#and she is in deep shit 24/6

[vanhelsingapologist]

leave my heart to the damned as you build me a bed in the earth

[writeonwhiskey]

the skz house: ch 9

a/n: So excited to get this one out to you guys! I hope you enjoy it 😁Thank you again to @cloverstayy for the beautiful graphic 🩵 she's amazing and is on insta & tiktok under the same name.

edit 1/22/24 - I have changed a few things around, this was previously chapter 7, but will now be chapter 9. Stay with me people!

Summary: Welcome to Sigma Kappa Zeta, the most popular fraternity on campus. When you, down on your luck and looking for a place to live, see their ad for ‘IN-HOUSE STAY’. You're one of the four girls chosen and find that your duties for the rest of the school year will be cooking, cleaning, and pleasing your assigned house members: Hyunjin & Bang Chan.

Chapter Nine: Of Halloween and Hallways

It’s now approaching the end of your first month at the SKZ house. Hyunjin still has not pressured you to move further, but you have continued to explore each others bodies more. Whenever you’re with him, kissing and cuddling in bed, you both allow your hands to roam freely across each other. He’s made it clear that you have control of the reins with him. You enjoy the power—getting both yourself and Hyunjin worked up, kissing, touching, fondling, just to back off. Maybe Chan’s sadism is rubbing off on you a bit. 

Speaking of Chan, your nights with him since offering your submission are always like rolling a 20 sided die. You might be teased, you might get fucked, he might be sweet, but more often he’s rough. He does seem to make some kind of effort to not come off as a dick, however there is definitely still a wall between you two. You feel more comfortable conversing with him, though it’s usually just small talk and nothing remotely deep. 

Lee Know’s birthday passes on Wednesday, October 25th and everyone celebrates with dinner, drinks and dessert. You and Allie helped Felix bake him a chocolate cake (they wouldn’t let you add arsenic, which was a bummer).

It’s now Saturday, October 28th—the day of the Halloween party. The morning of is spent with everyone moving throughout the house making sure their appointed tasks are complete. As evening approaches, your excitement for the event grows—everyone has kept their final costume reveals a secret and you can’t wait to see what they have all come up with. 

Your main goal is to have a good time and possibly, finally have sex with Hyunjin. But, oh, sweet girl, you have no clue what the night has in store for you. 

6:00pm

All of the decorations and finishing touches have been put in place. There are spiderwebs and bats strewn across the ceiling in the living room, a couple skeletons are seated at the dining room table that’s surrounded by floating candles, severed hands and feet rest on surfaces throughout the home, spiders of various sizes adorn the walls, and there’s even an animatronic Pennywise in the in the guest bathroom guaranteed to scare people shitless, but, hopefully not literally as that will just be a nightmare to clean. 

6:30pm

The kegs arrive and are carted off to the basement and backyard. You’re setting up the snack table, putting out the orange and black paper cups, plates, and napkins when you hear a commotion coming down the stairs. 

“This is stupid,” the familiar voice of Lee Know grumbles and you immediately smile.

“I can’t believe I’m wearing a dress,” says Changbin.

Two weeks ago you challenged Changbin and Lee Know in beer pong—winner got to choose the others Halloween costume. You had Hyunjin on your team and came out victorious.

“I don’t look that bad,” comes the voice of Seungmin. 

Seungmin you challenged in a game of pool, same stakes. You’re shit at it, but he sank the 8 ball early and thus, you had all of them right where you wanted.

You turn around to face the stairs as they finish making their way down and bring your hand to your mouth to cover your laugh. They really committed…and their assignees had obviously helped put their looks together, from the makeup to the faux cleavage.

“The Sanderson sisters have come to SKZ house,” Han announces, pointing and laughing at the trio.

Changbin is dressed as Mary—eyebrows drawn on pencil thin, lips crooked and painted red, with a black wig shaped like a witch’s hat. Seungmin is Sarah—thick, dark eyebrows and eye makeup and a long, blonde wig. And the beautiful Lee Know is Winifred—copious amounts of blush on his cheeks, red lipstick only on the middle part of his lips, red wig and, of course, the look wouldn’t be complete without the trademark buck teeth. 

“BoooOOOOOoook,” he wails as he enters the living room and everyone fucking loses it. 

7:00pm 

You finally have a chance to shower and get changed into your costume. It took you a while to decide on what you would be, but Hyunjin suggested an idea to play off what Chan is going as and you went along with it. 

With your dress, corset, fishnets, calf-high combat boots in place and make up complete, you make your way back downstairs. The regular lights have all been turned off so the house has a darker feel to it, but there are various purple, red, and orange lights throughout to compliment the decorations and mood. 

Hyunjin is sitting on the couch and offers you a look of appreciation when he sees you. You can only giggle at his costume. He’s half-assed it, for sure, but he still looks adorable. He’s wearing his regular clothing and has a headband on with pink ears, a pink bow tie, and a pink pigs nose covering his own. He turns around to show you the squiggly tail hanging near his butt. 

“Cute,” you tell him. 

“You look way better,” he says, pulling you close and lifting his pig nose to kiss you on the lips. 

You look around the living room and survey everyone’s costumes. Han is dressed as Jack Sparrow, Felix looks like a man being taken by an inflatable alien and Allie is dressed as an agent from ‘Men In Black’. Jeongin is Woody from Toy Story and Charlotte is Jesse, they’re adorable. Rhiannon has decided to play along with Seungmin and Changbin as the Sanderson sisters and dressed as Binx, wearing all black with cat ears and whiskers, she even popped in some yellow cat eye contacts. 

You don’t see Chan though and you’ve been dying to know what he’s put together. You excuse yourself from the room and check for him in the kitchen, but he’s not there either so you make your way to the basement. 

It’s dark there as well, but lights have been added to each step to prevent anyone from falling. The lighting in the room is purple and a projector casts various Halloween themed images against the walls in slow, spinning rotation. 

Chan and Changbin have their back to you as they struggle to get the dry ice machine working. 

“Need any help?” You ask, and they turn to look at you over their shoulder. 

Changbin’s eyebrows raise at the sight of you, followed by a nod and thumbs up thrown in your direction before he turns his attention back to the machine. 

Chan turns around to face you, smirking as he takes in your costume. The first thing you notice on him is the amount of skin showing on his upper body and the slash-like wounds that have been added to it. You look from his bare navel up to his eyes and arch an eyebrow. It’s definitely not what you had expected but holy fuck does the sight of him make you want to let him do despicable things to you.

In his ears he has one silver stud earring and the the other is shaped like a fang. On his upper half he’s wearing a furry, grey vest that has a hood with a realistic wolf’s head attached to it. On his lower half he has on a pair of black boots and low hanging, ripped black jeans with black Supreme boxers peeking above the top. His hands are covered in grey, furry gloves with nothing but his finger tips out. 

“Little red, eh?” He asks, looking you up and down. 

Your costume consists of a dress that is white at the top (frilly and off the shoulders) then turns red near your hips accompanied by a black bustier that’s squeezing your insides together and pushing up your breasts. A red cloak is also draped around your shoulders, tied in a delicate bow across your clavicle. The fishnets and combat boots add a sexy, grungy feel to the look.

You pinch the sides of your dress between your thumb and forefinger, extend your right foot back and curtsy.

9:30pm

You hate to admit that Seungmin was right. Actually, you would never admit that. However, telling people the party began at 7:30 ensured they actually started showing up around 8:30. Everyone is now scattered throughout the first floor, basement and backyard.

You start the night off with a shot to calm your nerves from being in the house full of so many people. You also can’t help but feel like a hostess, wanting to make sure the snacks and drinks are never empty. You make sure the best costume voting station has pens and paper. You refill bowls of chips. Changbin follows behind you as you refill the drink dispensers to slip more alcohol into it. You eye him carefully and shoo him away from the one dispenser clearly labeled as non-alcoholic. Not everybody wants to get shitfaced tonight. 

When you’re not playing hostess, you float around from room to room. With all the housemates here, you always have someone to wander off and talk to, which is comforting. You spend some time cheering Lee Know and Allie on as they reign over the beer pong table. You listen as Jeongin engages in a conversation with a group of girls, talking about needing models for an upcoming project. He has his arm wrapped around Charlotte’s waist as he addresses them, and she looks so out of her element, but leans onto him for support.

As far as you’ve seen, the boys really live up to the rule about not sleeping with anyone else outside of the house. Jeongin could probably pull any one of those girls in that circle, but he’s making it clear he has someone and is not interested. 

Felix really did put himself in charge of the music and made a master playlist that’s blaring throughout the main floor. You spend some time with him in the living room, watching the people mingle and dance. Later you join Seungmin and Rhiannon in the backyard, sitting around the fire pit with a couple of others.

11:30pm

The house is fucking packed. With the music so loud, people’s conversations sound more like shouting matches. You take another shot with Hyunjin and snack on some of the Halloween-themed food that was catered. There are several giant, soft pretzels shaped like spiders, stuffed peppers that look like Jack-O-Lanterns, witch hat shaped calzones, white chocolate covered strawberries that look like ghosts, cheese wrapped with prosciutto and a green olive in the center to make it look like an eyeball. You’re delighted with the selections you and the girls made. 

Eventually, you duck off from a conversation with Han (who, after two drinks is taking his role as Jack Sparrow a little too seriously), to head to the bathroom on the second floor. You bypass the yellow caution tape blocking upstairs to let everyone know it’s off limits, and head up. It’s dark and the lighting has been changed to red, making it feel extremely eerie. 

Once in the bathroom, you quickly relieve your bladder and wash your hands. When you’re done, you stay inside for a bit longer than necessary, just needing a moment of silence. You can still hear the music bumping and people chattering, but it feels calmer in here. You lean against the counter, check your makeup and adjust your costume. The corset is tight around your chest—but it does look good. You bounce, tipsy enough to giggle at the sight of your boobs jiggling in the mirror. 

There’s a knock at the door that snatches the laugh right out of you. 

“Yes?” You call out, wondering who it could be. The girls would have walked right in, but no one else should be up here. 

There’s no response, so you open the door, ready to tell off whoever it is. 

“Second floor is off—“

The first thing you see is a wolf’s snout. 

“What are you doing?” You ask Chan, shutting the light off to the bathroom. You place a hand on his chest and force him backwards into the hallway.

You move to drop your hand from his chest, but his fur clad hand stops you, keeping it in place. 

“Just making sure nobody else was up here,” he shrugs. 

He places his other hand on your waist and pulls you to him. 

“Hmmm,” you hum, looking up at him skeptically. “Did you find anyone?”

“This costume,” he switches gears and releases your wrist, not allowing you time to call him on his bullshit. You can smell the alcohol on his breath, but he’s not drunk.

His eyes trail down to your cleavage. He brings a hand up to trace lines back and forth across the top of your breasts with his finger.

“So you did wanna play dress up with me?” 

Your eyes drop to his fingers touching you. You don’t want to give him the satisfaction of saying yes.

“It was Hyunjin’s idea,” you reply.

“Oh?” He cocks his head to the side. “Those are two different wolves though—from the three pigs and little red.”

“And?” You counter.

His hand slides up from your breasts to your neck, giving it a gentle squeeze. You are slowly growing accustom to the feel of this. You were shocked the first time he did it—there must have been an intense look of panic on your face because he eased up his grip and assured you he wouldn’t hurt you. It’s odd to think you trust him more sexually than in your everyday life, but he’s shown you enough when fucking you to let you know it’s all meant to be pleasurable in some way—sometimes for both of you, sometimes just for one of you. 

“You guys never clarified what wolf I am,” he says.

His hand drops from your neck to yank down the fabric and reveal one of your breasts. You look down the hall, a look of shock plastered to your face, but there’s no one in sight. He doesn’t seem like he would care, even if there was. When your eyes meet with his again, he’s staring right back at you. Daring you to protest.

He pushes the wolf head off and it falls to his back. His dark, curly hair is stuck to his forehead after having it on for so long. You lean back instinctively as he lowers his head to take your nipple in his mouth and let out a surprised gasp. 

“Chan,” you say, gripping his bare waist. 

He swirls his tongue around your nipple and bites it, eliciting another gasp from you. He releases your nipple and stands up straight, cupping your breast as he makes a declaration you’ll never forget.

“I wanna be Red’s wolf.”

No smirk, no smile…it doesn’t feel like he’s joking or teasing you. Does he mean it?

Your hand shoots up to his neck lightning fast, pulling him down and crashing your lips to his. He spins you both around so your back is now against the wall as he kisses you. You roll your body, pressing your hips against his as his tongue clashes with yours. 

He leans back for a moment, biting his furry glove with his hand to pull it off so his hand can feel you completely. When his lips are on yours again, his other hand takes hold of your neck once more, squeezing it as you slip your tongue in his mouth and he sucks it in further.

With his now glove free hand, he lowers it to rub at your fishnet covered thighs. His hand inches higher beneath the hem of the dress until it’s right between your legs. But then he freezes.

He breaks the kiss, still gripping your neck. His thumb rests on one side, pointer finger directly on your chin, and the other three are on the opposite side. He pushes your head up, pressing your head to the wall as you both catch your breath.

“Is shark week over yet?” He asks, cupping your pussy. 

You start to repeat the phrase back to him, but chuckle as the realization hits you. The last three days you had been with him you were nearing the end of ‘shark week’ as he just called it. He had kept his distance, for the most part, aside from an impromptu morning blowjob before he trotted off to class on Tuesday. 

“Yes,” you breathe in response. 

His thumb and pointer finger squeeze your jaw, lowering your head and allowing him to recapture your lips. He resumes moving his other hand, hooking two fingers between the fishnets and the side of your underwear. He sucks on your bottom lip as his fingers rub your pussy, feeling how wet you are. He groans into your mouth as his fingers circle between your lips.

“I wanna fuck you so bad, Red,” he says, breaking the kiss once again.

He withdraws his fingers and brings them up to his mouth, popping them right inside and sucking your juices off. You watch him through lustful eyes, loving how fond he is of your taste. He’s not even remotely communicative with you but in these small moments you share, you understand all you need.  

He pulls his other glove off and tosses it aside before dropping to his knees in front of you and bringing both hands to where the fishnets are at your crotch, poised to rip them apart. 

“Chan!” You yell, grabbing his wrists. “I’ve only gotten to wear this for three hours, the party isn’t even over yet.”

“So?” He says, breaking his wrists free of your hands with ease. 

“So, relax.” You say, taking hold of his wrists again. “And wait.”

He drops his hands and sits back on his heels, looking up at you. With only the red light illuminating the hallway, his gaze feels ravenous. Perhaps he does not like you telling him what to do. You second guess your word choice…maybe you should have added a please in there. You shift your weight from one foot to the other as his continued silence makes you anxious. 

When his hands move back to your thighs, you don’t even try to stop him this time. Resisting is futile. You always give in to the pleasure. They slide up beneath the hem of the dress again, but instead of ripping them, he respectfully finds the waistband of the fishnets. His eyes never leave yours as he hooks his finger inside them and slowly pulls them down, dragging your underwear with it. 

You bite your lip to keep from smiling. So maybe he disregarded the part about waiting, but he did at least grant your request to not rip them. He has a smug look on his face, seeing your reaction. You avert your gaze down the hall, wanting to check that the coast is clear but also wanting to keep him from seeing how much of an affect a small act of kindness from him makes you feel. 

The hallway is still empty. 

You look back to Chan and pull your dress up and out of the way. He uses one hand to keep the fishnets and underwear pulled down as the other guides your leg over his shoulder. And as soon as he leans forward, taking your pussy in his mouth, you know you wouldn’t fucking care if the entire party walked up here right now.

You squeeze your eyes shut as you roll your hips, pushing your pussy against his face so he can properly devour you. The music downstairs is muffled, but still mostly drowns out the sound of him slurping you up. He replaces his mouth with his fingers, playing in your wetness. He uses his thumb to rub circles around your clit as you grip his hair with your free hand. 

“Fuuuck,” he drawls, pressing his thumb against you harder, watching your hips move in response. He slips his fingers inside of you and swaps his thumb and mouth again. 

Your eyes snap open at his words and your hand forces his face against your pussy even more. You had already declared you belong to him the first time he fucked you. Hearing him say it, hearing him claim you drives you wild. 

His fingers pump in and out of you rapidly as his tongue licks up and down your pussy. You put your head back against the wall, moaning at all the feelings. His fingers inside of you, his mouth on you, being in the hallway where anyone could come up and see you. But most of all, being his. 

“Please, Chan,” you say, feeling so fucking turned on you think you might burst.

He detaches his mouth and stands up, causing your leg to fall from his shoulder, and reclaims your mouth. You can taste yourself on his lips as his fingers keep thrusting into you. His other hand finds it way back to your neck, squeezing it harder than before. 

“Please what?” He asks, lips pressed against yours.

You keep your eyes on his as your hips fuck his fingers back, whimpering. You reach your hands between you, undoing the button on his jeans and pushing the zipper down. You slip a hand beneath the waistband of his boxers and grip his cock, feeling how hard he is.

“I need you,” you force out with his hand still around your neck and he grins. 

He knows how he makes you feel and he loves it. Seeing you desperate and needy, begging him to fuck you. 

Before he has a chance to, you see someone step onto the landing from the corner for your eye. The thought of being caught and the reality of it are two very different things. 

Chan reacts so quickly, turning to shield you, lowering his hand from you neck to pull your dress up and cover your breasts. You drop your dress and pull your fishnets and underwear back up. You peek over his shoulder to see who’s come up.

It’s Han. 

He sees you two, but he doesn’t say anything. He opens the door and walks into his room, but a moment later his head pops back out, adorned with his pirates hat and he throws a grin in your direction. You flip him the middle finger and he disappears fully into his room.

You press your head to Chan’s chest. Maybe he does care about people seeing you exposed and he just talks a big game. You don’t want to ask, though. He might just take it as a challenge. 

You lean your head back to look up at him and he chuckles, wrapping his hand around your back and pressing your hips against his. You can still feel the bulge of his cock.

“Let’s go back downstairs,” you say, taking a step away from him as you come back to your right state of mind. You need to clear your head—maybe get another drink, maybe get some fresh air. 

“Will you stay with me Sunday?” He asks suddenly, pulling his zipper back up.

Your eyebrows raise in surprise. You hadn’t expected him to concede so easily, nor ask you to stay with him. You had yet to spend a Sunday with him. In all honestly, you didn’t think he cared much for you to be there. But maybe he’s only asking since he didn’t get to fuck you during the week and feels like he needs to make up for lost time or something. 

“Maybe,” you reply.

Sunday is your day. It would mean a lot, to you, for you to choose to stay with him. What would it mean to him? 

He buttons his pants as you pick up his discarded gloves from the ground and hold them out to him. 

“Maybe?” He repeats skeptically, eyeing you as he accepts the gloves with one hand. 

His other hand—the one that had been inside you—he brings to his lips and sucks his first three fingers into his mouth one by one. He’s silent as he puts the gloves back on, mulling over your answer. 

“Okay,” he finally says. 

“Okay?” You repeat him this time. 

The dark look in his eyes makes you feel as though it’s not okay.

“Sure,” his tone is now sickly sweet and you find it unnerving. “I’ll be back down in a sec.”

12:15am 

The keg in the basement has been tapped already. Changbin and Chan work to move the one from the backyard down there with the help of a few other guys. It looks like a disaster waiting to happen and you don’t want to watch. You spot one of your friends that you stayed with after the breakup hanging in the kitchen and talk with her for a bit. You let her know you’re fine and have found a place to stay—sparing the specifics, of course. 

1:00am 

All the housemates and a good majority of the guests crowd around the living room as Felix MC’s, to hand out best costume awards. Much to your chagrin, Changbin, Lee Know and Seungmin win best group. Some guy dressed as Elton John in his bedazzled LA Dodger outfit wins most like the original. A girl with a literal UFO floating above her head and lights streaming down wins most creative. Sexiest female goes to a girl dressed as a skimpy Mario. Sexiest male costume goes to none other than Chan—he celebrates by taking two shots back to back. You’re close enough to notice a small dribble that’s trickled down to his abdomen and you’re tempted to get on your knees and lick it off in front of everyone.

After the prizes—gift cards and alcohol—are handed out, the crowd disburses throughout the house. You stay in the living room with Hyunjin and Felix as Felix gets the music going again. 

Hyunjin wraps his arm around your waist, holding you to his side as Despacito plays. He’s smiling down at you with glossy eyes and you can tell he’s definitely had a couple cups of the Changbin-spiked punch.

“Dance with me,” he says.

“Hell no,” you spit back, shaking your head. “I’m not anywhere near drunk enough for that.”

“Well, drink up,” he says, moving your hand with the cup to your mouth. 

You take a large gulp but still shake your head again. He takes the cup from you and finishes it off, sitting it on the table next to Felix. You protest as he pulls you to the middle of the living room where others are dancing. You’re struck with a wave of embarrassment, covering your face as he dances around you. He moves freely and easily to the beat, tongue caught between his teeth with a smile. He stops behind you and puts his hands on your hips, moving you from side to side with him. 

He spins you in a circle, then brings you back against him, rocking his hips backwards and forwards to the music, guiding yours in sync with his, holding you firmly to him. You want to feel mortified, but you’re smiling and laughing. You’re enjoying yourself. As you always do with him. He wraps his arms around your shoulder, pulling your back flush against his chest and kisses your neck.

“Y/n?” You hear your name called and as your eyes snap up to the person who said it your smile immediately drops.

Your ex. 

Hyunjin still has his arms around your shoulder, holding you against him, but he stops moving and looks up at your mood killer too. 

“Who’s that?” He asks.

“My ex,” you tell him. He straightens up, but doesn’t remove his arms from you. 

Your ex walks closer to you, not even glancing at Hyunjin behind you.

“Can we talk?” He asks. 

1:45am

You’re hesitant. You don’t walk to speak to him, not now when you’re having such a good time.  You also don’t want to cause a scene, though.

You tap Hyunjin’s arm around your shoulder and he releases you. You gesture for you ex to follow you and lead him through the kitchen to the backyard. There are people out here too, but it’s not as crowded. You fan yourself when you hit the fresh air—you hadn’t realized how hot it had gotten inside with all the people, combined with the alcohol and dancing. 

