#and how quickly she had to be responsible for both him and jason and now it's like. they can be goofy and clumsy and cheesy and i think no | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

britcision · 5 months

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So I made it 4 years without being struck down by AO3 Author Curse! But here we are. I’ll spare y’all the details but let’s just say “fuck this year” and leave it there. We’ve had the requisite Third Bad Thing and I will burn the universe down if it goes for a fourth

What this means for y’all, of course, is that there’s been a long ass break between last chapter and this one! Aaaaand this one is being broken in half because it is Longer Than Tumblr Allows

(And they’ve lessened how many paragraph breaks you get cuz this one is only about 9.5k and it made me add it in thirds, woe is me)

So, as usual, links to the first chapter, last chapter, and the link to the AO3 version is I think in BOTH, so if you can’t find it from there I can’t help you 😁

First Chapter:

Last Chapter:

And just a little recap where last we left off:

Bruce has gone to the Watchtower to debrief the Justice League about Amity Park and the Anti Ecto Acts, and been told that Jason has left the land of the living! But like, on purpose

Jason and Danny have gone to visit Frostbite and learned that they are ghost-bonded, which you should take seriously like being ghost-married, and that Jason is gonna pop out Pitty in a couple more days/weeks and have to emotionally raise a ghost-baby

Tucker, Tim, and Conner are all playing video games and hiding out from the Amity Parker/Bat Chat for Tim and Tucker’s mutual stalking ways, which Sam blew wide open by sharing Timblr, as punishment for Tucker not telling her they were all alive

(Danny’s off the hook cuz Tucker was haunting his phone with soundtracks for half the day)

And Damian’s off being Sketchy And Mysterious

————————

Well You Did Get Down On One Knee (part 1)

The evening was beginning to draw in, the sun getting low over Gotham city. Between her patrol the night before, helping Signal out with a case, and then that brief group heart attack about Jason, it had already been a really long day.

Spoiler cracked her neck a couple times and sighed, then sunk into the shadow behind a gargoyle.

It was smaller than usual… and occupied. Robin glowered up at her, leaping up to sit on the gargoyle’s head instead. He looked for all the world like he wanted to hiss at her like a cranky cat, which diffused all of Spoiler’s tension (but would only make his worse if she mentioned it. Maybe tomorrow).

Sighing philosophically she settled back against the base of the gargoyle, tipping her head back to see him.

“Hey… what are you doing out so early? Usually you lot wait until sundown to swing from the shadows,” she pointed out (rather fairly, she thought). Totally ignoring that she was 1000% usually one of “you lot”.

Robin just scowled disdainfully down at her, then twisted his head away to glare at the city instead.

“As if I needed any more reason to be out than you do,” he sniffed archly.

Spoiler grinned, puffing herself up. She did have an answer for this one, and, being generous or not, winding Robin up was always a treat.

“Hey, I was actually requested today. Signal needed a second pair of eyes on the back door of a bust. Didn’t see you there,” she added innocently, a brow rising.

It was technically possible that Robin could have suited up and left the manor in between Bruce’s message and Tim’s response. Spoiler wouldn’t put money on it though.

He’d have had to be on his way down already, and while they could all change quickly, there were no rushed or sloppy patches to her experienced eye.

His hair was even neatly slicked back into the traditional Robin spikes, one every Robin but her and Duke had used during their time as the baby bird.

Nah, he’d not rushed out in a panic, even if he was still more tense than he should have been. Every line of the kid was tight with… Spoiler cocked her head thoughtfully.

Frustration?

Definitely not unusual, Damian didn’t have Dick’s temper but he’d spent pretty much all of his first few years in Gotham unbearably frustrated with them all. It had just been a while since she’d seen it so… visibly.

And for all Steph was a gleeful little shit and loved poking at trouble, she wasn’t cruel. There was no point in pushing Robin if he was already on edge.

So she shrugged nonchalantly and looked forward instead, reaching back over her head to pat him gently on the foot. He didn’t dodge, which only cemented her decision.

“‘Course, no rule against taking a daylight run if you’re in the mood. See anything interesting?” She asked innocently.

Kid wouldn’t admit it if he had been worrying.

Silence reigned for another long moment, and then Robin huffed and dropped down to the rooftop beside her, folding himself back into the sharper shadow the waning daylight provided.

“No.” Short and sweet, unlike the kid himself.

But he also hadn’t left, and Spoiler was gonna call that a win.

“Will you be out tonight too?” She asked instead of pushing, reminding herself yet again; he’d open up in his own time.

Hypothetically.

Robin made a soft, disgusted noise, glowering at the smog filled sky. Probably even in the right direction for the Watchtower.

“I intend to be. Someone must keep an eye on things,” he grumbled, and Spoiler made an effort not to take it personally.

B had been majorly distracted with all this Amity Park business, not even breathing down their necks about the usual nightly reports. The rogues hadn’t exactly noticed yet, but the goons had.

The big Bat himself not making an appearance for a couple of nights usually attracted some comment, and an up-til-now entirely Bat-free new year?

The guys she’d helped Signal grab today had been muttering about it right until they ran into her arms. Fists.

They’d mentioned not seeing Stabby Robin either though.

Which she might as well also mention.

“Weren’t you out last night too? I saw your gear missing when I dropped by at the end of the night,” she added when he tensed again, hands wedged in her utility belt. “Didn’t hear you on comms though.”

And that was more than just rude; it was bad protocol, and Robin, for all his other faults, respected the strictness of protocol. Not being chatty was one thing, but if you were out on the town you had to call in.

He stayed silent, not looking at her. Spoiler decided he could use just a little nudge. Totally not because she was getting impatient. And nosy.

“Y’know unless you went out tech free I can just ask Oracle,” she pointed out gently, giving his shoulder a gentle bump.

It got him to glower up at her anyway.

“I was not on patrol,” he grumbled, whites of his mask narrowed before returning his glare to the city at large, “like I am not today.”

When he didn’t elaborate, Spoiler flipped a mental coin. Figured why not; they were already doing well.

Kid must be on the verge of having to, dread the thought, ask for help.

“And what would you be doing out and about if not patrolling…” she began, then stopped when a piece clicked suddenly into place.

Robin, Damian, was about as social as a feral cat. And about as friendly with anyone who got close to those he considered his.

Right now, Danny Fenton and his friends had more than half the family utterly wound up. All except Bruce in a good way, Spoiler was the first to admit, but Robin wouldn’t see it like that.

The only trick was, how to word the question.

Spoiler liked blunt. It made her stand out from the bats, who all played way too much mental and emotional chicken to be healthy. She’d always been more of a bird that way.

“Wouldn’t have anything to do with Hood’s little disappearance today, would it?” She asked instead, grinning broadly when Robin twitched.

Hit the nail on the head.

From the scowl he shot her he knew it too, and looked away quickly enough that he knew there was no taking it back. He folded his arms across his chest and sulked and fuck he was just adorable.

She’d bet anything Dick used to pout exactly like that.

Still, she tempered the grin down to a slight smile. Dropped a hand on his shoulder, squeezing gently and letting go when he pulled away.

“Worried me too. Were you close enough to see anything?” Because yeah, if Robin was already at least on his way into uniform before the message arrived?

Spoiler would put easy, easy money on him having been already tailing Jason and Danny around. Last night too, probably. She and Cass had left early to take the night shift, leaving Tim and Damian with the Amity Parkers.

Damian had one hell of a dose of his father’s paranoia, and Steph considered it a solemn duty to teach him about personal boundaries to keep him from turning out just like the old bat.

Just a little friendly stalking from the rooftops didn’t really count though. Not between family.

Robin had tensed right up again too, but when she didn’t push the contact or needle at him he slowly relaxed back down. Scowled at her feet instead of his own.

“No,” he admitted bitterly, both at definitely having been busted and probably at having nothing to report, “Todd… Hood spoke to the magician. They argued, he went back inside Freeze’s place and did not reappear when his tracker went through the roof and into the sky.”

Spoiler blinked, mildly surprised.

“Hood was wearing a tracker? Didn’t think he was in the mood.”

“He wasn’t,” Robin corrected with a derisive sniff.

And… yeah, they were gonna have to do a little more work on that whole “boundaries” thing. Although the odds of Hood not noticing that he’d been tagged were lower than Robin probably thought. Keeping a tag on him that he didn’t want there?

Nah. She may not exactly trust Jason, but that was how she knew how good he was at finding and disabling rogue trackers. And sure, Damian was better than her at some things, but if Cass couldn’t sneak a tracker onto Red Hood no one could.

Kinda cute that Jason let the little guy think he’d successfully bugged him.

At least the constant mild stalking was just standard for the family.

Shaking her head, she gave him a gentle nudge with her elbow.

“That’s rough. Flying’s cheating,” she commiserated with a sly look to the sky.

She’d heard a super cross Oracle’s radar. Conner, almost certainly if Robin was still out alone.

Too bad he’d not thought to call his own Superboy, though taking flight himself wouldn’t have helped if dimensional travel followed.

Robin made another disgusted little tut, then pushed off the gargoyle and stormed away. Spoiler watched him go for a moment, then shrugged.

“Hey, go get some sleep if you’re coming back out tonight,” she called after him. Grinned when he flipped her off without turning.

If he’d been off stalking Jason and Danny two days in a row, he’d need some rest.

“And don’t forget your report,” she teased and actually laughed when he raised his other hand to flip her off with both before leaping off the edge of the roof, swinging back towards the bat cave.

Stephanie Brown had never been prouder in her life than the first day Damian had said “fuck” in front of his dad. Far be it from her to demand anyone transform into a social butterfly, but she personally was pretty damn sure that nothing was gonna help Damian out of his “raised by assassins” shell than learning some good old fashioned swearwords.

And a little teenaged rebellion. The proudest day was totally gonna be when he finally told his grandfather to fuck off (or any suitable equivalent; Steph wasn’t choosy).

Leaning back into the gargoyle’s shadow, Spoiler surveyed the city below. Technically, she’d been out as long as Damian had; if she wanted to be out tonight she’d need a quick nap too.

Or, more fun, she could nip back to the manor, kidnap Cass, and they could find and bully Tim and Tucker in person. Yeah, that was gonna be it.

Jason was feeling good, really. Actually a little surprised at how good, considering.

That crunchy little ecto-ice chip had been better than a gallon of coffee, filling him with energy like he’d actually gotten a full night’s sleep. (Not that he knew much about how that actually felt, at least not when not recovering from serious injury.)

He hadn’t actually felt this good since the night Danny slept over, which had been the night before last. Didn’t sound all that impressive, except that it had been the best he’d felt in half a decade.

Maybe the full decade. For all Robin made him magic, skipping sleep to fight crime had done a number on him in his teens. If he’d been as willing as Dickie and Tim to slack on his schoolwork, maybe…

Yeah, no, Tim was the poster child for Do Not Emulate This Sleep Schedule.

What mattered was that even after running the docks down with Black Bat for more than half the night and then getting up to get Danny, Jason felt fucking great.

Even after three separate courses of Bruce’s bullshit, both directly and through the medium of John fucking Constantine. Not so long ago, Bruce would never even dare call him, much less try and set up a bat cave ambush. That… was probably technically a good sign?

Didn’t feel like one at the moment, but Jason actually felt almost good enough to be charitable with the old bat. A little emotionally wrung out, sure, but he felt lighter for… having whatever that had been. Like the stress that had been compacting his chest had finally eased.

Jason was self aware enough to admit he’d probably had more than one breakdown owed to him. Maybe not a “take to the bed”, “trip to the sea” full Victorian lady meltdown, but he’d had a whole baby dropped on him. Except somehow worse.

He damn well deserved that freak out, and now that it was over and he’d been given what kinda felt like the ghost equivalent of speed… He felt like his brain was finally working again.

Which… meant he was fully processing that his fucking soul was vibrating in time with Danny’s. And every other ghost could just. Tell.

That was gonna make fight club… actually, Jason had no idea what the fuck it was gonna make fight club. By all accounts Danny being the Ghost King hadn’t made any of them less likely to throw down with him.

If anything, Danny had warned Jason that him being a “young” ghost would make the others more eager to fight. It was a kind of play, bonding and teaching the new baby their powers.

Sounded fucking terrifying by all accounts and Jason was just glad he had Danny to explain it to him, since apparently full ghosts just… knew it wasn’t serious. Even baby ghosts came into existence recognising the game.

Halfas didn’t.

Whiiiich meant that all the “playful” threats of dismemberment had sounded pretty fucking real to Danny, back when he’d been a baby ghost and had half the Zone flocking to “play” with him.

Pitty let out a rumbly little growl, like a sulking dog and Jason hid a snicker. Yeah, he’d also be kicking their asses that little bit harder for that given half a chance.

Actually, if they kept holding fight club, Pitty could take a chunk out of them itself.

That thought got him a contented little purr, which was weird enough that Jason was going to focus back in on Frostbite’s broader explanation. Which… he should have been doing anyway. At least this part wasn’t solely for his benefit though.

“In the sense that you have tied yourselves together, it may be somewhat like a marriage… however, it is a very different relationship. In a true love-union, your signatures would beat in time,” the yeti explained, gesturing once more to the screen.

Jason’s blob continued to pulse and blur a fraction of a beat behind Danny’s. Definitely not quite in time.

This was a relief. Yup. And Jason’s cheeks definitely weren’t any warmer than they’d been a minute ago, before he knew that, again, his fucking soul was echoing Danny’s.

Frostbite gave his tablet a couple more taps, and a pulsing blue line linked the images on the screen.

“In your case, young knight, your allegiance is marked in both your resonance and in your aura, which now carries a link to your King. In this way, even if the Great One is not beside you, all ghosts will know that you are the chosen protector of their King. His status is what defines your role as a knight, instead of a more casual bond.”

“No one’s king yet,” Danny protested, folding his arms and leaning into Jason’s side. Letting a little more of his weight rest on him.

Jason leaned in too, frowning from the screen to Frostbite.

“And all the other ghosts can just… see this?” He asked, not really sure what he was hoping to be told.

Frostbite switched from giving Danny a fond smile back to Jason, nodding brightly.

“Oh yes. Ectoplasm is very easily influenced by emotion, and bonds can form quite quickly. I presume you took an oath?” He asked, eyes sparkling in a way that made Jason pretty damn sure he’d met Clockwork.

Which, now that he thought about it…

Jason huffed out another deep breath, running a hand through his hair. As much as John Fucking Constantine specifically could ride a cactus straight to Hell… the guy mighta had the faintest inkling of a point about one thing.

“Yeah… about that.” He pulled a face, gaze tracking away from the others and down to the floor.

Would they think he was a dumbass too? Danny had been there when Clockwork made the offer and he’d been pretty against it, but Jason had thought he understood why.

It hadn’t sounded anything like Constantine’s claims of what he’d signed up for.

In the end, it was easier to address the question to Frostbite’s large hairy toes.

“I, uh… I made an oath to Clockwork, but do I have… a contract or something? The asshole magician I mentioned earlier was going on and on about eternal fucking servitude bullshit but it’d be nice to have something to shove in his face,” he added quickly, arm slipping back and almost around Danny (but with his hand still firmly on the table).

He didn’t need to wait to feel the guilt in Danny’s aura to head it off.

Jason wasn’t having second thoughts. He wasn’t sorry for what he’d signed up for, and when it came right down to it…

He didn’t think people could lie through their auras. Even when he was trying to project something like “I’m fine” and he wasn’t, he was pretty sure Danny could tell.

He could sure as hell tell when Danny was bluffing through his, which had happened maybe once total.

He trusted Danny. He trusted Frostbite. He even mostly trusted Clockwork, because for all the guy had been a little sketchy, Jason had felt his sincerity. How deeply he cared for Danny.

Keeping Danny safe forever didn’t sound like eternal servitude. Eternal babysitting, maybe, if Danny was being a pain in the ass, but he’d never top Damian at his most bratty.

Jason woulda been trying to protect Danny anyway. As far as he knew, knighthood just made that easier.

Which was another reason he’d like a look at his contract. You didn’t make it onto the streets as Robin without learning to read for loopholes, hidden clauses, and fine print. He may have already signed on the dotted line, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t find some wiggle room.

Danny, about to say something either apologetic or self deprecating, huffed out a breath as Jason’s arm slipped around him. Winded up giving him a half smile instead.

“Yeah… that’s a good point. I still need to find out if I can fire your ass.”

“Still didn’t hire me,” Jason pointed out archly, bumping his arm to knock Danny forwards a little.

The other halfa huffed a laugh this time and bumped him back.

“Yeah, and I gotta work out how to hire you so I can then immediately fire you,” he shot back.

Frostbite cut them both off with a raised hand, though he still looked fondly amused. Like they were cute little kids or something stupid.

“You will have to discuss this with Clockwork directly, young knight, but I do not believe a knighthood typically comes with a contract. It is a duty one is granted, and one that may be rescinded if you fail, but it is not a deal,” he explained patiently.

Jason’s brows furrowed a little, but at least he could feel Danny’s confusion-puzzled-not sure beside him too. He wasn’t the only one who wasn’t quite sure what that meant.

Maybe he shoulda looked a little more into magic shit while he was with the League of Assassins. That would have been the time, especially if the Lazarus Pits were the just grunged ectoplasm.

“It kinda sounded like a deal when he offered it,” he said almost as a question, glancing back at Danny for confirmation.

Danny nodded. So it wasn’t just Jason.

“He gave me a cool magic gun in exchange for keeping Danny hale and hearty. Protecting him in the living and Infinite realms,” Jason added in case the wording counted, more sure as he remembered some of the reasons.

Fuck, had that only been a week ago? It felt like it’d been a whole year.

Frostbite gave them a neutral shrug, inclining his head.

“As I said, you will need to ask Clockwork directly. All I can tell you is that it is not innate to the position; a knighthood is not usually something bought and sold,” he explained patiently.

Danny hummed an agreement, cheek resting on Jason’s shoulder again.

“It’s normally all ghost-to-ghost too, so is there a way we can check if the halfa thing has changed it?” He asked Frostbite, leaning against the table too and totally not actually putting his arm around Jason back.

Jason felt a little more tension leech back out of him. Which raised another good point, actually.

“And not related or anything, but if you gave me a buncha those ice crystals could I just chew them to get the ecto for…” he hesitated, waving his free hand at his general chest area again.

Honestly, given half a chance he’d love to get a bowl full and try and pop the pit out in one go… it’d probably be easier to train from outside his body where it wouldn’t immediately know he was so full of shit… his own aura notwithstanding.

Yeah, he was still a little worried about being anyone’s emotional guide, but if he could just get the damn thing out in the world… maybe it could have other guides too.

“To answer the simpler question first, young knight, unfortunately the energized ectoplasm is only a short term boost and will not affect either of your cores. I will provide you with a small supply to assist your emotional control whilst you stabilize, if you wish?” Frostbite offered gently, a slight smile on his face.

Jason hesitated, considering things for a moment, then nodded. Sure, it wasn’t a solid “yes here is the answer to all your problems Jason just smack it in”, but it was a concrete solution to what had actually been worrying him.

Having another one of those weird “episodes”. He’d still be waiting to get Pitty all the way out, but at least he had a backup plan until then. He could pop an ecto-crystal each morning, get some energy, and worry less about night patrols.

Shit, he’d have more energy than he’d had since he died. The others were gonna be jealous as hell, but it wasn’t like they could steal and take his ghost meds. Probably.

Jason… wasn’t quite ready to think about the panic attack itself. He felt fine now, way better, and it wasn’t like it was the first he’d had.

Just…

Just the first that he remembered. That his heart started racing, his head rushing, ears filled with rushing static and the world hadn’t just melted into a green haze of blood and violence.

His early training with the League of Assassins had involved a lot of losing himself to the Pit. He’d wake up days later, body aching with exertions he couldn’t remember, and be told how many he’d killed.

Good news: no fear of that either, apparently. Pitty wasn’t pulling for control anymore, so the green haze was all Jason’s own.

Joy.

He had a nasty feeling that Danny would notice him spiralling from anywhere in Gotham. And probably ditch class to come check on him.

Like Hell. Jason’d fucking call Harley first, put himself through some breathing exercises or whatever, he did not need an emotional support Ghost King.

He gave Frostbite a quick nod, a small smile forming almost without thinking about it. The yeti was just… so caring and helpful. Not exactly something Jason had a wealth of experience with. He’d probably be a great example for Pitty.

Frostbite returned the smile, making a quick note on his tablet.

“And of course, your ghostly parent or a mentor should also be able to assist you. Spending time with those who are important to you, especially a comforting figure will help both your control and your core formation,” the yeti added in a slightly pointed way, like he’d read Jason’s mind, and Jason had to stifle a laugh.

Frostbite might be an eight foot tall hairy yeti, but he’d get along with Alfred like a house on fire… he was even as stubborn about not using their names as Alfred was about nicknames.

And when Jason thought about someone comforting, the beacon of emotional maturity and constraint… it could only be Alfred. He was more grandparent than parent, but certainly the only mentor Jason still looked up to. And a paragon of control besides.

Alfred could help him with Pitty. Model a little actual emotional restraint and control for the both of them. The only question was if Jason could just be up front and ask him, possibly revealing the secret early, or if he’d have to come up with an excuse for them to hang out.

Stupid thought. Jason knew damn well he could just walk into the kitchen and Alfred would be more than happy to spend time together. He wouldn’t need a ruse; he wouldn’t even need an excuse.

The knowledge settled warm and soft and happy inside him, until his brain caught up with his ears and stopped him short.

Wait.

“Ghost parent?” He asked cautiously, looking from Frostbite to Danny again. Danny pulled a face but Frostbite beat him to the punch.

“Ah, yes. We did not discuss that last time either. Your ghost parent, young knight, is the second strongest bond a young ghost can have. They are the ghost who welcomes you into the Infinite Realms, who will guide your steps and protect you until your own haunt has formed.”

Brows furrowing, Jason twisted to frown more directly at Danny, not quite sure if he was looking for confirmation or asking a question of his own.

Cuz, y’know, other than the whole “protecting until his haunt formed” (and Jason certainly didn’t need protecting), that sounded a lot like what Danny had been doing. Which would totally make it weird if Jason was a knight to his own ghost-dad.

Clearly following the same lines, Danny raised both hands and shook his head, almost but not quite stepping out of reach.

“Oh no, it’s not me. You’ve had a ghost parent long before I came along,” he said emphatically, the sudden panic on his face making Jason feel better about his own response to surprise parenthood.

He magnanimously decided not to tease Danny about it, turning instead to give Frostbite a questioning look.

“Should I know who my ghost parent is? Who gets to decide?” He asked cautiously. He’d never met another ghost before Danny, but he had this awful sinking feeling that Ra’s al Ghul might have more to do with the realms than just the pits, and he was the closest proxy. Even Tallia would be better. Maybe even Bruce.

Reading his tension, Frostbite clapped a massive furry hand on Jason’s shoulder, smile and aura both full of comfort-reassurance-calm.

“Normally yes young knight, though yours is a special case. Usually when a young ghost first finds its way to the realms, one of the first ghosts they encounter will take them under their wing. It is an honour to care for a young ghost, and a halfa even more so,” he explained gently.

Beside Jason, Danny snorted loudly.

“Oh, yeah, they totally come running to play happy families. Super wholesome,” he grumbled, arms folded as he leaned back into Jason’s weight.

Honestly, Jason could kinda spot common threads between what Frostbite just said and what Danny had told him about Fight Club; the play fighting was supposed to be about sharing powers, right? Just, y’know, between people with shit verbal communication to actually check in that everyone was on the same page.

The yeti sighed fondly, his hand moving from Jason’s shoulder to rest proudly on Danny’s. Given the width of Danny’s shoulders respective to the hand, the last two fingers were back on Jason’s other shoulder.

“Again, Great One, your circumstances were also exceptional. You did not explore the Ghost Zone until after you had established yourself to many as a competent fighter and protector of your haunt, which along with certain… adventures led most to believe you were far older than you are,” Frostbite explained patiently, with just the faintest hint that they’d been through this before.

Danny rolled his eyes and shot Jason double finger guns.

“Yyyyup, which is why I don’t have to deal with any of this “ghost parent” business,” he agreed brightly, tipping Jason a smirk, “get good.”

