#I think my mom already thinks I’m gay I don’t need my dad now

[lost-my-dragon]

A helmet party Wip my dad almost walked in on me drawing

[theres-whump-in-that-nebula]

I’m really starting to feel like Gregor Samsa now

[feeder86]

The Neighbor's Boy

“So, do you want to tell us what the fuck is going on?” laughed Martin as Nick’s new boyfriend headed away to the bathroom.

Nick smirked and sat back in the chair, filling his broad, muscular chest with air and looking around at all the chubby boys’ expressions. “What?” he teased, pretending not to know what they were all so surprised about. “Duncan’s a nice guy.”

“But you don’t date nice guys,” Martin countered. “In order to date nice guys, you need to be a nice guy yourself.”

“Ouch!” Nick chuckled, enjoying his bad boy status with the guys. Despite his kind eyes and pretty face, Nick was never without an ulterior motive. “That hurt!” he lied, looking around and seeing even the guy behind the bar checking him out. “I’ll have you know that lots of people think I’m a very ‘nice’ person!”

“That’s because they don’t know you like we do,” Ben contributed, looking around at all of the other chubs in their circle. “And I bet sweet little Duncan doesn’t even know you’re a feeder, does he?”

Nick raised an eyebrow and smiled. “Of course he doesn’t.”

The chubs all looked at each other disapprovingly, despite the kinky thrill they secretly felt. Each one of them owed a good few pounds of their own blubbery physiques to Nick and his incredible ability to arouse them whilst they ate for him; the best and most skilled feeder they had ever come across. “You’re not going to fatten up him are you?” Martin asked. “Not without him knowing?”

“I’ve already started,” Nick laughed. “I got seven thousand calories in him the other day and he barely even noticed.”

“Nick!” Ben sighed. “That’s not cool!”

“I am what I am!” Nick sniggered unapologetically. “I see a little skinny shit like Duncan and my dick tells me I’ve got to feed him until he’s got some decent tits and a proper double chin on him!”

“Why him, though?” Ian asked. “He seems so sweet and innocent.”

Nick shrugged. “My parents were trying to set me up, saying they were sick of all the ‘mysterious guys’ I seemed to date,” he laughed. “Duncan’s family lived on my parents’ street and he’s just come back from college. I remember him as the little gay kid that used to stare out of the window whenever I was mowing my parents’ lawn shirtless at the end of high school,” he smirked, having been the focus on many sexual fantasies for several years now. “I didn’t have much to do with Duncan back then. He’s a couple of years younger than me. But Duncan’s dad was the fattest guy on our street, so of course I had a crush on him growing up. Now his mom is quite friendly with my mom and they’re trying their best to get us together.” he laughed at the idea. These fat boys knew him best in the whole world. Anyone with a real sense of who Nick really was would keep their handsome sons far away from him. “I thought dating Duncan would be a great opportunity to show my parents that they need to keep their noses out of my love life.”

“So, you’re dating him and secretly fattening him up to teach your parents a lesson about interfering?” Martin asked, exasperated.

“Pretty much,” Nick nodded. “Once they see the boy sprouting a little gut, they’ll soon realise the mistake they’ve made. It won’t take any of them long to work out who was responsible. I am a feeder after all…,” he whispered, spotting Duncan making his way back from the bathroom and sitting back up again. “That sounds incredible!” Nick lamented, as if they had been discussing something completely different the entire time.

“What does?” Duncan asked curiously, assuming that the boys were in the middle of a riveting conversation.

“Martin was just saying about this amazing donut place we need to try out later,” Nick lied. 

“Oh, yeah?” Duncan smiled over at Martin. “Sounds good. I love donuts.”

The boys all looked at each other guiltily, none of them willing to sound the alarm bells to Nick’s new lover; now all equally complicit in the whole wicked business.

“Your friends are so great,” Duncan smiled, getting into the back of the cab whilst holding the large box of donuts Nick had bought him.

“And they really liked you,” Nick smiled, taking the box from him and ripping it open for Duncan to try one. 

“They’re not at all how I imagined,” Duncan replied, nibbling on one without a second thought. “I remember you always hung out with the jock crowd in high school.”

Nick smirked to himself. Clearly Duncan hadn’t even recognised Martin as being one of those high school jocks he used to hang out with; now a full one hundred and sixty pounds fatter than in those days, thanks to him. “I choose my friends based upon how fun they are, rather than how they look,” he lied innocently, already picking up and handling Duncan’s next donut.

“I really like that about you,” Duncan smiled. “You’re so perfect,” he whispered, before the pair kissed gently.

Nick stroked his lover’s hair as the third and fourth donuts mindlessly disappeared down Duncan’s throat during their short journey back to his place. Duncan was the son of a fatty alright. That greed was inside there, waiting to be enabled. “Perhaps…” he teased, closing the lid on the donut box, “you could eat the rest of these off my dick when we get back?”

Duncan nodded keenly. Nick had started introducing food into their foreplay last week and it had gone down well ever since. It was so obvious that Dunan had been fantasising about being with Nick since he was a teenager and first realised he was gay. It was almost pathetically simple to make him climax and he’d slipped into a more submissive role in the bedroom with ease. 

The naive boy kissed his manipulative lover, not even realising that the guy was adding up all his calories and hoping that today could be a new record.

Over the next few weeks, Duncan became a sucker for the romance: the hand holding, Nick sitting him on his knee and holding him prtotectively around the waist. The guy’s friends thought that Nick was the sweetest man on Earth; his mother made up that Duncan had found someone so openly affectionate. It all helped to mask the gradual softening that was happening all over Duncan’s body; the glutes swelling just a little more each time Nick ploughed his dick between them.

“You got your protein shake?” Nick asked as the pair of them headed off to the gym, where Duncan would spend the majority of his time spotting Nick on the weights and lifting the bare minimum himself. Yet, he would still flush down Nick’s bespoke shake, filled with creams, oils and powders for a truly staggering daily calorie overdose.

Duncan nodded. He’d never been in such a thrilling relationship as this; never experienced a kinky fuck in the cubicles after a workout at the gym, nor been lavished with such open affection in any of his previous romances. The love, the pampering, the endless sex acting as the perfect smoke screen for what was actually happening beneath the surface. Duncan simply threw the shake into his gym bag and then followed his lover out without a second thought.

Dating Duncan was having its advantages. Having parents who were quietly very comfortable had always given Nick a fair amount of entitlement. However, despite never going without as he was growing up, his parents had given him a large dose of tough love once he left college. The easy line of credit had been cut off and Nick’s parents had decided he needed to make it on his own in order to learn the true value of things. Now their hard approach seemed to be easing, given how pleased they were to see him dating someone they approved of so much. In the last month alone, they had thrown a whole heap of cash at repairs for the sports car they had bought Nick for his twenty-first, as well as transferring plenty of money to pay for a romantic getaway in the mountains. The purse strings were well and truly opened again.

“Do you think I’ve put on weight?” Dunan asked, rubbing his stomach in the mirror one evening as he got up to get a glass of water.

Nick managed to keep a straight face. The answer was more than obvious from the direction he was looking: doughy glutes, swollen thighs and budding love-handles; Duncan was well and truly morphing into a chub. “Of course,” Nick replied. “Your shoulders look much bigger after all those workouts,” he lied.

“No, not that,” Duncan shot back, studying his stomach and pinching a little. “Do you think I’m getting fat?”

Nick got up and slipped off his underwear. He’d been considering how best to answer this question for some time. “Why don’t I take a look?” he smiled teasingly, letting his hardness press between Duncan’s butt cheeks; its second home. “Mmm, yes!” he moaned. “There’s definitely an improvement back here,” he whispered.

“An improvement?” Duncan asked in surprise.

“Of course!” Nick whispered. “You like getting fucked, right?” 

Duncan nodded; his own dick starting to stiffen as his muscular boyfriend started to slap lubricant between his cheeks.

“Well, guys like me always prefer to fuck a guy with a little more meat back here.” He pressed himself inside and moaned with appreciation and he swayed his hips into action. “Mmm, fuck!” he sighed, watching as Duncan’s arousal grew even as he had just admitted to him that he was indeed starting to get chubby.

“You really like it?” Duncan whispered back just as Nick’s lubricated hand slipped onto his dick at the same time. “You’re not just saying that?”

Nick continued thrusting as if his lust prevented him from doing anything else. “You want me to enjoy fucking you, right? Can’t you feel how extra hard my dick is today?” he breathed into Duncan’s ear.

Duncan moaned in arousal.

“I’m going to finish so fast…” Nick added next, holding his boyfriend’s hardness at the same time and sensing that he had absolute control of the situation. “Keep spreading those big, delicious butt cheeks for me!”

Duncan leaned forward and pressed himself into Nick’s groin, submitting himself more than he knew..

“Well, boys… what do you think?” Nick asked after sending Duncan off to buy some cotton candy as the rest of them meandered around the funfair.

Nick’s chubby friends all looked at each other, then back at Duncan’s enlarged rear as he queued up by the stall. “I can’t believe he hasn’t even noticed yet,” Ben replied.

Nick sighed in frustration. These fatties really didn’t understand anything. “Of course he’s noticed, you idiot!” he growled. “You can’t gain thirty-five pounds and not notice! Not when you’re as skinny as Duncan used to be!”

“Thirty-five pounds?” Martin asked. “Is it really that much?”

“Easily,” Nick chuckled. He could estimate a guy’s weight better than anyone else he had ever met. “And not an ounce of it has been muscle!” he smirked. “Just take a look at those love handles if you don’t believe me.”

“How the fuck are you still getting away with this?” Ian asked, bewildered as he saw Duncan scratching his stomach in the queue for cotton candy.

“Easy,” Nick shrugged. “Bombard a simple boy with pure pleasure, then sit back and watch. It’s really not rocket science. All boys are pigs if you know what you’re doing. And, you know me, I’ve never struggled to put weight on anyone before; as I’m sure your blubbery thighs can attest to,” he winked at Martin.

“You’re playing a dangerous game,” Adam jumped in. “How much longer until he works out what you’re really up to and dumps you?”

Nick looked over at Duncan in the queue and waved sweetly. “I’d say I’ve got at least another fifty pounds or so before that happens,” he chuckled to the boys. “The greedy little fucker is hardly the brightest I’ve ever come across.”

Without even realising it, the other guys were a great help to increase Duncan’s calories that day. Collectively, they gorged and snacked the entire time as Nick sat back and watched. It was what he loved best about feeding. It wasn’t just about stuffing someone until they nearly puked; it was about the long term training and habit-forming he had programmed into all of them, ensuring that they ate, almost mindlessly, the entire time.

“I’ve got such a boner after watching you eating that hot dog…” Nick whispered to Duncan later that evening, adjusting his pants. “You were practically deep throating it,” he teased.

Duncan grinned. ”Well, you know how good I am at taking something long and thick into my mouth…” he teased back, thinking he knew the game that his lover was playing. He believed he was being playful and seductive, yet he was so far off the mark, it was laughable.

“Here,” Nick smiled, slipping Duncan a note. “Go get yourself another… I want to watch your mouth work and imagine what you’re going to do to me later,” he lied, patting Duncan on his doughy little rear. “Then, when we get home, I’m going to pull out the whipped cream and make you lick it all off me!”

Duncan raised his eyebrows and smiled with excitement. Then, off he went to do as he was told, nursing his own semi at the same time.

It was only in the pictures from that day that Nick really noticed how well Duncan’s double chin was starting to come in. Duncan had never exactly been on a par with him, looks-wise. But with the arrival of the chin and the bloated middle, at last Nick felt like he was dating a real chub once more, sending his arousal into overdrive. He found more and more cunning ways to ensure Duncan continued to overeat and, as the holidays arrived, Duncan had let himself go even more than Nick had ever expected. Suddenly, all those sweatpants Nick had quietly been adding to Duncan’s wardrobe began paying off; the larger shirts and cute underwear that would have been far too big for the guy back when they first got together.

“I’m thinking of asking Duncan to move in with me,” Nick explained to his parents one evening. This wasn’t the sort of life decision he usually made with his parents, but considering how much they were into this relationship, their support was bound to come with a nice big cheque for something or other.

Nick’s mother breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s wonderful news!” she beamed. “I thought you were going to tell us something else then!” she laughed, looking across at Nick’s dad.

“Like what?” Nick asked, curious.

“I thought you were about to tell us that it was all over between you both!” she chuckled, still looking nothing but relieved. “We noticed that Duncan’s put on a few pounds recently and we thought… Uh oh! Nick’s not going to be happy about that.”

“You thought I would finish with Duncan just because he’s gained a few pounds?” Nick asked, realising just how little his parents actually understood him. How many of his chubby boyfriends had they met in the past? “You really think I’m that shallow?” he asked, pretending to feel hurt. That was, until his parents finally offered to consider buying one of the new condos by the river for Nick and Duncan to live in together; so much more convenient than the poky little apartment Nick was in right now.

The chubs were shocked when Nick told them his plans. Adam, in particular, thought he was taking things too far. Sure, Nick had some fun fattening up his boyfriend when they were dating, but moving in with Duncanwould be entirely different. Now he would be able to manipulate everything that Duncan ate all day and all night long. And, from the horny way that Nick spoke about it, it was clear that he was going to take advantage of every opportunity that came his way.

“You really sneak all this stuff into his food?” Adam asked, gazing at the hidden supplies in the cupboard.

“Pretty much,” Nick nodded, smiling as he looked around his new kitchen. “Have you seen these?” he asked, picking up a pair of Ducan’s freshly washed work pants from the laundry basket. “Thirty eight inch waist already!”

“I’m guessing these are his as well?” Martin asked, picking up a jock strap.

“Absolutely!” Nick laughed. “You should see the way they cut into the little pig’s love handles! It never fails to make me explode!”

“Jeez! Look at all this shit!” Ben cried as he opened the refrigerator.

Nick’s face lit up again and his eyes twinkled with devilment as Ben pulled out one fattening product and ingredient after another. “Fat boy is living the dream, right?” he smiled. “And check out this!” he blasted, opening the freezer drawer and extracting a giant tub of ice cream. “Liquid gold, this stuff!” he joked. “The pig can’t resist it and it puts weight on him like nothing else. You wait until you see him. He’s like you, Adam. A similar sort of shape when you started getting fat; a tight, stout little belly. And his face! Oh my goodness! It’s just suddenly started looking chubby as fuck! Do you remember when it happened to you, Martin? Your face and cheeks seemed to just blow up? In less than a week you looked totally different. It’s exactly the same with Duncan right now.”

The chubs all looked at each other. Nick had been there during each one of their initial forays into gaining, and he was the reason why each of them continued to relish putting on more and more weight, even now.

“So this is where the magic happens?” Ian asked, as he was led into Nick and Duncan’s new bedroom.

Nick shook his head and laughed. “The magic happens wherever I want it to happen,” he boasted. “We may have only been here four weeks, but there’s no room or flat surface I haven’t fucked my little piggy on.”

The chubs all pulled a face, pretending to be repulsed by Nick’s crudeness, despite the arousal that they actually felt. Each one of them had been fucked and fed by him during their time. That was, before Duncan came along.

By the time Duncan arrived home from work, there was a wealth of take out on offer in the lounge, with Nick standing up brightly to greet his lover whilst the four chubby guys were draped over the sofas like bloated seals. After hugging him, Nick stood back and allowed the eyes of the chubs to check Duncan out. He could see their eyes wandering to exactly where he wanted: Duncan’s chubby chin, his pot belly and broader butt. How exciting it was to show him off like this! Nick fussed about him, fetching him a plate and a cool beer whilst he settled down with the other boys.

Grazing was one of Duncan’s weaknesses. A large buffet dinner like this always resulted in him eating more than usual. Even as the pizzas and chicken pieces went cool, the boy was still nibbling away as he chatted. He slipped off his tie and supped on the beer until a little opening formed between the buttons on his shirt, a tight bloat starting to take hold of his portly stomach.

“I’m hoping I can pull a few strings and get Duncan a new job with one of my friends,” Nick commented next, as Duncan began complaining about his boss. “He works so hard and just gets more and more responsibilities piled on top of him without any extra pay. It’s not fair.”

“I’ve got my fingers crossed,” Duncan nodded in agreement. “A new job would be so handy right now. As much as I like being able to walk to work, I think I’m ready for a change.”

The chubs all eyed Nick knowingly. Was this yet another cunning way to ensure that Duncan got the least amount of exercise possible? Back in the early days, Nick had manipulated all their lifestyles in a similar fashion, and their waistlines had rapidly paid the price. It burned the question in all their minds: Just how much further could Nick take this gain?

“You’ve been to the gym already?” Duncan asked a couple of weeks later as he groggily rubbed his eyes one Saturday morning.

“Of course I have,” Nick smiled, pumping his bicep. “It was chest day. You know that’s my favorite!” he winked, ripping off his compression shirt and throwing his muscular body down onto the bed with his now easily 240lb boyfriend. He kissed him keenly until he could feel Duncan really getting into it. That was the moment he pulled out. “I’m going to make you some breakfast,” he teased,” reaching his hand onto the boy’s wider rear, “then I’m going to fuck you silly…” he growled.

“Does it have to be in that specific order?” Duncan smiled back, throwing his leg over and spreading his naked butt so temptingly, as if he didn’t understand how, these days, his oversized, wobbly glutes would have put most guys off. Duncan was not the cute little thing he used to be.

Nick growled in lust, sliding his hand onto the boy’s butt and slapped it playfully, watching the fresh blubber ripple. “Breakfast first,” he smiled, resisting temptation, jumping back up energetically to start frying things up for his underexercised lover.

A few weeks later, Nick’s buddy, Martin, had met him in town for lunch. Ever since the pair had dated in high school, the guy had slowly been swelling up fatter and fatter. After understanding their shared attraction to weight gain, Nick had been the one to draw it out of him, with those initial sixty pounds being down to his own hard work and dedication to the cause. It was where Nick had learned his craft as a feeder; utilising the knowledge he had acwuired with the many, many gainers he had fattened up since.

Despite Martin’s athletic beginnings on the football team, there was not a trace of it left any longer. The guy was surprisingly pear shaped and soft all over; with every part of him coated in blubber. Martin had hit three hundred and fifty pounds last year and was still continuing to balloon up with the help of several other feeders Nick had sent his way. As usual, he was wearing clothes that appeared far too tight; his drooping stomach starting to show itself underneath his too-short t-shirt. Nick enjoyed standing back and watching the looks his friend got as they walked around together; his very favourite hobby.

“You know, I almost forgot how much I LOVE a giant fat ass on a guy,” Nick rambled as the pair of them walked to a free bench at the park. “Duncan had almost no ass at all when I asked him out. Then it started getting nice and peachy, and I thought I was so turned on by it; like my dick was never going to be flaccid ever again! But now…” he swooned, turned on just to be saying these things aloud. “...Now it’s properly FAT! Like two doughy mounds of lard! You should see the way it jiggles and moves; how wide it’s getting and how it’s spreading out! Fuck, man!”

“Hence the doughnuts,” Martin chuckled, motioning to the little bag of premium treats Nick had just picked up to take home with him later. “You do realise there are a lot more calories in the regular ones Duncan eats?” he reminded his friend.

Nick shrugged. “Duncan tends to prefer these ones. I know they’re a lot more expensive, but my little fat ass is definitely worth it,” he laughed.

“So it’s finally happened then!” Martin smirked, breathing a sigh of relief as they made it to the bench. “I never got expensive treats like those when we dated. You’re so fucked now, you know that, right?”

Nick turned in surprise. “Fucked?” he asked, furrowing his eyebrows. “Because I spent extra money on donuts?”

“I’ve seen this coming for months. The way you are around Duncan; finishing his sentences and fussing after him. You’ve properly fallen in love, haven’t you? Nick Bowlins: the feeder with a heart of stone, has actually fallen for one of his fatties!”

Nick shook his head. “No. It’s not like that at all!” he shot back, surprisingly offended by the idea. “I know this isn’t a long-term thing. I’ve been secretly fattening him for months waiting until he finally realises and dumps me. I headed into this with realistic expectations.”

“And that’s what makes this all the more tragic,” Martin laughed. “You’ve schemed yourself into a corner. You even pulled all those strings to make sure your friend got him that new job. You’ve played your games and ensured he piles on the weight, but you know he’ll never forgive you once he figures it all out. And when that happens, he’s going to break your little heart.”

“I’m not discussing this,” Nick stated, standing up and checking his watch for the time.

“Ouch! I’ve touched a nerve!” Martin sang with delight. “This is pure karma you realise? Secretly fatten up your boyfriend’s ass and you’re going to end up getting bitten on yours!”

Nick rolled his eyes and started walking off. He hated how jealous Martin was these days, now that they didn’t casually fuck like they used to. Although Nick hadn’t entered into a relationship with Duncan with the intention of staying monogamous, that was exactly what had happened. He just hadn’t wanted to be with anyone else. So, how would he feel when all this was over? Because Martin was right about one thing: this whole relationship was definitely heading for an inevitable conclusion. Maybe Nick would be the one who came off worse.

“You know I love you, right?” Nick asked, cuddling Duncan extra tight as he spooned him in bed the next morning.

Duncan chuckled softly and rubbed Nick’s strong arms that held him so firmly. “I know,” he replied, smiling happily. “I love you too.”

Despite the raging hard-on Nick had, pressed up against Duncan’s soft glutes, he tried his best to resist heading straight to sex and just enjoyed the moment. Who knew how many more mornings like this they had together?

“I’m heading for a shower if you want to join?” Duncan asked, slipping out from under the covers and standing there naked. His blubbery body was so intoxicating. Nick hadn’t been able to resist spoiling him with take-out last night and, as a result, the guy’s nipples finally looked like they were ready to start the eventual droop onto that rounded little gut that was swelling out of him. Was the guy really so oblivious that he didn’t realise how overweight he was getting? Did he really not know that, to the average person, his lardy physique was never going to entice anyone the way he was now trying to entice Nick to follow him into the shower. Bounce, bounce, bounce went those overfilled glutes as he strutted out, confident that Nick would follow; the jiggle of fat in his love handles surprisingly out of sync with the rest of his body. But Nick was so hard; his devious brain having already concocted several ways he could ensure Duncan was gorged on calories all day long. He simply wouldn’t be able to stop himself, even if he tried.

“Wait for me!” he called out, throwing the covers off and following the little piglet into the bathroom.

Many of the strategies Nick had employed to increase Duncan’s weight in the early days were now thoroughly ingrained and trained into him. Nick sat back and watched the naive boy guzzle down his breakfast and then mindlessly wander around the kitchen cupboards for snacks. The boy’s life had been so ridiculously food focused for months now, he initiated his own conversations about where they should go for lunch and talked excitedly about the little bakeries and food places they could stop at along the way. Nick almost wished that he would stop; his dick swelling with blood each and every time Duncan’s well developed greed reared its ugly head in their conversations.

“You’re starting to look like your father!” Duncan’s mother grumbled as they called in one afternoon; her son’s stomach surprisingly rounded and bloated after the sushi lunch he had insisted upon.

Right before Duncan’s dad had taken up with another woman and moved to New York about seven years ago, an eighteen year old Nick had developed the biggest crush on him: the fattest man in their neighborhood. Since then, Duncan’s mother had bitterly sworn off men and neither she, nor Duncan, had had any contact with him since. But the comparison with Duncan’s father now made Nick’s heart race as he took in just how justified it was. Ducan did indeed carry all the weight in the same way; his stomach and butt pushing outwards in completely the opposite directions. 

Duncan rolled his eyes, shielded from all the criticism by the many false and exaggerated compliments Nick had filled his head with for almost eighteen months now. “Did you notice that tiny little portion mom gave me?” he complained as they both got back into the car after staying for dinner. “I think she’s trying to put me on a diet herself!”

The pair of them laughed and waved as they pulled out of the driveway.