“What’s going on with you?” He asks in an accusatory manner. 

“Nothing?” You respond, not sure what he means. 

“I saw you a few weeks ago with one guy, now you’re dancing up on some other dude?”

“You keep asking these questions as if you’re entitled to answers,” you snap at him. “You wanted to break up with me. You wanted to see other people. You don’t get to say shit about what I do.” You step closer to him and jab your finger into his chest each time you say ‘you’. 

“Is this where you’re living now, then?”

You sigh, shaking your head. 

“Listen, I think closure would be good here…but this is not the way.”

“I told you I wasn’t looking for closure.”

You let out a wry laugh.

“I’m not going to sit around waiting for you, if that’s what you’re wanting. I’m single. I’ll do whatever and whomever I want.”

His jaw clenches as he glares at you. 

“And I have no intention of ever being with you again.” You add. “So, either leave me alone and enjoy yourself at the party or get the fuck out if that’s too hard for you to do.”

You throw your hands up at him and shake your head before opening the sliding glass door and walking back into the house. He follows you inside, grabbing you by the arm to stop you before you reach the living room. You turn to face him, snatching your arm back. 

“So you give me shit about wanting to see other people, but now you’re living in a house with these frat bros?” He arches an eyebrow.

You shrug. He becomes more annoyed at your response. 

“You’re fucking them aren’t you?” He spits, stepping closer to you, leaning down so you can hear him over the loud music. He grabs you by the arm again, dragging you to him.

You put a hand on his chest and struggle to push him away, feeling everyone’s eyes on you. You’re certain the music is still blaring, but it suddenly feels extremely quiet.

“You’re fucking all eight of these squinty-eyed motherfu—“

Your fist connecting with his jaw cuts him off. You don’t know what’s come over you to react in such a physical way, but you’d be damned if you let him finish that sentence. 

The next few moments happen in a blur.

He yanks you closer, seething, as he opens his mouth to say more disprectful shit. But someone wraps their arm around your waist and pulls you away from him and at the same time, someone else shoves your ex. Then Chan is standing between you and him, facing your ex. You can’t clearly hear what he’s saying over the music and the erratic beating of your heart, but they look to be exchanging some heated words. Your ex looks furious with Chan in his face, acting like the literal big, bad wolf. 

You look back to see who’s grabbed you—it’s Seungmin. He’s holding you close, but his eyes are locked on Chan, waiting to see if he needs to get involved. 

Hyunjin and Felix come into the dining room amidst the commotion. He walks behind your ex and places a hand on his shoulder. Your ex shoves his hand off, says one last remark to Chan then storms out of the room. Hyunjin follows behind him to make sure he leaves. Felix puts a hand on Chan’s chest to keep him from following. He forces Chan to look him in the eye to hear whatever he’s saying. 

Changbin storms in, coming from the basement a little too late, but still looking ready for a confrontation. All while dressed as Mary Sanderson. The sight sends you into an immediate fit of laughter. 

The partygoers go back to their own conversation as Changbin approaches you, Chan, Felix and Seungmin. 

“Why didn’t you ride your vacuum?” Seungmin says to him. “You would have gotten here sooner.”

“He’s lucky I was late,” he huffs. 

Chan turns away from Felix to face you and Seungmin releases you from his grasp.

“You okay?” Chan asks, softly. 

“I’m fine,” you tell him, wiping at a stray tear as you regain your composure.  

Chan lifts your chin up with a finger so you’re looking him in the eyes, possibly wanting to make sure the tears are from laughing. 

You nod your head, reassuring him. 

“Nice job, slugger,” Seungmin says, ruffling the top of your hair. You swat him away and wince as your hand comes in contact with his arm. He laughs at your pain. “I’ll get some ice.”

He disappears behind you towards the fridge. 

Chan gently takes your hand in his and brings it up for inspection as you weakly wiggle your fingers. 

“Can you make a fist?”

You squeeze your hand together the best you can but it becomes painful before you can make a complete fist. 

You hear Chan take a deep breath. He closes his eyes, hand still holding yours. 

“Tell me I shouldn’t go after him,” his eyes snap back open and they are brimming with rage. 

“Don’t,” you plead. 

“I wouldn’t lose,” he says, rubbing his thumb across your fingers. He’s here, physically, in front of you, but it seems like his mind is already out the door. 

“He’s not worth it,” you shake your head. 

He readjusts the wolf on his head and nods, as if trying to convince himself you’re right. 

“Go to Seungmin, put some ice on it.”

He lets go of your hand and heads for the basement with Changbin.

3:30am 

You’ve apologized profusely to the members and the other assignees, hoping the altercation with your ex hadn’t put a damper on the night. They assure you it’s alright—they all seem more concerned that you’re okay, and it makes you feel warm and cared for.

The house has mostly emptied, Seungmin and Jeongin are getting the last few stragglers out. Changbin and Hyunjin are supposed to be helping clean but Changbin, drunk off his spiked punch, is cradling Hyunjin’s face in his hands and loudly alternating between calling him the cutest piglet he’s ever seen and asking him to ‘oink’. Hyunjin is cackling, trying to squirm away from his touch, but he’s no match for Changbin’s strength.

Chan, Jeongin and Han come up from the basement and shut the light off behind them. 

“Everyone’s clear from down there,” Han says, removing his pirate hat.

Chan has his arm around Jeongin’s neck as Jeongin supports his stumbling steps. 

“…and that’s why you’re my baby,” Chan is saying to Jeongin.

“Okay, hyung, okay. I’m your baby forever,” Jeongin is smiling widely, amused.

He must not get to see their chapter president like this often. 

You’ve never seen him like this. 

“Y/n,” he says with a smile when his eyes fall on you.

He shakes free of Jeongin and walks to you.

“What did you do to him down there?” You ask.

“We had to keep him from going after that guy—he’s at least responsible enough to not drive drunk,” Han tells you. 

His words give you some pause. You would never want to condone any further violence, but…had Chan been ready and willing to fight over you? 

Chan hugs you from behind, head hanging over your shoulder.

“You should probably take him upstairs,” Felix says, taking the stack of paper plates you’ve amassed and tossing them into the trash bag he’s holding. 

You step to the side and drape Chan’s arm around your neck, holding on to it with one hand as the other holds him by the waist. 

He lets you walk him up the stairs, giggling to himself as he concentrates on taking one step after the other. 

“Do not fucking fall. I’m telling you right now I can’t save you,” you warn him.

“Yes, ma’am,” he giggles again, putting his other hand on the rail to grip as he walks.

Once in his room, finally, you ease him onto his bed and he immediately splays out flat on his back. You kneel on the bed to get his costume off and he lets you remove his gloves, and vest without putting up a fight. However, when you get off the bed to place them on the dresser, he protests

“Come here with me,” he whines. 

“You need to sleep it off, Chan.” You tell him, softly.

“No,” he pouts, sitting up on the bed, swaying. He looks like he’s concentrating every fiber of his being on holding steady. “Come here.” 

There’s more demand to his voice the second time. You sigh and walk towards the bed.

“Don’t do that,” he chides.

“Do what?”

He mimics your sigh.

“Like you hate me or something. Don’t hate me,” he turns to look at you with sad eyes and pout once again firmly in place on his lips. 

“I don’t hate you,” you tell him truthfully, crossing your arms in front of your chest as you sit next to him on the bed. “You’re just always so hot and cold with me. I don’t know how to be or feel when I’m around you. I’m in a perpetual state of conflicting confusion with you.”

You choose to be honest with him about your emotions. You do want him to know how it feels, but you also wonder if he’ll even remember any of this tomorrow.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbles, leaning to the side to rest his head on your shoulders. “I have to be this way, y/n.”

You furrow your brow at his response. Why on earth would he have to be this way to you? You shake him off of you and he sits back up on his own, leaving his head hanging. 

“Why, Chan?” You ask angrily. He doesn’t budge. “Chan. Look at me!”

Your sharp tone of voice causes his head to snap up.

“Why?” You ask again, softer this time. 

“It’s just easier this way…I don’t think I cou—“ he starts but trails off and shakes head, unable to finish.

“Chan, please,” you plead with him. “How is this easier? Easier than what?”

He shrugs and places his head in his hand. A silence falls over the room as you wait to see if he will respond. He doesn’t, and it angers you. 

“Why would you choose me,” you start slowly, “if you’re so determined to treat me like an object you own when everyone else in this house can be both friends and lovers, fuck buddies, whatever the hell you want to call it with their assignee. Why is it so fucking hard for you?”

“I couldn’t let you end up with anyone else,” he says, words muffled by his hands.

You sigh. Again. You’re desperate to know what he means, to get some kind of clue about why he keeps you at arms length. Why he wants your full submission but refuses to let you get closer to him. You wish he were sober. It's even more frustrating that even when he’s drunk, he’s not spilling out helpful information. It’s the most of an explanation you’ve ever gotten out of him, though, but talking to him like these feels useless. He’s too heavily guarded. 

He looks up again and turns to face you.

“Stay with me tonight?” 

What is he trying to do to you? It’s the second time tonight he’s asked you to stay with him. And the way he looks right now, annoyingly adorable, you want nothing more than to grant his wish. But it’s infuriating to think that this isn’t the real him. Or if it is, why the fuck can’t sober Chan be the same? If you give in to him like this, after he’s explained nothing yet expects everything from you, you will lose even more of yourself. 

You find logical ways to justify your shared intimacy and lack of anything else, telling yourself that it’s part of the gig as an in-house stay. But what happens if you start to choose him and his behavior doesn’t change? Will you become upset if he continues to treat you the same?

“It’s Saturday,” you say finally, standing from the bed. 

He pouts again.

“It’s Sunday, actually.” He corrects you. 

He stands, taking a moment to catch his balance. He reaches for your hand and brings you towards him. He rubs his finger over the back of your knuckles. The pain from the punch earlier had mostly subsided after icing it.

You think back to Chan’s actions in the kitchen, how he immediately sprung to your defense. It’s as if he wants to be the only one who can get away with mistreating you. 

“We’ll just sleep. Stay with me.” He asks again, bringing your hand to his mouth and placing a soft kiss on it. Your stomach flutters at the sight. 

“No,” you say defiantly, shaking your head. “That’s not how it works.”

“It works how we decide it works,” he counters, placing his hands on your hips and looking down at you. 

“No, Chan…not like this.”

“Fine,” he mumbles, dropping his hands from you. 

He turns away from you and walks towards the corner of the room—to your bed. He grabs your pillow and hugs it to his chest as he walks back to his bed. 

He’s acting like the cutest fucking brat you’ve ever seen and yet you still want to slap his face. How had his parents put up with this? Maybe shipping him off to the states for school had been in their best interest. He would have been a handful, and spoiled rotten. You can almost guarantee it.

He climbs into his bed, holding your pillow as he gets comfortable. You stand watching him. You want to go to him. You want to curl up behind him, to hold him. To share a bed with him for the first time. But you can’t keep setting yourself up for failure. If you do that tonight, what happens tomorrow? He won’t treat you any different and you’ll be upset you let yourself fall for it. 

“Goodnight, Chan,” you say, turning for the door. 

He grunts in response as you turn the light off and exit the room.

On your way downstairs, you stop to listen and see if anyone is still cleaning in the kitchen but it’s dead quiet so you continue to Hyunjin’s room. You make it back to the room and see he’s already knocked out. You contemplate waking him up but decide against it. Any mood you had for fooling around is gone. 

You rid yourself of your costume piece by piece and climb into bed with Hyunjin in just your underwear and a shirt. His body adjusts to your presence, as it always does, and you snuggle in to him. What started as a promising night that could have ended with some fun—with either Hyunjin or Chan—turned out to be quite the opposite.

[ read chapter 10 here ]

a/n: I am struggling so much to keep Chan in check. I want him to just give in an be the bestest boy ever, but then it'll be a rush and the story will end sooner. So, let's ride this out together.

taglist: @iflmho / @skzstaykatsy / @blackhairandbangs / @ayoitschannie / @idunnomanmynamewastaken / @charmer-c / @ihatemen55 / @channiesprincess / @channniesslefttt / @jiwoos-babygirl / @krayzieestay / @kayleefriedchicken / @sunnyhonie / @cotton-candycloudz / @lubsungie / @conwunder / @puckmaidens / @ashleighland / @hyunjiinnnn / @bmnyy / @ihrtlix / @maqqiekwon / @hynxnelly / @teti-menchon0604 I don't know why it's not letting me tag certain folks. but I will personally dm you if this happens so you're still aware when a new chapter is up. I GOT YOU!

[rinniessance]

BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE ༊*·˚ - leon kennedy x fem!reader x satoru gojo

leon kennedy has been announced mia after 24 hours of no contact. high brass doesn't care that you only came back from a mission a day prior, injured no less. when you're dispatched to spain, the last thing you expect is to get a special kind of rescue mission.

this is my entry for @rinhaler's gaming collab - MASTERLIST 🎮

꒰ warnings: nsfw - mdni .ᐟ.ᐟ resident evil au. kind of following the plot of resident evil 4. aphrodysiac sex, unprotected sex, pet names (it's my staple <3), oral sex (f receiving), slight dacraphyllia, squirting, two dicks in one hole, cream pie. forgive me if i forgot any tags ໒꒰ྀིっ˕ -｡꒱ྀི১ // word count: 5.8k ꒱ ꒰ notes: we love pure self-indulgence in this house .ᐟ.ᐟ tagging @mymegumi and @lilacliliess because they support my delusions about fucking two blue eyed men:3 ꒱

it’s been uneasy 24 hours in the D.O.S headquarters – ever since leon kennedy stopped responding to any attempts at communication, he’s been announced MIA this morning. given the sensitive mission of retrieving president’s daughter, the urgency to dispatch someone for another rescue is being pushed by the high brass, sending everyone on a search to find an agent capable enough of handling the job. as it turns out, out of dozens of people working in this forsaken organization, you’re the only one qualified.

“are you shitting me, hunnigan? i just came back from the mission last night. did you not see the stabbing wound?” for dramatic effect, you raise your t-shirt, showing freshly bandaged area where the deep cut resides. coming into the work this morning, the most stressful part of your day was expected to be the tons of paperwork you would’ve had to go through – yet as soon as you stepped into your office, you were greeted by leon’s handler, bearing the news from your superiors.

“sorry, you know it’s not up to me. whatever the president says goes.”

“are there literally no one else in this entire building who can be ordered to go instead?”

slumping over your desk, you put your head on top of your folded arms – it takes everything in you not to scream. your own mission was already problematic enough: bioweapon developers have become exceptional in making new B.O.Ws deadlier and deadlier, and knowing leon’s resume, there is a very high chance he was sent to deal with the worst of it.

“you’re one of the few partners kennedy has had while working for D.O.S. you know how he operates; it makes sense they are sending you.”

you know there is no point in arguing – if it’s been decided by the president, you have no choice but to go. it doesn’t mean, however, you can’t be irritated by the whole situation.

“do i at least get paid overtime?” you sign with exasperation, sulking deeper into your chair, hearing hunnigan let out a breathy chuckle.

“maybe if you bring golden boy’s ass back in one piece.”

“great. can i at least go home and make sure i didn’t leave the kettle on or something.”

“you’re not getting out of it, agent,” she says with a smile, and you can only groan. leon will be paying for all your meals for the next 6 months. “the helicopter is already waiting, actually, so you better gear your ass up and head to the helipad.”

“more amazing news.”

hunnigan only pats you on the shoulder – nothing she can say will make this situation suck any less – and leaves the room, letting you wallow in your misery.

“can you just fucking die already?” you yell in pure annoyance, trying to shoot the same person for the third time (you aren’t sure you can call these things human anymore). when the creature finally goes down, hopefully once and for all this time, the view in front of you is grotesque: hideous tentacle sprang out of the poor man’s head when you shot him between the eyes; it keeps moving, taunting you to waste more of your ammo. still holding onto your gun, you cautiously approach the body, slightly poking it with your boot – it doesn’t stir anymore. a sigh of relief escapes your lungs.

“just what the fuck is going on here,” you quietly mumble to yourself, looting any useful items nearby.

you arrived in spain this morning. surprisingly, leon made it easy enough to retrace his steps – he stopped by the local law enforcement which in turned let you know two of their men also went missing after they escorted kennedy to the area of interest. no one volunteered to come with you once you acquired the location of the small village somewhere north of here – apparently people have been going missing in the mountains for a while now – which was fine by you. everything you needed was the car you could use, and you were on your merry way.

in your 5 year long career as a government agent, the kind working in anti-bioweapon divisions, you’ve seen a multitude of… monsters, for lack of a better word. nothing could’ve prepared you for what you’ve witnessed when you arrived at your destination though: villagers turned into something sinister, creatures with no will of their own. you noticed it right away: their bulging veins pulsing with black viscous liquid, eyes shadowed with madness. what a surprise it was that when you finally started shooting them (hey, they started it), mandible-like limbs, shape closer to tentacles, with eyes growing out of them, erupted from their dead bodies, as if a swarm of crazy cultists wasn’t already enough.

you quickly glance at the still convulsing body on the ground, parasitic tendrils clinging onto their last living seconds; just looking at it makes you want to vomit. the smell of puss, heavy in the air, doesn’t help your desire to empty the insides of your stomach. you do not know what causes them to mutate, and you make a note to avoid any unknown substances – you also log a mental check not to get bitten by one of them (just in case).

after escaping a village, getting access to this stupid castle trying to find stupid stupid leon kennedy (you’re sure that what s. in leon s. kennedy stands for), you overheard some of the cultists talking about two prisoners on the basement level. leon and ashley? the goal now is to figure out how to get to the basement (and why does it always have to be the basement).

with careful precision, you finish analyzing the room you found yourself in – it’s a storage space of some kind, and nothing about it is particularly helpful to you. letting out a deep sigh, you sit down to re-collect your thoughts. wandering around this castle with no purpose will only stall you further – and time is something you do not have luxury of wasting.

just as you were about to get up from the chair, you knee bumps into something underneath the table. bingo. you quickly try to search for a keyhole or a puzzle piece to fit in to open the hidden compartment. but the gods are smiling down on you today – it only takes a simple click of a lock for the secret drawer to unlatch. before opening it, you stand to the side (the gunshot wound would mean deaths of all parties you’re trying to get out of here), and slowly push it forward with the knife.

“no way.”

the gods are smiling down on you– inside the drawer you don’t find a loaded shotgun, a poisonous smoke or anything else aimed at taking you out. instead, you find yourself looking at the map. something akin to relief makes your hands tremble as you unfold the treasured piece of paper, looking at the building blueprints, as fresh as if this was drawn yesterday.

tracing the way down to the basement level, you try to decide the easiest and shortest way. some of the rooms might require a key, deducting it’d be smarter to stick to the main rooms which are less likely to be locked. shoving the map back into your side bag, you reload the gun and slowly leave the room, looking for any signs of being followed. making sure the coast is clear, you start your way down.

leon, you better be still fucking alive.

leon wakes up from another torturous nap. he doesn’t know how long it’s been: could be 2 days, could be a week. to keep his sanity, he keeps trying to count the meals they bring them, figuring out the passage of time. why is salazar even feeding them? they’d worth more to him dead.

“good morning, sunshine.”

leon groans as soon as he hears the voice coming from his side. he doesn’t need to turn his head to know that satoru gojo is, despite the circumstances they found themselves in, still smiling.

“god, do you ever stop talking? they should starve you,” leon sighs heavily, and leans against the wall. his arms hurt – they have been cuffed to the ceiling this whole time, and the constant chatting from his unwanted companion makes this situation ten times worse.

“oh, common, don’t you have faith in your government? or you’re not important enough to rescue?”

“i might not be but the girl definitely is.”

it seems to shut satoru up, even if for a moment. his comments did make leon wonder if the headquarters organized the search party yet – more time they spent here means more time for the cult leaders to complete whatever it is they want with ashley. him and satoru have been infected with las plagas parasite too, their time is running short.

sighing deeply, gojo also slumps against the wall. both men can feel… whatever they were infected with moving inside their bodies, crawling their way into their brains. satoru is not sure what makes him and leon so special, but no signs of any infection have been visible yet. he wonders if it is a waiting game now: waiting for the moment they start losing their minds. what a sight that would be.

just as he was going to make another comment about their current predicament, both agents hear gunshots coming from the hallway, just outside the prison cells. blood curling screaming follows, rippling through the air, the unknown person emptying their clip into the guards until the room is engulfed in the oppressive silence.

to leon’s great surprise, and a great relief he must admit, it’s not a crazed guard running through the doors this time around – instead, two locked-up agents are met by your face. you hold your gun out, hand outstretched in front of you, ready to shoot the last remnants of the infected. it’s only when your gaze meets leon’s and you don’t identify any immediate danger, the gun is lowered, and you are rushing towards the cell.

“holy shit, it’s nice to see a familiar face,” leon cannot help but smile at the sight of you standing outside the cell bars, trying to break the lock.

“you won’t believe but the feeling is mutual. one too many mutated cultists, and even i started missing your ugly mug,” you throw back, returning his smile. your eyes move to gojo. “who’s that?”

“his partner.”

“no one.”

two men say that in unison, exchanging a heated glance afterwards.

“okaaaay,” you drawl out, “i don’t really care, you can bicker later. what we need to do it we need to get the fuck outta here like right now.”

you rush to uncuff the men with the keys you stole form the guards you shot earlier, and wait until they are able to push themselves on their feet.

“i am satoru gojo,” mysterious blond introduces himself properly, and extends his arm. you shake his hand and mumble your name back. you don’t know why but he makes you nervous.

“okay, all formalities for later. both of us are infected with that new plaga parasite, we need to extract it immediately,” leon interrupts the intense staring contest you entered with satoru, making you snap your attention back to him.

“well, then you’re in luck. i passed something that looked like a laboratory on the way here. it’s not too far either, only one floor up.”