Jason flipped him off, but there was something… not in his aura, Frostbite’s was still very carefully toned back all calm medical professional, but in the creasing of the yeti’s eyes. Now, ghost yetis were definitely a new species and Batman drilled them all on the dangers of extrapolating body language on new species, but Jason had done his time on alien planets.

Something in the change, something in the shift, a little quirk of the brow Jason had noted when the yeti was amused. There was something funny here, and it wasn’t Danny’s quip.

Putting his suspicions aside for now, Jason settled on the more pressing matter.

“So who is my ghost parent? When do I get to meet them?” He asked cautiously, still not entirely convinced he hadn’t accidentally imprinted on Ra’s or Tallia. Cuz he hadn’t been in the Zone before Danny either.

Danny himself, much less concerned, waved a hand vaguely.

“Oh, we’ll deal with that on the way home. Go do a proper meet and greet, that sort of thing,” he said nonchalantly, and Jason’s shoulders settled a little.

“They’re in the Zone then?” He prodded a little further, not fully willing to let the matter just drop. If he had to ghost-emancipate himself, he’d rather be ready sooner than later.

Danny grinned toothily at him.

“Usually. We’ll see if she’s around, but it might have to be another day. Gotta deal with our other list first, like if our whole halfa deal is gonna do anything to the knight thing, or your core coming in,” he added, looking expectantly at Frostbite.

Jason almost missed what he said next as his heart skipped a beat, a possibility he’d never even considered slamming home.

She.

Someone dead, if they were in the Ghost Zone.

Someone who’d claimed him as her son long ago, guided him as best she could. Someone he’d never expected to see again, not even having died and returned to life himself.

No chance, he told himself quickly, hurriedly refocusing on the conversation at hand. About his bond with Danny, about their shared fucked biology, about his whole undead future.

There was no point dredging up the past until he actually knew.

Frostbite was back in his familiar role of teacher, that same proud/warm/fond smile crinkling the corners of his eyes as he looked at Danny.

“For your bond, Great One, I am not sure what I would even test for. The young knight presently has no ghost form, yet the bond is present exactly as if he had. I am afraid we have no records of former halfas, so any problems which occurred before are long lost.”

The yeti gave the tablet another few careful claw strokes, pulling up lines and lines of scrolling numbers and data beside each of their silhouettes on the wall screen. Forcing himself to the present, Jason scanned them quickly.

Unsurprisingly, he couldn’t actually make heads or tails of it; ghost vitals couldn’t really include things like heartbeat, blood oxygenation, or anything they’d test for in the med bay.

Not until Bruce found out about all this crap anyway - Jason wouldn’t put it past him to try and buy out everything the Far Frozen had in his latest snit of paranoia. The second he got over his “oh no Jason is going somewhere I can’t supervise him”, obviously.

Frostbite clearly knew what it all meant though, highlighting a couple of different areas where Danny’s numbers were very different from Jason’s and giving him that reassuring smile.

“After your first transformation I would expect some of these to change, and it is likely that any differences in your particular bond would show then as well. Your ghost form will of course be entirely ectoplasmic, so the bond will be more present than it is even now.”

That snapped Jason from his internal flailing, and he grimaced at the reminder.

Because… yeah. They’d talked a lot about his first transformation, he and Danny. But the only thing Danny hadn’t really known was when to expect it.

“Yeah… about that. I know the basics, inversion of my moment of death crap, I’ll be able to change it eventually, yadda yadda,” and that was its own sword of Damacles hanging with the mistletoe, “but… when will it happen? Like, will it just… happen? Or will I… yeah.”

Even wording the question made him feel like the whole thing was just too complicated. He wasn’t even sure what he wanted to ask; what to look for? Would there be symptoms? Would he just un-die again in the street?

Luckily Frostbite seemed much more comfortable, hitting a few buttons on his tablet. Jason’s scan took over the full screen once more, zoomed in on the two orbs in his chest.

They were pulsing too, growing brighter and dimmer along with the more defined throb of the ectoplasm. Which was actually when he noticed that both cores were throbbing, so… was Pitty also a knight?

That was going on the list of questions for Clockwork like, yesterday. If he could get it its own little fear gun…

“As you can see, your core is still fuzzy around the edges and incompletely formed; once these edges have smoothed out, you will hypothetically be able to transform at any time,” Frostbite explained, blissfully aware of Jason’s new train of thought.

Probably for the best. Jason reluctantly refocused on the screen, tabling the idea of Sir Pitty for now. Nice to have something actually positive to look forward to.

He didn’t really remember seeing much of the screen during his last appointment, but he had seen the perfect sphere of Danny’s core, and his looked… well, like Frostbite said, smaller and kinda fuzzy. Like a ball of dough after it started sticking to your hands and losing its shape.

He frowned and nodded, looking back to Frostbite and then glancing around at Danny.

“So not until the next appointment, probably? Will it just… happen out of nowhere? Or will I need to trigger it?” It kinda helped, narrowing the scope. Dealing with it one step at a time.

Danny gave a helpless shrug.

“My powers started activating randomly, but I didn’t actually transform until I was in danger. Not like, life threatening danger,” he added with a roll of his eyes, like he’d heard Pitty’s growl… or maybe Jason had echoed it. “It was just Lunch Lady, she was never gonna really hurt us. She just made a mess and tried to feed everyone meat.”

Jason privately added Lunch Lady to his “asses to kick” list. On principle.

Frostbite gave a thoughtful nod, a large hand clapping down on Jason’s shoulder a lot harder than he’d probably intended. He didn’t flinch, but before his pit-growth-spurt it might have knocked him over.

“We can experiment more once your core is complete here in the Zone, and I would recommend waiting until Pitty has been expelled, if possible. Of course, any other changes in your knighthood bond will likely make themselves known with your first change as well,” the yeti mused, quite pleased with the idea.

Jason hesitated before agreeing, worry twisting through him again before he tamped it back down.

He wasn’t that scared little boy anymore; not inside. Besides, the bond was already firmly in place.

His soul was resonating a pace behind Danny’s.

It wasn’t like that little trip back to the moment of his death was gonna make Danny suddenly reject him.

The poor guy was probably stuck with Jason for life anyway at this point, which for a pair of halfas meant pretty much forever.

There was not a single thing on Earth or the Watchtower that he wanted less than to stop and talk to John Fucking Constantine and Diana after the meeting.

To be completely fair, Constantine clearly didn’t want to have that conversation any more either; Bruce had not been wrong about how well the magician would take the news that the United States had declared war on an entire dimension.

He was visibly green, had actually ground an unlit cigarette into a grainy mess against the table in lieu of lighting up, and looked about ready to lick up the tobacco.

Diana did not look happy either, but she never had. Her face was as stony and grave as Bruce had ever seen it, concern writ large even as she caught his eye.

The sure knowledge that her lasso would follow if he tried to leave was the only thing that kept him from ignoring her.

But since the only thing he wanted in the world at this moment was to have his son in his arms, and there was no chance of that happening until they were in the same dimension once more…

Bruce shot a quick, questioning look at Clark as the traitor made his way to the exit along with the rest of the Justice League. The Kryptonian at least had the grace to look a little guilty as he shook his head, stepping quickly out the door.

Wonder Woman hadn’t specifically told everyone else to get the fuck out. She had simply molded herself into an immovable force, concluded the meeting, and instructed Bruce alone to remain and discuss these… complications.

Bruce considered making an argument for Superman’s inclusion. They were the original three, and they’d probably need at least his and Aquaman’s help to handle the diplomatic situation.

Possibly the Oa, and Bruce was quite sure Green Lantern wasn’t looking forward to that possibility any more than he was. Hal Jordan talked a good game, always far too flippant, but he’d been pale enough by the end of the lecture that his suit made him look frankly unwell.

Unpleasant times would be in all of their futures it seemed. It was no real comfort as he slipped into a seat across from Wonder Woman and the slumped form of John Constantine.

The magician didn’t even look up, but clearly noticed.

“Didn’t fuckin’ think anyone’d fuck this up worse’n you, Bats,” he groaned, face still pressed into the table.

Bruce grunted, uninterested in his judgement.

“There are new complications we should focus on.�� A vain hope, and one Diana instantly crushed.

“One that makes the contents of our discussion all the more vital,” she corrected sharply, piercing blue eyes narrowed as she watched his face. “It seems we have already caused unintentional offence.”

Which was an extremely light way to phrase the declared genocide, but Bruce didn’t bother arguing that position. Not when Constantine would do it for him.

But the mage just let out a long, hearty groan.

“Offence. Yeah. Maybe if we saw off the United States and toss it through a portal the rest of us will be fine,” he snarked, raising his head just enough to bang it off the table. Repeatedly.

By the third bang Diana gripped the back of his head, holding him in place against the table.

“Whatever the situation,” she growled, her tone daring either of them to comment, “we must deal with it as it is. You believe we would have noticed any countermeasures from the former Ghost King?”

She released her grip a moment later, and Constantine rolled his head just enough to glare at her through one eye.

“Pariah Dark? Sister, it wouldn’ta been a single town bein’ pulled off the map. We’d have lost the continent, and probably the world. You wouldn’t miss it,” he added with a bitter laugh, clearly considering banging his head off the table again.

Diana placed a hand on the table. Constantine set his head back down gently.

“And the new king?” She prodded, all icy control.

Bruce had to admit, even he felt calmer watching her.

He knew all the follies and foibles of gods, had no delusions about the limits of her power. He also knew her strengths. Her wisdom. Her ability to cut through complex issues with sword or words.

Whatever he missed, she was removed enough from this mess to catch.

Constantine shrugged, still not rising.

“No fuckin’ clue. All I know is they’re better’n Pariah, which is the lowest damn bar I ever saw. They call them Balance, and we’re not gonna fuckin’ like when the scales come due.”

Bruce’s brows furrowed. What could be a sufficient counterweight for demanding a whole people be hunted and experimented on until extinction?

The dead always vastly outnumbered the living.

Diana cut across his thoughts, her tone as sharp as her blade.

“So you believe we’d notice.”

Constantine sighed heavily and flopped back in his seat hard enough that he nearly toppled over. Diana steadied the chair with one hand, eyebrow rising archly.

Constantine stopped flailing, went to fold his arms, and instead stuffed his hands in his pockets.

“Probably’d be pretty hard to miss too,” he agreed gruffly. Diana nodded, having received the answer she wanted, and interlaced her fingers.

“Then we have time to rectify matters before word reaches his ears.” She paused, brow furrowing as she recounted John’s words. “Do we not know if the King is a man?”

Constantine shrugged again, pulling something unidentifiable from his pocket before hastily shoving it back in, coming out again with a lighter. He spun it between his fingers, eyes fixed on the metal lid.

“Nah. “King” is just a loose translation to living tongues, for what yer used to. Easier to say than “Supreme High Ruler, Core of the Realms”. Not even likely that they were ever human; not even the Ancients could take Pariah solo to take the crown, so a human ghost wouldn’t stand a chance.”

Huffing out a mighty breath, Constantine looked from the lighter to Bruce, his gaze somehow immeasurably more tired. Bruce had imagined that talking about Amity Park made the man look ancient.

He looked haggard enough to be an ancient ghost himself now.

Raising his other hand, he began counting off points on his fingers.

“We know they’re young. Everything agrees on that. Could be any time in the past few centuries, but it’s still a timeline. We know they’re tougher’n Hell and all its demons put together, cuz they put Pariah down single handed. Had to to get the throne. Might not have Ended him, the Casket of Eternal Slumber’s not turned up looking for a new occupant.”

The magician stared at his two fingers for a moment, then sighed and raised a third.

“And we know ghosts like them. They’re less scared, though most of ‘em never knew shit about Pariah. Didn’t even react to him waking, which had to happen for the change in power. That or it all went down too fast for the shockwaves to reach us here; not bloody likely. Wouldn’t take more than a day, and ghosts fight for decades on a whim.”

He hesitated for a moment, considering that last finger. Finally he sighed and shook his head.

“Can’t rule it out though. Pariah waking up’d be as much an emergency for them as it’d be for us, putting his ass back down is an all hands on deck situation on either side of the veil. If this new king is Balance, Pariah’d be their opposite,” he finished gruffly, glaring at all three digits before stuffing both hands into his pockets.

Bruce nodded, drawing a deep, calming breath in through his nose and then out through his mouth. Even this much discussion had something itching in the back of his mind, a building tension that he had to Get Away.

He was in control of it though. Could tell the difference between his own unease and the burning ember of the oath.

Turn and run right away his ass. Magic could never hold out against cool, calm logic.

“And this new king, Balance, has stamped a damn mark on Jason.”

And his breath hitched.

Sharp, white hot panic flared behind his eyes, every muscle clenching with the effort of not leaping straight from the table. The only reason he didn’t was because he had no idea where to go.

What would he even do? Run to Jason’s side? The boy was in another dimension, far beyond Bruce’s reach.

Again.

He was losing Jason again. Losing him to this Ghost King, this Balance, this-

Diana’s hand clamped firmly over his, the amazon’s grip immovable steel. Bruce felt his bones grinding together before he even noticed he’d stopped breathing, before he managed to look up enough to meet her eyes.

Stern, determined, brilliant blue locked with his. Her grip tightened a little further, the ribbing on his gloves creaking with the pressure.

She wouldn’t break them… probably. They were designed to hold up against any of the supers the League dealt with. Prolonged contact was another thing entirely though.

His attention now locked on her face, Bruce managed a deep breath in along with her. Held it when she did. Let it out.

She didn’t release him for another few repetitions, until he was breathing mostly on his own again. Then she returned her attention to Constantine.

“What.” It wasn’t aggressive. Just a completely flat, completely toneless statement.

Constantine gave her an entirely hopeless smile, pulling his hands from his pockets to give her jazz hands.

“And that’s what he’s not ready to hear yet. Your boy, Jason, Red Hood, has gotten himself personally warded by the Ghost King. He’s the next thing to invulnerable right now,” he added bitterly, as if that made any of it better.

An icy hand clenched in Bruce’s chest again, but he forced himself to still. To breathe through it. To not turn and run, run until he found his child and tore him away from whatever influence had him.

The Ghost King had a hold of Jason. Jason who’d all but ordered Bruce to let him go.

“And Jason must have been in direct contact with the King to receive these wards?” Diana asked sharply, and Bruce’s head snapped back to her.

It was a good question. Important, obvious, there was a connection there that he should be making, but he couldn’t think. His head was spinning, heart pounding, and every shadow seemed black as pitch.

Constantine grunted an agreement, shooting Bruce an almost sympathetic look.

Could. Could this be the oath? Not his own instinctive, natural panic?

Bruce couldn’t tell, he’d been so afraid for so long, ever since he held Jason’s broken body in his arms. Ever since he buried his son.

It felt the same. But he had mastered that fear long ago, so this would not control him now. He had to be better.

Frowning at Diana, he leaned forward.

“Explain.” She’d probably assumed that he’d made the same connection. He probably should have.

There was just a brief flash of surprise on her face before her expression softened, her hand gentling over his.

“Jason was the one who told you of these Anti Ecto Acts, was he not?” She asked pointedly, a dark brow arching delicately.

Bruce about managed a grunt of agreement, his jaw clenched too tightly to speak. She waited a moment longer, watching his face, and then sighed.

“Then is it not likely that either he has told Balance of these Acts, or that Balance was the one that told him?”

Constantine jerked and got halfway through a bellowed curse before she cut him off with a glare. Her tone brooked no argument as she continued with a firm, frosted patience.

“Jason is a principled young man, even if not of the exact principles you prefer. Either he has warned you because he believes we have time to fix this, or because the King would prefer we handle it,” she said bluntly.

It sounded so simple, put like that. Far too simple. Bruce shook his head, leaning in.

“We can’t know for sure-”

“Batman.” There was nothing harsh in her tone. Nothing so overtly aggressive as the glare she kept giving Constantine. Just a calm, cool statement that sucked the air from his lungs.

The weight of her own mantle, the Amazon princess who would one day be Queen. Not his friend Diana; Wonder Woman.

Once she was sure he wouldn’t continue, she fixed him with a sapphire stare.

“Do you believe Jason Todd would condone the end of the world?” She asked simply, and that at least was that plain.

“No.” It didn’t even require thought; whatever he feared ever since his son took his first life, Bruce knew that.

Jason was fundamentally a good boy. So kind, so giving, ironically he had been the most well adjusted boy Bruce had ever given the mantle to.

Which was what made what he’d become so painful. It was everything he never should have been.

Wonder Woman nodded as if that solved all the rest.

“And yet you called the meeting, not him. He has known for several days already and did nothing to alert any of us. Therefore, he does not believe this is an urgent threat.”

It sounded good, and Bruce almost believed it before Constantine snorted.

“Yeah, great, except the kid has no fuckin’ clue what he’s dealing with. Didn’t even know he’d been fuckin’ marked or that sellin’ his fuckin’ service was the dumbest fuckin’ thing he coulda done,” he grumbled and Bruce’s heart fell.

Wonder Woman was not so easily swayed. She raised an eyebrow slowly at the magician.

“And could those protective marks have been placed on Jason against his will?” She asked pointedly, like she knew the first thing about magic.

Constantine hesitated. Frowned a little, thinking hard. Finally he threw both hands in the air and leaned back in his chair, scrubbing them down his face.

“Technically, yes, alright? But I can’t think of a damn reason why they’d bother. Like I told the old Bat, it’s technically a good thing; I couldn’t even get a basic diagnostic spell off, he’s completely fuckin’ magic proof an’ anythin’ that can read that ward will run like fuck.”

Something in Bruce’s chest flickered hopefully. Wonder Woman nodded firmly, then redirected her stare to him.

“Then until we have reason not to, we assume that Jason Todd has control of this situation. He has assigned us to deal with these Acts, either before his king discovers them or on their behalf. You, Batman, will defer to his experience along with that of our experts,” she declared with all the ringing command she was capable of.

It chafed. And yet… he could hear the echo of Harley’s words in her voice.

What if Jason was wrong? It was the kind of thing he always thought about, the kind of thing he couldn’t stop thinking about. The kind of thing that had the Batman able to stand and go toe to toe with gods.

But what if Jason was right? What if Harley, Diana, Constantine were right, and his usual measures would spell disaster?

He had a dozen contingency plans that any member of the League could use to take him down. He was painfully aware that the first one, the one he’d already shown to Superman and Wonder Woman, only had two words in it.

Diana’s Judgement.

She hadn’t technically invoked it yet. Had never bothered asking exactly what he meant by it; she wasn’t one to back down from hard subjects, which meant she’d also never bothered hiding how little she thought of his contingency plans.

His League-specific ones, anyway. She liked the ones he had for the rogues and various end of the world crises.

It meant moments like this, where she would give him her honest, simple judgement and reign him in.

(Technically it also meant that he trusted her to decide when she needed to snap his neck, but Martian Manhunter always looked at him with disappointment when he thought about that side too much.)

Looking back to her face, he managed to meet her eyes and nod once. It went against every instinct he had, every year of experience and loss, but…

If he couldn’t do things he didn’t like, he’d never have become Batman.

Head spinning with a plethora of new information, bag of ecto candies in hand, Jason deliberately slowed down to let Danny precede him out of Frostbite’s office.

That little suspicion had been growing, kindling the more they discussed halfa anatomy and bonds, and honestly? Yes, he had been using it as an excuse to think about something other than his own problems.

Danny seemed not to notice, disappearing past the doorway as Jason looked up at Frostbite. Figured fuck it; he didn’t know how much time he had. Best be blunt.

“You’re Danny’s ghost parent, aren’t you?” He asked, knowing from the yeti’s face as he did that he was right.

The way it froze for just a moment, eyes flicking to the door Danny had just left through. Then the smile that spread, knowing and secretive as he bent down for the first time to put his face on Jason’s level.

“He takes such pleasure in believing he does not have one; the Great One values his independence highly, and his history with parental figures is… complex. It can be our secret, yes?” The yeti winked.

Jason hesitated for a moment, thinking back to all he knew about Danny’s home life. It wasn’t actually all that much; Danny probably actually knew more about Jason’s, after the last week.

That wasn’t just a rarity, it was practically unheard of for any of the former Robins, and Jason knew exactly how Dick and Harley would react to that information.

They’d accuse him of growth. Gross. They couldn’t be told.

And yeah, maybe Jason had a bit of a personal understanding of why Danny wouldn’t want an overabundance of parental figures around. Their situations weren’t exactly the same, not really, but Jason knew enough verses of the song.

All teen heroes tended to have certain things in common, the biggest of which was whatever parental figure they had failing to protect them. Failing to keep them from the darkness, forcing a kid to take on a mantle and burdens that they never should have.

He’d wanted to pound Bruce’s bones to pulp for putting another kid in his cape. Wound up nearly pounding Tim’s instead, however the pit and Tallia had twisted things to make that seem like the same thing.

And Danny hadn’t just picked up the mantle of Teen Hero. He’d picked up a crown, a whole realm of responsibilities and rulership over the dead.

Personally, Jason thought Danny was missing out on an easy dodge of king duties by not finding his ghost parent; Clockwork was his regent but still apparently bothered him for work.

A parent ruling until the child was of age was behind most of the most brutal regicides in any monarchic system; the dead had to know about it.

But that’d mean Clockwork bothering Frostbite at all hours, possibly. Or Clockwork finding new excuses to keep checking on a crown prince Jason had already seen was a handful.

Yeah, he could see why no one really challenged Danny’s assertion that he didn’t have a ghost parent.

Jason spared a moment wondering about his own again.

He knew better than to hope, he really did. Catherine Todd deserved much better than an afterlife of watching over his many mistakes. If there was any justice to death, she’d moved straight past the realms and into the most perfect of paradises.

He liked to think she’d be proud of him. Of the work he’d done, the good he’d spread through the Alley even if it was on the end of a gun.

So long as it wasn’t any form of al Ghul whatsoever, Jason was pretty sure he could handle any other ghost parent the multiverse could throw at him.

Danny’s head poked back around the corner, grinning in a very worried way between the two of them.

“Everything okay back here?” He asked with some of the worst overhyped cheer Jason had ever heard.

Alright, maybe Danny would actually also have been a problem for ghost parent. Because Jason thought he was hot. Because he was an awful mother hen even as a friend.

Jason raised his bag of ecto candies.

“Just checking how many of these I can safely have in a day,” he said innocently, and kinda hoped Danny didn’t actually feel the wash of Frostbite’s approval as the yeti straightened.

That would give the game away.

“They are not a substitute for sleep or nutrition for your human form,” Frostbite told him, as if that was what they’d been talking about.

Jason sighed heavily, doing his best impression of Tim being handed decaf.

“Listen, a guy can hope?”

“Oh you’re not gonna win that one,” Danny snickered, brightening with the distraction and all but skipping in to take Jason’s arm, “let’s scram before he gets the powerpoints.”

Frostbite gave them a cheerful wave on the way out the door, and Jason managed a mostly sincere smile as Danny began regaling him on some of his teenaged attempts to persuade Frostbite to let him give up sleep for finals week.

Yeah, he might add the Fenton parents to the butt-kicking list. Below the ghosts, obviously, for whom butt-kicking was a social courtesy.

But, y’know. If he ever got the chance to have a quiet word about taking care of your damn kids.

