that she'd be leaving her.

“Mama? What's happening?”

She couldn't bring herself to tell you. She walked over and kissed the top of your head before handing Joel her backpack. She gave him a silent look before Joel grabbed Ellie to leave. You were crying now, not understanding what was happening and not wanting to leave Tess. Noises could be heard behind you as Joel quickly got out of the building despite Ellies struggles to get out of his grip.

All of a sudden, a loud boom came from behind the three of you. The building exploded. You continued to cry, the commotion overwhelming you. Joel did his best to consol you with what little energy that he had left. As you started to get brought back down to earth, your eyes became increasingly heavier by the second. Joel covered your head as you laid it on his chest, sleep beginning to take you after the exhausting day.

******

Tag list:

@fakegingerrights

@silnebula

I really hope that you liked this! It took a lot of energy for me to actually make this because I've been really procrastinating. I'm currently also working on my other Tech x Reader series but I have no idea when that will be. I'm also working on chapter two for this one. I might also do some romantic one shots for Joel because I love him so much.

@macchiato-dreaming22

[imtryingbuck]

Forty

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x fem!Reader

Summary: Bucky comes from a well respected family, he falls in love with a girl who prefers the simple things in life. Follow their journey through the years.

Word count: 3,748

Warnings: angst, heavy use of pet names. fluff. swearing. death. mentions of domestic abuse and child abuse.

A/N: No description of reader other than she has curly hair.

Masterlist   Series Masterlist

When she was released from the hospital, Jamie was a month old. She was released two days before Georgias fifth birthday which made the little girl happy, she finally had her mommy back at home with her.

Her birthday party was magical, Y/n was a tiny little bit jealous if she was honest. The bouncy castle, the face painting station that Wanda was manning, the fairy lights set up all around the backyard that Bucky and Sam put up. There was even a costume station for all the kids to play dress up that Nat had brought with her. It was something that she would have loved when she was younger.

Georgia made Y/n put on fairy wings so they could be fairies together, she tried to put on a pirate hat on her baby brother but because it was too big for his tiny head it kept falling off making the five year old giggle.

All the children that came enjoyed it, so did some of the parents.

Georgia had truly been spoiled.

Three months after Jamie turned two years old they were at George’s and Winnie’s house having Sunday dinner, Jamie was in his granddads arms giggling to the funny voices George was talking to him in when all of a sudden George handed Winnie their grandson and started to clutch his chest.

By the time the ambulance arrived it was too late.

George had died of a heart attack.

The turn out to his funeral was huge, family friends and strangers had gathered to celebrate the life of the greatest man anyone had the pleasure of meeting.

Y/n held Bucky late at night when he cried. Her tears dropping on his fluffy hair as she did.

George Barnes was an incredible husband, father, grandfather and friend to all. He was deeply missed.

Then tragedy struck again, a year later on the very date of George’s passing. Winnie took her last breath.

It was Y/n who had found her, the family arrived at the house to have dinner and to release balloons for George. Bucky had let them all in with his key finding it odd that his ma wasn’t already waiting for them. Y/n said she would check upstairs, she knocked on the door to the spare bedroom that Winnie had moved into, not wanting to sleep in the same bed she shared with her husband. Getting no response she opened the door but found the bed empty, still till this day she doesn’t know why but she went to the master bedroom and that’s where she found her surrogate mom, her mother in law.

Winnie had passed away in her sleep.

Bucky struggled with the death of his ma, he snapped at everyone, pushed his wife, children and friends away. And at first Y/n allowed it as he was grieving but when he shouted at Jamie when he tried to show his dad the drawing he had made, making the three year old cry and stumble backwards. That was it. She snapped at Bucky, she told him she knew what he was going through but there was no need to make their son cry which had Bucky shouting that Maria wasn’t even her real mom, as soon as those words left his mouth he slammed his lips shut. Regret already evident in his eyes, an apology on the tip of his tongue but it was too late. She told him to get out of the house.

Both of them thought that because this was their first serious argument that they were going to have to get divorce. A thought that terrified the both.

Y/n never knew how to ride a horse before until she was twenty eight, Bucky paid for horse riding lessons which were… amusing to everyone other than Y/n. She lost count of how many times she fell off the god damn animal, or how many times Lolly the mare just wouldn’t listen to her commands finding eating the grass more better than listening to the woman sat on her back.

Bucky kept his promise that he made when he was just eleven years old. He proudly brought her a horse that she named Squid. Squid was gorgeous in every sense of the word truly he was.

*eight years ago*

“Bun can you remember what you asked Santa to get you for Christmas when you was eleven?”

“Of course. I asked for a pony, told him I didn’t care what colour or gender it was and I promised I’d look after it forever but I told you after that I wanted a horsey instead, why?”

Chuckling as she remembered exactly what she wrote down on her Christmas list he took her hand and walked down the street, ignoring her questions about what was happening. “I promised you that I would get you a pony, didn’t I? Well go over to that stable and meet your new friend” Bucky gestured to where a woman was standing smiling.

Giving her a slight push when she wouldn’t move, her eyes wide and head turning to face the woman and back to Bucky. With his gentle push she walked over to where the woman stood. Inside the stable laid a gorgeous brown and white spotted body of a pony.

“You didn’t? Ducky! Yo-you got me a pony?” She cried not taking her eyes off her fury new friend.

“Well it’s not a pony but a horse because I knew you wanted one instead, but I can always get you a po-“ Bucky get cut off when Y/n jumps into his arms and starts kissing him all over his face.

“I love it! I love you! Thank you Ducky”

*present time*

Eight years later Squid and his wife Penelope - another horse Bucky brought her and yes Y/n married them - were in their stable together as Penelope was giving birth. “Ducky! Ducky quick it’s happening!”

“Bunny baby I don’t want to see it!”

“Don’t be rude come on, oh-it’s-oh that’s a bit gross-I mean it’s beautiful Duck” Bucky stood on the other side of the stable wall rolling his eyes as Y/n gags yet trying to tell him what was happening was beautiful.

A few minutes later Y/n came out of the stable with tears in her eyes. Bucky’s heart dropped thinking something was wrong. “It’s a girl Duck, a beautiful baby girl”

“What are you naming her?” Bucky asked wrapping his arms around his wife looking at mom and dad cleaning their baby up.

“Would you be mad if I named her Duck?”

“After me?”

“Well yeah, you were the one that said Loopy was pregnant in the first place so…would you?”

“Not at all crazy woman”

Watching the love of his life excited to meet the foal Bucky knew that he had done amazing when he surprised her all those years ago with Squid.

Y/n didn’t think that she would be nearing forty years old with two one year olds, a five year old and a ten year old but that’s what she was doing.

She found out she was pregnant once again and because she was older she was more nervous about the pregnancy than she was when she was pregnant with Georgia.

When the nurse told them that there was two heart beats Bucky was ecstatic, of course he was he wasn’t the one that was going to be giving birth to them.

Two healthy baby boys were born three days before Y/n’s birthday.

Stevie Thomas Barnes and Sammy William Barnes.

Steve and Sam burst out crying when they heard the names of their nephews.

“Bunny?”

“In the twins room”

Hearing the heavy footsteps bounding up the stairs she watched the boys as they slept. Smiling when she felt Bucky’s arms wrap themselves around her waist.

“You being a perv again?” Bucky asked her as he placed a kiss to her temple.

“Obviously. Are the kids with Tony?”

“Yeah, you should have seen Jamie when he saw Peter. He ran straight over to him and his girlfriend and jumped straight on Peters head”

Laughing at the image of her five year old jumping on his cousins head “He is his favourite cousin, you know this”

Peter was a teenager that Tony had saved from the streets, he and Pepper found out that the boy didn’t have any family left after his aunt had passed away. They adopted him which Peter was happy and shocked about. He was such a lovely kid, perfect with the kids especially Jamie.

“Little man’s never subtle with letting everyone know who’s his favourite is, is he?”

“Nope never”

“So…are you ready to be turning forty?”

He knew for a fact she wasn’t.

“Forty? Don’t you mean thirty?”

“Nope Bunny you’re getting so old no-ow-your old now-ow Bun, baby stop elbowing me”

“Stop calling me old then”

“But it’s the tru-“

“Your forty one so shut up”

“I know” he sighs dramatically “I’m so old, I think you need to change my dipper”

“Your an idiot”

“Ah yes but I’m your idiot.”

Nodding at his statement they left the sleeping babies alone.

Y/n knew that Bucky had been up to something for months but couldn’t quite figure out what it was. His office doors were locked which was something that he had never done before.

He would get phone calls and always took them outside, at first she thought he was having an affair but shook that idea away out of her mind. She trusted him with her life.

On the day of her birthday she woke up to Georgia and Jamie bouncing on her bed screaming ‘happy birthday’. Bucky handed her the twins as she sat up and left the room with Georgia, coming back five minutes later Bucky holding a tray containing her breakfast and a fresh hot cup of tea, and Georgia dragging in a big bag behind her before she let go of the handles and ran back out, when she returned she had five huge bouquet of flowers in her arms.

“Happy birthday mommy these are for you” Georgia shoved all the flowers into Y/n’s face.

“One from each of our little rugrats and one from your very handsome Ducky” Bucky told her as he set the vases out, already filled with water. She didn’t even notice that they were there.

“Thank you my precious babies and thank you my very handsome Ducky” giving him a kiss both Georgia and Jamie saying ‘ew’ in the background.

The second she finished her last bite of food Georgia was putting presents in her hands. Each present she loved, they were all from her children.

Only one present from Bucky. A gorgeous diamond necklace.

After the presents were opened and the wrapping paper was binned she was told that she needed to have a shower and get dressed, Bucky told her that they had a day planned for her.

Three hours later cleaned and dressed Y/n went down the stairs finding it suspicious that it was noticeably quiet.

“Duck?”

“Living room my love”

“Where are the kids?”

“Nat and Bruce came to kidnap them. Have I ever told you how much I love you?”

“Daily” she smiled. Bucky took her hands in his and started dancing with her. “There’s no music Buck”

“Never needed music to dance with you my love, god I truly am the luckiest man in the world to have you in my arms. And I swear you get more and more beautiful as time goes on”

“Until you see the scars and stretch marks and I’m hid-“

“Don’t even think about finishing that word Bun I swear to god!” His voice dropped low, hating how she thinks that about herself when he’s always found her beautiful inside and out, scars and stretch marks, his wife, his Bunny was the most prettiest woman in the world. “Baby you are stunning”

“I love you James Buchanan Barnes more and more everyday”

“And I love you Y/n M/n Barnes more and more everyday”

Kissing each other passionately and deeply as they continued to dance together it was Bucky who pulled away first. “Come on my Bunny we’ve got places to be”

“Where are we going?”

“That my secret that you have to try and find out”

Bucky helped Y/n in to the car once she was settled in he got himself situated behind the wheel, he pulled out of the driveway once the gate opened the moment he was on the road he took her hand in his. Just like always.

The familiar street of where George and Winnie’s former home sits came into view, Y/n looked over at Bucky noticing that he had a small smile on his face. Her heart ached when she saw a moving van parked in the driveway of her parents in laws home, Bucky and Rebecca had decided to sell their childhood home, their way of moving on and they knew that their parents would have wanted a new family to make happy memories just as they did.

The new owners were husband and wife with two children, a boy and a girl.

“Buck?”

“Hold on pretty girl”

He drove up the same side road that he took her up on their first date. However it was a lot different now that the very large piece of land had the trees cut down by the state, they had plans to build on the land but with the lack of funding it never happened.

If she squinted in the distance she could see the ruined remains of her childhood home.

“Ducky this is private property…”

“I know, but I won’t tell if you don’t” she rolls her eyes as he winks, he notices and laughs.

“But we’re going to get into trou-“ the words die on her tongue when she sees balloons, tables and her family standing there with huge smiles on their faces.

“Happy birthday my love”

“Du-Ducky this is…”

Getting out of the car shakily with the help from Bucky she laughs when Georgia and Jamie along with her nieces and nephews come running over screaming ‘surprise’.

“Happy birthday angel” Howard says giving her a hug and a kiss on her cheek.

Everyone wishes her a happy birthday, presents were opened and she thanked every single one of them, protesting when she opened checks containing quite a substantial amount of money, they just smiled at her.

Nat handed Sammy over to his uncle Sam and ran over to her car with Bruce returning with a huge cake. Y/n laughed when she saw the candles. Thirty.

They sang happy birthday with the children running around clapping and cheering when she blew the candles out. Music started playing and everyone started dancing, laughing at each other’s dance moves. Y/n was dancing along with Nat, Wanda and Peggy gasping loudly and grabbing Wanda’s arm when she saw Billy dancing with Georgia, her shy little Billiam leant in and kissed Georgia on her cheek. Both of them blushing violently.

“Oh. My. God. Y/n it’s happening!” Wanda squealed as quiet as she could.

“I can’t believe he ran off afterwards” Y/n laughed.

“That’s what Vis did after he kissed me for the first time” Wanda shrugged.

A few minutes later Y/n went off to find Billy, finding him kicking a stone near the pond. Sneaking up on him she made him scream.

“Auntie Y/n!”

“Gotcha monkey”

“You scared me”

“I would say sorry if I was but I’m not so” sticking her tongue out at him after he does it first.

Billy sat down and looked up at his favourite aunt, patting the ground next to him Y/n made him laugh as she bowed to him. He always thought she was weird but that was just his auntie and he loved her.

“What brings you over here Billy Bob?”

“It’s nice over here. I like it”

“Can I let you in on a little secret?” Nodding excitedly at the prospect of being in on a secret he watched her pick up a twig off the ground and start to drag it through the dried mud.