“You don’t think I’ve gotten too fat do you?” Duncan asked, clearly second guessing himself after the visit.

“I think you’re gorgeous,” Nick growled, swerving the question and pulling Duncan’s hand onto his erection, as if providing evidence to that effect. He’d planned for them both to stop at his own folks’ place before heading home, but his arousal had got the better of him. He felt an ache in his balls and needed to get his fat boy back as soon as possible.

“Can we order Mexican tonight?” Duncan asked; his greedy mind still hijacked by thoughts of food.

“We’ll get you whatever you want,” Nick smiled back, taking one hand from the wheel to rub his lover’s chubby thigh. Oh, how he loved this boy!

Over the following months, Nick’s usual compliments started sounding more and more ironic. He still lamented about Duncan’s butt, calling it ‘cute’ and ‘pert’ like he always had, despite the monstrous width and shape it had developed. He referred to Duncan as his ‘pretty boy’ even though the chubby cheeks had enveloped many of his old facial features and the double chin had robbed him of a jawline for quite some time. Time and time again, he made note of Duncan’s strength and manly physique, even as the pounds and pounds of blubber encased his upper arms and surged into his nipples, making them bounce as he walked. It was almost amusing that Duncan still believed each and every one of them. Then again, was it a lie when Nick really meant what he said? Big and bloated as it was, Duncan’s butt was still the cutest thing Nick had ever seen. Sure, the boy’s face was round and plump, but did that mean he wasn’t pretty anymore? Definitely not!

“I can’t believe you’re still getting away with this shit!” laughed Adam as they all met up for a meal at a fancy buffet restaurant closer to the holidays. Duncan’s gut had swollen significantly since many of the boys had seen him last summer; all of them gazing at the boy from the table as he greedily trotted around the dishes on offer. “I have to hand it to you. I never thought you would get this far with him.”

Nick nodded and smiled, but didn’t feel the need to comment.

“What is he now?” Ben asked, inspecting Duncan’s broad rear as he turned around. “Two-eighty?”

“No way! That’s a three hundred pounder if ever I’ve seen one!” Ian jumped in, laughing when Duncan’s shirt came untucked as he hungrily reached over to pick up some garlic bread.

Nick nodded once again, silently wishing for Duncan to hurry back to the table and end this speculation. All it would take would be for one of them to say something too loudly and Duncan would overhear. Then the entire house of cards would come crashing down.

The chubs all seemed to notice Nick’s silence and they looked at each other in confusion. Where had that wicked, boastful feeder they all knew so well gone?

“Leave him be, boys,” Martin whispered to the others. He probably knew, just as well as the rest did, that this was likely Nick and Duncan’s last holiday season together. 

The chair squeaked as Duncan sat himself down again. His plate was piled high; the food glistening with grease and butter. He reached for his knife and fork. Since when had his hands become so chubby and full; his fingers swelling like short little sausages.

“Nick wants to take me away on a cruise next year,” Duncan told the boys later on as the conversation progressed. “Somewhere warm so that we can just lie by the pool and enjoy some drinks in the sun.” “How lovely!” Adam grinned. “All those fantastic restaurants to visit throughout the day; all that delicious food…” he smirked, looking over in Nick’s direction. “What a thoughtful boyfriend you have!”

Nick felt more uncomfortable than ever, wriggling in his seat. In truth, he’d drifted away from the boys for just this reason, knowing that these subtle little comments about his feeder intentions were one day going to land in Duncan’s mind. Then, everything would unravel. “I just thought it would be nice,” he replied softly, rubbing his lover’s bulging thigh under the table.

“That’s what everyone always says about you,” Ben agreed sarcastically. “Nick Bowlins: a real ‘nice’ guy!” he winked.

Nick swallowed hard and forcefully steered the conversation in an entirely new direction. He felt so grateful as the evening ended and it was just him and Duncan back in the car, heading back home.

“I think I’ve still got some of that nice ice cream left in the freezer,” Duncan pondered, despite how much he had consumed that evening. “I’ll have it when I get home.”

Once again, Nick’s erection sprang to life, despite the guilt he felt. For the first time, he wished that his brain wasn’t wired the way it was. Why did he have to get off on how greedy and well trained his boyfriend had become to eat everything he provided? Why couldn’t he just be normal, like everyone else? Why did this secret have to loom over them like a dark, angry cloud?

The rain was falling hard as they made it back to the apartment block that evening, both of them running from the parking lot to the front entrance. A large man stood outside, looking drenched and miserable as he tried in vain to get a response on the intercom to one of the apartments upstairs.

“Can I help you?” Nick asked, letting the man come into the main hallway and out of the downpour.

The man lowered his hood and breathed out, rubbing his fat face and beard,soaked from the rain. Nick recognised him immediately and he could tell from the way that Duncan took a step back that he had just had the shock of his life. There, standing before them both was Duncan’s long estranged father.

“Your aunt said it was a nice apartment you have,” the big man beamed as he followed them both upstairs a few minutes later. “I have to say, she was absolutely right! This was all just wasteland when I was last in town.”

Nicked fetched the man a towel and took his jacket off. Although it had been many years since he had seen Duncan’s father, Eddie, he was surprised at how impressively large the man had become in that time, easily close to being five hundred pounds, if not more.

“What do you want?” Duncan asked, sitting himself down on the couch. “Why show up here after all this time? Is Michelle not with you?”

“Michelle’s at home in New York,” Eddie replied, referring to the woman he had left Duncan’s mother to be with. “I always miss you more around the holidays. Now you’ve moved out of your mom’s place, I thought maybe I could finally summon up the courage to come and see you.” The man looked over at his son and smiled. It had been years since he had seen him. Duncan had been nothing more than a scrawny teenager the last time they had been in the same room together. “You look well,” he nodded. “I always thought you’d end up looking more like me than your mother,” he smiled, patting his own large belly.

An awkward silence fell upon the room. After over seven years of estrangement, was Duncan’s dad really calling him fat within the first five minutes? Tact was clearly not his specialty.

“Your aunt tells me you two have been together for over two years now?” he asked next. “You must be very happy.”

Again, the silence was deafening. Nick began to feel sorry for the man as Duncan’s hostility endured.

“Why did you have to move to New York?” Duncan finally asked; blocking whatever path his father was trying to steer the conversation.

Eddie nodded his head, accepting that the question was a good one. “Because I fell in love,” he answered. “Michelle and I… we’re just made for each other. Sure, it’s not a conventional pairing… A bit like you two,” he pointed at them both, appearing to be gesturing towards their two contrasting bodies. “But we’re very happy together.”

The cogs in Nick’s brain began to turn. 

“Your mom was always getting at me for my weight,” Eddie went on. “We were never happy. That was all just an act for your sake. But I think you knew that, didn’t you?” he smiled sweetly at Duncan. “I tried to explain to your mom that this is who I am,” he nodded, grabbing a handful of the fat that encircled his waist. “But she wouldn’t have it. She made my life hell. Then I met Michelle online and… well, as you know. Everything changed.”

Nick had a thousand questions burning in his head. He fought back the urge to jump in and ask them all at once, merely rubbing Duncan’s back supportively from behind the couch.

“Your mom threatened to tell you everything unless I stayed away. She’d hired a private investigator and had endless messages, pictures and transcripts between me and Michelle. I didn’t want you to see any of that. Your mom made it clear that she thought the things Michelle and I were into were just perverted. She didn’t understand the eating and the weight gain and how intrinsic it all is to my happiness.”

Nick tried not to react. Was Duncan’s father really coming out as a… a gainer?

“I thought, maybe now that you’re in your own similar relationship, that you might understand,” Eddie finished, looking at them both.

Nick’s eyes bulged and he stood up straighter; his heart pounding. He’d imagined many scenarios where he would be outed as a feeder, but being called out by Duncan’s absentee father had not been one of them. “I’m not sure I know what you mean,” he mumbled shakily.

Eddie chuckled. “Oh, come on… it’s obvious!” he motioned again at their extreme size difference. “Duncan’s aunt told me all about you two. You’re the one who fattened up Pete and Shirley’s boy, Martin, back when you were in high school together,” Eddie stated directly to Nick. “I heard he’s a real porker these days! ‘As fat as butter’ my sister said!”

Duncan turned his head to look at Nick, standing behind him, his eyebrows lowered in confusion. Nick was utterly speechless.

“Now, I’m not sure there are many fathers who would approve of their son dating a feeder,” Eddie nodded. “But, in this case, I’ve got to say… I know you two will be really happy together.”

Duncan and Nick both looked across at Eddie. The man was still blissfully unaware of the wrecking ball he had just taken to their relationship.

“I’m staying at the Palace Hotel,” Eddie stated as he grunted and got up from his seat. “Perhaps we could all meet up for some lunch tomorrow?”

Again, silence was the only response. He pulled out a contact card and dropped it on the coffee table.

“It really is good to see you again,” he smiled at Duncan as Nick followed him to the door and closed it behind him.

“Duncan…” Nick began, the moment they were alone again. “That was… I’m not sure your dad has all the facts about… I’m not really…” he mumbled, starting and restarting his sentences again and again. “Are you alright?” he finally offered sweetly.

Duncan inhaled and seemed to pull himself out of his stunned silence. “Well, I guess everything makes a lot more sense now,” he nodded pragmatically. “With dad… With you.”

Nick’s heart was racing. He thought of several things he could say in response, all of them lies and excuses. No. The game was up.

“So I guess that’s the reason why I’m like this,” Duncan sighed, raising his arms up to his chest and looking down at his fattened body, as if for the first time. “I just thought I was going mad. Two hundred and ninety six pounds. That’s what I was when I weighed myself the other day. Can you believe that?”

“I never meant for things to go this far,” Nick replied honestly.

“Nor did I,” Duncan agreed, rubbing his stout belly sadly.

“You don’t have to be this way,” Nick shot back. “We can put you on a diet. I’d love you however you looked. Just give me a chance and let me prove it!”

“I think it’s too late for that, don’t you?” Duncan grumbled, still holding his enlarged stomach. “My dad’s right. I’ve always been more like him than my mom.”

“How do you mean?” Nick asked, wondering just how long it would be until Duncan kicked him out. Where the hell was he going to sleep tonight?

“I love food. I love eating. I love this…” he emphasised, leaning a little forwards and grabbing his gut with both hands, shaking it. “I just didn’t understand why.”

Nick’s heart skipped a beat. “You seriously don’t mind?” he asked in astonishment.

“I thought you were so sweet for not nagging me about my weight when I first started getting chubby. But I guess I understand now. It all makes sense.”

Nick cringed. He felt that things still rested on a knife edge. He didn’t want to open his mouth and say the wrong thing; simultaneously destroying everything. 

“So, this is your thing, huh?” Duncan asked, lifting his shirt and patting the large belly he had developed over the last two years. “I suppose I always was a prime target for a feeder, knowing how large my dad is. I guess weight gain is just in the genes. You must have known that.”

“That wasn’t why I started dating you,” Nick replied quickly. “And your weight isn’t the reason why I fell in love with you either.”

“Well, you’re a better man than me then,” Duncan chuckled. “Because the way you used to cook and overfeed me definitely played a part in the reason why I fell for you so badly!”

The pair looked at each other with very small smiles threatening to invade from the furthest corners of their mouths.

“I guess we’re both just a couple of freaks,” Duncan finally laughed. He patted the space next to him on the couch and Nick finally came to sit next to him. The most honest conversation of their lives was about to begin.

“Surprise!” shouted the crowds of people as Duncan and Nick walked into the restaurant a few months later. Everyone was there: the chubs, the two families, Duncan’s father and Michelle; all stood underneath a banner congratulating them on their engagement. The pair of them laughed, pretending that they hadn’t already worked out what was happening, strolling in to greet them all.

“So you’re finally going to make an honest fatty out of this one?” Martin joked quietly as he came up to the pair of them later that evening.

Nick nodded, his hand resting sweetly on Duncan’s large butt as the boy stood, eating his third plateful from the buffet. He rubbed and patted gently, knowing that Duncan always ate better when his size was being admired. The boy had been fattening faster than ever since the pair of them had been open and honest about things. With such an enormous double chin, Duncan even looked larger than Martin himself.

“How was the cruise?” Martin askes next, not having seen the pair of them since they made it home, freshly engaged last weekend.

Duncan and Nick giggled to each other, remembering all the kinky things they had got up to together. “It was very good, thanks,” Nick finally replied, rubbing Duncan’s giant stomach as if to show that the pair of them had stuffed Duncan’s gut for the entire two weeks. They’d even had to buy a new shirt especially for the party that evening.

“Yeah, it was great,” Duncan mumbled through a mouthful of food. “Now we’re just looking forward to the wedding.”

A surge of excitement spread through Nick as he thought about the wedding. His large hand couldn’t resist squeezing Duncan’s blubbery glute as he pictured how much fatter his fiance would be by then.

“Well, it’s unconventional, but it clearly works for you two,” Martin smiled, looking on at his very good friends who clearly only had eyes for each other. Sure, the world had lost one of its most devilish and enterprising feeders, but look at how happy he was with his fat boy. Look at how happy they both were! 

The whispers behind their backs could continue, the justified comparisons between Nick and Eddie’s feeder wife could go on and on. Duncan’s mother could regret the day she’d ever agreed to let her friend coax her into setting up Duncan with her son. But none of them could deny that this was something very special indeed. The glasses were raised, the toasts were made and the sentiment was real. A long and happy marriage was wished upon them both. Nick and Duncan, forever more.

[a-dauntless-daffodil]

Chaggie AU where Vaggie is a member of a holy order devoted to slaying monsters. As part of her becoming a holy knight, she must commune with an Angel to be granted their divine power... only something goes wrong with the ritual, and the being that appears before her is none other than the Princess of Hell.

Lute: “Gay?! She’s supposed to be HOLY!”

Adam: “Yeah, hot.”

Lute: “…let. Me. See. That. SuMMOnINg sCRiPTuRE.”

Adam: “Sure thing dude. Here.”

Lute: “This isn’t a holy rite, this is… WRITINGS OF SAPPHO!”

Adam: "Heh, heathen and homoerotic. WLWhoops?"

-

Charlie: “You should really be more careful next time!"

Vaggie: "Uh."

Charlie: "Lot’s of other demons would be thrilled to get yanked into the mortal world without a circle of binding to hold them- especially by someone as cute as you-

Vaggie: "Excuse me?"

Charlie: "And when I say thrilled, I mean in the blood and guts and screaming kinda way, NOT just in the 'can feel hellfire in my cheeks' kinda way. Safe summoning is important!!”

Vaggie: “Why’re you drawing the circle in yourself, then. With your… claws.”

Charlie: “Because you didn’t?” (dusts fire off her hands) “Anyway you should be good now, ask me anything!”

Vaggie: “You’re seriously not taking advantage of being summoned but not bound?"

Charlie: "I'm taking advantage of the view!"

Charlie: (beat)

Charlie: "Of the, mortal world, I am enjoying the pretty scenery."

Vaggie: "It's dark."

Charlie: "I'm enjoying the beautiful knight. Night. Night without a 'K'. Not knight like YOU'RE a knight, not that you aren't beautiful-"

Vaggie: "I'm. What."

Charlie: "The one who should be talking now! Not me. I think I've done enough talking for now. I think I'm good on having said stuff recently. I think I should be quiet for a bit."

Vaggie: (gay) (not immune to adorable ladies) "WHY are you here. You're not, what I expected."

Charlie: “I'm not the usual demon- As hell princess I get first dibs on all summons! After dad anyway.”

Vaggie: (of COURSE she's a princess) “Why answer this one.”

Charlie: “You’re missing an eye? It looks painful?"

Vaggie: "...so?

Charlie: "?? I thought maybe you wanted help with that.”

Vaggie: "It's a penance. You can't help with it."

Charlie: "oh."

Vaggie: “...That’s it? You're not here for anything else?”

Charlie: “….”

Charlie: “You um. You look very cool in that armor.” (cringes) “Awesome.” (cringes more)

Vaggie: “Are you a siren or a succubus or something.”

Charlie: “What!? No! No I’m just, I just think girls are hot! Cool! You look great!! …girls all look great, and you’re a girl, and you…”

Vaggie: “…”

Vaggie: “Do you need any demons slayed?”

Charlie: “Ahaa, no.”

Vaggie: “Holy quests completed?”

Charlie: “No?”

Vaggie: “Are you gonna eat me.”

Charlie: “N-not on the first date- I- OH YOU MEAN ACTUALLY-? No no no! I don’t, I’m, I don’t eat souls. Or people.”

Vaggie: “So what’s the catch here. The price.”

Charlie: “Nothing. I just wanted to help.”

Charlie: “Okay and maaaaybe have a nice conversation for once. Kinda short on them in hell.”

Vaggie: “… is there ANYTHING I can help you with?”

Charlie: “Well I just broke up with-”

Vaggie: “I’ll kill them.”

Charlie: “-and I could really use a date for the ball, I mean! No killing needed!! Dad isn’t going again, mom’s um, busy. And it’ll be a lot less awkward if I already have a dance partner, you know?”

Vaggie: “You want me to find you a dance partner.”

Charlie: “Oh no I, I was hoping- do YOU dance?”

Vaggie: "Me."

Charlie: "If you want to?"

Vaggie: “You’re asking me to go to hell.”

Charlie: “Shit. Right, dumb idea. It’s my home but, yeah. It’s not like anyone enjoys being here.”

Vaggie: (fuck she's cute) (fuck she's SAD)

Vaggie: “No one does? What about you?”

Charlie: “I… just wish the people would be nicer. A place is the people who live there, right?”

Vaggie: “…”

Vaggie: “I’ll come.”

Charlie: “You wha?”

Vaggie: “I’ll come to the dance.”

Charlie: "But- hell! Why-"

Vaggie: "Hell’s a better place than I thought."

Charlie: "You've never even BEEN here!"

Vaggie: "I've met you."

Charlie: ".... I'm not... the usual demon."

Vaggie: "I'll take my chances. I'll need to borrow a dress though. All I have up here is, armor."

Charlie: "I can, I can change that. A dress. N- no problem."

Vaggie: "It's a deal then." (holds out hand) "A dance for a dress?"

Charlie: (takes her hand and shakes it eagerly while bowing) "ITS A DATE!"

Vaggie: (chuckles) "Yeah, I guess that's a better word for it."

Charlie: "And I PROMISE when we dance I WON'T trample your toes with my hooves!"

Vaggie: "... should I just keep the sabatons on?"

Charlie: "I promise to find you a dress that goes good with your armored shoes so your toes don't get trampled on."

Vaggie: "We're gonna be quite the pair, aren't we."

Charlie: "Heheh~"

-

Lute: "WHAT HAPPENED WHY WAS THERE FIRE AND BRIMSTONE INSTEAD OF HOLY LIGHT WHY WERE YOU COMMUNING WITH A FIEND SO LONG IS IT DEAD DID YOU KILL IT???"

Vaggie: "Does taking her heart count?"

Adam: "Whoooo VaGEEE! Totally FUCKED that demon huh!!"

Vaggie: "Mm, not totally sir."

Vaggie: (smiling) (softly to herself) "Not on the first date."

[superhaught]

Breaking Down

(GIF by jamie-hayter)

Pairing(s): Leighton x Tatum, Leighton & Reader

Warnings: anxiety attack, slight angst

Word Count: 1900, Part 1/?

Part 2 / Part 3

Anonymous asked: Can you write about Leighton having a panic attack just after coming out to her dad in front of Tatum and Tatum's father ? Hurt comfort ?

Leighton was quiet for the remainder of the dinner. She smiled when she had to and answered politely when prompted to. Tatum kept glancing her way, brows knit together in concern. Leighton met her eyes and mouthed “I’m fine,” feigning a pleasant demeanor.

But she wasn’t fine. Far from it, actually. She didn’t want to come out. She didn’t want the fallout. She didn’t even realize she was saying it until it was too late and the words were already vomited out. 

I’m gay. 

The look on her dads face was seared into her mind. He wasn’t disgusted or anything that horrible, he was just… shocked. But what did she have to complain about? Him needing to take a few moments to process on the bench outside of the restaurant was hardly a traumatizing reaction. When she had gone out there to check on him, he was so quick to assure her that he loved and supported her. So why did she still feel like her insides were boiling?

Leighton was the last to stand up from the table, not realizing right away that the bill had long since been paid and they were starting to say their goodbyes. Tatum’s dad shook Leighton’s hand and gave her a polite pat on her back, saying something like, “I’m happy to have met you, Leighton. I think you’ll be very good for my daughter.” She smiled and nodded while repeatedly counting to twenty in her head. 

Tatum gave Leighton’s upper arm a slight squeeze and whispered, “can I borrow you over here for a sec?”

Leighton nodded blankly, Tatum pulled her away to quiet a corner of the restaurant lobby while their dads continued to chat happily about the good old days. 

“Hey, are you alright?”

“What?” Leighton asked, taking too long to process Tatum’s words, “oh, yeah. I’m fine, really.”

“You don’t seem fine…”

“Well, I am.” Leighton snapped. She didn’t mean to come across as harsh. She just… didn’t want to get into it. “Sorry… I am fine. That went as well as I could’ve hoped, so… it’s all good.”

Tatum raised an eyebrow, “Okay, but whatever you’re feeling is valid, you know? A neutral, or even a positive reaction doesn’t always make coming out any easier.”

Leighton inhaled through her nose and sandwiched Tatum’s hand in hers, “I’m feeling fine, Tatum. Really. I’m glad my dad knows, and I’m sure I’ll talk to my mom and brother soon. This is good.”

Leighton wasn’t lying, exactly. But that was far from the whole truth. She just didn’t know right now. She didn’t know how she was really feeling. She didn’t know why she didn’t want to be honest with Tatum about that. She didn’t know why she felt like all of the air was being sucked out of the room. 

“Alright,” Tatum conceded, “well, just call me if you need anything, okay? I’m gonna go back with my dad to his hotel for another drink. See you later, babe.” Tatum gave a quick, chaste kiss that landed on the corner of Leighton’s mouth.

Leighton nodded. Eleven. Twelve. Thirteen.

She said goodbye to her dad as he climbed into the back of his ride back to his hotel. Eighteen. Nineteen. Twenty. 

Leighton started walking back to campus on her own. One. Two. Three. Four.

She was nearly back at her dorm but she felt like her ribs were being compressed. The tips of her fingers were all pins and needles. She couldn’t get a full breath anymore. 

Leighton sat down on a bench and gripped the edge of the seat with white knuckles. 

You were on your way to your dorm from the library, finally finishing a study session for your upcoming chem exam. You usually never run into anyone on the path that you take but not this night. 

Sat upon a bench next to the sidewalk was a blonde, hunched over with her head in her hands. You quickly recognized her; Leighton Murray was shaking and hyperventilating. 

You look around quickly and then rush over to the bench, tossing your bag onto the ground and kneeling down in front of her.

“Leighton? Hey, Leighton… are you okay?” you ask softly. 

The blonde gasped and sniffled, quickly sitting up and wiping her cheeks on the sleeve of her shirt. She muttered under her breath, “shit…”

“Are you hurt? Sick?”

She shook her head. She still wasn’t breathing normally. You felt like you recognized what might be happening, “Leighton, could you be having a panic attack?”

She nodded at this. 

You didn’t know Leighton, well. You had been to some of the same events and parties. Run in some of the same circles. But you knew panic attacks. You knew what you would want someone to do for you. 

You sat down on the bench next to her, “is it okay if I touch you?”

She didn’t respond immediately but she eventually nodded. You took off your jacket and draped it around her, and then wrapped your arms around her shoulders and started to give her a squeezing hug. At the contact, she quickly melted into you and started to sob. You weren’t surprised by this, you would’ve done the same. 

“I want you to try breathing with me, okay? Just try to slow down, and breathe deeper…” you whispered. You made the pattern of your breathing obvious so that she could try to follow you, “try to match me, you’re doing great.” 