———————

And here we have Part 1! Imma just yeet it up so you can all get started while I edit Part 2, because again, this is a Girthy One without an easier breakpoint 👀

I’ll still try and get Part 2 done tonight, but I’ve kept y’all waiting long enough

Tag List: @welcometosasakiworld @kyrianclawraith @someonebored0100 @stealingyourbones @starkcravingmad @frostedthroughghost @akikkobara @rainbowbunny0159 @littlefeather345 @violet-catsarelife @serasvictoria02 @wolfjackle @blacksea21090 @secretdestinywerewolf @anime-hipster-the-amazing @undead-essence @skitscratched @blackroserelina @snoodly-boop @mayoota-blog @xysidhe @little-apricot-the-writer @chaoticmistake @the-legal-shipper @bun-fish @aroranorth-west @demon-cat-goes-woof f @perfectwastelandcreation @onyxlightdragon @larks-and-katydids @peachesandcreamfemboy @jesus-camp-the-sequel @may-rbi @mothman-the-mothman87 @viyatrix @stargirl1331 @idfk-man10 @thedepressedrobin @skulld3mort-1fan @rootsmudge @ravenshadow17 @cankoking @phantom-dc @mentalcarebear @magic-pincushion @redamancyardor @lyra689 @itsparadoxlacuna @alcorbearson @asphyxia778 8 @why-must-i-be-like-this @tkiesai i @greenpyrowolf @frivolous-pastel @honeysuckletook @adorkable1291

Part Two:

#dp x dc #dpxdc #dc x dp #dcxdp #danny fenton dead and loving it #chapter 17 i bet #well you did get down on one knee #dead on main ship #danny x jason #slowest burn we burn so slow it looks like rust

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starryeyedmunson · 2 years

Text

meet me in the pale moonlight - e.m.

pairing: eddie munson x reader

summary: it’s based loosely on the song ‘meet me in the pale moonlight’ by lana del rey, you are liked by everyone in town, except by eddie munson. you were going to crack that kid one way or another, and you were ready to use your charm on him in more ways than one.

warnings: way too much smut (minors get out of here. go on, scram), swearing, mention of both drinking and drugs but no usage, kind of switch!eddie but leaning more dom, kind of switch!reader but leaning more sub, pet names (baby, doll, sweetheart, princess, pretty boy), oral (f and m receiving), p in v, slight breeding kink (i had to), choking, orgasm denial, slight bondage (ish, you’ll get it in context)

author’s note: i worked very hard on this so PLEASE show some love. also i’m writing this on my 6 hour flight home next to a man who is listening so intently to a joe rogan podcast, and i’m uncomfortable to say the least. hopefully this scares him away. enjoy this sex rant. (update: he watched me write every word and even ASKED ME what i was working on. i said homework. it’s literally summer. i’m not okay)

word count: 4.9k

with every step you took, another jaw dropped.

you, y/n y/l/n, had everyone in the palm of your hand. wherever you walked, countless pairs of eyes followed, and it earned you a spot at the cheerleaders and basketball players’ table. you set your tray down smiling, and you had an arm swung over your shoulder that belonged to your friend, miles. you laughed and pushed him off of you, then turned to your best friend, chrissy cunningham.

“hey, how was history?” she asked. “i had a doctor’s appointment, so i couldn’t go.”

“i wouldn’t know, i skipped,” you said with a smirk. she rolled her eyes and laughed, and you smiled along with her. your eyes scanned the cafeteria quickly until you landed on a certain table. a certain person.

remember the whole “everyone in the palm of your hand” thing? i forgot to mention the only exception.

eddie freaking munson.

he never took one look in your direction. ever. you looked at him every time he walked down the hallway, but he could not care less about your presence.

it was infuriating.

it wasn’t that you weren’t satisfied with everyone else’s eyes on you; you were. but something about eddie’s total lack of interest made you unable to give two shits about other looks that you were so used to. you knew he hated your friend group given that they bullied him literally every day, but you never partook. you just sat there, amused by his bizarre responses to the nasty comments your friends made. the way he didn’t care about what anyone thought of him intrigued you, and you decided that you wanted him. bad.

the lunch bell drew you from your own head, and you were tugged upwards by miles and jason. you slapped their hands away and got up yourself, walking to the class you all shared.

the rest of the day went by very quickly, and as you walked out of last period you were mauled by two freshmen.

“what the fuck!’ you yelled, whipping your head around to find a set of one curly-haired and another lanky and way-too-tall boys.

you looked at them with raised eyebrows before the tall one spoke.

“we- we’re so sorry,” he said wide-eyed. “we’re l-late for something and- i’m sorry w- we have to go,” speaking at a rate of a thousand words per minute.

you were barely registering as you looked down at their shirts. they matched eddie’s and you instantly came up with an idea. the boys were already scrambling away before you yelled at them.

“wait!” you said. they froze, then slowly turned around. you smiled sweetly and walked towards them. “wheeler, right?” you said to the almost-black haired boy. he gulped and nodded his head ‘yes’ a little too aggressively, and you gave him your signature cutesy laugh.

“listen,” you turned to the smaller boy who now spoke at you. “we would love to stay and chat, but we’re about to get our asses handed to us if we’re late for this thing.”

“your club, right?” you said, totally uninterested in the details. the wheeler kid nodded again. “i’ve always wanted to know what you guys really did, do you mind if i come?”

you watched them both look to each other, back to you, then to each other, then finally back to you.

“um, sure?” wheeler said. you clasped your hands together and smiled, completely aware of the effect of talking to a pretty senior girl was having on these two poor freshmen.

“lead the way,” you said.

you knew damn well you were not walking into that classroom to sit and pretend to be interested in whatever it was they did, so when you walked in with those two boys and everyone’s eyes widened, you thought you knew what you signed up for.

boy, you could not be more wrong.

there sat eddie, in some sort of throne. he didn’t even look up as he set up a folder and a book of some sort, messing around with the little statues and game pieces that littered the board.

“th-this is y/n,” one of the freshmen said. you waved a shy ‘hi’ at the group who sat there unmoving. you had to hide your smirk as they stared at you, but your confidence fell flat when the entire reason you came to the stupid club meeting looked at you with the most unimpressed expression you had ever witnessed.

“this is why you were late?” he said. the boys’ faces turned bright red, and they scurried towards the table. you cleared your throat before trying to work your magic.

“i was just curious about what your game actually was,” you said slowly, putting your hands innocently behind your back. his disinterested expression hardened, and you could tell he was not buying a single word that spilled from your mouth.

“that’s great, sweetheart, but i don’t care,” he said, his eyes moving back down to the table. you almost huffed in frustration, but you just cleared your throat and excused yourself, walking out of the classroom. the door closed behind you, and you let out a quiet groan. you were going to crack this kid if it was the last thing you did.

the next day rolled around, and there you were at lunch. you glared in eddie’s direction while he paid you no mind, but you were shaken from your concentration by chrissy.

“did you even hear me?” she said while laughing.

“what’d you say?” you said back.

“i said are you excited for the party tonight? i’ve been thinking about it all week and need to run some outfits by you,” she said rapidly. you rolled your eyes before replying.

“chris, we get drunk, like, every weekend. this probably isn’t going to be that much different than last friday. or the one before that. or the one before-“

“okay, okay, i get it,“ she said. “but what else is there to do? there’s not really another way to have fun besides, like, drugs or something.” the mention of drugs peaked your interest. you slowly turned your head to her with a knowing smirk, and she started shaking her head. “no no no, that was a joke, y/n,” but your smile grew even wider.

“come on, it’ll be so much fun. plus, i know exactly where to get them,” you said, the perfect plan falling into place.

“you? know where to buy-“ she cut herself off and gave you a look. “no. you might get possessed.”

“shut up, it’ll be fine,” you said before smirking. she raised her eyebrows before slowly nodding her head down and sighing.

“if he murders you, all i’m going to say at your funeral is ‘i told you so’”

“no.”

“what? come on,” you said with a pout. you had cornered eddie at his locker, and he wasn’t even facing you.

“i’m not selling weed, let alone cocaine to a person who has never touched drugs in their life,” he said with an annoyed tone.

“and how do you know i’ve never tried drugs?” you said, poking his arm. he turned and looked you up and down, then raised an eyebrow once he made it back to your face. “okay, fine. but you know what they say, you gotta start somewhere!” you said enthusiastically.

truth was, you didn’t give a shit about what he was selling. you just wanted to get some alone time with him, even if you had to spend money to do it.

god, this was a new low for you.

“if i do it will you leave me the hell alone?” he said. you nodded excitedly and flashed him a smile that he didn’t return. “fine. meet me in the woods just outside of school at eight. deal?”

you faltered at the thought of being in the woods, alone, with eddie munson, at night. “uh, yeah, deal.” you said, the fake smile making its way back onto your face.

he nodded curtly and slammed his locker shut, leaving you alone in the hallway. you wondered if it was a mistake, if meeting him tonight was a good idea. you shook your head to get the hair out of your face as well as the concern out of your head, and you walked towards the front of school both excited and nervous about what would transpire in about five hours.

you sat on the table, your leg bouncing on the bench with nervousness. you looked around as you waited for the long-haired boy, no, man to show up, and when he finally did you breathed a sigh of relief. he walked up slowly and showed genuine surprise when he saw your frame sitting atop the table.

“well, well, well, the princess actually showed up,” he said, and you could make out the smirk on his face as he walked closer. the moonlight was hitting him just right when he finally stopped in front of you.

“oh i’m a princess? don’t flatter me, munson,” you said with a smirk to match his. he rolled his eyes and sat down next to you, setting down the black box he carried with him everywhere. he opened it to reveal an assortment of bags of weed, pill bottles, and tiny bags filled with a white powder. you gulped at the sight of all the illicit paraphernalia, and he laughed to himself.

“i’m definitely not selling this to you now, princess” he said with drawling out the pet name, and you shook the expression from your face before looking back up at him.

“first of all, stop calling me that,” you said. “second of all, you shut up. it’s not every day that a sweet girl like me sees a bunch of felonies in some kid’s lunch box.”

“a sweet girl like you?” eddie laughed out. “please, nothing about you is sweet.”

you were genuinely taken aback. “and what makes you say that?”

“don’t think i don’t know why you walked into hellfire yesterday,” he said knowingly, and you coughed from embarrassment. “don’t think i don’t feel you staring at me from across every room we share. it’s quite pathetic, really.”

“how would you know i stare at you? quite presumptuous if you ask me,” you said with absolutely no confidence. you were in a position you had never been in before, and you had no idea what was going on as eddie closed the lunchbox and set it down. his body was now fully facing yours, and the smirk on his face was humiliating you more by the second.

“are you denying that you do?” he asked. you were falling into his trap by looking into his dark eyes. you knew they were brown, but you couldn’t make them out due to the darkness. the moon was still hitting his face perfectly, giving the side of his face a sort of glow. your eyes flitted around his illuminated features, and you realized how pretty he actually was.

you slowly shook your head. the smirk on his face grew, yet it now had a certain darkness behind it. now it was his eyes that ran across your face, really taking in your features.

“and is there anything you’re going to do about it?” you said, genuinely nervous.

“would you like me to, princess?” he asked, his face inching closer and closer to yours. your breath hitched. this was it. this was what you had so desperately craved. but now that the moment was here, you were putty in his hands when it was supposed to be the other way around. chrissy, your friends, and the party you were supposed to be attending were now distant thoughts as eddie took control of your head. everything in your body was screaming at you to get back at least some of your dignity, but you had never experienced the submission you were now.

but you fuckin’ liked it.

you nodded your head lightly, and he took the signal. he leaned in, and as soon as your lips connected, it was straight fireworks. clearly he had done this before, much to your surprise, but every thought was taken away from you with each movement of your mouths. his one hand moved its way to your hips, gripping tightly and causing your breath to falter and him to smile into your kisses. they deepened, and soon enough you were out of air. your tongues clashed as you both fought for dominance, but eddie prevailed every time. your teeth were almost touching as your make out session heated up. the hand that wasn’t gripping your waist moved to the back of your head where eddie laced his fingers through your hair. he tugged lightly at first, then it grew harsher. your hands were gripping his arms for dear life as he pulled on your perfectly curled locks, eliciting moans from your mouth.

he bit your lower lip lightly before pulling away, and you were breathless when he did so. the smirk plastered on his face paired with his flushed cheeks was enough to start a pooling of arousal from you, and you knew he was going to give you shit for it when he found out.

he kept eye contact as he moved down to your neck, only breaking it to go to work. your arms flew around him and it was your turn to tangle your fingers in his hair. contrasting you, he pulled your hair to the point that your head was thrown back, giving him more access to leave markings all across your neck. it felt so good, the hot and sloppy kisses that he left in his wake. he occasionally bit down on the flesh and sucked hard before smoothing the now-bruised skin over with his tongue.

you were drowning in pleasure, and he lifted his head to look back at you.

“look at you,” he said, looking your face up and down. “so easily turned on.” he ran the hand on your hip down to your thigh, grazing the skin over and over while stopping at the hem of your skirt every time. “i’m liking the skirt, sweetheart. reminds me of you in that little cheerleading uniform i get to see you in at school.” you were dripping at his words, but the only way you could communicate was through whimpers of desperation. he chuckled darkly as he looked down at your legs, and he slowly dragged his fingers lightly to finally push up the edge of the skirt like he had always fantasized about doing.

shit, you thought. this is the big reveal.

his hands finally reached the place where your thighs met your pelvis, and he abruptly stopped. he looked up at you in genuine surprise before his expression changed into one of impressment.

“and what did you think you were doing, coming here with no panties on?” your eyes moved slowly up to his face, only to see his pupils blown as he looked at you.

“i know how to get what i want” you countered, finding your confidence that was thrown out the window since seeing him walk up to the table just minutes earlier.

“we’ll see about that, princess,” he said. “you’re going to have to be very good, do you understand?” you nodded your head, growing impatient as his fingers made their way to where you wanted them most.

he finally gave in, running two of his fingers between your folds. it was enough to make you cum right there, but you were pushed to the edge when those same fingers found your clit. he applied only the lightest bit of pressure, and your hips bucked upwards out of instinct to get more of what you needed.

“ah-ah,” he said, pulling his hand way. “wait your turn, sweetheart.” you groaned out of irritation, but you were instantly satisfied as you felt his fingers return to their spot on your now-throbbing clit.

he slowly pressed harder as he rubbed circles over it, and at this point you were a moaning mess. he had barely even done anything, yet there you were, writhing and needy with your eyes closed and your head thrown back. he was staring at you with lust in his eyes, but he pulled his hand away yet again. your eyes opened quickly and you looked at him, but he just laughed.

“since you’ve been so good and sound so sweet,” he said, but he didn’t finish his sentence as he got off the table and centered himself in between your legs, your skirt still on. he sat on the bench in front of you and looked up at you with those big brown eyes, and you were mentally preparing yourself for what you knew was about to happen. “lay down on the table,” he said in a low and commanding voice. you slowly did so, and you could feel his hot breath on your pussy before he finally lifted the bottom of your skirt and attached his mouth to your clit.

the way he took it in his mouth, sucking harshly and running his tongue over it while licking fat stripes up your pussy in between had you reeling. his hand snaked up your still-clothed body until it found your neck, where his grip tightened and put you in a frenzy. his other arm had your leg hooked around it where he held you down to keep you from moving.

“fuck, eddie,” you moaned out, your hands instantly grabbing at his hair. his grasp on your neck was tight, but not completely suffocating. “m-more.”

“what was that?” he said, looking up at you but never ceasing his relentless eating your pussy.

“m-more, p-please,” you choked out, trying your best to form the words. you felt eddie smile against your core.

“as you wish, princess,” he said before removing his hand from your throat. he traced all the way back down your body before his hand found where your entrance was, slowly pushing a single digit inside.

you should’ve just brought a megaphone with how loud you yelled, his finger pumping slowly in and out. the feeling of his tongue swirling your clit and his finger curling inside of you was almost too much to bear, and when he added a second it was game over.

“p-please,” you moaned out. “g-gonna c-“

everything stopped.

your head flew up to look at him where you were met with a devilish smirk. you had had about enough, and as a surge of irritation and sexual rage washed over you, so did a leap of confidence.

“what’s the look for, doll?” he said. you took the smirk away from him, and you sat up and leaned forward. you lifted his chin with your finger before you kissed him, tasting yourself on his lips. you pulled away and were met with a confused look on his face. you swung your leg over his head before hopping off the table, moving to be behind him. he turned his head to look at you, but you stood still.

“all the way around, pretty boy,” you said. now it was his turn to lose the confidence, and he silently obliged. once he was facing you, you grabbed the bottom of your shirt and took it off, nice and slow. he watched you, mouth gaped open when you finally dropped the shirt on the ground. not only were you not wearing underwear, but it seemed that you had forgot your bra as well. he drank in your appearance, not even know where to rest his eyes as he admired you. you walked over to him slowly, and he watched as you got on your knees. the leaves were rough, but you barely paid any attention to that as you looked up at eddie with doe eyes. he gulped as you ran your fingers along his thighs and up to the bottom of his shirt, lifting it slowly. he hurriedly took it off and threw it somewhere, and you laughed to yourself.

“so eager,” you said, now in complete control. your hands then moved to his zipper and slowly undid it. his breath hitched as you reached the bottom of the zip, and you palmed him through his briefs. he let out a soft ‘ah’ as your hand wrapped around his clothed length, stroking it softly. he stared at you as you picked up the pace, finally using your other hand to pull at his waistband as a signal for him to take off his pants. you pulled away as he frantically took of his pants and briefs, laughing at his fumbling. your laughter was cut short once his cock sprang free. you were impressed to say the least, and eddie caught it.

“like what you see, sweetheart?” he said cockily.

“did i say you could talk?” you said, not wanting to give up the control you had just gotten. he put his hands up in defense and leaned back while still looking at you. you grabbed his cock once again, the feeling of his skin warm under your fingers. you resumed your stroking, and eddie’s breathing became uneven. it wasn’t until you kitten-licked his tip that he let out a small moan. he sounded so good, so needy as the small sounds came from his mouth. you continued teasing him, now running your tongue on the underside of his throbbing length.

“b-baby,” he said, completely out of breath.

“wait your turn, remember?” you said, quoting him from before. he let out a laugh that turned into a guttural moan as you took him in your moth completely.

he had never had it like this before. the way your head bobbed up and down, your mouth holding what you couldn’t fit. the way you let your tongue drag roughly up his cock while sucking with the perfect amount of pressure. the way you looked up at him with those big eyes of yours. and when you finally removed your mouth to reattach it to his balls, he lost it.

he had now turned into the moaning mess as you jacked him off, his balls your new area of focus. his head was facing upwards as he tried not to close his eyes, but everything you were doing had him on a chokehold.

“f-fuck, y/n,” he stuttered. “feel s-so good.”

you detached yourself but still moved your hand up and down his shaft, and you smiled up at him. “such pretty sounds from such a pretty boy. you gonna come for me?” you said, your voice almost doing the job for him. he nodded quickly, his eyes closing as he felt that familiar feeling build up.

again, everything stopped.

he head was still pointing at the sky as he let out a dark laugh. his hands moved from your hair to your hot cheeks, and he slowly looked down at you.

“bad decision, sweetheart.”

you knew you were totally in for it at this point.

he guided you with his hands still cupping your cheeks onto your feet, and you began to take your skirt off before his hands flew to grip your arms.

“leave it on,” he said maintaining eye contact. you nodded with a silent smile before he led you to the end of the table. you had just caught your breath before you were spun around to face the table, his hand on your lower back pushing you down onto your stomach roughly.

you waited a couple seconds before you felt eddie’s cock run up and down your pussy, causing you to groan in anticipation.

“i don’t know if you deserve this, princess. my cock inside of you. you haven’t been a very good girl, edging me like you just did.”

“please, eds,” you breathed out. “i promise i’ll be good just-“ he cut you off by completely railing into you. you cried out in pain that immediately turned into pleasure. he pulled back out all the way.

“what did you say?” he said. “i don’t think you finished.”

“p-please. fuck m-me please,” you moaned out, already missing the feeling of his cock inside of you. you could practically see the smile on his face as he pressed slowly into you this time, stretching you out. your hands, beside your head, scratched at the table, and he grabbed them to hold behind your back. the feeling of his hips hitting your ass mixed with his dick hitting just below your g-spot was pure ecstasy. you could feel a layer of sweat on your back, yet eddie kept his hand there to hold you down. you moaned his name over and over as he made you his, his cock slipping in and out of your wet core with ease.

“so fucking tight,” he said, breathing heavily. “and so wet. for who? say who it’s for, baby.” you could barely think as the speed of him fucking you kept increasing. your legs became wobbly as you heard him speak again. “words, y/n, say who it’s for.”

“y-you,” you managed. “all f-for you.” he groaned as he pulled out. you were suddenly empty, but with the speed in which he flipped you over and hooked your legs on his shoulders was fast enough that you were full of him again in no time.

your eyes were rolling into the back of your head as this new position finally gave him the access to that perfect spot in your pussy, and he was ruining you with every thrust. your eyes were opened and trained on his face. there were beads of sweat formed around his hairline, and his head was down as he watched himself fuck you over and over again. your gaze moved down to see what he was looking at, and you almost came from the sight alone. he moved in and out of you at the fast, perfect pace you loved, and you were turned cock-drunk. your hands were helplessly grasping at nothing, and you screamed his name once his fingers found your clit.

you were moving closer and closer to your orgasm, but you couldn’t even think with him fucking you the way he was. you let out a small whimper, and eddie understood you perfectly.

“i know, baby, but not just yet,” he said, quickening the circles he rubbed into your sensitive clit. you looked up at him, and he almost lost it then. you were completely fucked out, your hair everywhere and your cheeks flushed. “jesus, you look so pretty like this. all ruined because of me,” he said reaching back for your throat. the familiar feeling of his hand tightening around your neck was the last thing you needed to be sent over the edge.

“e-eddie, n-need,” was all you could get out.

“hold on, doll, just a little longer i promise,” he said, his attention going back down to where he was relentlessly fucking your hole. “wanna cum with you.”

“f-fill me u-up,” you said. you had never let anyone do that before, but the way you were completely lost in lust had you hooked on him.

“fuck, baby,” he said, looking back to you. his hand tightened even more, knocking the wind out of you. “want me to cum inside you? want me to fill this pretty pussy of yours?” you nodded frantically. “gonna need to hear it, princess. want you to tell me you want my cum dripping from your hole.”

“yes, fuck! please i n-need it,” you yelled out. it was all you could bear, and the knot in your stomach was a dam about to break. “please, c-can i c- please,” you said. it didn’t make any sense, but eddie knew you like the back of his hand at this point.

“come on, princess. you can do it,” he said softly. you let yourself go, crying out his name as your walls throbbed around his cock, you had never cum this hard, and it resulted in your squirt drenching both yourself and eddie. it was euphoric, and eddie couldn’t hold it in anymore either after that. he chased after you, white hot liquid spurting deep into your pussy. you felt every drop as he fucked you through both of your orgasms.

the high died down, and he finally pulled out to reveal you leaking with his cum. he was breathing heavily as he walked over to grab both your and his own shirts, and he walked back over to you who was still laying on the table and looking up at the stars. he placed your shirt on your stomach, and you took it from him with limp hands. you felt a cloth come in contact with your now-overstimulated clit, and you hissed from the feeling.

“sorry, doll,” he muttered as he cleaned you up first, then himself. you sat up on your elbows as you watched him, then made eye contact with him as he lifted his head. you sat up completely and put your shirt on, but when you pulled it over your head you saw eddie still shirtless. you cocked your head, and he raised an eyebrow. “what, did you think i was going to put this back on?” you laughed, but due to your soreness you tried to cut it short. he smiled down at you before continuing.

“alright, lay it on me,” he said. “was it everything you hoped it would be?”

“i wouldn’t say that,” you joked, and he let out a small laugh.

“well then, princess, i guess i’m just going to have to keep trying until it is.”

“i guess you will,” you said with a smile.

#eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson #eddie munson x female reader #eddie #eddie stranger things #eddie munson imagine #eddie munson smut #Smut #stranger things smut #stranger things #stranger things 4 #imagine #fanfic #fanfiction #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson x you #eddie x reader #eddie x you

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forever-rogue · 2 years

Note

This idea has been stuck in my mind for a while. Eddie asks the reader to Prom. She obviously says yes. Then when at the Prom they get made fun of and teased by Jason and the other kids. Eddie is used to it but the reader isn’t and gets sad. Eddie takes the reader home and comforts her. It ends in very soft smut (reader is a virgin). And aftercare. <3

AN | I’m just going to say this is Best Boyfriend Eddie and he’s just…wonderful! Enjoy 🥰

Warnings | Language, Beginnings of smut (nothing explicit)

Pairing | Eddie x Fem!Reader

Word Count | 2.7k

Masterlist | Main, Eddie

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You weren’t going to make a big deal of prom. You totally weren’t because one, it seemed overrated, and two, it totally wasn’t your scene. But when you’d heard the theme, you couldn’t help the fact that your interest was piqued. Curiosity was only natural, right? And it wasn’t like you were suddenly planning on going. It wasn’t like you even had someone that would want to go with you.