“I use to come here all the time when I was a kid, it was my safe haven”

“Really?”

“Yeah” smiling at the memories of spending the majority of her childhood at that very same spot. “I met uncle Bucky in the woods when I was six and I brought him here to this very pond”

“Did you live in the woods?”

Laughing she shook her head “no, I-I use to live over there” she points in the direction of her former home.

“Why did you come here? Wasn’t your parents worried? Mom and dad always gets worried when I go down to the lake near home”

“That’s just because they care about you Bill, they worry incase you get hurt and they aren’t there to help you”

Billy wasn’t stupid, he knew she had avoided his questions so he asked again.

“Well…my real father was very mean and my mama was always working, she never knew that I came here”

“Why was he mean?”

“I don’t know, I always wondered that too”

“D-did he hurt you?”

“He did, badly” his eyes went down to his hands and started to twist his fingers, she noticed straight away. “Billy look at me, come on let me see that handsome face of yours-there it is-I’m okay now, grandad George and Howard and grandma Winnie and Maria saved me. And I’ve never been hurt since”

“B-but why would he hurt you? You was a child like me and my mom and dad don’t hurt me, you and uncle Bucky don’t hurt Georgia or Jamie or the twins so why did he do it to you? It’s not fair”

Her heart squeezed at the fact that an eleven year old could tell that it wasn’t fair for a child to be subjected to abuse by a parent. Like he said she was a child just like he was and he couldn’t understand why it happened. Neither did she.

“Because some people can be very mean and can’t tell the difference between right and wrong, your mom and dad are good people Billy and they would never hurt you because they love you so so so much. And for Bucky and I, we couldn’t never hurt our children no matter what because we love them.“

“I’m not mean am I?”

“You? Oh god no Billiam, you are the sweetest person I have ever had the pleasure of knowing”

“I’m scary though”

“Oh the scariest!” Laughing with him when they both knew what they had just said was a lie.

“Auntie Y/n c-can I tell you something?”

“Of course you can monkey”

“I-I-I kissed Georgia”

“You did?”

“Yes on her cheek” he confessed, smiling shyly.

“Do you like Georgia?”

“I do, she’s so pretty”

“She is isn’t she?”

“Yeah. D-do you think she l-likes me back?”

“I’m not sure monkey, she’d be stupid if she didn’t”

“Bunny? Ah I found you. You kidnap my wife Billy?”

“I guess”

Laughing at his reply Billy stood up and held his hand out for Y/n to help her stand. Ever the little gentleman.

“Come on Bun, we’ve got one more present for you. Come on Bill” Hand in hand with his wife and godson he leads them to where everyone was waiting. “So Bun, your last present comes from both me and your dad”

Howard steps forward leaning heavily on his walking cane in one hand and in the other hand was an envelope. Handing it to his daughter he smiled. “Open it angel”

Doing as her dad told her to do she opened the envelope and pulled out the papers now in her hand. Furrowing her eyebrows in confusion she looks up at Bucky and Howard.

“I-wha-I don’t get it…”

“Me and your dad brought the land-“

“No I get that but why?”

“You remember a few years back when we was talking and you said that you’ve been wanting to open up a safe haven for women who suffer from domestic abuse and children who are abused?”

“Yeah…it was-wait do you remember that?”

“Of course I do Bun. When we heard that this area was being destroyed to build houses which obviously never happened, I told your dad about your dream. So we brought the land. We already have builders and contractors at the ready, they’re just waiting on you to give the go ahead”

“I-I-really?”

“Yes angel, everyone’s been working secretly for three years-“

“Three frigging years!”

“Yes” Howard laughs “been getting things that you’re going to need, furniture, clothes, things that will be needed”

“Three years?” Everyone laughs as she asks how long again, they’d been keeping a huge secret from her for so long and she didn’t even know.

“So…Bunny what do you say? Are you going to give the go ahead on creating a safe haven for women and children?”

“Yes! Frigging sugarplum yes!”

Even at forty years old she still refuses to swear.

“Buck they don’t have any floor plans and they don’t know what I want and they-oh my god it’s not going to work Ducky! Money…do we have enough money to do this whilst having four children and a house and what about materials? We don’t have-“

“Bunny calm down! Baby look at me, everything is fine. I found your drawings on how you wanted it to look, if you want to change it that’s okay as they’ve got to do the ground first. And knock down the hous-“

“I want to do that. Please Ducky”

“Then it’s done”

“Really? And money and materials Bucky it’s not going to work”

“Really. Y/n it is. We have enough money, more than enough and all the materials are already ready to be used. It’s going to work baby I promise”

For the past five years Bucky watched as his wife’s spark lessened as the months went by, it crushed him. If having to lie in bed next to the greatest love of his life listening to her ramble about the plans she has and showing him her designs at five past one in the morning than that’s what he’s going to do and do it with a smile on his face. For the first time in five years his Bunny has that spark back in her eyes, the very same he fell in love with all those years ago.

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[vivwritesfics]

Love cowboy Rooster so I have idea,

Rooster and reader taking a trail ride (with others horses if you want) to a lake to have a picnic date while the horses are going crazy in the water :)

Also I love how you did a mixture of both the ideas, I loved it 🥹

-🐎

in my multipart baby of a bob cowboy fic the callsigns are nicknames they got from the rodeo -- same applies here

Bradley would never get sick of the sight of this. Of her in the barn, wearing a sundress and his fucking Stetson. All she was doing was leaning against a stable door, feeding Goose a sugar cube.

(Goose was Bradley's dad's horse. They'd gotten him at two years old from auction just months before Nick Bradshaw sadly passed. Bradley had kept Goose going for the better part of twenty eight years. He was too old to ride now, and nobody loved him more than Bradley's girlfriend).

Bradley couldn't stop himself from sliding his arm around her shoulders and pulling her in for a kiss. "Ready to go?"

"Let me say goodbye to Goose," she said and pulled the Stetson from her head to place it on his own.

The way Bradley watched her, it could only be described as having hearts for eyes. He watched as she held Goose's nose and lifted it, giving the little pink patch on his nose a kiss. "We'll be back soon, buddy," she said as his nose came to rest on her shoulder.

"C'mon," Bradley said and gently pulled her away. If he had any competition in this world, it was Goose.

Bradley helped her get into Bo's saddle. He didn't have to help her, but he always liked to. As soon as her feet her in the stirrups and she had leaned down to kiss him, he moved on, easily swinging himself up into Rusty's saddle.

They set off, riding side by side away from the Bradshaw ranch. It had been his parents before his. When his father died, Pete Mitchell (who had earnt the nickname from the rodeo) stepped up for a few years. Bradley couldn't remember when Pete left, he didn't even remember him being there. But Bradley had been the man of the house for damn near twenty years.

When his mother died, he was all alone on the ranch. Well, until she came along.

She, who brought that sparkle of light back into his life. She, who Bradley loved with everything that he had. She rode beside him, barely holding onto Bo. She didn't need to, not when he would loyally follow Rusty.

When they got to the lake, there was a series of whoops and hollers. Bradley jumped down from Rusty first. He knew she didn't need help getting out of Bo's saddle; he just liked standing behind her, pulling her against him for a brief second.

"Nice hat!" Jake 'Hangman' Seresin called towards her.

There was a time where she would have been so embarrassed that she rushed to place the hat back onto Bradley's head, but she just grinned at Jake. "Thanks," she said, tongue poking between her teeth as Bradley tied the horses up. "Stole it."

Jake rolled his eyes, but there was no malice behind it. She took her seat beside Bob, gratefully accepting the water he offered her. It wasn't often the squad got to do things like this. Jake and Natasha were both on the rodeo circuit and Bob, Javi, Mickey and Reuben all worked on ranches in the area.

Bradley sat down beside her and immediately pulled her closer, planting a kiss to her cheek.

"Are we gonna see you on the circuit this year, Bradshaw?" Nat asked from where she laid in the sun, her own hat covering her head.

Although Bradley (Or Rooster, as they called him on the circuit) was born and raised for the rodeo, he gave it up. Once his mom died and he was alone running the ranch, he just couldn't. There was far too much to do. Besides, he didn't miss the buckle bunny's begging for him to take them back to his Bronco.

"Yeah, Bradshaw," his girl said, but it didn't take him by surprise. She loved watching him do what he did best.

He finally took the hat from her head and placed it on her own. "You want to watch, pretty girl?" He asked, his mouth close to hers. They kissed and, well, a little more, only pulling away when they heard the group of late twenties/thirty year olds shouting 'ew!'

[lethalchiralium]

the continuation of the uncanon lore that no one asked for:

“What’s that?”

Winnie pointed to your necklace, the eight year old was curious.

“Oh, baby, this is a necklace.” You smiled warmly at your daughter, letting her crawl into your lap to examine the gold necklace.

“Oh. What’s this?” Her little fingers pushed the heart into your skin, you pressed a kiss to her close forehead.

“Baby, you know how I told you that Daddy’s always with me?”

She nodded, moving back so she could see your face. “Yeah, First Dad.”

“Very good. This is… I wear this ‘cause it’s a locket. Do you know what a locket is?”

Your daughter shook her head.

“Well, a locket opens and holds two pictures.”

“Can I open it?”

“No, baby. It’s holding something very very special, so I made sure it won’t come open again.”

“Oh.” She mumbled. “Is Daddy in there?”

“Yes he is.”

Winnie poked the locket and whispered, “Hi First Dad.”

You kissed the girl’s head, she then scurried off of the couch, much more interested in something different. You watched her go, only for someone to sit beside you.

“What’s in the locket?” John Price asked you, exhaustion laced his voice. “You never told me.”

“It’s stupid.”

“No, it’s not.” John’s hand reached for yours, you instantly let him take it. “If it’s a part of him, it’ll never be stupid.”

“Well… You know my box.”

“Yeah, all the first haircuts, first outfits, and the feet prints for each kid.”

“We were at the viewing, and I was left alone with him…” Tears pricked at your eyes. “I cut a little piece of his hair off and I put it in here.”

You didn’t even need to look to know that John was fighting back tears, his tight grip on your hand said it all.

“He was cremated, why didn’t you want his ashes?”

With tears running down your face, you looked to John Price - your husband. You may not love him, you may have married him to keep your family in their house, to keep yourself afloat against the current, but that didn’t mean you didn’t care for him. It’s been almost two years since Simon had died, 18 months since you had his last baby in the hospital without him; the man Simon made promise to take care of you and your children had stayed, just like he had promised. And he made his place in your home, in your heart but he would never dare try to fill the shoes left by the front door. He wouldn’t dare try and tear a place in your heart because no matter what, you are Simon Riley’s wife; his widow.

Your hand squeezed John’s, the light of the lamp in the room made your engagement ring twinkle right above your two wedding rings. If you closed your eyes, you could pretend John was Simon - but it’s impossible when your heart knows the truth. You sadly smiled to John,

“I don’t want to forget how his hair looked in the light.”

[my-great-big-book-of-fan-fiction]

The Taming of Man: chapter eight - Dragon Shifting!Katsuki Bakugou x F!reader

Hey, so I know this took a little longer, but I hit a wall, lol. Hope you enjoy this chapter, let me know your thoughts!

Words: 2,753

This is incredibly based on the song The Willow Maid by Erutan, I highly recommend giving it a listen for the best experience.

Warnings: Cursing, reader is She/Her and will be AFAB in later chapters, angst, reader faces verbal/emotional abuse from her mother, Mitsuki is kind of ooc

"So...Uh, what is this about," you asked, trying to keep your tone nonchalant, your back turned to your mother, the queen of the Faerie people. She had requested to play with your hair, like she used to do when you were a little girl, a serene smile on her face as she began to give you an English braid.

"Well, I have some news for you," she said sweetly. You let out a silent sigh of relief, you were worried she found out about your adventures outside, with a Dragonborne no less. She began to hum mindlessly to herself, that same song you had heard so many times over.

"What...is it," you gently prompted, to which she perked up a little. "Ah, right...well, as you know, I've gone and visited each and every duke you met all those weeks ago, quite a large task mind you, and you won't believe what happened!"

Judging from her tone, you knew what she was going to say. It made your insides feel hollow, the anxiety and anticipation for her next words. "Do tell," you said cheerily. She wouldn't like it if you sounded nervous.

"The duke of Silverstone has offered an enormous dowry for your hand! You'll be married in less than a month, dear!"

Your heart sank. No, no this can't happen...You knew you'd be getting married soon, you were turning twenty in a couple weeks, but you didn't think it'd be so soon! It was tradition, once the heir turned twenty and married they'd take the throne, and taking the throne...you wouldn't be able to leave again. To see Katsuki.

Your hands were shaking, your lips quivering. You were glad she couldn't see your face right now. You can't let this happen, you have to do something you haven't done in a very, very, very long time. Maybe she's changed after all these years.

"Um, M-mom?"

"Yes, (y/n)?" She gently undid the braid she just made, running her long nails through your hair.

"W...what if I, uh, I didn't want to marry him..."

She stopped, freezing in place. You didn't want to turn around and see her face. Your hands gripped the fabric of your dress, scrunching the lace in your fingers.

"I...I feel so foolish..." she began, her voice calm and quiet.

Please don't do it, please be reasonable.

She shakily stands up, looking at you as if you were a ghost.

"After all the things I've done for you, after everything you've put me through, I thought maybe you would be able to do something for me," she whispers, her eyes glossy with tears.

"M-mom, That's not what I-"

"And to think, your father died for a daughter like you! If he could see you now he'd certainly regret it," she shouts, standing over you with a look of pure disgust.