You seemed to be helping. It took some time but she was able to focus on matching her breathing to yours. 

Leighton coughed. You reached for your bag without pulling too far away from her and got your water bottle out, “do you want some water? It’ll help.”

She nodded and reached for it. You unscrewed the cap for her and she took it and poured water into her mouth. 

She was quiet for another minute or so and took another drink before handing the bottle back to you. Her voice was shaky but her breathing seemed to have settled.

“Thank you…”

You nod, “Course, are you feeling better?”

“Mhmm…” she paused and wiped her face again, “why did you help me? You don’t even know me…”

You shrug, “I wasn’t just going to walk by.”

“How did you know what to do?”

“I’ve had panic attacks before. In my experience, they’re a lot scarier when you’re alone.”

She nodded and sat up a little straighter, “I must look like a fucking mess… I don’t like to let anyone see me like this.”

You can’t help but chuckle a little, “like what?”

She scoffed, “crying, my makeup running down my face…”

“Ohhh, you mean you don’t like people seeing you look human?” you tease, nudging her arm slightly. 

Leighton laughed and wiped under her eyes with her thumbs. 

“Here, if you’re so worried about it, I think I can help with that, too.” You rummage through your bag once more and produce a travel size pack of face wipes, handing them over to her. 

She raised an eyebrow at you, “what are you? Some kind of genie for people having breakdowns?” Leighton took the wipes from your hand and cleaned her face. 

You laugh, “No, nothing so glamorous. I just like being able to help when I can.”

She sighed, “well, it’s appreciated. Thank you, really. I kind of thought I was dying for a minute, is that stupid?”

“No, not at all. Panic attacks are mean like that. Have you had one before?”

“I guess so, now that I think about it.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, they’re no fun.”

“Yeah…” she took a deep breath, “I’m so sorry, I feel like an asshole, I don’t even know your name.”

You tell her not to worry about it and introduce yourself.

“What dorm are you heading to? Can I walk you back? Make sure you get there okay?”

She looks a little taken aback by your offer but she nods, “that would be really nice, actually, yeah.”

You stand and start walking. Leighton immediately groans, “god why am I wearing heels? Gimme a sec…” You stop as Leighton bends down to take her shoes off and resigns herself to finishing the walk barefoot. 

“Oh gosh, no way you’re walking across a college campus barefoot, you’re taking my sneakers.” 

Before she has a chance to protest, you’re already taking off your Adidas and passing them to her. 

“What? Then you’re barefoot, that’s stupid!”

“I’m wearing socks, and this isn’t up for discussion. Just take them, please? I’ll carry your heels.”

Leighton stares at you like you’re an alien. To you, this doesn’t even seem like a big deal, but it clearly means something to her. 

She shakes her head incredulously and slides your sneakers on her feet as you take her heels from her. You then continue the walk to her dorm building in silence for a bit. 

“You’re… strange…” Leighton finally says. 

“I am?”

“Yes. You’re not like most other people here. I feel like… you’re one of the only people I’ve met who isn’t completely self-interested.”

“Huh. Maybe you’re right. Maybe you’re just meeting shitty people, though.”

“Maybe… My roommates are pretty good, but they might’ve only given me a chance after I bought them all iPads.”

“I’m sorry, you did what?”

“Oh, I bought their forgiveness with iPads. I think… I think I might be the most self-interested person here, actually.”

You shake your head, “no. No way.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Eh, I have a hunch. For one, I don’t think you’d still be talking to me if you were really as self-absorbed as you say. Also, I find that people who are completely self-interested, usually lack the self-awareness required for panic attacks to happen.”

She thinks about your words for a while and then shrugs, “I still think you’re strange. I’d rather believe that you’re the anomaly in the system and continue to pretend that I fit in just fine with the student body here.”

You smile, “you’re lucky that I take that as a compliment, Leighton Murray.”

You reach her building and she turns to face you, handing you her phone, “put your number in.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah… honestly, there’s no one else I’d rather go to if I find myself in that kind of situation again. Is… is that okay?”

She looks vulnerable then. You get the sense that you’ve seen a side of Leighton Murray that no one else is privy to. 

“Sure, Leighton. That’s totally okay. You can come to me for other stuff, too, though. If you just want to talk, or hang out. I can be a strange friend as well as a strange emotional breakdown genie.”

She laughs. You take note of how light and sweet her laugh is. It makes your stomach float a little. 

You put your contact information into her phone while she takes your sneakers off of her feet and then you trade belongings back, returning her phone and heels to her, “I hope you have a good night, Leighton. Try to get some good sleep, you’ll feel better for it.”

She smiles softly, “Thanks, genie. You too.” You watch her go inside the building before you walk away. You let out a sigh and think to yourself a sentiment that you don’t realize you share with a majority of the sapphic community at Essex: goddamn Leighton Murray.

Next Chapter

[asvterias]

𝖲𝗁𝗈𝖼𝗄𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖲𝗎𝗋𝗉𝗋𝗂𝗌𝖾𝗌 ~ 𝖩𝖺𝗂𝗆𝖾 𝖱𝖾𝗒𝖾𝗌

Warnings: Giving Birth??,

Pairings: BF!Jaime x Black!GF!Reader, Mom!Reader x Newborn Daughter!Maria x Dad!Jaime

Summary: Jaime finally heads home after being gone for a few months, worrying his family to a huge extent. To their surprises, Jaime returns back home and he’s not alone.

Word Count: 3.2k+

Tag List: @n7cje @drqcrys @websterss @pxachy-tea @moralesszz @odiesdayoff @allthingsvicf @tinkerbelle05 @alienstardust @lemonyboy97 @alastorhazbin @gay-dorito-dust @presidentbarbieirl @veronicarose20 @conicoroahre @sodacatz @chaotic-reblogger @horrorluver20 @zipporahsstuff @yutasol @littlekidsteve @illicee @everybody-hates-mills @hoshi4k @violettathewriter @mymanjaimereyes @vampire-grrl @666kpopfan @nutella-directioner-vampeete @ushygushysimp @borhapparker @tessamoreno @stitched-mouth @obrienslove @raebo0421 @loki-is-low-key @tacoreib @staraifos @avitute @dumbperson6 @idyllcy @luvly-writer @june-pop @madnesspea @chaoticbi-cheesecake @daltonshotgf @unreasonablysapphic @planetvenusworld @sugarplumz100

Author’s Note: Just thought that this would be an adorable storyline & I got inspo from @writing-fanics! Hope you guys like it! I also don’t know why it took me so long to post this, been extremely busy!!

Spanish Translations

“mi amor..” — my love

“Ahora tienes que ponerle un anillo, ¿lo sabes?” — “Now you have to put a ring on her, you do know that?!”

“Ella no se equivoca.” Uncle Rudy agrees with his mother. “No esperes demasiado para proponer matrimonio. Ella ya te dio el bebé, todo lo que necesitas es el anillo y una propuesta perfecta.” — “She’s not wrong.” Uncle Rudy agrees with his mother. “Don’t wait too long to propose. She already gave you the baby, all you need is the ring and a perfect proposal.”

“Qué? Ella hablar español?” — “What? Does she speak Spanish?”

“No, no lo creo” Jaime shrugs, “E incluso si es así, no estábamos hablando de matrimonio cualquier momento pronto.” —

“No, I don’t think so.” Jaime shrugs, “And even if so, we weren’t talking about marriage any time soon.”

“En realidad, hablo y entiendo español muy bien.” — “Actually I speak and understand Spanish very well.”

“Desde, cuándo aprendiste español?” — “Since, when did you learn Spanish?”

“Se suponía que iba a ser una sorpresa, he estado practicando durante meses.” — “It was supposed to be a surprise, I’ve been practicing for months.”

“mi vida…” — “my life…”

The pain surging through your body felt indescribable. You cried and screamed as you pushed your baby out with all of your might. The relief you received when that final push halted all of that unnecessary suffering from your lower waist.

You could have finally caught your breath when you heard her cries as the doctors held up the wailing bloody baby for you to see.

“Can I please hold her?” you eagerly ask, your hands stretched out as your weak body leans over closer with the help of Jaime supporting your lower back. Her cries were deafening but you couldn’t care less, you wanted to hold her for the first time, and you were cherishing the beautiful moment.

You held her closely to your chest, staring at her with admiration in your eyes.

“Hi, my beautiful girl, I’m your mommy.”

Your baby babbles, ceasing her cries as she gazes back at you.

“We’re just going to clean her up.” Your nurse affirms you. Very weakly, you nodded your head, relaxing your body on the hospital bed as the nurse left the room with your newborn.

There were a few silent moments before the nurse finally returned back with your baby girl who was still hopelessly screaming her tiny lungs out.

You held the crying baby up to your chest, “You did so wonderful, mi amor.” He kissed your sweaty forehead, brushing the few strands of your hair from your face. Your boyfriend admired the bundle of joy in your arms with a grin plastered on his face.

Valeria was snuggled into a pink fuzzy blanket. Her soft skin was cocoa brown, and she had inherited Jaime’s big brown beautiful doe eyes with a small round face. The only feature resembling your appearance on her was probably your hair texture, everything else on her face, it seemed like Jaime’s gene’s dominant over yours. Hopefully, she’d grown into your looks, being the identical copy of her father for now. During her prime years, she will certainly resemble your beautiful genes.

Valeria is an amazing product of your and Jaime’s love, only proving how much you love each other.

“Perfect size for your baby girl. 6 pounds and 9 ounces.”

“She’s so tiny…” You coo, giggling at her holding her father’s finger with her whole fist. “

“She’s absolutely perfect…” Jaime nods and nudges at your side. “Just like her beautiful mother.”

You blushed at his compliment as he kissed your cheek.

“Well, she takes after her father too,” you mention, referencing her black silk hair which was refrained with a pink headband. “Born with a head full of hair.”

She had a tiny afro, abnormal for babies at an early age. The doctors informed you that most likely her hair would fall out, and regrow later in her prime years.

“Have you two picked out a name yet?” The nurse asked you, unintentionally breaking up your family moment.

You looked at each other with radiant smiles on your faces. “Valeria Neveah Reyes.”

The older woman smiles in appreciation, “That’s a perfect name and congratulations on the safe delivery.”

On behalf of both of you, Jaime thanks the nurse, and the woman takes her leave, closing the door behind her. You yawn, fatigue overwhelming your body, giving birth was a tiring experience.

“You should rest now. I’ll be here when you wake up.”

You shook your head, already insisting with your newfound maternal love, “She might need breast milk.”

He softly steals Valeria from your arms places her in the bassinet beside your bed and turns back to you. “Then I’ll wake you up. I wanna spend time with my newborn daughter too. She was already in your womb for 9 months, you’ve finished all of the hard work.”

Fluffing up your pillow he gently directed your head back into the pillow. “Now rest your pretty little head, mi amor.”

“Do you want the blanket on?” he went to pull the blanket over your legs.

“I’m good, babe.”

He departs you with a quick kiss on the lips, focusing back on the newborn baby in his arms. Valeria cutely squirms in her father’s arms, some drool coming from her mouth.

“My beautiful baby girl, Valeria.” His firm was secure on his daughter’s head, his other hand supporting her back and

kissing her gently on the forehead. Soon enough, you found yourself drifting off asleep, completely exhausted from your labor.

Jaime rocks with Valeria as he admires your sleeping form, the occasional raising of your chest indicating your steady breathing.

“Isn’t mommy beautiful sleeping? She was completely exhausted from delivering you,” Valeria giggles, squirming. Jaime sits down in the nearest chair as he tends to his newborn daughter.

A few weeks later, you were discharged from the hospital, packing your bag which you brought for home and baby supplies.

After you gave birth, you both agreed that you would inform his family about your whole relationship. Yes, they didn’t know about you either, barely even considered as a friend of his. jaime had told you many things about them yet they have never even heard your name.

On the other hand, your family knew all about Jaime and your pregnancy, supporting all of them. Your older siblings visited you in the hospital and were certainly obsessed with their newborn niece. Unfortunately, your parents were traveling for work, and couldn’t be there, but they sent their regards to you. Luckily, there were video calls or your parents would have missed their first milestone of becoming grandparents.

Your family name was well-known, and being well-known meant being abundantly rich. However, your parents raised your family to be grateful and appreciative of their achievements in life, rather than being spoiled and rude.

Jaime didn’t want to seem greedy, lounging off of your family’s money but your parents were persistent and he felt guilty for not taking the money.

During your car ride towards his family home, your overthinking clouded your judgment of Jaime’s family.

“What if they don’t like us?” You question, clutching onto your infant, feeling her fuss in your arms. “Shit’s only going downhill from there.”

He rests his hand on your thigh, staring reassuringly at you. “Stop worrying too much, mi vida. They’re my family, and they’re going to love you.” He ushers to the newborn baby as well, “Both of you.”

Valeria cutely babbles, seemingly understanding her dad’s words. The rest of the car ride was quiet, the gentle instrumental music from the car radio, lulling Valeria to sleep.

Finally, Jaime pulled up into his family’s driveway. Slamming the car door, Jaime swings the baby bag across his shoulder as you hoist Valeria in your arms, walking to the front door.

“Family, I’m home..” He calls out, letting you in first. Jaime guided you to the living room and the cluster of his family gathered around him. You shuffle back in instinct, wanting personal space.

“Who is this?” Milagro eyes you down.

Before Jaime could have answered his sister’s question, his uncle Rudy pointed to the bundle of a baby cozied up in your arms. “Is that a baby?” He yells flabbergasted earning shock looks from others.

Upon hearing the man shout, Valeria perks up and starts screeching her lungs off, startled and terrified at the noise. Your concern immediately came into a clutch for the wailing baby, and Jaime pulled you to the nearest couch, as you attempted to silence your daughter down.

With a combination of rocking her slightly and gently tapping her back, her fuss settles down as a toothless grin flashes on her face.

Eventually, you looked up, observing the family’s surprised faces.

“Familia, this is (Y/N) (L/N), my secret girlfriend.” He gestures to you with a small smile, and he points to the infant in your arms, “And this is Valeria Neveah Reyes, our beautiful baby girl.”

His family didn’t utter a single word, trying to process the newfound information. The many pairs of eyes continually switched between you and Valeria made you nervous. They had two new family members who just appeared in their lives. Of course, they had to adjust to the new change.

You held your breath, lightly drumming your fingers against Valeria’s clothes. Worry smears your face as you glance at your boyfriend. “This doesn’t seem like a good reaction.”

“Give them a minute.” He advises, rubbing your shoulder. You nodded in appreciation, listening to his words.

That minute turned into two which then into five minutes and the family was still unresponsive to the big news.

Slowly your eyes met Milagro’s eyes and there was a certain glint behind them. It downright scared you to the core because you didn’t know if things were going to end in your favor. Surprisingly, instead of letting loose on you, she sends you a warm smile.

“I’m an aunt.” She cheered, throwing her hands up in the air, and began to rejoice.

You blew out an anxious breath, relieved by her words and his family followed after, voicing their happiness. This could have gone dangerously worse, but you were grateful that it didn’t.

“When did you two meet?”

“How long were you two together?”

“Why was she kept a secret from us?”

“Save the questions for another day.” Jaime silences his family.

He manages to maintain a distance between his family and you, aware that you hate crowded areas and love your personal space. He respected your wishes of keeping Valeria close to you, understanding that your maternal love was still flourishing within.

You stared at your boyfriend, communicating with your eyes as you massaged Valeria’s back.

He gets the hint, safely taking his sleeping daughter from your loving embrace. Jaime was stressed, tiny but very visible sticking out his tongue against his bottom lip.

At such a young age, babies still have to adapt to their new surroundings, and with constant movement, they’re urged to be awakened and display the only emotion they can do. That was crying, and consistent crying meant sleepless nights. Luckily for the couple, Valeria was surprisingly a quiet baby, hardly ever making noise.

“Oh my hijo…” she caresss her son’s face. He felt a blush rush to his cheeks, being clearly embarrassed by his mom and in front of you, at that.

“Mami…” He whines when she kisses him on the cheek. Jaime securely held onto his daughter, who was soundly comfortably asleep.

His mom looked over at you with adoration of love in her eyes. She tightly grasps your hands, pulling them to her chest as she pouts. “My beautiful future daughter-in-law, thank you for being here, giving me my first grandchild, and putting up with my hijo.”

“Mami, you say that like it’s a bad thing.”

“Is it not?” Milagro curtly replies to her brother. “It’s nice to have other girls in the house, balances the ratio just perfectly.”

“Ahora tienes que ponerle un anillo, ¿lo sabes?” Nana says, almost nonchalantly.

“Nana!” Jaime whispers and shouts, eyes widening at her suddenness. He covered Valeria’s eyes, concerned that you might have heard his yelling.

“Ella no se equivoca.” Uncle Rudy agrees with his mother. “No esperes demasiado para proponer matrimonio. Ella ya te dio el bebé, todo lo que necesitas es el anillo y una propuesta perfecta.”

“Qué? Ella hablar español?”

“No, no lo creo,” Jaime shrugs, “E incluso si es así, no estábamos hablando de matrimonio cualquier momento pronto.”

“En realidad, hablo y entiendo español muy bien.”

“Desde, cuándo aprendiste español?”

“Se suponía que iba a ser una sorpresa, he estado practicando durante meses.”

His dad, Alberto pulls you in a welcoming hug. “I’ve been wondering why my son seemed unconditionally happy, and now I know the reason.” He grins lovingly at you.

“Do you wanna hold her?” Their cheers became louder as they crowded you, all trying to hold Valeria.

“Welcome to the family,” Uncle Rudy tells you and you grin at him. The women in the family drag you away, leaving the men by themselves in the living room.

“Congratulations, mi hijo. I’m so proud of you.” Alberto encourages his eldest child.

Rudy turns to his nephew, “Hey big head, don’t do anything stupid to her and your baby, she’s a nice girl.”

Jaime rolls his eyes, annoyed at his uncle yet listening to his instructions. Yeah, right, like he would ever do you wrong. you could have handled yourself very well, and would have fucked him up if necessary, Jaime was well aware of it.

The following night, Jaime’s parents insisted that you sleep here for the night because it was already dark out. Besides you were still drained from your new motherly take so you agreed, settling into Jaime’s old bedroom.

You assumed that the family got the regular case of baby fever, and wanted to be around baby Maria for as long as necessary. However, you weren’t complaining, still exhausted from breastfeeding and folding your clothes.

You observe his bedroom, the bed was freshly made, courtesy of his mami.

Uncle Rudy had grabbed the old crib from the basement, double-checking to make sure that it was sturdy, not wanting any complications for baby Valeria. jaime and his uncle moved the crib into the bedroom, placing it a few feet away from the bed.

When it was time for dinner, everyone was in pure enjoyment. Unknownst to you, Milagro had invited Jenny over for dinner, refusing to leave her friend alone. into a few minutes of meeting Valeria, and the brunette woman was already smitten with her as well. Valeria had everyone wrapped around her finger, now that was a trait that she definitely had inherited from you.

You woke up, refreshed and ready to start the day. Despite being awakened by your baby’s screeches, you happily calmed her down as you prepared her breakfast. During your breastfeeding with Valeria, you turned to see Jaime still asleep, mouth agape and all that. You chuckle at him and refocus your attention back onto your baby who is still suckling on your right nipple, drinking her milk.

A few shuffles later Jaime was beginning to awake. He placed his hand on your shoulder, finally waking up, “Mmm…morning, mi amor.”

“Look who decided to finally wake up.” you chirp, smiling in adoration as Jaime kisses his daughter’s head. Your smile grew bigger when he leaned over to kiss you.

After a while, you found yourself in the kitchen, fixing up some breakfast.

“Told you that they’ll love you.” he hugs you from behind, lightly scaring you in the process. You hesitate, realizing that it was Jaime’s presence and you snuggled in closer for comfort.

You both watch from a distance in the kitchen, his family cooing over baby Valeria.

“Now, how about I show you how much I love you when we reach back home,” he suggests, nipping at your ear, highly aware that action alone drives you wild.

No way that your boyfriend was already horny.

You sucked in a breath, being tempted to go along with it, “Where is all this coming from?”

“Let’s just say that you looked exceptionally gorgeous after giving birth.” he whispers in your ear, his hands gripping your waist, “makes

“So I wasn’t gorgeous while giving birth?”

“Oh no, you were especially gorgeous. You gave new life into this earth, and nothing is more precious than that.”

You chuckle, feeling his grip tighten around your waist. To be honest, his plan would have worked until he brought him impregnating you again. and those were excruciating hours that you couldn’t take back. To keep things simple, you weren’t having another child for a few years unless your boyfriend was pushing another human being out of him, then you be bored. You highly doubted that he was able to do so jaime will just have to sit tight, and deal with one child at a time.

“You’re funny babe.” You pushed him away, drinking the orange juice. “Not all of us have accelerated healing and besides the doctor said no sex for eight weeks.”

“Hey! Hey!” Uncle Rudy brought you out of your moment with your boyfriend. Apparently, he gained the attention of Nana as well, who held her great-grandchild safely in her embrace. “You just had a baby, no need to get busy already and pop out a fresh new out.”

You flushed in embarrassment, avoiding eye contact with his entire family and staring you two down.

“Come on…I’m just messing with you two.” Uncle Rudy chuckles, “Get over here, rugrats.” he stretched his arm out, inviting you into the family circle surrounding Valeria. You chuckle in amusement, grabbing Jamie’s hand as you walk over.

“Hey, my precious baby.” Milagro hands you your daughter. She stretched out her small hands, grabbing for your touch in mid-air. Valeria eases into your comfort, adoring all the attention from her caring family.

You repeatedly kissed her head and Jaime snakes an arm around your waist as he begins to baby-talking with you.

Yep, you were expecting another reaction from Jaime’s family, surprisingly a negative but you were certainly glad that things worked out for the best.

likes, comments, and reblogs are highly appreciated!

© asvterias, 2023. please do not plagiarize any of my works.

[kirislovelygf]

our spot // part 2 (kiri sully x fem!reader)

contents: wlw relationship, childhood besties-to-lovers, kissing, fluff, defining relationships, for the gay girlies

part one here

when the girls arrived home, kiri was absolutely mortified.

when neytiri landed with y/n, she quickly ordered her to go home. she was too afraid to argue or even say goodbye to kiri.

kiri watched as y/n glanced at her before walking into the dark village toward her tent. kiri watched and then turned to face her dad.

“dad, i’m really sorry-“

“what the hell were you thinking? sneaking off with that girl like that?” he scolded.

“wha- are you mad cause y/n’s a girl?” kiri asked, hoping she’d be able to turn the argument around on him.

“i don’t give a shit that y/n’s a girl.”

dammit.

“i give a shit that you lied to your mom and i, got your brothers to lie to us, and snuck out to do something you are way too young to be doing.” he barked.

kiri was absolutely mortified. she still couldn’t believe her parents caught her.

“know what, it’s late. i’m exhausted, just go inside and get to bed. now, please.” he sighed out.

“yes, sir.” kiri huffs and stomped back into the tent where her siblings were already fast asleep.

at least she thought they were.

kiri lied down on her mat with her quilt and turned to face neteyem. his gold eyes were wide open, almost scaring kiri out of her skin.

“jesus, neteyam. what is wrong with you?” she whispered.

“what did i do?” he asked as quietly as possible.

“you were staring at me like a psycho.”

“sorry. my fault. but how’d it go?” he asked. he raised his arm and rested his head in his palm to look at and talk to kiri more comfortably.

kiri rolls her eyes and stared up at the ceiling.

“fine.”

“come on. tell me. what’d you guys do?”

“we just.. talked. and stuff.” she shrugged.

she tilts her head to look at him and he has a knowing look on his face.

“and stuff?” he smirked.

she smiled and looked back up. “fine, i’ll tell you.”

she sighed. “we found a pool, a really pretty one. and we were swimming and.. i told her.”