There was absolutely someone that you wanted to go with, but you wouldn’t ask him in a million years. He probably would have just laughed in your face and thought you were making a joke. Which is also precisely why you were never going to tell him how you truly felt about him…you know, the whole I’m in love with you thing seemed too much.

“Hey,” you were pulled out of your own thoughts as Eddie sat down next to you in science. You offered him a sheepish smile, as if you were worried that he’d heard your internal monologue on both prom and your love for him, “everything alright, princess? You look like you saw a ghost.”

“I’m fine,” you replied but your voice was a high pitched squeak and caused him to raise an eyebrow. You swallowed and tried to regain yourself as you looked at him with what you hoped was a normal expression, “just tired is all.”

He made a small sound in the back of his throat as he tried to get a read on you. No way was he going to buy your little cop out excuse. For now he decided to give you a pass, “so I had an idea.”

“Oh? Cherish the thought - Eddie Munson had an idea,” there you were, back to teasing him already. He scoffed playfully before nudging your leg with his, causing shivers to run down your spine.

“Prom is coming up.”

“Yeah?” your cheeks warmed up as you tried to keep it casual and not like your heart was about to burst from your chest, “and?”

“It’s my last opportunity to go and I thought maybe I would go…”

“You, Edward Munson-”

“Don’t use my full name!”

“You, Eddie Munson,” you looked at him with wide eyes and a nervous expression, “want to go to prom?”

“Mhmm,” he looked so pleased with how he managed to shock you. Your mind was reeling and your heart was sinking with the realization that he might have someone in mind that he wants to go with…someone that wasn’t you. And you were fully aware of the fact that he didn’t feel the same way about you, but it would still hurt to see him with someone else. It was a selfish thought and you tried to push it far away, “you okay, space case?”

“What? Yeah…sorry,” oh fuck. He was going to know what was going on in your head and he was going to hate you and never speak to you again. He was going to think it was weird and creepy that his best friend was in love with him. He was going to make fun of you…he was going to-

“So, what do you say?” he was looking at you with those big, soft puppy eyes and blinked in confusion which only caused him to smile wider.

“To what?”

“To going - jeeze I guess you really are out of it today - to going to prom with me?” your eyes widened at his question. There was no he was seriously asking this question, “yes, you. W-would you go to prom with me?”

“Yes,” you answered without hesitation and quickly grew embarrassed by your quick response. But Eddie’s smile only grew larger, “but Eds, why-”

“Mr. Munson,” you both turned and looked at Ms. Gallagher, "please quit distracting your fellow students. Unless there's something you'd like to share with the class."

"N-no," his cheeks flushed a pretty pastel pink as you bit your lip and stared at your notebook. This all felt like some sort of wild fever dream from Eddie wanting to go to prom, to Eddie wanting to go to prom with you. He nudged your foot with his as you turned to him and gave him a small smile that matched his.

In order to prevent either of you getting into further trouble, you ripped a piece of paper out of your notebook and hastily scribbled are you sure you want to go to prom with me?

You slid it across the black lab table top and he quickly read it before shaking his head in amusement. He wrote back slowly, almost as if he really was trying to torture you with his response. But after a few moments of tense silence - only tense on your part - he pushed back the paper back to you.

I’ve never been more sure of anything.

The way your face lit up was worth it a million times over and Eddie could barely contain his own grin. He would have asked over and over again if he kept getting to see you smile like that. The girl of his dreams had just agreed to prom with him, that was almost as weird as him actually wanting to go to prom - what a wild day it had turned out to be.

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By the time the evening of prom rolled around you were feeling incredibly…nervous. It was an emotion you’d almost never experienced around Eddie. But here you were pacing around the living room as you waited for him to pick you up, stopping to glance at yourself every once in a while in the mirror. You were happy with how your hair and makeup had turned out, but you were especially in love with your dress.

It was an old black lace dress you’d found randomly at a thrift store, but you’d done work on it and made it all a custom dress all for yourself and paired it with a pair of pretty mary janes you’d treated yourself to. You hoped Eddie would like it and think you were pretty; it didn’t matter, but it still would have been nice.

When the doorbell rang you jumped in surprise, despite expecting it, taking a moment to collect yourself before nearly tripping over your own feet in excitement to answer the door. You opened the door breathlessly and found Eddie on the other side, looking as handsome as ever with a megawatt smile on his face.

“Eddie,” you grinned at him as you drank in the very pretty picture he presented. He must have read your mind because he too was dressed in all black - well fitted trousers and dress shirt along with a tie. You didn’t even know he owned a tie…your bet was that it was Wayne’s. His roguish curls had even been tamed a little bit to make them less frizzy and more defined, “you look…wow. Really good.”

“You look beautiful,” there was a boyish grin on his face and he rocked back and forth on his heels in excitement. Your entire body warmed up as you waved a hand to dismiss his compliment.

“You don’t have to say it,” you insisted softly, “it’s okay.”

“You know me well enough to know that I would never lie,” he gently reassured you as he could see you perk up, “and more importantly, I would never lie to you, princess. I mean it, you look beautiful. You always look beautiful though, so I’m not surprised. I really like your dress, pretty girl.”

“I…Eds-”

“Come on,” he held his hand out to you and you eagerly accepted and slid your own into his, marveling at the fact that despite his calloused fingertips and rough palms, his touch still managed to be so gentle, “let’s go to prom, have a good time, and enjoy the fact that we’ll be out of the hellhole that is Hawkins High soon enough!”

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You’d always wondered what prom would be like, and it still managed to top your expectations. It was actually fun, especially with the fact that you were there with Eddie; there was no one else you could have imagined this with.

“Hey - I’m going to grab us some drinks, okay?” his cheeks were flushed and you were both messes from being on the dancefloor. You didn’t even mind the annoyed and rude looks and stares that were being thrown your way. You nodded happily as he gave your arm a gentle squeeze and flounced across the gym to where the drinks were.

You stood there, smiling to yourself…until you heard a wolf-whistle coming from behind you. Despite knowing better, you turned around to find the source and internally groaned when you saw that it was Jason Carver and his cronies.

Before you could turn around and pretend that you hadn't heard anything, you felt a rough hand on your arm. There was Jason, smiling at you with a condescending smile, "look who came out to prom. Munson's little girlfriend."

"I-I'm not his-"

"Did no one else ask you?" He pretended to give you a sad little smile as you felt embarrassment course through your veins, "how sad. But seeing this little dress, that's probably a good thing."

"Can you please…I didn't do anything to you," tears were already starting to well up in your eyes. He laughed, the dark sound sent a shiver down your spine.

"Did you make it yourself? How cute. You know, you could be good for something," he'd leaned in and his hot breath fanned across your face, "you could get on those knees and suck my c-"

Before he could say anything else Jason was covered in sticky, sweet fruit punch. You looked up and found Eddie glowering at him, "shut the fuck up, Carver. Go be a dick somewhere else. Fucking pathetic, man."

"Aww, the freak is here to save his dumb little bitch," Eddie had his fist raised, but your wrapped your fingers around his wrist and shook your head.

"He's not worth it," you whispered softly. He dropped his hand and nodded, letting you pull him away.

"Angel-"

"Can you just take me home?" The sadness in your voice almost broke his heart, "please?"

"Of course," he promised softly as he took your hand in his, "whatever you want."

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As soon as he parked his van in your driveway, you were ready to jump out. Before you could, Eddie held onto your arm and gently held you back, "thanks for the ride, Eds. I really appreciate it - you."

“Angel, wait - do you want to talk about it?” he asked gently and his tenderness almost caused you to cry again. You worried your bottom lip between your teeth and shook your head.

“Not really,” you shrugged, “I’m probably just going to go to bed.”

“Do you want to watch a movie or something? We can get a pizza and soda and hang out,” he hated the idea of you going home to an empty, dark house. He hated the idea of you being so upset - and alone - even more. You opened the door fully and slid onto the pavement and remained silent for a moment.

“Thanks again,” you walked towards the door and made it about halfway before you heard him slam his door and run after you. You stopped and turned to him; the fact that he was willing to fight for this, to fight for you to let him in made your heart so full.

“Alright, I’m not asking,” he said softly, “I’m going to come in, we’re going to order pizza and watch a movie. I’m not taking no for an answer, princess.”

You looked at his big brown eyes for a moment, and before you could stop yourself, you threw your arms around him and tightly held onto him. It only took him a moment to catch up and hug you back just as fiercely.

After a few moments, you took his hand and led him into the house, wasting no time in pulling him up to your room. It wasn’t odd considering he’d been in this position so many times in the past. He dramatically flopped down onto your bed, which made you giggle a little bit, “there’s my girl.”

“Eddie-”

“He’s a huge fuckin’ prick,” he insisted as you nodded; of course you knew it was true but it still hurt, “and he’s so wrong. He wishes he could have someone like you. You’re…so wonderful, so funny, kind, smart, and beautiful. I want you to know that.”

“Eds,” you stood in front of him and flailed your arms around, “you’re my friend, but you don’t need to say all that to just make me feel better.”

“I’m not…I’m not just saying it,” he insisted softly, “I mean it. I...I’m not just your friend - I don’t wanna just be your friend, angel.”

“What do you mean?” your heart was about to burst through your ribcage as you looked at him with doe eyes that would be the death of him, “Eds?”

“I wanna be…your boyfriend,” he said nervously as you looked at him in surprise, “I’ve been trying to figure out how to tell you that for a long time and I guess now is as good a time as any to tell you that I’m in love with you.”

“Eddie,” you stepped closer to him and he held out his hand. You looked at it for a moment, feeling shy and nervous before you took it and let him pull you into his lap. You brought your hands to his face and delicately cradled it tenderly for leaning in and kissing him softly. It was nothing more than a sweet, chaste little kiss, but when you pulled back, he was beaming at you, “I’m in love with you too.”

“Yeah?” he asked sweetly as you just nodded eagerly. Not only was your dream coming true, but so was his; two fools in love but no longer so blind, “can I kiss you again?”

“Yes please,” within seconds he pressed his lips to yours, kissing you with more and more passion with each passing second. Kissing Eddie felt like a literal dream and better than anything you could ever have dreamed up. You couldn’t believe that this was actually happening.

One thing led to another, slowly, sweetly, and with a lot of love, and you soon found yourself under Eddie, caged into between his arms. You were looking at him with such tenderness that he couldn’t help the small sound that escaped his lips, “you’re so beautiful, angel. In every single way.”

“So are you,” you promised, “you’re everything to me.”

He leaned down to kiss you again, and you could feel his hardness pressing against your leg. You were incredibly turned on as well, sure you’d soaked through your panties, but you grew slightly nervous, “E-eddie. I-I’m a…I’m a virgin. I hope that’s not…weird for you.”

“No, of course not,” he nudged your nose with his before peppering kisses all over your face which caused you to relax, “wanna know a secret?”

“Mhmm.”

“I’m a virgin too,” you looked at him in surprise but he nodded to confirm what he had said was true, “we don’t have to do anything you’re not ready for. We can wait - I’ll wait for you forever, you’re worth it.”

“I want this too,” and oh. You really did; you’d always imagined that your first time would be with him and now it was actually happening, “I’m ready if you are…can you just…be gentle?”

“Of course,” he said in earnest as he sat back on his haunches. You could see his cheeks turn a bright red as he floundered for a moment, “I, ugh…I have some condoms in the van. I’ll go and get them.”

You looked at him for a moment, with nothing short of pure adoration, before bursting into a small bit of laughter. He looked surprised but when he realized that you weren’t laughing at him, “Eddie Munson. Did you bring condoms thinking we’d have sex?!”

“I mean no,” he grinned sheepishly, “but I figured it’s better to be prepared, ya know?”

“Yeah,” you leaned up and pulled him back to your lips, “I love you, Eddie Munson. I really do.”

“I love you too, angel,” he pressed his forehead against yours before letting out a nervous huff of laughter, “so much.”

“Eds?”

“Princess?”

“Go and get the condoms,” you insisted with a smile and gentle push as he gave you a small salute, “I love you, dork.”

“I love you!”

#eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x fem!reader #eddie munson x you #joseph quinn #joseph quinn x you #joseph quinn x reader

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doetic · 1 year

Text

Baby, it's cold outside - Ex Bf!Jschlatt x F!Reader

1/3 -> next part (coming soon)

Plot: Y/n had only planned to quickly grab the things she left at her newly-ex-boyfriend's house and leave, but an unforeseen snowstorm leaves her with no choice but to wait it out indoors with a very persistent Schlatt who's determined to piece back together their relationship. Warnings: Prior breakup, heated argument with yelling, characters are trapped inside during a dangerous snowstorm (but are safe), mention of possible death, quite a bit of swearing. Allusions to Schlatt being a functional alcoholic. Word Count: 4137

A/N: Finally it's done! This was so fun to write! Thank you for the positive response on the teaser, I appreciate it a lot! I really feel as if I could have added more but it was getting long and I was in a hell of writing an additional scene then deleting it and rewriting it, it was an endless cycle and I would have been working on this forever. I also am rusty when it comes to writing and keep changing tenses, sorry if there's anything I missed in editing. Changed Schlatt from Jason to Jacob mid fic so if he's referred to as Jason, you didn't see that. Requests are open btw!!

The house, although obviously lacking any ability to have emotions of its own, felt strangely sorrowful as Y/n gingerly stepped inside, stomping the snow off her boots and onto the mat. Rationally she knew it was likely her own shoved down emotions being projected onto the relatively blank canvas, although she wouldn't willingly delve too far into that concept. She desperately wanted to believe she was completely over her now ex-boyfriend Jacob Schlatt, especially as she was the one who had initiated and insisted on breaking up. Unfortunately, Y/n was smart enough to know that no matter how much she insisted to herself that she no longer needed or wanted her former boyfriend of five years, the truth of the matter would still continue to nag at her whenever she thought of him. It was better to avoid both Schlatt and any related introspection altogether, an impossible task when she stood inside their once shared house to collect her things.

The soft mrow of Jambo's call sounded through the entryway, the little orange cat quickly padding over to Y/n and rubbing himself against her feet as she removed her boots and other winter gear. She bent down to pet the small creature on his head, the softness of his fur against her hand was a calming sensation that brought a bit of ease to her sorrowful feelings. Y/n had missed the little guy deeply, but with Schlatt’s exorbitant income as a popular youtuber/streamer/businessman she knew Jambo would have a better life staying with Schlatt, as painful as it was to part ways. The orange tabby, who was now licking her index finger, had felt like her only companion at times while Schlatt was consistently busy with streaming, editing, or managing the businesses he helped run.

As if her thoughts had been a siren's song to lure him close, heavy, hesitant footsteps approached the entryway after a few purr-filled minutes passed by. Y/n tried to act calm and collected for her own dignity, not moving from her crouched position besides tilting her head up to meet the pained red eyes of her former lover.

Schlatt looked dishevelled. His hair was a mess and the headband that usually sat atop his head to keep the wild brown locks from falling into his face was shockingly missing. From the looks of his hair, and his mutton chops too, he was neglecting a much needed small trim. Usually it was her designated job to do so, solely because she insisted on it as sweet bonding time, something their relationship began to lack greatly as the years went on. He wore his green Polizei sweatshirt, the one Y/n had praised as her favourite many times for the way it made him look irresistibly amazing to cuddle with. Uncharacteristically, the sweater looked like it hadn’t left his body in a while, an odd thing for the usually clean and organised man.

Most people would delight in seeing their ex-partner in such a state without them, and although Y/n couldn’t lie and say Schlatt’s miserable appearance didn’t give her a miniscule bit of satisfaction. Clearly he was now realising how important she was to his life after he had made less and less time for her in the end years of her relationship, the feelings of pity and remorse that washed over her as the nearly empty bottle of Jack held in his hand, and the smell of alcohol that wafted off of him became more glaringly obvious and concerning the more she inspected him.

"I thought you were coming tomorrow," He stated simply, his voice carrying a bit of strain within.

"I texted you that I would be coming on the 25th, that's today. But if there's an issue I can come back another time," Y/n replied, the house’s entryway where they stood feeling suffocatingly uncomfortable as a result of their former relationship. It had felt like months since the last time they saw each other, the night Y/n stormed out for good, but in reality it was at most two weeks.

"No!" Schlatt's voice was filled with desperation, his eyes began to water as a sudden panicked shout escaped him at the mention of Y/n leaving "...No. It's fine. Today is fine." He cleared his throat and recollected himself to the best of his ability. "I'm sure you remember where everything is. There's boxes for you in the kitchen, I'll be editing in the bedroom."

As always, Y/n wanted to bitterly add. Instead she bit her tongue, wanting to keep the peace so she could be in and out quickly.

"Thank you, Jacob," Y/n replied quietly, lacking the confidence to say the name much louder. She had never called him Jacob. Sure it was his first name, but it was something everyone else called him, never ever her. Up until this point she had only ever called him Jay. She had to fight back the urge to correct herself, wanting to set boundaries to create space and ensure she wouldn’t run back to him.

Schlatt picked up on this, his breathing picking up slightly in alarm, a stifled whimper just barely escaping from his throat.

"Y-yeah," His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed. "Well, you're welcome," His sadness turned to anger, as did most of his emotions when they became too much for him to handle. He spat the words out like they were venom before turning around and lurking back to the–

No.

His bedroom.

Y/n let out a shaky breath she hadn't noticed she was holding, giving a weak smile to Jambo. “Men. Am I right, bud?” She tried to make light of the situation with her comment, giving the cat a scritch behind the ears before getting up and heading to grab the boxes, wanting to leave as soon as possible.

✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧

The kitchen had been taken over by ghosts.

“Jayyyy! Stop it!” Y/n giggled, putting her arms up to defend herself from the second handful of soap bubbles Schlatt scooped up from the sink and prepared to blow into her face.

She should have known better than to accept his help with the dishes. Although he certainly had, and often exercised, the capability to be calm and introspective, once something got him going he became a major troublemaker. All in good fun, of course. Y/n didn’t mind it all too much though. Sure, he was a menace, but he was her menace.

Besides, the dishes could wait. Moments where Schlatt was both sober and free of any work related obligations were increasingly few and far between these days. Y/n always tried to be understanding and supportive, but she couldn’t help but feel rejected, especially when his work related obligations often involved wildly charismatic female friends of his who could easily pass for models.

Y/n knew jealousy wasn’t a good look, but it was hard not to feel such a way when she had to sit on the sidelines as a secret only Schlatt and his closest friends knew of, and watch helplessly as people online fawned over him or shipped him with women she felt like she could never possibly compare to. Y/n knew that talking to Schlatt about her concerns before they grew into a deep resentment was the right thing to do, but each time she tried to get him alone to discuss it she was brushed off. Then, on the rare occasion he was alone, sober, and not preoccupied, Y/n couldn’t bring herself to ruin the only time she had to truly feel like a couple again.

Sure, she was living in her own personal hell, but at least she had these moments of domestic bliss. For now, they were enough.

“Come on babe, I’m not gonna blow it at you!” Schlatt promised, moving the handful of soap away from his mouth. “Don’t you trust your boyfriend?” He couldn’t fully hide the catlike grin that pulled at his lips, a smile Y/n had learned to never trust.

“No! You’re despicable!” Y/n dipped her hand into the warm, soapy water and flicked it at him. “Begone foul demon!”

“Demon?” Schlatt tsk’d at her, taking a step closer and looking down at her mischievously. “You’ve got it all wrong, toots. I’m a man of the lord. You’re the demonic one here with how tempting you are. My very own succubus…” His words flowed from his mouth like honey, the husky tone along with his hand tucking a stray clump of hair behind her ear making Y/n blush.

“Tempting? Well, why don’t you show me exactly what I tempt you to do?” Y/n breathed the words out, placing a hand on his cheek.

“Gladly.”

Y/n closed her eyes as he leaned down to kiss her, his arm wrapping around her waist and holding her firmly against his body. Just when she felt his warm breath tickle her face, the anticipation for the kiss beginning to gnaw hungrily at her, a soft pressure hit her head and was quickly followed by a small trickle of water and bubbles beginning at her scalp and running down the bridge of her nose.

“You asshole!” She playfully hit his chest, unable to contain her grin as he continued to hold her tight against his body with his superior strength.

Schlatt chuckled, kissing the top of her head despite the bubbles that remained there.

“You know you love me.”

Y/n roughly wiped her teary eyes against the back of her sleeve. Quickly, she grabbed the four boxes that sat on the island and rushed out of the room to gather her stuff, but not before sending a pained glare to the kitchen sink.

✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧

It was an irrefutable fact in Y/n’s mind that in recent years her luck had been waning. But, when the lightbulbs began flicker and promptly lose all power along with the rest of the house as soon as she placed down her last box, Y/n was happy at least the god of timing was smiling down upon her, even if Lady Luck wasn’t.

Y/n glanced out the window, seeing nothing but a sea of white. The already thick flurries from earlier had grown into a full-on blizzard in the hour she was collecting her things. Luckily the bits of light that managed to make it through the heavy snow and flow through the large front window illuminated the entryway in lieu of the now non-functional lights, allowing Y/n to see what she was doing as she gathered one of the boxes into her arms for her first trip to her car. With the storm getting so bad that the power went out, Y/n knew her window of opportunity to leave was rapidly fading away. Waiting it out with Schlatt was not an option. it would be too painful, a harsh reminder of what they once had. Shifting the box's weight to one arm, Y/n used her other one to open the front door.

"Are you insane?" Schlatt shouted from the doorway into his office. He quickly rushed over, his hand darting out to quickly shut the front door before Y/n could exit through it and head into the thick, opaque wall of white that laid outside. "It's snowing so hard you wouldn't be able to see your hand in front of your face! You'd get killed trying to drive out there!" Despite his angry demeanor, Y/n knew Schlatt well enough to see through it as a cover up for his concern.

She couldn't help but scoff in response to his worry, even though she knew he was right about the danger. Reluctantly relenting, Y/n placed her things down. "Yeah, you're right. I shouldn't drive." She glanced out of the house's front window. "But don't you dare act like you'd care if I got hurt."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Schlatt's hand darted out to grab Y/n's arm and turn her to face him, the softness of his grip a stark contrast to the harsh desperation of his movements. "I'm not the bad guy here. I'm not the one who ended things, I'm the one who's fighting for us!"

"Yeah, I know. You won't stop blowing up my phone and acting like you're such a fucking martyr for it." Y/n pulled her arm out from his grasp, glaring up at the larger man. "Don't act like you're some innocent, blameless party who I oh so greatly wronged. Neither of us were perfect in our relationship, neither of us could give the other what they needed."

Schlatt looked appalled at her statement. "Don't speak for me! You gave me everything I needed, everything I could have possibly wanted!"

"Don't delude yourself, Jacob, I could never be good enough for you. I could never be good enough for your life." Y/n's eyes were full of resentment. "But even if so, what did I get in return? A boyfriend who's always too busy to spend time with me, and when he does find time, he's drunk? A partner I can't even talk about to anyone? A five-fucking-year relationship with a man who refuses to pop the question while he builds his brand by flirting with other people to an audience of millions?" Y/n's face contorted in sorrow as she desperately held back her tears.

"Why didn't you tell me this before? Why did you let this grow worse until you broke?"

"When could I have sat you down to tell you? You hardly even had time in your schedule to eat the meals I made." Y/n snapped. Schlatt stayed silent, unable to refute. She sighed. "Face it, Jacob. You can't love me in the way I need you to without giving up everything you've built."

Tension thickened the air into cement as the two stared silently at each other, daring the other to say something first. Hesitantly, Schlatt opened his mouth to speak. "I would have given it all up for you in an instant." His voice was gentle and meek.

Y/n turned away from him to hide the tears that finally overflowed and spilled down her cheeks. Oh how her heart soared at those words, but Y/n knew taking up his offer would mean cruelly ripping his passion and a lifetime of hard work away from him. Y/n couldn't possibly entertain the idea of doing that to someone she loved.

"I'm going to check on Jambo. Just let me go."

✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧

Hours later the light faded from the outside, the room only illuminated with the many candles Y/n had lit. Y/n shivered with slightly chattering teeth as she sat on top of Schlatt’s bed, a throw blanket pulled tightly around her body by her hands that were beginning to bear blue-tinted fingernails. She was alone in the room with her stubborn pride, Jambo abandoning her minutes ago.

It would be so incredibly easy for her to crawl under the covers, to be embraced by the warm, plush duvet she had insisted Schlatt purchase as a housewarming gift for themselves after they were wishing they had one during the last snowstorm they endured. Part of Y/n longed to just say fuck it to everything and crawl under, but a louder part of herself insisted it would be giving in. To what? She wasn’t sure. However, her resolve was quickly fading as her body grew more cold.

The bedroom door creaked open and the light of a flashlight lit up the room.. Y/n looked up from the bed, her eyes meeting Schlatt’s.

“It’s freezing.”

With Y/n shivering so much she didn’t have the energy for negativity, nor the energy to respond at all, instead she pulled the blanket tighter around herself.

Schlatt sighed, crossing the room and coming to a seat beside her. He placed the flashlight on the end table, keeping it on for more lighting. In his hands he held a different bottle of Jack than the one from earlier, this one appearing freshly opened, save for a few missing swigs.

“Apparently drinking will warm you up. I don’t think it actually does to be honest, but surely waiting out a snowstorm with some alcohol in your system is better than waiting it out completely sober,” He explained, gingerly holding the bottle out to Y/n.

After a few seconds of debating, Y/n reached out and accepted his offer, wincing as her nearly numb hands came in contact with the ice cold glass. Quickly she took a large gulp before handing the bottle back to Schlatt.

“It doesn’t work,” Y/n confirmed quietly.

Schlatt exhaled a small chuckle. “Thank you for peer reviewing my theory.” He examined the bottle in his hands before taking a sip of his own. “It’s always impressed me how you could drink liquor so easily from the first time you tried it.” He offered the bottle to her once again.

Y/n accepted the bottle and stared down the neck of it for a few moments in embarrassment. “It wasn’t actually easy until recently, I just didn’t want to be the girl in that Carrie Underwood song.” This time she took a smaller sip before handing it back.

The hint of a grin tugged at Schlatt’s lips. “That checks out…”

He brought the bottle to his lips but paused before he drank any, seemingly lost in thought. He screwed on the cap and placed the bottle on the end table. Y/n couldn't stop the small, proud smile that forced itself onto her face, an action that hurt with the stiff coldness of her cheeks. Despite the happiness that seeing Schlatt stop himself from drinking had brought her, the action showing he truly listened to her words from earlier, Y/n didn't draw attention to it to avoid any possible embarrassment on his behalf.

Y/n looked away quickly when Schlatt turned his head to glance at her, jumping when the back of his hand made gentle contact with her cheek.

“God, you don’t just look like you’re freezing. You feel it too,” He muttered.

Y/n moved her head away from his delightfully warm touch. “It’s fine.”

With a sigh, Schlatt stood up from his seated position on the bed, pulling out a corner of the blanket and gesturing for her to get in. “You’re going to get sick.”

“No, Jacob, It’s fine,” She insisted, although the prospect was growing more tempting by the second.

“I don’t know why you need to make this so difficult, Y/n. It’s cold, you’re cold, just get in the damn warm bed. You don’t need to be so prideful!”

Y/n rolled her eyes. “Fine,” she mumbled, trying to seem angry as she quickly scrambled under the covers, hoping he didn’t notice how she melted into the mattress contentedly.

Schlatt followed her in.

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?” She protested, shocked.

“It’s cold as fuck, are you really going to make me freeze just because we broke up?” Schlatt asked. “Besides, I’m not going to try anything. I’m a gentleman.”

“You’re a schlentleman, there’s a difference,” She huffed and looked away from him, instead she chose to gaze up at the white popcorn ceiling.

“And what’s the difference? It just sounds funnier?”

“No, the difference is that you’re Jacob Schlatt. You’re always up to something. Usually it’s funny, but I’m not in the mood right now. I just want to go home.”

Schlatt was silent for a few moments, but didn’t move. Y/n could feel his warm leg ever so slightly touching hers, a small connection that seemed to warm her body in more ways than just temperature.

“How’s your new place treating you?” He asked.

“Good…” She thought about it for a few moments. “Good. It’s just a studio apartment. Huge windows.”

“You’ve always loved those,” Y/n swore that she could hear a bittersweet smile in his voice. “You got that window seat you’ve always wanted?”

“No, not yet. Maybe one day,” She sighed hopefully, the picture of reading or doing her work while seated on one dancing into her mind. “Any issues with the house?”

“No, shockingly,” He laughed. “It’s a relief after all the housing issues we’ve been through.”

“Yeah…” Y/n agreed, reminiscing on all the problems they’d been through together. They were the only stable thing in each other's lives in a time of seemingly impossible to get through instability, and now that was over. Her chest tightened. “I’m glad things are going good for you, Jacob.” She turned her head to look at him, a small smile on her lips.

His brown eyes met her own, staring into her. “You and I both know that things are not going good.”

She gulped, looking back up at the ceiling, unable to handle the intensity of his stare and words.

“Things just wouldn’t work out between us,” Y/n tried to explain.

“Why? Why not?” Schlatt begged, making her face him again. “I told you, I’d give up my career for you!”

“I don’t want you to! You’ve spent so long on it, it makes you so happy. And…” She swallowed, trying to keep the words from coming out. “I’m not special or important enough for that.”

Schlatt’s eyes widened. “Where’d you get that idea? Y/n, I was with you for five years, you’re the most amazing person I know!” His hands cupped her cheeks and Y/n had to stop herself from dissolving into his comforting, warm touch.

“You never showed it! You were always busy, I always had to hide our relationship. I’ve just always felt unwanted…” Her vision grew blurry with the forming of tears. “It’s no matter now, it’s over.”

They stayed like that for what felt like hours, Schlatt looking guiltily into Y/n’s eyes as he tenderly held her face. Realistically it was only a few minutes until the larger man hesitantly moved closer to Y/n, his slightly chapped lips pressing against hers. Y/n’s brain screamed at her, not for her sinking into the action and accepting it, but for pushing him away in the first place. She had been fighting with her true feelings for too long, and now she didn’t have the strength to continue.

“Tell me, tell me if you don’t want this and I’ll stop for good. I’m not going to force you to love me if you don’t want to.” His face was nervous and hopeful as he pulled away. “But if you have any doubts about that at all, I’ll keep fighting for you. For us. I’ll do whatever I can to make things right.”

Y/n opened and closed her mouth slightly a few times, she found herself unable and unwilling to form a protest. She wanted this, she wanted him. She didn’t want to keep running. With his touch, everything suddenly felt fixable. No longer did everything seem like a large, unclimbable mountain. All their problems sunk into the shape of hills.

“Please, do that again.” She whispered.

Schlatt grinned.

✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧

The sunlight flowed through the window, illuminating Schlatt in its rays of gold. Y/n pulled herself into a sitting position and watched him for a few moments before she slowly crawled over him in an attempt to get out of the bed without waking him. Still dressed in the clothes she had arrived in, Y/n quietly moved to the door on the tips of her toes.

“Y/n?” Schlatt’s tired and anxious voice sounded from the bed.

“Go back to sleep,” She urged.

“Are you leaving?”

“I can’t stay in bed all day.”

“Please, don’t go,” He begged, sitting up.

“Get back in bed, go back to sleep,” She rushed over, gently placing a hand on his chest and pushing him back into the mattress.

His hand grabbed her wrist, keeping her from leaving. “I thought we worked this out last night, we promised to communicate. Y/n, talk to me. What’s going on?” His brow furrowed.

She huffed. “I was trying to make you breakfast in bed, but I wasn’t sneaky enough.”

Schlatt’s face softened as he pulled her onto his body, hugging her close. “Don’t scare me like that!”

“I’m sorry, please let me up. Even if it’s no longer a surprise I need to make breakfast” Y/n tried to get away but his strong arms kept her still.

“Baby, it’s cold outside. Come lay with me where it’s warm. Just for a few minutes?” He pleaded.

She relented, his begging making her body warm with the feeling of being loved. “Of course Jay, just for a few minutes.”

✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧

Schlatt tags: @d444zed

#jschlatt #jschlatt oneshot #jschlatt angst #jschlatt fic #jschlatt x reader #jschlatt fanfic #schlatt oneshot #schlatt fic #schlatt fanfic #schlatt x reader #jschlatt fluff #mcyt x reader #chuckle sandwich x reader #alyssia writes

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jasonsknight3 · 6 months

Text

Finally got this out! Turns out it will be a two parter! I mean unless y’all want more or I think of something else. Enjoy part one!

Zombie apocalypse

Jason Todd x reader

Part one

Over a year, it’s been over a year since it began. It took about 24 hours of screaming, panic, choking, and pain for it to spread like wildfire, it took a couple days for the screams to turn into quiet gurgling sounds. All it took was one week for the majority of humanity to turn. Not sure how it started, but this wasn’t like the movies. Not in the slightest. These “zombies” weren’t rotting, they weren’t falling apart, they weren’t slow, they didn’t eat flesh, some only bite for the purpose of spreading the disease. Some give the kiss of death erasing what humanity you had. The mindless creatures were pale green with irritated red under their eyes, some had thick vines creeping painfully out of the mouth, nose, eyes, or all three. A truly horrific sight.

“Unsure meetings”

Running through the trashed streets of Gotham you panic. Your warm breath being seen in the winter gray air. Hoots and hollers getting closer behind you. Your legs feel number and number by the minute. How long have you been running? How far could the adrenaline take you? You felt yourself slowing down. Up ahead were boxes, barrels, and stakes made of different materials. A normal thing to see in the streets these days. However, usually these places were abandoned. You wished you could get rid of these guys on the stakes but they were human. Somewhat smarter than the mindless creatures. “Come on pretty lady! We just wanna talk!” One of them cooed loudly while others laughed and encouraged. Zipping between barrels and other things you make your way. A scream cut through the air making you look back. You see one of the guys bleeding, nails embedded in his face and whole left side. It was a sucking sight, torn flesh, the nails contorting his face. The other men were trying to console him, stupidly pulling the nails out of his face. Looking back was your worst possible mistake. Your ankle caught some thick rope making you fall. It was so quick the sound of crunching didn’t even seem real. Your eyes watered, heart pounding, your arm felt…numb. Swallowing the fear you turn your head to a horrific sight that makes you shriek in horror. The pain was extreme as it all suddenly came rushing to you. Bloods leaked from your bear trapped arm. Unfortunately the group of men hadn’t forgotten about you. They all started approaching.

In a hurry you tried prying off the bear trap to no avail. After all, bear traps required two hands instead of one. “Well well well, looks like our little lady got stuck.” One of them taunted. “Well, looks like we don’t have to catch er’ now.” Another said laughing. Quickly you pulled out your knife pointing it at them. You hated that you shook. They could see the fear. “Oh sweetie. No need for that, let just say we’re a couple of guys that need a- a little affection.” In response you cursed at them. “Back off!” You yelled. “No need for that little lady.” One of them kicks the bear trap causing you to drop the knife and shriek in pain. In a single moment they had you pinned to the ground, your face on the cold dirty asphalt. You scream at them, and cry desperately for help. The men talked among themselves. “It’s not like she needs both. We could just cut it off.” Another interjected “we could just take off the bear trap dummy.” Another one huffed “but if we cut her hand off she’ll be less of a fighter.” They all agreed your eyes watered as you pleaded. “Pl-please don’t!” They only laughed. The one on top of you pulled out a knife. “This might hurt little lady.” You squeeze your eyes shut, the blade touches your skin but nothing more. A weird silence followed. Something warm dripped on your face. Opening your eyes you see the man above you. Red leaking from his throat. A blade covered in blood stabbed through his jugular. The man gurgled but was quickly thrown to the side taking the wait off of you. “Walter!” One of the men screamed. “You gonna pay for that!” Trying to get away from the commotion you crawl away as far as you could and sit up. Just before you was a bloody scene. A larger man was in a bloody battle with these guys. Blood was everywhere. Using skill and accuracy he sliced and stabbed to kill. They got a few hits on him but it did little to nothing. Within a few moments of agonized screams the winter air fell quiet. Zombies you could handle, this- this was true horror. Living in Gotham before all this was pretty dangerous but this was one of the most violent things you had seen personally.

You attention strayed away from the dead bodies to the approaching figure. “No- please! Don’t hurt me! I- I’ll leave! I swear!” You plead. The man crouched down. “Stop.” He demanded abruptly. Being quiet you take note of a few things. This huge man was wearing plated armor that had some sort of red symbol on the Breast plates, wearing a brown leather jacket over it, he had some waist holsters obviously for guns and a knife sheath. Leaning down you could see he wore a red handkerchief over the bottom of his face. his eyes. One green the other blue Strangely soft and a scar between his thick eyebrows. He took a hold of the bear trap. “Hold your breath.” He ordered and you comply. The sound of straining metal claws was a relief and painful. The exhale was sharp and the inhale quick. The man put a hand over you mouth muffling the screams of agony. The trap clamping on hurt just as much as coming off. Tears streamed down wetting you flushed cheeks. “You’re alright. You’ll be fine. Come on.” Taking a hold of your upper back the stranger lifted you up and started taking you to a building. He looked around aware the sound of the infected getting worked up. “Need to get off the street.” He said aloud more to himself than you. “I’ll take care you.” He assured you.

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geekfanficwriter · 1 year

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Spellbound- Eddie Munson x Fem!Reader

Summary: Soulmate AU in which your soulmate's name appears on your wrist on your 18th birthday. You're one of the most popular girls in the school so when the school's residence freak's name appears on your wrist it can't be him, right? Words: 9.8k Warnings: Bullying, cheerleader!reader, slight angst, sort of enemies to lovers, reader is a bully

Author’s Note: This is the longest fic I’ve ever written but I hope people enjoy it!

‘Oh my god, I’m so excited for tomorrow.’ Chrissy squealed hanging off your arm as you both walked out of cheer practice.

‘Yeah, I think you’re more excited than me.’ You laughed. Tomorrow was your 18th birthday which meant the day you got your soulmate tattoo. Everyone found out the first name of their soulmate on their 18th birthday and the tattoo would remain until you and your soulmate showed each other your tattoos, after that they would glow for a moment before vanishing and you would officially know who you were meant to spend the rest of your life with. You personally thought it was bullshit, how could the universe know that you were meant to be with? What if you hated your soulmate or fell in love with someone else? You didn’t like the idea that you weren’t responsible for your fate.

‘Maybe it’s Matthew, he turns 18 in a month so he doesn’t have it yet.’ Chrissy speculated as the two of you approached the car park.

‘God I hope not. Matthew is a dick.’ You grimaced. Matthew was one of the basketball guys that you regularly hung out with and you hated him. He was arrogant and felt entitled to whatever girl he wanted. You rather die than be stuck with him for the rest of your life. You waved Chrissy off as she ran over to Jason’s car as you walked towards your own. You dug through your purse looking for your keys until you felt yourself walk into someone, dropping your purse and the contents spilling all over the floor.

‘Oh my god, watch where you’re going.’ You snap looking up to see who walked into you. You saw a mop of messy brown hair and big round eyes and realised you’d walked into Eddie Munson, the leader of the Hellfire Club. You didn’t know much about him but from what you heard you knew you weren’t safe being alone with him right now. Obviously, you’d seen his tirades in the cafeteria and you felt like he was such a weirdo. You knelt down, trying to quickly shove all your stuff in your purse and get away. He didn’t say anything to you, just knelt down and helped you out. You hadn’t expected him to do that.

‘Umm, thanks.’ You said as you finished packing up your bag, grabbing your keys and holding them in your hand.

‘It’s alright.’ He nodded at you and walked away, heading towards his van. You watched him walked towards his van in confusion. He hadn’t been creepy or weird, he had barely spoken to you and had been kind enough to help you out. You also had to admit that close up he was kind of cute. I mean you’d never date him but you could appreciate a nice face. You shook off the weird feeling and walked towards your car, wanting to get home.

You woke up in the morning and sighed. Today was the day, the day you would find out which asshole you were meant to spend the rest of your life with. When you and Chrissy had spoken on the phone last night she’d tried to convince you to stay up til midnight and watch the tattoo appear but you’d not been interested. You were tired from cheer practice and knew today would be a tiring day of people asking you about your soulmate so you wanted your sleep. You had to admit even though you didn’t believe in this shit you were curious about who the universe had paired you up with. You took a deep breath and looked down at your wrist, reading the name printed in a clear text. Edward. Who the hell was Edward?

‘Let me see, let me see, let me see.’ Chrissy practically ran at you, nearly jumping up and down.

‘Okay calm down.’ You said holding out your wrist. She looked down at the name on your wrist and frowned.

‘I don’t know any Edwards.’ She pouted clearly disappointed that she couldn’t drag you over to the love of your life right that second.

‘Yeah, it’ll probably be some guy I go to college with or something.’ You shrug as you reach your locker and start grabbing the books for your current class.

‘Yeah, I guess. I was just really excited that you’d meet the love of your life today.’ You rolled your eyes. You thought it was cute that Chrissy believed in all this stuff but you were honestly not interested. You just wanted to go about your life, and not have it revolve around some guy.

‘Maybe it’s because you know who your soulmate is?’ You questioned. Even though Chrissy hadn’t had her 18th birthday, Jason had and his wrist very clearly read Chrissy so everyone knew the day she turned 18 the name Jason would appear. You knew for someone like Chrissy it would probably disappointing that she didn’t get the excitement of finding out her soulmate the day she turned 18 but at least she also loved the person she was meant to be spending her life with before. You meet this Edward and would have to develop a love for him while knowing he was your soulmate, and that just felt weird. You would go your whole life not knowing if your love was real or something you felt because you were supposed to.

‘Yeah, I mean it’s so exciting that yours is a mystery. Maybe he’s Italian or something.’ Chrissy said excitingly.

‘His name is Edward, pretty sure he’s not Italian.’ You laughed at that moment.

‘Well anyway, I haven’t got your gift with me. I’ll give it to you tomorrow before your party.’ Chrissy said, switching subjects. You were happy, you didn’t want to talk about your soulmate anymore. You were much more excited about your party. Your parents had decided to take a trip away so you were throwing a big birthday party where the majority of the senior year was invited and Chrissy was coming over early to help you set up and get ready together.

‘It better be good. Otherwise, I’m getting you dirt for your birthday.’ You joke. You knew Chrissy would get you a good gift, she always did. Just at that moment, the bell rang and you walked towards your class.

By the time lunch rolled around you were so done with this whole soulmate thing. It felt like every 30 seconds someone was asking you about who your soulmate was. You kept your answers vague, just saying that you didn’t know who it was and you probably hadn’t met him yet. Most people accepted that answer, knowing that you wouldn’t open up more but a couple had pushed for a name to which you just ignored them in order to avoid screaming at them.

You dropped your tray down on the table opposite Chrissy and Jason sighing as you did so. Chrissy looked up at you and saw your frustrated face and gave you a sympathetic look. It wasn’t that you didn’t like being at the centre of attention, you loved it, but you wanted it to be for any other reason than this.

‘So, Y/N, who’s the soulmate?’ Jason asked you as you started to pick at your food.

‘Don’t know, never met anyone with his name.’ You shrugged.

‘Oh my god, maybe you know. Do you know any Edwards?’ Chrissy asked excitedly turning to her boyfriend. The second she said the name Jason started laughing and you glared at him. You knew from his laughter that he knew something you didn’t.

‘What’s so funny?’ You asked. You could tell he was using the mocking laugh that he normally reserved for people below him on the social ladder and you didn’t like the way it was directed at you. Normally you would laugh along with him but you were on the same level as him so he shouldn’t be laughing at you. Hell, you were probably even more popular than him.

‘What do you think the freak’s first name is?’ He said between his laugh.

‘It’s Eddie, what’s your- oh my god.’ You said realising what he was implying. Eddie, short for Edward. He thought that the school’s resident devil worshipper was your soulmate.

‘No, there’s no way. I mean I can’t be with someone like that. It’s definitely a different Edward.’ You say shocked. I mean if this got out that there was even a chance your soulmate was him, your reputation would be ruined. And you definitely couldn’t date him, your life would be over.

‘I can go pin him down and pull up his sleeve if you want.’ Jason laughed, clearly thinking this whole thing is a joke. You glared at him.

‘No, because he’s not my soulmate. Besides even if he is this whole thing is stupid, I mean I’m definitely not meant to be with him. Look at him and look at me.’ You said pointing over at him where he sat with his friends. God they all looked like such losers, you could never be seen with him.

‘It could be cute, opposites attract and all.’ Chrissy shrugged. You love Chrissy but sometimes you hated how nice she was. She was kind to everyone regardless of social status and it bothered you cause it made you look like a bitch next to her.

‘No, it wouldn’t be cute, it would be like the world was ending. I mean ew. Just ew.’ You couldn’t imagine being stuck with someone like him. Even if he was your soulmate, doesn’t mean you had to be with him. You would never be with him.

You looked into the mirror and sighed straightening your dress one more time and making sure the necklace Chrissy had given you was straight. It was a friendship necklace and she had the matching one which you love. Sure it was kind of cheesy but it was very Chrissy to get the two of you necklaces so ‘you wouldn’t find a new best friend in college’ (her words not yours). You walked out of the room and knocked on the bathroom door to check on Chrissy.

‘You alright, Chris?’ You yelled through the door. You hear some shuffling about and then the door opened to Chrissy who was wiping her mouth. You didn’t know how to help her with this stuff so you just gave her a hug.

‘I’m okay, Y/N.’ She told you, hugging you back.

‘You sure? I can cancel tonight and we can put on our pyjamas and watch movies.’

‘No, no. Besides people are literally about to show up.’ She laughed and you nodded, grabbing her and walking downstairs. You heard the doorbell ring and opened the door to the first group of people who were the other cheerleaders and some of the basketball players including Jason. You greeted them all and led them through to the kitchen where they could grab drinks, grabbing one yourself.

More and more people arrived and soon the party was in full swing, music was blasting and people were socialising or dancing. You walked passed a couple who were making out and made a disgusted face as you headed outside, looking for some of your closer friends as Chrissy and Jason had ran off. As you reached your garden looking at all the people out there when you saw a familiar face hovering around.

‘What the hell is he doing here?’ You asked Patrick who was leaning against the wall of your house.

‘People wanted weed and he’s a dealer.’ Patrick shrugged. You stormed over and grabbed Eddie by the arm glaring at him.

‘You weren’t invited.’ You told him crossing your arms.

‘I was, someone called me asking for weed.’ He told you as if it wasn’t a big deal that he was at your house.

‘Well this is my house and my party and I didn’t invite you so leave.’ You said pointing for him to get away.

‘Fine, I’m going.’ He said starting to walk away. ‘God, I hope you aren’t my soulmate.’ He mumbled as he walked away. You almost missed it but you just heard it.

‘What did you just say?’ You said following him around to the side of your house and grabbing his arm, turning him around to look at him.

‘Why would I be your soulmate?’ You ask him as he scoffs at you.

‘Don’t worry, you definitely aren’t. You don’t have to worry about your reputation being ruined.’ You didn’t respond, instead, you just turned over his arm and pulled up his sleeve, seeing your name clearly written there. You gasped and held out your wrist with his name on it and both your tattoos started glowing and then disappeared completely. You stood there frozen in place as you looked down at your now blank arm completely in shock. Eddie didn’t say anything either, he seemed to be as shocked as you. Eventually, you reacted, running away from him back into your house and up the stairs to your room. There was a couple in your room but you kicked them out and sat down on your bed, placing your head in your hands. You felt tears fill your eyes and you reached into your tissue box and found it empty. You knew you kept some in your bag so you dug through it, and as you were looking through it your found something else. It was a chain bracelet that definitely wasn’t yours. It must’ve been Eddie’s and had fallen off when you’d bumped into him a few days ago. You crammed it back in your bag. You didn’t want to think about Eddie or soulmates or anything. You just wanted to curl up. You heard a knock at your door and groaned.