“okay, great, no time to waste.”

kennedy steps out the room first, you and gojo following close behind. you’re on full alert – it doesn’t matter that you just took half of the castle down, somehow, new infected keep popping out like bunnies out of woodwork. it doesn’t take long the three of you to reach the desired destination, lab laying just behind the door straight off the stairs.

you cautiously look inside – no one seems to be here. after entering the room, you stand on guard while satoru and leon are looking for anything that might look like the cure. it seems that gods are smiling once again on you today because leon is able to find the last two vials of the vaccine sample. you have never seen him grinning so widely – it would’ve been almost heartwarming if not for the grim circumstances all of you ended up in.

before they can inject themselves with the medicine, the door swings opened and you’re thrown into the shelf, located on the opposite side of the entrance. multiple bottles with unknown substances fall on top of you, one of them breaking and infusing the air with a white powder. before you realize what happened, you inhale the mysterious concoction, immediately bursting into a coughing fit.

“fuck, are you okay?” leon yells your name somewhere from the side, and you try to wave him off. gojo is distracting whoever rammed through the doors, shooting the gun you presented him back in the prison cell. it takes exactly three more headshots for the mutated cultist to drop dead, and you’re pushing yourself off the ground and back on your feet. satoru is eyeing you suspiciously – you’re too busy brushing off your clothes and getting your breathing in order to notice.

“common, jab yourselves with the vaccine and let’s go, we have no time to lose,” you say with coarse voice. leon is also looking at you with worry but decides not to mention anything. both men inject themselves with the medicine, hoping and praying it’ll work, before rushing out of the doors and back on track to find ashley.

running through the corridors of the castle, you can feel yourself getting weaker – there is a sheer layer of sweat covering your spine, goosebumps are dancing on your skin, and a very familiar heat is pooling between your legs. your head feels heavy, you’re barely able to string two coherent thoughts together so you resort to slowly trailing after two men who haven’t stopped arguing about the next course of action.

“i don’t care what you came here for, satoru. i have my rescue mission that still needs to be completed,” leon sighs heavily as he pushes through the heavy doors into the next room.

“sure,” the other blond man quickly agrees, “but don’t you think you government would say ‘thank you’ if you helped securing the source of this outbreak?” gojo questions as he follows leon through the doors. you want to weigh your opinion in but before you can open your mouth, as you cross the threshold of the room, you trip on your own feets and send yourself flying towards the floor. the loud bang makes both men turn their attention back to you.

“god, are you okay?” leon’s by your side in mere seconds, supporting you by the elbow so you can get up. the waves of his body heat wash over you, and you want nothing more but to curl into his body and kiss the spot underneath his jaw. has he always been so handsome? you’re so concentrated looking at leon, you don’t notice satoru standing near you now. he touches your forehead, and it takes all of your willpower not to moan. fuck, his cold hands feel so nice on your feverish skin.

“shit, she’s burning up.”

“you think it’s because of whatever substance she inhaled back in the lab?”

“i don’t know, everything’s possible.”

two agents move you to sit on the table in the corner of the room – they can clearly see how foggy your eyes are, a layer of milky mist dancing across your vision – and leon’s fingers find your pulse point. this time, you are not fast enough to stifle the low whine that escapes your lips. at any other time, you’d be dying of embarrassment but now your body is begging for release, and you’re ready to do anything to get it. anything to soothe the ache building up in your throbbing clit.

“’m so hot…” you mumble as you start taking off tactical t-shirt, baring your sports bra to the two men in the room. “and it really hurts.”

satoru and leon look at each other before they look at you – kennedy will have to work with you in the future so he’s really trying not to look at your perky nipple, shape visible through the fabric, unlike gojo, who’s taking in your current condition with almost sick satisfaction.

“where does it hurt?” satoru asks before leon is able to butt in. as if wanting to confirm his suspicion, you take his hand and guide it to your sex, cupping it.

“here.”

leon is not even able to react before gojo is lunging forward and capturing your lips in a bruising kiss, making your head bang slightly against the wall. you let yourself moan into his mouth, satoru greedily claiming all the sounds to himself. it’s not nearly enough to pacify your accelerated heartbeat, but it’s still making you shudder. you’re spreading your legs to accommodate gojo’s tall frame – but before he is able to move any closer, he is thrown back by leon; loss of his warmth makes you whine.

“what the fuck do you think you’re doing?” kennedy hisses through his teeth, moving away from you and towards gojo.

“what does it look like? don’t pretend like you don’t know this is exactly what she needs right now,” satoru spits back. you think they continue arguing but their voices are being drowned out by the ringing in your ears. heat spreading through you sets everything on fire, and your pants join your t-shirt somewhere on the floor in your desperate attempt to relieve yourself of this scorching feeling. your partner notices it and sharply turns to face you.

“what the hell are you doi-” before leon can finish his sentence, you wrap you legs around him and press your body into his.

“leon, please…” you sob, hot tears pooling in the corners of your eyes, beads of salty water wetting your eyelashes and blurring your vision. hearing your pathetic plea, voice thick with lust and desire, looking at your tears-stained face, mouth slightly agape, and watching your lips, red and messy from satoru’s kiss, glistening in the moonlight – everything about you now screams ruin me and leon is not a strong enough man to resist it.

“what are you asking me to do, sweetheart?” he whispers against your lips in a teasing tone. his switch is almost jarring but you don’t have the brain capacity to mull over his sudden mood change. he moves his hand between your legs now, touching your pussy through your panties. leon’s fleeting touch is sending shivers down your spine, and you culr yourself into him more, whining and panting against his mouth. “jesus, she’s so fucking wet already.”

“i told you, didn’t i? she needs someone to stuff her full of cum,” satoru’s dirty talk comes somewhere from the side. too distracted by leon’s deep blue eyes, gojo’s touch makes you tremble in surprise and turn your head towards him. looking at his face, you’re met by baby blues – it felt like being thrown from the ocean into the endless skies. you think men with blue eyes will be the death of you.

gojo leans down to capture your lips again, re-exploring the sacred geometry of your kiss, while leon is planting wet kisses along your jawline. you mewl in euphoric pleasure, their touches soothing to your burning skin, and you’re completely giving yourself away to the bliss rolling over you in waves. leon’s digits are teasing your clit through the fabric of your panties, and your hips instinctively buck into his hand, making him chuckle into your neck.

“she’s dripping, gojo. i bet she can take both of us unprepped,” leon says to the other agent, still busy with sucking on your lips, invading your mouth with his tongue. at his words, you shiver under men’s bodies, tingling sensation rushing through you.

“i want you in my lap, pretty girl,” satoru whispers against your lips, and you jump off into leon’s arms so the other man can sit on the table first. you move to climb on top of gojo, legs on either side of his thighs, ready to ride him, but your partner’s strong arm stops you from turning around.

“nah-ah, let him hold you spread open for me, i want to taste you first,” leon breathes against your ear, teasing the sensitive spot, making you quiver in his hold. you turn yourself towards gojo and see him grinning as he beckons you with two fingers to come closer. when you end up in his arms, he spins you around, his chest to your back, and makes you sit between his legs on the table, opening you up.

satoru’s masterful fingers unclasp your bra with ease while leon makes a quick work of your panties, shoving them into his pocket, unbeknownst to you. who knows how your relationship will work out after this – he needs something to remember this moment by. you are now sprawled completely naked for the two men’s hungry gazes: your cheeks are flushed, mouth shaped into a perfect “o”, short breaths escaping your lungs – you are truly a sight to behold. gojo wastes no time in cupping your breasts with his hands, trailing his lips on the side of your neck, sucking in hickeys as part of his claim.

kennedy gets on his knees in front of you, looking up into your eyes. gojo’s fingers are playing with your hardened nipple, making your hips buck upwards – right into leon’s mouth. his first languid swipe of the tongue comes just as satoru pinches your sensitive nubs, and you cannot help the pornographic moan escaping your lips.

“jesus, doll, who knew you’d sound so pretty,” it’s gojo’s voice against the shell of your ear, making you shudder. one of his hands keeps massaging your boob, twisting the nipple between his digits, while his other hand goes all the way down and spreads your folds for leon’s easy access. he hums in appreciation, and starts flicking his tongue up and down, drawing tight circles on your clit, sucking on it when he feels your legs tighten around his head.

agent’s movements make you squirm in satoru’s hold, dropping your head against his shoulder as leon continues eating you out. you’re absolutely incoherent now – your fever never dropped so your muscles are aching, toes curling in anticipation of the long awaited release, as you continue moaning through quick breaths.

“finger her.”

leon follows gojo’s command immediately, shoving his middle digit inside, while still lapping at your pussy. your walls clench against him almost instinctively, intrusion sudden but not unwelcome – he groans feeling the embracing heat of your cunt.

“fuck, she’s so fucking tight.”

gojo keeps your legs spread, you trying to close them around leon’s head as he keeps up his assault with his tongue. he’s nibbling on your clit, putting extra pressure with the tip of his tongue, licking it back and forth in quick succession, before flatting it to lick between your sticky folds, all the way down to the drooling hole. leon adds a second finger now, setting up a merciless pace – he is curling his digits in a heavenly way, able to hit the soft, spongy spot inside that makes you see stars and your pussy throb; you gasp loudly.

“i wish we had a phone to record this. you look so divine.”

you clench at gojo’s words, making leon groan. he’s now playing with your tits, rolling your nipple, tugging at them to add the painful sensation to the lit-up nerves. your desperate moans are bouncing among the walls, and gojo decides he wants to hear the squelching sounds of your pussy around leon’s fingers and his tongue’s wet sounds as he sloppily eats you out so he shuts you up with a kiss.

you feel your tummy begins tensing up as two men continue their ministrations: it’s satoru’s hot mouth on yours and his hands squeezing your tits, fingers playing with erect nipples; it’s leon’s tongue lapping at your pussy, precise circles on your clit and his digits scissoring you at a perfect speed, hitting the nerve bundle that rushes to send you over the end. your legs start shaking and you grab onto satoru’s arm around you to ground yourself.

“nnggh-…” you whimper into gojo’s mouth, and he finally lets you catch a breath. “’m so close,” you sob again, “’m gonna cum.”

“yeah, you want to cream all over agent kennedy’s face?” satoru taunts you from behind. “that’s so unprofessional,” he makes a tsk sound with his mouth and squeezes your cheeks to look at him.

“we’re feeling generous today, i think,” he quickly throws a glance down at leon, who only smirks as his tongue keeps licking and sucking at your clit. satoru looks you straight in the eyes as he slowly drawls his next words, “you may cum.”

the orgasm washed over you in glorious waves, rattling your entire existence. you’re scrunching your eyebrows, mouth agape with a sinful moan, as your thighs clasp around leon’s head. you’re quivering in gojo’s hold, his hands forcing your hips down, pressing them more against kennedy’s face. the latter doesn’t stop his onslaught, lips suctioning around the throbbing pearl, fingers still curled at earth-shattering angle. you try to move away but neither man lets you.

“uh-uh, where are you trying to run away? let him drink everything.”

and everything does leon kennedy drink – agent is lapping at your juices like a kitten at a fresh bowl of milk, now substituting his digits with his tongue as he keeps fucking in and out of your needy cunt. ministrations don’t stop, not even when your moans turn into little sobs as your body starts feeling overstimulated. your puffy clit is now ruined from satoru’s finger pads playing with it.

both men can feel your form shaking almost violently, gojo’s gathering your falling tears with his tongue. leon’s finally pulling his face away from your sex, standing up to look at your ruined state.

“god, i only ate her out and she already looks fucked out,” he chuckles to the other blond man, and moves to stand between your legs.

“let me taste her,” before you can react, gojo’s grabbing leon by the back of his head and capturing his lips in a heated kiss. trapped between a rock and a hard place, you can do nothing but observe the most passionate display of carnage you’ve ever witnessed – they were slobbering over each other’s faces, and it made your pussy clench around nothing. god, you can’t wait to fuck them both.

“she’s sweet, just how i like them,” satoru smirks against leon’s lips, turning his attention back to you immediately. “common, princess, you’re going to have to ride me if you want both of us.”

you’re quickly climbing on the table, straddling him. kennedy situates himself right behind you, warmth radiating off him like in suffocating waves. you’re trying to unbuckle satoru’s jeans to free his heavy cock, still trapped in confines of his boxer briefs, but leon smacks your ass, sending you forward into gojo’s embrace. it stings, the outline of his hand already forming a bruise, and you’d be mad if you pussy lips didn’t flutter at the slap.

“you’re taking too long, sweetheart,” you hear satoru, both men undoing their belts and zippers before you can, pulling out their leaking cocks. from your position you could only see satoru’s hard dick as he stroked himself near your aching hole, but what you’ve seen was enough to make you almost scared – gojo’s dick was long and blessed with a perfect curve, just upwards, one thick vein running prominently from the bottom of his shaft ending just before his mushroom head. you’re sure leon’s looked just as pretty.

“you haven’t said a word. you wanna ask nicely for what you want?” you hear leon behind you as he’s pushing you forward again, right into satoru’s chest, and teasing your waiting cunt with his thick tip – the mixture of his spit, your slick and his precum is dripping down satoru’s cock from where he’s positioned just underneath you, and the messiness of it all makes leon groan.

“please, i want your cocks inside me… please,” you sob out again, vocal cords heavy with tears.

“i think this will be our reward for saving us, how about that, huh?” there is a teasing tilt in satoru’s voice, and you grab at his shoulders, mewling like a needy animal in heat.

“yes, yes, anything,” you’re blabbering with teary voice, making men hard at the mere image of you: a capable agent reduced to a cock-drunk slut, an image that makes their cocks twitch.

leon grabs gojo’s member, giving it a couple strokes, surprising the white-haired man but hearing no complaints. his thumb is playing with the drooling slit of his tip, beads of pre-cum decorating the entrance to his flushed dick, and kennedy can’t help but smirk at how blissed out satoru looks. he’s guiding his heavy and red cock inside you, while his other hand rests on your waist. gojo’s forcing your hips down while bucking his up, and he fills you up in one long thrust.

“ah!” you cry out, biting your lip to the blood, metallic taste in your mouth almost overwhelming on top of the mix of pain and pleasure burning through your body. you’re whimpering into satoru’s mouth, while his hand is running soothing circles on your back.

“here you go, such a good fucking girl. taking me in so well, huh? all it took is one thrust, so perfect,” he’s blabbering against your skin as he starts sinking in and out of your sloppy hole. looking down, you can see the bulge in your tummy, and it makes you purr – you not only feel him splitting you in two, you are able to witness it. his reddened tip is meeting your cervix in a bruising kiss, and god, he’s making you fell so good.

you’re so lost in the rapturous sensation of gojo’s huge cock pushing against your gummy walls, you don’t notice leon’s presence behind you – he is grabbing your hips with one hand while his other is jerking his dick, prepping himself to enter you. his tip is near your whole when you finally realize what’s he’s trying to do.

“no! no, it’s too mu- ah!” he doesn’t let you finish before he start pushing himself inside, sliding alongside satoru’s heavy member, making the man grunt.

“fuck, feels so tight and warm,” you hear behind you as kennedy sets a punishing pace, sheathing himself into your abused hole. they are stretching you out to heavens, leon looking at your gaping cunt with pride. it’s fluttering and clenching around their huge cocks, your walls spasming in pleasure as their lengths are grinding against your soft spots. you can hear your pussy queefing, and the filthy sounds of skin slapping against skin add to the dirty symphony.

“ngg, ngg- feels so, so goo-” you’re unable to finish your sentence as they keep bouncing you on their cocks, manhandling your body however they seem fit. you’ve never felt so full – both men keep drilling into you, like you’re no more than their little personal toy to play with. satoru grabs you by the back of your neck, biting at your lips, sloppily making out with you, while leon grabs your hair, forcing you back on his dick.

you can feel both cocks twitching inside you, approaching climax evident by their shallow breathing, moans hitching at every thrust of the hips. your walls are tightening around their cocks, and men’s whimpering and groaning is sinful to listen to, yet they are determined to make you climax first.

“common, gorgeous, cum around our cocks,” gojo hoaxes from underneath you. leon pushes your hips even closer into satoru’s body, your clit now grinding against his pubic bone, and it’s making you teeter on the edge of your bliss.

your bladder feels pressure you’ve never experienced before as gojo’s cock pressing against it from a perfect angle. leon is digging his fingers into the plush skin of your ass, rutting in and out of you, pushing against your back walls. all of your nerves are on fire, exploding fireworks in your brain, sending all your pleasure receptors into the overdrive. as your second orgasm washes over you, you’re left trembling in the men’s arms, leon’s chest against your back, your sweaty tits against satoru’s broad front.

“that’s a good girl, look at how cock-drunk you are,” you can hear them chuckle between themselves, not slowing down for a second. leon can see the white creamy ring enveloping the base of his cock in a soft embrace – it’s making him lose last of his slipping composure as he starts thrusting extra hard, thus speeding gojo up.

you bounce like a rag doll on top of gojo, having no semblance of control, being completely used by two agents. the pressure in your bladder comes back, and you throw your head back – your body continues quivering uncontrollably as you start sobbing again, tears drawing salty rivers on your cheeks, result of your body riding into stimulation. before you know it, something warm and so fucking wet starts gushing out of you. you want to look down, but men react first by groaning, voice impossibly thick with lust and awe.

“fuck, baby, didn’t expect you to squirt this much. so fucking filthy, i bet you waited to do this the whole time,” gojo grunts from underneath you, and you can only purr in response. it only takes couple more thrusts before leon and satoru synchronize their orgasms, shooting the ribbons of cum inside your womb, painting it pearly white, fucking it in warm and cozy. the squelching sounds ricocheting among the walls are nothing but sinful, and your cheeks flush red from the realization of what just transpired.

as both men pull out of your abused, stretched out hole, the combined mixture of all the fluids trickle down your thighs, making you groan in disgust. now that aphrodisiac has been fucked out from your system, you can’t even bring yourself to look them in the eyes. you hurry to pick up your clothes, but your legs give out underneath you – you’d end up flat on your ass, if not for leon who caught you mid fall.

tension in the air is palpable, electricity dancing on your skin is able to set everything on fire again. you’re ready to break the silence when satoru speaks first.

“you know, kennedy, next time you want to touch my cock, you don’t need to bring a woman between us.”

he leaves the room before either of you are able to force a reaction, and you wish you’d left both of them for dead instead.

© rinniessance do not steal, plagiarize or translate my works. do not recommend me on tiktok, thank you

[brbsoulnomming]

Tell Me Sweet Little Lies Part 24

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | AO3

Rating: mature

-----

The next morning, he and Robin drape themselves over a pair of pool chairs to get their lounge on while Steve works on getting the pool in good enough shape for their upcoming party.

It means watching Steve in nothing but a t-shirt and a pair of cut off shorts, so Eddie's very on board.

Robin scoffs next to him. "I am so glad you got your shit together so I don't have to tiptoe around you drooling right now."

"I'm not drooling!" Eddie insists, though he does wipe his hand over his mouth just to check.

No drool.

"Metaphorically," Robin clarifies, grinning at him. "By all means, oogle away. Just know Steve's probably showing off a little on purpose."

Eddie squints at him, and sure enough - there's probably no need for Steve to be lifting things that often.

"I hate that it's working," Eddie grumbles.

"Of course it's working." Robin rolls her eyes.

Right, of course it is. Eddie's always known that Steve was very attractive - it used to irritate the hell out of him, that he was susceptible to the same allure as the rest of the masses of Hawkins High. The fact that he thought Steve was a douche used to counter it, but, well.

Now he's pretty much in love with the guy.

Eddie leans forward a little, fiddling with some blades of grass by his chair. "Steve's, uh. It's true, right, that he's had a lot of sex with a lot of girls?"

Robin nods. "It's true. He was in a slump when I first met him, but before - well, before you, he was complaining about all his meaningless relationships that were just about sex when he wanted a real connection."

That's… Eddie doesn't know exactly what that is, actually, or how he feels about it. He thinks it should be weird, talking about this when they're both dating Steve, but - it doesn't feel weird, not really. "That doesn't bother you?"

"Does it bother me that he's been with more girls than I can count before I even got my first kiss? Not really. I mean, sure, I guess a little, in an ugh why is it so easy for him and so hard for me, but, you know. We both had our different ways of finding our other soulmate. Apparently neither of them were successful, since the Upside Down brought you to Steve, and I'm still striking out." She pauses, then adds, "Plus he's like really good at eating girls out, so I'm not going to complain about getting to benefit from him demonstrating his technique."

He takes it back, it's weird and uncomfortable and that was way too much information about their sex life.

Whatever face he's making gets her to laugh at him, eyes crinkling.

"Don't worry, it probably translates over decently well. Besides, I've seen him practically deep throat a banana so you're probably good. Oh, has he gotten to do that thing with his tongue yet?"

Eddie squeaks. He's pretty sure his face is bright red, considering how much it's burning, and Robin's laughter turns into a cackle.

Steve overhears the laughter and turns towards them, hip cocked as he squints at them.

"What's so funny?" he calls.

"Just asking Eddie if he's gotten to experience your tongue skills yet!" she calls back.

"Robin!" Steve yelps, dropping the pool net to come over to them.

"What?" she asks. "Weren't you the one who was whining at me about how you wanted to choke on his dick and then eat him out until he cried?"

The blood that had been flooding his cheeks immediately rushes south, and Eddie has to lean over to adjust his pants and try to make that less obvious.

Yes, please, sign him up for all of that.

"In confidence! I told you that in confidence!" Steve sputters.

Eddie leans back, tipping his head up at Steve with a slow smirk. "I'm feeling a little hurt, here, Harrington, how come I haven't gotten a fruit demonstration?"

Steve gapes at him for a moment, just long enough for Eddie to start to regain his footing.

Then Steve's eyes narrow.

"If I was demonstrating for you, Munson, it wouldn't be on fruit," he replies.

Steve turns his back on them and returns to the pool, leaving Eddie to make a protesting noise - that is not a whine, no matter how much he can read that in Robin's eyes while she laughs at him.

"Do I need to shove you in the pool to cool you off?" she teases.

"Shut up," he mutters, adjusting himself again.

Then he tips his head back and closes his eyes, because if he looks at Steve again in the next fifteen minutes or so, he might need to take Robin up on that.