“told her what? that you love her?” he said teasingly.

“uh- no, i just said i like her.” she whispered.

“hm. and how’d that go?” he asked.

kiri smiled thinking of the moment when y/n said she liked her back.

“she likes me too.”

“i knew it!” neteyam whispered a little too loud.

he slapped his hand over his mouth and the siblings look at eachother before laughing quietly.

they calm down and neteyam pats his sisters arm gently. “that’s really great, sister.”

“yes, it is.”

“sooo.. what happened after that?”

“we kind of.. kissed.” she whispered.

neteyam gasps. “no way!”

“bro, shut up!” kiri slapped his arm and he laughs into his arm, trying to quiet down the noise.

he finally looks up with a smile. “you kissed her?”

kiri replays the moment in her head. “i think she might have kissed me. but we did kiss.”

“ugh, you’re growing up way too fast.” neteyam whispered.

kiri turns to glare at him but it quickly turns to a smile. she hakes her head and looks up at the feeling again, her hands going behind her head.

“so is she your girlfriend now of what?” he asked.

“i didn’t have time to ask her to be my girlfriend because mom and dad caught us.” she sighed.

“oh shit.”

“yeah.” kiri nods.

“how long did dad ground you for?” he asked.

“i don’t know. he said we’d talk about it in the morning.” kiri sighs.

“welp.. good luck.” neteyam whispered as he turned over to sleep facing the wall.

“eywa knows you’ll need it.” he yawned.

kiri glared at him but it quickly falters because she knows he’s right.

｡･:*:˚✰

the morning comes and kiri is so nervous, she’s still. she’s still and not moving a muscle.

the family eats breakfast in silence and once they finish, jake and neytiri order their kids to go somewhere so they can talk to kiri.

she was horrified as she sat criss-cross on her sleeping mat, facing her parents.

“first things first, you’re grounded for a month.” jake started

“what?! that’s so unfair!” she says.

“hey.” he grumbled.

“kiri.” neytiri shushed. kiri huffs and looks down at her hands.

“i don’t care how mature you think you are, you’re not allowed to go beyond the hunting ground on your own. you know that.” he scolds.

“it’s not like we were doing anything bad. you guys act like we were looking for something to eat us.” she grumbled.

“you really wanna get smart with me right now?” he snapped.

“sorry.” she mumbled.

neytiri sighs. “all your father and i want to do is protect you. we were very scared when we heard you in the forest. we thought you were at home safe.”

kiri looks up at her mom with shame. “you cannot let this happen again.” she says.

“you will not. understand?” jake adds. neytiri was doing her best to stay calm but jake being so strict was making it hard for her. once he said that, she turned her head slightly to glare at him.

“i just wanted to have some fun. i’m sorry.” kiri muttered.

honestly, neytiri wasn’t all that mad. yes, she was angry with kiri sneaking out and breaking their trust, but she noticed many little things about her and y/n.

the way they held each other, looked at each other. she never thought it’d happen so soon, but she did expect it.

neytiri was pleased kiri found someone she was happy to be with.

jake? eh, not so much.

“and about the thing with y/n.. just don’t let me catch ya’ll doing that again.” he sighed, rubbing his forehead like the stressed out father he is.

“okay. fine.” kiri said in a hushed tone.

“alright. go ahead, get outta here.” jake mumbled.

the girl nods and quickly stands up to leave the tent. kiri lets out a heavy sigh and rubs her face.

that’s must have been the most embarrassing lecture she’d ever received.

she walks away from her home, passing by the back side of the tent where her siblings, and spider, were eavesdropping.

“you snuck out?” spider questioned.

“you got in trouble!?” tuk added, the thought of her older sister being in trouble being impossible to her.

“you kissed y/n?” lo’ak said finally.

kiri’s eyes widen. “you kissed y/n?!” tuk and spider yelled.

“shut up! shut up, all of you!” kiri hissed.

she looked at the tent and then at the village and started walking away.

“hey, wait up!” tuk started following along with everyone else.

“what the hell happened back there?”

“nothing! just mind your own business.” kiri snapped as they all marched through the village.

they ended up leaving the village to go talk somewhere more private. like a tree or by a pond or something.

the siblings kept pestering kiri to explain what they heard. kiri didn’t stop walking until theyr reached a nearby pond that’s used for when kids want to go fishing.

she sat herself down on a flat rock and her siblings sat around her.

“okay. you two know i snuck out. so, y/n and i went into the forest and found a pool.” she started hesitantly.

“alright..” lo’ak muttered.

“and uhm.. we talked and then we..” she tilts her head nervously.

spider and lo’ak look at eachother and then at kiri with a grossed out look.

“ew!”

“that’s gross, kiri.”

“wha- i didn’t even say anything.” she snapped.

she then glared at the guys. “and we didn’t do what you think we did.”

“wait, what do you think they did?” tuk asked.

“nothing, tuk. don’t worry about it.” neteyam interrupted before glaring at the boys.

“we just kissed. like.. more than once, but that’s it! and then mom and dad caught us and we had to go home.” she huffed.

spider and lo’ak laugh tauntingly. kiri rolls her eyes and waits for them to stop.

they start laughing even harder and fall off the rock they were seated on, rolling over the grass while holding their stomachs.

“haha, funny.” she groans.

they’re able to calm down a bit and they sit up. “there’s no way-“

“oh my god, imagine my dad’s reaction seeing you two. ugh, that’s amazing.” lo’ak sighs out, wiping the tears from his eyes.

kiri looks to neteyam to say something but he just shrugs. it’s funny, what else are they supposed to do?

“how long did your dad ground you for?” spider asked.

she shrugs. “a month. but that’s nothing.”

“yeah, but dads never gonna let you see y/n again. hope you said goodbye.” lo’ak said as he sat up.

“he’ll come around.” she said.

“ooh, what’d your mom say? i bet she was pissed.” spider asked.

“she was. she didn’t say anything the whole way home. and she brought y/n home on her ikran, i bet she was more terrified than i was.” kiri laughed.

“she definitely was.” neteyam chuckled.

the others laugh along with them before neteyam stopped suddenly.

“speaking of..” he muttered quietly.

kiri looks behind her and sees y/n walking toward the pond. she smiled seeing everyone and kiri’s heart pounded.

both in admiration and embarrassment.

“time to go guys.” neteyam said. lo’ak and spider were giggling the whole time like kids as they stood up.

“hi, y/n!” tuk waved.

“hi, little one.” y/n greeted. she looks up to the guys.

“hey.” spider nods. “hi.” she nodded back.

him and lo’ak look at eachother before neteyam shoved them forward. tuk follows them and neteyam waits a bit.

he glanced at kiri and then at y/n again. “hands to yourself, got it?”

“neteyam.” kiri snapped.

“gross, dude.” y/n groaned. “i mean it.” he says. he walks away with the others back to their village.

y/n looks over at kiri and goes to sit next to her.

“so, how are you?” she started.

“humiliated.” kiri sighs.

they sat with their legs crossed and had turned to face each other on the rock.

“aw, sorry. how’d it go with your parents?” she asked softly.

“i’m.. kind of grounded. for a month. so..”

“aw, what? i can’t see you for a month?” y/n whined.

kiri rolls her eyes. “not exactly. we can still see each other, just not around my dad… or my mom.”

“so, i can’t see you?”

she laughs and kiri shoved her shoulder.

“i just won’t be able to fly and i have to stay at home all the time.” she sighs.

“hm. i wish i could tell you something to make you feel better, but my dad was too knocked out to know i was gone.” she winced.

kiri laughs softly. “no, that’s okay. i’m glad that at least you’re not in trouble.”

she looks up at the girl. she takes her hands and goes to hold hers in her lap.

“you still had fun, right?” she asked kiri.

“i’m always having fun when i’m with you.” she shrugged.

y/n laughs and looks down. “you’re just saying that.”

“i’m serious. i had so much fun last night. exploring the forest, swimming in the pool..”

“hm..” y/n keeps her eyes on her hands holding on to kiri’s.

“kissing you.”

y/n smiled and glanced up at the girl. “yeah, i liked it too.”

“i want to do it again. but as your.. girlfriend this time.” kiri hesitated saying that word.

she’s dreamed of calling her that but to say it aloud was just something else.

“hm.. and how do you think your dad would react to that?”

“i don’t care what he thinks.” kiri shrugged.

y/n laughs softly. her hand goes up to kiri’s jaw and she pulls kiri into a kiss. their lips pressed against each other as y/n’s hands traveled to kiri’s nape.

kiri’s hands went to cup y/n’s face. her heart was beating so hard, she was fraud y/n would hear it or feel it somehow.

the girls kissed once more before pulling away. kiri glanced down at the girl.

“i guess we should tell people, right?” she mutters.

“eh, we don’t have to. i like the privacy.” y/n said as she glanced at the forest around her.

“it won’t last with a nosy family like mine.” kiri told her.

they laugh, y/n’s head falling on kiri’s shoulder just like it did that night at the pool.

the two girls end up walking hand-in-hand back to the village, y/n leading kiri.

well.. dragging. she was dragging her.

“maybe we should wait until my dad isn’t angry anymore.” kiri said as they entered the village.

y/n smiled as they maneuver their way around na’vi villagers, children, and tents. “screw your dad. i want everyone in the clan to know you’re my girlfriend.”

“no, y/n, i’m serious!” kiri grumbled.

on their way to kiri’s family tent, y/n told everyone who was willing to listen that her and kiri were girlfriends.

most of everyone was happy for them and some others, like old people or really little kids, didn’t care.

the girls found kiri’s siblings and spider talking in their family tent. their parents were gone, much to kiri’s relief.

neteyam spots then and smiled before he sees the two girls holding hands.

“hi!” y/n greeted.

“what’d i say?”

“shush!” tuk said, slapping his arm.

the girls laughed and sat by little tuk.

“what is this? you guys dating or what?” lo’ak asked as he chuckled.

“i wanted to say it but yeah.” kiri laughed.

“called it.” spider said, trying to cover up o he with a cough.

y/n glared at him and shook her head. “yeah, we’re dating.”

“finally!” tuk cheered. “uh- you knew?” kiri asked her.

“i’ve known since i was born.” she told her.

the others laughed at what tuk said.

“at least i don’t have to hear kiri complain about you anymore.” lo’ak sighs.

“what do you mean?” y/n asked.

“oh, you don’t know. okay,-“

“no! no, there’s nothing to know!” kiri interrupted. lo’ak glanced at y/n. they laugh quietly.

they’re definitely going to talk later and lo’ak is definitely going to embarrass kiri.

as the siblings talk to each other, y/n glanced at kiri. they hadn’t stopped holding hands since they got here.

kiri was laughing at something lo’ak said before looking at y/n. she smiled weakly and looked away again.

just seeing her made kiri nervous and she didn’t wanna be nervous around her siblings. and spider.

the screech of an ikran caught the kids’ attention. they looked up and saw neytiri and jake flying in before landing near where they suualy did.

“oouu, good luck.” spider taunted. tuk slaps his arm.

“be nice!” she snapped.

“okay! sorry.”

lo’ak laughs as him and the others stand. y/n’s could feel kiri’s anxiety in her palm. she gave her hand a squeeze.

kiri looks back at y/n. “relax. you’ll be okay.” she muttered.

she sighed and nods slightly.

the group went to greet their parents. tuk ran to her dad and he happily picked her up.

he carried her on his hip as the other kids started talking to him and neytiri.

neytiri sees kiri hiding behind y/n, still holding her hand.

she looks at y/n and greeted her by nodding her head.

y/n greeted back but not as one would to olo’eyktan’s wife. she greeted her as a friend.

y/n waved her hand excitedly at kiri’s mom with a bright smile. “morning!”

“good morning.” neytiri nodded back, sliming slightly.

the girl looks next to her and doesn’t see kiri. she sees that she’s standing behind her and tugs at her hand.

“what?” kiri muttered.

“stop hiding. she’s your mom.” y/n snapped.

kiri seethed and looked at her parents. jake had taken notice and looked at the girls.

“hi.” he muttered.

kiri sighed out. “hi, dad. uhm..” she looks at y/n.

“this is y/n.”

he looks at her weird. “i know that.”

the boys laughed under their breaths while tuk and neytiri glared.

“right, uhm- she’s my.. girlfriend.” kiri cringed a bit saying that. it was different saying it to her dad than to her friends or brothers.

jake’s eyes widen a bit while neytiri had a pleased smile.

y/n was prouder than ever, and it showed until jake stared her down. suddenly all of her confidence shrank into a teeny tiny little thing.

he helped tuk down and she went to neteyam’s side.

“you’re dating?” he asks.

“yeah.” kiri nods, y/n along with her.

neytiri was able to break the tension a bit. she went over and held y/n’s hand before smiling softly and saying, “that’s great, you two. i’m very happy for you both.”

y/n felt relieved and thanked her. she looked back up at jake with fear.

i hope an ikran flies over and snatches me away.

“hm.” jake eyes y/n suspiciously before looking at neytiri. she gives him and look and he just nods.

i think he honestly would have rather had kiri be with spider. to him, y/n was a troublemaker.

kiri was even more nervous now than she was before with how her dad was looking at y/n.

“okay. but you’re still grounded.” jake says.

“i know.” she nods. jake grunts something under his breath before walking away.

the girls look at neytiri but she tells them to shake it off.

“he is very protective.” she says. she looks at y/n. “be very careful with how you act. both of you.”

kiri realized she was insinuating the kissing. “okay, mom. we get it.” she said quickly.

neytiri laughs and squeezes y/n’s hand once more squeeze before going to follow her husband.

once they were out of earshot, y/n let out a breath that sounded like she had been holding it in that entire time.

“are you okay?” kiri laughed.

“i never realized how scary your dad was.” she sighed out.

the boys and tuk laugh and gather her around them. they started frantically talking about what just happened.

the afternoon passed by and eclipse comes over the forest. the only light is the fire from the torches.

the villagers were sitting around, eating dinner, talking, just relaxing.

kiri was in her house all day, because as her dad kept reminding her, she was grounded me. the only time she’s allowed out is to go hunting with her brothers and that’s it.

what he doesn’t know is that when they are out hunting, they’re just fooling around the water and scaring all the fish away.

now, kiri was in the tent with her grandmother, mo’at, cooking something. kiri was tucked away in the corner crafting something when y/n came to visit.

y/n walked in and greeted the tsahìk first with the formal greeting, touching her forehead gently and then holding her hand out. she muttered “i see you” before mo’at greeted her back.

y/n then walked over to kiri and sat next to her.

“i found something. look.” she sighed. she snuggled in to kiri’s side with a new discovery in her palm.

she opened up her hand for kiri to see it. a geode like the one she found yesterday for one of the kids.

“whoa, where’d you find this?” kiri gasped.

“it’s a really cool story, let me tell you.” y/n said excitedly.

kiri smiled at her and nodded. “okay, tell me.”

y/n continued to tell her about her journey in the forest, finding the geode, how she found it, something funny that happened on her way back home, and something else.

kiri admired her the whole time, how her face changed, how she expressed herself using her hands, how y/n would lose her breath every couple seconds because she was talking too fast.

all those little things made kiri fall more and more in love with the girl.

mo’at watched her granddaughter discreetly and smiled softly to herself.

she couldn’t get over how similar her and y/n were to neytiri and jake. or tsu’tey and swylwanin.

kiri and y/n stayed this way until neteyam came in and warned y/n that his dad was coming back.

“oh, crap. uh- bye.” y/n kissed kiri’s cheek before standing up and running to the entrance. she quickly said goodbye to mo’at before running out in a direction that jake wouldn’t see.

kiri sighs happily and looks at the geode her girlfriend gifted her. she moved into the corner closet and looks for a box.

she kept a box that carried all the things y/n gave her. rocks, fossils, human discoveries like buttons or jewelry like earrings.

kiri placed the geode in the box gently and then closed it.

mo’at spoke up. “she’s a good one. don’t mess it up.”

“i won’t, grandmother.” kiri chuckled.

she hummed in response. kiri sighs and thinks again, i definitely won’t

｡･:*:˚✰

[tgmsunmontue]

Can't buy me love 2/3

Hangster, Explicit, ~16k (complete, posting chapter/day)

(Part of the Top Gun AU Bingo - squares for Ranch, Single parent, Billionaire, and semi power-balance).

MANY BELATED THANKS to @nevergettingoverit for the beta and correcting all my typos and the discussion of the word fossick.

Summary: Jake doesn't need help around the ranch, but he's not going to turn down cheap able-bodied labor either. He's not stupid. The fact that Bradley knows nothing about ranching doesn't exactly help his case, but he's a fast learner. PART ONE

On AO3 if you prefer.

                “I’m going to go out dancing this weekend,” Jake states, and his parents know it’s a euphemism for sex. Hell. He’s pretty sure even Ashley realizes now that her occasional enforced sleepovers at her grandparents house are so he can go out and get laid.

                “Sure. Sounds good. Saturday?” His mom asks and he nods. “You going to take Bradley?”

                “Take Bradley where?”

                “Dancing.”

                That euphemism isn’t looking so great now and he rubs at his face. God. He thought he could just leave it.

                “Yeah. I guess I can take him into town with me. Dancing.”

…            …            …

                The others have cleared out, his dad will be by tomorrow morning to take care of the animals, he is as responsibility free as he can get for the next eighteen to twenty-four hours. He still hasn’t mentioned it or invited Bradley, has felt a little awkward around him, because he’s pretty sure if he asked he could get laid without leaving his own damned property. So he leaves it for the last possible moment, not quite late, but definitely after dinner and he’s got a plan in mind to make it clear to Bradley that he’s not interested in sex with him. Even though he is, he shouldn’t.

                He could just leave without talking to him, without inviting him, but he’s already pushing the boundaries of the ingrained Southern hospitality and his mom will definitely figure it out if he doesn’t at least offer to take Bradley with him. He walks into the bunk house, and it’s quiet, but he can see the lights on in the small area just off from the kitchen, where an old sofa sits in front of an equally old television. Bradley is sitting there, legs stretched out along the length of the sofa, book in hand. He’s wearing sweats and a soft looking t-shirt, comfortable clothes. Good. Maybe he’ll be so settled and engrossed he’ll just say no.

                “Hey.”

                “Hi. Everything okay?”

                “Yeah. Everything’s fine. I was going to head out and go dancing. My parents have got Ashley for the night. Um,” he bites his tongue. Cards on the table time. “Dancing here is a euphemism for getting laid.”

                “You seriously think I could go out and get laid right now?” Bradley laughs and Jake frowns.

                “Yeah. Where I’m going you won’t have any problems,” Jake says, and he has to grit his teeth at that, because he doesn’t like the idea of Bradley having sex with someone else, and he tamps down the unrealistic possessiveness. It’s even more inappropriate than wanting to act on the attraction. “Look, if you don’t want to come, that’s fine. But if you do, then I’ve got a couple of… tips, I guess,” Jake mutters. And he pulls out a few different colored handkerchiefs. “Just, put this in your back pocket if you want to pickup tonight. It’s a little sign to let people know you’re… gay and interested and available.”

                “What? You have little signs?”

                “Of course we do. Saves time and stops fights breaking out when you proposition the wrong person.”

                “What if someone puts one in their back pocket just out of habit.”

                “They don’t,” Jake states, voice dry.

                “Do colors have different meanings?”

                “So it’s not just ranching your clueless about, but also a whole section of your own culture.”

                “I’m not Southern. Pretty sure handkerchief codes are not universal.”

                “Nothing is universal, except maybe the human condition. Here. Take an orange one. That’ll cover your bases.”

                “What does orange mean?”

                “That you’re up for anything…”

                “I’m… I’m not up for anything though.”

                “Well, pretty sure you don’t want to advertise you’re up for getting – uh,” his brain flicks through all the possibilities. “You know what. Maybe this is a bad idea.”

                “Yeah. For several reasons,” Bradley says, and he’s standing up, like he’s about to make a grand announcement.

                “Jake. I know you care about your reputation here. You shouldn’t be seen walking into a bar with me if I have a handkerchief of any color in my back pocket. You care about what Ashley will hear. How she’ll be treated. And there’s a big difference between me living at the ranch, and you and I going to some bar or dance together and then coming back to the ranch together. You take a gay man out, and then bring him back home with you, regardless of what happens, they’re going to talk. You don’t want people talking about you, do you?”

                Jake blinks, realizes that there is clearly information that Bradley is missing, because of course he doesn’t know Jake’s dating history, unlike everyone else in the town. Or that Jake is very much used to being the subject of gossip, even when there’s nothing particularly scandalous to be gossiping about.

                “Are you finished?” Jake asks, leaning back against the kitchen table and crossing his arms.

                Bradley nods, and Jake has to admit it’s kind of endearing, that this man is apparently concerned for his reputation. Of what impact he could have on the rumor mill that is Jake’s life. And Ashley’s high school experience. It’s as sweet as it is unnecessary.

                “I’m not in the closet.”

                “What?”

                “I’m not in the closet,” Jake repeats. “I mean, I haven’t had a boyfriend or a girlfriend since Ashley was… eight or nine. But it’s not a secret that I’m bisexual. Unfortunately it’s made a few people think that I’m down for anything and everything, the number of threesomes I’ve been invited to is seriously mind boggling. But you don’t need to worry about my reputation. Not here.”

                “Oh.”

                Jake can’t help grinning at the absolutely shell-shocked expression on Bradley’s face, decides to drop a few more titbits.

                “When I dated again, after Jessica died, it was a guy, and you know what the ladies at church said to me?”

                He watches Bradley’s Adam’s apple bob, his eyes going wide.

                “No. What?”

                “That at least I couldn’t knock him up.”

                “Oh my god.”

                “Of course, there was some fallout, but it’s also ancient history now. Let’s just say my mom rules the church committee with the same iron fist she ruled the PTA when me and my sister were in school.”

                “Anyway, we can go out and you don’t need to worry about besmirching my honor or anything.”

                “That’s not what I was worried about…” Bradley says, and he’s setting his book on the table, stepping toward him and he’s got an intense look on his face.

                “Uh. You just said…”

                “I was under the impression that you were… closeted.”

                “Oh. Nope. Why? Does that change things?”

                “Yeah. Yeah it does…”

                Then Bradley is kissing him, his hands on either side of Jake’s hips, bracketing him in, his body pressing Jake against the ridge of the table edge and he shifts, realizing instantly that the action causes his hips to grind against Bradley’s. This was not what he had intended when he came in here. Not at all.

                “Uh, Bradley, I… We could still go to the dance… you might get a better offer.”

                “Don’t think that’s possible,” Bradley states and Jake’s blood hums in his veins but he has to keep why this is a bad idea at the forefront of his mind and he pushes at Bradley’s chest, although their hips grinding together again doesn’t exactly make the push very effective, his fingers curling in the fabric of his shirt almost reflexively before letting go and reaffixing to the edge of the bench where he firmly tells himself he has to leave them.

                “I’m your boss, we really shouldn’t be, uh, doing this…”

                “Don’t care. You can fire me if you want, then rehire me tomorrow. If it’ll make you feel better.”

                “No… won’t make me feel better.”

                “This will though,” Bradley says, then he’s sinking to his knees and Jake’s mouth drops open, every single word and thought about why this is a terrible idea evaporating like dawn mist as soon as the sun hits it. Bradley pauses for the briefest of moments, his eyes locked on Jake’s face and then his hand is there, running over Jake’s cock through the denim and the groan he lets out is low. It’s been too fucking long since he’s had this.

                “You don’t need to…”

                “And if I want to?”

                Jake’s never been great at denying people what they want, and his last thread of self-restraint snaps in his mind, lets him just focus on enjoying Bradley’s hands and fingers and mouth. His jeans and underwear are tugged down and he prays that no one decides to come back early. Then the warm wet heat of Bradley’s mouth closes around the head of his cock, hand moving on the shaft and cupping his balls and his entire body shivers at the sensation. He throws his head back and lets his hips rock slightly, chasing the need to move while also being mindful that he doesn’t exactly want to fuck Bradley’s face.