‘Go away!’ You yelled, not moving from your place on the floor. You heard the door open anyway and you turned round to yell at the person when you saw it was Chrissy.

‘Hey, someone said they saw you looking freaked out and I came to check on you.’ She said sitting down on the floor next to you.

‘I’m fine.’ You sighed, not looking over at her.

‘And that’s why you're sitting on your bedroom floor while there’s a party going on outside?’ She asked. You sighed and held out your arm. Chrissy looked confused before realising it was blank.

‘Oh my god, who is it? Are they cute?’ She said wrapping her arm around you.

‘It’s Munson.’ You said quietly. You didn’t want to say it but you had to tell her. She was your best friend.

‘Oh well, maybe it could work. You just need to get to know him. Be kind.’ She told you as you rested your head on her shoulder.

‘Absolutely not. You know I don’t believe in this soulmate stuff and there’s no way I’m spending the rest of my life with him.’ You shook your head, you just couldn’t imagine being with him forever.

‘You don’t need to be so negative. I’ve spoken to him before and he’s actually really nice.’ You sit up looking up at her shocked.

‘When have you ever spoken to him?’ You asked, looking confused.

‘Oh, you know just in classes and stuff.’ She said and you could tell she was lying.

‘Have you been buying drugs? Chrissy, you shouldn’t do that shit.’ You scolded her.

‘It’s only occasionally when things get too much.’ She admits tears welling in her eyes. You hugged her, rubbing her back.

‘You don’t need to do drugs, you can always come to me. You’re my best friend.’

‘I know I’m sorry. I just don’t want to bother you. You’ve got so much on your plate.’ She cries slightly as you comfort her.

‘You would never bother me.’ You tell her, being genuine. Chrissy was your best friend and you’d do anything for her.

‘Anyway? Do you think you could actually get to know Eddie for me?’ She smiles at you slightly and you roll your eyes.

‘Anything, except that. Now come on, let's fix up our makeup and head back out.’ You stand up off the floor and grab Chrissy’s hand, pulling her up.

On Monday morning you had resolved what you were going to do. You were going to confront Eddie and tell him there was no chance of the two of you ever getting together. You knew he was probably excited that his soulmate was someone popular like you but just because the universe had decided you were meant to be didn’t mean you were actually going to be with him.

First thing in the morning you made your way over to his locker where he was standing with those weird friends of his. You stormed straight up to him and didn’t even give him a chance to speak.

‘Meet me in your spot in the woods at lunch.’ You told him before storming off, not giving him a chance to respond.

At lunch you headed over to the woods, putting down your jacket on the bench where Eddie normally did his deals before sitting down, you didn’t want to ruin your cheer skirt, especially as you had practice this afternoon. It didn’t take long for Eddie to show up after you, gripping his lunchbox that you knew was filled with drugs.

‘So what do you want? Weed? Pills?’ He asked, sitting down in front of you and opening the lunchbox, looking through it.

‘You know that’s not why I’m here.’ You said with your arms crossed. He sighed and closed the lunchbox.

‘I haven’t told anyone if that’s what you’re wondering. Believe me, I’m as embarrassed as you are.’ He says his arms crossed over his torso. You look at him with a glare.

‘You’re embarrassed?’ You exclaim. ‘Your soulmate is one of the most popular girls in school, you have no reason to be embarrassed. I, however, do.’

‘You’re right, what reason would I have to be embarrassed by a soulmate who’s a mega-bitch?’ He shoots back.

‘I have a reason to be a bitch, my entire reputation is on the line!’ You yell. Did he not understand how important it was to you to keep your spot in the school?

‘Oh no, somebody might think you’re weird because you’re soulmates the school’s resident freak. How tragic. You know what maybe I should tell people. It might knock you down a peg or two.’ He shot you a mean grin and you looked at him, mouth agape.

‘You can’t do that, it’ll ruin my reputation.’ You looked at him wide-eyed. I mean you knew he hated you but this was just cruel. How could he think to ruin something so important to you?

‘Oh no, you might have to live a life where people think you’re a freak, how terrible.’ He fake pouted at you. ‘Actually yeah, I think I will start telling people. You can find out for once what it’s like to be on the receiving end of all your shit.’ He stands up and starts to walk away but you get up, grabbing his arm and turning him to face you.

‘You can’t do this, my reputation is all I have.’ You beg him. You didn’t want to have to beg for anything from Eddie ‘the freak’ Munson but you couldn’t have your reputation ruined.

‘Please, don’t kid yourself. You come from a rich family with happily married parents, and you can afford to go to some nice fancy college where you’ll make plenty of new friends and be on top in no time. You’ve got plenty of other things going for you.’ He scoffs back at you. You let out a laugh.

‘That just shows how little you know about me.’ You tell him. ‘You want to know the truth about me? Fine. I didn’t get into any college, none of the colleges I applied to even waitlisted me. It was just a straight-out rejection. I’ve told everyone that I’m going to NYU but in reality, I have no idea what I’m doing. So now I have no clue what I’m going to do with my life but I’ll probably end up working some shitty retail job for the rest of my life. And as far as my family goes well they fucking suck as well. My dad has a gambling addiction and our house is about to be reclaimed by the bank so soon I’m going to have nowhere to live and my parents' so-called happy marriage? Yeah, that’s bullshit too. I mean they’re meant to be soulmates but I’ve never met two people who hated each other more and rather than just getting a divorce and accepting that the universe is bullshit and doesn’t know how to pair up people, they play happy families while fucking other people. So yeah, my reputation is the only thing I have and in a few months, I’ll be one of those losers who peaked in high school and never did anything with their lives but until then I’d appreciate it if you could keep quiet.’ You breathed heavily as you finished your rant. You hadn’t told anyone, any of that, not even Chrissy, so you didn’t know why you told Eddie. You felt a pair of arms wrap around you and suddenly you realised that you had started crying while speaking. It felt weird to have someone like Eddie, someone who you didn’t even like comforting you but at the same time, it was nice.

‘I’m sorry.’ Eddie mumbled as you cried into his chest. You felt vulnerable for once in your life. The feeling scared you so you reacted in the only way you knew how. You pushed Eddie away from you and ran away, leaving him behind looking confused and shocked.

Avoiding Eddie should’ve been the easiest thing ever but it was like no matter where you looked there he was. Suddenly he was like a ghost who haunted you and no one else, around every corner, in every hallway. You just wanted him to vanish but he never would. You had stopped making fun of him and his friends since that day in the woods last week in hopes he would keep your secrets quiet, which so far he had, but god you wished he wasn’t here. Especially as every time, you saw him your pulse raced and you couldn’t help but stare at him. But it didn’t mean anything. If it did all it meant was that you hadn’t had a hookup in a while and he seemed like an easy option. You sighed as you turned into the hallway containing your locker to see him yet again heading towards you. He avoided making eye contact with you, instead just moving past you but you knew he noticed you and you noticed him.

You arrived at your locker and realised pretty quickly that everyone was staring at you and whispering. This was a pretty common occurrence for you but this felt weird like everyone was in on some secret except you. You just rolled your eyes and ignored it, pulling out your books and heading down the hallway where all your friends were standing.

‘Hey, guys. What’s up?’ You greeted the other members of the cheer squad and their boyfriends who stood there. They looked at you, giving you a look that you’d only ever seen directed at others. A look you had given a hundred times yourself. It was a look like you were dirt off the bottom of their shoes like you weren’t anyone worth interacting with. The only person who didn’t look at you that way was Chrissy who had a pitying look on her face.

‘Okay is someone going to tell me what the fuck is going on?’ You snap, crossing your arms over your chest.

‘What’s going on is we don’t talk to people like you and we certainly don’t cheer with people like me.’ Jessica, one of the girls on your cheer team, said.

‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ You glare, squaring up at her. You weren’t going to let someone who couldn’t even remember a simple cheer talk to you like that.

‘We know who your soulmate is and clearly, there’s only one way you could’ve ended up with someone like that. You’re a freak too.’ You felt the colour drain from your face. How the fuck had they found out? Who had told them?

‘You know I don’t believe in that soulmate bullshit so why does it even matter?’ You rolled your eyes, playing it like you weren’t totally freaking out on the inside.

‘I think you were the one who kicked Cindy off the cheer team when we found out her soulmate was Brian and believe me, Eddie is a million times worse than anyone else at this school.’

‘And who died and made you queen? Last I checked I was Captain and I was the one who pulled you out of the dirt. Before you met me you were some loser with acne and no hope of ever getting a boy to even look at you. I can easily put you back there.’ You spit back, venom flying off every word.

‘You were Captain. We took a vote, you’re being removed from the squad, effective immediately and Chrissy will be taking your place.’ Jessica looked at you with a smug smile as your eyes immediately flew to your best friends. She couldn’t even make eye contact with you, instead focusing intensely on her hands. You scoffed and shook your head.

‘Fine, I can do better than you bitches anyway.’ You stormed off and you knew exactly where you were going. To find Eddie Munson and kill him for telling everyone about the two of you. You heard a voice call your name as you walked away and you spun round to see Chrissy running towards you.

‘Don’t blame Eddie for telling everyone.’ She looked at you with pleading eyes.

‘Why not? He ruined my life, I’m going to ruin his.’ You said with a fire in your voice.

‘He didn’t tell anyone. It’s all my fault. I told Jason because I thought he would keep it secret but he told everyone else.’ Her eyes welled with tears as you spoke. You looked at her for a second with your mouth agape before you burst out with a cruel laugh.

‘Of course. It all makes sense now. You wanted what I had so you played the one card you had.’ You shook your head at her.

‘What? No, I would never do that.’ She looked at you, shocked that you would think that.

‘Oh please, save the innocent lamb act for someone who believes it. I know what you really are. And here, take this, give it to Jessica or whichever one of those bitches you actually care about.’ You reached behind your neck and undid the friendship necklace, Chrissy had given you, throwing it into her hand before walking away.

By the time lunch rolled around the whole school knew about your soulmate and how you’d been ousted from the cheer squad. There were constant whispers following you everywhere and now you didn’t have the protection of your reputation everyone who you’d spent the last few years making fun of had decided it was open season and you were prey. You finally understood how everyone you bullied felt and you felt incredibly guilty for the way you had treated people. You were just happy you had found an empty table to eat your lunch at and remained unbothered. You kept your head down, not focusing on anything around you and wishing that the bell would ring so you could go to class, at least there you wouldn’t be as vulnerable as you were right now.

‘Hey, bitch.’ A voice yelled from somewhere in the cafeteria. You ignored it. You knew it was probably directed at you but you hoped the person would just go away if you kept your head down.

‘I’m talking to you, bitch.’ Jason said from directly behind you, gripping the back of your head and pulling it up to meet his gaze. You felt tears well in your eyes as he held your hair tightly in his hand, nearly pulling it out of your scalp.

‘You made my girlfriend cry and I won’t let anyone get away with that, especially not a loser like you.’ You gasped in pain as he gripped your hair even tighter. How could so much have changed in a day? How could you be the one at the bottom instead of on top where you belonged?

‘Hey man, let go of her.’ Another voice said. You didn’t need to look to know who it was (although you couldn’t if you wanted to). It was Eddie. The hand gripping the back of your head let go, harshly pushing you forward as you let out gasps.

‘Aw, defending your soulmate, freak. How cute.’ Jason said mockingly, turning to face Eddie.

‘No, I just think men who put their hands on women are pieces of shit.’ Eddie said, his voice incredibly calm.

‘You fucking freak.’ You didn’t see what happened next, too busy recovering from your own ordeal, but you heard a bone-cracking crunch and a yell from behind you. You turned around, expecting to see Eddie clutching his nose but instead it was Jason kneeling over, blood dripping from his hands which were clutched around his face. You didn’t want to see what happened next so you quickly stood up and made your way out of the cafeteria.

The second you were outside the school you collapsed to your knees on the hard pavement, sobs overtaking your body. Your life had become hell in the space of a few hours.

You tried to breathe but it felt like no air was entering your lungs so instead you hyperventilated, panicking but not being about to do anything about it.

‘Hey, hey, it’s okay.’ You heard a voice say, feeling an arm wrap around your shoulder. ‘You’re having a panic attack. Come on, deep breath in, deep breath out.’ You tried to focus on breathing but it was as if every bodily function had shut down. It took a moment of whoever was there coaching you through your breaths but eventually you were breathing normally again, your heart rate slowly returning to its normal rhythm. You looked up and saw the person in front of you was Eddie, staring at you with a look of concern on his face.

‘Why are you being so nice to me?’ You speak your voice strained. You didn’t understand, you’d spent the last god knows how many years making his life hell? Why wouldn’t he just let the same happen to you? You would if you were him.

‘Because no one deserves to be treated the way you are currently.’ He sighed and stood up, holding out a hand to you. You took it and he helped pull you up off the floor. You wrapped your arms around yourself, shivering. You weren’t cold but it felt like your entire body had shut down and was now rebooting. Eddie shrugged off his jacket and wrapped it around your shoulder. As you wrapped it around yourself tightly. It smelt of a strong musky cologne that was clearly being used as an attempt to mask the smell of cigarette smoke but was failing miserably. You didn’t completely hate the smell, it was comforting in a way.

‘You don’t have to do this, you know? You could just leave me here. I would.’ For the first time in your life, you avoid making eye contact with someone, genuinely ashamed of yourself.

‘I’m not going to do that. It would be cruel. Now come on, I’ll drive you home. You’re in no state to go back inside.’ You nod and Eddie leads you over to his van, his hand hovering near the small of your back. You quickly climb in once you reach the van and Eddie climbs around the other side, pulling out of the parking lot. The drive is mostly silent except for you giving Eddie directions and the quiet music coming from his speakers. You don’t recognise the songs but you know it’s one of the metal bands he listens to. Surprisingly, you don’t completely hate it and find yourself tapping along to it, although you can’t tell if that’s out of nervousness or not.

Eventually, you pull up outside your house and you look over at Eddie who’s fiddling with the rings on his hands.

‘Thanks for the ride. I really appreciate it.’ You smile awkwardly at him, not sure what else to say.

‘It’s okay. Anytime.’ He shrugs. You fiddle with the door handle for a moment considering what to do.

‘Do you want to come in? I don’t want to be alone right now.’ You ask before your brain really registers what you’re saying.

‘Umm, you sure? Aren’t your parents home?’ He looks at you with a frown and you feel your cheeks growing red with embarrassment. Why did you invite him in? You should’ve just left. God, what if he thinks you’re inviting him in for sex.

‘My dad’s at work and my mom has aerobics class all afternoon.’ You shrug. The last part was a lie. Your mom was next door, screwing the neighbour but you’d already told Eddie too much about your mess of a family. He didn’t need to know more. ‘You don’t have to come in. I’ll be fine.’

‘No, I’ll come in. I wouldn’t want you to be alone.’ You nod and climb out of the car, pulling your house keys out of your bag and heading towards the door, Eddie following closely behind you. You open the door and lead Eddie upstairs into your room. You both stand there awkwardly, waiting for the other one to make a move.

‘I’m going to change out of this.’ You eventually say, heading over to your wardrobe and grabbing a pair of sweats and a random t-shirt before heading into your en-suite. The second you look in the mirror you realise just how terrible you look right now. Your makeup is all streaked down your face and your skin is all blotchy. You quickly change your outfit and clean your face. You consider for a moment reapplying your makeup but decide against it and head out of the bathroom to see Eddie sitting in your desk chair. You make your way over to your bed, curling up underneath the covers.

‘I’m never moving from here.’ You inform Eddie as you make yourself comfortable.

‘Don’t be ridiculous. You’re going to go to school tomorrow and you’re going to use your evil powers for good and let them know you can’t be fucked with.’ You let out a snort at his words.

‘But what if I’m too far gone and I’m just too obsessed with power? Like Smeagol.’ Your eyes widened as you finish the sentence. You did not just let slip that you had read Lord of the Rings.

‘Y/N Y/L/N, are you secretly a nerd?’ Eddie narrows his eyes at you and your cheeks flush under his gaze.

‘No, of course not. We had to read it for English class.’ You lie.

‘No, we didn’t I’d remember that.’ He informs you and you let out a sigh.

‘Fine, maybe in Middle School before I became cool, I liked fantasy.’ You admit, rolling your eyes. ‘But I haven’t been into that stuff since I was a kid.’

‘That’s weird. I don’t remember you in Middle School. I feel like you just showed up on the first day of High School.’

‘Yeah, that’s by design. Over summer, I went through a complete transformation. Changed my hair, started wearing contacts, changed my wardrobe, and took gymnastic lessons so I could join Cheer. I couldn’t handle another year of being the loser who played the violin.’ You told him, thinking back to how painful that summer had actually been. You had given up everything you loved in order to make sure you’d be in with the popular crowd.

‘Oh my god! I do remember you. You were a really good violin player, like could’ve joined a professional orchestra good. I can’t believe you gave that up.’ He exclaimed. He couldn’t believe that you were the same person. You really had gone through a transformation.

‘Wanna know a secret? I never gave it up. Still play when no one’s around. Even teach some kids for extra cash.’ You shrug as if it wasn’t a big deal.

‘Wow, that’s amazing.’ Eddie looks at you with wide eyes, slowly realising that you weren’t the girl he thought you were. You had layers that ran deeper than he thought.

‘Yeah. That’s why I didn’t get into any colleges. They were all music schools and I guess compared to someone who’s spent their entire High School career focusing on music, I’m not that good. I actually did get into community college but I just don’t know if I want to go.’ You admit the full truth of your college situation. You had lied earlier but the truth would’ve involved admitting your love for music.

‘Well, screw those schools. I bet I wouldn’t get in and I’m the best guitarist I know.’ You let out a genuine laugh. You couldn’t believe how comfortable you were around Eddie. You had spent years hiding who you were and pretending to be someone else and now you were here with someone who you never expected to be around, with no fake persona, just being you.

‘Thanks, Eddie. I can’t believe I’m actually going to say this but it’s been nice to spend time with you.’ You both grinned genuine smiles at each other. You couldn’t believe it. You had forgotten in the past few years that there we actually kind people out there, that your friends weren’t just out to stab you in the back at the first opportunity. It felt nice to be around someone who seemed to genuinely care.

‘Yeah, I can’t believe it either but I also had a good time.’ Eddie rubs the back of his neck. You couldn’t believe how lucky you’d gotten with your soulmate. Your eyes widened at your thought. You absolutely were not thinking about Eddie in a romantic way. Clearly, your brain was all confused cause usually when guys were nice to you they just wanted to sleep with you so it was some sort of psychological thing.

‘You look like you’ve just realised that the person you’re hanging out with is Hawkins resident ‘Satan worshipper’.’ He puts air quotes around the last words and you shake your head.

‘Nah, nothing like that. Just, nothing.’ You trail off unsure what to say. What sort of effect did this boy have on you? It was like he was some sort of devil, seducing you into telling him all your secrets and becoming a complete idiot around him. You stare at him. His arms we exposed as he had given you his jacket and you were shocked to see they were actually quite muscular. You were fascinated by his tattoos and rings, he was unlike anyone else you’d ever seen.

‘Why are you staring at me like that?’ He asks cautiously as if you’re observing him throw an insult at him.

‘Can I see your tattoos?’ You ask without thinking. Eddie nods and scoots your desk chair closer to the bed, holding out his arms to you. You turn them slowly in your hands, tracing the ink slowly with your fingers. Eddie’s breath hitched in his throat, his heart racing. He couldn’t help it, he had always thought you were pretty, even if your attitude had been horrific and now it was like within the space of a few hours you’d become a completely different person. And even though he knew you viewed the changes in your life as bad, he thought they were maybe good for you.

‘Did they hurt?’ You ask as you trace them, before moving your hands down to his own to examine the rings on his fingers.

‘Yeah, but it isn’t too bad. More of a dull ache than anything.’ He shrugs, trying to not focus on the fact that you were basically holding his hands. You glance up, looking him directly in the eyes and he was pretty sure his heart was about to jump into his throat. He swallowed as you looked at him, looking completely different from the mean cheerleader he’d known before. Your own heart was pounding in your chest as you stared deeply into his beautiful brown eyes. How had you never noticed how perfect his eyes were before now? They drew you in like he was a siren singing a beautiful song.

You don’t know who lent in first but the next thing you know your lips are pressed together in a passionate kiss. Eddie removes one of his hands from yours, wrapping it tightly in your hair as if he’s trying to hold you as close as possible. You rest your free hand on his leg feeling his skin through the rip in his jean. You couldn’t believe how amazing he was at kissing. You know understood what people meant when they said kissing your soulmate was different. It was like his lips were made for yours.

Eventually, you pulled away, resting your forehead against Eddie’s as you both kept your eyes closed. You were worried if you opened your eyes, you’d be awake from whatever had happened. That it would all be a dream and you wouldn’t have just had your complete world turned upside down. Or even worse, reality would set in and Eddie would remember that you were the person who had spent the last four years making everyone around your lives hell.

‘Wow, am I that bad a kisser?’ Eddie laughed, moving his hand from the back of your head and wiping away tears you didn’t know had fallen.

‘No, the opposite. I just don’t understand how you can kiss me like that and not think of all the horrible things I’ve done.’ You sob out. It was as if four years of guilt you’d been suppressing were pilling on all at once. You had hidden the guilt deep down inside you but it had always been there and like a storm brewing, it all came at once.

‘Hey.’ Eddie said wrapping his arms around you. ‘I’m not going to tell you it’s okay or pretend that everyone is going to forgive you because they’re not. But I am going to say that I can already see a change in you and I think it’s a good change and I’m personally excited to meet the new and improved Y/N who cares about the others around her.’ You smile slightly at his words. You’d never had someone believe that you could be anything other than what you were. It was nice to have someone who believed that you could actually make a positive improvement and that something other than popularity matters.

‘You’re too good, Eddie Munson.’ You murmured into his shoulder. It was true. You’d always thought he would be a terrible person who didn’t care about anything but he was kind-hearted and cared about others. He was the complete opposite of everything you’d believed him to be.

‘I’m not. I think any normal person would do what I’m doing.’ He rubbed your shoulder and you pulled your head up to look at him, grinning slightly as you did so.

‘So you think any normal person would kiss me like that?’ You tease, pulling up your hand to wrap a strand of his hair around your finger.

‘Oh, I think they’d want to. I mean they’d have to be insane to not view you as a goddess.’ He smiles at you.

‘Smooth. I’ve never heard that line before.’ You grin at him. He shakes his head.

‘Not a line just telling you the truth.’ He shrugs, leaning in and kissing you again in the most amazing kiss you’ve experienced.

It felt weird heading into school without your cheer uniform on. It was the first time since Freshman year that you hadn’t worn in but no matter how uncomfortable you held your head and jumped out of Eddie’s van ignoring all the stares and whispers. Eddie had ended up staying with you for hours, just talking and kissing, eventually, he headed back to his own place but he had offered you a ride to school as you had left your car there the night before.

As you walked into school you headed straight over to the group of cheerleaders and jocks who stood talking, your cheer uniform in hand. Eddie was following close behind you but he was keeping his distance, letting you deal with it yourself. They looked over at you and laughed but you kept heading in their direction, not letting up.

‘I just thought I’d return my uniform. Unfortunately, it got a bit destroyed.’ You hand the cheer uniform over to Chrissy who holds up the tattered pieces. After Eddie had left you had decided to pick up your uniform off the bathroom floor and took a pair of scissors to it. Slightly petty but you could’ve easily done worse.

‘What the fuck did you do? That’s school property.’ Jessica screeched, grabbing the uniform from Chrissy’s hands.

‘As if you give a shit. Or were you thinking of giving it to whatever poor loser you find to replace me? Maybe you can give them yours considering you can’t even stay on beat.’ You reply, looking at Jessica with fire in your eyes.

‘I think you’ve forgotten. You’re a loser now. I’m planning to make your life hell already, don’t make it worse for yourself. Or your freak boyfriend.’ She snaps back. You sigh and turn towards Kyle, her boyfriend.

‘Kyle, you remember when Jessica disappeared during your birthday party last year? She was screwing Tom, yes the Tom you call your best friend.’ Jessica’s mouth falls open as Kyle turns to Tom pushing him against the locker. Holding his fist up.