"Mother, please-"

"No! I understand! I must be a terrible mother! How could a good one raise someone so utterly selfish and-"

"I was just kidding, Ok? It was just a joke, 'm sorry, please don't be mad," you shouted, squeezing your eyes shut and shrinking back.

silence.

slowly, you opened your eyes back up, peaking at your mother's shocked face.

"Well..." she sighed, delicately sitting back down next to you. "That wasn't a very funny joke, now was it," she giggled, conjuring up a couple blooms of baby's breath and braiding it into the front of your hair.

"The dressmaker will see you tomorrow morning, to help you pick out the style you'd like," she said kindly, a soft and gentle smile on her face.

"Yes, Mother."

When Katsuki walked into the palace he knew so well, practically stumbling with emotional exhaustion, the last thing he expected was to hear his mom was looking for him. "Hah? What does that old hag want with me," he asked Kirishima, who was already dragging him to the throne room. "Dunno, she just said she wanted to see you," he shrugged.

When they arrived, Queen Mitsuki of the Dragonborne was sitting upon her great throne, looking down at her son with a regal expression. She wore a wine red dress, the color complimenting those ruby eyes passed down generation after generation. Her horns, like that of an antelope, started with an ivory white at the base of her head and became a deep shade of crimson at the tips. Finally, her long, thick, spiked red tail was lazily lying beside her seat.

"Katsuki," she started, her voice firm. To anyone else, she might sound mad, But Katsuki knew better than anyone that wasn't the case. He stepped closer, Joining his mother and standing right in front of her.

"Be honest with me."

"Spit it out already!"

"Don't talk to your mother that way," she scoffed, smacking him upside the head. Katsuki yelped and glowered, but didn't try to interrupt her again.

"Now, Tell me..." she looked him deep in the eyes, her nostrils flaring slightly. She was smelling the air around him closely.

"Have you found a mate?"

Katsuki immediately turned about as red as his mother's dress, giving him away. "Aha! I knew it! My boy is finally becoming a man!"

"Ma," Katsuki shouted, his mother standing straight up to give him a tight hug. "Get off of me, who said I found anyone," he shouted, pushing away his mother with all his strength, and yet to no avail. If Kiri blabbed, He's a dead man.

"You don't think I know when my son's trying to get a mate? Look at yourself," she scoffed, grabbing his half-scaled arm and holding it up as evidence. "I mean, you absolutely reek of pheromones," she supplemented, gesturing to him vaguely. All Katsuki could do was stand there and try to think of a response. "Well...that's...you..."

"Enough, I already know, So go ahead and tell me who this person is," she said, grabbing his face in her hands with a wide smile.

"...you won't believe me." He didn't know how his mother would react...fae were largely regarded as myth.

"Try me."

"She's...she's not a dragonborne," he muttered, testing the waters.

"So? she could be mermaid for all I care, as long as you make me some grandbabies!"

"MA!"

Mitsuki rolled her eyes, giving him an unamused frown. "What? You're not a hatchling anymore, you're twenty-three! It's about time!"

"Well, she's...she's a faerie." No point in beating around the bush.

"A faerie...?" His mother seemed utterly confused, blinking a couple times and composing herself.

"And...you've managed to court her?"

"What's that s'pposed to mean," Katsuki huffed, crossing his arms.

"Answer me."

"Yeah, What about it..."

"Well that's...that's wonderful! Thank God you've found yourself someone who can put up with your bullshit, I mean really I was getting worried-"

"Hey! I'm fuckin' delightful!" Katsuki barked, tensing and glaring at his mother.

"Yeah yeah, We just have to go see the oracle, to find a good mating date of course," She said, waving him off and giving him a toothy smile as she dragged him to the oracle room.

"I just started dating her! We're not mating yet!"

"Not with that attitude, How do you expect her to stay if you don't commit?!"

You learned this morning that every dress the dressmaker offered to you was preapproved by your mother, because why wouldn't they be, and while you were able to keep a smile on your face during the meeting, you were absolutely crumbling inside. You and Katsuki just started dating, and now you were to be married some guy you met once last month? What could you possibly do to stop this...

two hours of mindless chatting with the dressmaker later, you had a solution. Or, rather, a way to help you cope a little. You'd spend the next couple weeks enjoying your time with Katsuki, making the most of it, say goodbye, and live the life you were destined to live. Yeah, that was good, right? A win-win for you and your mother...right?

You'd go and see Katsuki around noon again, but this time he has something to ask of you. Or, rather, tell of you.

"Come and eat lunch at the palace," he says, cupping your face in his hands and scowling down at you. "Right now," you asked with a bit of a giggle, your hands meeting his. It was surprising how touchy you both got so soon, but something just felt so...comfortable to you. Both of you.

He didn't really want to admit it, but if you'd let him he'd have his hands on you constantly. He couldn't say it so much with words yet, but he did care about you, so to show it he wanted to be touching you always. He felt like he earned it, after working so hard to court you.

"When else?" He scanned your face, looking for clues as to how you felt. "I mean...sure," you shrugged, smiling up at him. "But, wait, what about your family? Won't they see me...?"

"well no shit...my mom wants to meet with you."

You had no idea he even told his mother about you, and you immediately looked down at yourself. "T-today? But, I'm not even dressed," you said, clearly nervous. You needed to be dressed far more formally than this to meet not only your boyfriend's mom, but also the Queen of the Dragonborne.

"Don't worry about it, you look g-good," he responds, his voice catching on "good" because he was still getting used to speaking so fondly of someone. It's what he felt, though, and he was no liar, so he'd tell you what he thought. Of course, he wouldn't look at you when he said it.

"Well...do you think she'll like me?" You pouted up at him, nervously tugging at your clothes.

"I wouldn't take you if I didn't think she'd like you." He released your face, instead putting his hands on your forearms. "If we're going, we gotta go now," he added, his voice a little quieter.

"Yeah...yeah, ok," you said, trying to hype yourself up. One long walk later, and you were at the front of the palace. It felt odd, not sneaking around. You felt like everyone was staring at you, even though you were sure no one but the armed guards were. You both were allowed clearance, your hand clutching Katsuki's muscled arm, and you finally got to see the inside of his Castle.

The ceilings were extremely high up, so high you had to crane your neck to se them, and they all came to a point. The incredibly deep red of the stone walls, accompanied by the flames of chandeliers and torches lined up in the hallways, made for a dark, almost sultry ambiance. It was warm, but not as warm as it was outside, and as you walked through the palace you could feel the gaze of the armed guards locked on you. It was unsettling, the look in their eyes almost inhumanly defensive.

A man with spikey red hair, about as spikey as the Stalagmite shaped palace you were within, walked up to the both of you excitedly. "Hey! You must be Katsuki's girlfriend! It's great to finally meet you for real, I mean I've heard so much about you-"

"Shut up," Katsuki barked, clearly embarrassed about the fact that he talked about you to Kiri so often.

This man was highly energetic, his voice and smile warm and friendly. It put you at ease, knowing at least one person besides Katsuki was ok with you being here. "I-I'm (y/n,)" you said quickly, holding out your hand for him to shake. He took it, giving your hand a gentle but firm shake up and down, a toothy grin on his face. "Name's Ejiro Kirishima, but you can call me Kiri. The Queen is waiting for you two!"

You nodded with a smile, hands fiddling with the fabric of your dress as you and Katsuki followed Kirishima to the dining room. "Are you sure she'll like me," you whisper. Katsuki sighs and pats your back a bit. "Relax, she will...And if she doesn't, who cares?"

"I care," you mutter, watching as guards open the double doors leading to the dining room. Katsuki's mom was already standing there, an excited smile on her face. "Hi! You must be (y/n)!" she immediately takes your hands in hers, eyes darting all across your face. "H-hi! You must be Katsuki's mom," you say, trying to match her energy. "Come with me, I have so much to talk to you about," she says, pulling you away from Katsuki and to the large table.

You, Mistuki, and Katsuki spent the entire afternoon sitting around, eating at nearly every national dish, as the Queen wanted you to be able to eat in case you disliked anything.

The conversation was lead by Mitsuki at first, but as you got more comfortable, it became a lot easier to talk, especially with her detailed (and rather embarrassing) stories about Katsuki as a child.

I mean, who would have guessed he accidentally melted his toys when he was sick, and cried about it for a week? He got particularly red hearing that story again.

Watching their dynamic was particularly interesting, seeing as while the two of them yelled at each other, they didn't seem to particularly dislike each other. It was the complete opposite of your relationship with your own mom.

Your mother was quiet, a sinister energy following her even when she seemed perfectly happy. Katsuki's mother was loud, but her energy was bright and intense, like Katsuki himself.

After an hour of great conversation and great food, It was time for you to go, if you stayed any longer you wouldn't make it home in time. Leaving the palace, giving Mitsuki a hug as if you were old friends, you were nothing but smiles. It went nothing like how you thought it would! Katsuki was walking out with you, his hand in yours to tug you along.

"So, how come your mom has horns but you don't? Is it like a sexual dimorphism?" You had so much to ask about.

"Nah, It's just somethin' that happens to everyone when you mate," he replies, walking confidently through the entrance to Böse. He only started to hold onto you near the start of Eisen, he knew his way around this section.

"Really? Aren't we mated," you ask, almost a little nervous to bring it up.

"No, not yet. We're just dating."

"Oh...but, haven't you said we're mated? Didn't you go through a whole ritual for it?"

"That's to court you. Right now, It's like...we're seeing if we want to mate."

"So, it's like a marriage?"

"...sure." Katsuki didn't have the patience to explain the nuances of mating to you.

after a beat of silence, you started talking again, wanting to drum up conversation.

"Your mom is great," you complimented. "She's alright," he grumbled, his eyes sliding over to look at you. "She seems like a truly kind person," you remark, your voice just a little quieter as you looked to the flowers growing in the brush.

"She's not any different from other moms," he countered, picking up a pyre pine twig and dragging it through the dirt. "She is! She's different from my mom," you say, balancing on acrimony roots. "You're mom's not nice," he asks mockingly, not taking you too seriously.

"No, she's nice...but I said your mom was kind. My mom isn't kind." You look to the ground, your smile remaining but having a certain emptiness to it. Katsuki stared at you for a moment, realizing what you were getting at. After another few seconds he muttered, "'m sorry." He was quiet, staring at the ground as he walked just as you did.

"N-no It's ok! I'm ok," you laughed quickly, trying to play it off. The less he knew, the better. "I should meet your dad next time," you follow up, trying desperately to change the subject.

"You can't. He's not around anymore," he says bluntly, his eyes remaining on the dirt.

"oh, s-sorry," you mumble, looking away in a ton of embarrassment. After some silence, you spoke up again. "Uh...my dad isn't around either," you mention, hoping to give him some comfort.

"Yeah," he asks, looking at you now. He was intrigued.

"Uh huh," you say, gaining a bit of confidence. "He was...well, it's a long story."

"We got time," he grumbles, getting just a little closer as the two of you walk.

"Well...ok, uh...where do I start..."

You guys, I feel like the plot is moving too quickly...what are your thoughts on that? Leave a comment letting me know, I read and respond to all of them (or try my best to)!

Taglist: @sky-angel101 @the-galaxy-fiend @chixkadee @ssplague @sappho-the-kitten-tamer @andysdrafts @daria-rona @tanjirofan63 @aizawaslut09 @tsukiiomii @me1297

[starcrossedbrothers]

alternative idea inspired by the rosier twins headcanon: rosier step-siblings

Evan’s father, Rosier sr., is a french wizard and the younger brother of Druella Rosier. After they graduate from beauxbatons, Druella marries an english aristocrat, Cygnus Black, and moves to England where she has three daughters. Rosier sr., on the other hand, falls in love with a beautiful witch he went to school with, marries her and stays in France where they have a son named Evan. Four years later, Evan’s mother dies in childbirth, and the baby also dies (I don’t think wizards, especially traditional pureblood types, would be open-minded about muggle medical practices, which means no c-sections. if there’s a complication, it’s common for the mother and/or child to die. very victorian) leaving Evan alone with his father, who responds to his grief over the death of his wife by shutting himself away, either at work or in his office drinking. Evan is raised by nannies and housekeepers, having no other family nearby and not allowed to play with other children. Evan’s father, who wasn’t that great before his wife died, only interacts with Evan to scrutinize and control all of his actions and choices, partly protective over his remaining child and partly just an abusive control freak. And Evan’s a lonely child, and learns how to be alone young.

During those years, Druella, Evan’s aunt, is constantly trying to get her brother to move to England where she is—their parents are long dead and they are each other’s remaining blood family. Also, she kind of sucks to me but is also concerned for her brother. Eventually, when Evan is eight, Rosier Sr. gives in and they move to England, where he meets one Penelope Lovegood, an aristocratic pureblood witch, wealthy and recently widowed, with a young daughter (yes Lovegood is Pandora's maiden name to me. let Xenophilius take her name. I think he'd do it). Cue a fast and whirlwind romance that ends in a quick marriage a few months later, making Evan and Pandora, both eight years old, step siblings (!).

And Evan is really shy and kind of odd because he’s never really been around children or many people and hasn’t been socialized. And Pandora is supposed to be the Lovegood Angel, mostly because her mother is generally well-liked and Pandora is a little adorable blonde girl who knows how to smile and stay quiet at gatherings. BUT Pandora is Pandora: at eight years old, she spends most of her time either reading/writing wild stories and plays based off weird/gruesome myths and trying to summon demons or raise the dead in her backyard. So obviously Evan and Pandora are fast friends and quickly become inseparable <3

[rvllybllply2014]

Wait I have another thought about girl dad Davos. It’s a modern au.