                It’s quiet, he can hear his own breath coming in gasps, the wet sounds of sucking accompanied by little moans and grunts and he glances down the length of his body. He doesn’t expect to find Bradley staring up at him, eyes dark with arousal, lips dark pink and swollen where they’re stretched around him and he uncurls his fingers from the corner of the bench to brush over the top of Bradley’s head, feather soft, feels the vibration of Bradley humming and does it again, a little firmer, gets another little hum and he moans.

                “You feel so good…”

                “So do you. You can pull my hair, be a little rough. I don’t mind,” Bradley says, his breath ghosting cool air over his cock as he talks and then he’s lapping him again and then it’s his mouth, hot and tight again and Jake lets his fingers weave into his hair and tug a little, grinds his hips a little more forcefully and then he feels an answering groan in the stronger vibrations and it’s like a feedback loop of sensation.

                He lets himself just focus on how good it feels, loses himself to the sensation of skin on skin, the building pleasure and heat, thinks, hopes, that Bradley is enjoying it as much as Jake is. He’ll reciprocate as soon as possible, and it’s that thought, the idea of getting his mouth on Bradley’s cock that has him coming and he doesn’t have the wherewithal to give any sort of warning and he opens his eyes to find Bradley looking glassy-eyed and he pulls him to his feet, licks into Bradley’s mouth, kisses him deep and filthy.

                “Close, close, so close…” Bradley chants, and his hands are scrambling at his own pants, shoving them down and Jake is suddenly so grateful for sweat pants. He curls his hand around Bradley’s cock, shoves a leg between Bradley’s thighs, knows they’re not young enough to just grind each other against each other until they come. It’s probably called something different now. He strokes faster, rolls his body against Bradley’s, can feel how his whole body is thrumming tight against Jake’s.

                “What do you need?”

                “Oh god…” Bradley gasps, his body trembling and Jake’s going to take that as a good sign.

                “Come on, come on, don’t hold back… want to see you. Feel you.”

                Bradley lets out a little broken sound at that and Jake feels his entire body go tense and then shudder and shake as he comes, hot come spilling over his hand and he takes in a slow breath in a likely useless to calm his racing heart. He doesn’t move, just hold Bradley close and lets them have a few moments to just settle.

                “Okay. Okay,” Jake says, his mouth so close to Bradley’s neck he can feel the tickle of fine hairs as he talks. “So… that happened.”

                “Yep. Sure did.”

                “Um. You still want to go dancing?”

                “Yeah. I do. Need to get changed first though.”

                “You’re not the only one.”

…            …            …

                He accepts the kiss on the cheek from Michelle, spins her out onto the dance floor, spends a good three songs dancing with her, chatting and catching up before he returns her safely back to the bar, their will-they, won’t-they act done for the evening just to keep the local gossips speculating, although the fact is he’s pretty confident he’s going to be leaving with the same person he arrived with and he throws a wink across the room to where Bradley is watching him with hooded eyes. He can feel Bradley’s eyes on him and he hasn’t felt this powerful in a long time, having someone’s undivided attention.

                Something he hasn’t mentioned to Bradley, and likely never will, is the fallout of him dating the son of another entrenched family. Between them and his own family it had made quite a stir. It hadn’t been pleasant by any stretch of the imagination, however it had forced the bigots behind closed doors, or even out of town. It hadn’t been as easy as he had maybe implied, but he’d still had more supporters than he had people who’d ignore his mere existence. The fact that Ashley’s family is yet another means most people keep their less savory opinions to themselves.

                “Dance with me?” Jake asks him, his hand out and Bradley looks at it, an eyebrow raised.

                “You sure?”

                To use a metaphor he hates, that horse has already bolted, and the gate is hanging off its hinges. They arrived together, they’re going to leave together, dancing together might get a few eyerolls but it’s not going to set tongues wagging any more than they already will be.

                “Yeah, come here and let me teach you some line dancing.”

                Like showing Bradley how to augur, fence and collect eggs, he picks it up quickly and starts following Jake’s lead, the smile on his face contagious and Jake is enjoying himself more than usual, although he’d also credit his orgasm earlier to assisting with his good mood. They dance for nearly two hours, and Bradley accepts invitations to dance from several others, but Jake doesn’t miss that his eyes always find him.

                “Come on Jake, take me home…”

                He nods once, all thoughts of trying to put up any argument gone, because he wants.

…            …            …

                The ride home is quiet, he has the radio on low and Bradley’s hand is resting on his thigh, as if he needs to somehow remind Jake that he’s there, anchoring him. He throws his truck into park and turns the key, his leg feels cold when Bradley lifts his hand away. He starts walking toward his front door, which is a little unsettling, because he’s never brought anyone home before. But it’s not like he was going to take Bradley to a motel. And he sure as hell isn’t having sex in the bunk rooms, he isn’t a fucking teenager anymore. He turns to make sure Bradley is following only to find him standing and watching and he takes a few quick steps toward him, reaches for his hand and links their fingers.

                “Come on, want you in my bed…” he states, the feeling of being adrift ebbing away as he starts to feel more certain about wanting Bradley exactly where he just said.

                “You sure?”

                “Stop asking me if I’m sure. I’m sure.”

                “I don’t want you to have regrets.”

                Jake is pretty sure that’s impossible, but he’s glad Bradley at least feels that way. He steps back toward his house, and this time Bradley follows, his fingers tightening around Jake’s briefly as they walk. He unlocks the door and toes off his boots, Bradley following his lead and he watches him in the dimmed-light of the few lamps that he keeps on through the night near the kitchen. They don’t speak as he leads Bradley upstairs to his bedroom, a part of the house that Bradley’s never been into. His bedroom isn’t the tidiest, hadn’t expected to be bringing anyone back. Never has before, not here. Though he’s glad he has plenty of condoms and lube, wants to get to use it.

                “Just make yourself comfortable, I’m just going to go grab some stuff,” Jake says, and he’s a little sad that he doesn’t get to undress him, but maybe a little space is a good thing right now. He quickly throws back a quick drink of water, licks his lips before grabbing the things they’ll likely need. Because this is in a bed, his bed, and he has time and there’s no need to rush.

                He steps back into his bedroom and Bradley is not quite undressed but he’s barefoot, jeans undone and hanging low on his hips. His shirt is on the floor, as is the white singlet he had been wearing underneath. Jake’s seen him shirtless before, working out on the ranch. But he’s never been in a position where he’s soon going to be touching and tasting and he dumps the contents in his hands on the bedside table, knocking over what’s there, but he can’t bring himself to care, pulls at his own shirt while he walks forward, one hand reaching to touch. He feels heavenly under Jake’s fingers, skin warm and soft, like he has a fucking skincare regime or something and Jake gives into the urge to bite and taste, enjoys the sensation of Bradley’s entire body jerking closer into Jake’s reach.

                “Oh my god…”

                Then it’s a haze of fingers and hands on skin, lips and tongues exploring, quiet words under their breath as they both pepper their touches with endearments. Gorgeous, hot, want you. He pushes Bradley’s jeans down, rubs a proprietary hand over his cock and it’s going to be another change of clothes and he feels smug about it. He can feel Bradley’s fingers under his shirt and he steps back, wants, needs to get just as naked.

                Bradley seems to have other ideas though, is pulling the blankets off his bed, is rummaging through the things Jake brought through from the bathroom. He watches, frozen as Bradley spreads out a towel and then strips off his underwear, is covering his fingers in lube and then lying back, his own fingers pressing in and stretching himself open while Jake just watches in dumbfounded silence. He does make a small high-pitched sound he doesn’t recognize.

                “Jesus Christ…” Jake says, voice breaking.

                “Jake, come on. Please.”

                He doesn’t need to hear more, might want to some time, but he strips off his shirt, kicks off his jeans and feels gangly and ungraceful in his haste, reminiscent of teenaged fumblings before he reminds himself he has all night and slows down a fraction. He licks into Bradley’s mouth, feels his breath pant against his face as he trails kisses over his face, down his neck, lets his fingers trail too-soft over his cock as he leaves Bradley to stretch himself open for now. Jake will get to helping him soon. He licks over pebbled nipples, nuzzles into the trails of hair leading down from his belly button and then sucks his cock into his mouth. He slides one of his own fingers in alongside Bradley’s, feels him press down, hear the gasping-groan that becomes high and reedy, his hips twitching.

                “Come on, please, need you…”

                Jake stops breathing, can’t believe he gets to have this, that Bradley is reaching for him, slapping a condom into his hand and shoving a pillow under his hips, his eyes not leaving Jake’s and he leans down to capture his mouth in another kiss, a touch too hard and biting as he sinks into the tight heat of Bradley’s body. It’s been a long time since he’s had this and he wants to drag it out, his entire body shaking a little as he settles into a slow rocking grind before making his strokes longer.

                His mouth doesn’t leave Bradley’s body very much, he kisses every inch of skin he can reach while he thrusts, rests his forehead against his, licks at the sweat as it gathers on his neck, collar and chest. Nibbles with his lips at his nipples, savors the arching movement of Bradley’s body against his, trying to get closer.

                Bradley is loud, gets louder but makes less sense as he keeps going. Jake had thought he might be tense and unyielding, fighting for control the entire time, but he's pliant, making little gasping moans at every thrust. Heat sparks up his spine every time he rocks in, the slick open pressure of Bradley’s body overwhelming. It's good, too good to last. He gets his mouth on Bradley’s neck again, works at the little juncture of muscle and sinew, the last bit of tension in his body, and he doesn't mean to bite but Bradley holds him there, his head tipped back. Jake digs his teeth in until Bradley bucks underneath him, breathes fuck fuck fuck, and comes.

                Jake wrenches back his self-control enough to pull out, curling into himself and stripping the condom off before he strokes his cock three-four-five times and then he’s coming, breath panting against the skin of Bradley’s neck. The silence afterward is drawn out, like the dawn just before all the birds break into the morning chorus, and he tries to catch his breath and not fall over and keep it together. It's a while before he manages to move, getting up to throw the condom in the trash and grabbing a cloth. Bradley makes a drowsy noise when he comes back, rolling over to peer up at Jake with half-open eyes.

                “You want me to go?”

                “No,” Jake says, softly quiet, because that would make him feel infinitely worse for somehow using Bradley for sex and then just kicking him out. He doesn’t want to put his own insecurities and issues on Bradley, even if Bradley’s position as his worker is definitely the biggest issue in his head. He can figure out how to deal with it tomorrow. Later. He’s grateful that Ashley is spending the night with his parents. While he doesn’t want to kick Bradley out, it still feels unsettling to have him here, in his space, despite his desire for it earlier. He wants him to stay more than he wants him to go.

…            …            …

                He wakes the next morning to Bradley wrapped up tight behind him, cock hard against Jake’s ass, body rocking against Jake’s ever so slightly. He’d almost think he was asleep, except for the hand palming Jake’s half-erect cock, lips brushing kisses against the back of his neck and he’s clearly awake. He hums and presses back, because it’s definitely up there with one of the better ways to be woken up.

                “Morning…”

                “Morning. Thought I might try and round it off with a third before you have to leave…”

                “Where am I going?” Jake asks, breath catching as Bradley’s hand moves a little faster.

                “Church?”

                “Oh, I don’t go to church after a night of dancing…”

                He pulls a face, glad Bradley can’t see him, because dancing and sex are not meant to be interchangeable.

                “Really?”

                “Really. I usually sleep in, but I have no complaints about this wakeup call…”

                “Well, if I’d known I wouldn’t have made it quite so early…”

                Jake laughs softly, shakes his head, because this still feels like a sleep-in, maybe better in its decadence. There’s a brief blast of cool air as Bradley shifts away, but he’s back, hand slick and Jake feels slicked fingers between his thighs, groans and presses back as Bradley slides his cock between his thighs, his slick hand wrapping around Jake’s cock. He starts a gentle rocking rhythm that would rock him back to sleep if it weren’t for the fact that he’s feeling more and more turned on by the second.

                Bradley doesn’t seem to be in any rush to get off, seems focused on Jake’s pleasure, murmuring filthy words about how good Jake had felt fucking him. Jake’s never had anyone talk dirty to him before, not like this, and he’s clearly been missing out, because it’s hot, ratchets his arousal up a few more notches and he can’t really move, Bradley moving his hand and his own body and Jake just having to lie there and take the pleasure that Bradley so clearly wants to give him. When he comes his entire body shudders with the intensity of it and he feels a little shocky. Bradley doesn’t let go of him, hold him as he continues to rock, the pace increasing only slightly before he’s coming as well.

                “Go back to sleep…” Bradley says, voice quiet, his hand dragging a dry towel to wipe away the worst of the mess, although he’s still going to need a decent shower and change his sheets. Sleep does sound really good though.

…            …            …

                He wakes again about an hour later and Bradley is asleep, and he looks so good, asleep in Jake’s bed, and he feels a sudden wrench of pain that he might not get this. He really shouldn’t be sleeping with him. His joke about firing and re-hiring him kicking at the little part of his brain that has been screaming that this is a bad idea over and over. He doesn’t regret it. Well. He does, but he regrets more that he won’t let himself do it again, no matter how much he wants to.

                “No. Nope. I don’t like that look on your face…” Bradley says, and he’s blinking up at Jake, still half asleep but he’s frowning and poking at the space between his eyebrows and he bats his hand away.

                “Hey. Morning. Again.”

                “Morning. Again. I don’t like that look on your face.”

                “What? It’s just my face.”

                “No. It’s your bad thoughts face, where you are clearly thinking about every possible bad thing that could go wrong right now. Just… what are you thinking?”

                “I… we… really shouldn’t have slept together.”

                The look that Bradley gives him is incredulous, which he guesses is fair, given that they’re both currently naked, in his bed, and have cum crusted in all sorts of places.

                “Okay…” Bradley says slowly. “Tell me why you think that.”

                “I’m your boss! I pay you. Am meant to be paying you more now. But… not because of… this.”

                “You’re not paying me to have sex with you,” Bradley states, and he’s shifted to hold one of Jake’s hands in both of his.

                “No, of course not.”

                “Would you stop paying me if I refused to have sex with you?”

                “No!”

                “What about if I have a fantasy of getting paid for sex?”

                Jake chokes and splutters.

                “Do you?”

                “I don’t know, I’ve never thought about it… might do. If it’s you.”

                “Bradley…”

                “I’m joking!” Bradley says, and then pauses. “Maybe. Probably. But, anyway, I don’t want to stop… seeing where this could maybe take us.”

                “Not just sex?” Jake asks, wanting, needing clarification, because okay, his mind is spinning like an out-of-control top and okay, if it’s more than sex, then it would make him feel considerably better.

                “I think we’re pretty good at that already, although I’m never going to say no to getting more practice in.”

                “Come on, be serious.”

                “I am being serious. I want to date you. Try a relationship. If I need to quit working here I will, but…” he sucks in a breath then, and he looks sad and Jake’s reminded of what he’d looked like when he’d first arrived. Lonely.

                “I don’t want you to go anywhere,” Jake states firmly.

                “Good. I don’t want to go anywhere. Except to shower. I really want a shower.”

                It feels too easy, but so much in his life hasn’t been easy so maybe he’s due a break.

…            …            …

                They’ve showered and dressed, and Bradley has borrowed underwear and a shirt, which Jake has to admit he appreciates the way his shoulders stretch it out just that little bit more than he does.

                “You like travel books huh?” Bradley asks, running a hand over the dozens of spines of his travel books and Jake didn’t mean to literally shelve his dreams so blatantly, but it’s not lost on him now that Bradley is looking. He’s reminded that he actually knows very little about Bradley’s past, that Ashley may know more, given how openly Bradley talks with her. Can he ask questions now?

                “Well, I can’t exactly travel with my life, so I need to find out about the big wide world without getting there myself.”

                Bradley hums, gives him a soft look that Jake quite can’t parse the meaning of, his mind already snagging on just how comfortable Bradley looks, like he belongs.

                “I loved photography when I was younger, dreamed about just, travelling and taking photos. Mainly the travelling. Never leaving the state except for a couple of livestock conferences wasn’t exactly my dream.”

                “Then you find a new dream… my parents died when I was young. I was raised by my godfather, Pete. I mentioned him before.”

                “I’m sorry, I didn’t know that…”

                “No. Jake. I wasn’t telling you to get sympathy… You don’t know much about me because I haven’t shared anything with you. Uh. Maybe we could talk over some coffee?”

                “Yeah, of course.”

                He goes through the motions of making coffee, this is familiar at least, Bradley in his kitchen, although the bare feet make his heart twist for reasons he doesn’t want to dig into right now. He pours them both large mugs, settles back against the counter and stares at the curling steam, waits him out. His own life is an open book Bradley has been taking a part in the last few weeks, he doesn’t need to share anything about himself.

                “Okay, first thing I need to say is, if it bothers you that much I can move out, work somewhere else.”

                “If what bothers me?”

                “Dating me. Having sex. If you really don’t think you can do those things while I live here I can leave. Just move into town, because I’m serious about wanting to try… well. Dating. As a bare minimum.”

                Jake stares at him. He’d thought they’d just cleared this up. Decided Bradley wasn’t going anywhere.

                “I don’t want you to go anywhere,” Jake says, repeating what he’d said earlier. “I want to date you. Try a relationship. But I do feel uncomfortable when I think about paying you. Especially now that you’ve learnt so much more.”

                Bradley’s lips twitch at that and Jake rolls his eyes, but the nerves that had started clawing away at his insides dissipate at the humor Bradley is showing.

                “Told you it’s a fantasy of mine, getting paid for sex…”

                “Shut up, it is not…”

                “Might be. Might need a more convincing act from you…”

                “Stop being an asshole.”

                The smirk on Bradley’s face makes him aware he walked straight into that one.

                “Just don’t pay me anything. I don’t mind. Or I can just… stop working for you, but maybe still stay in the bunkhouse?”

                “No, that makes me feel even worse! For fucks sake Bradley, you’re a decent worker, for all you know fuck all about ranching. You’re tutoring Ashley through her AP Calculus, you’ve maintaining all the machinery, you’re cooking for everyone… I want to pay you what you’re worth.”

                “Oh my god, we’re going in circles. Then pay me for that. Jake. I don’t care about the money. Okay? I enjoy being here. Hell. I never knew I had a gift for somehow making calculus easier for someone to understand. And cooking for people who enjoy it? These are all… they might seem like small things to you, but they’re huge for me. That I get to do them and enjoy them and have people be so grateful and happy that I’m simply there…”

                “I’m grateful for you.”

                “Well, I make you a different sort of happy,” Bradley says, smirking at him and Jake lets out a laugh, but it feels a little forced.

                “What would you do, if you didn’t work here? What did you do, before?”

                “Oh… Mechanical engineer. But also some other stuff.”

                “That’s super vague.”

                “Yeah. Uh. Shit.”

                Not for the first time since they started talking he feels worried that they might just be talking themselves into the end before they’ve even started and he doesn’t want Bradley to put it in the too-hard basket, even if it feels like that’s where it should be. Fuck it.

                “I want to be with you. I want you to stay here. I will ask my dad to take care of paying you. Cards on the table.”

                Bradley looks at him, eyes serious before he’s nodding slowly.

                “That sounds like a good compromise. We going to trial it out for a month or so?”

                Jake groans, pretty sure Bradley is being a dick on purpose. …            …            …

PART THREE

[raccoonsandrangoons]

Stumblin’ In

✼ Steve accepts a job as a preschool teacher. You stumble into his classroom running late to pick up your daughter.

✼ A/N : it’s been over a year since I’ve published anything but Steve holds a special place in my heart and I just had to write this for him. Named after my favorite selfship song because what else is fanfic but self indulgence?

✼ 1.7k words

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For years now, it was just you and your daughter, Jubilee, living in a trailer down the road from Eddie and your sister.

Her father left the moment he found out about her, scaring you away from any further thoughts of romance. But your sweet little Jubilee was enough for you.

Being a single mom was tough, but you refused to let your sister and Eddie help too much. You already felt like an emotional burden on your sister, and you didn’t want to burden her too much when she’s already taking care of Wayne (a work injury has him taking an early retirement).

Wayne, sweetheart as he is, always insisted that you’re no burden. You and your little one were as much as family as Eddie and your sister.

“She helps ease the day when Eddie and ya sister are out,” Wayne always said.

A soft sigh left your lips and you looked at Wayne as your daughter ran around the front yard.

“I told you,” Wayne said, leaning back into his chair with his hands behind head. “I didn’t like that boy you brought to the wedding. Said he was bad news.”

“I should’ve listened to you, Uncle Wayne,” you said. “But then we wouldn’t have her, would we?”

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Steve loves his job. He never would imagine that he would ever be a preschool teacher, but he wouldn’t change it for anything. Really, he’s a daycare employee, but he’s in the preschool room, so he would consider himself a preschool teacher.

He had gotten the job on recommendation from Robin, the middle school band director. After Robin went off to college and came back a certified music teacher and Steve was still at Family Video, she said there was an opening for preschool at childcare not far from Hawkins schools.

“I know it’s not what you ever thought of, but you’re really good with kids,” Robin said. “I mean, look at Dustin!”

“Henderson’s all grown now; he’s in college,” Steve argued. “Besides he was in middle school when we met; these are little kids.”

“You were really good with the Byers baby when Johnathan and Nancy visited,” Robin quipped.

“That’s still different. That’s a baby baby, not a preschooler.”

“The pay is better than Family Video, I swear it,” Robin pressed. “And the insurance isn’t bad either!”

Steve thought for a moment. It was close to his last year on his parents’ insurance, and he really needed to find a place of his own.

“I think it’s worth a shot to at least apply. Do you really want to be stuck at Family Video for the rest of your life?”

So Steve applied, and what a shock it was when he got a call for an interview a couple days later and was hired within a week from that.

His dad, naturally, wasn’t pleased. It had ignited a massive fight.

“I don’t know, why don’t you come work for me?” Steve’s dad said the moment Steve told his parents he had applied for the job over a rare family dinner.

“I don’t want to work for the company or even in an office,” Steve huffed while cutting into the dry chicken. “And this is a decent paying job. It’s enough that I can move out.”

“You’re always welcome here as long as you need, honey,” his mother interjected, as if Steve hadn’t spent the majority of his time at home alone.

“I’m twenty-three, Mom,” he said. “I think it’s time I find my own. A real job, and they don’t even care that I don’t have a college degree.”

“Don’t you think it’s a little gay for you to be teaching preschool?” Steve’s dad commented.

Steve set down his fork and glared at his father. “Don’t say that.”

“Well, it’s a woman’s job,” his father pressed. “So are you?”

“A woman? No.”

“Gay, son. Are you?”

Tension grew thick.

“No, but don’t say that.”

After his fight with his father, he moved in with Robin. More rumors circulated around but were calmed by Chrissy, Robin’s friend from college, also living with them. The rumors were quickly dispelled by Robin’s statement in the Hawkins Middle teacher’s lounge that the two of them were just helping a friend in need until he got on his own feet. Which was exactly Steve’s plans, to save enough and live on his own for a bit.

It had only been a month into the new school year, but already Steve knew he had made the right decision even without Robin’s “I told you so.”

It had only been a month into the new school year, but already Steve knew he had made the right decision even without Robin’s “I told you so.”

Just a few more months and he would have enough saved to move into his own place and be out of Robin’s hair.

He’d long since given up on romantic love, settling on just being “professional babysitter” all his life as Dustin had said.

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Steve didn’t mind staying late. He understood that some days things ran over and parents would inevitably run late every once in a while.

He especially didn’t mind when the kid in question is his favorite. He knows he isn’t supposed to have favorites, but Jubilee is the kindest and most well-behaved child Steve has.