‘Boys, stop.’ You say clicking your fingers, and they both turn to face you. ‘You can beat the shit out of each other in a second but first, you’re all going to understand this. I have dirt on every single person here. If you make my life, Eddie’s life, hell anyone in this whole school’s life hell and I’ll start dropping secrets like bombs. And believe me, there’s some stuff you never want out there, especially if I decide that the Hawkins PD would be more interested than just High Schoolers.’ You have your arms crossed over your chest as they all stare at you, fear in their eyes. You turn on your heel and walk away, reaching Eddie who is standing a few feet away.

‘Okay, I’m officially scared of you.’ He laughs and you smile back at him.

‘I’m pretty sure you’re the one who told me to use my evil powers for good.’ You smile and wrap your arms around his neck. ‘And just to make sure they know where I stand.’ You lean forward and kiss him hard. Eddie was shocked for a moment but he kissed you back, his hands gripping your waist hard.

‘I think I got confused between scared and turned on.’ Eddie says making you laugh.

‘Don’t get any ideas. At least not until we’re out of school. I’ll see you at lunch.’ You lean up and give him one more kiss before walking to your first-period class.

You hold your lunch tray in your hand and make your way over to Eddie’s table, sitting in the empty seat to his right. Eddie’s friends all stare at you with wide eyes but you don’t react. You understood why they’d be terrified of you, especially with the way you’ve acted towards them in the last few years.

‘So you’re really Eddie’s soulmate then?’ His friend with shaggy brown hair asked and you shrugged.

‘I guess so. I’m not complaining though.’ You smile at Eddie.

‘You don’t care that your entire life basically has just fallen apart?’ His friend asked and you flinched slightly at his words.

‘I wouldn’t say my entire life has fallen apart. I’m just starting a new chapter in my life. One where I’m not a massive bitch, at least to people who don’t deserve it.’ You hope they believe your words. You really were trying to make a difference in yourself. You were going to become a better person, stop hurting others and focus on yourself, not just your reputation.

‘So are you going to play DnD with us?’ One of the younger members of his group with us and Eddie lets out a snort.

‘I don’t think that’s happening.’ Eddie laughs and you look over at him with a glare.

‘Why not? I bet I’d be great at it.’

‘It’s a really complicated game, it’s completely different from anything you’ve ever played.’

‘Oh, so you think I can’t learn. I’m going to prove you so wrong. I bet I can figure it out with any help from you.’ You were pretty defiant now, you didn’t like being told you couldn’t do something. You kept a playfulness in your tone, making sure Eddie knew you weren’t being a bitch and were just joking with him.

‘Fine, I’ll lend you my books.’ He sighs.

‘Oh good, you’ve already learnt not to defy me.’ You grin at him.

‘Believe me, if I hadn’t. I definitely would’ve this morning.’

‘I thought you said-‘

‘Y/N can we talk?’ You were cut off by a voice saying and you turned to see Chrissy standing near you.

‘Fine.’ You sigh, standing up and nodding your head for Chrissy to follow you to the edge of the cafeteria. You turn to face her with your arms crossed and she looks at you with big eyes.

‘Y/N I’m so sorry. I never should’ve told Jason who your soulmate was.’ She says with a genuine tone in her voice but you’re keeping your guard up, not trusting her.

‘Come on. You know I’d expected any of the other girls to stab me in the back but not you. I mean that hurt more than anything else.’ You frown at Chrissy who looks like she’s trying not to cry.

‘I turned down the head cheerleader position. I told them that the only person who deserves that position is you and that you were the only captain I’d support.’

‘Well, I appreciate that Chris but that doesn’t change the fact that you didn’t stand up for me at first. I’ve done so terrible things but you’re my best friend and I would’ve stood by you no matter what. If anyone had said half the shit they said about me about you, I’ve put them in the place.’ You told her the real reason you were angry at her. It was nothing to do with cheerleading but with her not being there by your side when you needed it the most. It was good that she stood up for you now, but yesterday was the worst day for you and you needed her by your side.

‘I know but I’m not like you. I mean what you did today I could never have done that. You’ve always been the brave one of the two of us and that’s what I’ve always admired you for.’ By now Chrissy has tears falling from her eyes and it did tug at your heartstrings. Despite how you felt you couldn’t just turn off feeling like she’s your best friend.

‘Look, Chris, I understand if you don’t want to be my friend anymore. I wouldn’t want you to be ostracised because of me. But-‘

‘No, I want to be your friend. You’re my best friend and that’s more important to me than anything.’ She begged you.

‘Okay, well it’s going to take a while for me to forgive you, but I will eventually. I don’t think I could go without you in my life.’ She smiles and wraps her arms around you, squealing excitedly.

‘I promise, I’m going to be the best friend you’ve ever had.’ She tells you, practically beaming. ‘So can I come over and meet Eddie you know, now he’s your boyfriend?’

‘I wouldn’t say he’s my boyfriend yet but sure come on over.’ You lead Chrissy over to the table and Eddie’s friends looked even more terrified, probably from the fact that two cheerleaders were now at their table (well technically a cheerleader and ex-cheerleader).

‘So this is Chrissy, she’s my best friend.’ You point to her as she waves slightly at them.

‘You two made up then?’ Eddie asks and you nod.

‘Yeah, mostly.’ You tell him and he reaches over and squeezes your hand slightly. Maybe your life was different now but different didn’t have to mean bad.

Six Months Later

You finished stirring the coffee in front of you and headed through to the bedroom, placing it on the bedside table and sitting on the edge of the bed.

‘Eddie, babe, wake up.’ You shake him slightly and he groans, turning over and pulling the covers over his head. You had moved in with Eddie after your parents had lost their house, a few months ago and now you had a pretty well-established routine in the morning. You were attending classes at a local community college and Eddie was working as a mechanic. You also worked in the evenings in order to help out with bills and food, etc.

‘Ed, come on. You have to go to work and I need a ride to the train station. Plus, I’ve made you coffee.’ You bribe him and he peaks out from under the covers, his eyes half open.

‘Did you say coffee?’ He asked, his voice still husky from sleep. You nod and he sits up grabs the coffee from the bedside table and takes a sip. ‘Mmm, you’re an angel.’ You grin at his words, not that he didn’t regularly inform you how amazing you were. In fact, Eddie was the sweetest boyfriend you’d ever had. He was so kind and lovely.

‘Yeah and you need to get up, otherwise you’re going to be late to work.’ Eddie let out a groan.

‘Why? Can’t I just sleep in?’ You roll your eyes and stand up, grabbing Eddie’s brush and heading back over to Eddie, sweeping his hair so it was clean and pulling it into a bun at the nape of his neck.

‘There we go, that’s one less thing you have to do.’ You told him, giving him a kiss on his cheek.

‘Have I ever told you I love you?’ He smiles up at you as he throws off the covers and stands up, grabbing his clothes off the floor and stripping off his pyjamas before changing into his work clothes.

‘Is that my Metallica shirt?’ Eddie said squinting at the top you were wearing.

‘No, it’s mine.’ You frown as if you have no idea what he was talking about.

‘Really? You went to Metallica’s 1984 tour?’ He smirks at you grabbing the belt loops on your jeans and pulling you in close to him.

‘Yeah, I’m a big fan.’ You nod. It wasn’t technically a lie, you liked Metallica now, mainly cause Eddie played their music all the time.

‘And what songs did they play on this tour?’ He raises an eyebrow at you.

‘Master of Puppets, duh.’ You roll your eyes as if it’s obvious.

‘That song didn’t come out until 1986 but good try babe.’ He says leaning in to give you a kiss. ‘Lucky you look good in my clothes.’ He smiles at you.

‘I look good at anything.’ You scoff and head into the kitchen with Eddie following closely behind you.

‘Here’s lunch for you.’ You say handing him one of the sandwiches on the counter and shoving the other one into your back. ‘There’s food in the fridge for Wayne so I think we’re good to go.’ You swing your back over your shoulder and head out with Eddie.

You leaned at the counter at work, bored out of your mind. You had hardly any customers come in during your shift and you were thankful there were only 10 minutes left until Eddie came to pick you up. You heard the bell over the door ring and you looked up, happy to finally have a customer but you let out a loud squeal when you saw the person coming through the door was Chrissy.

‘Oh my god, I thought you weren’t coming until tomorrow.’ You came out from behind the counter and gave her a big hug as she laughed hugging you back. You knew Chrissy was coming back to spend Thanksgiving with you, Eddie and Wayne but you didn’t expect her this early.

‘Yeah me and Eddie decided to surprise you by having me come back early because I’ve missed you so much.’ She pulls away from you, her friendship necklace dangling from her neck. You had taken back your matching one and it sat pride of place around your neck, alongside one of Eddie’s rings.

‘Aw, I’ve missed you too. Just let me close up here and then you can tell me everything including if you’ve met Mark yet.’ You say heading back behind the counter to start sorting everything out. In a shocking twist of fate, Chrissy’s soulmate hadn’t ended up being Jason but instead someone named Mark. Jason had of course been pissed, especially as his soulmate tattoo said, Chrissy. Chrissy had admitted to you that she’d felt relief that Jason wasn’t her soulmate and you had to admit you felt the same for your best friend.

You finished closing up and headed out to where Eddie was parked, smiling when he saw how excited you were.

‘How the hell did you keep that secret?’ You say climbing into the front seat as Chrissy climbed in the back.

‘I knew it was a good secret and it would make you happy, that’s how.’ He grinned over at you and you shook your head, leaning over and giving him a kiss.

‘Aww, it’s not fair how cute you guys are.’ Chrissy pouts and you laugh.

‘Don’t worry, it won’t be long until you meet your soulmate, I guarantee it.’ You smile at her.

‘And you were the one of us that always talked about how bullshit soulmates were.’ Chrissy smiled triumphantly as you rolled your eyes.

‘Well that was before I met my soulmate, now I understand it.’ You grin over at Eddie, before turning back to your best friend, thinking about how good your life was at that current moment.

#eddie munson #stranger things #stranger things fanfiction #stranger things x reader #eddie munson x reader #eddie x reader #eddie munson fanfic #joseph quinn #eddie munson x oc #joseph quinn x reader #joseph quinn x oc

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phantom-z0ne · 1 month

Text

Kingdom Come - Part 2

Part 1

WC: 3545

CW: Minor Character Deaths, Corpses, Disfigured bodies, Cults, Blood

Damian was missing and Dick was going crazy.

Damian hasn't responded to any inquiries of his location since he missed his scheduled check in time. It had already been two hours past that and they still didn't have any clue where he was. Last they knew, he was heading towards Chinatown. Damian knew a couple of the locals and regularly visited some animals, mostly cats and dogs but occasionally a bird or two.

They would have been able to track him with his comm, but Damian had modified it so that it was untrackable unless it was being used. Unfortunately, they hadn't learned of it before today. If they were to track him through his comm, they would only have a short time to triangulate his position. Damian stated that he wanted his privacy, likely so he could disobey orders without them realizing. They had allowed it because they trusted his judgment, not to mention they all had their rebellious phase, but now it was coming back to bite them in the ass.

It was unfortunate they didn’t have Barbara helping, she was off on her own mission with the Birds of Prey and not in Gotham. Finding Damian would have been way easier with her help, she was an expert in navigating the surveillance systems around Gotham.

Dick could tell he wasn't the only one concerned about their youngest, the others were worried in their own ways. Jason fidgeted with his gun, which Bruce was just barely tolerating, as he paced the rooftop while Tim ran the diagnostics multiple times, his fingers flying on his wrist hologram.

Cass and Bruce’s unease was less noticeable, the only reason he caught it was that he knew them for such a long time. Bruce double checked his trackers and flew across the roofs in search of Damian. Cass was tense and alternated standing near each of them, subtly clenching her hands into fists as she did.

“Robin, come in.” Bruce demanded, Dick felt the desperation in his voice although it was hidden well. He didn't want to lose another son while Dick didn't want to lose another brother.

There wasn’t a reply, only the sound of static filled their ears.

Dick sighed, running his hands through his hair. They needed to find Damian quickly. The longer they didn't locate him, the longer his captures had to smuggle him out of the city. If Damian was taken out of the city, it would be infinitely harder to find him.

He couldn’t let that happen, especially to Damian. He’s already had a tough life, what with how he grew up. His integration into the family was difficult on everyone, B was gone and Tim had chosen to pursue a theory he had thought of at the time insane. Jason wasn’t on talking terms with them at that time and Cass had her own responsibilities across the world. Steph was also busy with juggling her hero and civilian lives, though her attitude towards Damian did turn around in the end.

The comm crackled, faint sounds coming through. Dick jolted, jarred out of his thoughts from the abrupt opening of the comm. Both Cass and Tim’s hands went to their comms as Jason stilled. The shuffling of cloth was most prominent, though he could hear a quiet voice.

“Robin, report. What is your location?” Bruce asked, hope underlying his words.

There was the sound of shuffling before a young, unfamiliar voice sounded, “Is this comm trackable?”

That was not Damian. Did he kidnap Damian and was going to ask for a ransom or gloat? Another also kidnapped alongside Damian? Or perhaps a concerned civilian who had nothing to do with Damian’s disappearance?

“Who are you?” Bruce demanded, treating the unknown as a hostile. It was understandable, this was a stranger who possibly abducted his son.

“You can call me Polka. I'm not sure of the location but Robin is unconscious. We are in a warehouse.” The voice responded. ‘You can call me Polka?’ Was he implying that Polka wasn’t his name or the only one he goes by? Dick’s siblings crowded closer to Bruce as if they couldn’t hear out of their own comms.

The good news was that they now knew where to search. Most warehouses were either near the docks or the Warehouse District. That meant they had two areas to search if Tim didn't triangulate where Damian’s comm was during the short conversation. He could see Tim hunched over, one hand typing swiftly in his wrist hologram.

“Stay where you are, I’ll be there shortly.” Bruce said curtly, his cape snapping as he turned to Tim and asked if he captured the location of the comm. Tim gave him a thumbs up and sent the coordinates.

They piled into their own vehicles and sped their way across the city, heading towards the warehouse Damian was held in.

They surrounded the warehouse once they arrived, Bruce entering first before they snuck in from different entrance points. Dick shivered slightly as he situated himself behind the boy who Damian was laid out on. His siblings spread out and surrounded the boy from all sides.

The warehouse was a mess, blood pooling from the disfigured bodies laying every which way. Dick could faintly spot a chalk circle underneath a pool of blood. Another cult, he surmised grimly. There have been too many cults running around lately for his liking, though it looked like this one had fallen victim to their own summoning.

There wasn't much he could tell about the boy from behind, his baggy clothes hiding his frame. His hair was what stood out the most, cropped silver hair. It seemed to almost glow in the dark warehouse. Dick’s attention went back to Bruce who stepped out from the shadows and addressed the boy after taking Damian back into his custody, though he kept an eye out on the boy.

“None, I just happened to find him. Who are you?” The boy asked, standing. That was interesting. Everyone from Gotham knew who Batman was, and even if you weren't, Batman was still a famous figure.

Bruce answered in his signature low voice, obviously gearing up to interrogate the boy. That was his cue to step in. They’ve done this routine before, good cop and bad cop. It was surprisingly successful.

“Happened to find him?” Dick questioned, rolling down from the support beam he was perched on and revealed himself. The boy turned to him, his hair fanning across his face. A black stripe cut into his silvery hair. It was the inverse of Jason’s hair, Dick thought absently.

The boy’s face was blank, unsurprised to see another vigilante popping up behind him. Dick’s eyes were drawn to the scar on his neck. It spanned most of the neck and would be most definitely fatal if it was deep enough. The boy was 15, 16 years max. Where would he have gotten a scar like that? Not to mention, he was too calm in this situation. Blood and viscera surrounded him and all he seemed was bored.

Slight motion to the right made Dick’s eyes snap to the plush on the boy’s shoulder, almost certain that it moved on its own. “How exactly did you find him? We can't be sure you weren’t the one who abducted him, after all.”

The boy took his time to answer, his face slightly scrunched in thought. Faint sound of movement emerged from his comm but he showed no signs of hearing it.

He pointed to the body of the cultest then to the mound that Dick hadn’t paid much attention to as he answered, “They kidnapped Robin, me, and a couple other kids. They killed the others. Who are you?

Dick heard a sharp inhale, likely in reaction to the dead children. It looked like they were thrown there uncaringly, Dick thought angrily. They were piled on top of each other, some of their limbs bent unnaturally. Most of the injuries were from a slit neck, but there were signs of other injuries. These poor kids were likely tortured first then slaughtered.

He could see Bruce soften after the boy answered, likely thinking the same things as Dick.

Dick sighed silently, sheathing his escrima sticks as he walked to stand closer to Bruce and Damian. “I’m called Nightwing. Can you tell us why you and Robin are unharmed?”

“They already summoned the God of the Dead, or Corpse God, by then. It wasn't needed.” Jason cursed. They were too late, for both the kids and the summoning. Not to mention the ominous name of the being that was summoned. Just what were these cultists planning for summoning such a being? Probably to ‘rid the world of impurities’ like every other cult he came across.

Bruce asked for confirmation of the being, pulling out his ‘victim voice’. It was significantly softer than what he usually spoke as Batman. The boy nodded, affirming their suspicions on the being. Though, where was it? Usually, summoned being raged and caused destruction in their wake, especially ones with such ominous names. There was no sign of this one.

Dick pasted on a smile and bent closer to the boy, “Did you see where the God of the Dead went?”

The boy nodded as he bit his lips, visibly nervous. It was a bit strange to see such an expression on the child when he was blase for most of the conversation. He leaned forward as the boy cupped his hand over his mouth and whispered, “He’s still here.”

Dick felt a shiver race down his spine, one of his siblings sucked in a breath. That was… not good. Was this a trap? Had the God of the Dead been lying in wait and observing them since they had arrived?

The atmosphere was thick enough to cut with a knife. Everyone was tense and ready for battle. Of course, that was when Damian began to stir, calling out to Bruce once he opened his eyes. Bruce adjusted his hold on Damian, beginning to answer Damian before he was cut off by the boy.

“Can I go now? I was with my friends before this. They’re probably worried.” Dick most certainly couldn't let a key witness, and a most definitely traumatized child, wander off without supervision.

“Sorry, you’re coming with us.” Dick said apologetically.

The boy did not like that. He crossed his arms and gave them an annoyed look. “Why?”

Jason, Tim, and Cass took this as the perfect time to reveal themselves. They hopped down from their respective posts and gathered near Bruce. Tim, however, aimed for the cultists as he responded, “We need more information and to verify your story. And for your protection.”

The boy's eyes lingered over Cass and Jason before focusing on the latter, his expression curious. Jason obviously noticed but didn't pay it any mind, more interested in fussing over Damian who wasn’t having it, swatting Jason’s hovering hands away.

“Won't that be kidnapping? Since I don't want to go to a secondary location with strangers? Kidnapping is illegal, you know.”

Jason answered as he finally relented from teasing Damian, “Well, it's a good thing the law is more like suggestions to us.” This did nothing to stop the boy from looking apprehensive. Good job, Jason, Dick thought tiredly.

Tim interrupted the boy when he stated that the cultists were, in fact, not dead. It blindsided Dick. Many of the cultists were in pieces as others had bled enough to be six feet under.

Damian looked mildly curious as Bruce and Tim questioned the survival of the cultists, likely thinking over the logistics of how they still lived. Eventually, Bruce asked Tim to alert the hospital and GCPD. They wouldn't be arriving in a long while, it was still Gotham after all.

Dick walked over to them as they discussed the boy and the cultist, hearing the tail end of Tim’s suspicions.

“—clearly up with him. Despite the situation he’s in, he is unusually calm.”

That was true, not many kids were so nonchalant about almost being ritually sacrificed. Or seeing mangled bodies and pools of blood laying around.

Dick glanced at the boy—he really should be calling him Polka by now, since it was the only name he was given—seeing him grow red-faced as he spoke with Jason.

The almost silent crackle of a radio signaled their time was up, they needed to leave before the police arrived.

Herding Polka out of the building and out of sight was easy, all they needed to do was avoid cameras and stick to the shadowed side of the alley. Those who saw the group were quick to run away.

Losing Polka, however, was not something Dick expected to happen. They all were hyper aware of their surroundings, and in turn, the kid. How he managed to disappear under the scrutiny of six highly trained vigilantes, Dick didn't know.

They had to admit defeat after searching the area and beyond for an hour and a half, Damian being sent back for an examination despite his objections early into their search, and trudge back to the cave unsuccessful.

Dick watched Jason walk into the infirmary—jokingly nicknamed the “batfirmary” by Steph— and remove his helmet from his seat next to Damian’s cot. Steph walked in after him, plopping down on the end of the mattress next to Jason and ignored Damian’s hissed demands for them to get off.

Cass slunk in a moment later, Tim behind her. He was still typing on his wrist computer as he sat on the opposite side of Damian. Cass leaned on the arm of his chair, gazing curiously at the screen.

Off to the right, through a sliver of the thick cloth that blocked the med bay, sat Bruce. The light from the Batcomputer illuminated his bent figure.

Dick pursed his lips, not liking the expression that crossed his father’s face. Whenever there were children involved, Bruce always got into a mood. It wasn’t that the rest of them didn’t, but Bruce’s mood was always the worst. He wouldn't accept any food or comfort until he solved the case and got justice for the innocent children.

As his child and fellow vigilante, Dick couldn't let Bruce neglect himself like that, least of all when it wasn’t his fault the children died. He stood, walking over to Bruce and laid a hand on his shoulder. He gently squeezed, offering all the comfort that was allowed. Bruce gave him a weary smile.

“You should join us.” Dick said, retracting his hand to cross his arms. “It does you no good just sitting here. Damian needs you right now.”

“I know.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I just… I need to give those children justice.”

“Bruce, they aren’t going anywhere. You need to focus on the child in front of you.” Dick winced at how that came out. “I mean, Damian should be your priority right now. He’s recovering from being kidnapped!”

“You're right.” Bruce sighed, straightening his back slightly. “They aren’t going anywhere.”

Dick walked back to his seat, pleased with the sound of Bruce’s footsteps behind him. He watched as Damian’s face brightened when he spotted his father, and the subsequent haughty look he made to cover it up.

“How are you doing, Damian?” Bruce asked, sitting on the cot.

“I am fine, Father. It was just a scratch.” Damian answered, lifting his chin then frowning. “I didn't need to be hauled to the infirmary. I could have helped track down the boy.”

“We had to check if the cultist had done anything else to you. Would you rather not know if they had? And how did they manage to even snatch you anyways?” Tim intervened, crossing his legs as he looked up from his wrist computer.

“They used defenseless animals against me.” Dick almost cooed at Damian’s pout. He was always glad to see Damian act his age.

“What kinds of animals?” Steph leaned forward, her eyes gleaming.

“… Kittens.” Damian admitted quietly.

“They lured you in with kittens?!” Jason said hysterically. Muffled snorts came from all around, Dick himself wasn't exempt from laughing either. Everyone but Jason quickly pasted on an innocent face when Damian furiously glared at them, he didn't bother covering up his laughter. Even Bruce seemed amused, his eyes darting between them with a fond look on his face.

“Do you remember what happened?” Cass signed. Dick could tell she was still worried about Damian, the sides of her eyes were creased and her lips held together tightly.

“I passed out after I was hit over the head.” Damian began, the bedding clenched in his fists. “I remember waking up a couple of times but it wasn't for long. The last time I awoke, the boy was there.”

Bruce put his hand over Damian, his lips pursed. He clearly didn't like how his son was treated, and looking around, none of them were. “Did he do anything?”

“He told me to rest.” Damian said simply, brows furrowed.

“And you did?” Tim asked, dumbfounded. Dick was just as confused, Damian barely took orders from them that he deemed unnecessary, so him listening to a random civilian? It was unheard of.

“That was the strange thing. The moment he told me to, I was overwhelmed with drowsiness. I couldn't help falling asleep.”

A magic user? Dick thought speculatively. Or perhaps a meta? There were many abilities that could cause someone to fall unconscious with just a word, and just as many with aftereffects. Dick prayed that there weren’t any lasting effects on Damian, he wasn't sure what he would do if there were.