He has twin girls that are starting kindergarten and he has two more girls, one is three and the other is two, that are starting pre-K and a six month old baby girl that is going to daycare. It’s the first time since his precious princesses were born that he’s leaving them for eight hours. He’s an emotional mess, which causes all of his girls to be one too. He tried to tell Willem that it was too soon for him to go back to work after his wife died, it doesn’t matter that it’s been six months he’s not ready especially with his oldest two starting kindergarten. Willem doesn’t care he tells Davos as much.

Anyway Davos drops his three and two year old daughters off at the pre-K attached to the school. There was a lot of tears and an almost meltdown from them. Davos thinks his heart will literally break into a million pieces by the time he drops the twins off.

His oldest two are independent but even they’re a little nervous, they missed the kindergarten round up that the school held so they don’t know who their teacher is going to be. They luck out though because their teacher is Aeron, but please call him Mr. B. He’s in his fifth year of teaching and is basically an old pro at calming the students and parents. He reassures Davos that the girls will have so much fun making new friends that the day will fly by and before anyone knows it, it’ll be time for pick up. Davos leaves after giving his girls big bear hugs and a million kisses. Aeron thinks it’s the cutest thing he’s ever seen.

Luckily for Davos his baby’s daycare is in his uncle’s building and he can visit her on his lunch break. Which he does, but he also checks the nanny cam throughout the day.

As soon as the work day is over he’s grabbing his baby and practically running out the door, after he gets her in his chest carrier.

At the school he picks up his daycare daughters first. The daycare workers tell him they were absolute sweethearts and they made some new friends. Davos is relieved by the report, he also makes them hold his hands while they go to pick up their sisters.

Aeron is absolutely surprised by the amount of well behaved girls Davos has coming to pick up the twins. He gives Davos the same report of how well behaved the girls were, how eager they are to learn and that they made new friends. Davos thanks Aeron for taking good care of his kids, Aeron tells him it’s all a part of his job and it’s also easy when the kids are well behaved.

Davos doesn’t take all the credit, he gives most of it to his dead wife saying how she valued manners and politeness the most. Aeron is sorry to hear about her, Davos responds with it’s been six months she died right after giving birth to their youngest. She’d had a stroke right after giving birth.

The school year passes fast and before either Aeron or Davos realize it, it’s time for the kindergarten graduation. Davos had been such a classroom parent for his girls that he doesn’t hesitate to help, when Aeron asks him to help plan the class party after they graduate.

Aeron doesn’t want to lose his friendship with Davos and now that the girls are finally out of his class decides that it wouldn’t be improper to ask Davos out. It could be a friend date or something more if he wants? They go on a date and hit off, Davos eventually tells his girls that he’s dating Mr.B and he’s really happy. His girls are happy for him and tell him as much.

Davos and Aeron end up getting married right before his second youngest starts kindergarten. She ends up in someone else’s class, but Aeron is always watching out for at recess and lunch. He also makes sure that she comes to his room at the end of the day so Davos can pick them both up.

[bisexualchaosdemon]

What if Neil was trans and had a baby after Mary died?

I've seen a few atfg fics where Neil has a sibling or kid but all the ones I've read were heavily influenced by Mary's presence. It got me thinking about what it would be like if she wasn't around when the kid came into the picture. I wrote a little prologue, lemme know if it's something you guys might wanna read.

**trigger warning: mentions of SA, forced pregnancy, and traumatic childbirth**

Hope was a dangerous, disquieting thing

🩵🩷🤍🩷🩵Prologue🩵🩷🤍🩷🩵

When Neil was fourteen, his father caught up to them in Seattle and he got separated from Mary. Nathan went after Mary and a couple of his men went after Neil. While they were apart, Neil was raped for the first time and Mary was beaten for the last time. Somehow, they both escaped, managing to reunite at one of their emergency rendezvous and take off running.

That's where their luck ran out though because they only made it to California before Mary's injuries finally bested her. In the end, his mother couldn't go on but she made Neil promise to keep running because one of them had to make it. With no other choice, Neil burned her body, buried her ashes on the beach, and did what he had promised.

Then, impossibly, things went from bad to worse — After a month of just sort of drifting in his grief, Neil found out he was pregnant.

He had no way out this one, there was no backdoor to slip through or bus to catch. He couldn't risk someone contacting the police or social services when a fourteen-year-old turned up at a clinic to request an abortion without parental consent. And, even if they weren't incredibly dangerous, any illegal methods for a termination risked Nathan tracking him down. So, with no choice but to keep the pregnancy, he spent the next eight months jumping from place to place, trying to remain out of sight whenever possible. And he hated every minute of it.

He spent the entirety of his pregnancy terrified and alone, and he gave birth alone too. He hadn't been able to see any doctors or go to a hospital for obvious reasons. He tried his best to have a healthy pregnancy but the research he had managed to do on childbirth was extremely limited. He didn't even know what was happening really before he ended up giving birth in a back ally somewhere — fourteen years old and completely alone.

The baby hadn't cried at first and Neil had never been more terrified than he had been in those few seconds. That first cry brought a relief heavy enough to break him completely. His plan the whole time had been to give the baby up, just leave them at a fire station somewhere and pray they'd have a better life than he did. He thought about it a thousand times but every time he looked at his daughter's face, and he just couldn't do it. He couldn't give her up. He didn't want to be alone again.

So he picked himself up, skipped town with his daughter craddled close, and decided to do the one thing he had always wanted; He cut off all of his hair, taped down his chest and started telling people he was a boy. He had always felt like being a girl wasn't right for him but he never dared voice this while on the run with his mother. Without her controling everything though, he was free to do this one thing for himself, and he hoped it might even help him stay hidden. More importantly, it helped him reclaim part of himself he thought he lost after the rape and pregnancy.

The first few years, they moved around a lot because Neil was always worried someone would start to notice the teenager and baby without parents anywhere in sight. However, when his daughter was almost three, they ran a ground in Millport, a dying town where they could squat in an empty house unnoticed. Neil just needed a moment to breathe. So, he got an ID that said he was eighteen which let him go to high school and play Exy without anyone needing to speak to his parents. Then he forged the signatures of their fictional parents to get his daughter enrolled in preschool and after school childcare for the days he had practice. Finally, he got them phones for emergencies and pretended to be his mother any time someone called.

He became Neil and he gifted his daughter his middle name, Anastasia, and on paper they became the Josten siblings.

He knew they would need to pack up and leave soon enough, but he was exhausted and he just wanted Ana to have a semi-normal life for a year. He'd clear out after graduation and figure out where to go from there. But just as their time in Millport is running out, in walks David Wymack with an offer that's too dangerous to trust but too impossible to leave behind...

[lvlyghost]

Salvation

Pairings: John Price x F!Reader

Summary: after a few months since his last visit, john finally gets the chance to see the girl.

Word Count: 1.7k

tw: fluff, angst, allusion to human trafficking, NCA, terrified girls. nothing too descriptive. bad english and poor grammar as usual. if i missed anything just lmk💕

A/N: so this took a little longer since it was supposed to come out during the weekend. i was planning on making it longer but didn't, maybe a second part could happen🐸 anyway, i love price✨🩵!

Masterlist✨ | Part 2

She hears it while cooking her homemade cherry pie. As far as she recalls, no one was supposed to come today. No. Officer Davis came that morning at eight o'clock like he always did. He had handed her some new books she's been wanting to read for a few months now and was kind enough to buy for her.

Since she wasn't allowed to give her address to anyone,and let alone type it on some random website, she was always asking officer Davis for favors. He was truly an amazing man. Although, even if they ever let her do such thing, giver her some freedom, who would want to go to the house in the middle of the forest to drop off a package?

Freedom. She scoffs. Such a strange word.

Making her way out of the room she walks towards the front door, but not before taking the remote that was given to her by the NCA. All it takes is pressing the red button twice and she'll have the whole police in her doorway. She stands behind the white wooden door, hesitating. Her heart begins to race, feeling it beat against her ribcage.

What if someone had finally found her location?

I can't go back there.

Frozen in her place, hand barely touching the doorknob and tears gathering in the corner of her eyes.

"It's me, sweetheart." A deep voice comes from the other side. "It's okay. I'm sorry for not coming sooner."

John.

She mumbles his name, like a prayer, and then opens the door.

He stands there, tall and broad. The same baby blues that saved her a year ago looking back at her. The lines on his forehead soften at the mere sight of the girl. He's wearing that black beanie that once sat atop of her head when the winter had begun that first time he visited her here.

The only other one that knew where to find her. Because she knew, they all knew, he'd do anything for her.

-

John can hear the river outside the old house. The rustling of leaves moving against the wind, soon it'll be dark. The humid weather making his green shirt stick to his skin layered with sweat. He inhales deeply. This mission. This fucking mission has been going far too long. But everything they found les the task force to this very place. He goes room by room, entering with his gun aiming ahead and the safety off. Always.

Despite not having execute authority he wanted nothing more than to put several bullets in their bodies. Whomever they were.

A creak echoes on the second floor so he rushes upstairs stealthily. The place above doesn't look much better that the bottom part of the house. There's a weird smell in the air. Like blood and death.

After checking the first room, the bathroom and all the cabinets just in case he sighs.

"Only got one room left to check. Anything out there?" He waits for an answer, in the middle of the bedroom. The mattress was torn and dirty. He thinks of all the atrocities that must've taken place there.

"Negative, Captain. Got you on my sight just in case." Ghost's monotone voice interrupts the eerie silence engulfing his surroundings.

"Copy."

The radio dies and John walks to the next door across the hallway. Except it's locked.

Of course.

"Last door locked. I'm going in. Gaz, Soap you're in position?" He asks

"Aye sir. Both ready."

Next thing that happens is a bullet. He shoots the doorknob and the door bursts open with a loud sound of his firearm.

And screams.

Terrified screams and cries from... girls. At least seven of them. Price swallows hard, his eyes scanning the room when they land on the girl shielding a younger one. She's terrified, shaking, yet still looks him in the eye imploring to be saved.

-

She's hugging him in an instant, almost making him stumble back on his steps, but embraces her body nevertheless.

"What took you so long?" She asks, her face resting on his hard chest. Price can feel the softness of her skin against his calloused hands.

"Special Ops." She smells like strawberry and caramels. Pulling away so he can look her in the eyes. "How're you doin' love?"

Her heart skips a beat. Never gets tired of hearing Price calling her that.

"Come in and I'll tell you."

Taking his hand she guides him to the kitchen where the pie is almost finished. John drops his duffel bag on the wooden floor, contemplating her small form moving around effortlessly.

"I got some new books this morning. Turns out I've been missing a lot. Davis was kind enough to bring them since... you know." She shrugs.

"They're still not letting you out?" He asks with a serious tone.

"Nah. Might be dangerous." Taking out the pie from the oven she places it on the counter between the two. Price doesn't say anything for a moment, merely looking at her, pondering. "The boys are alright?"

"Yeah." He nods,"Had to drag one or two out of a burning building but that's not new."

She laughs softly, taking a seat, motioning for him to do the same. He obliges.

"How long do you think they'll keep me here, John?" It's a genuine question. It's only been a few months. A year, almost.

"Love..." he sighs. "It's complicated. I don't know much."

"Yeah but, but once they're all captured..." she stammered.

Price could never say he understands what she's going through. What she endured was beyond him. Whenever he thought of it it just made him want burn the fucking bastards. All of them.

"I promise you this. Once it's safe for you I'll personally come and give you the news. And we'll go wherever you desire, yeah?" Although it's not entirely what she wanted, she could wait a little bit longer. John had never let her down. He saved her and in all honesty she'd trust him with her life. "I'll tell you what." He stands up, making the small kitchen look even smaller with his tall form. "Have you heard about the town fair?"

Her eyes light up.

"No... is, is that..."

"Let's go." She doesn't move. "Why don't you go get ready."

"John, I'm not supposed to leave the house you know that, I mean I want to, but... you said..." She's mortified, yet excited. A breath of fresh air. That's what that man meant for her. No one ever cared about her like he did.

"I've got contacts, love. I don't need their permission. For all that matters you're safer with me. Come on, out we go." He points to the front door. "I'm a patient man but don't keep me waiting for too long eh."

-

He was right.

It was a sight to behold.

John watches her eating the snack he got for her. She loved sweets so much therefore he couldn't let this opportunity pass. When was the last time she got to experience something like this? Sometimes so simple.

Something so mundane.

Her eyes are glimmering whenever she looks at the different attractions at the fair. John takes a long drink from his beer bottle. Right hand finding her lower back whenever she's about to bump into some other person when she's distracted.

"You like it huh?" She looks at him confused. He points the stuffed otter in her left hand. A smile crossed her features.

"I do. And I still don't know how you did it... I mean, I guess being in the military does help when you try to shoot a moving horse toy at the fair to win something." She laughs, embarrassed about what she just said. She thinks she sounds stupid, almost making her want to hit her head against the nearest tree.

He smiles, the wrinkles on the corner of his eyes more prominent than the last time she'd seen him.

"I guess it does, love." He agrees wholeheartedly.

"How long are you going to stay?"

Price looks down at her when she stops before the ferris wheel. The wind blows her hair swiftly. What was that in the air? Her perfume?

"For as long as I can, dear." He takes a strand of hair in his hand, and gently put it behind her ear.

There she is.

"John..." she breathes. "I feel so lonely when you're gone." The grip on the stuffed animal tightens. "I've no one. If it wasn't for you..."

"No." He gently reprimands her. "Don't say another word. With or without me you'll be fine, love."