—

They eat lunch all jammed together on the couch, plates balanced on their laps. Steve's eating with his left hand, because his right hand is holding Eddie's left. Their fingers are laced together, and Steve refuses to let go, and Eddie's pretty sure his cheeks are flushed red, but he's really not going to complain about it.

There's a little bit of sauce on the corner of Steve's lip, and ridiculously, it makes Eddie want to lean in to lick it off.

Fuck, he really wants to kiss him. Is he allowed to kiss him, is that weird? Steve and Robin haven't kissed in front of him, but Eddie kind of figures that's because they knew he had hang ups about the sharing thing.

Ugh, if he wants kissing Steve when they're like this to be on the table, it's probably going to be on him to talk about it.

Eddie clears his throat. "Hey, uh," he starts, but has no idea where to go after that.

Robin makes a little encouraging noise.

"I appreciate you guys holding back on the PDA around me while I figured all this out, but you don't have to anymore," he says.

Steve's eyebrows raise. He looks down, where Robin's toes are shoved under his thigh and he'd been in the middle of eating the olives off of her plate. "I hate to break it to you, Eds, but we haven't been holding back all that much."

"Well, yeah, not for that, but-" Eddie pauses, switching to come at this from another angle. "Not a lot of people know about me. And I'm guessing - not a lot know about Steve?"

Steve nods when Eddie looks at him for confirmation. "Just Robin and you, and Max and Lucas."

Eddie smiles a little. "Same, but Uncle Wayne knows about me."

"Just you and Steve, Max and Lucas for me," Robin adds, which -

Eddie hadn't known that, actually, but it makes him smile brightly at her. It makes it even better, knowing that Robin's in the same boat as him and Steve - that she gets it. "You're the only one who knows about me and Steve, and me and Steve. I don't know how you feel about telling the others who know?"

Steve considers that. "I feel okay," he says finally. "But if we tell Lucas and Max, we have to tell the rest of the party. It's not fair to have them keep that secret."

Eddie doesn't disagree, but - "Table that for now, then. So yeah, just you. And I'd really, really like to just kiss Steve without thinking about it when it's just the three of us, so it'd be really shitty of me if I told you not to."

There's a moment of silence as Robin and Steve look at each other with near identical expressions of confusion.

"Eddie," Robin says after a moment. "I like girls."

Eddie frowns. He thought they just covered that. "Yeah?"

"Only girls," she clarifies.

What.

"But Steve-" he starts.

"Is not a girl," Robin finishes.

"Definitely not a girl," Steve adds.

"Wait, so you - so you're not -" Eddie stammers.

Jesus fucking Christ.

"Oh my God, Eddie, have you thought we were dating this whole time?" Robin shrieks.

"Yes! Of course I did! Look at you!" Eddie gestures at them.

"You said you told him!" Steve hisses at Robin.

"I did!" Robin protests.

"I think I would have remembered that!" Eddie counters.

"We were sitting in the kitchen! I told you that Steve has two soulmates, a platonic," she gestures at herself, the motion just as exaggerated as the word. "And a romantic!" She gestures at Eddie this time.

Eddie closes his eyes, fights the urge to just keep repeating Jesus Christ, and opens them again. "Buckley. I wasn't looking at you while we were talking."

"You weren't - well that's just rude, Munson! What were you so busy staring at that you couldn't pay attention to me in the very important discussion we were having?" Robin demands.

Eddie's eyes cut to Steve.

Her gaze must follow his, because she groans. "Of course you were looking at Steve. See, look at that, another person ignoring me because they're obsessed with you."

Eddie squawks. "I wasn't obsessed with-"

His jaw snaps shut as he realizes that might not be a lie.

Shit.

Steve grins at him, looking just a little bit too smug. "It's okay," he says. "I'm kind of obsessed with you, too."

Robin groans, face planting onto Steve's shoulder. "How did we miss this?"

"I thought we were being so mature," Steve agrees. "So open and communicative."

"In my defense, you two did shower together," Eddie points out.

"Not like that!" Robin says.

"How do you shower together but not like that?" Eddie demands.

Steve shrugs. "The same way you wash someone's hair but not like that?"

Eddie makes a face at him. "Yeah, that doesn't count, I wanted to jump you the whole time."

Steve opens his mouth, then closes it again. "Yeah, okay, me too," he admits. "You kept making these little sounds, I just-"

Eddie waggles his eyebrows. "Keep going, Stevie, you just what?"

"Get sidetracked later," Robin cuts in. "The point is - technically, Steve showered while I was brushing my teeth, and I showered while he was doing his hair care routine. We're soulmates, it's not like it matters what we see."

"But - there was giggling, and smacking, and - other noises," Eddie protests, but it's a weak one now.

Steve shrugs. "My back was all fucked up, man, you know that. Rob was helping me with the bandages."

"And Steve was doing his stupid shower characters," Robin adds, rolling her eyes. "He makes himself a dumb beard out of shaving cream or a stupid hairstyle out of shampoo and does terrible voices, and it's awful and I don't hate it at all."

Eddie - Eddie can imagine that perfectly, actually, and fuck, something so stupid shouldn't make him want so badly, but there it is.

"Stop," he whines. "I'm already in love with you, stop making it worse."

Both Steve and Robin freeze, but it still takes him a moment to realize what he just said.

Oh shit.

Eddie swallows, building up his courage for a moment before he sneaks a look at Steve.

Steve's looking back, just a little bit awestruck. "You love me?"

Eddie can't pull his hand free to fidget with his wrist brace, so he plays with Steve's fingers instead. "Well, yeah. I kind of thought that was obvious."

Then again, apparently some things all three of them thought were obvious were very much not obvious, and he grimaces.

"Yeah," he says. "I really do."

Robin kicks Steve in the thigh, leaning over and snatching their plates out of their laps. "Upstairs, now," she informs them. "I know that look, Steve, and if you're going to make out with him you're not doing it sitting next to me on the couch."

"Upstairs?" Steve asks, and who the hell is Eddie to say no to that?

"Just remember you're supposed to pick Dustin up for patrol in half an hour!" Robin yells up after them. "And I will not be stalling if he walkies asking what's taking you so long!"

"Guess we shouldn't waste any time." Eddie turns to Steve with a smirk, one eyebrow raised, only to find himself pinned to the wall in the upstairs hallway.

Steve crowds in against him, kissing him in short little bursts, like he keeps trying to pull back to say something but can't make himself stop for long.

Eddie doesn't make it easy for him to pull away, chasing him every time he does to kiss him again. He drags his teeth along Steve's bottom lip the next time he pulls back, but this time, Steve actually does stop long enough to speak.

"I love you, too," he pants out against Eddie's lips, the words muffled by how close they are together.

And Eddie - yeah, part of him had known. Like he told Uncle Wayne, it was obvious that Steve cared about him, and it was just as obvious that Steve was really into him.

But mostly knowing about it and hearing it confirmed are two different things, and Eddie surges forward to kiss him again.

Steve presses him back against the wall, one thigh wedged between Eddie's legs - still in those cut off shorts, and if Eddie could bring himself to break the kiss long enough to look down, he's pretty sure he'd get more than a flash of hairy skin. Eddie groans, rolling his hips up so he can at least grind against his thigh.

"Yeah?" Steve asks, before his tongue slides into his mouth at the same time his thigh presses up and up, giving Eddie more friction to rut against.

Which he immediately takes advantage of, grabbing Steve's ass with both hands and holding on as they rock together.

"Wanna make you feel good," Steve says, dropping little biting kisses along the line of Eddie's jaw. "Want you to tell me everything you like."

Eddie huffs out a shaky little laugh. "I, uh. I've never done this before, Stevie."

Steve tips his head back to look at him, brows furrowed for a moment before he seems to get that Eddie means, like, ever.

Despite the fact that he's mostly sure Steve isn't going to make fun of him, his stomach still drops when Steve groans and drops his head down into Eddie's shoulder.

"Steve?" Eddie asks.

"We gotta stop," Steve replies, muffled. "We've only got like twenty minutes left now, and that's really not enough for everything I want to do with you."

Eddie's dick throbs where it's still pressed against Steve's thigh. "It's enough for something, though, come on."

Steve pulls back to look at him. "Eds, your first time is not going to be a quickie in our hallway with Robin downstairs and Dustin waiting on me."

Eddie considers that, then rolls his hips up again, grinning smugly when it makes Steve inhale sharply. "Yeah, I'm pretty okay with that for my first mutual orgasm experience."

Steve makes a face at him, the impact of which is a little ruined by his slightly glazed eyes. "I'm not."

Eddie grunts. "I'm not a girl," he manages to growl out.

Steve looks down between them, where Eddie's still very hard and very pressed into him. "I noticed."

"Then don't treat me like some delicate little virgin," Eddie snaps.

Steve huffs. "It's not like that, it's - fine, why did you tell me, then?"

"What?" Eddie asks, thrown.

"If it's not a big deal, why did you say anything?"

"I… I don't know," Eddie admits. "I just - thought you should be aware, I guess, in case you were expecting something else."

Someone who knew what they were doing.

"Eds," Steve breathes out, tipping his head in to kiss him again. "I'm not expecting anything but you, I promise. Just you, that's all I want."

"That's all?" Eddie asks, and he means it to be teasing, but it comes out a little shaky.

"I want - look, I know it's crap about virginity being special and your first time being perfect and all that, but… it's also not crap."

Eddie raises an eyebrow.

"It's - it should be good, Eddie. You deserve to have something go right. I want to take my time with you, not be thinking about how we have to rush."

Well when Steve puts it like that.

"You're such a romantic," Eddie teases.

Steve's ears go a little pink, but he shrugs. "Yeah, I guess I kind of am."

Eddie pulls him back in for another kiss. "I love you," he whispers against his lips, part because he does and part just to see if he can get Steve all riled up again.

"Not fair," Steve mutters back.

Eddie can't help but laugh a little. "It work?"

"Yes." Steve kisses him again. "But it didn't change my mind."

He steps back, though Eddie's pleased to note that he looks both rumpled and reluctant. Eddie sighs, then reaches out to fix Steve's collar, run his fingers through his hair. Steve does the same for him, and it feels -

Well, pretty fucking good, actually.

They head back downstairs. Robin cheers for them, shouting, "Three minutes to spare!"

Steve rolls his eyes, leans over to kiss the top of her head.

Then he drags Eddie to the front door with him so they can kiss again, long and lingering, before Steve finally heads back out.

Eddie drifts back into the living room to sit down next to Robin again, trying not to look too dazed.

She huffs at him, and it's only then that he realizes this is the first time they've been alone since she told him she was coming back for him.

"You still pissed at me?"

Robin rolls her eyes. "No, you fixed that last night. For the record - it wasn't at you, not really. Steve was miserable, which gets my hackles up. I know, he said he was happy no matter what, but I know him. He would have been hung up on you for ages. Plus, the boy likes sex," she adds matter-of-factly. "It would have been awful dealing with him pining and all pent up from not getting laid."

Eddie snorts.

"What?" Robin asks.

"Nothing," Eddie replies. "Just - I'm really glad we don't have to work out a schedule for both of us having sex with him."

Robin lets out a sound that's some unholy mix between a giggle and a shriek. "Okay, first, thanks for putting that mental image in my brain, I need at least three shots later tonight to get that out. Second - oh my god we would run him ragged, he's pretty insatiable but I'm not sure even he could keep up with the two of us."

Eddie cackles, head tipping back in a laughter there's no way he can contain. "I really love you, Robbie," he says quietly when he's managed to calm down.

Her eyes are soft as she looks at him. "Yeah," she says. "I do, too."

"I can't promise that I won't ever hurt him," he says. "Because, you know, sometimes I get up in my head about stuff, and sometimes I miss things. But I love him. It's always going to be him. I won't - I won't ever leave him, or give up on us."

Robin's quiet for a long time. "You and I aren't really soulmates, you know. I can't tell if you just lied to me."

Eddie knows what his knee-jerk reaction to that is. But he sits with it for a moment, breathes in and breathes out, and then decides knee-jerk was the right reaction. "Yeah, you can."

Robin smiles at him, reaching out to tug on a lock of his hair. "Yeah, I can," she agrees.

He opens his arms, and she hugs him, then shoves him off.

"Come on, Steve left us to do the lunch dishes."

—

Steve brings home pizza for dinner when he gets done with patrolling.

"Hey, I was thinking - do you want to head out to Forest Hills when we're done?" Steve asks while they eat. "There's not really anyone there anymore, we could see if there's anything left of yours you want to get."

Eddie considers that. Part of him isn't sure he wants to go back there, ever, but the other part kind of feels like he needs to see it. To make it real again, and not just a thing in his nightmares.

So he agrees, and they head out after they clean up dinner - Robin refuses to get stuck with it this time.

It still feels strange, driving around in the front seat of Steve's Bimmer, but mostly a nice strange. They don't pass many cars on the way out there, and Steve's got Trooper's Thick as Thieves album playing quietly, and Eddie can just lean back and alternate looking out the window with looking at the beautiful boy in the driver's seat.

Steve pulls a couple of empty boxes out of the trunk when they get there, and Eddie sees him hesitate over the nail bat that's still in there from his patrol earlier.

"Here," Eddie says, taking the boxes so Steve can grab the bat.

There hasn't been any sign of Vecna or the Upside Down on their patrols yet, but Eddie's pretty sure they'll both feel better if Steve's carrying it.

The trailer is barely holding together, a huge chunk ripped out of the living room, and Eddie swallows back a surge of tears.

He knows they have insurance, knows what Uncle Wayne said about the stuff in the trailer, but - it was the first place that ever really felt like home to Eddie. Even though the home was more about Uncle Wayne himself than the physical trailer, it hurts seeing it like this.

"Hey," Steve says softly. "We don't have to do this tonight, we can wait."

We.

Like it's just a guarantee that whenever Eddie does decide to look through the shattered remains of his life, Steve will be right there with him. No question.

It shouldn't be, but it's still a little bit of a surprise to realize that Eddie believes it.

"No," he says, though he does lean in for a kiss. "I want to get this over with. Come on, let's look in my room."

His room isn't as bad as the living room, but it's still pretty trashed. He gets to work rifling through the debris while Steve hangs out in the doorway, nailbat on one shoulder and keeping an eye on the dormant but still not closed gate in the living room.

Eventually, Eddie manages to find about a couple of boxes worth of clothes, most of his jewelry, some D&D things, a few other odds and ends. It's not a lot, but it's more than Eddie thought he might have, which lifts his spirits a little.

"I can stop borrowing your clothes all the time," Eddie tells Steve.

Steve makes a face like he's trying not to say anything.

"What?" Eddie asks.

"…I kind of like you in my clothes," Steve admits.

Eddie barks out a little laugh, then sets down his box so he can sidle into Steve's space. "Oh yeah?" he asks, cocking one eyebrow. "You want me to wear your letterman jacket?"

Steve tips his head, which Eddie is pretty damn sure means yes, but I don't want to say it.

"Steve Harrington," Eddie teases as he hooks his fingers in the waistband of Steve's jeans and gives it a tug. "You wanna be my boyfriend?"

"I'm your soulmate," Steve replies, rolling his eyes, but he doesn't stop himself from being reeled in.

"You wanna be my boyfriend," Eddie repeats, voice sing song, and steals another kiss.

"You were the one who said you wanted the full Steve Harrington experience," Steve teases back.

"I was joking!" Eddie replies, but he realized the moment he says it that - well, no, he kind of wasn't.

Steve grins widely at him. "No, you weren't," he retorts, with all the confidence of someone who's just felt a new lie being written on them.

Eddie raises his eyebrows at him. "So what are you going to do about it, then?"

Steve leans in to kiss him one more time. "Come on. Let's get out of here first."

And, well, all right, Eddie can't exactly protest that.

He picks up two boxes, leaving Steve to grab the third and his bat, then the two of them head back out of the trailer.

They're not too far from what's left of the front door when the sound of footsteps crunches on the gravel nearby.

It's probably just one of the handful of folks too stubborn to leave Forest Hills, but - it's dark, and Eddie can't see anyone, and he can't help the rush of panic that he feels. It must hit Steve the same way, because when he turns back to look at him, he sees that Steve has gone still, head tilted like he's listening.

The sound of a gun cocking rings out far louder than it should.

"Don't move," Jason Carver says.

-----

Tag list (always happy to add more!): @vampireinthesun @koibug @estrellami-1 @mentalcyborg @allbimyself26 @questionablequeeries @the-s-is-silent @whimsicalwitchm @a-gae-af-racoon @tinyplanet95 @n0-1-important @velocitytimes2 @swimmingbirdrunningrock @newtstabber @jcmadgirl @roblingoblin285 @lexyvey @paperbackribs @goodolefashionedloverboi @evix-syne666 @raisedbylibrarians @stxrcrossed186 @nightmareglitter @greekgeek24 @starman-jpg @crazyhatlady86 @imfinereallyy @manda-panda-monium @deleataecount @prideandsensibility @chaoticvictorianspirit @maydillydally @disrespectedgoatman @scarlet-malfoy @i-less-than-three-you @hbyrde36 @hallucinatedjosten @dragonsandgayships @arepaconchocolate @g4ys0n @novelnovella @bisexualdisastersworld @ghostofyourvampiregf @scarletyeager @pettrichore @nerd-and-nervous @hiimlevi @queenie-ofthe-void @cinnamon-mushroomabomination

At least all three of them are finally on the same page?

Part 25

[starfxkr]

what's on the girls vanities

pup - mostly skin/lip care and she saves all her money to buy one or two things at a time and she makes it stretch. she's the most freckly so she has hella sun block and after sun but she likes to emphasize them with the freak pen!!! her beach day perfume is normally eau de juice which smells like a fruit smoothie or the hawaiian tropic but the patchouli + plum mix of beyonces midnight hit is her signature. pulls out the lush for special occasions only. has lots of lip gloss because that's the only real makeup she wears but she throws in a lip liner and clear mascara too. her lotions are also fruity/beachy smelling but the patchouli drowns it out tbh.

bunny - if it's pink she's buyin it!!! this can be both standard kook!bunny and pogue!bunny tbh. all her perfumes are light and fruity floral because anything else gives rafe a raging headache. she frequently wears shimmery body oil to parties and loves to beat her face because figure 8 has air conditioning and she won't melt. lots of expensive lotions and creams that she makes rafe pay for because if he wants her pretty he's gotta fund it. is a vs bombshell warrior!!! but she loves soft & dreamy/strawberries & champagne lotion. dolce garden is her beach perfume because its fresh and coconutty, Prada candy florale/chanel chance eau tendre is def the shopping trip perfume, bombshell is pogue!bunny's signature and the miss Dior is for fancy events. she smells like what the other girls call a "sexy baby".

kitten - sticky fingers mcgee here has stolen almost everything here because save a lot rlly doesnt pay her shit. everything is just drugstore for the most part and her makeup is pretty simple. everyday is normally eyeliner + a real nasty sexy red lip and shes a love spell girl. her nails are pretty much always way too long and a burgundy/blood red. wears mostly unscented lotion or oatmeal lotion because this girl is a napper okay she sleeps 24 hrs and doesnt like being assaulted with scents while she sleeps. that's also why she steals the cat sleeping mask because her skin needs some nourishment while shes sleep. stays with cherry chapstick and whether her hair is down or in braids she's using this very expensive hair cream her mom got her as a surprise. everyday perfume is def ck 1 which she actually buys because its only $10-$20 when she gets it. loverdose however is her party perfume it smells like licorice and vanilla and gets her laid every time its like crack to jj.

foxy - she has the least amount of stuff because she wears classes and wants to keep it simple.she has lots of fun with her nails though she has a bunch of different colors and she does her own nail art because she doesn't grow them long. her lips are normally a nude/brown with a reddish brown liner because she has a really defined cupids bow and she likes to emphasize it. she loves a gloss though! does midtown blushes so reddish browns because they seamlessly match her skin tone. actually does eyeshadow but its simple which is why she uses a stick thats normally a rusty red and blends it down, looks stun with brown mascara because black is too much. proud mom perfume wearer!!!! green tea is her everyday for school because she puts it on and forgets about it and it blends well with her lotion. deep red smells amazing with her lotion and her mom gives it to her everytime she sees her so once every 4-6 months. that's her party perfume because that was also her moms party perfume. cashmere mist is what her grandma wore her entire life and she doesnt think it smells like old lady at all she wears it to sleep

[notroosterbradshaw]

The Relationship Experience - one

part of: The Boyfriend Experience universe

prologue

Nothing especially interesting happened between the hours of 4:45am to now, in fact, the whole day had been so slow since Rooster retrieved his dog tags. It was about 6:30pm and you hadn’t heard from him. It wasn’t an entire surprise. He was at work; he didn’t have the luxury of the day off like you.

You were restless, so incredibly listless. After Rooster left, sleep didn’t come easily. Your brain couldn’t stop relaying the moments from the night before. By midday, you were buzzing on coffee and waning adrenaline. Tasks seemed impossible, all you managed was to remove your makeup and eat some bland toast. Everything felt out of flux and made you feel off-kilter, figuratively turned upside down.

You reckoned you had commenced and deleted at least 10 texts to Rooster to thank him again for yesterday, that you couldn’t stop thinking about his kiss, the way he touched you, that you were… absolutely infatuated with him.

What was most tragic was you couldn’t find the nerve to hit ‘send’ on absolutely any of them. In fact, you couldn't find the nerve to text anyone – not Natasha demanding how the night went; not your sister asking how you’d pulled up after such a big day; not the bride and groom thanking you and Bradley for your incredibly thoughtful wedding gift (how was it incredibly thoughtful if it was on a wedding registry, you’d never know but hey. They didn’t hate it) and that you must double date soon. Yeah, okay.

The most common thing you brought yourself back to while everything else spun around you? 

What had Bradley Bradshaw done to you? 

24 hours ago, you were fine, perfectly content with most aspects of your life with your strictly platonic friend, Rooster. And now? Not a single thing seemed to fit in its place.