Jubilee didn’t seem to mind either, content in finishing the page out of the coloring book Steve gave her. She lifts up the book to show Steve the blue

“Looking good, honey!” he praised. “I really like the blue on the ladybug. Creative!”

After an hour however, Steve started to worry.

He dug around in his desk for papers to see if Jubilee has an emergency contact. After a moment of fumbling around, he finds her folder and flips through until he sees:

_____ Hargrove - Mother

(xxx) xxx-xxxx

Hargrove

His heart sinks into his chest and he feels a tightening. Billy has a baby. Jealousy is an ugly feeling. Billy Hargrove has the cutest daughter while the clock is still ticking on Steve’s dream of six little nuggets.

Shaking his head and telling himself there are bigger things to worry about than a long dead high school rivalry, Steves picked up the classroom phone and dialed the number listed as “mother”.

No answer.

He called a second time. Still no answer.

He looked back down at the folder and scanned for other names.

Jade Munson - Aunt

Eddie Munson - Uncle

Wayne Munson - Uncle

(xxx) xxx-xxxx

Munson

Steve still regularly visited with Eddie. How could a kid in his class be related to one of his good friends without him ever knowing?

Steve sank back into his chair.

Billy was a dad and Eddie was an uncle.

With a heavy sigh, he picked up the phone again and was just about to call Eddie when the door to his room slammed open.

Breathless and her hair falling out of a once neat bun was the most beautiful woman Steve had ever seen stumbling into the doorway.

“I’m so sorry,” you panted. You hunched over, trying to regain you breath. “I thought,” you said between heavy breaths. “I thought it was Eddie’s turn to pick her up.”

Steve had about two seconds to drink you in. As you lifted your head and met Steve’s gaze, he realized immediately why you were so familiar. You were the maid of honor at Eddie’s small wedding a few years ago, the one he couldn’t stop gawking at despite Robin’s teasing—the one he almost managed to find the courage to ask for a dance before he saw you laughing and dancing with none other than Billy Hargrove.

“Mama!” Jubilee exclaimed. The young girl threw down her crayons and ran to you with her tiny arms up, ready to scooped up into her mother’s arms.

“Hi, baby!” you said. “How was school?” You placed a gentle kiss on her cheek.

Steve’s gut twisted with want as he heard little cry of “mama!” and watched the reunion before him. He felt dirty thinking of a practical stranger in such a way, but he couldn’t help it. You were gorgeous and genuinely cared for your daughter, and Steve, at his core, just wanted a family to call his own.

He felt a wave of emotions, primarily guilt, before he remembered there was no father listed in the girl’s emergency contacts. No Billy, just you, then who he assumed was your sister, Eddie, then Wayne. The evil bug of jealousy had backed off a bit, and Steve, despite chastising himself, felt a twinge of hope.

He lets his gaze drift to your left ring finger and sees that there’s no ring. Once again, he chastised himself for looking in the first place, and then a second time for the relief he feels over it.

“Thank you so much,” you say, as you hold your child who’s pressing her cheek against yours. “I’m so sorry. “I really thought Eddie was off today and would be taking her home, so I agreed to work late.”

Steve smiled and assured you that it’s okay. “She’s a real angel and I can see now where she gets it,” he said.

You felt a blush furiously creep up your cheeks. Your face is hot, burning, and you know you can’t hide it. You’re not used to compliments or any kind of attention. You’d long since given up on romance since Jubilee’s father left, focusing all your energy into raising her and working.

“I swear it won’t ever happen again. Thank you so much.” You looked at the clock on the wall.

6:30.

Steve had stayed for an extra hour at least.

“Oh my god! It’s so late.” You looked at your daughter in your arms and tickle her stomach. “I bet you’re hungry aren’t you.”

Instead, it’s Steve’s stomach that growls, and it’s his turn to flush with embarrassment. You turned your face towards Steve at the sound, and he sheepishly cast his eyes down, rubbing at the back of his neck.

“I know this is a reach,” you said, shuffling your feet in nerves and moving your daughter from one hip to the other. “But could I repay you by making you dinner?”

“That actually sounds wonderful,” Steve said, his voice almost getting stuck in the mess of flutters his heart and stomach were making. “Thank you, please.”

“Mama?” Jubilee tugged on your ear to get your attention. She whispered in her three year old way that everyone within a decent radius could still hear. “Is Mr. Steve coming home with us?”

“Oh well, yes? I think so?” You looked to Steve seeking confirmation. “Uh, unless tonight is too soon…”

“No!” Steve exclaimed. “I mean, no. No. It’s not too soon for me. Tonight sounds perfect.”

[codename-adler]

is there any reason why Dan specifically? a lot of the foxes have dad issues, but Dan doesn't show any signs of trying to seek out anything romantic from older men becuz of that. if it were any fox, i feel like it'd be more likely to be Andrew? idk how old Roland is but we know he was older than Andrew, and he's a position of authority just like Wymack. I don't WANT it to be Andrew. I just feel like if it had to be someone, its him, yknow?

hmm not sure how to answer this.

i just transposed my experience onto her, as a hc, for shits & giggles. i never said i based myself on canon? was just vibing.

if i did have to justify it, i’d say the EC kind of could point that way, if you really wanted it to be as close to canon as possible? but i’d don’t! cause it’s just for fun! and not that serious!

as for the Andrew thing, um, i feel like i gotta say something. just as nothing in canon points to Danielle having lingering daddy issues / seeking much older male validation because of her past, neither does Andrew. Roland is what? a few years older, max? legally an adult (which is still BAD, in case i wasn't clear......), but not the way Wymack is, a fully grown man in his forties/fifties. he’s not a dad’s age. no dad potential whatsoever. Roland & Andrew is different than the possibility of Andrew seeking out Wymack. you have to know that. it's not the same at all.

the reason Andrew sought out Roland was not specifically bc of his age, but bc Andrew could be in control and Roland would follow his rules, for the most part. when he would not, Andrew could tie him up, and Roland would let him. if there was an age-related reason, it’d be that Roland is a mature, consenting adult in full possession of his independence. Andrew would be inclined to see that as good (for Roland). Andrew would not consider this as also bad (for himself). Roland has no authority at all over Andrew, though. not according to canon Andrew. he may have been his boss at one point, but Andrew is holding the reins of the situationship. Andrew is the one in control.

so to say that Andrew, specifically, would be the one most likely to seek out much older males is… icky. iffy. yucky. you “don’t want it to be Andrew” and why is that? bc of his past abuse, right? and you know that. you know why. i know i’m probably more on the defensive than i ought to be, but there are already harmful stereotypes in aftg when it comes to queer representations and identities. we don’t need more in fanon. i don’t need more in fanon.

Andrew grew up in foster care without a mom or a dad. if he had daddy issues, he’d most likely have mommy issues too, no? but what did he do to his mommy? killed her. for laying a finger on Aaron. that’s a mommy issue alright, but not a mainstream, freudian one. not the kind we’re talking about here. so why would he develop those with older men in parallel? he actively avoids these types of men because of the abuse he endured at their hands. not just Drake's.

it’s just. awfully close to right down saying Andrew is gay bc he was abused by men as a child. that’s a dangerous, slippery slope.

again! in case it wasn't blindingly clear and glaringly obvious! the Danielle post was about Danielle herself. David Wymack would not and never was involved. David Wymack never even knew Dan harbored these misplaced (misplaced!) feelings. she is taking this one to the grave.

if you come from the perspective of personal experience and you’re projecting too, sorry. i don’t mean to invalidate your feelings or your experience.

i think i’m done now.

tl:dr it wasn’t that serious + it doesn’t need to be made serious. just me and my dad-baggage against the world.

[pamsimmerstories]

the bach party!

transcription

[malcolm]: so, they made you get married? why?

[quincy]: well, all of you, my friends, are getting married and having kids, but me. there’s a rumor that i’m gay. mom and dad didn’t like it

[malcolm]: when are you getting out of the closet, quincy?

[quincy]: i don’t know what you mean. *drinks*

[malcolm]: why do you keep lying to your friends?

[after one bottle of beer (for each), they were all wasted and decided to eat something]

[meanwhile in cassie’s bach... it was only her and aurora]

[cassandra]: i can’t believe you brought me here!

[aurora]: it’s the best excuse to see another man’s butt or penis, cassie. because after tonight, it’s gonna be only malcolm’s

[cassandra]: i guess you’re right. i’m gonna try to enjoy this.

[angelo]: and you wolfgang? are you getting married anytime soon?

[wolfgang]: married? we’re already married, kind of. we live together and we have kids. it’s the same

[angelo]: did she say it? or are you saying it?

[wolfgang]: i guess she knows?

[now he’s wondering if aurora would like to get married someday. he thinks she’s not the type of girl who wants this. but this is on his mind now. should he propose to her?]

[meanwhile...]

[cassandra]: *thinking* oh my god... does he need to get this closer?

*amused*

*laughs*

[aurora]: wow hahahahahahahahahaha

[cassandra]: oh boy! i guess that’s enough.

[carlos-in-glasses]

Commiseration Monday

Thank you for the tag @cold-blooded-jelly-doughnut (and the idea!), @reyesstrand @theghostofashton @lemonlyman-dotcom @heartstringsduet @catanisspicy @alrightbuckaroo ❤️

The rules: While Ao3 is temporarily down, share a little something from a WIP to keep us going through the downtime! Preferably something we haven’t shared before, but whatever works for you!

Please have some Owen and TK time from a WIP (that in my head is called Flashback Fic), which expands on my fic Chasers.

Owen leads TK into the kitchen and sits him at the breakfast bar. "I'm going to make you a spring smoothie, and then you're going to tell me what's up. Is it about your mom? Or did you and Carlos have a fight?"

"I wish," TK says.

"What does that mean?"

"A fight is simple. This is way more complicated." TK shakes his head. A fight would also mean make up sex later, so there are certain pros. "And what is a spring smoothie?"

"Spinach, apples, almond milk, basil, chicory, arugula, fenugreek, and bananas of course."

"Of course."

"Don't knock it until you try it." Owen smiles. "And talk to me."

TK watches his father practically dance around the kitchen, gathering ingredients – and it rocks him, because no matter what’s going on in his life, Owen is always there to make smoothies and talk. He thinks of himself coming out at fourteen. Gay bashed behind the bleachers at fifteen. An addict at seventeen. At twenty-six, relapsing after a failed marriage proposal. Overdosing on his apartment floor. But within all of it, for his whole life, love knelt by his side in the form of his mom and dad.

"Last night, I was in a bad way."

“After that call?”

“Yeah.”

“I thought you were. Why didn’t you talk to me?”

“I don’t know. But Carlos called Cooper, and Cooper came over, and we talked it out. But when Carlos came home, I told him about, um–” Deep breaths. Deep, steady. “I admitted I almost relapsed the day after mom died.”

Owen stills, hugging two green, shiny apples in his hands like they’re precious. “Did he react badly.”

“No. I kind of freaked out. Kind of cried all over him.”

Owen smiles, sets the apples down and picks up a paring knife. “I’m familiar with your style.”

“Yeah. Well. At the risk of crying all over you and probably Buttercup right now, I keep thinking about you.”

"Me?" Owen asks, flattered but confused.

"And mom. And everything I put you through."

Owen looks at him seriously. Then he opens a drawer to retrieve a second small paring knife that matches one he already holds. He places it onto a thick wooden chopping board next to the two green apples and pushes it across the breakfast bar towards TK. "Wash your hands and help me make this," Owen says.

TK gets up, doing what he's asked without question, smiling to himself because he's a paramedic and doesn't need to be told to wash his hands before food prep, but they've gone back in time to his childhood, when Owen would tell him important things about life while engaging him in something practical. When TK was twelve, Owen came over to TK's new apartment with Gwyn on Canal Street and helped strip orange floral wallpaper from TK's room. While working away at the tired old flowers, which an elderly lady had once loved, Owen gave TK the sex talk. It was hetero in focus, but even then it was like Owen was nudging TK to tell him to stop if he wanted, if it didn't apply to him, or if he needed to discuss it in a different way.

TK shunted his wallpaper scraper up and down to remove a patch with particularly firm adhesive, taking a little plaster away with it.

"Anyway, if there's anything you need to know, or just want to know – if you're ever curious or upset or you have feelings for someone, I'll always want to talk to you about it. You don't need to be worried or shy."

"Okay," TK said, "Can I have some lemonade now?"

When TK cores the first apple, his hands begin to shake. He has to put the knife down. "Dad."

"TK."

"I'm sorry. I'm just so sorry."

Owen looks at his tearful son understandingly. He takes the apple from him, finishes slicing it, and waits for TK to carry on.

I'm late to this so I'm just going to tag @ladytessa74 because I was going to read your new fic tonight :( Otherwise this is an open tag to anyone who wants to do it - please genuinely take it as a tag and tag me back if you post!

[honeyjars-sims]

1.31 Reunion

Johnny: This is a pretty nice place.

Bonnie: Yep, it’s just the right size for me and Trinity. Close to everything and the rent’s not too bad. It’s nice not having a big house to keep up, but it does feel a bit lonely sometimes with just the two of us.

Johnny: I guess it’s the same with me and Chantal. Going from 5 people in one place to only two is a big difference. The quiet is almost eerie at times.

Johnny: Why are you looking at me like that?

Bonnie: It’s just…you’re a man now. You used to have the chubbiest little cheeks but now your face is all angular.

Johnny: I had to grow up sometime. But if it helps you feel any better, I’m still pretty immature.

Bonnie: [laughs] That does help. It’s already hard for me to believe that Destiny is a mom now. Even Trinity has a little boyfriend. My babies are growing up too fast. So what’s going on with you? Anyone special in your life?

Johnny: Uh, well, I did start seeing someone recently. She’s not really my girlfriend yet but we’ve been spending a lot of time together.

Bonnie: Oh, good! I wasn’t sure if you liked girls because of…well, you know.

Johnny: No, I don’t know. What do you mean?

Bonnie: Well, with your father and his whole…situation.

Johnny: You mean him being gay? It’s not contagious.

Bonnie: I just didn’t know. A father is a huge role model for his son. It’s easy to get influenced by certain things.

Johnny: That’s not how it works, Mom. Being gay isn’t a choice. Besides, what if I was? Is that really something you’re concerned about?

Bonnie: No! I don’t know. I guess it was just hard for me not being around and not having a say in how you were raised. I don’t really know your dad, you know. You pretty much shut me out once you started living with him.

Johnny: Well, he’s a great guy, Mom. You know, I think you got so used to selling the lie that Pops was the big villain in your story that you started to believe it. But you know that isn’t true, and I’m not falling for that bullshit. You know who the villain in my story is and how he got there.

Bonnie: I know, Johnny. I’m sorry, I–

Johnny: No, we’re not doing this again. Sorry is just a word. If you want to have a relationship with me again, I need you to realize a few things. First of all, I’m not listening to any criticism from you about Pops or Dad. They saved my life, which they wouldn’t have had to do if you hadn’t kept me from them for so long.

And second, I need you to own up to the fact that your ex-husband abused me, and that you didn’t believe me when I tried to talk to you about it. And I need you to do that without making excuses.

I don’t give a fuck if you were too high to know what was going on, or if Jimmy told you I was out of control and needed discipline or whatever. The bottom line is I was being hurt and you didn’t help me. So if you can do those two things for me, I might be willing to forgive you down the road. But if you can’t, I’m done. Full stop.

Bonnie: I can do that. I won’t say anything about your father again. You’re right, I was supposed to protect you and I didn’t. That’s on me. 

Johnny: Okay. That’s a start. But this is going to take some time. I need you to understand that.

Bonnie: I do. I’m going to do better by you, baby. I promise.

Previous | Beginning of story | Beginning of chapter | Next

[mariaofdoranelle]

Cowboy Like Me

Merry Yulemas, @morganofthewildfire!!

This fic stands somewhere between your answer to that post, an Evermore song (for obvious reasons), Arobynn being Arobynn (though mine isn’t near as bad as yours), and angst (as much as I could, probably not much)

I stepped out of my comfort zone a lot to write this one, but I’m excited about it! It was really fun to write, and I hope you have fun reading it too ❤️

Word count: 7,5k

Warnings: cursing, light smut, Arobynn, mentions of addiction, blackmailing, one punch

Disclaimer: this fic does not contain actual cowboys because I think it was a metaphor in the song and they’re not my area of expertise lol for actual cowboy content, please check @leiawritesstories’ fics

The tennis court was covered up with some tent-like thing, Aelin could finally pay attention now that her son was entertained by one of the games. They were in a Beltane celebration at his school, and she liked to keep a close eye on her little terror.

Most moms liked to sit a bit far and gossip while the school’s staff took care of their kids, but a mistake coming from Aelin wouldn’t be perceived the same, so she focused on watching Finn and kept it to herself, now that Enda wasn’t coming to these things anymore.

She knew she should at least try to have fun for her son’s sake, but she missed her friend. The gold-digger and the gay dad. Aelin and Enda made quite the outcast duo.

“Galathynius.”

Aelin glanced away, no need to look at the person to know who it was, since he was the only one who refused to call her by her husband’s name. She had no idea why, though. Aelin knew damn well what Enda’s cousin was after when he took over Aidan’s school responsibilities, and she was sure she wasn’t part of his plan.

“It’s Hamel,” she said in a stern voice and looked back at the kids. “No moms for you to seduce today?”

“I’m on it.”

Aelin sighed and finally looked him in the eye. “I’m not divorced, you know?”

He raised his eyebrows. “I’m not following.”

“Isn’t that your type?”

The corner of his lips twitched before he answered, “Married isn’t my usual option, but I don’t discriminate.”

Refusing to engage in whatever he was thinking, Aelin turned back to watch the kids. That was one of the reasons she missed Enda. Befriending him felt comfortable. Enda felt safe. Enda didn’t try to flirt with Aelin and make her remember she had a husband that definitely wasn’t waiting for her at home.

This wasn’t a recurrent issue, since Rowan preferred to give his attention to the single moms. Not that she cared about it. It just irked Aelin that while she was criticized for marrying into wealth, the same people would praise Rowan for caring so dearly about his little cousin — and trying to do pretty much the same as her in the meanwhile.

A clear of his throat. “You don’t seem to be enjoying the party.”

“I’m watching my son.”

“The email was very clear about not needing to.”

Aelin sighed. “So what? You want me to join the ladies at lunch?”

He offered a hand and gestured to the parents dancing. “We could join them.”

Aelin didn’t need to look around to know they were being watched. As they always were. She didn’t mind the gossip and people having a low opinion of her, but her husband did. And she needed him to stay safe, so she had to care about appearances too.

“Dancing is a dangerous game.”

The corner of his lips tugged up. “I can deal with the gossiping moms later.”

Aelin didn’t doubt that for a minute. And she was well aware of the many ways he dealt with them.

However, before she could think, she took his hand and let him lead her close to the band, where a few people were dancing already. She didn’t recognize the songs, but they didn’t sound too strange either.

“I’m not sure I can dance to this.”

“It’s very Doranellian.” When they were both in place, Rowan said, “Just follow my lead.”

She let him take her hand and tried to mirror him, and keeping up with his precise movements took enough of her attention to make her forget about all the people watching them. When Rowan brought her chest closer to his, she feared he might hear her heartbeat pounding. When he spun her around, she could feel a small, fluttering feeling in her stomach. When Aelin was laughing by being twirled around, she saw the smirk on his face and a million red flags quickly replaced her joy. This was just one of his moves, wasn’t it?

When the song ended, she said, “This was fun, but I’m not sure what you’re doing, since I’m not your... target audience.”

He frowned. “What are you implying?”

“I’m just saying that Enda never struggled to be present at school for Aidan, but suddenly his cousin is all over the place covering for him, and in the meantime flirting with the rich moms. I find it very convenient.”

“And what makes you think I’m interested in anything but their lovely personalities?”

She raised her eyebrows. “Seriously? After Remelle?”

Rowan grimaced before saying, “You have a point, but the question is still there.”

Aelin shrugged. “Takes one to know one.”

A small, heavy thing tumbled into Aelin’s leg, and she knew before looking down that it was her son.

“Mommy! Can I go to the jumpoline? Please, please, please, plea—“

Aelin wiped some sweat off his forehead with her hand while answered, “Okay, where’s—“

Finn and Aidan both took off in a full sprint before she finished the sentence. Rowan was on her side as she leisurely followed behind the kids, but it was still better than the two of them dancing and touching and being that close to each other.

Sighing, she refocused on her son. Thinking about Finn was always a good way to keep herself on track. His strawberry blonde hair was bouncing as he jumped with anticipation on the line for the jumpoline. Aelin had to be careful with the pronunciations around his dad, but this one was way too cute for her to correct. Besides, the likelihood of seeing Arobynn anywhere near a trampoline or listening to his son talk about his day was close to zero, so it was a safe one to keep.

“He’s a great kid, you know,” Rowan quietly said while they watched the kids play.

“Which one?” she teased.

He chuckled. “Both, but I meant Finn.” Rowan sighed. “We were all concerned about Aidan being too withdrawn, but his demeanor improved a lot later. I think it has to do with Finn.”

The only thing Rowan could see outside was a small smile on Aelin’s lips, but her chest was blooming with pride. Her son didn’t do anything other than being a little ball of energy he always were, but still. Aidan was still a shy kid, but he was an eager participant in all of Finn’s shenanigans, the two of them thick as thieves on making her hair turn gray. Not that this was a concern for the Whitethorns and their already silver hair, though.

The boys eventually came back to them, and Rowan crouched down and whispered something on Aidan’s ear that made his eyes go wide. Like cascading dominoes, the little boy approached Finn and muttered something that made her son’s eyes sparkle, and he didn’t spare a second before hugging her leg and doing his best attempt at puppy eyes.

“Mommy, can I go to Aidan’s house? Please, please, please...”

As Finn uttered his string of pleas, Aelin squinted her eyes at Rowan, trying to figure out what he was tricking her into. She was in a really tight spot, considering how big were the chances of her son throwing a major tantrum if she says no. And apart from a suspicion, she had no reason to say no. So she didn’t.

Everyone seemed satisfied by Aelin’s confirmation of their plans. The kids bounced and cheered while Rowan quietly smirked at her, knowing his trick had worked.

This is gonna be one of those things, it seems.

They let the boys go on a few other activities at the school before leaving, time enough for Aelin to be sure about what she was doing and let her chauffeur know about their change of plans.

“That’s a nice car,” she complimented with a hint of curiosity when the kids were out of earshot, running towards Aidan’s small backyard playground. Rowan’s car blended in easily with what they usually saw at the kids’ school, but it was the kind Aelin only started seeing in her twenties, after exchanging social circles.

He tensed. “What are you suggesting?”

Aelin raised both hands in surrender and entered the house without waiting for him. Rowan was making jokes about hitting on the school moms less than two hours ago, she didn’t expect him to get uncomfortable when she was about to tease him about his fancy car. There was no reason to, since getting expensive gifts was part of dating people with expensive lifestyles. It was all part of the game.

Inside the house, one of the housekeepers was preparing snacks for the kids while Aidan’s nanny watched them, and it didn’t take long for the ladies to tell Aelin that Enda and his husband were away for a few days on a holiday trip. She frowned, disappointed. It had been too long since their last Wine and Paw Patrol evening. Aelin missed her friends.

“Are you that upset to be alone with me?” a voice that had been haunting her all day whispered on the shell of her ear, making her shiver.

Aelin looked around, making sure they were really alone and took one step closer, looking him in the eye. “I spent the whole day trying to figure out what you’re doing, Rowan.”

He ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “Me too.”

Well, at least he knew it made no sense. Aelin knew what his goal was, and she had nothing to offer him in that sense. In fact, from Enda’s stories, she knew very well that her upbringing was a lot worse than his.