"What if I don't want to be fine when you're not around?" He's silent, yet his mind is so loud. "You saved me, John." She states. "Any other person would just continue with their lives. You were just doing your job. Another one in the endless missions you're assigned." Swallowing, she asks: "Why are you still here? Why do you keep coming back?"

He doesn't answer the question right away, instead looks over her head, lost in his own thoughts as he shifts his weight from one foot to another. He then clears his throat and looks back at her, who's waiting with wide eyes and lips slightly parted. She was right. Any other day John would've turned page. He would sure remember, after all these are stories that will stick with him until his last day. What made this mission different?

"I think you know bloody well why."

-

Price helps her sit inside the helicopter to get medical attention. Feeling her weak body trembling even under the black blanket she was tightly wrapped in. He had carried her body all the way outside from that house when she collapsed. The adrenaline running through her system disappearing when she realized they were being rescued at last.

Simon had side eyed his Captain when he didn't let anyone take the girl from him. Why her? He couldn't say. So he went away and led one of the other girls out of there instead with Soap's help.

"There's nothing to be afraid anymore, kid." He reassured her, voice soft trying not to startle her more than she already was. "We got you. All of you."

Her big eyes once terrified and filled with tears of despair finally saw the light at the end. It was him. What she always prayed for. Salvation.

It was staring back at her.

[sadhours]

simmer down - chapter one

billy hargrove x hagan!oc

read on ao3 • masterlist • requests are open!

a/n: here is the rewrite!!! hope you all like it.

warnings: slow burn, secret crush, oc x steve, angst, underage drinking

word count: 10k

Gina Hagan had things easy. She knew she was pretty, she’d been told so her entire life. And okay, so Hawkin’s was a small midwestern town, maybe the bar was pretty low but she still had smooth sailing because of her looks. Her brother being popular helped. Freshmen year at Hawkin’s High was nothing short of a breeze. It meant a guaranteed spot with the cool crowd. People flocked to her because she was Tommy’s sister and who was his best friend? None other than the King himself, Steve Harrington. Hawkin’s one and only golden boy. His parents were filthy rich, rumors always swirling about their professions but Gina had the close connection to know the truth. His dad came from old money, had a shit ton of real estate across many states but was bred and born right here in quaint little Hawkin’s. He wanted his son to have a similar upbringing so well, they stayed here. However, with Mrs. Harrington’s job, once little Stevie could take care of himself, they were never in Hawkin’s much. Two months of the year, really. July and Christmas. They didn’t like winters in Indiana, so in all honestly it was about a month and a week. Barbara Harrington was a lawyer and a damned good one. Big corporations had her on the payroll and Steve says there’s a lot of schmoozing that comes along with the job. Gina’s met them a handful of times, mostly when she was a kid but they were always kind. She has a distinct memory of clinging to Tommy’s side when the Harrington’s bought them winter jackets.

Gina remembers feeling inferior to the Harrington’s when she was kid. Steve had called them poor a number of times. He’d say his parents were doing their charity when they brought over Christmas presents to the Hagan’s. Barbara told her she’d always wanted a little girl and so each year for Christmas and Gina’s birthday, she’d bring over at least ten gifts for her. Clothes, expensive clothes and shoes. Her mom was hesitant but Gina was excited to wear them to school.

Her parents were as well off. They struggled when her and Tommy were young. However, thanks to Tommy’s insistence on Steve in grade school, James and Barbara Harrington became close with her parents and offered them jobs. Their dad managed one of James’ properties and their mom practically ran Barbara’s headquarters here in Hawkin’s. Their families were close, they celebrated Christmas together. Steve was practically a brother. Except Gina had been harboring a fat crush on him since he was twelve and she was ten. A crush that got obsessive but she’d managed to keep under wraps until she was about fourteen. Damned her and Tommy’s unexpected little sister. Bridgette Hagan was born six years after Gina, a total whoops baby. In fact, their mother was scheduled to get her tubes tied but the doctor cancelled last minute and Bridgette was conceived shortly after. So one night at dinner, Steve was staying over and the spunky eight year old had spilled Gina’s dearly kept secret.

“Gina likes Steve!” she had proclaimed before digging into her mashed potatoes.

Gina about died. Her smattering of freckles disguised behind the redness of her face. It was the most humiliating moment thus far. Tommy had seemed just as embarrassed, telling Bridgette to shut up as Gina stood up and ran to her bedroom. Only for Steve to appear minutes later and tell her everything was alright and he didn’t hate her.

Then, Gina turned fifteen. Her parents threw her a sweet little party. A nice dinner at Enzo’s, the guest list included their five piece family, Steve, a few of her friends and Tommy’s girlfriend, Carol. It was nice, she felt fancy and pretty in her formal black dress. Carol had styled her hair that night, showed her how to do makeup. Gina loved Carol. She was like a big sister. Even if Gina got grossed about her and Tommy, she still felt wonderfully close to Carol. After dinner, they went back to the Hagan’s house for cake and once their parents went to bed, Steve had swirled his keys around his fingers and told Gina and everyone he had an after party waiting at his empty house.

Gina was nervous to drink that night, she’d never really had much alcohol except for sips off beers Tommy had offered. But Steve had mixed her a couple of cocktails, simple ones; vodka and juice. And Gina had never felt more special than that moment, her and Steve Harrington alone in his kitchen as he told her she’d like the drink and then tucked her curly brown hair behind her ear and told her she had the prettiest eyes he’d ever seen. He was so wonderfully handsome, big brown eyes and floppy hair.

“Come with me,” Steve had said, “I wanna show you something.”

Gina had followed him up to his pristine room, the one with plaid wallpaper. Steve bought her a pair of earrings. He put them on for her and kissed her. It wasn’t Gina’s first kiss but it might as well have been. The first French kiss she’d had. His tongue felt magical against hers, Gina was sure she’d combust right there on his bed when it’d happened. Never in her life had she’d felt that way from a kiss. Steve ignited every nerve ending, she almost cried when he pulled away and told her how beautiful she was.

Losing your virginity to Steve Harrington was something special, even if she knew of five other girls who’d had the same fate. She didn’t even think about those girls when it happened. Steve had made her feel like she was the only woman in the world. Made her feel like a woman. It was gentle and sweet and everything Gina had wanted. Afterwards, he told her Tommy couldn’t find out and she was on board. She knew he’d be upset, wouldn’t want anything to jeopardize his long-standing friendship with Steve. But after that, Gina was addicted. Infatuated. Steve Harrington was a God that walked among men.

Gina would fill her diary with how handsome and funny Steve was. An entire page was dedicated to her practicing her signature with Steve’s last name. Gina Harrington scrawled out repeatedly in her most practiced cursive. She remembers one time Steve found it, teased her about it until he straddled her on her twin size bed and kissed her dizzy.

They continued sneaking around for almost a whole year. Whenever Steve spent the night, Gina could expect the lanky brunette to creep into her bedroom and make her feel on cloud nine. It was a blissful seven months. That was, until her classmate, Nancy Wheeler caught his attention. The worst part was that Steve never broke up with Gina. Not that they were officially boyfriend and girlfriend but things just abruptly shifted. Steve stopped sneaking into her room when he spent the night, his eyes no longer found hers in a crowded room. But Gina held on. Steve would spend the night and she would lay in bed and wait for what once was. It never came.

Steve dove head first into Nancy. The real kicker was when Gina sat with Tommy, Carol and Nancy’s friend Barb in Steve’s backyard while he added Nancy Wheeler to the notches in his bed post. It was excruciating. She was just as miserable as Barb that night. Perhaps it was a lord opportunity to make a new friend but Gina didn’t want to be friendly with Barb that night. She was a gear in the workings that ruined what was most important to Gina.

Gina withdrew. She’d broke down one night and confessed everything to Carol, who held her close and told her Steve was the biggest asshole in existence. Gina couldn’t find it in herself to agree. Steve had made her feel so special. Carol had formulated all these plans to ruin Steve’s life, break him and Nancy up and make Steve regret ever hurting Gina. It was sweet. Carol was the best big sister, even if she wasn’t really.

It was much easier when Steve had gotten into a fight with Tommy. Her brother never told her exactly happened but Gina knew it was bad because Steve started acting like they didn’t exist. And the boys fought a lot through out the years but nothing like that time. It had to do with Nancy. That much was clear, but Tommy and Carol wouldn’t talk about it. Gina thinks it was because they’d done something horrible. Perhaps because Carol knew how much Steve had hurt Gina and she had to get revenge, even if Gina insisted she didn’t.

Therefore, it’d been a whole summer without Steve. Gina’s first since she was in grade school. It wasn’t that drastically different than the summer before— parties, swimming and lazy days lounged on the couch. Except this one was empty. No brown eyes and floppy, big hair to gaze at. No empty house to relax at. The swimming she’d done had been at the community pool and not the Harrington’s. The parties lacked one exceptional guest. Lazy days were lonely without Steve’s jokes and lingering touches. The boys she’d fooled around with never gave her the same feelings Steve did. Gina didn’t get the tingling in her fingers and toes when any of them kissed her neck. Her thoughts didn’t fizzle out when they went down on her. She’s slept with a handful of them but it wasn’t nearly as exciting as it was with Steve. They didn’t make her feel special. She didn’t want to even look at them whenever it was finished. But she remembered always cuddling with Steve, joking around and the compliments Steve would give her. No one compared. She’d found love and she’d lost it just as quick.

Carol and her grew even closer, but Tommy got upset when she didn’t join in on the shit talking. Gina couldn’t even find the energy to hate Nancy, as much as Carol insisted she should. Nancy wasn’t the problem here, she had no idea what secrets went on between Steve and his best friends little sister. It was pointless to hate her.

Even if Gina was bitter. She’d compare herself to Nancy but would be at a loss. Steve had told her how beautiful she was, how smart she was, how funny she was. Gina hadn’t changed, but Steve had. Steve was the problem here and the quicker Gina accepted that, the better.

;;;

“Hurry up!” Tommy bangs on the bathroom door.

Gina huffs as she grabs the wide tooth comb and rakes it through her tangle of loose chestnut curls. She was about due for another perm but that was a problem for another day. She’d overslept and would have preferred to shower but wouldn’t have the time. She’d washed her armpits and nether regions with a washcloth at the sink, Carol referred to this lovingly as a whores bath. Gina thinks Carol’s really funny and she’s pretty sure Carol thinks so too.

When Gina swings the bathroom door open, her equally as freckled brother pushes past her and shoves her out of the room before slamming the door. Their relationship was an interesting one. They were attached at the hip most their lives, the photos decorating the hallways show a young Tommy holding an infant Gina with adoration in his eyes. Their mom says he was infatuated with her when she was a baby, doting on her and it only started to waver when he started going through puberty. It felt like rejection at first but the older they got, the better they got along. When she started high school, Tommy made sure she sat with him and his friends at lunch. He brought her along to parties and always included her. He wasn’t necessarily protective but if Gina needed, she knew he’d punch in any man’s face who hurt her. Especially Steve Harrington. But that would mean admitting she betrayed her brother by falling in love with his best friend, and she couldn’t do that.

Gina dresses in a white tennis skirt, a striped polo and slouchy socks with her pink Ked’s. She puts on minimal makeup, a bit of rouge and mascara. It’s October, a skirts not the best choice but Gina loves wearing them enough to suffer through a bit of chill. She shoves her arms through a lavender colored zip up hoodie and ties half her hair up with a matching scrunchie. Tommy’s waiting impatiently at the door when she exits her room, mumbling under his breath as he opens the door for them and locks it. He’s always complaining about her being late.

His Toyota is messy, Gina steps on paper bags and cups as she climbs in the front seat. Any comments to clean it would fall on deaf ears. A rebuttal that she could walk her ass to school would be made if she said anything. It was a hand-me-down from their uncle, Tommy’s sixteenth birthday present. She remembers how he grumbled about Steve getting a brand new BMW for his and Gina didn’t complain when she wasn’t gifted a car on her sixteenth birthday. She didn’t have her license anyways. The hundred dollars from her parents was a nice enough gift. She purchased a Walkman and cassettes with it.

They pick up Carol on the way and Gina’s sentenced to the backseat which is even messier than the front. All is well though. She feels good about today. No reason to aside for handing out fliers her and Tina made for a Halloween party. Tina’s parents are going to a party in Indianapolis so it’s the perfect opportunity. They’d planned it as soon as they found out the girls’ house would be empty for the holiday. Gina liked planning parties, though it wasn’t much planning. The kids coming would bring the booze and they didn’t exactly decorate. Gina liked to be involved though. She was kind of close to Tina. They weren’t best friends and Tina was friendly with almost everyone at Hawkin’s High. But there were many a drunk night spent between the two where they told secrets. Like how Tina had slept with Tommy during one of his and Carol’s many break-ups and she really didn’t want Carol to find out. Gina didn’t tell her about Steve, though. But she told her a secret about one of her embarrassing hookups.

When they arrive at the school, Gina and Carol find their way to Tina, Becca and Stacy. The five girls lean against Tina’s car while Tommy talks to his basketball buddies. Gina watches as Steve’s BMW pulls into the lot, Nancy in the front seat and she tries not to let her disappointment make itself known on her face. It’s been long enough. She should be used to it at this point. It still stings. Gina wishes she was in Nancy’s place.

A rumble of a loud engine grabs everyone’s attention. A pretty night blue 79’ Z28 Camaro drives by and into the spot opposite the girls. Everyone’s eyes are glued on it. No one in Hawkin’s has a car like that. It belongs to an outsider, a stranger. Gina’s in love with the car the second she sees it. It’s fucking awesome. The California plates catch her attention. PCE 235. It’s hard to read until it comes to a stop. The loud music erupting from the car cuts off and the drivers door swings open.