At 7:01pm, your phone buzzed while you attempted the week’s lesson plans for yourself and your team, but little was coming to fruition. A little too eager, you knocked the phone directly off the bed and into the pile of yesterday’s still damp bridesmaid dress, rocketing you straight back to the dancefloor during the bridal waltz and the electricity of Rooster’s touch as he claimed your first dance together. God, he could move. The way he pulled your body to his, the gentle caress of his hands on your back. You could almost smell his cologne in the air –

Finding your phone, you saw another text from Natasha that simply said, ‘Please don’t make me call you. I hate talking on the phone. Just want to know Rooster didn’t murder you and leave you in a ditch x’

Confronting, you thought to yourself. It was time to give in.

You: I’m alive. Sorry, just working/planning the week’s lessons.

Natasha: Awesome, I’ll be there in 10. I have pizza, wine and I want every fucking detail from last night. Rooster is giving me absolutely nothing. Don’t be like Rooster. See you soon x

“Shit,” you muttered, still in your Lakers tee from this morning. You really should have made some kind of effort, realising if Rooster turned up unannounced – shit, you didn’t want to put that tragedy into the universe. Busting your ass, you ran for the shower and in record time, you’d washed your hair and ridded the rest of the last 36 hours off you as well.

Tossing on jeans and a tee over your bra and undies, you heard Natasha's relentless beating on the door. Dashing to it, you opened it to a very flustered, albeit adorable, Natasha Trace, pizza and wine in hand, as promised.

“You are the cutest delivery service ever,” you smiled, stepping out of the doorway and taking the pizza from her as she wandered in, rolling her deep brown eyes. 

“I was about to smash a window in. You’ve been radio silent all goddamn day, I thought you were dead!” she huffed, casual and not dissimilar to yourself in blue jeans and a white tee, hair in a messy bun. “Respond. To. Texts,” she instructed. “Especially when I’m absolutely desperate to know what happened last night!” she added the last a little hysterically as you bit back a laugh.

"It was okay. My feet are still killing me. You know, I don't mind weddings," you told her, falling on the couch, tossing the pizza box on the coffee table as she went to the kitchen. You put some music on for some background noise. "I just don't like being in them,” you clarified.

“Imagining your wedding day...” Natasha teased.

“Don’t think we have much to worry about there,” you giggled. 

Natasha smiled, wandering back with the glasses as you tuckered eagerly into a slice, not realising how hungry you were after forgoing most meals today. "I'm glad you had a good time; I've never seen anyone dread anything more. Rooster said he enjoyed himself."

His name off someone else’s tongue sent a jolt of electricity through your system. 

"He seemed to," you shrugged, not wanting to talk too much about him for fear everything will come out. She took a seat beside you, unscrewing the wine and pouring a glass each. 

“I’ll just take care of this too, huh?” she muttered as you apologised, a mouth full of cheese and pepperoni.

“Sow-ry,” you replied and swallowed, giving her a greasy smile. “I’m famished and this is so good.”

“I hope to find out myself,” she laughed quietly. “So, tell me everything. And don’t leave a fucking thing out because you are a terrible liar, and I will see right through it.”

Wide-eyed, you nodded, believing her. “Ask me anything, I guess?” you replied, frankly terrified of her for a moment.

"How was his suit? Details, immediately, if not sooner,” she asked calmly. Too calmly.

"Pretty good," you understated.

“Pix?”

“Uhh, no,” you replied. “There was some taken by the photographer, but it sincerely never crossed my mind to get any. Rooster and I didn’t pose for any.”

“You two are fuckin’ killing me!” she exclaimed as you shrugged, meekly. 

From the moment Rooster had sauntered into the reception, you were both so wretchedly lost in each other to consider the small things like pix and you loathed how excited this conversation would be if you were just allowed to be honest. Natasha Trace was your friend, a really fucking good one, she knew you (and Rooster) well and read people even better. “Blue velvet jacket, dark slacks,” you frowned as she did too. “Cute bow tie.”

“Did you dance or, like, be wallflowers all night?” her voice trailed off.

“We danced a few times. He’s a good dancer,” you force-fed yourself more pizza while the wine breathed. How could you overstep the mark if you were stuffing your face? Couldn’t incriminate yourself if you simply couldn’t speak! Logic? Denial. 

“Slow danced?” she wriggled her eyebrows as you laughed gently.

“Yes, we slow danced. He was very respectful, Carole raised him right.”

“Carole?”

“His mother,” you stood up and pointed to the photo on the wall that had Rooster so enamoured the night before.

“She’s really beautiful.”

“So beautiful.”

“Rooster looks nothing like her,” she studied the photo.

“No,” you grinned, plonking back down. “All his old man, even to the mo.”

“I honestly forgot how intrinsically linked you two are,” she said wistfully. “This whole thing of being friends for so long, then the classic fake relationship to save face at a wedding.”

And here it comes. “Nat…”

“You know the writing is clearly on the wall, right?” she told you, pulling at a string of mozzarella between her fingers. You felt completely transparent. She was daring you... and frankly, not having to try too hard.

“What do you mean?” you asked warily.

She plonked the cheese into her mouth and paused. “You know I’m a total romantic at heart.”

“Absolutely. What you’re doing with Bagman is baffling to me.”

“It’s only sex,” she rolled her eyes at you. “I’ve told you the rules.”

“And are you… following the rules?” you asked kindly. “Because initially, fucking Jake was a one-night thing… but now it’s like a weekly booty call on your whim. I cannot remember the last time he tried picking someone up in the bar. You wake up in each other’s beds - ” you reminded her thoughtfully.

“Bitch, you know I can dish it out, but I can’t take it,” she pretended to be sad, before blowing a raspberry and giving you the thumbs down.

“Have you said, ‘I love you’ yet?” you continued. 

“We’re not talking about me, all right?” she cracked. “We’re talking about you and Bradshaw. You’re the goss tonight, not me and Bagman,” she scoffed at the mere mention of Jake’s name.

Giggling quietly, you nodded. “Okay, ask me. You know you want to…”

Grinning like a Cheshire cat, Natasha was so ready for this. You just gave her all the ammo she needed. "Did he... kiss you?" she leaned forward, elbows on knees, so eager. Pouting, you sighed, and her smile grew. "I fucking knew it!" she exclaimed. “He was far too quiet for his usual grandstanding.”

“But you can’t say anything!” you pleaded, pointing at her.

“Then tell me everything I need to know and I’ll make sure to – ” she zipped her lips. “Let’s start again. Suit?”

“It was really fuckin’ good,” you said, a little dreamy in memory, easing back lazily on the couch cushions. “I’ve never seen him sexier. I don’t think I even thought he was sexy before last night.”

“Oh, babe. Rooster is stupidly hot and I say this from a strictly platonic place,” she informed you. "He will lay you so good. How did you never see it?”

“I mean, yeah, he was always handsome. But his suit...”

“Had to be more than a suit.”

“You’re right. It was everything...” 

Natasha’s smile was as dreamy as yours, so happy for you. “Did you sleep with him?”

“No,” you said, quickly. “Trust me when I say I tried. But he wasn’t having it.”

Frowning, maybe a little surprised, she asked, “Rooster? Rooster Bradshaw did not try to sleep with you?”

“No,” you said, subconsciously bringing back the embarrassment of earlier this morning. You still felt a little rejected and humiliated at how you threw yourself at Rooster, but Natasha didn’t seem to notice. Ew, you didn’t enjoy reliving it twice. 

“You did bring the right guy home, right?”

You nodded, solemnly. “Yes. I completely threw myself at him,” you confided.

“And he still didn’t bone you?” she frowned.

“No,” you sipped the wine, barely tasting it. Fuck.

“Holy shit, that big oaf is in love with you,” she prophesied, thrusting her arms in the air in comprehension.

“What?” you shook your head. “Knock it off, Natasha.”

“Nah, he wants to wait, he is considering this,” she pondered aloud, clutching her wine glass to her heart. “He’s gonna take you to a romantic dinner in town, have fuckin’ rose petals strewn everywhere, candles. He’s gonna lay you down and make sweet, sweet love to you – ”

“When did my life turn into a 90’s music video?” you wondered as she laughed.

“Oh, my God, I’m so happy for you guys! I’m so happy for myself because I was right, but oh, wow. He’s in deep! Tell. Me. More,” she exchanged her glass for pizza, taking a satisfying bite. “Don’t leave anything out.”

“Natasha, Rooster was a new person to me last night. He was so charming and funny, and handsome. Oh, my word - so sexy. He took such good care of me. Whenever someone made me uncomfortable, he held my hand, rubbed my back, and played with my hair. Always something. He touched me all night."

“Tactile,” she nodded, impressed.

“So tactile, yes!" you said in revelation, the smell of the pizza calling to you as you chewed another bite. "His hands are amazing. Strong, comforting, you know?"

“I feel I knew Rooster was capable of these things," she admitted, slowly. "But actually hearing it, I still don't completely believe it. Is he a good kisser?" she shimmied, desperate for the answer.

“The best kisser,” you sighed, memories reverberating through your mind of his lips on yours, his tongue pressing against yours -

“And the moustache?” she gave a face that may or may not have said ‘ick’.

“Will take some time, but I didn’t hate it,” you confessed. “Natasha?”

She hummed. “Yes, my love?”

“It was the best night of my life,” you said quietly.

“Holy fuck, you’re in love with him too,” she realised, the pizza falling from her grasp back into the box.

“No, no,” you waved the notion away. You’d never fallen fast in your life, and this certainly wasn’t going to be one of those whimsical rom-com times. “I mean, I had a crush on him in high school, and this feels nothing like it.”

“You had a crush on him in high school?!” she screeched.

“I never mentioned that?” you asked meekly and for good reason - if anyone got a sniff of your teenage crush on Rooster Bradshaw, it would be on for young and old and your soul didn’t need that embarrassment in your life and he probably didn’t either.

“And I’m just learning this now?!.”

“The crush disappeared when he left for college. It’s no big thing,” you told her honestly. 

And it really wasn’t. 

“I didn’t see him for a few years, and then I went to college, and we didn’t see each other for a while until around the time I met you,” you shrugged. While you spent your childhood and teen years in similar circles, you really drifted after Rooster turned 18. Why wouldn’t you? He was growing up and following his dreams. You were too.

Grandpa encouraged you to study over East (Annie had mentioned he didn’t want either of you young, dumb and settled on some Navy dolt who managed to say the right things to you and keep you trapped when there was a whole world to see) and accept a swimming scholarship before you tried to figure your life out. 

You’d swam all your life, competitively, you would teach as your summer job and after realising you weren’t the calibre required to swim professionally, passing your knowledge on seemed the next appropriate step. Swimming was a universal language, so you took a few courses and taught your way around th world for a while. 

It wasn’t a big thing that Rooster fell out of your life.

“I remember the night I met you,” Natasha smiled fondly. “My God, you little cutie patootie. Was it Annie’s hen’s night? Bachelorette?”

“Same same.”

“And Rooster was definitely in town.”

“Yeah, I think he was,” you recalled faintly. “Wow, I haven’t been that drunk in a while,” you admitted. “Thank Christ.” Putting your head in your hands, you recalled only bits and pieces of that night. The rest was a blacked-out mystery. Probably for the best.

“Must be growing up,” she teased, raising her wine glass to you. “I’ve never seen you so happy in our entire friendship and I’m so, so happy for you.”

“Thank you,” you said, taking her free hand and cuddling it to your cheek.

"You know, Rooster’s always been super into you, I can't believe I didn't set you two up earlier. I kind of regret it now."

"Nah,” you frowned, exchanging her cheek for your discarded pizza again.

"True story. I'd catch him watching you every once in a while, that way he immediately moves from his bar stool and ushers you in when you get to the bar. I'm not getting that treatment," she kind of huffed.

Holy shit, he did. Every time, he’d guide you with a gentle hand to your hip and you’d think absolutely nothing of it. 

“He’ll always order you a beer and you’ll drink a mouthful to be polite because you hate it but he always finishes it.”

“It’s a beer bar,” you shrugged. “Wait, what? He finishes it?”

“He’s not going to waste perfectly good beer,” Natasha reasoned as your phone pinged. You pleaded it wasn’t him, this was not the time for Rooster to text. Not with Natasha here. You were already getting grilled, but a text from him would only make matters worse –

“‘Rooster’ and a Rooster, cute,” she smiled, holding up your phone. “‘Missed you today. Did you still wanna catch up or…’” she said verbatim. “And kiss you a little more. Maybe see what comes up,” she gyrated on the couch. “Do you want me to leave?”

“He said he was going to come over, but I haven’t heard from him all day. You were here first.”

“Aww,” she said, almost touched. “It’s okay, text him back. You get yourself laid.”

Rubbing your face, embarrassed, you replied, “Nat, I love you, but you need to calm down.”

She breathed. “You’re right, I do. My two best friends are totally in love and I need to be cool, calm and collected about it,” she smiled, putting the lid on the pizza. “I will go, but I’m taking the pizza with me.”

“Nooo,” you replied, grabby hands for at least another slice. Curious, now knowing Rooster had a few obvious tells about his feelings for you, you dared ask, “Nat, did I do anything?"

“For what?”

“Did I have any tells with Rooster?”

She shook her head with a gentle smile. "Nah, no one can get a read on you, baby," she winked. “But Rooster... He's quieter when you're around. When you're not there, he's one of the boys, a part of the pissing contest, you know?”

“Oh,” you tried to hide the disappointment in your voice. You didn't want him changing himself for you.

"Don't be offended," she continued. "I think it is just more respect, you know? You two have known each other for a long time. It’s sweet."

"Like Jake doesn't have for you?" you teased.

"Exactly. We're only fucking, we're not in a relationship. If he went soft on me, stopped challenging me, stopped trying to make me better, I'd dump his dumb ass."

“Kinda sounds like a relationship…” you dared as she put the cap back on the wine.

“And for that, I’m taking the wine too,” she huffed. “Bagman and I have ground rules,” she reiterated again.

“Of course, of course,” you nodded, playing along.

“The line won’t be crossed.”

“Who are you trying to convince?”

“And on that note, on a night that I was supposed to savage you, you’ve turned it onto me and now I’m just feeling attacked,” she huffed disappointment, her wine and pizza in her arms and heading towards the door.

“I really like him, Nat,” you said dismally as you both stopped at the door. “I don’t know him anymore and I need to know everything now,” you rambled.

Natasha gave a genuine smile, no more of that shit-eating, ‘I was right’ stuff. No more posturing. “I know. And I’m so happy for you. Because I think you and Rooster will be incredible together. You both deserve this,” she surprised you with a hug. “And if he hurts you, I can actually kill him. Goodnight, fuck safe,” she instructed.

“Jesus Christ,” you said, rolling your eyes. “Go fall a little more in love with Bagman,” you sighed, pushing her gently out of the apartment. “Pretend when you head to his room that the pizza and wine was for you guys the whole time.”

She cackled on the way back to her car. “Fuck him, this pizza and wine are mine!”

“Sure,” you called after her, waiting for her to get back to her car. She waved once and drove away. You closed the door, collecting your thoughts. Okay, so you and Rooster had absolutely no idea where you stood but you practically praised the ground he walked on to Natasha, so she knew. Good. You hated secrets. Not that you tried very hard to keep this one. She broke you incredibly quickly.

Wandering back to the couch, you found your phone and sat down, tucking your legs under you, anxious to respond to Rooster and potentially see him soon.

You: I thought you’d forgotten about me… come over anytime x

“No, you fucking loser,” you deleted the text you were about to send and tried again.

You: I’m home.

Hitting send, you added a quick “xx” to the next text to make it seem less cold than you intended. You groaned. “You are such a fucking idiot.”

Rooster 🐓: What about 8? I’m just getting in. Long day.

You: Anytime xx

two.

masterlist.

a/n: gotta say, party crew, with engagement way down, I’m unlikely to keep a schedule for this series. thank you to those who comment and reblogged, you’re the true mvp’s. know that I see every one of them, and you absolutely move me x 

[katbakubae]

Summary: You meet a man when you stepped out for a cigarette. He intrigues you, and doesn’t seem to care that you don’t have a quirk…well, he doesn’t seem to care about anything. All he did was ask for a cigarette.

NSFW Dabixchubbyfem!Reader (she/her used as opposed to you)

Words: 4k

No beta. Forgive any idiocy you see.

This is my self-indulgent shit I quite honestly wrote for myself, but decided to share it 💜

Part 1 of ?

CW: Smoking, language, reader is quirkless,(eventual) smut, blood, rough sex, dub-con, non-con elements, 18+, arson, obsessive behavior, stalking, threats, mental health issues, murder, gore, alcohol, breeding kink, dry humping, oral (both), vaginal penetration, praise, degradation, dacryphilia, slight age-gap (6 years. Reader is 18 and Dabi is 24.)

She leaned against the building, her head laying against the brick as she took another drag.

The world was so fucked up. So what? She was quirkless. She was still fucking human, though no one cared about that. All they cared about was that she couldn’t make her body gummy (seriously? That was dumb anyway) or freeze shit with her hands. She wished she had a quirk. Of course she did. But it didn’t help to sit around and wish for something that just wasn’t achievable.

“Can I get one of those?”

She gasped in alarm, her head whipping around as she tried not to gape at the owner of the deep voice. His skin was heavily scarred and stapled, his bright blue eyes boring into her with a neutral expression as she tried to hide her alarm at his appearance. She didn’t want to be rude.

“O-oh! Absolutely,” she said quickly, reaching in her bag and pulling out the pack and lighter, holding it out to him. He smirked, her heart jumping at the surprising sight of his perfect teeth.

“Thanks,” he said in a gravely voice, pulling one out and handing the pack and lighter back with a long fingered hand. His hands were large and normal looking, but staples were around his wrist, holding scarred skin to healthy skin. She hesitantly took it, being careful not to touch him and getting ready to tell him he didn’t light it when he raised two fingers to the end of the cigarette. They were instantly covered in blue flames, making her eyes widen for moments before her eyes trailed over his spiky black hair and down his body.

He was tall, thin, and in a very weird way, he was kind of…handsome. She knew that if his heavy scarring wasn’t present, it was very likely he’d be quite the heartthrob. He was wearing what appeared to be a trenchcoat, a white shirt, black pants and boots. Staples held together damaged skin to healthy skin in various places on his body, including the lower part of his face. She observed the piercings in his nose and the staples under his intense eyes.

Her eyes trailed up, flushing when she saw he was quietly observing her observing him. She hoped he didn’t think her rude, but he had to know he was interesting to look at. She expected him to walk away after getting his cigarette, but to her surprise, he leaned against the opposite wall in the alley. She swallowed thickly as he quietly looked at her, taking a deep drag.

“Names Dabi,” he offered in a deep voice, his eyes moving over her face as she felt the tension leave her at his polite introduction.

“Oh, I’m Y/N,” she offered kindly, giving him a small smile that seemed to surprise him slightly. However, he didn’t show it past a slight quirk of his brow. “It’s nice to meet you, Dabi.”

He gave a small smirk that slightly made her heart jump. Was she seriously a little attracted to this dude? If so, she was seriously taking her “bad boy” fondness way too fucking far.

“You seemed like you were having a rough day,” he offered blandly, taking another hit as you flushed again and shifted. She was under no delusions this dude actually cared, but he seemed bored and it began to feel like she was just something to pass the time. She wasn’t sure how she knew that, but she just did.

“Oh, uh, yeah…” she chuckled, trailing off. “Just…high school shit. I don’t think you’d find it very important or interesting.” She smiled bitterly, seeing him cock an eyebrow.

“I can be the judge of that,” he immediately said, finishing his cigarette and flicking it to the side. He shoved his hands in his pockets and raised a challenging brow at her surprised expression.

“Just…” she shifted, scratching her cheek as her heart beat uncomfortably. “There’s a few others giving me a hard time because…” she trailed off, feeling embarrassed and looking down at the ground. “…because I’m quirkless.” She finished in a mutter, biting her lip and waiting for the scoff of disgust that never came.

“…So?”

Her head shot up at his almost bored tone, and sure enough, he was looking at her with a neutral expression. His dark head was tilted as he observed her quietly and calculatingly.

“I…thanks,” she said awkwardly, rubbing the back of her head.

“You’re thanking me for saying ‘so’?” He asked slowly, his face remaining impassive, but she swore she saw amusement pass through those intense orbs.

She felt heat in her cheeks. “Oh, well…I guess I wish that was the response of my peers when I tell them I’m quirkless,” she chuckled bitterly, feeling embarrassed at what a dork he likely thought she was.

He snorted. “There’s way worse things than being quirkless,” he mused in a deep voice, pushing himself off the wall as she watched with big eyes. “You should go back inside. A young woman shouldn’t be in an alley by yourself like this.”

She swallowed thickly at his words, tossing her cigarette down and stepping on it.

“I…have to get back anyways,” she mumbled, adjusting her bag on her shoulder. “It was nice to meet you. Maybe I’ll see you around…” she trailed off, putting her hand on the doorknob as she looked at the stranger... Dabi. It seemed like slight intrigue crossed his eyes as his head tilted slightly, looking at her as though she was some kind of oddity that he didn’t understand.

He nodded his head slightly, and turned away. She watched him walk away a little before quickly entering the school, her heart scurrying in her chest. She mildly wondered what the fuck was wrong with her. He easily accepted she was quirkless, or at the very least, didn’t care about it…then again, he didn’t seem like someone that cared about much of anything. Still, she felt flattered by him? He looked dangerous, and with that fire quirk, he likely was. It occurred to her that the damaged skin was likely from his own quirk burning him.

She winced, unable to imagine the amount of pain he was likely in. How did he stand it? Didn’t it always hurt? Did it hurt him every time he used his quirk?

She certainly had a lot of questions for someone she’d only met for ten minutes. To be fair, her life was a bit boring and he honestly was the most interesting thing she’d come across in a very long time. It wasn’t abnormal to see someone that would look ‘strange’ to society, but she’d never seen someone that looked like him. Part of her wondered how he was even alive.

She found herself in the alley multiple times over the next week, playing with her zippo lighter and smoking a cigarette, wondering if the mysterious man would make another appearance. It had probably been a fluke that he’d been there.