“I knew there was something up with him!” Tim announced, jumping up from his seat. “The fact that he was so calm in such a bloody environment was the first clue. Why would he be calm, let alone stay in that warehouse, when he was abducted and watched others be sacrificed? Plus, despite telling us the Corpse God—or God of the Dead, whatever— there was no sign of the being other than the cultist’s dismangled bodies. Why did he lie?” He paced back and forth, letting his theories flow like water.

Cass knocked on the wall, gathering their attention. She signed, “He didn’t lie.”

“He didn’t?” Dick questioned, understandably confused.

She shook her head, “He was truthful the whole time, but was he hiding something.”

“He could have been misleading you.” Steph crossed her arms. “He was being pretty vague in the recordings I watched. Plus, some of his words could have been taken in a different way.”

“That's true. The way he slipped away from us wasn’t something a civilian could do. Even a meta would be hard pressed to disappear from right under our noses.” Jason spoke up, a thoughtful look on his face.

“I’ll call Zatanna.” Bruce sighed, getting up from his seat. “Get some rest, we’ll have a long day tomorrow.”

“He’s right. We need to conserve our energy for interrogating Polka tomorrow.” Dick ushered his disgruntled sibling towards the staircase leading to the manor.

Once he was sure they were in their rooms, Jason deciding it was too late to go to his own safehouse, he returned to the cave. Damian was unsurprisingly still awake, his stubbornness fighting against his weariness.

Dick dimmed the lights of the cave and headed towards the infirmary. Giving his brother a quick peck on the forehead and tucking him in, much to Damian’s displeasure, he grabbed a tablet and wrote up a report next to the cot. He made sure to include his sibling’s theories in the notes margin.

Soft muttering sounded off to the side, behind the infirmary’s curtain. After making sure Damian was asleep, Dick crept towards the sound. Around the corner, Bruce’s frustrated voice spoke. He ended the call a minute after he spotted Dick leaning on the wall with his arms crossed.

“Constantine?”

“Zatanna was busy.” Bruce ran his hands through his hair. He was clearly tired after the eventful day, but Bruce would continue working despite his complaints, Dick bitterly thought. He shook his head, now was not the time for those kinds of thoughts.

Dick hummed and walked towards the Batcomputer. He sat down, Bruce a couple feet away typing away on another monitor. He transferred his half finished report to the computer in front of him, finding a keyboard easier to write with than a tablet.

He let out a yawn. He had been up for more than twenty four hours, most of that time spent patrolling and studying cases in the Batcave. He laid his head on his arms, a quick nap wouldn't hurt, would it?

Distantly, he felt a heavy weight cover him. He let out a murmur of thanks for the blanket and fell asleep, not hearing the whispered response.

The insistent buzzing of the tablet woke him. He stretched, his back popping, before unlocking the tablet. A gasp escaped him once he laid eyes on the screen.

“Uh, B? You’ll need to see this.” Bruce looked at him in question before rolling closer, eyes widening slightly once he read the article.

In strikingly bold letters, the headline was “JOKER MAULED BY THE UNDEAD”.

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Wrote a large chunk of this months ago and just sat on it since I didn't know how to write batfam interactions. I'm pretty satisfied with how it came out :)

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Masterpost | Part 3

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spookyson · 5 months

Text

Hiiiiiii wrote something on my ao3 and decided to post it here!

Jason’s legs are only steady because of experience, otherwise, he had no doubt he would be on the floor and shaking.

“You disregarded my orders, jumped in without thinking, and nearly compromised the entire mission!” yells Bruce. “Exactly what was going through your head?”

Jason fights to keep from fidgeting and focuses on one of the ears of the Bat-cowl. “I saw an opening and I went for it.”

“You entered the fray and almost got yourself killed,” snarls Bruce. Jason’s never been scared of Bruce. Not after those first few months where he was convinced Bruce was going to kill him or do worse. He wouldn’t say he’s scared of him now either, but the fine trembles in his hands indicate otherwise.

“I’m sorry,” he says because what else is there to say? It had been a good night. Batman and Robin were on a mission, a drug bust. They had studied the case for weeks and trained and practiced until both of them knew exactly what to do. It should have gone perfectly. It did not. In between the fight, a fight that Batman had explicitly ordered him to stay out of, Jason had spotted the opportunity to knock out one of the leaders of the whole operation. If he could just get to him then they could learn where the other warehouses were.

Jason has to admit it did not go that way. He’s nursing bruised ribs, black eyes, and a bullet graze on the side of his stomach. Worst of all, he’s getting yelled at by Bruce. Bruce who never so much as raised his voice at Jason. Who always always preferred to talk things out. The guy who had to get Alfred to give Dick and Jason punishments because he couldn’t bear to even ground them for a week.

That Bruce, the gentle one, was furious at Jason. “Jason, I don’t know how we’re supposed to work if you can’t follow basic instructions.”

“Bruce, I’m sorry!” blurts Jason. “I’m so sorry. It won’t happen again.”

“I’m benching you,” says Bruce. Like he didn’t hear Jason at all. “For a month.”

“What?” exclaims Jason. The shock momentarily overrides Jason’s fear response. “A month? Bruce, I can’t be out for a month. Gotham needs me. You need me.”

Bruce aims a disdainful glare at him. “I don’t need you like this,” he informs him coolly.

—

I don’t need you like this. I don’t need you… I don’t need you.

Jason gulps back the sobs threatening to escape his mouth. He’s already thrown the dark hood of his jersey over his head to cover up the tears but he knows that wailing in the middle of the night on a Gotham street is the fastest way to get mugged.

He moves quickly, not eager to get caught out by some opportunistic mugger but with no real destination in mind. Jason just can’t stay at the manor. He knows that much. He knows that leaving now will save him the pain of listening to Bruce kick him out and he doesn’t know if he can survive that.

Before, when he was on the streets, he didn’t know what a warm home and a kind family were. His father was in and out of prison and more often than not stuck with his dick in a hooker or he wandered around the city with a gang. His mother spent half her time high on heroin and the other half wishing she was. And all this was before he had to live in the alleys of Gotham City, America’s crime capital. But he had been able to survive because he didn’t think there was anything better. Now though, after having experienced kindness, affection maybe even love, however little, Jason knew he was too weak.

Maybe he should cry. He should scream loud enough for the entire city to hear him. Some rogue could take him out before Bruce’s words did him in.

The chill of the night air penetrates Jason’s hoodie, cutting him to the very bone. He knows it used to feel worse when he was all skin and twiggy limbs, but he can’t ever remember being so cold. Jason rubs his hands up and down his arms, hoping to generate some semblance of warmth. It doesn’t do an awful lot.

He heads further into the city. There’s nothing else he can do. Gotham nightlife is not for tourists, it’s barely for the locals. Jason has to shake off 3 tails in the span of an hour and all because the hoodie he’s wearing is one of the new ones Bruce got for him. It’s expensive and he guesses that people picked up on that. Jason will probably have to rough it up a bit if he wants to keep it. He instantly rebels at the idea of ruining the clothes. If he recalls correctly, Dick gave it to him for his birthday.

Thinking of Dick only makes it worse. Bruce’s eldest son is… perfect. He’s tall, handsome, smart, charming, and everything Jason’s not. Every night when he puts on the suit he can feel the ghost of Dick Grayson haunting him. An invisible presence that judges every move he makes and every word he says. He knows that Bruce can hear it too. It’s obvious on the training mats when he takes too long to pick something or when he doesn’t smile enough or talk enough or-

It would be so much easier if he could hate Dick, but Jason can’t even manage that properly. How can you hate someone when they make the people you love happy? Bruce’s smile is always brighter when Dick visits. Alfred has that pleased look on his face when Dick informs him that he’s sticking around for the weekend. Jason’s not cruel enough to hate that. He just wishes that was the end of it. But it’s not. He doesn’t hate Dick, rather he wishes Dick loved him. Because Dick is amazing, just like everyone says he is. He’s clever and funny, and Jason knows he only throws out stupid puns so people don’t know that. He’s the most talented fighter Jason knows, better than Bruce or he’s going to be and Jason wants to be just like him. Dick is caring. He loves people with such strength that it leaves Jason breathless.

Jason also knows that Dick hates him. For taking Robin when he had no right to and Jason understands. He gets it, okay? Dick doesn’t want some no-name street trash taking the mantle he made legend. Fair enough. But someone has to do it. People will say Gotham needs Batman to fight the darkness but it needs Robin to shine the way just as much.

Jason knew Dick would hate him for that. He wishes not to care so much.

Jason almost trips over his feet, Robin training be damned, when a scream slices through the night. He grabs a wall to brace himself and idly wonders if that was him and then it comes again. Loud and scared. They sound young.

Jason’s moving before he knows it, running at top speed down the street and the source of the noise. He was good at navigating Gotham by streetlight years ago but Bruce’s training has toned the muscles in his arms and legs. He’s only slightly hampered by his injuries from earlier.

Another gut-wrenching scream later Jason finds what he’s looking for down an alley. A group of men are gathered in a half circle around a smaller figure pressed to a wall. He slows his approach, even if he’s raring to rush in and smash their heads in. Bruce’s words from earlier replay in his head. Think, Jason, think. Almost all of them are taller than Jason but he’s willing to bet that he’s the only trained fighter here. Then again, they have the advantage of numbers and he has someone to protect.

He creeps closer, near enough to hear the exchange.

“Stop screaming will ya? Ain’t nobody gonna come running ta help,” drawls a pale guy in a green beanie. There’s a lewd smirk on his face that further unsettles Jason’s stomach. “So why don'tcha be quiet and let us have our fun, eh? Promise it won’t hurt too much.”

Now that he can see more clearly, Jason realizes that the victim is a dark-skinned female, maybe a few years older than Jason, with an expression that alternates between a scowl and a fearful frown. She’s frightened but she doesn’t want them to see that. “Fuck off,” she spits. “Before I bite your dicks off.”

Another man with a red jacket slams his hands onto her mouth. “Shut the fuck up, bitch.”

His friend, Green Beanie, tugs his arm away. “Shit, dude. Don’t fuck her up yet.”

“Let the rest of us have a taste first, eh?” adds another guy.

Jason doesn’t need to hear anymore. He waves a hand and captures the girl’s attention, gesturing for her to run. She locks eyes with him and shakily nods, fear finally breaking through her bravado. Jason keeps the scowl off his face as he silently picks up the lid of a trash can. He creeps a few steps closer and slams the lid down on the biggest guy’s head. It works like a charm, he drops to the ground.

The rest of the gang paused, shock coloring their faces. The girl uses it to escape, dashing out of the alley with impressive speed. That seems to wake them up.

“Oi,” says Green Beanie. “Fuck do ya think you’re doing, runt?”

Jason lunges at the guy nearest to him, a strong punch to the gut and the dude keels over. “Beating the shit out of you.” Yeah, he doesn’t really have Robin’s penchant for puns and jokes.

They collectively realize he’s a threat and finally, run at him.

He ducks low to avoid a punch and kicks his attacker’s legs out from under him. The man goes flying, conveniently tripping up another of his friends. Jason’s already moving to dodge a kick coming for his thing. He swings a punch at Red Jacket, the dude who hit the girl and winces a little when his fist meets solid muscle. It does the trick and Jason’s sure it’ll leave a nasty bruise, but his estimation of the skill level in the alley may be a little off.

He’s got no time to regret it though, because Green Beanie procures a wicked-looking baseball bat and lifts it high to bring down on Jason’s head. He throws himself to the side, rolling to recover and Red Jacket’s in his face with a mean smirk and a meaner-looking fist. Jason. A silver knuckle buster decorates his thick fingers. Jason knows this will hurt.

He cries out, gasping in pain when the metal connects with his ribs. Fuck, the bruises. Jason slumps to the ground, almost blacking out because it hurts too much. He hears a scattering of footsteps around him. Fuck, they have him surrounded.

Jason weakly lifts his head and looks right into at Green Beanie, who tosses the handle of his bat from hand to hand and grins. “Well, well, looks like you’re the fun for tonight, buddy. ‘Specially ‘cause you let the whore run off.”

He only has enough breath to pant, “Fuck you.” before the bat connects with his shoulder.

Jason feels every single blow on his softened skin. It hurts more now as if his grueling training as Robin had somehow softened him. Every brutal kick from someone’s shoes that bore metal studs cut into his skin. The bat came down relentlessly, ruthlessly slamming bone harder into the unforgiving concrete. Jason couldn’t hear a lot more above his own screams and grunts and how it hurt so fucking much.

He tried to reason the hurt away. It would be like this more often from now on since he would need to head back onto the streets prior to finding a job. Jason’s older now, but in no less danger of being jumped. If he couldn’t take a beating now then he wouldn’t survive long in Crime Alley.

It only makes Jason cry. If only Bruce loved him. If only Dick loved him. He wouldn’t be here. He could go further back. He wouldn’t be here if his mother had loved him more than her drugs, he wouldn’t be here if his father had cared for anyone other than himself.

But that’s the kicker, isn’t it? The punchline of the tasteless joke that’s Jason’s life. Nobody loves him. It’s time he accepts that.

Jason almost doesn’t notice when they stop hitting him. Trapped in a haze of hurt and pain as he is, it takes him a while to realize that it’s oddly silent. Jason has just enough common sense to excruciatingly push himself up on his elbows. They’re shaking and he’s not confident in his ability to stand but he knows he has to get up.

Jason looks up to realize the men attacking him and unconscious and on the ground. A lone figure stands between them, cloaked in darkness and for one wild second Jason thinks it’s Batman. Come to save Jason Todd from himself again. The person steps closer and Jason falters when he recognises them.

Nightwing slowly strides closer to Jason, every powerful muscle in his body subtly angled submissively, just enough so that a victim (and Jason registers that he is the victim right now) remains calm enough for him to administer any first aid.

But Dick can’t see him like this. He can’t know just how stupid and pathetic Jason really is. Dick would hate him more than he already does for sullying Robin.

Jason uses his relatively unharmed hand to pull his hood up and scrambles backward, wincing when his skin rubs against the alley concrete. “Don’t-” he cringes at how broken his voice sounds but is grateful for it all the same. It covers up his natural cadence. “Don’t come any closer.”

“Hey, kid, calm down. My name’s Nightwing, I’m with Batman. I’m here to help,” says Dick. “I need to see if you’re okay.”

“I’m fine,” Jason lies. “Please just. Leave me alone.”

Something sad flashes over Dick’s face but it’s gone as quick as it came. He takes a step back, giving Jason more space, but he knows the older vigilante well enough to know it’s not an out. “Alright. Walk out then.”

Jason glared through the hood. Dick must know he can’t stand. He’s probably waiting for Jason to admit it.

“I’m not showing you where I live,” he says instead. It’s a little hard to talk though. Jason feels tired.

Dick easily grins. “I won’t follow you, scout’s honor. So long as you can get up.”

He knows it’s a lie. He knows that. Jason still tries to stand. He grabs the wall with one hand and heaves himself upward, pointedly ignoring the potent ache in his gut. Fuck, what if his ribs are broken? He takes a deep breath and almost kneels over. It hurts so much. He needs- He needs to go to the Cave. But he can’t, so he’ll have to make the trek to Leslie’s clinic. She could recognize him though…

Jason’s not surprised when he trips and hits the ground. His head slams into the concrete, along with his tender abdomen and he can’t hold anything back as he screams.

Dick’s on him in seconds, his gentle hands quickly lifting him off the ground and flitting up and down Jason’s body to catalogue all the injuries he has. It’s a lot, Jason would know. Dick’s hands reach his hood, probably to check his head and Jason cannot stop him. The last thing he sees, just before he blacks out, is Dick’s gaping mouth.

“Jason?”

“Jason!”

Jason jerks awake only to be pushed back into a soft surface. There’s a face floating above his face but everything’s so blurry.

“Jason? Jay, how are you feeling?” Their voice sounds as though Jason is underwater. “Hey, Little Wing. C’mon, tell me how you’re doing.”

Dick? But that’s impossible, Dick’s not nice to him. Jason decides it’s a dream and it can’t hurt to talk to the Dick-whose-not-real. “I’m okay. What about you?”

Nightwing laughs, the sound accompanied by strong fingers threading through Jason’s hair. “I’m okay, but you took quite a few hits, huh? Wanna tell me what you were doing out there?”

“I was going back,” mumbles Jason, suddenly saddened.

“Back where?”

“Back to the Alley.”

The hand in his hair stills for a fraction of a second before Dick continues his grooming. “And why were you going to Park Row?”

Jason doesn’t want to talk about it yet he doesn’t want to make Dick angry. He likes nice Dick, he doesn’t want him to go away. “Bruce don’t want me anymore.”

“What?”

But Jason’s eyes are growing heavier and he can only hum in response as sleep claims him once more.

The second time he wakes up is less pleasant than the first. For one, there’s no one by his bed. Secondly, the pain that was blissfully absent at his first waking has come back with vengeance. His chest and arms throb with pain and he can barely reach for the water bottle on the table next to him without crying.

He’s also in the Batcave. The medbay to be exact.

He can’t hear much beyond his own heavy breathing but Jason’s learned to pick up other signs of Dick and Bruce’s arguments. Whenever Batman and Nightwing fight, one can see it in the Batarangs that Dick tosses around in frustration. It’s obvious in the way Bruce opens up cold cases to wind himself down. Jason can just barely see the Bat-computer screen from his bed and groans when he reads that the murder dates back to 1943. Of course, the family deserves justice, but Jason wished it wasn’t at the expense of his family.

He digs his nails into the flesh of his palm. This is not his family. He should remember that.

Jason feels steady enough despite the aches to try standing. He’s pleasantly surprised when he manages to stay upright and even elated when he learns he can walk. Jason should be able to move quickly enough to avoid any more potential beatdowns.

He walks to the med bay doors and catches the sound of Dick’s voice. It’s low and furious and Jason is not surprised. He must be talking about Jason.

“-him? What the fuck is wrong with you? He was, oh my god, his ribs were broken!” yells Dick. He’s shedded the Nightwing suit and is clothed in a loose Gotham University hoodie and sweatpants. Dick had probably gotten showered and changed while Jason was sleeping. He pauses and turns around, meeting Jason’s eyes. “You’re awake.”

Jason ducks his head. “Uh, yeah.” He makes himself meet Dick’s eyes. “Thanks for the save.” Jason looks to Bruce. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to come back. I’ll get out of your hair.”

Jason’s not even given the opportunity to face the Batcave exit. He knows Dick’s not a speedster, that’s the Flash 2.0 he hangs around with, but he swears that no human should have been fast enough to cover the distance between them in 2 seconds flat.

Dick is mindful of Jason’s injuries but firm when he grabs Jason around the waist and yanks him to him to Bruce. “Where do you think you’re going, Little Wing?” he asks, false humor in his voice.

“Jason,” interrupts Bruce. He’s never looked more forbidding than he does right now, even though he’s dressed in civvies. An impassive stare resides on his face. It doesn’t help Jason’s nerves one bit. “What happened?”

“I was at Crime Alley, I uh, got jumped,” responds Jason. He awkwardly rubs the back of his neck. “It’s fine, it happens.”

Bruce reaches out with a shaky hand. Jason stays still. He knows Bruce won’t hurt him but it has not been a good day. The tips of his fingers lightly brush over the swollen areas of Jason’s eye, so gently he can’t almost cannot feel them. Jason relaxes, Batman won’t hurt him, even though he is about to fire him.

Dick softly pushes Jason into Bruce, who envelopes him into his body. The hug is harsh and unyielding but arranged so it does not aggravate Jason. He can smell the soap from the showers and the detergent Alfred useless from Bruce’s clothes, as well as a faint hint of expensive cologne. He would say it smells like his father and just for this second, he can pretend he has one.

“Never do that again,” says Bruce, whispering right into Jason’s ear.

Jason can only agree because he doesn’t want this to end, even though he’s not sure he knows what Bruce is talking about.

Bruce’s larger form abruptly scoops Jason up and for once he doesn’t have the energy to feel embarrassed about it. He still hides his face away when he sees that Dick is still there.

“We should ice his ribs, B,” says Dick. “They must be hurting by now.”

Bruce only grunts in acknowledgement but Dick’s exasperated sigh is practically a flag of peace. Jason smiles a little.

They sit him down on the same bed. Bruce squeezes his hand once more before leaving to alert Alfred and fetch an ice pack. Dick elects to stay behind with Jason.

He defensively hunches up a little. This must be when Dick rails at him for ruining Robin. He knows he deserves it but that doesn’t make it any easier to bear. “I’m sorry,” he says instead. “I know I fucked up.”

“Kid.” Dick sighs and rubs the bridge of his nose. “I think we gotta clear something up.” Jason doesn’t say anything, Dick continues. “I’m not going to be mad at you for getting beat up by a pack of thugs. I know it’s probably not your fault and no way am I going to yell at a kid with broken ribs. I’m not B.”

“Okay.”

“And I also think that B’s gotta clear somethings up too. I know he’s a dumb jerk sometimes but he probably didn’t mean to kick you out for one little fuck up on a mission,” finishes Dick.

“But I’m not you,” exclaimed Jason. “He loves you, he doesn’t… he doesn’t think like that about me.” And if Bruce doesn’t love him then he must hate him because if his own parents didn’t care enough to stick around for him then a wealthy man who is better of in every single way probably resents him for taking his real son’s place. Fuck, Jason just had to agree to Bruce’s proposal, didn’t he? He couldn’t tough it out for a few more years, find a job and maybe not feel so fucking pathetic right now.

There’s wetness on his cheeks. He’s crying. He’s crying in front of Dick Grayson. He’s crying in front of Robin. Maybe Willis was right. He might’ve been a good-for-nothing asshole but he obviously knew something if he managed to survive to adulthood in Crime Alley. Whereas Jason almost had his fucking head busted open, he was only alive because Nightwing decided to step in. He really was worthless, wasn’t he? A waste of space just as bad as his father.

Who the fuck had he been kidding? He didn’t belong here. Jason was the son of gang member and a drug addict, not Batman, not Bruce Wayne. And he definitely wasn’t Dick’s brother.

Nightwing looked surprised. “Uh kid? I mean Jason. Jason, what’s wrong?”

Jason doesn’t even know what he says next. It’s probably something cringe-inducing, considering his emotional state at the time. All he knows is that one second he’s weeping out his heart on the med bay bed and the second he’s wrapped up in Dick Grayson.

At first, he doesn’t quite compute it. Jason’s always reckoned with the fact that there will be some things in life that will be unattainable for him. It used to be his parents and college when he was on the streets, and though some things are within reach thanks to Bruce, a hug from Dick Grayson never registered on that list. It was too far-fetched, even for Jason’s dreams.

It feels real now though. It smells like old clothes and feels like hard muscles and it sounds like someone slowly breathing and encouraging Jason to slow down.

“Jason. Jay, slow down. It’s okay,” says Dick. “I got you. Nothing’s gonna happen to you.”

Jason nods from where he’s pressed into Dick’s shoulder. “Okay,” he breathes.

Dick slowly pushes away a little, just enough for them to make eye contact. “Hey, listen. I know I haven’t been the best brother.”

Jason can’t help it. “We’re brothers.”

“Yeah, Jay.” One of Dick’s hands reaches up to brush Jason’s cheeks. “We’re brothers. I’m sorry for being an asshole, it wasn’t your fault.”

Brothers. They are brothers. Jason always wanted a sibling.

“And I won’t ditch you. No matter what you do. Bruce won’t either, but I’m not him, I don’t have all his million rules and hang-ups.” Dick leaned in so their foreheads touched. “When I say you’re my brother, I mean that it’s all that will ever matter.”

Jason was a street kid, one needs a hefty amount of paranoia to survive that. But it also taught him how to differentiate the truth from a lie. Nothing in the determined set of Dick’s lips and earnest expression in his eye spoke of falsifications.

He meant it when he said he cared. He meant it when he said nothing else was important.

“Okay.”

Also link to ao3

Alsoooo opening up requests, if anyone has a gen batfam prompt I'd be happy to write it!

#jason todd #dick grayson #bruce wayne #angst

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