Worn motorcycle boots and thick denim legs emerge, Gina couldn’t look away if she wanted to. The man who emerges from the Camaro literally takes her breath away. Blonde, curly mullet and a hint of a mustache. He’s fucking gorgeous. A young redhead climbs out the passenger side with a skateboard, she’s wearing a red Adidas sweatshirt. She throws the board down and skates up to the middle school. The guy takes a pull from his cigarette, gives a little smirk to the four girls and then tosses the cigarette before strutting towards the school.

Gina’s breath catches in her throat. An immediate attraction to the boy. The Scorpions song he was blasting helps. They clearly have a similar interest and she’s floored with the possibilities that could be. She wants to talk to him so bad.

“Who is that?” Stacy asks what they’re all thinking.

“I have no idea,” Tina replies, “but would you check out that ass? Just look at it go.”

Oh, Gina is. His Levi’s are so fucking tight, they show off his thick thighs and perfect ass. She’s almost embarrassed by the physical reaction she’s having to the newcomer. Tommy’s jogging over, looking amongst the girls.

“Who the fuck is that?” he asks, face all contorted in excitement.

“We don’t know,” Carol says.

“His car is fucking bitchin’,” he gushes.

;;;

Tommy moves fast. Gina realizes as much when she’s walking up towards their house and sees that gorgeous Camaro parked on the street. Her heart flutters when she sees it. The chance to meet the stranger is exciting.

She’d just been at the music store, used her allowance to buy a record and a cassette. They were the same album. She wanted one to listen to at home and another to put in her Walkman.

Gina passes by her parents as she makes her way up the sidewalk. She smiles at them. They’re preparing for the cold months about to come. Uprooting the plants that won’t make it, unhooking the house and whatever else.

“Tommy’s got a new friend over,” her mother says.

Gina points at the Camaro, “I see that.”

“Seems like a nice kid,” her dad offers, “Very respectful.”

“Yeah?” Gina smiles.

Her mom gives her a knowing look, “You think he’s handsome?”

“Well, he is,” she gushes. “I haven’t talked to him, yet. He was nice?”

“Definitely. Complimented my roses as I ripped them out,” her dad says. “Nice car too.”

“Really nice car.”

“Why don’t you go and introduce yourself?” Gina’s mom insists, “Ask if he’d like to stay for dinner.”

Gina nods with a grin before opening the front door. She’s greeted with the sound of Metallica blaring out of Tommy’s room. It seems he’s trying to impress the new guy with the only metal album he owns. Suddenly, she’s nervous. That boy was so handsome she felt on fire when she’d seen him. And now he was in her house. Hanging out with her brother. It was almost too good to be true.

She takes a deep breath before making her descent down the hallway. Gina stops at Tommy’s room and peers inside. Carol’s laid out on the floor, checking her nails while the blonde and her brother sit on the edge of Tommy’s bed. The gorgeous boy has a cigarette perched in between his lips while he nods along with the baseline of the song. Tommy’s head banging obnoxiously. Her parents smoke in the house so that’s not an issue, they just don’t know that Tommy and Gina also smoke. She wonders what they’d think of this kid their age, smoking in their house.

The stranger notices her and pinches his cigarette between his fingers as he pulls it away. His lips curl up and he drawls, “Hi.”

Gina’s throat tightens as she matches his gaze. His voice is like honey. Thick and sweet as it sends excitement between her legs. She gives a shy wave as her brother and his girlfriend notice her. Carol beckons her inside and she steps inside.

“Oh! Billy, this is my sister, Gina,” Tommy introduces her.

“Hi, Gina,” he purrs and extends his cigarette out for her to take.

Gina accepts it, taking a drag and tries to ignore the burning feeling on her lips. Or the fact that if her parents saw her smoking, they’d kill her. The panic is quickly squashed by the handsome blondes icy eyes on her. He’s even prettier this close. He’s got a hint of a mustache, it’s mostly rough stubble but it’s clear he can grow facial hair and that rouses something in Gina.

“Hi, Billy,” she says and passes the cigarette back.

He presses two fingers to the paper bag she’s got clutched against her chest, “What’s this you got?”

“An album.”

“Which one?” he raises an eyebrow and it feels like a test. Gina hopes she passes.

She pulls the record out of the bag, displaying Ratt’s Out of the Cellar for him. Billy grins wide, standing up and taking the album from her hands.

“Atta girl,” he praises and fuck, the praise goes straight between her legs. “I love this album.”

Gina would give anything to impress him more. He slides his thumbnail against the sleeve, slicing the cellophane open with the motion and walks over to Tommy’s record player. Carol grabs onto Gina’s wrist and pulls her down, giving her these eyes and Gina doesn’t miss the intensity in Tommy’s eyes as he shakes his head at her. Billy plops back down on the bed, oblivious to the silent interaction the three of them had. He pulls a can of beer from the sixer and cracks it open before he hands it to Gina. She accepts it with a small thanks. He’s got a little dangly earring and it catches on his curls. Gina has to stop herself from leaning forward and fixing it. She’s eager to touch him.

Billy sings along with the first track, low but Gina still hears him. She loves the sound of his voice. It’s sexy. She’s so close to turning into a puddle on her brothers floor.

“Did you see Steve with the princess today? Gag me with a spoon!” Carol gossips as she gestures gagging herself.

“I know,” Tommy scoffs.

“What’s the deal with that guy?” Billy asks, eyes trained on Gina like he expects her to answer.

Tommy sighs, “He used to fucking run school. King Steve. Then, he stuck his dick in the priss and he changed. Man’s totally whipped.”

“He used to be our friend,” Carol offers.

“Everyone was telling me about him,” Billy replies, “Said I’m gunning to be the new King. Whatever the fuck that means.”

“He’s an asshole,” Carol rolls her eyes. “But you are, this town needed someone with an edge.”

Billy snorts, eyes darting between the two girls on the floor.

“Steve’s nice,” Gina says meekly, staring at her knees as she speaks. No matter what, she couldn’t really bare them talking bad about Steve. He was nice and well, she was still in love with him.

“Whatever,” Tommy huffs, “He’s different. He used to be cool.”

“So you like metal?” Billy changes the subject as he nudges the toe of his boot against Gina’s knee.

She beams up at him, “Yeah.”

“Me too,” he smirks, biting his lip.

“Cool,” Gina’s sure she’s actually the lamest person he’s ever talked to. His eyes are the prettiest color she’s ever seen. She gets lost in them while he turns his attention back to Tommy, asks him where he can find weed.

“Oh, the freak, Eddie Munson,” Tommy answers but he’s up on his feet and walks over to his dresser. The freckled boy retrieves a joint. Gina and Carol meet each other with equally annoyed expressions. They’d had plans for the joint.

Tommy extends it out to Billy, “But here, you can have this in the meantime.”

“Ha, alright! Thanks man, I really appreciate it,” he beams as he tucks the joint in his pack of Marlboros. “Think we’re best buds, now.”

Tommy beams at the prospect, sitting down with a shrug, “Ah, it’s no big deal. A welcome gift.”

“Oh,” Gina interrupts, looking at Billy, “My mom wanted me to ask if you wanted to stay for dinner.”

“Wish I could, darling but, I better get home before my old man does,” the blonde says with a slight wince.

Gina stands up so she’s out of his way, but he stands up and they’re a little closer than Gina intended, almost nose to nose. She takes a step to the side and tucks her brown hair behind her hair, awkwardly smiling up at him. He smirks, biting his lower lip as his eyes scan her face. His gaze is pretty intimidating, she wants to crawl out of her skin from it.

“It was nice to meet ya, Gina,” he purrs.

Gina has to hold in the squeal threatening to escape, “You too.”

Once the front door shuts, letting them know Billy’s left, Tommy points to his younger sister.

“Off limits,” he says seriously, “I like him, don’t fuck it up.”

Gina holds up her hands defensively, “I didn’t even do anything!”

“I saw how you looked at him,” he argues with a tilt of his head.

“Oh, stop,” she sighs, “I don’t have a crush on him.”

“Yeah, right. I have eyes, ya know? He’s a good looking guy,” Tommy quips.

“Ya going queer on me?” Carol teases, “You don’t want Gina to go after him ‘cause you want a chance first?”

Tommy shoots her this flabbergasted, borderline disgusted look, “Get over here and I’ll show you how untrue that is.”

“Ew, disgusting,” Gina snarls, “I’m leaving.”

She shuts the door behind and goes to her room, trying not to think of Billy while she gets started on her homework. It’s a moot point. His eyes, thighs and bouncy curls flood her mind while she does her algebra.

;;;

Billy’s nice. He keeps Gina company while Tommy and Carol suck face, just like Steve used to do.

“They always do this?” he asks.

Gina nods, “Yeah. You’ll get used to it.”

He’s funny, likes to people watch. Right now they’re doing it, sitting on the hood of his Camaro at lunch. They share a cigarette and Billy points at a group of boys talking about fifteen feet away. He does funny voices while he makes up what he thinks the boys are saying.

“You’re not sensitive enough, Toby,” he puts on this whiny, exaggerated voice as one of the boys talks excitedly, “That’s why you can’t get a girlfriend!”

Gina giggles, not confident enough to join in with him but Billy’s funny enough on his own.

“Shut up,” he does the other kids voice now, “I don’t get girls because I eat my boogers.”

Another eruption of giggles come from Gina, she shoves Billy’s shoulder and covers her face. He chuckles and snatches the smoke from her fingertips, bringing it to his lips.

“You know those kids?” he asks.

She nods, “I had them in all my classes in elementary school. You’re spot on. He really does eat his boogers.”

The older boy cackles, “Yeah, he looks like he does.”

They’re quiet for a beat, Billy seems to be scanning for more victims but Gina interrupts him, “Are you going to the party tonight?”

“Yeah, think so,” he finishes the smoke and flicks it away, “Does Tina throw bitchin’ parties?”

“I helped plan it,” Gina admits and then shrugs, “They’re usually pretty fun. All the parties around here kind of bleed together. There’s gonna be a keg though.”

“Yeah? You do keg stands?” he snickers, lips pulled up in the cutest smile she’d seen.

“I have not tried,” Gina admits with a giggle, “I struggle enough shotgunning.”

“I’ll teach ya,” he insists as the warning bell rings. He stands up and looks over to Gina, “So I’ll see you tonight, then.”

“Yeah, see you there.”

-

Gina huffs as she attempts to curl a stubborn chunk of her hair. She really needed to get another perm. Reaching for the mousse, she sprays a glob of it and scrunches her hair up with it until she’s satisfied. She stands up and assesses her “costume”, it’s just a short skirt, fishnets and a ripped up t-shirt. She’s not necessarily trying to get Billy’s attention but she doesn’t mind if she does.

Carol saunters into the doorway, donning a similar outfit, “And what are you supposed to be?”

Gina scrunches her hair up some more, “Hot.”

“Maybe for a particular blonde with a great ass?”

Turning to Carol, she rolls her eyes and grabs her jacket, “He’s off-limits, remember?”

“Fuck Tommy,” Carol snorts, “you deserve to have some fun and he looks like he knows how to have it.”

“He’s so out of my league, anyways,” Gina shrugs on her jacket and reaches for her purse.

Carol stops her, placing her hands on Gina’s shoulders and looking at her, “That’s so not true, Gina. You’re totally gorgeous.”

Her cheeks redden at the compliment, she can tell that Carol really means it. She smiles at her brothers girlfriend, “He kind of did like give me a look in Tommy’s room, didn’t he?”

“Totally. He was undressing you with his eyes, I say go for it,” Carol grins.

Tommy yells from the living room, “How long does it take to get ready?! I’m ready to get drunk!”

“He sounds like he already is,” Gina grumbles before following Carol out to Tommy’s car.

Tina’s house is absolutely packed. It’s a struggle for Tommy to find a spot to park on the lawn. He grumbles something about Gina taking forever and making them late.

Carol shoves his shoulder, “It’s important to be fashionably late, moron. We’ll look like losers if we’re on time. Gina’s doing us all a favor.”

Gina rolls her eyes, her stomach is a bit upset due to her brothers rather erratic driving. He was a little too tipsy already and she’s hoping Carol will drive them home. Once he parks, she climbs out of the car and stands beside Carol.

“The whole fucking school showed up,” Gina notes, eyes scanning the front yard.

Just then, Billy comes barreling toward them before jumping on Tommy’s back. Billy’s dressed like the terminator, black fingerless gloves, a leather jacket over his shirtless torso and really tight jeans. He’s pretty clearly tipsy and Gina wonders how long he’s been here. He jumps off Tommy, wrapping his arms around Carol and Gina’s shoulders and guides them towards the house with a slurred, “My favorite girls!”

Gina tries not to focus on how close his lips are to her ear, it was like he was whispering that just for her to hear. His deep voice makes her chest and stomach tighten.

“You ready to take the new Keg King title?” Tommy asks, urging the group over to the side of the house where the keg is set up.

“I was born ready,” Billy says smugly, hands on his hips as Tommy pumps the keg up.

Gina stands next to Tina and Carol to watch. She notes Tina’s Madonna costume and smiles, “I love your costume, Tina. You look so good.”

“Thanks, babe,” Tina smiles, raising her solo cup to the girls.

After a beat, Tina groans and tells the two other girls, “Billy is so fine.” She gestures fanning herself, “God, look at his abs.”

“Isn’t he, Gina?” Carol nudges the brunettes shoulder and winks.

“Oh, shit, did you call dibs?” Tina’s eyes widen and Gina has to roll her eyes.