A few weeks passed and she’d essentially given up on seeing him again. She tucked her cigarette in her mouth as she leaned against the wall, reaching under her plaid school skirt to adjust her thigh high stockings.

“Hmm, what did I say about being in alleys by yourself?”

She jumped in alarm at the deep, sly voice, almost dropping her cigarette as she looked over to see him leaning against the brick wall. Her face heated moderately when she realized that he’d seen her adjusting her stockings. However, her heart raised substantially at the sight of him, her curiosity of him springing back to life as she moved the cigarette from her mouth.

“Oh, Dabi. I was wondering if I’d see you again,” she said lightly, tucking her hair behind her ear and giving him a small smile.

His eyebrow cocked as though he was doubtful she’d thought of him again. “Is that so?” He asked after a moment's pause, his lips barely moving. “Any reason for that?”

She bit her lip for moments, averting her gaze when she saw his cerulean eyes flick down to the action.

“You’re interesting,” she blurted, internally cringing and feeling like a massive loser. God, he was going to think she was weird.

He was silent and she couldn’t bear to look at him. God, why was she so awkward?

“Do you need a cigarette?” She asked, already digging in her bag to avoid looking at him.

“How old are you?”

His sudden question in a low tone threw her off for moments as she slowly pulled the pack from her bag. He was looking at her blankly still, making it impossible for her to tell what he was thinking.

“Eighteen…” she trailed off, seeing his nostrils flare slightly in response. “How old are you?”

He chuckled darkly, shaking his head and extending his hand towards her, his eyes flicking towards the cigarette pack in her hand. She immediately handed it to him without the lighter, once again being careful not to brush his fingers. She watched as he pulled one out, lighting it with his fingers again and handing it back.

He looked at her serious for moments, the cigarette burning between his lips. It was almost as if he was debating telling her. “I’m twenty four, if it matters,” he surprised her by answering, smoke billowing from his lips.

“Why does it matter how old I am?” She asked, biting her lip as he slowly took a drag off the cigarette. Smoke billowed from his two toned lips and nose.

“I was making sure you weren’t underage,” he shrugged, taking another hit.

She chuckled, scratching her jaw and smiling. “Why? Would you confiscate my cigarettes?”

“Actually, no,” he shrugged, leaning against the wall. “I did worse shit than smoke when I was younger than you.”

She looked at him for moments, taking note of the faraway look in his eyes as he stared at the brick wall in front of him instead of her.

“What worse shit is that?” She asked curiously, almost regretting it when his eyes snapped back to her, a frown marring his face.

“If I was you, I wouldn’t get that curious about me,” he said in a low, dark voice, pushing himself off the wall and walking closer to her. Her back tensed a little, but she remained where she was as he approached. He stopped next to her, looking down at the ground as she stared at his profile, wide eyed and feeling unsure. Had she offended him? Why couldn’t she be curious about him?

“You’re a nice girl,” he said in a low voice. “Don’t talk to bastards like me.”

She stared as he immediately began walking away, her eyes wide and feeling a little sad as she watched his back disappear around the corner. Her breath left her in a rush as she fell back against the wall, frowning to herself and feeling a little disappointed that their conversation had been cut short. She didn’t think it was intentional, but he played the mystery card better than any man she’d ever seen or heard of. All he’d really done is pique her interest even more, and honestly, she needed to get a life because her mind was buzzing with the need to know more about him.

She had a feeling that he wouldn’t come back, not after that. But still, over the next few days, she still went out for a cigarette. Part of her hoped he’d show, even though it was weeks between the last two times. He seemed a little bothered that she’d asked him about himself, so she told herself that if she did see him again, she’d keep the conversation on more surface level topics.

————————————————————————-

It had been five days since she last saw Dabi, and she began to wonder if she would again. It didn’t seem likely as she walked home from school as usual, kicking a rock with her boot and sighing to herself.

“Hey pretty lady.”

Her eyes shot up, pausing her steps as she stared at a man with long blonde hair blocking her path. She shifted backwards at his lecherous smile. Though he was quite handsome in a ruggish way, his hazel eyes were dangerous - more so than Dabi, who was physically more frightening than this man. Dabi’s eyes looked dangerous, but they lacked the glint to intend harm towards her; not like this man.

She immediately looked around, gulping when she saw she was alone on the street, her eyes narrowing when he smirked knowingly.

“Are you lost, little lamb?” He asked sinisterly, taking a step towards her.

Before she could react, a hot hand enclosed around her upper arm, ripping her back harshly with a loud gasp. She blinked rapidly as she looked at the back of Dabi’s spiked hair and dark coat. His arms burst into blue flames as he raised one threateningly.

“Get lost before I make you fuel for my fire,” he said in a low, eerily calm voice. She peeked around Dabi, seeing the guy looking like he was about to shit himself before stumbling back and running like hell as Dabi extinguished his flames.

Her heart was pounding as she stared in disbelief when Dabi turned around. He was frowning, looking over her frame for moments, but his face continued to remain neutral.

“Are you alright?”

She nodded almost dumbly at his words, her face flushing as her heart punched her rib cage. Adrenaline and flattery ran over her all at once.

“A little shook up, maybe. But I’m okay…” she forced herself to say, a small smile curling on her lips.

—————————————————————————

Dabi’s eyes trailed over the woman, nodding his head and disliking the fucking tightening feeling in his stomach when he saw that skeev try to grab her. If she hadn’t been standing there, he would have roasted him alive.

Maybe he could find him later…He abruptly stopped that line of thinking. After all, why would he even do that? Why should he give a shit? The woman was curious, sure. She didn’t seem to be afraid of him or disgusted by his appearance. For fucks sake, if he didn’t know any better, he’d say she had some sort of fucking schoolgirl crush on him.

She had flushed and unconsciously batted her pretty eyes at him. If she did, she had to be fucking insane. She was pretty and curvy looking. If he were being honest, he’d always been attracted to soft looking women. Perhaps it was because he was so rough; everything about him was harsh. But not her, no. She wasn’t remotely what he’d consider thin.

He supposed he’d never suspected a woman was genuinely attracted to him before; as much as he loathed to admit it. He knew his scarring had ruined his appearance. He was fully aware that if he’d never been burned so severely, he would be very handsome. However, that wasn’t the case. So, he avoided women. Of course, he was a man. He’d occasionally look at porn, beat one out, or take back alley whores if he felt really pent up. Generally, women were afraid of him. But she didn’t seem to be; she intrigued him with her shy smiles and nervous glances. The way she chewed on her bottom lip nervously when she spoke to him made him want to throw her down on a bed, or perhaps shove her against a wall.

He didn’t have time for this. He had goals to accomplish. He couldn’t be thinking about…pursuing some…student? Even though she was an adult, it was laughable. Those things were fleeting and unimportant. It wasn’t something he needed, and he couldn’t afford to let these thoughts take up his time.

“I’ll walk you home,” he said, seeing her pretty eyes widen in alarm, making his jaw tense slightly. “You shouldn’t be fuckin’ walking home by yourself anyway, especially quirkless.”

He almost felt bad when her eyes widened and she averted her gaze, looking down at the ground. “I…don’t have a choice,” His nostrils flared. He was smart and could read between the lines. She was either poor, or her parents were shit; maybe even both. “I’ve done it for years and this is the first time…um…”

“A rapist tried to grab you?” He asked in a bored tone, trying not to smirk when her head snapped up as she looked at him a bit horror-struck. Her inexperience was obvious, and he knew it was likely because she was quirkless. He’d never been faced with a female that intrigued him past something carnal. Now that he had, he couldn’t help it when he burned with curiosity and want.

He wanted to fuck her brains out.

Still, he’d meant what he’d said. She seemed to be a nice, young woman- untainted. She really shouldn’t waste her time speaking with him when she could go find a nice man that worked in a cafe or some shit; not an older, heavily scarred man that killed whenever he felt like it and had only ever fucked whores. Regardless, she should be more afraid of him than the man that tried to grab her. He may have been a bottom-dweller, but Dabi highly doubted he was a serial killer.

Serial killer.

His stomach twisted in pleasure when she didn’t argue and nodded, hesitantly walking while he followed. He could easily find out where she lived, but clearly, she didn’t seem to mind. Why should she? He just “saved” her after all. She didn’t need to know he’d hesitated and thought about walking away.

He wasn’t some fucking hero.

“Thank you…by the way.”

Dabi’s jaw tensed at her soft words. Part of him was reeling in shock. If he were being honest, he didn’t think he’d really been thanked for anything before - not that he’d ever really done anything to inspire someone to feel thankful towards him. Though he had ideals of what a hero should be, he had zero desire to stick his neck out for random people. What the fuck was he supposed to say to her? You’re welcome? Fuck that. He chose not to answer, but she didn’t seem to mind. Her nervousness was still there, making him watch her closely out of his peripherals. Partly from curiosity and the other part was because truth be told, he did find her appealing, though he wouldn’t tell her that. He could see the way her stockings clung to her thighs, and he couldn’t help but to imagine his rough fingers digging into her soft flesh.

He knew it would feel so fucking good.

———————————————————————-

“So…did you just happen to be around, or were you following me or something?” She asked, half jokingly and half serious. Seriously, she’d been halfway home when he popped out of nowhere. It would have been a weird circumstance, now that she thought about it. But, perhaps her crushed-riddled, insane mind was being hopeful. Logically, she knew it was a bad sign if it were true. It wasn’t something she should be hoping for.

But she couldn’t bring herself to care.

She paused when he suddenly stopped, making her turn to look at his neutral face, her heart pounding in her chest. He was looking at her blankly, giving nothing away except for the burn of his eyes.

“Why would I follow you?” He asked in a low voice, barely moving his lips as her face warmed from the sheer heat of his cobalt eyes.

“…I don’t know. Why would you?” She replied in a low voice, seeing his brow cock slightly in amusement.

“I wouldn’t,” he said so blandly, that she had no choice but to believe him. “I just happened to be around. If you must know, I almost walked away anyway.”

Her heart stuttered in her chest, her feelings a little hurt before she reminded herself that she was a stranger to him. He wasn’t a hero. He just didn’t seem the type. If anything, she’d say he looked more like a villain, but that was unfair and judgmental of his appearance.

His cobalt eyes looked curious as he looked over her reaction; or lack of reaction. “You aren’t offended?” He asked in a gravely voice; so gravely, she wondered if his injuries to his skin extended to his voice box. His voice was so deep, especially for his lean frame.

It sent pleasurable shivers down her spine.

“No, not really,” she shrugged, scratching her cheek. “Most people don’t want to be involved, do they?”

His brows knitted immediately, his intense eyes flashing in annoyance, as though he didn’t want to hear he was like most people. She wanted to tell him he definitely wasn’t like others, but she wasn’t sure if that was equally offensive. Though she she’d never met anyone like him before.

She paused in front of her house, glancing at him nervously. Should she invite him in? He just saved her, after all.

“Would you, um, like…tea or coffee, maybe?” She asked hesitantly, twisting her hands in front of her as he looked at her blandly. Her heart was thumping, knowing he’d refuse…wouldn’t he? Was it weird that she asked?

He half-smirked, looking genuinely amused as she swallowed thickly, feeling nervous. “You want to have tea with…me?” He asked in a low voice, as though he’d never been asked something more ridiculous. He looked like he was going to refuse, or perhaps even laugh at her, but he surprised her when nodded slowly, curiosity sparking in his eyes.

She gave him a nervous smile as she fumbled with her keys, knowing it would be Monday before her mom came home. She finally opened the door, gesturing an arm out as she moved to take off her shoes. He nodded and his heavy boots stepped in the door, his bright eyes moving around her mothers sophisticated decor for moments before bending down and sliding his boots off. She took notice of his black socks as he sat the shoes next to the door, looking over at her with a cocked brow.

“Does your room look like this…stepford wife shit?” He gestured a long arm around her mothers pristine living room, making her chuckle and shake her head.

“My mom…likes everything to be perfect,” she shrugged. “I’m….” she trailed off, his eyes cutting to her as she stopped talking. But, what was she supposed to say? Unwanted because I’m not perfect? Hidden away? Her quirkless, fat daughter.

“I’m uh…not what she hoped I’d be, I guess,” she finished, feeling his eyes burning into her as his brows furrowed and he looked away.

He snorted softly. “That makes two of us, then,” he said in a deep, low voice. Her eyes widened slightly. Did he actually offer a piece of information about himself to her? Before she could linger on it, he spoke up again. “So, where’s that tea you said you were gonna make?”

“Oh!” She exclaimed as he walked further into the apartment, his black socks contrasting against the white of the carpet. “Make yourself at home and I’ll start the tea.”

She watched out of her peripherals as he slid over to the couch, falling down heavily. Her face flushed slightly when she saw him manspread, hooking his arm over the back of the couch.

Fuck, if her mother could see him on her expensive, suede couch? She’d surely have a heart attack and kick her out.

If she were being honest, the thought thrilled her. She tried to keep her eyes off of him as she boiled the water for the tea, biting back a smile when he picked up the remote, turning the living room tv on without a care in the world. Well, she did tell him to make himself at home.

She finished up the tea, putting it on a tray and bringing it in the living room, sitting it down and noting with amusement that he’d turned on a rock video music channel. Absurdly, she thought that was fitting for him, even though she didn’t know him at all.

She poured his tea, and then hers and began preparing it. She paused when she noticed he was watching her, then glanced down at his cup.

“It’s not poisoned,” she let out a bark of laughter, his cobalt eyes narrowing slightly. She had been joking, but she saw from his serious expression that she hit the nail on the head.

Just who was he to worry about his food being poisoned?

She held out her hand for his cup, and he silently handed it over to her. His blazing eyes watched intently as she clearly took a drink from his cup, handing it back to him.

He took the cup, looking down at it once more.

“What now? Afraid it has cooties?” She said with humor, his eyes flicking up to her face. A small smirk curled the corner of his mouth, her heart fluttering as he raised the cup to his lips. It pleased her as he took a few sips, his eyes trailing back to the tv.

She tried to watch too, but the object of her…thoughts…was sitting on her couch - with a manspread, of all things. God, he looked like he invented man-spreading. He had a casual elegance about him that almost didn’t fit his dark aesthetic. Up close, she could see he wasn’t nearly as thin as she initially thought. His coat had hid most of his frame, but now that he was sitting, she could somewhat see he was actually…muscular. She could see his pecs peeking through the top of his baggy, white shirt.

She swallowed thickly, looking away and towards the tv before he caught her.

She jumped almost violently when a ringing noise sounded from his jacket. She looked over at him as he sighed, sitting his cup down on the table and pulling a cell phone out of his inner coat pocket. His relaxed, neutral face became firm with irritation as he looked at the screen, tapping it and putting it to his pierced ear.

“What?” He answered rudely, his expression turning lazy as he listened, making her look down at her tea. She didn’t want to look like she was eavesdropping…should she leave the room? “None of your business - what do you want?”

She chewed her lip and sipped her tea as he fell quiet again, listening to whoever called him. By his displeasure and rudeness, she could only assume it wasn’t a girlfriend or something. It didn’t even occur to her that he could have a girlfriend. If he did, this wouldn’t be appropriate, would it? It was innocent tea, but she….

Is he married? He is twenty-four, after all.

She looked up slightly, observing his left hand that was resting on his thigh. It was devoid of any rings, and it’s not like he had an aversion to jewelry with all his ear and nose piercings…

“…Fine.”

She looked up, seeing him hang up the phone and quickly down the rest of the tea in his cup before standing, causing her to do the same. She looked at him expectantly as he looked over at her, his neutral face giving nothing away.

“I have to go,” he said simply, his voice sounding bored. He looked away, walking towards his boots near the door while she shifted. He offered no explanation; not that she expected him to.

She felt her curiosity thicken as he slid his boots on. She knew she couldn’t question him. The last time she innocently had, he’d shut down even more (if such a thing was possible). The last thing she wanted to do was push the intriguing man away more, but she couldn’t stop the question from flowing from her lips when his large hand landed on the knob of her front door.

“Will I see you again?” She blurted, seeing him freeze at the door, his back looking a little stiff as his black head whipped around. His expression gave nothing away as he gave her a disinterested stare, making her feel self-conscious.

His next words surprised her. “Do you want to see me again?” He asked in a dull tone, tilting his head slightly, a minuscule smirk curling the corner of his lips.

Her face immediately flushed, his intuitive eyes moving over her cheeks, causing her to look down at her feet like the coward she was. “I-I mean…yes?” Her confirmation came out more of a question than anything else, but it didn’t stop the embarrassment from rippling over her skin.

He was quiet for moments. She chanced looking up, seeing his eyes were squinted, his jaw ticking slightly before he sharply looked away. He stared at the wall next to the door for moments with a furrowed brow, as though he was seriously debating never seeing her again.

That was likely exactly what he was doing.

“Maybe.”

His sudden, one word reply brought her neither rejection or hope. He didn’t look at her again as he exited her house, closing the door behind him. She released a breath, letting her back hit the wall. She wrapped her arm around her stomach, the telling fluttering feeling that had been present during his entire presence still lingering.

“Fuck.”

Part 2

[lovelyladyabsinthewrites]

Love Song for a Vampire Pt.37

Pairing(s):Edward Cullen x Wolf!Reader, Jacob Black x Witch!OC

Warnings: none

Words: 3029

Part 1  Part 2  Part 3  Part 4  Part 5  Part 6  Part 7 Part 8  Part 9  Part 10  Part 11  Part 12  Part 13  Part 14  Part 15  Part 16  Part 17  Part 18  Part 19  Part 20  Part 21  Part 22  Part 23   Part 24  Part 25  Part 26  Part 27  Part 28 Part 29  Part 30  Part 31  Part 32  Part 33 Part 34 Part 35 Part 36 Part 38 Part 39

Kate's scream could be heard past the tall trees that surrounded the Denali coven's home. Reaching the ears of Tanya and Eleazar who had been out hunting to replenish their stock of blood that would last them the rest of the month. Briefly exchanging a troubled look, they drop their equipment and dash off back to the house where they found Kate on her knees in the living room. She was begging Carmen to wake up. The large bay window of their living room was smashed, glass looking like snow against their hardwood floors. Eleazar collapsed onto his knees beside Kate.

"I walked away only for a second to answer a phone call. . ." Kate tells the other two. Slowly, Carmen was coming to as her pale eyelids flutter with life. "Irina must have taken that opportunity to get out. I'm sorry."

Tanya helps her sister up and maneuvers her to the couch while Carmen's mate helps her rouse to consciousness. "It's not your fault." Hastily thinking, Tanya calculates the amount of time Kate had been away and up to when she came upon Carmen. She didn't want to acknowledge out loud that Irina was probably far away now. Mentally she curses knowing that they were now in deep shit with Irina's escape. In a flash she has her phone in her hands and taps Edward's phone number. They had to get this situation under control as soon as possible.

Supporting his mate, Eleazar has Carmen in his arms, her head resting on his shoulder as her black eyes struggle to focus. "Irina?"

"Sshhh, it's okay." He hushes her, gently rocking the both of them to and fro. "We'll get her back."

Her hand goes up to her head and she lets out a groan. "I can't believe this. . . how humiliating."

Unable to sit still, Kate stands up. "I'm going to start tracking her."

Over her shoulder, Tanya reminds her to keep her phone on her in case she comes across anything. Not bothering to use the front door, Kate hops out of the gaping hole in the window that Irina had made and becomes but a golden flash as her legs run at the speed of light. Finally the dial tone is cut off and Tanya hears Edward's voice in a greeting. No time for that. "We have a problem, Ed. Irina's gotten out."

She could hear his sharp inhale. "When? Kate called me just a few minutes ago."

"It happened within that time frame. Irina overpowered Carmen and knocked her out. Kate went after her right now but I don't think Irina is in the area anymore." If her heart was still functioning like a usual human, it would be frantically beating behind her breastbone. This was not good. There were two places that Irina could be heading toward: the Volturi or Forks. Maybe she planned to take matters into her own hands and find where the wolves were. "Send an alarm to the wolves that they need to be on the lookout for her just in case. I don't know what she's thinking anymore but if she so happens to go into your territory, you might be able to detect her before anyone else and warn the others."

"Got it. . . is Carmen okay?" He needed to get out to warn the wolves, but he was also concerned for Carmen.

From where she'd wandered off, Tanya looks back to the living room where Eleazar had situated Carmen on the couch before he too was zipping out of the window. "She's okay. Might have a headache, but it'll pass as will the guilt."

They say curt goodbyes. Tanya shoves her phone back into her pocket as her loud strides clacking back to the rest of her family. "Alright. You guys can stay here if you want to, but I'm gonna join Kate and see if we can find any tracks to where Irina may have gone."

Carmen is already staggering to her feet and giving her head a shake to clear her brain. "I'm fine. Lets go." Her mate is skeptical but has never been one to protest his wife when she has her mind made up. He simply follows her lead, his hands ready if she was still feeling lightheaded and fainted.

Alone, Tanya takes this moment to let out a distressed sigh and rub her hand against her forehead. They were given one job: to keep a sharp eye on Irina. Disappointment is not the strongest emotion she felt then and there. Shame floods her as she was unable to make Edward proud of her and her coven. Acknowledging that it would take a while for her romantic feelings for Edward to go away, she still didn't like letting down the Denali's one true ally.

She believed in no gods or deities but she found herself praying to whoever was willing to listen to her. Praying that Irina made a stop to Forks first before heading to Italy. Maybe then she could be apprehended and contained. Hopefully with (y/n) among the wolves, she could stop them from mistreating Irina. Even though Irina threatened the peace, she was still her sister and Tanya was loathe to lose another family member.

Free at last.

A massive weight lifted off your shoulders, along with your backpack as you open your bedroom window and toss it inside. Closing it once more, you waste no time in joining Embry in the jog to Sam's. Both of you nothing but smiles as the both of you cheered and laugh now that your academic life would not hinder the more entertaining aspect of the pack. Now you could hang out with the witches and watch them.

The summer sun that streamed through the massive branches of trees was kind and heightened the carefree feeling that you and Embry were drunk off of. Sunlight makes a kaleidoscope of shapes on the ground. They moved with the swaying of leaves and limbs.