“You haunt me,” Rowan finally blurted. “I’ve always seen you, because it’s impossible not to, but there’s these little things...” He scratched his forehead and sighed. “It started when I’d stop everything to listen to Finn when he was talking about you. And then I’d get a funny feeling before picking Aidan up, and...” He threw his hands up in the air. “I don’t know, okay? I know you’re married, as you keep reminding me, but I can’t focus on the women I should be focusing on when you’re around. It’s annoying, it’s ruining my plans, and I can’t stop.”

Aelin thought her heartbeat was too loud for her to hear anything, but she did. Loud and clear. As clear as her awareness of Rowan’s pine scent and his breath mingling against her. One thing she wasn’t aware of: how did they end up so close. Aelin was given a choice, and her answer would consist on that one step that was left between them.

Damn her for feeling like this after one spark of attention. Damn her for letting Rowan put her in a position like this. Damn her for needing to hold on to her marriage for safety.

Aelin rested her forehead on his and sighed. “I’m married.”

“Like I’ll ever forget.”

“I’m not reminding you, I’m reminding me,” she whispered.

Rowan chuckled, but it sounded a little too bitter. “I think that makes it even worse.”

“Yes, it does.” Aelin said while slowly running her shaky hands up Rowan’s chest, until they reached his neck.

“You don’t need to,” he rasped when she was closing the gap between their mouths.

“Yes, I do,” she breathed a millisecond before feeling Rowan’s soft lips on hers and his rough hands progressively holding onto her waist for dear life. It felt like each strong beat of her heart sent sparks through her whole body, and she knew damn well Rowan was the one to ignite her. He smelled like home and Aelin could say their bodies against each other was heaven, but he touched her like sin itself. She understood what he meant when he said she didn’t need this, but she did.

She needed his tongue against hers in a frenzied pace as he backed her against the wall.

She needed his hand pulling her hair to give him space to explore her neck, her small whimpers making him groan against the soft skin of her neck.

She needed their bodies stumbling together towards the spare bedroom.

She needed this.

She needed him.

˜˜

Five months later

No matter what Aelin told herself on that first day, it wasn’t a one-time thing. It wasn’t only one time a week, but she also couldn’t say it was one time a day either. There was no way to pretend that promise wasn’t complete bullshit.

Aelin blinked and snuggled further against Rowan, refusing to accept that she’d just waken up from the best nap of her life.

He kissed her forehead. “Did you get a good nap?”

She nodded and hugged him tighter. Rowan was the best human pillow. Remembering what they were there for, she rolled them over and stayed on top of him.

“I’m ready now,” she purred while sliding her hand through his naked chest.

“I don’t think we have enough time left, love.” He rubbed the wrinkle of disappointment in her forehead and pecked her lips. “We can still laze around a little, though.”

The gym Rowan worked at was closed today for renovations, so they had planned to spend some time together in bed. Having sex, not napping. Not that it was the only activity they did together, but their chances to see each other were a lot slimmer when Arobynn was in town, which was currently the case.

Aelin had found the perfect excuse to leave the house alone and had put some red lingerie on, but she was extra drowsy by the time she got at his apartment, and this had been harder to avoid in the past days. Rowan didn’t seem mad, though.

Looking at the watch on his nightstand, they had indeed lost a lot of time, but not all of it.

“Can I counteroffer with a quickie?”

Rowan snorted and laced their fingers together, a small, silly smile aimed at them. “We can’t be late to pick up the boys.”

Just like that, her heart began to ache because of what he’d just said. It felt too domestic, too close to what would be if Aelin could be free. They hadn’t talked about it or discussed what their relationship meant yet, but it wasn’t enough to make her stop wondering.

The need she felt for him on Beltane had only increased, and it was frustrating how much Aelin was ready to admit she wanted more.

The fluttering feeling inside her ribcage felt a lot like love, and it scared her because it wasn’t part of her plan, and it certainly wasn’t part of his either. If he felt the same, which Aelin had no idea.

She had never looked for love, neither before nor after she fled Terrasen. Aelin knew someone out there needed love as little as she did, wanting only a pretty wife to smile at investors and senators as much as she only wanted someone to provide for her.

In the end, the only thing love did was cloud your judgement and keep you off track of what matters. Her goal was keeping herself and Finn safe. There was nothing more important than that. Aelin had no idea what she was doing with Rowan, but she also didn’t have it in herself to stop.

“Come back to me,” he interrupted her thoughts, gently stroking her jaw with his thumb.

She shook her head, trying to focus back on their moment, and looked at his watch again.

“I have 23 minutes to blow your mind,” she purred before kissing down his body.

˜˜

The kids’ shrieks were quieter than usual from the huge playground where the pickup was, probably because most of them had left already. Rowan sat quietly on a bench alone, watching Finn and Aidan go wild on the merry-go-round.

The Whitethorns always waited with her son when she was late so Finn wouldn’t be alone, which always made her chest bloom with affection. She was never too late like today, but it happened often because Rowan always got there annoyingly early. She stood next to him, only stroking his shoulder for a second because it was the closest they could get in public.

“I’m sorry, Arobynn—“

“What about him?” Rowan interrupted her with a thick voice.

Aelin swallowed. “He was getting ready for a flight. That’s why I’m late.”

“Then you’ll have time to spare. Lucky me.”

She furrowed her eyebrows, trying to understand what changed since she left his apartment earlier today. The only explanation didn’t make sense, he knew that it got harder for her to—

“Darling, why are you taking so long?”

Holding her breath, her heartbeat skyrocketed the second Aelin felt her husband’s hand sneaking its way through her waist, gripping it firmly and making her spine go rigid. She opened her mouth to speak, but he beat her to it.

“Why is he still playing?” Arobynn hissed through his teeth for only her to hear.

Aelin nodded and went to Finn. Sometimes she let him play a little more before going home, but he’d probably understand that this wasn’t an usual pickup.

As soon as she called her son’s name, he squealed and went running towards her, but his demeanor changed as soon as he saw his father there. Finn stood a little straighter and walked, rather than sprinted, towards Aelin. After he gently took her hand, the both of them went to meet Arobynn on the playground’s edge.

Rowan was still sitting with his jaw set as her husband carefully studied his sour expression. Aelin didn’t dare sending him any sort of silent message.

“Finlay.” He patted his son’s head the same way one would do to a dog and mentioned for them to leave.

“Bye, Uncle Ro.” Finn waved at him before leaving, Rowan’s face unreadable as he waved back at them.

Aelin wasn’t given enough time to read into this situation, though.

Arobynn tightened his grip around her waist. “I had no idea I have a brother. Care to explain?”

Her body was completely stiff when she answered, “He’s Aidan’s uncle, Finn must’ve copied how he’s called.”

Frowning, he turned his face to Aelin completely. “Who’s Aidan?” She didn’t get to answer him though, since Arobynn gazed at one old car and scoffed. “This school doesn’t seem near as exclusive as I was told it’d be.”

Following his gaze, Aelin hoped he didn’t notice her small, unavoidable smile. Rowan stopped using his fancy car not long after they started seeing each other. She didn’t know why, but her chest still swelled with triumph when she saw him driving something that wasn’t given by another woman. It was silly, she knew it, but Aelin was possessive enough to be jealous of women who could give him all the things she couldn’t.

“Mommy, I’m hungry,” Finn murmured to her when they were inside the car. “Can we have pisspaghetti when we get home?”

“Of course, baby,” Aelin said while brushing his hair back with her fingers, trying not to chuckle.

Arobynn cleared his throat, his expression displeased.

“Finlay,” he got his son’s attention, not noticing how stiff his shoulders looked when he was called by his full name. “How’s your speech therapist?”

“What’s a speesh dewapist?”

Arobynn’s phone started ringing, one small blessing, but his stern look said everything he couldn’t while on the phone. Fix this.

She wouldn’t even bother telling him that mispronunciations were expected for a four-year-old.

Aelin’s shoulders sagged in relief when she saw her husband’s private jet from the window. Arobynn’s trips were a small blessing between all the monitoring and unfulfilled expectations. She was well aware she had the life of her dreams, but sometimes it felt like a curse.

His company was about to launch in Wendlyn, so he was needed a lot there. Aelin stayed in Doranelle for Finn, since leaving Rifthold had been distressing enough for him. If they moved to every country Arobynn was needed, they’d become nomads. There was also another reason she wanted to stay at Doranelle longer, but it wouldn’t please her husband in the slightest.

“It’s good to be with my family.” He raised an eyebrow at Aelin after loading his baggage. “I travel a lot, but I never forget that we need each other.”

“Good.” Aelin sent him a small smile, hoping that she didn’t look thrown off. She knew exactly what Arobynn was implying, and he knew that. He always made sure she did.

He scooted closer so Finn wouldn’t hear and placed a strand of Aelin’s hair behind her ear. “You family needs you right here with us. Do you think it would be fair to little Finley to grow up with his mommy in jail?”

Aelin immediately paled, and her reaction made her husband smile. It was what usually happened after Arobynn reminded of the chokehold he had on her, but he’d never stop reveling on her panic.

“Behave,” was the only thing he said after a soft kiss on her cheek and a pat on Finn’s shoulder.

Fiddling with her wedding ring, Aelin took deep breaths as she watched Arobynn’s plane fly away. She was safe. Finn was safe. She was free to care for him. They were both safe. The only thing that made her stop reassuring herself was her son not knowing how to read the room.

“Mommy.” He was poking at her leg incessantly. “Pisspaghetti?”

Well, it was very hard to say no to those puppy eyes.

On the drive to a themed restaurant Finn liked, he was babbling about his day at school, and it was hard to stay in a bad mood while hearing that squeaky voice filled with excitement.

Aelin was listening to him intently and asking questions when needed, but her attention shifted when her phone pinged. However, Aelin zoned out when she read what the notification was about, her heart dropping when she saw its content.

Your period is 50 days late

˜˜

Enda seemed surprised when Aelin came to his house, but his confused look turned to an amused one when Aidan came barreling in his dinosaur pajamas, rushing Finn inside.

“Tell me I didn’t forget today’s Wine and Paw Patrol day.”

Wine. Ha. It’d be a terrible joke if he had meant it as one. Aelin quickly apologized for showing up unannounced as she stepped inside, and her shoulders sagged in relief when she saw Arobynn’s car driving away.

Truth was, Aelin was panicking. Her fingers were shaking when she bought three pregnancy tests and sent to Enda’s address, and she hoped her voice and demeanor didn’t betray her when she asked to change routes.

Technically, she couldn’t be pregnant. Arobynn’s gossiping staff couldn’t dream she even suspected being pregnant, because her husband loved being a father so much he had a vasectomy less than a month after Finn was born.

She didn’t blame the house staff, they were paid to do that, but if they rattled on her even on eating too much carbs, finding a pregnancy test would be way too scandalous.

“Aelin, you’re pacing.”

She blinked and looked around, noticing that even the kids were looking confused at her. Forcing herself to take a seat in front of her friend, she took a deep breath, but even then couldn’t relax on the couch.

“Okay, what’s going on?” Enda’s eyebrows were squished together like he was trying to figure her out.

“I bought pharmacy stuff!” she blurted, trying to distract him until... well, Aelin had no plan, but she did know that telling Enda in front of the kids that she may or may not be pregnant of his cousin wasn’t a good idea.

“You do know I have pharmacy stuff here, right?”

Aelin’s phone pinged with the notification telling the delivery guy was almost there, so burst to the door while plastering a fake smile and saying, “It’s ladies’ pharmacy stuff, I doubt you have those!”

She heard a joke about Enda’s testosterone-filled house not having any ladies’ products indeed and got the bag with three little boxes inside, going to the bathroom as fast as she could go while still being polite.

Locked inside the bathroom, Aelin skimmed through the instructions and started the procedure. Her shaky hands and constant sweating weren’t helping, but she did it anyway.

Aelin had no idea what would happen to her, it could go anywhere between Arobynn suggesting an abortion — which she didn’t want to do — to kicking her out. And she was ready to face the consequences, as long as the two three of them were safe. But Finn… Arobynn had always been hard on him, and Aelin would never let her son pay for something she did. The same thing applied to the little one that could be on their way. Or not.

She considered waiting an extra minute when her timer went off, but it wasn’t necessary.

All tests were positive.

Holy rutting gods. Aelin was pregnant as fuck.

Fuck.

No, not fuck. This was good. Babies were good. Finn was the best thing that ever happened in her life, and she had no doubt this one would be too. But.

Her chest got too tight, Aelin’s numb fingers shaking as she threw it all away and remembered Arobynn’s not-so-subtle reminder.

Do you think it would be fair to little Finley to grow up with his mommy in jail?

Aelin backed herself against the wall, feeling dizzy. She couldn’t leave him. She couldn’t stay with him. She was a bad mom for letting her kid live with someone as heartless as Arobynn. She’d be a terrible mom for leaving him at his dad’s mercy.

A few knocks on the door didn’t ease much of her panic.

“Aelin, is everything alright?” Enda asked from the other side of the door, “You know, if you need help, I did marry a very hot doctor who’s—“

She startled him by quickly opening the door, wide-eyed.

“I need legal advice.”

After Aidan lent Finn one set of pajamas and the boys were tucked in because it was getting too late, Aelin was led by a still very confused Enda towards his office. Her heartbeat was pounding the whole time, and it didn’t help that it took a long time to calm down her little terror enough to make him sleep. The longer it took for her to discuss things with Enda, the more he sent her concerned glances, increasing her anxiety.

“I might be going to jail,” Aelin blurted when they were finally sitting face-to-face in his home office.

“Go on.” Enda’s brows were pinched together, his full attention on her.

Aelin took a deep breath. She had never talked to a lawyer about this, trusting when Arobynn said he’d take care of it, but it wasn’t working anymore.

“My mom started struggling with addiction when I was eight.”

She moved to adjust herself in her seat, but her knees were a little shaky. She scratched her head, trying to figure out how to explain everything. God, Aelin should’ve prepared what she was going to say.

After a deep breath, she continued, “Once, when I was fifteen, my dad let me help search the house for drugs after she went to rehab. He’d always spend days looking and flush them in the toilet, but I didn’t. I sold them all.”

Aelin averted her gaze to the wall, to embarrassed to look her friend in the eye now. Her cheeks were probably burning, but Enda’s gentle squeeze on her hand was reassuring enough for her to keep going.

“You see, my dad really loved my mom. I did too. But he loved her so much he’d rather get evicted than give up on her. He’d always pay for the best therapists, medications, rehab facilities, even when we couldn’t afford to. I don’t know if my dad ever found out, but I sold every drug I could find in the house to pay the bills, until I turned 18 and left to Rifthold.”

She didn’t notice she was crying until Enda handed her a box of tissues.

“Anyway,” Aelin continued, “I ended up known by some dealers, and one of them, Cairn, reached Arobynn after we got married and I started making public appearances. Probably recognized me from a magazine or something and decided to take advantage of it.”

Enda hummed. Scratching his jaw with pinched eyebrows, he asked, “What did you do?”

“Nothing.” Aelin leaned back on the couch and sighed. “Arobynn is keeping him quiet, as far as I know. He won’t ever let me forget about it, so I think it’s still going on.”

“You’re telling me you’re being blackmailed by two different people?” her friend asked with his elbows leaning on his knees now, his voice filled with concern.

Aelin swallowed, and the closest thing to a response she could give him was a shrug. It was too weird to say her own husband was blackmailing her, but Aelin couldn’t find another word for when he used her past to make her behave in a certain way.

“This is a lot to work on, but first…” Enda sighed. “Are you going back to Erilea?“

“I don’t know.” And she meant it. She wanted her family to be safe. As confused as she was, Aelin knew that. Apart from that, there was nothing holding her or Finn back in neither place.

“Aelin, we don’t have extradition treaties with Terrasen.”

She blinked. “What?”

“We can try to get you out of this of you want to go back there, but you can’t be arrested in Doranelle for something you did in Terrasen. If you stay, you’re free.”

Aelin blinked, her body completely frozen as she tried to process what he’d just say.

You’re free

You’re free

You’re free

These two words running around her mind over and over again. She’d never get tired of them.

Dear Mala.

She was free, wasn’t she?

˜˜

It was Aelin’s first day being poor after seven years, and she couldn’t be more excited about it. She even rode the bus. Thrice!

Well, Enda did offer his car, but it’d also be her first day behind a wheel in seven years, so she didn’t trust herself with it.

Last night, after talking with Enda, he offered his place until she had her things figured out, so Aelin packed her and Finn’s essentials as quickly as she could and came back. Arobynn probably knew she’d left his mansion with two suitcases by now, but thankfully he hadn’t reached out.

She decided to contribute by dropping the kids at school, and only then realized she had no driver, no valid drivers license, and no money to pay an uber to a school that far. But she did have enough money in her wallet to pay the bus, which reminded her she needed a job. Immediately.

And her lack of job made Aelin think of another thing she needed. Silver hair, green eyes, muscles for days, father of her unborn baby. Yes, him. Aelin had just started figuring things out on how to rebuild her life, but one thing she was certain of is that she wanted him with her. Restarting together.

Apart from a job, Rowan and her kids, Aelin didn’t have much plans. When she was younger, the only thing she dreamed of was what she liked to see in the movies — pretty gowns, elegant parties, shopping for days on end —, but now that she already knew what it was like and the price that came along with it, what she needed was a calm, comfortable life with her family. Preferably with Rowan on her side.

The school looked exactly the same as it did yesterday and every other day when she got there, but it felt completely different to Aelin. Probably because she felt completely different.

Her eyes quickly spotted Rowan leaning against a column with crossed arms while he watched the playground.

His greeting lacked enthusiasm, and she had just remembered they weren’t in the best terms yesterday. She hoped her news would change it, though.

“I made a decision, and I need you to make one too.”

He hummed while nodding. “What did you decide?”

“I left Arobynn.”

Rowan’s head took a sharp turn her way, his eyes wide. “You... what?”

And that’s when a fist slammed into his jaw, making him stagger backwards when she noticed Lyria Desrosiers’ husband, who was currently fuming.

Rowan didn’t fight back. He had his hands up in surrender as he dodged another punch when the school’s security pulled them apart. Aelin just stared at the scene, too stunned to think.

“Stay the hell away from my wife,” Mr. Desrosiers barked with a reddened face and eyes bulged. The security guards let him go a moment later after he seemed a little calmer, and the only thing he aimed at Rowan was a mocking, malicious grin. “You can keep the car, though.”

Her stomach dropped. The car. Was it the car Rowan drove her in on the day they got together? Aelin guessed it had been a gift, but to have it rubbed in her face felt different. And why was Lyria’s husband only calling him out now? Was he... no, he wouldn’t be with the two of them at the same time, would he? Aelin flinched just to think about it, and that was when Rowan seemed to understand what was going on.

“Aelin.” His mouth opened and closed as he collected his thoughts. “You know I wouldn’t.”

She looked around, the whole playground blatantly staring at them, and she felt small, rather than New Aelin from a few minutes ago. The kids were staring too, and it was then that she remembered that her main goal was always to keep Finn safe. Mainly from having an incarcerated mom and being at evil dad’s mercy, but it also included avoiding witnessing public displays of violence.

Aelin took both frozen, wide-eyed children by the hand and left the school.

The boys only asked her what happened once, and didn’t say anything after she told them she’d explain it at home. Truth is, she didn’t know what was going on herself. Yes, it was pretty clear that Rowan and Lyria were or used to be a thing and she gave him the car, but Aelin was still trying to figure out what it meant.

His words from earlier couldn’t leave her head. You know I wouldn’t. It was pretty clear that he did have the affair, so did it mean that he wouldn’t be with both women at the same time? Why did Rowan care about her opinion on this when Aelin was literally married while they were together?

It’s not that she didn’t care about this herself. The thought of “sharing” Rowan made her want to pull out Lyria’s chestnut curls out of her head. But if there was something Aelin couldn’t preach him about, it was fidelity.

At last but not least, when Aelin made plans about her new life today, she’d never considered that Rowan might not want to join her. Even if he was too shy to admit it out loud, his goal had been clear from the start: marry rich. A jobless single mom born in the slums of Orynth was a far cry from that, and Aelin felt silly to think he’d change her plans for her. They still had the pregnancy to go through, but the reality of her situation was hitting her like a brick to the face.

Rowan’s car — the old one — pulled up close to the bus stop she and the boys were at, but she didn’t enter when he invited them in.

Aelin was frowning. “I’m the one who’s supposed to pick them up today.”

“No, Enda told me you were dropping them.”

Yeah, he was probably right. Her conversation with Enda was pretty much about dropping the kids at school, but she thought picking them up too was implied.

Rowan looked up and sighed. “Can you please just get in the car?”

They silently complied. Rowan silently rode the car. The mood was so somber all of them did nothing but stay silent, until Aidan’s small voice interrupted whatever was going on.

“Uncle Ro, why did he hit you?”

“I did something that made Mr. Desrosiers upset.” He looked at the boys through the rearview mirror. “But you can’t hit people, okay? Even when you’re really upset.

Aidan hugged his backpack and nodded. “What did you do?”

Rowan swallowed, his shoulders slumped. “It’s a grown-up thing, but don’t worry.” He quickly glanced at Aelin. “It’s not important.”

“But why did you do it if it’s not important?” Aidan insisted.

Rowan bumped his head against the seat and sighed, but Aelin interrupted to save him from all the questioning.

“Boys, what do you want today for dinner?”

“Pisspaghetti!” Finn shouted, and Aidan nodded in confirmation. Good. Whatever happened with Rowan, it didn’t mean she’d like to see him go through The Toddler Inquisition.

˜˜

When they got there, Enda’s husband wasn’t pleased in the slightest to hear about how Rowan got a swollen jaw.

“I told you picking Aidan up to seduce the moms was a terrible idea.”

Rowan’s eyebrows went up. “How was I supposed to meet someone while working at a men’s-only gym?”

“I could do pretty well in a men’s-only gym,” Enda’s husband scoffed, “And you could’ve used fucking Tinder instead of the school, man.”

“Okay, I got it, now could you please help me out?” He gestured to his jaw.

“What do you want me to do? It’s a punch, not a stab.” The doctor handed Rowan an ice pack. “I’ll go check on the kids.”

It was just Aelin, Rowan and another huge stretch of silence at the kitchen after he left. She knew she had things to discuss with him still, but her vision was carefully set on the fridge’s blue outer lights, even if he was sat on the stool next to hers.

“Lyria and I ended things before we got together. I even sold the car. No idea why her husband approached me only today.”

Aelin nodded. “Very honorable of you to stay faithful to a married woman.”

“You left Arobynn.” Not a question.

“I did.”

She could see his small nod through her peripheral vision. “Why?”

Aelin sighed, too spent to throw all her teenage traumas on him. It wasn’t only that she needed to tell him. Aelin wanted to tell him. But not now. Just remembering how emotionally draining it was to do it yesterday made her go into mental fatigue.

“It’s a long conversation, but what matters is that I’m free now.”

“Did he do something to you?” Rowan snarled, his posture completely tense.

“No,” Aelin lied while rubbing the back of his hand, trying and succeeding to reassure him. Technically, he did do something. But by the look of it, Rowan would be in Wendlyn to do Mala knows what before Aelin could explain everything. “I’m safe, I promise.”

More relaxed, he inquired, “You wanted me to make a decision earlier.”

Aelin scratched the back of her neck. “You see, I’m going to do a lot of rebuilding. My life, I mean. And I’m going to get back on my feet, and it’ll probably be messy, but I was wondering if you wanted to be there with me. Officially.”

“Fireheart.” He caressed her cheek with his thumb, looking deep into her eyes. “Of course I want to be with you. Officially.”

She beamed. “Yeah?”

“Sure.” Rowan brought their lips together in a quick, passionate kiss. “I love you.”

Aelin had no idea how to describe how she was feeling inside. Butterflies. A horse race. An inner earthquake. She cradled his face and kissed the tip of his nose, his lips, chin, and trailed kisses until she reached his ear and said, “I love you too.”