“No, Carol just wants to live vicariously through me. I’m not into him,” Gina explains and she’s met with two pairs of confused eyes.

“What do you mean you’re not into him?” Tina asks, “Do you need glasses? He’s literally sex on legs.”

“Tommy told her he’s off-limits,” Carol snorts, “but I say fuck him.”

Gina shakes her head, watching as they lift Billy up and he downs the beer from the tap. She remembers watching Steve do it all those times before and her heart aches.

“I’m not interested,” she insists.

“Well— I’m not gonna hold back,” Tina smiles, biting her lip.

“Go for it,” Gina says and hopes she doesn’t sound as bitter as she feels, “I’m gonna get myself a drink.”

She leaves the group and wanders inside, saying hi to classmates on the way until she finds herself in the kitchen and fills herself a cup of whatever toxic concoction is filling the punch bowl. It’s red and when she brings it to her nose, it burns her nostrils. Perfect. Gina absolutely loved alcohol. Maybe a little too much. But she had a handle on it, didn’t blackout aside from parties like this. She liked the way it burned down her throat and spread a warm, numb feeling across her chest. And Gina was pretty shy overall, she was nervous to talk to people but when she drank, the nerves slipped away and she was the biggest social butterfly on the planet. That’s how most of these people got to know her, she didn’t really talk to them at school. She kept close to her few friends, Tommy and Carol.

As Gina finishes her drink and pours herself another, she sees Nancy heading her way, Steve only steps behind her. Gina’s chest aches and she quickly moves away from the punch, rounds the counter in attempts to hide from them. She’s successful and from where she’s at, she can just see their torsos, the bar cabinet covers their faces. Nancy downs three cups consecutively and as she’s getting the fourth, Steve’s hands grab to stop her. They struggle for a minute but it ends up with bright red, alcoholic juice splashed on Nancy’s white cashmere sweater. Gina winces, there’s no way the stains coming out. Then Nancy storms off and of course, Steve’s chasing after her.

Seeing the brunette again brings all kinds of confusing feelings back for Gina. Steve had avoided parties once he and Tommy had their big fight. She’d only see him at school, in study hall where they sat next to each other. But these days, Steve didn’t even spare her a smile, a glance— anything. It was like Gina didn’t exist to him anymore. And feelings aren’t fun. So Gina wanders back outside, finds her group of friends. She wants to get wasted and forget about Steve like he forgot about her.

“So you still wanna teach me how to properly shotgun?” she asks Billy, the alcohol coursing through her makes her a lot less tense.

The blonde smiles wickedly at her, digging in the cooler for two cans of beer and hands one to her. He pulls out a pocket knife from his jeans and presses the blade to the aluminum, “Right here. Steady so the fucker doesn’t blow in your face and…” he trails off as he punctures the can and peels it open a bit with the blade before he hands it to Gina.

She does as he says, but she’s not as steady as he is and when she punctures the can, beer sprays out of it and all over her chin and white top. She squeals, dropping the can and looking up at Billy with her jaw hanging open.

“See?! I suck,” she whines and wipes her chin.

He cackles, “Maybe someone shook that can up. Here. Take this one.”

He hands her the can he had prepped and retrieves another, repeats his fluid motions and then slips the knife back in his pocket. “‘Kay, you’re just gonna bring it to your lips and pull the tab. I just kind of open my throat up and guzzle. Ya ready?”

Gina nods nervously, shaky hands bringing the punctured hole to her lips and pops the tab at the same time Billy does. It’s super cold going down, Gina can’t drink it nearly as fast as Billy can, he’s dropping the empty aluminum to the floor in seconds and she furrows her eyebrows as she looks at him, guzzling her beer down. When she pulls it away, he’s raising his eyebrows and grinning from ear to ear, pretty pearly whites on display. Gina melts a bit. Wants Billy to look at her like that more.

“Atta girl,” he praises and it goes straight between her legs, “You did it.”

She clears her throat, dropping the can as she wipes the sudsy liquid off her chin, “Not as fast as you.”

“Yeah, well, I’m the new keg king after all,” he winks and she giggles.

“Can I have a cigarette?” she asks, bouncing on her feet. Billy nods, pulls his pack out and grabs a smoke, brings it to his lips and lights it before handing it to Gina. He immediately lights himself one and nods his head over to a couple of outdoor chaise lounge chairs strewn across Tina’s front yard. Gina follows him to them, she sits down on one and fully expects Billy to take the other but he lounges on the one she takes, right between her legs and rests his head on her chest.

“It’s not like the parties back home but I’m having fun,” he says, looking up at Gina.

She smiles, slightly uncomfortable at his weight on her body but she doesn’t dare say anything. He’s warm, like a heater against her chest. He reeks of booze but there’s a hint of his cologne still there. She wonders if he feels as sticky as she does, with the beer splattered over both their chests. It’s kind of gross but Gina didn’t want to freak out and seem uncool.

“Me too,” she says. “thanks for teaching me how to shotgun.”

“Ahh, I have a feeling you’ve done it before,” he insists and he’s not wrong. Steve had shown her countless times but Billy doesn’t need to know that.

“Nope, I’m just good at opening my throat,” she explains and then realizes the unintended innuendo, her eyes widening.

“Oh, you are, are you?” Billy teases, wiggling his eyebrows.

“That sounded so wrong. I didn’t mean it like that,” she shakes her head frantically, cheeks flushed. “I just meant, I can— oh forget it.”

Billy just hums, she can hear the smile in it. She’s successfully mortified herself. Maybe she should cool it on the booze for a while. Though, Billy puts her right at ease, tilting his head up so he can look at her. The drunken smile on his face is very, very cute. She feels warm all over, a little floaty and genuinely happy. Until her mind gets the best of her again. Gina tries not to feel insecure, but she wonders how she looks from his angle.

“What are the parties like in California?” she tries to change the subject.

Billy takes a puff of his cigarette and she watches the smoke rise up and disappear, “Wild. People jumping off balconies, there’s usually live music but it’s never good. Just some assholes who think they're the next Motley Crue ‘cause they wear spandex and got guitars for Christmas. I used to go to punk shows a lot.”

“Punk?” Gina repeats, “You don’t seem the type.”

“Ah, I love punk music. The shows are something else. You get wasted and spend hours getting your ass beat in the mosh pit. Nothing more freeing,” he explains and sighs. “I take it there’s none here.”

“They might have some at The Hideout,” Gina offers, “Bands play there a lot.”

“Any good ones?”

“Not any I know,” Gina admits, though she’s never actually been to The Hideout on account that it’s a bar.

She’s incredibly tempted to run her fingers through Billy’s sweaty blonde curls. She wants to know if they’re as soft as they look or if they’re crunchy with mousse like hers.

“Maybe I can take you to a punk show, if they have ‘em,” Billy muses, sitting up and turning to face Gina.

“Maybe,” Gina smiles warmly, butterflies filling her stomach and her toes tingle. “It sounds like fun.”

“Yeah? Think you’d be thrashing around, knocking people out in the pit?” Billy cackles to which Gina rolls her eyes.

“Do you miss California?”

“No shit. This place sucks,” Billy snorts, “Nothing to do and trust me, this party is real fucking tame.”

Gina feels guilty, but she’s not sure why. It’s not her fault he hates Hawkins. Billy seems to notice her quick change in demeanor because he nudges his shoulder against hers and says, “You’re pretty cool, though. Even if you won’t do a keg stand.”

“It’s a boy thing,” Gina insists while blushing and Billy makes a confused face.

“What? No, it’s not a boy thing. You’re just scared,” he shrugs, smirk playing at the corner of his mouth.

“Am not.”

“Are to.”

“I just don’t think I could do it for long,” Gina shrugs.

“Well, yeah, there’s no way you’re beating my record. And I could’ve gone longer too, but those assholes pulled me down when I beat King Steve’s record,” he brags with a smirk, nudging Gina with his knee.

She tries not to falter at the mention of Steve. Even through his fall of grace, everyone still talks about him all the time. Even this new guy. It’s a little annoying. She wishes Steve would just disappear sometimes.

“Oh, I’m so sure,” she rolls her eyes, tossing her smoke when it’s down to the filter. Billy follows suit.

He slaps his thighs before standing, “Well, I need a beer. Ya coming?”

Gina nods, finds herself following him back to the hoard of teens surrounding the cooler. Carol’s there, getting a beer and when she sees Gina and Billy walking up together, she wiggles her eyebrows at the younger girl. Gina quickly looks around for Tommy and luckily, he’s nowhere to be found.

“Where’d you two run off to?” Carol inquires as she opens the beer, watching Billy retrieve two cans and handing one to Gina.

“For a smoke,” Billy explains, just as Tina bounces up and snakes her arm around his waist. She whispers something in his ear and he frowns, like he’s contemplating before he nods and saunters inside the house behind Tina.

Carol watches them with a disgusted look on her face before she says to Gina in a mocking tone, “Billy! Let me show you my room so I can suck you off.”

Gina shakes her head but smiles, her heart aches a bit but she gets distracted. A familiar face with floppy hair walks passed and he looks angry. Gina eyes follow him to his BMW, where he slams the door and peels out.

“Steve seems upset,” she mumbles softly, wanting nothing more than to be there to comfort him.

Carol snorts, “The princess left with fucking Byers. I’m sure he’s pissed.”

“Really? Oh, god. Poor Steve… I thought there wasn’t anything between Nancy and Jonathon,” Gina replies, eyes finding Carol again.

“Yeah, sure. Asshole is getting what he deserved. And with Nancy and Byers, I think there is,” Carol shrugs, “Come on, let’s go dance!”

The redhead grabs onto Gina’s hand and pulls her inside. They dance for a bit and it’s nice. Gina forgets about Billy and Steve for the time being. She downs a few more drinks, her inhibitions fly through the window and she becomes like a totally different person. Gina floats among groups, talking everyone’s ear that she can get ahold of off. It’s fun. She has so much fun at parties, except she never remembers the conversations she’s had.

She’s talking to someone from her English class, a boy who’s interested in her but right now, she can’t remember his name and she’s already asked him four times. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Billy walking towards her. He’s hard to miss, leather jacket without a shirt and his blonde mullet is tousled, a few curls sticking up and laying the way they’re not supposed to. He places his hands on Gina’s hips and whispers in her ear, “Smoke?”

Gina nods graciously at the idea. A cigarette sounds really good right now.

Billy looks to the gentleman she’s been talking to and grins, “Sorry. I’ve got to steal Miss Gina away. Hope you don’t mind, big boy.”

He pats the guys shoulder before he’s dragging her out the back door. Tommy and Carol are outside which is a bummer, especially when Billy abruptly pulls his hands away from Gina’s waist and tackles Tommy to the floor. They wrestle in the grass as the two girls watch them curiously.

Carol nudges her side, “Hargrove was getting real handsy with you just then.”

Gina sighs, “I’m pretty sure he and Tina just had sex. And it doesn’t matter! I don’t like him. He is very pretty, and funny, and really really nice but I don’t like him. I’m not allowed.”

Carol giggles, “You’re drunk.”

“Am not,” Gina slurs, taking a misstep and stumbling down to her knees. “Ow!” she whines, but lays on the grass, staring up at the sky.

Billy and Tommy lay on either side of her, giggling like they can’t control themselves. And since Gina’s also in a drunken stupor, she starts giggling too. Carol peers down at the three of them, an amused smile on her face.

“Tommy, come here,” she says, “I have something important to show you.”

The freckled boy shoots up quickly, following his girlfriend back inside the house. Carol did it on purpose, Gina’s sure. She wants her to spend alone time with Billy.

“Smoke,” Billy says, hands reaching into his pocket to retrieve his pack. He lights it for her before passing it, head turned to face Gina. He looks as drunk as she feels. Perhaps it’s not a great idea to lay here next to him in such a state. Inhibitions are low and Gina’s scared she’ll slip up and say something she shouldn’t. Or even worse, touch him.

“Thank you,” she sighs happily.

There’s a group of kids in the backyard with them but it feels like they’re alone. The kids are wrapped up in a conversation, it seems intense, whatever it is. If Gina wasn’t so drunk and focused on the muscular body lying next to her, she would try to listen in.

“You having fun?” he asks softly.

“Loads. I’m getting pretty sleepy, though,” she admits, turning on her side to look at Billy. He does the same, eyes scanning her face.

“We could crash right here. Sleep on the grass,” Billy mumbles, a smile twitching at his lips.

Gina giggles, “That wouldn’t be very comfy.”

He purses his lips, “I’m pretty comfortable.”

“We’d freeze,” she points out, bringing the cigarette to her lips and tilts her head to blow the smoke up.

“That’s probably true,” he admits and chuckles, “Maybe Tina has a blanket we could use.”

“I’m sure she’d just let you sleep in her bed,” Gina says, raising an eyebrow.

Billy makes a face, frowning and furrowing his eyebrows, “You sound jealous.”

“I’m not,” Gina reflects, shaking her head.

“Hmm,” Billy hums and cracks a smile, “I’m just messing with you.”

Gina shoves his shoulder and sits up, “They better hurry.”

Billy sits up beside her and snatches the cigarette, “I can take you home, if you want.”

“No, they’ll get upset if I just left and didn’t tell them,” Gina insists. “Thanks, though.”

“Is Tommy like super protective of you?” Billy asks.

Gina sighs and shrugs, “Sometimes? I try not to let him know my business. I think it just depends on if he’s bored or not. He beat up the first boyfriend I had in grade school.”

“What? Why?” Billy laughs.

“‘Cause he kissed another girl at recess and I cried,” Gina explains with a giggle.