But the massive figure of Sam's black wolf emerges from the brush and seemingly scaring off all light. You and Embry halt. You couldn't read his mind yet his pinned back ears and raised hackles told you that something was wrong.

To make the travel go faster, the two of you hoist onto Sam's back and he darts to his home. The backyard still has the two tents sitting silently. Void of occupants. Leaping off his back, Sam quickly shifts back to his human skin and you avert your eyes as he shimmies into his shorts. Questions aren't asked. Not yet. His silence told you enough as he leads you through the kitchen and into the once again crowded living room. This time Edward was at the center along with the three witches and Bella seated on the couch, her nervous gaze flitting around the room until they land on you and relief leaks from her.

"Where's Leah?" Sam curtly asks Seth who shrinks.

"She's not feeling well. . ." An obvious lie. Anyone could tell from the manner which Seth's gaze is focused on his feet. Sam doesn't press it though, there are more important issues to take care of and Leah was at the bottom of his list.

Sam shares a nod with Edward, the vampire taking it as a sign to proceed. "Irina from the Denali coven has escaped."

Ice freezes the blood in your veins and robs you of breath.

"What this means is that she could potentially be either on her way to the Volturi or here." His eyes no longer hold that charming honey-gold, instead they're darkened. When was the last time he'd had any animal blood, you wonder to yourself in concern. You feel your packmates stiffen around you at the potential threat of another vampire trespassing on their territory. "The other members of her coven have already been out to look for her around their home but its clear she's long gone."

Nadege closes her eyes and whispers something in her native creole. Next to her, Evita holds her hand and gives it a reassuring squeeze. Dieufel listens with dark, sharp eyes.

"Can't Alice use her power to see where Irina is going?" Colin's voice was timid as he spoke up. One of the youngest members of the pack, they rarely spoke up during meetings like this as they were aware of their status as a young pup. But it was a good question posed to Edward.

"She's not here at the moment." replies Edward which causes Bella to shift uncomfortably in her seat and even Embry and Quil glance at one another. Everyone pinned so much on Alice's special ability. She was what could make or break any subsequent plans.

"I can find her." Dieufel's voice breaks through the concern in the room. But Nadege and Evita only look up at him with worry. Evita and Dieufel had been working so hard to make the wards and it showed on their features. Tired eyes and weary creases above their brows. This would drain Dieufel even more.

Reading his mind, Edward gets all the answers faster than if Dieufel were to have verbally said them out loud. "As fast as you can."

The male witch nods. "It will be done." His eyes rove over to Nadege and Bella. His lips press firmly together before nodding toward his cousin. She could read his mind easily, just not in the same way Edward had. From the expression in the depths of his eyes that she knew so well, Nadege was aware of the responsibility that was now placed on not just her, but the novice Bella as well.

You observe Bella's face. Quil had one time said that Bella had a very neutral face, almost void of any emotion. But that was not true. Her expressions were subtle. The biting of her bottom lip. A slight twitch of her brow. You could tell she was nervous. Having only been learning magic for three days, it surely wasn't enough for her to dive right into making wards. You feel for her.

Dieufel leaves the living room and heads to his tent to begin gathering his materials. Time could not be wasted.

Sam sends out Jared along with Embry, Seth, and Brady. Ideally it would have been nice to have another wolf added to their security. There were still no news of Leah and Sam still was wary of welcoming Jacob back so soon. Though the imprinting hormones flooding through Jacob could possibly now be utilized as a good thing. The innate instinct to protect his imprintee would make him all too vigilant and ready to defend. Quietly while plans are being devised, you bring this up to Sam, pulling him away from the main room.

He regards your words but there's a storm of conflict behind his dark eyes. Edward keeps his attention partly on you and Sam as he speaks with Evita. Nadege has to shoo them out of the center of the room so that she could start making a fourth ward. Bella lingers behind her hesitantly, trying to pretend Edward's presence didn't bother her. Colin and Quil brush past them as their part of the close guard along with Paul. Those who would keep close in case Irina slipped through. "Theoretically, it's a good idea. But. . . you know how unpredictable imprinting can make you in the early weeks."

You nod. "I know. But we could really use everyone we have."

Exhausted, Sam rubs the back of his neck while he ponders. "Okay. Okay. I'll give him a call. I'll try Leah again too."

His small brick of a phone is clutched tightly in his hands already. He'd broken several others, this one lasting him the longest still possessed a cracked screen and a missing button. He goes down a small hallway where you knew his shared bedroom with Emily was. You catch her poking her head out as Sam whispers something to her. They close the door behind them, leaving everyone else to get to their own individual work.

Emily must be scared at this new threat to her and Sam's life. Now she was the lone, normal human among everyone. You'd caught her once listening in on Bella's lessons. She seemed a little embarrassed that she'd been caught.

"You okay?" Edward spooks you from the abruptness of his voice. His hand was reaching toward you as if he'd been about to place a hand on your arm. It hangs in the air between the two of you. You relax and move your body so that his hand firmly presses against your shoulder. Tentatively you touch his wrist. His lips twitch into a shy smile. Were you moving too fast? You didn't know if wrist touching was alright or too. . . intimate.

"Yeah. I'm okay. Sam is going to call Jacob and ask him to come. We could really use the extra help."

"Mr. Cullen?"

Dieufel stands in the doorway of the kitchen, hesitant to interrupt both of you.

Curious, Edward only takes a second to read his mind and understand what he was going to ask of him. "Of course I'll help. Just tell me what to do." He turns back to you, his smile returned as he basks in your touch for a moment more before peeling himself away. Dieufel doesn't move though as his gaze turns to you and Evita.

"Why don't the two of you come along with us. Evita, you need to work on your tracking spells right?" Dieufel reminds her. "This will be good practice for you." He doesn't wait for either of you to say anything as he walks back to his tent where most of his personal supplies are being kept. Off in the distance you could hear your packmates moving through the trees to sniff out any kind of vampire scent that didn't belong to the Cullens.

The sound their pounding paws made could be likened to thunder. That wolf part of you is pulled toward them, wanting to join the hunt. But your alpha told you to stay put, keep watch here. After all, Emily was still inside the house. Unable to protect herself. She needed whatever protection was left to offer her.

On the wooden picnic table that had white painting chipping off in flakes were the tools of Dieufel's trade. A shallow bowl made out of a purple crystal (possibly amethyst). Around the lip of it are etchings, similar to those you've seen already while hanging around Evita. With his back turned to them, Dieufel takes a vial from around his throat and unplugs the stopper. You wonder what it is but he gives no name to whatever silver liquid he pours into the gemstone vessel. Around it are four stumpy little candles supported by small holders. One brown, one red, one blue and one white.

"The time of day isn't ideal." Dieufel admits and glances up at the sky. "But we'll have to make do."

He beckons everyone closer, particularly Evita and Edward so that they could be of more use. Moving Edward so that he was now in front of the bowl, Dieufel explains that only Edward will be able to see the location of where Irina might be since he knows what she looks like and has been around her in the past few days. Her impression will be fresh upon him.

"Evita, my grimoire." It was on the edge she was closest to, a great leather bound book. Weather worn and near bursting. Evita lifts it up and before she could hand it to him, Dieufel flicks his wrist and the book opens in her hands. She suppresses a surprised yelp, watching as the pages fan open to the correct one that had the tracking spell. He hisses out another word that you don't quite catch but the stubby candles suddenly burst to life with little beacons of flames. Edward's eyes are wide as he has a front row seat.

Their magic was always amazing to witness.

"And what do we do next?" He probably knows this spell from memory, but he's also training Evita too.

She tries at first to recall it from memory, but in a second her eyes flick down to the yellow page. "Mugwort. Sprinkle mugwort on the surface." Already on it, Dieufel's dark hand pops open a plastic container with what looked like moss. You'd heard about the herb before, commonly used even on the reservation. Especially among the elders. He grabs a fistful and skillfully sprinkles it producing ripples on the liquid's surface. Each ripple starts to bleed a cosmic swirl of blue and purple as Dieufel murmurs something under his breath. "Next we'll need. . ." Evita looks to Edward "a piece of your hair."

Edward's brows quizzically raise but he's not one to ask questions of a witch and easily lifts his hand to his head, plucking a single strand. Offering it to Dieufel between pinched forefinger and thumb.

"Conjure up her image the best you can. Every facial detail, make it crystal clear in your mind. Focus. Don't lose it." He instructs once he has Edward's hair. Rubbing it between his fingers. "Ankhom tenebris vinculum"

Closing his eyes, you focus on Edward's face. Every twitch and movement behind his eyelids.

His hair is gently placed into the cosmic waters, stilling them and producing a soft, shimmering light. "If you have her in sight, slowly open your eyes and look into the bowl." Carefully with his hand on the nape of Edward's neck, Dieufel moves him so that his face is leaning directly over the surface.

Fluttering his eyelids lazily open, Edward takes a sharp inhale once they're fully open. "Wow. . ."

You try to see around them, hoping to catch a glimpse of whatever it was Edward was seeing. All you could make out was light dancing around the rim of the bowl. The runes glowing as Edward's eyes widen even more.

Apparently it doesn't take too long before Edward's found where Irina is for he hisses and nearly flings himself away from the picnic table with wild eyes. "Jacob. She's heading towards Jacob's."

TAGLIST: @saltedcoffeescotch​  , @dangerouslittlefairy​ , @burn-crash-rqmance​ , @casedoina , @avadakadabra93 , @daryldixonstorm , @blue-aconite​ , @xanniestired666 , @esposadomd​, @godinho11​ , @alexizodd​ , @melaninsugarbaby​ , @lyeatoalinatoheaven , @ronwownsme​ , @itsmytimetoodream​ , @afro-hispwriter​ , @mutandis-extremis993 , @hxgemxscles​ , @nightly-polaris​ , @corrodedcoffins-slut , @ellesalazar​ , @itgetzweird08​ , @crybabyatthediscooffandoms​ , @sassyandclassyx​ , @scarlet2007​ , @theroyalbrownbarbie​ , @jennyamanda8​ , @stevenandmarcslove​ , @biancaindaeyo​ , @loversjoy​ , @turningtoclown​ , @vixorell​ , @xxthackerybinxxx , @daredevilonmyheels​ , @dumbbitch-juicee​ , @southern-bell-give-hell , @nat-the-gemini , @imdoingathingmom​ , @emmettcullenswife , @yoong1c0re , @daddykylokenobi​ , @minjix​ , @magical-spit​ , @krismdavis​ , @arin-swear-rose

[kraken17]

One quote from Enid Sinclair per every chapter of Kooky Spooky in which she has been present.

(Note: She is present in Ch.6 & 7 but in a total wolf out, so she has no dialogue).

"Yeah, yeah... relax. The knife-throwing contest is still on. I already made it clear to Wednesday that she could only use volunteers as living targets. Yoko has offered." (Chapter 1)

"I think she's mine and Wednesday's daughter, but not from around here." (Chapter 2)

"Sigh... as tempting as it is I'd ask you both not to maim her just because of her bad habit of spouting occasional idiocy." (Chapter 3)

"They've captured our Friday. Let's go find her and then you'll teach me what's the most painful way to rip off the head of the person responsible." (Chapter 4)

"Sorry, I just… I don't feel like wasting time with this ceremony right now..." (Chapter 5)

"OMG! Why do I always forget this now when I return to my human form!!??" (Chapter 8)

"Holy shit, I'm a hunk." (Chapter 10)

"Aaaw, I think it's very cute. I'm sure deep down your Bruno appreciated this kind of attention." (Chapter 11)

"Are you very fond of this nightgown?" (Chapter 12)

"And I smell people, and pollution, lots of pollution." (Chapter 13)

"Gosh, you're a year older than us now. This is disconcerting." (Chapter 14)

"Wednesday, don't talk about your parents as if they were rabbits." (Chapter 15)

"I'm sorry... I..." (Chapter 16)

"You threw me against a building and caused me to terrify a family! That's very rude!" (Chapter 17)

"At least you're not a racist nutcase who would use her personal Hyde to gather bits of human remains for resurrection rituals." (Chapter 18)

"Your sister told us a little about you when we met her. Well, she told us that you liked to be thrown with catapults..." (Chapter 19)

"I'm not going to fight you! We don't have the time!" (Chapter 20)

"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" (Chapter 21)

"Uh, I should say something, but just for calling Tyler a dime-store Hyde I'll let you have a pass." (Chapter 22)

"Wednesday and I are keeping our names because our dimension was the one originally visited by the others... Pure convenience but it was all by mutual agreement between all parties." (Chapter 23)

"What happened to my local counterpart?" (Chapter 24)

"God, it's a little trippy to think of myself as dead." (Chapter 25)

"Principal Weems! Or maybe I should say director... uh... because of the... Yeah, I'd better shut up." (Chapter 26)

"Uh... yeah, it's something I usually do, Wednesday. You used to love to complain about it." (Chapter 27)

"For your own sake, you'd better..." (Chapter 28)

"They will have no hesitation in killing any of you." (Chapter 29)

"You're going...to pay...for..." (Chapter 30)

"Oh... erm... apology accepted my... err... my lord?" (Chapter 33)

"But wait a minute, if they're a confederation of packs how come there's a princess?" (Chapter 34)

"I'm sorry. There's nothing wrong with your last name. It's just that... well, in my reality a counterpart of you is one of my best friends." (Chapter 35)

"Ok, the doppelgänger thing I can get, but what's with the homunculus?" (Chapter 36)

"And now... now I get this story that I'm some kind of... multiversal warrior who reincarnates, like a cheap copy of Avatar: The Last Airbender!?" (Chapter 37)

"Ah, ah. I already know the electricity trick." (Chapter 38)

"We're going to breach The Bright One's defenses. And we won't use magic to do it. What we need is science. Mad science." (Chapter 39)

"What do you say about finding a way to inter-dimensionally travel to a magically sealed universe to rescue Wednesday and Friday and deal with an army of supernatural monsters?" (Chapter 40)

"Six months, my love. It has taken me six months to be able to come back to you." (Chapter 41)

"It's just that if you leave me stranded in another universe I have a bad habit of trying to find my way back." (Chapter 42)

"Oops, someone's a wee bit cranky." (Chapter 43)

"It's just that… Look at her! We're not even talking about being just a MILF anymore. I'm going to be totes a GILF, for real." (Chapter 44)

“My name… is… Enid Addams.” (Chapter 46)

"Fuck, Weds, getting stabbed by a saber shouldn't feel so good!" (Chapter 47)

"Who are we? Right now and right here, we are the Addams family." (Chapter 48)

"Well...I mean...the truth is...erm...Ireallylikeyourhairandyourloosehairdoesthingstome." (Chapter 49)

"Six months, Weds. I've been six months away from you. The word insatiable doesn't even come close to describing how I feel.” (Chapter 50)

“You know, if you keep calling them that they're going to end up being born with horns and wings.” (Epilogue)

[eddiemunsons80sbaby]

Nobody's Fool: Chapter 11

Pairing: EddieXReader

Summary: You have bartended for years after you were forced to drop out of college due to family circumstances. You have dated your fair share of musicians, had your heart broken by one particular one, and have learned they are not be trusted. You have sworn off of them for the rest of your life. Then, one night, a new band plays at the bar, and against your better judgement, you can't help noticing the lead singer and guitar player. Could he possibly be different from the ones who came before him?

Warnings: 18+ Only due to eventual smut and language. There is also a toxic family relationship with a narcissistic mother if that is triggering for you.

MasterList

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28

You stood out front, staring up at your mom’s house. It had been two weeks since you'd had to bail her out of jail and your mom was supposed to attend her court hearing tomorrow. You knew your mom’s track record with those, but you also knew the judicial system of this town was getting pretty tired of her shit and this time she could wind up in prison if she didn’t show. 

This was the last thing you wanted to do. You had been avoiding your mother since that night. Instead, all of your free time had been filled with Eddie. You spent every minute you weren’t together wishing that you were and you were teetering dangerously on the edge of not being able to maintain the line between wading in the shallows and undeniably in way too deep, drowning, unable to keep your head above water. You weren't sure how you felt about it. It scared you but not enough to stay away from him.

He had come to your apartment a couple of nights ago and you had just had some snacks, cuddled up, and watched a couple of movies. Yet again, he didn't make a move for anything more than kissing and it was confusing the hell out of you. Jen had gotten home and wound up joining you and her and Eddie hit it off immediately. They got along like old friends. They teased each other playfully and laughed. Jen shared some embarrassing stories about you and Eddie loved every second. You, not so much.

You'd even hung out with his group of friends a couple of times and, though you'd been nervous as hell, you absolutely loved them. It was like you had all known each other forever instead of just meeting. His group were some of the nicest, easiest people to talk with. They had welcomed you in the fold with open arms. Every time you turned around, Eddie was finding some new way to show you that he was perfect and not at all like what you'd believed.

Hadn’t you been the one to tell him that people in high school were bullshit because they looked at him and thought they knew who he was based on how he looked? Weren't you doing the exact same thing? He didn’t resemble Sebastian in the slightest, his coffee-colored brown eyes and wavy brown hair that caressed his shoulders a far cry from Sebastian’s ocean blue eyes and blond hair that fell like a waterfall, straight down to his ass. But still, you had looked at him and seen a rocker, an asshole with a guitar who was in it to use girls like gum. Chew on them for a while until the flavor gets a bit bland and then throw them on the ground before searching for a new piece.

Eddie wasn’t like that. At least, you didn’t think so and if he was, well he was playing a pretty long game at this point. Most guys would have moved on to an easier target by now. You still hadn’t slept with him, not for lack of desperately wanting to, but, for one, he hadn't even made a move. And second, because you feared the minute you did, either you would be completely head over heels for him or he would be gone. Sex only stayed exciting for so long. Sebastian decided after six months that he needed something fresh but you didn’t find out until after nine months. The other guys had their fun with you on the first night and were done with you by morning, onto the next pursuit. Would Eddie do the same? 

You really didn’t think he would, but how were you supposed to know for sure? There was no way to know for sure besides jumping into it and seeing what happened. The uncertainty scared the shit out of you. You had thought you and Sebastian were in love. If someone had told you that he would screw around on you, you would have said they were crazy because the two of you were meant to be. He'd said it himself. Turned out, you were too in love to be unfaithful and also too in love to see what was right in front of your face. You’d walked in after work one night and there he was, buried deep inside some redhead with big boobs on his bed, the bed you'd shared with him for months. He’d tried to explain it away. He loved you but he wasn’t made to be monogamous. He needed variety but it was just sex. It didn't mean anything. He only wanted to be in a relationship with you. It was all bullshit. You could never be with someone who was with other people. 

You shook her head, trying to clear it. You could not afford to be distracted right now. You were going to need all of your faculties to deal with your mother. You looked at the house one more time, this house that had not been your safe place like a home should be. It had been the place you had avoided at all costs. Just walking up to it made you feel sick to your stomach because you knew you were willingly walking into being verbally and emotionally abused, something you hadn't known was even happening until a high school counselor put words to it. It was only ten in the morning but chances were, your mother was already drunk, and her mean words took on a whole new level of nasty when she had the assistance of her buddy, Jim Beam. 

You turned the doorknob and the door instantly fell open. Your mother never locked the door, not aware enough to remember. You had said something to her before only to be berated for thinking your mother was stupid.

Your mom sat in a chair, a half empty bottle of liquor in her hand, her fingers wrapped tightly around the neck. She was watching some trash talk show on tv and didn’t even glance up when you walked into the room. You weren't sure if it was because she just knew it was you or if she just didn’t care or if she was too drunk to even be aware.

“Mom?” you asked softly. 

“Is that my daughter?” she questioned, words muddled together. “What an honor to get blessed with your presence, the daughter who hasn’t had the time to visit me in weeks.”

“I’m sorry,” you responded. “I have been really busy with work and everything.”

“Mmm…I bet. You can’t possibly take care of the woman who gave up everything to give you life,” your mom sneered, bringing the bottle to her lips to take another swig. “Revolving door of losers coming through your bedroom keeping you pretty busy, huh? Can’t find time for anything other than being a whore?”

“Jesus,” you muttered, pressing the heel of your hand against your forehead, trying to push back the tension headache that always arose when you had to deal with her. Honestly, what did you expect? Of course your mom was going to jump right into shredding you apart. That's what she did best, what she enjoyed the most. “I just came to remind you that you have your court hearing tomorrow.”

“And?”

“And if you don’t go, you are going to wind up in prison this time,” you stated, hoping to get through to her. “I can come over in the morning and help you get ready so you at least look presentable in front of the judge.”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Jodi yelled, swinging the bottle around. “Are you saying I don’t look good? Saying I don't know how to dress myself? Who the hell do you think you are?”

“Mom, you can’t walk into court without showering and putting on some nicer clothes.”

“Ohh…miss judgy walking in here like she’s so perfect, telling me I need to try to look better. You’re going to save me? Go to hell. You think you’re so wonderful? You’re a fucking loser. You couldn’t even finish college. You work at a bar! You pass around drinks like you pass around your body. Dirty whores don't get to judge me.”

“I am not a whore!” you argued, anger rising up in you, filling every single atom with white hot rage. God, you were so damn sick of having this same go round with your mother all the damn time. “I don’t sleep with every fucking guy who comes in the bar! And I didn’t drop out of college. I had no choice because you’re a goddamn drunk and you couldn’t hold down a job! If I didn’t quit and start bartending, we would have been out on the street!”

The slap came so fast. You couldn’t believe your mom had the reflexes to move that quickly when she was half a bottle of bourbon in. Your head snapped to the side, your cheek stinging. You reached up, covering your cheek and stared at your mother whose eyes were wild with hatred and revulsion. 

“Fuck this,” you muttered, tears burning your eyes. “You figure out your own damn problems, then. You’re the mother. I shouldn’t have to always be taking care of you! You’re supposed to take care of me! But you never have!”

“I did!” your mom screamed, spit flying out of her mouth. “I didn’t even fucking want you, you ungrateful little bitch! I had to give up my whole life because of you! I could be sitting in a huge house on the beach in Cali right now while people wait on me. Instead I am stuck in this shithole, alone, because of you!”