Grinning, Rowan pulled her by the waist and kissed her lips against the counter. What started as a joyful kiss got each time hungrier until she was sitting at the countertop and they were grinding against each other, Aelin tugging at his hair while he sneaked his hands underneath her clothes.

“Bedroom,” she croaked when his mouth found that spot between her neck and her shoulder.

Rowan grabbed the back of her thighs to carry her there, but stopped. “Do you have a condom? I think I forgot mine.”

“Too late for that,” she murmured.

Rowan only noticed what she’d just said when she froze first with the same realization.

“Aelin...” He carefully placed her back on the countertop. “What do you mean?”

What a terrible way to announce a pregnancy, she thought. But they were already there, so she might as well go on with it. Aelin took his hand, fiddling with it.

“I may or may not be pregnant.”

His eyebrows rose up. “You may or may not?”

Aelin ran a hand through her hair. “Look, I peed on the stick three times and they were all positive. But I didn’t confirm at the doctor, so yes, I may or may not. But there’s a good chance the sticks are right.”

The more she spoke, the more Rowan’s smile grew. “So you may or may not be pregnant?”

Aelin slowly nodded, still studying his expression.

“And you want us to be together?”

Aelin nodded with more confidence this time, encouraged by his cheerful expression.

Instead of saying anything, Rowan gave her a bone-crushing hug and pecked wherever his mouth could reach from his position. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” Aelin gently kissed his lips and wrapped her arms around his hips.

He just carried her and kept lightly twirling around the kitchen, Aelin wrapped around him like a koala while they exchanged kisses and I love you’s.

˜˜

It had been three weeks since Aelin had moved in with her official boyfriend of three weeks, and she was already sprawled on his bed like it had been hers for years.

When Rowan suggested she and Finn would move to his apartment instead of staying at Enda’s, Aelin felt smug, thinking it was because he couldn’t keep his hands off her. Wrong. Actually, it was true, but he had an ulterior motive.

Keeping an eye on Aelin and the baby. And be cool Uncle Ro to Finn, since three weeks wasn’t near enough time to become a father figure. But they’d get there.

The thing is, the moment she dropped her suitcase at his place, Rowan became a mother hen. A dadzilla. A Buzzard.

For instance, in the name of “respecting the hormones”, he refused to wake her up from her constant naps, which made her miss cute moments like Rowan taking Finn to the park. She had just waken up to a picture of her son in a swing showing off all his baby tooth at the camera, and her chest swelled with affection to see Finn adapting to his new life so well.

Well, only new house, actually. The divorce process was still in the beginning, but Arobynn was still paying for Finn’s school, and getting back at Aelin wasn’t enough reason for him to want his own son. They still had a lot ahead of them, but Enda’s friend was an insanely good lawyer.

Two very different footsteps sounded through the hall, and Aelin didn’t have much time to think before the bedroom’s door burst open, hitting the wall behind it and making her cringe a little.

“Mommy!” her little terror squealed, throwing himself on the bed she was at.

Aelin chuckled and kissed Finn’s forehead. “Did you have a good time at the park?”

“Good! Rowan gave me chocolate juice.”

Rowan was watching them from the doorstep, a smile on his face as he got closer with both hands on his pockets. “That one loves chocolate. No idea who he got it from.”

Aelin smiled back, until she noticed something.

“Finn...” her eyes narrowed at his feet. “What do we do before laying on the bed?”

Her son only giggled in response, absentmindedly mocking her authority. She took Finn’s shoes off while Rowan carefully placed his boots beneath her bed, then the three of them were just lazying in bed.

Aelin’s quivering pregnancy stomach was under control. Finn quickly fell asleep from being too worn out, but he mentioned wanting pisspaghetti for dinner at the park. She was starting a new job tomorrow, and Rowan needed to be sure for the umpteenth time that she wouldn’t overexert herself in her sedentary work.

This. This was the thing Aelin didn’t know she wanted her whole life. As they spent just another Sunday together, she knew she was never gonna love again.

TAG LIST

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[mirkwoodshewolf]

Redeeming big brother; Steve Harrington x pre-teen sis reader

*Author’s note*

Okay so this is a pretty short sweet little ficlet that went around my head for awhile. Like I said I’ve been wanting to write a Steve Harrington fic since s.2 came out but I didn’t have the time nor the inspiration to write him a story until I decided to first do a platonic fic and BOOM!! Cause let’s face it, Steve is the Babysitter and I could imagine him being the type of brother that I made him in this oneshot so I hope you guys enjoy this little fic and until next time :)

Taglist:

@plethora-of-things​

@waddles03​

@psychosupernatural​

@queen-paladin​

@queensdivas​

@jd-johndeacon-or-jackdaniels​

@gay-and-ready-to-cry​

_________________________________________________________

“Look all I’m saying is that he could’ve at least had his parents drive to pick you up.” Steve said to me.

“I told you Steve, Tony said he was carpooling with his friends because his dad’s mustang was in the shop.”

“The shop right yeah.” He muttered.

“You know you didn’t have to drive Dustin and I to the Snowball, we could’ve asked his mom.”

“No, no I needed to make sure that little shit didn’t try anything with you.”

“Eww Steve what the hell! Dustin and I do not like each other like that. You know that.”

“Still I just wanna make sure that even when you’re dressed all……you know—”

“Barbie? A slut?”

“Hey! You are not that don’t ever call yourself that even if you’re joking. You-you look beautiful. Really you do. It’s just…..” he took a deep sigh as clenched the stirring wheel.  “You don’t dress up this nice like most girls do. And I’d hate for those boys to suddenly see you and think they need to jump your bones.”

“They’re not like that Steve. Plus Max will have my back, and you know how savage we can be together.”

“Believe me I saw it for myself. All I’m saying is don’t let any boy try to take advantage of you. Especially this Bobby guy.”

“His name’s Tony.”

“That’s what I said, Darrell.” I rolled my eyes as Steve pulled into Dustin’s curb and honked the horn.  

We sat there for a few minutes which allowed me to check my makeup, nothing too extreme just some blush, a bit of eye shadow to match my blue dress and checked to make sure my hair was alright.  

“Hey, c’mon now.” Steve lifted the visor up.  I looked at him annoyed but he assured me with a gentle look in his eyes “I already told you, you look beautiful.”

I’ll admit.  He really was trying to be the brother he once was.  Ever since he became ‘King Steve’ he never wanted anything to do with me. Said I was too nerdy to be with someone ‘cool’ like him.  It really hurt to lose my brother like that to the poison that was popularity.

And he only seemed to get worse as the years went by, especially when he was involved with the whole Nancy ‘the Slut’ Wheeler vandalization at the local theater.  But ever since he got involved with the Upside down, and he broke free of that dick Tommy Hagan and that bitch Carol, he started to change.

Especially this past year.  He’s even tried to mend our bond but when the events of the Upside down began to come back with Will, the Demodogs and Max’s asshole brother Billy (not Upside down related, he’s just an asshole. Nearly killed me, Dustin and Lucas while we were biking home from school on Halloween).  And Nancy broke up with Steve, he seemed a bit more—emotionally vulnerable.

He wanted to be with me but I had other problems at the time with Dustin and his ‘secret pet’.  That’s when Steve, Dustin and I became the starting team in this whole demodogs thing, then one disaster fell after another until we were finally able to get the gate close permanently and get rid of all the demodogs.

Finally Dustin came racing down and I couldn’t stop but stare at the nest on top of his head.

“Thanks for the ride guys.” He said getting into the back seat.

“Uhh Dustin, what the hell happened to your head?” I asked him.

“What?”

“Your head. I’ll need to find Diana Ross’ number because I think I just found her hair.”

“Shut up!” Dustin snapped at me.  “My hair does not look like hers.”

“You’re right you’re right. It actually looks like if Elvis was given a bad perm.” I laughed.

“Alright you little shit ease up on him. Ignore her Dustin, she’s just jealous because it took her five hours just to get her hair like this.” I punched Steve’s arm and ordered him.

“Just drive asshole.” As Dustin giggled from the backseat, Steve turned the car back on and he drove us to the school.

He pulled us in and we could see from the cat some of the Snowball decorations and could hear the music playing loudly.

“Hey Hover switch seats with me, I need to check the mirror now.” Dustin said.

“Dustin you know I was kidding right. You look great.”

“She’s right. Now remember, when you walk in there.”

“Pretend I don’t care.” Dustin said.

“You don’t care.”

“I don’t care.”

“Honestly why did you have to say that? That’s literally the worst advice ever Steve.” I scoffed rolling my eyes and shaking my head solemnly. “Dustin continues to listen to you and he’ll be single until he’s 30.”

“Okay that’s overexaggerating. Don’t listen to her Henderson. You’re gonna go in there, look like a million bucks, and you’re gonna slay them dead.”

“Like a lion.” Dustin then let out a purr to which both Steve and I cringed.

“Yeah don’t do that.” Steve told him bluntly.

“Ever again.” I also told him.

“Right.” Dustin agreed before he got out of the backseat and I followed suit.  Soon pulling up behind us was a large black SUV it slowly came to a stop before the front door opened to reveal one of Tony’s friends, Andrew.

“Thanks mom. See yah at 10.” Soon the back door opened and more of Tony’s friends piled out until Tony was the last one to come out. My heart fluttered in my chest as my palms started to grow a bit sweaty.

“What you just gonna sit there and gawk (Y/n)?” Dustin said to me.

“Shut up Henderson.” I said.  I took a deep breath and took about two steps forward only to stop and see someone else coming out of the SUV as well.  It was the biggest bitch in the whole seventh grade, Jenna LoDuca and she was holding Tony’s hand.

“Thanks baby.”

“No prob babe. Ready to head in?” Tony asked her.

“Yeah thanks.” She said as they walked hand in hand towards the gym following behind Tony’s friends.

My heart shattered and fell into my stomach as I looked down. So he really didn’t care.  He never cared to begin with. He didn’t even have the guts to tell me that he was gonna take out Jenna instead of me, he could’ve at least told me.

“(Y/n)? Hey it’s…..” Dustin started off but I didn’t want to hear it.  I took off running as tears fell down my face.

I don’t know where I ended up but all I know was that I wasn’t at the back entrance where the dance was but I was still within the school grounds.  I kicked the gravel under my feet harshly scuffing up the 1 inch high heeled shoes mom got me on her last business trip (even though I hate anything that isn’t a sneaker or sandal on hot days).

“(Y/n).” I sniffled and crossed my arms over my chest.

“I don’t wanna hear it Steve!” I snapped.

“Okay. Do you…….do you want me to take you home?” he asked in a nervous, unsure tone.

“No. Because then I’ll have done all this for nothing. Plus Jenna will rub it in my face Monday.”

“Wait she bullies you?”

“It doesn’t matter Steve. Just go home and don’t bother me with this anymore.” I walked back towards the school and tried to clean my face off as best as I could before entering the school with a big fake-ass smile on my face.

I met with the guys at the table and they were surprised to see me come walking in.

“(Y/n) you—you actually came in.” Mike said.

“Of course, why wouldn’t I?”

“Because of Je—” Dustin started off by saying but Max kicked him in the shin.

“Don’t listen to them, there’s more to life than stupid boys. C’mon (Y/n) let’s get something to eat I’m getting a bit peckish.” Max came over and took me away from the boys.

“Thanks Max, I owe yah.”

“I’ll remember that for later. But for real, don’t worry about those turd wards. You’re more badass than the two of them are popular.” Max said playfully shoving my shoulder with hers.  That got a small smile out of me as we reached the food stand and we each got a plate of crackers, cookies and a cupcake.

As the dance went on, it soon came time for the slow dancing. At first Max declined Lucas’ offer to dance but since I could tell how long Lucas had probably rehearsed this, I told her it was okay so she and Lucas went to the dance floor together.

Then a girl from mine and Will’s art class came up and asked Will to dance (even though she called him Zombie boy).  Then Dustin went over to a group of popular girls to ask one of them to dance leaving Mike and me alone for the first song (it’d just be awkward to dance together).

When the next song came on, we both took notice of El coming into the gym now, all dolled up and pretty.  Mike stood up and walked towards her without saying a word to me (but truthfully he didn’t have to).

I was now all alone at my table, in fact looking around every one of my peers had a partner or were in their friend groups chatting along the sides of the gym.  And just ahead of me I could easily spot Jenna and Tony dancing together, hell they pretty much remained in my visual range throughout the whole slow song montage.

It was then my favorite Lionel Richie song, Truly began playing through the speakers.  I shifted in my seat uncomfortably and was just tempted to leave the gym and stay outside for the rest of the dance.

“Hey little Hover.” I looked up and saw my brother Steve wearing his homecoming tux and sporting his Risky Business shades.

“Steve? What are you…how did you get in here? You didn’t ask to volunteer.”

“I know. I’m not a volunteer. I’m your date.”

“Steve……”

“C’mon please. Don’t make me get on my hands and knees begging over this song cause you know I will. In front of all your friends and these people I’ll…..”

“Okay! Okay you big hairy oaf!” I said getting up and took his hand before we went over to the dance floor.  We stood before each other and he took my right hand into his left while his right rested along my waist and my other hand rested on his.

“He wasn’t worth it.” I looked at him as he lead me in the first few steps of our slow dance.  “Your tears. Boys this age are incredibly stupid and he’s gonna regret leaving you for that.” He gave a slight gesture of his head towards Tony and Jenna who were looking at us.

“Maybe it’s because I really don’t live up to the Harrington name.”

“Hey now…...”

“No Steve it’s true. I mean, look at her. She’s popular than me, she’s smart, and she’s way prettier than me.”

“Now that’s total bullshit.” He gave me a gentle spin before bringing me back into him.  “First of all you are smarter than your older brother. In fact you’re too smart. I swear dad never shuts up about how my 13 year old sister is smarter than me, a senior in high school. Second, being popular really isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, especially if it changes you for the worst.”

He stroked a baby strand of hair from my forehead and tucked it back over my teased hair.

“It makes you cruel and makes you blind to what’s in front of you. I swear the last thing I remember was you clinging onto your teddy bear you won at the 4th grade fair and now here you are. A teenager in the works who I think is the most beautiful girl in all of Hawkins.”

“Even more beautiful than Nancy Wheeler?” I asked skeptically.

“Especially more than Nance.” He said without hesitation.

“Best not let her hear you say that.”

“Truthfully I think you were her favorite Harrington more than me.” I softly laughed.  “No I swear, she’d always ask me when she’d see you. She even said at times she could trade Mike in for you.” Steve said through his laughing as he spun me outward our hands keeping a firm hold on each other before I spun back into him just as the song came to my favorite part.

Right as Lionel’s voice hit that crescendo, I was resting my head against my brother’s chest as my arms wrapped around his waist.  I felt him slightly pick me up and he placed my feet gently on top of his as I heard him softly sing along to the ending of the song.

It brought me back to the early days of my childhood when Steve and I were the best of friends.  Whenever I was sad or felt lonely from mom and dad’s constant work travels, Steve always played a slow song  over dad’s radio, he’d have me standing on top of his toes and the two of us would sway like this as he’d sing the song to me.

After the dance was over, I was just getting into bed when I heard a knock at my bedroom door.

“Knock, knock.” Steve’s voice spoke from the other side of the door.

“Speak friend and enter.” I said.

“You know I don’t speak that nerd language.”

“Then you cannot pass.” I teased him.  He knocked again and I couldn’t help but say, “I hear yah knockin, but you can’t come in!”

“(Y/n) at least tell me your decent.”

“Yes I’m in my jammies.” He opened the door and came right on in.  “No respect for your sister’s room. Why do you think I asked you to speak the password? It’s not that hard, the password is Mellon.”

“I’ll slow dance with you, sing to you, even fight interdimensional monsters with you. But never on this green earth will you get me to speak that nerd language.” He said as he came over and sat at the edge of my bed.

“It’s not nerd language is Elvish. Sindar to be exact.” Steve buried his face into his hand groaning softly.  “Hey, Dustin and I got you to watch Star Wars with us and you loved it. Which makes you a nerd too Stevie.”

“First of all just because I enjoy it doesn’t make me a ner—okay I see what you’re doing munchkin.” He said as he ruffled my head. “So, your first school formal. Besides the little jerk that shall remain nameless in this house, how was it before I got there?”

“It was alright. Mostly Max and I talked and of course the guys were giving Dustin a hard time with his hair. I think his natural curls just really threw the Farrah faucet spray off.”

“Yeah it did. But the kid needed the reassurance. Now correct me if I’m wrong but did he call you Hover back in the car.”

“Hover is my D&D character’s name. She’s a level 16 rouge assassin. Sometimes Dustin calls me that outside of the game.”

“So you used my nickname for you for your nerdy game?”

“Steve it’s not…..” he raised his hand and continued.

“I was just going to say it’s actually kinda sweet.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Though I wish it was still between us. After all I’ve been calling you that since you could walk.” He said booping my nose. “Well it’s late, you should get some sleep.” At that point I let out a soft yawn and got under the covers.  “Goodnight Hover.” He stood up but before he left my room I grabbed his hand. I sat up and hugged him before kissing his cheek. “What was that for?”

“For being my big brother.”

“But I…..”

“I know you’ve been an asshole for the past few years now but in the past year you really have been trying. I could see you putting in the effort to try and fix things between us. You could’ve stayed the way you were, or worst become like Billy.”

“I’d rather get eaten by one of those dog things than ever raise a hand to you like that asshole does to Max.”

“I know. That’s why I’m grateful to have a brother like you. You may not be smart, but you’re a damn good big brother and I love you for that.” A smile came at the corner of his lips as he ruffled my hair again before leaning forward and kissed the crown of my head.

“You’re not so bad either squirt.” He pressed his forehead against mine and continued, “And I love you too.” I smiled softly as Steve pressed another kiss to my forehead before we told each other goodnight and he left my room and I soon fell fast asleep.

[forabeatofadrum]

Ljubili se (5/21)

AO3 | S&C

--

FLAW

Blaine’s dad was very gracious by allowing him some days off, especially since Blaine’s taking up even more vacation days by going to New York. But work is work.

He’s sat in his dad’s office. His dad is on the other side of the desk, and he’s reading over reports.

“You did great,” he says.

Blaine nods.

He barely did anything, but he’s not going to reject this praise, especially since he is here with an ulterior motive.

But even though Blaine didn’t feel like he did substantial work, there’s been enough growth and investment in the Ljubljana office to see a continuation of it. Apparently Blaine’s charm, as Kurt would say it, did pay off. He did shake enough hands and flashed enough charming smiles to get the deals they needed.

“And I’m glad Ms. Vodnik has had a great start, especially since we as a company failed her,” his dad continues.

“And most women,” Blaine points out. This was probably not a one-time event.

His dad nods, although he looks a bit uncomfortable. Blaine just hopes that the new mandatory workshops for everyone about diversity, equality and inclusion will pay off, or if it’s just the company’s way to saying that they did do something, truly!

“I think we can all agree that this European expansion is a tentative success,” his dad continues as he inspects stats, “Well done, Blaine.”

“Thanks, dad,” Blaine says formally. This is his dad and they love each other, but when they’re at work, they’re in business mode and his dad is the boss. Blaine needs to fit into this role of his employee, especially now.

“Is that all?” his dad asks.

“Actually, I have an… offer,” Blaine thinks this might be the best angle. He needs to present his ideas as beneficial for everyone.

His dad raises an eyebrow.

“Go on.”

“You know I’ll visit my, uh, Kurt soon,” Blaine says and initially winces. My, uh, Kurt? He wanted to say boyfriend, but caught himself too late and then flubbed. “My friend Kurt, in New York.”

“Yes?”

“And I know I’ll be on vacation, but I was thinking about stopping by at the New York office. Just to check.”

“… Okay?”

“Because I think I can contribute a lot to the New York office.”

Now, his dad’s other eyebrow also raises. He is clearly surprised.

“Oh?”

“Yes, dad, I want to see if it’s possible to transfer to the New York office,” Blaine says, “Even if it’s just for a temporary period, like with Ljubljana.”

Blaine’s dad now frowns.

“You want to go to New York?”

Blaine nods.

“Why?”

“Er, I just… do? I mean, being in a different environment led to a lot of introspection. Not only regarding the company, but also regarding myself.” That’s putting it lightly.

Blaine’s dad hums. He seems to be considering it. Or at least, that is what Blaine thinks.

“Will Quinn join you?”

Oh.

Right.

Quinn.

That’s the flaw in the plan. When Blaine was rehearing what to tell his dad, he kind of forgot that people would want to know about her role in this as well.

“Uh. No. I- We- No, she is also working on getting a promotion, so it’s in her best interest to stay here.”

“Why is that?” his dad asks and his business mask slips off. He’s becoming Blaine’s dad. He looks concerned, moves the papers away, and leans closer. “Son, you know you can call me or your mother any time. Is everything alright at home?”

“Quinn is fine!” Blaine hastily says.

“Really?” his dad asks, “Look, Blaine, you were away for a long time, so it’s understandable if something’s changed between you two and you need to readjust-” Oh, if only his dad knew. “-but immediately moving away again is not the answer. And doesn’t the company Quinn work for also have a New York office?”

“No, you don’t- it’s not- I just… Dad…”

Dad, I’m gay.

Dad, I fell in love with another man and broke up with Quinn.

Dad, I don’t know how to tell you, but I love Kurt.

Dad, please, I don’t want things to change if I tell you or mom.

Dad, I’m gay.

“Blaine?”

Blaine shakes out of his thoughts. His dad is still looking at him.

“Dad… she already knows about my plans.” It’s true. “We’ve discussed it at lengths.” Kind-of-true. “Everything is fine.” All things considered. “She would just rather stay here.” Definitely true.

“So, you two are alright?”

“We are alright.” Just broken up.

His dad nods and Blaine can see that he’s not fully convinced, but he lets Blaine get away with it.

“Alright. I can call the office and recommend you, but I can’t guarantee anything.”

“That’s more than enough for now!”

--

“I almost came out to my dad,” Blaine says. He’s walking home from the nearest bus station, since Quinn once again took the car. Blaine let her.

“Wow. That’s huge,” Kurt’s voice rings in his ear.

“Yeah, I mentioned you and I almost called you my boyfriend, but I… couldn’t. Not yet. Sorry.”

“No need to apologise,” Kurt immediately says and Blaine knows that, but it’s just a reflex.

“It’s just hard, Kurt,” Blaine bemoans. He knew it was going to be hard, but actually experiencing how difficult it is makes him feel woefully unprepared. “I can’t even say it.”

“Say what?”

“That I’m gay.”

“You just did.”

“You know what I mean!”

“I know. Sorry.”

Blaine groans and he stops to lean against a wall of a random building.

“I can say it to you, and Quinn, and Sunil, and Tadeja, and Denise… but the moment it’s someone else I know, I freeze.”

He’s afraid what people will think. It’s a change. People say that coming out doesn’t change things, but they’re wrong. It does. Even now Blaine’s mindful of his environment. He just said out loud he’s gay, but only because he doesn’t expect anyone he knows to hear it. He doesn’t care whether these random pedestrians hear it, but his family, friends or colleagues? Terrifying.

“Will it help to, uh, practice, so to say?” Kurt suggests.

“Huh?”

“Well, I didn’t want to put this on you, but we should tell my roommates something. Maybe it’ll help to come out to them?”

“I don’t know them either,” Blaine points out.

“But you can actually tell someone again,” Kurt says, “And you don’t even have to use the words ‘I’m gay’, if you don’t want to, but just showing that you’re with me is fine too.”

Blaine thinks it over. Kurt is right there. He’s only had a big coming out moment when he came out to Sunil and Tadeja. With Kurt, he just kissed him, even before Blaine was ready to come out to himself, and Quinn put the pieces together herself.

Maybe it is a nice, non-threatening way to come out.

Yes.

Yes, this might be a good idea.

“I think I’m in.”