“I’d do the same,” Billy muses.

“As my first boyfriend or as Tommy?”

“Tommy. My step sisters an annoying brat but I’d still punch any guy that hurt her,” he explains, stubbing his cigarette out.

“How long as she’s been your step sister?” Gina wonders.

Billy tilts his head, doing the math in his head, “Like four years? My dad started seeing Susan when I was 13, they got married kind of soon after.”

Gina wonders about his mom but she doesn’t want to prod too deep. She figures if he wants to tell her, he’ll do that.

“Huh,” Gina nods, “Well that’s sweet of you. A lot of brothers don’t care. Tommy and I have always been pretty close, though.”

“Yeah, I saw the photos in your hallway,” Billy says, “That’s cool. It’d be cool to have like real siblings.”

“Oh, god, those are so embarrassing,” Gina covers her face with her hands. She turns and looks at him, finding his comment about siblings a little odd. But she doesn’t know what it’s like to have step siblings. “So it was just you before your dad met her mom?”

“Yeah, just me and dad for a couple years,” he says but he sounds far away, like he’s in his head. He stands up and flicks his cigarette. Just then, Tommy and Carol come back outside.

“I think it’s about time we head out,” Carol says, “Billy, you okay to drive?”

Billy grins wide, “Peachy.” It’s a stark contrast to the stoic look he got on his face when talking about his family. Gina wants to know more because he seemed like something from his past hurt him. She can’t help but be curious, wants to know everything about him suddenly. It was like this mask fell and he was vulnerable for a second. Gina didn’t see that from men she knew. She hadn’t talked about feelings with one before but now she wants to know exactly what Billy's feeling and thinking. All of his secrets and memories.

Carol doesn’t look like she believes him so they compromise. The three of them follow Billy to Cherry Lane to make sure he gets home safe, Carol keeps repeating how impressed she is with his intoxicated driving during the ride. Cherry Lane is quite a distance away from Loch Nora and truly out of the way from where the Hagan’s live but the three of them want to make sure Billy’s gets home safe.

Billy pulls up this his house, parks the Camaro and struts over to the passenger window of Tommy’s car, where Tommy is hanging outside of.

“Safe and sound,” he says and pats the roof of the car. “See you at school, amigo,” he pinches the brunette boys nose, making him jolt back in his seat and swat at Billy’s hand.

“Asshole,” Tommy mumbles behind a laugh, rubbing his nose.

Billy leans down and looks at Carol and then at Gina in the backseat, “Bye, ladies.”

“Bye, Billy,” they chime at the same time before watching him walk up to the front door, unlocking it before sneaking inside.

Carol pulls off down the street, turning around back towards the Hagan house.

Gina gushes, “Billy’s so cool.”

“Yeah,” Tommy beams from the front seat, “He’s fucking badass.”

“And he’s so cute,” Gina slurs dreamily and sighs.

“No,” Tommy scolds, “I said no.”

Gina pouts the whole way home.

;;;

This hangover is one for the books. Gina managed to sleep a whopping four hours. Yet, she somehow managed to shower in the morning and get ready. She wore her most comfortable pair of jeans and her forest green Hawkins High sweatshirt. Her hair was a bit unruly but she already had a major headache, so a ponytail wasn’t a smart option.

When she makes it into the kitchen, she pours a glass of orange juice and sips it slowly. Her brother and Carol are eating a quick breakfast. Their parents have already left to take Bridgette to school. Which is good. Seeing her parents after a night of partying was the last thing she wanted.

Tommy still reeked of alcohol on the ride to school. And Carol drove, insisting that Tommy was still drunk.

Crazy enough, Billy looks good as new. Tight Levi’s and a white long-sleeve button up with his denim jacket. Gina tries not to drool. He leans against his Camaro, smoking a cigarette that he offers to Gina when they walk up.

She shakes her head, “I think I’ll barf if I have some.”

“Aw,” Billy pouts and asks in a teasing tone, “Hangover?”

“You're not?” she asks, bewildered and he shrugs.

“I don’t get hangovers,” he insists, taking another drag from his smoke as he looks over to her brother, probably taking note of his disheveled hair.

“I’m still drunk,” Tommy declares with a pleased smile to which Billy cackles.

“Just wait a few hours,” Carol snorts, “You’ll be hungover before ya know it, babe.”

Tommy frowns, reaches in his pocket and shows them the two whiskey shooters he has, “Nah, I’m gonna ride this until I have the sweet pleasure of my bed.”

Carol snatches the keys from Tommy’s other pocket, “In that case.”

Tommy doesn’t argue, he just shrugs and then snatches the cigarette from Billy. The blonde makes a face when Tommy gets close.

“You smell like a goddamn distillery, Hagan,” he quips and recoils back, pinching his nose.

Gina agrees, the whole drive to school was almost unbearable. Her stomach twisted and she had to focus on her breathing so she didn’t vomit from the smell of him.

“So, you hook up with Tina?” Tommy asks, wiggling his eyebrows and obviously trying to change the subject.

Billy smirks, shaking his head and says, “I don’t kiss and tell.”

“So you didn’t see her third nipple?” Tommy asks, frowning.

Billy’s face scrunches up, “She doesn’t have a third nipple.”

The freckled boy cackles, “Ha! So you did fuck her!”

Gina rubs her eyes, trying to mask the very intense jealousy she’s feeling. Carol’s laughing at Tommy’s trick but Gina can’t bring herself to. She’s just imagining Billy and Tina in bed and it’s making her even more sick to her stomach. She doesn’t want to feel jealous, knows she doesn’t really have a right to but she can’t help it.

“Shut up,” Billy rolls his eyes but he’s blushing, just barely. It’s kind of alarming to see.

“She’ll tell everyone,” Gina finally speaks up, “So like, no point in hiding it.”

She cringes a bit, the disdain is a little too apparent in her voice and her ears go hot at hearing herself. But she’s not wrong. Tina’s probably told the entire senior class already. And Hawkins is small, by the end of the day, even the middle school kids will know.

“I’m not hiding it,” Billy scoffs, “I just think it’s lame to brag about getting laid.”

“Hm,” Gina purses her lips, “I’m gonna head to class.”

She hurries towards the building, hoping none of them follow her because her heads pounding and she’s fuming with jealousy. She just wants to get the school day over with and crawl back into bed. The first four periods drag on. Particularly fourth period, which is the study hall she shares with Steve. They literally sit next to each other. If Gina leans over just enough, she can smell his shampoo. It smells like honey. She remembers shoving her face in it when they used to cuddle. Gina loved the smell of his hair and his skin.

However, that was long ago and she’s reminded of how much their relationship has changed during class. When she looks to Steve and their eyes meet, he quickly averts them and busies himself with his homework. It makes Gina’s heart ache. She wonders if he would just look her in the eye if things would change. She’d give anything to go back to how things were before Nancy Wheeler. Nothing made her feel the way she did when she was alone with Steve. He had this way of making her feel like she was the most special person. And the problem with that was how addictive it was. Gina was obsessed with Steve after the first time he kissed her and that never went away. She didn’t go a single day without thinking about him. So it stings when he acts like it’s painful to look at her.

She’s managed to go a whole two months of this treatment though. Today shouldn’t be any different. It’s probably because of the dumb jealousy she’s been harboring over Tina and Billy. A reminder of how Steve chose another woman. And well, Billy didn’t exactly choose Tina over her but she still didn’t like the thought of Billy with another woman. All throughout the day, she reminds herself how she really needs to suffocate her attraction to Billy. Nip it in the bud before she gets lovesick for two men who don’t want her.

It’s difficult when lunch comes around. Billy’s a full fledged member of their group now. Gina stands across from him, trying not to feel the effects of her hangover while they socialize. Tommy’s rambling about something or another, Gina can’t focus and he’s clearly drank both his shots of whiskey. All his words are slurred. She thinks he mentions something about ditching his last two classes to sleep in his car.

“You’re lucky you don’t have practice today,” Carol points out.

Tommy waves her off, “I could still play better than Harrington, blackout or sober.”

“Coach wants me to join,” Billy mumbles around his cigarette.

“Fucking do it!” Tommy cheers, jumping in place.

Billy cackles, looking at the freckled boy with amusement. Everyone agrees with Tommy and they all look at Billy expectantly.

“Baseball’s my thing but basketball is fun. I’m thinking about it,” he explains with a shrug.

Gina kicks the toe of her Ked against his motorcycle boot and their eyes meet, “You should.”

“Okay,” he smiles, “I’ll talk to coach.”

The moment between them is quickly interrupted by Tina swaying between the group of kids and sandwiching herself between Billy and Tommy. She leans her side on Billy and whispers something in his ear. The blondes eyebrows raise and he snorts, shaking his head. Gina turns her attention away, not being able to stomach the sight of them.

[the-banana-0verlord]

i've been thinking about it a lot so here's the history of future mallilian:

🌹Lilian graduates of NRC at 19 years old after doing an internship as Trein's assistant. Malleus graduates at 180 years old with an internship as a helper for queen Maleficia.

🌹Lilian goes on a trip across twisted wonderland accompanied by Grim. She goes to visit her old NRC friends. She travels a year, she is now 20.

🌹Lilian returns to her job as Trein's assistant permanently. The man is getting old, he cannot work alone anymore. During that time, she works to make Ramshackle an official dorm. She also exchanges letters with Malleus.

🌹 Lilian is 24. She and Malleus unite through marriage.

🌹 3 years later, an egg is conceived through magic. Lilian takes care of it alongside Malleus as she can, but doubt is still lingering. If she cannot provide magic to the egg, will her child perceive her as it's mother?

🌹 Lilian is 29. The egg hatches, and two baby dragons come out. One is a girl, named Malice, and ressembles her father in all aspects. The other is a boy, named Malverne, and has his mother's eyes. And they love both their parents.

🌹 Lilian is 30. Trein goes into retiring, and she takes his place. Using the dark mirror, she comes back to her family each night.

🌹The kids are half-human, so they grow up twice as fast as Malleus did. Malverne is a mama's boy, and Malice gets doted on by her father. Lilian grows older by the day and her husband, who hasn't changed, starts to worry.

🌹Malverne and Malice are now mentally twelve years old. They receive the news their mother died peacefully in her sleep. Their father locks himself in his room for a month. For the first time in their many years of existence, they feel truly alone.

🌹As an hommage, Ramshackle is finally open as the eight Night Raven College dorm. It is based on the Beast Tamer's bravery.

🌹Malverne and Malice are both 95 years old. They attend NRC. Malice is sorted into Pomefiore, and Malverne into Diasomnia. They retrace the steps their mother took, and listen to the ghost's stories about her time at the school. They feel closer to her than they ever did before.

🌹Malice stares at her mother's statue, standing right beside's the other seven on main street. She envies her brother for being the closest to their mother, even though she knows she loved them the same.

🌹 The twins graduate, their father becomes king. They shall remember the past and thrive for the future.

[starandcloud]

Little girl

Dad!Dagur x Daughter!reader

How To Train Your Dragon Mainlist

Mainlist

Dagur, he was an evil evil person. Reigning terror on every town he came across so... his disappearance set Hiccup on edge. and he'd sound crazy if he said he felt relief seeing those familiar sails.

Toothless's massive body landed on the ship and Hiccup got off, his metal leg tapping against the wood as he walked.

"Well well... I was beginning to think that you died Dagur."

Hiccup asked, a smile on his lips.

"Oh Hiccup... Do you think tha-" "DADDY!"

A little voice cut him off as a little girl rushed from behind some barrels and bounced on her toes, stars in her eyes as she stared at Hiccup.

"DaddyDaddyDaddyDaddyDaddyDaddyDaddyDaddyDaddyDaddyDaddyDa-" "Yes Sweetheart?"

Dagur asked, ever so slight annoyed with his daughter.

"Is that Hiccup?"

She loudly whispered making the dragon rider's curious and Hiccup cock his head to the side.

"Yes now, please go back to your hi-" "DRAGANS!!"

Her voice rang out as she excitedly screamed and rushed towards the massive beasts, her father right behind her.

"Nonononononono Sweetheart we talked ab- get back he- do not-"

A sharp exhale came from Dagur as he chased the small girl around the ship, trying to avoid her getting hurt.

"Y/N." "NO!"

The little girl screamed at the sound of her name as she rushed right into Toothless. She stared up at the massive Dragon, who stared right back at her. She reached up and patted the dragon.

"pat pat pat, good dragan..."

She whispered as Toothless lowered his head, her little hands touched his face and...

"DADDY NO!"

She screamed as Dagur picked her up and glared at her, she held her ground and pouted as she crossed her chubby little arms.

"Dragan." "Y/N, you nee-" "Dragan Daddy." "Yes I-" "DRAGANS DADDY!" "No, what would your dragan..."

Dagur fumbled before taking a deep breath.

"Dragon. What would your Dragon think?"

She looked down at Toothless and fell quiet before smiling.

"BABY!"

She yelled before bursting into giggles, Dagur's head fell back as he put her down and let his head repeatedly fall against the mast of his ship. Seemingly forgetting about Hiccup and the other rider's presence.

"So... You have a kid how old is she?"

Hiccup asked as giggles filled the air.

"Three..."

Dagur whispered as he turned to watcher her carefully, his arms crossed as he watched her play with the dragons.

"So when you disappeared it was..." "Because of her. Yeah, she was born three years, eight months, and two days ago... She was born on the only warm day of the year..."

He then went silent, watching his daughter play with the dragons and the other dragons. She was his pride and joy, and all he really had left from his life before. He had changed everything for that little girl, and he never once thought about going back.