You just stared at her. There it was. You had always thought this was how your mother felt, but now she had said it. Your mother didn’t love you. She resented you, hated you. You weren't even sure your mother had the capacity to love anybody. She'd definitely never loved your dad. Why were you trying so hard all the damn time to get even an ounce of affection from her? It was like you were running a marathon but the finish line kept moving further away and no matter how hard you worked, you never got the prize. A mother's love shouldn't be a prize to be won. It should be given freely. 

“Fine, if I’m such a goddamn disappointment, if I’m the reason your life is such a mess, then I will stay out of your life! You can handle your own problems! Clean up your own fucking messes from now one!” you screamed, letting years of hurt and pain finally release from your body. “I don’t deserve this shit and I’m done! You just stay out of my life and I’ll stay out of yours!”

“Works for me,” your mom slurred and then slumped down on the couch. 

You stormed out of the house and got in your car, fighting back tears. God, your mom was such a bitch. While other kids had moms who baked brownies, held them while they cried about boys, and took them prom dress shopping, your mom was getting tanked, missing your performance in the school musical because she had better things to do than watch some stupid kid show, and telling you if you wanted a prom dress then you better find money somewhere because she wouldn’t waste money on some stupid dress for some stupid dance.

Why had you worked so hard for so long? You had let yourself believe if you were just a better daughter your mom would finally love you. If you could jump through enough hoops, she would finally see you. She never would. There was nothing you could do that would ever be good enough for her. You could have become a surgeon, making hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, living in a sprawling mansion, and your mom would still think you were worthless. 

Maybe that was why you fell so hard, so fast for Sebastian. You had been so desperate for someone to love you, for someone to see you, to want you. He made you feel beautiful. You had ignored all the signs, ignored your best friend’s warnings because you wanted it to be real. You wanted one real damn thing in your life. He made you feel like you were actually worth something and you had dived in headfirst only to be left floating out in the water alone, praying for someone to throw you a life preserver. 

You pulled into your parking spot in front of the apartment complex and turned off your car, just sitting there in silence for a moment as you let the last hour wash over you. Then a scream erupted from your throat, a piercing cry, releasing the devastation that had been vibrating through you since you left your mom’s house. Your chest heaved as you burst into tears, allowing the sobs to take control of you. You needed to feel this pain, this anger, so you could be strong enough to stand your ground and finally be done with your mother. 

You laid your forehead against the steering wheel, your body heaving with each sob, the tears continuing to flow. It was like a dam had burst inside your body and years of frustration were finally allowed to flow free. You didn't know if they would ever stop.

Your car door was suddenly pulled open and you shrieked, jumping in surprise. Then hands were grabbing you and you were being pulled out of the car and in someone’s arms before you could fully register what was happening. His scent overwhelmed every one of your senses and you instantly knew it was Eddie. Your whole body relaxed into him. You couldn’t process what he was doing here or why. You just knew you were relieved. 

His arms felt like your own personal refuge, a sanctuary from all the drama and the grief. His arms felt like the blanket fort you made as a kid. When you were snuggled deep inside it, you felt like nothing could touch you. It was warm and cozy and safe. You buried your face into his shirt and just let him ease away all the tension.

“I got you,” he whispered softly, kissing the top of your head. “Is it your mom?”

You nodded, a soft whimper that you wished you could take back escaping from your lips.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked.

Reluctantly, you pulled back a bit to look up at him. Those eyes, goddamn, those eyes were the most beautiful eyes you had ever seen. And right now they were looking at you with such concern, soft and almost a deep bronze in the rays of sun. You could get lost in those eyes forever, just staring into them for the rest of your life sounded like a pretty good way to spend your time.

“I’m done,” you told him quietly. “I tried to go over and help her, like an idiot, because she has her hearing tomorrow. She wouldn’t listen. She never listens. She just said…she said all these horrible things. I wound up telling her to stay out of my life and I would stay out of hers.”

“You’re sure that’s what you want?”

You sighed, “What I want is a mother who loves me, a mother who takes care of me instead of the other way around, but that doesn’t appear to be in the cards for me. I keep trying but she’s never going to be my mom, not really. She birthed me but she’s not capable of mothering me. I feel like the only thing I can do, for my own sanity at this point, is walk away.”

“You know, you’re allowed to cut someone toxic out of your life without feeling guilty about it,” Eddie said, smoothing your hair back and cradling your face in his hands, the metal of his rings cooling your flushed skin. “It doesn’t matter who they are. People like to say blood is thicker than water, but I’ve always found the people we choose are often worth way more than the people we got stuck with.”

You smiled, tilting your head. “You know, you are a pretty wise man.”

Eddie laughed, shaking his head. “Thanks, but I’ve just had quite a bit of experience with this particular situation. It took me a while to learn it, to accept it.”

“What are you doing here anyway?” you asked, confused. The two of you hadn't talking about hanging out. “Not that I’m not happy you showed up.”

“Honestly, I just missed your face,” Eddie shrugged, kissing your nose. “Is that weird? I hope it's not weird. I was coming to see if you wanted to hang out, but clearly you may not be in the mood. So, if you want to just go in and relax, that’s okay.”

“I do want to just go inside and relax,” you replied softly, biting your lip nervously. You knew what you wanted to ask, but you were scared of making yourself so vulnerable. 

“Okay,” he nodded. “Why don’t you go put on some comfy clothes, turn on a movie, and get all cozy. I will call and check on you later.”

“That all sounds perfect,” you said, taking a deep breath, “but only if you stay. I mean, you don’t have to.” You shook her head, cringing. Shit. What were you doing? He probably didn't want to hang out with the miserable, blotchy faced girl. “I just mean, I’m probably not the best company right now so I get it if you’d rather…”

“Hey,” Eddie interrupted, taking your chin in his hands and lifting your face to his, “there is nothing I would rather be doing right now. Come on.” He offered you his hand and you took it, leaning into him as you headed into your apartment. “Why don't you go get comfy and I’ll find a movie.”

You headed into your bedroom, changing into leggings and a sweatshirt, wanting to be comfy but also cute. You walked out to find Eddie sitting on the couch, Encino Man beginning on the tv. Jen had just picked that one up at the video store yesterday. The two of you had planned on watching it together, but you knew she would understand. You would always watch it again if Jen wanted.

“I figured comedy was the way to go. You look like you could use a good laugh,” Eddie said, opening his arms. You immediately went to him. His arms came around you, pulling you against his chest. He grabbed the blanket off the back of the couch, wrapping it around the two of you and you allowed yourself to melt against him, silencing all the warnings in your head that this was letting him in too far because his embrace feeling like the safest place in the world right now. 

Taglist

@tlclick73 @bebe07011 @emma77645 @corrodedcoffincumslut @babeyglo @kimmi-kat @bblunuh @vintagehellfire @hellfire--cult @avobabe87 @just-a-sewer-goblin @emilyslutface

[tessenpai]

Kono Oto Tomare Chapter 125 Scans and Rough TL

Disclaimer: Please DO NOT use this translation to make your own TL of the chapter!! The KOT TL group works very hard to give you the most accurate translation, that does as much justice to the original script as possible. This is a ROUGH translation. That means is faulty and there must be mistakes in certain places. This is just for impatient people like myself to get a grasp on what is going on in the chapter! You can REFERENCE my TL if you want to discuss the chapter but never USE it as it was your own.

Scans:

Page 1

Uzuki: Um, here.

Uzuki: The transportation and food expenses.

Isaki: Huh? I'm not accepting money from a child. Get that out of my face.

Chapter Title: Chibana's Song

Uzuki: Because... I'm a... child...

Isaki: You're a naive little shit no matter how you slice it.

Uzuki: Little shit...

Side text: The child that still doesn't know love...

Page 2

Isaki: In this kind of moment a "Thanks for the food" is more than enough.

Uzuki: ...Thanks for the food...

Isaki: Very good.

Isaki: Well then, I will see you here at 9AM tomorrow.

Tetsuki: Cough- Cough

Tetsuki: Wh----

Uzuki: ...

Page 3

Isaki: Don't you dare run away.

Uzuki: She wouldn't take it...

Uzuki [thoughts]: Just like Chika. Chika's aunt.

Isaki [memory]: You're a naive little shit.

Page 4

Uzuki: Munch munch

Isaki: Will you look at that, you ate everything.

Isaki: Atta boy.

Page 5

Uzuki [thoughts]: It has been a long time since I finished a meal.

Uzuki [thoughts]: It... had flavor

Uzuki [thoughts]: ---A family restaurant

Uzuki: You didn't have to be family to go in...

Uzuki [thoughts]: Even something like that

Uzuki [thoughts]: I-

Page 6

Isaki: "You're going too far". You're thinking that, aren't you, Takaoka-kun?

Tetsuki: Well, honestly, I'm not that kind so I believe that leaving him alone would be fine.

Isaki: Ahaha, thought so.

Tetsuki: ---but

Tetsuki: The adults around me gave me an incredibly blessed environment to grow up in.

Page 7

Tetsuki: It was given to receive love from my parents.

Tetsuki: To be scolded and admonished.

Tetsuki: The back that served as an example was always in front of me.

Tetsuki: The hand that supported me and taught me to believe in myself.

Tetsuki: I know that I have so many choices.

Tetsuki: I am who I am because of that support.

Page 8

Tetsuki: Without that foundation

Tetsuki: I do believe it's pretty hard to climb up from the bottom by yourself.

Tetsuki: So the fact that you offered him a helping hand is---

Isaki: Eeeeeeeeeh, that's so grown up---...

Isaki: Takaoka-kun, are you truly a student?

Tetsuki: Huh...

Isaki: I'm very sorry, but is really not that deep.

Isaki: I simply wanted to watch Uzuki's defeated face next to me.

Tetsuki: Eh?

Page 9

Isaki: Nah, I'm just half-joking

Tetsuki [thoughts]: Meaning half of that was true...

Isaki: When it comes to music, it doesn't reach everyone equally.

Isaki: When I saw Uzuki today

Isaki: It just made me think

Isaki: "Ah, if this kid, in the state he is in, were to listen to Chika and de rest's performance..."

Page 10

Isaki: "He might just drown in despair"

Isaki: That's not what Chika wanted, right?

Isaki: Ah, I'm not saying I don't trust in their performance, ok!? I do believe in them but--

Tetsuki: I understand Please look forward.

Isaki: Well, it's not like it would make a huge difference if he listens with someone else.

Isaki: He might be just fine listening on his own, but

Page 11

Isaki: I just don't want Chika to regret calling him.

Isaki: Well, in short, this is my ego talking.

Tetsuki: I see.

Isaki: "I see"?

Isaki: Takaoka-kun, aren't you getting a little bit too comfortable with me?

Tetsuki: Hahaha

Isaki: I'm gonna take you for a ride now

Tetsuki: I'm very sorry.

Isaki: Oh, it's already 4PM.

Isaki: We had lunch at midday, didn't we?

Tetsuki: That's right...

Isaki: Then Chika and the others must be...

Page 12

Isaki: About to end the first day.

Page 13

Sign: Osaka Prefecture. Chibana Girl High School.

Song: "Higurashi" (Evening Cicada) written by Nakanoshima Kinnichi.

Page 14

Atsumu [thoughts]: It's Yamada style... I can't help but feel some kind of kinship.

Atsumu [thoughts]: The name "Higurashi"(Cicada) really evokes the summer---...

Page 15

Satowa[thoughts]: Rain shower...

Page 16

Takezou [Thoughts]: Woah, the sound is so good.

Takezou [thoughts]: There is a bitterness and depth to it.

Takezou[thoughts]: It harmonizes...

Natsu[thoughts]: Tsk It's good.

Page 17

Akira: It seems like Chibana always participates with a "Utamono (Lyrical)" song.

Mittsu: Lyrical!

Sane: Is that like the "Perversion of Water" performance you played, Akira-sensei?

Akira: You even remember the name of the song.

Sane: That's because it was a performance that changed everything for us by hearing the very first note.

Page 18

Akira: Thank you very much!

Natsu: If it's lyrical, does that mean there are parts where they sing to some lyrics?

Akira: I wouldn't call them that...

Akira: The song is challenging to sing because of its unique vocalization and verse arrangement.

Akira: In the performance, one note in the song has many elements packed into a single letter.

Akira: And above that, you have to do it while playing...

Sane: We could never...

Page 19

Chika: But if they always rank high, that means that...

Page 20

*No text*

Page 21

*No text*

Page 22

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Page 23

*No text*

Page 24

*No text*

Page 25

*No text*

Page 26

Akira[thoughts]: I've never heard singing express so much...

Tsukaji[thoughts]: As expected of their "Lyrical". A school that has always protected its spot at the top.

Tsukaji[thoughts]: As if it has been carefully passed down from generation to generation

Tsukaji[thoughts]: The thickness and depth of the sound and the colorful voices combined with it---.

Page 27

Tsukaji: The unique and incomparable Sound Of Chibana.

Page 28

Sfx: [Sound of cicadas]

Page 29

Sfx: Woaah

Sfx: Clap clap clap

Sfx: Waaaaah!

Page 30

Atsumu [sfx]: Drip drip

Natsu: Woah What is it?

Atsumu: It just kind of reminded me of my Grandpa.

Natsu: Well, it was a fine performance A shame tho.

Atsumu: Yeah!! I really liked it!!

Hiro: The singing was amazing wasn't it?

Takezou: Right? It was really surprising--

Sane: This is bad---...

Mittsu: I could hear the cicadas singing.

Kota: I'm tone-deaf so I'm so impressed---

Page 31

Chika [thoughts]: The koto, song, and sound... It was a song that really cherished every single one of them...

Chika[thoughts]: To people who have been accumulating these sounds. I wonder if I've made these people feel bad without my knowledge.

Chika[thoughts]: I thought I didn't care what other people thought about me, but---...

Chika [thoughts]: ....Ahh--....

Page 32

Chika[thoughts]: Dammit...

Takezou: ...Hey, Kudo-kun. The sound really lets everything out in the open.

Chika: Eh?

Takezou: Those people's true essence.

Satowa: !

Chika: Yeah...

Page 33

Takezou: I'm very much looking forward for them to listen to our performance

Chika:-----

Page 34

Chika: Yeah!

Satowa: Kudo, I'll give you these.

Chika: Eh?

Satowa: Candy that cheers you up.

Page 35

Chika: These are my favorites! How come you have them!?

Satowa: Ch- chance?

Hiro [thoughts]: Satowa-chan...

Narration: On the first day of the Koto Music Division of the Japanese Music Festival, the 32 schools finished their performances.

Side text: Even unvoiced thoughts will be conveyed.

---Kono Oto Tomare! will continue in the next issue---

[youmakemyhearthowl]

Punk Princess

Ao3| Part 1| Part 2| Part 3| Part 4| Part 5 | Part 6| Part 7| Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10| Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 (Next Part)

Hello and welcome to the story that I most would like to finish, It's been a while friends, and I have missed all of you. I'm going to go ahead and get this chapter uploaded now, it was written way back in January, when things started to go a little south for me in life, but I figured I could give you guy's this, while I work on making sure I can keep giving you this story in the most authentic way. So here's to you guys, and this shorter Chapter that I never got to release because life kicked me in the face. The next one I'm able to release, I want to be longer but I needed a 'fresh start' to keep telling this story and that meant getting this part out for you all to enjoy. And I really hope you enjoy. thank you for sticking around, and for being so understanding. I hope you enjoy this chapter, and I hope I can keep bringing these boys to life for you soon<3

Steve had been on dates in the past, so he’s not really sure why he’s freaking out so hard to Robin while he’s getting ready. He knows how to do this, he used to be the king of doing this.

But it feels like so much more this time. 

Like life or death.

Which is so silly because Steve’s faced life or death before, and it was nothing like this. But god the panic he’s feeling is so all consuming at the moment he barely registers Robin's hands coming up to grasp his face, and squish his cheeks between them.

“I’m gonna need you to breathe, Dingus.” Steve lets out a soft whine when he registers her words, his eyes focusing on her soft smile. “What’s got you so panicked about this, Steve? You’ve been on dates before, and you already did the hard part of asking him out.” Steve brings his hands up to cup around hers and sighs, deflating completely. 

“What if like, what if he wants or-or expects more on the date? Like I know I’m a bit of a slut Rob’s, I own that shit, but, I’ve- I don’t know, what if that’s all he wants, like everyone else I’ve tried to be with? Like, I didn’t really have the best time with- with the hook ups when I was still figuring out my sexuality, you know?  And Eddie’s important, like so important and I just, fuck I don’t even know what I’m trying to say.” Robin squishes his face a little more as he talks, and his words come out a bit distorted. 

“Steve.”

“Yea I know, it’s dumb.” He casts his eyes to the side as she lets his face go. Hands sliding down his neck and arms till she’s holding his.

“It’s not dumb. But Steve don’t you want more on this date? I mean you’ve been talking about sitting on his dick for months now.” Steve groans, leaning forward to rest his forehead on hers taking a deep breath. 

“This is- Rob’s, I’m like, pretty sure I’m in love with the guy. I don’t think I’d survive if this was just a physical thing.” One of her hands releases his and comes up to flick his ear.

“So tell him that dumbass. You guys promised to communicate with each other, So do that.”

And just like that, a lot of that panic that was gripping his throat dissipates, a soft laugh bubbling up in his throat, because she’s right. Of course she’s right, she’s Robin. But that promise is literally the whole building block of his and Eddies relationship. That promise of Steve communicating, and Eddie taking the time to listen and vise versa. It’s what makes what they have now work.  

Steve leans forward and plants a kiss on Robin's nose that has her scrunching it at him. 

“What would I do without you, Robs?”

“Perish.”

“Fair enough”

~~

Steve has no idea why he was so nervous, walking through the woods with Eddie towards their date destination. Them- this, it’s easy. 

“Stevie, baby, light of my dreary life. You said drive-in movie, not fucking hike for an hour in the woods movie.” Steve laughs, glancing over to Eddie before reaching out and grabbing his hand, placing a swift kiss to his knuckles.

“It’s been like 10 minutes Eddie, and we’re almost there anyways.” Eddie shoots him a playful glare, yanking on their intertwined hands so Steve stumbles towards him slightly.

“Pretty sure you said that like, 3 hours ago.” Steve laughs, groaning and bumping his shoulder into Eddies.  Glancing sideways at him through his bangs, a soft swoop warming his lower stomach. 

“Eddie.”

“Steve.”

“Ed’s.”

“Stevie.”

“Edward.”

“Babygirl?”

Steve kinda short circuits at that, stumbling slightly and shooting a playful glare at Eddie, who's walking next to him with a self satisfied grin taking over his whole face.Steve can feel his blush deepening as he stares at him.

“You’re a little shit.” Steve finally settles on saying, glancing in front of them to make sure they are going in the right direction.  He doesn’t think he’s stopped smiling since the date started, and his face kind of hurts, but he’s so glad he was able to push past his worries and do this. All of this for Eddie. He can smell the food he cooked every now and then, when Eddie swings the picnic basket just right and he’s excited to get Eddie’s opinion on the Chicken Parm he’d made for them. 

Eddie squeezes Steve's hand gently, pulling his attention back over to him, and the smile Steve is met with is blinding. 

“So, what’s with the trek through the woods for a drive-in movie? You secretly a murderer?” Steve snorts so hard at the question he stumbles a bit, Eddie uses the hand he’s still holding to pull him back. “It’s a valid question, Princess. You’re a little bit lethal, and a whole lot hot while doing it.” Steve feels a chill go down his spine slightly at the words, flashes of Demodogs dancing past his eyelids, Billy’s fists mingling with the images. He almost wants to say ‘Yes cause I have to be.” But he holds his tongue, and flashes a cheeky grin in Eddie's direction.

“I’m not gonna murder you. Although if you show anyone where I’m taking you, I might.” He scratches at the back of his neck a bit. “It’s uh- it’s a special place I stumbled upon last year, when I couldn’t sleep one night. It was old and falling apart when I found it, but I’ve fixed it up good as new.” He glances over at Eddie again, seeing him nodding along as Steve talks, soft smile on his lips.” It’s high enough up that it’s got the perfect view of the Drive-in through the trees.” Eddie stops walking at that, using where they are still attached to pull Steve to a halt as well.

“Steeeeve,” He draws out the e’ in a whine, “you’re making me hike and climb?” He’s got his lip pouted as he looks at Steve, and Steve really can’t fight off the blooming warmth in his chest staring at the man in front of him.

“It’s up a ladder Ed’s, It won’t be too bad.”

“I agree on one condition.”

“That is?”

“You climb me afterwards.” Steve barks out a surprised laugh at that, and he can feel a warm blush spreading up his chest to his cheeks, Eddie smirks over at him. 

“I’m beginning to think you have no filter.” Steve muses aloud, knocking gently on a tree trunk as he passes it. 

“Beginning? Stevie, baby, beginning?” Eddie’s still got that smirk on his face as he uses a tree trunk to spin around and get closer to his space. Steve huffs out a laugh, using his pointer finger to push Eddie back by his nose as he glances around the woods trying to spot his marker on a tree he knows is near by. His eyes light up when they land on the soft blue cloth blowing in the wind. 

“Come on, the tree house is over here.” He can physically feel Eddie perk up at the words.

“Treehouse! Stevie, you have a secret treehouse out here?” Eddie stumbles over his shoe laces as he works to catch up to him, and he laughs. God when was the last time he laughed this much? And Just as he’s about to start climbing the ladder Eddies grasping his shoulder and spinning him around, pushing his back up against it and pressing his chest flush against him. There’s a mischievous twinkle in Eddie’s eyes as Steve looks at him questioningly, and Eddie leans in, his nose brushing along Steve's cheek. 

“You really look good enough to eat in that outfit Steve, and if I have to climb up this ladder behind you, neither of us are going to get to taste this meal you made us or see the movie.” Steve shivers at the purr in Eddie's voice as he leans even closer, lips ghosting over Steve’s ear. “So what do you say I do first pretty boy, before I just push you up against this ladder and take you right here.”

Steve suppresses a groan, leaning his head back against the ladder and arching himself more into Eddie, who’s hands come out and brace his hips.

“Down boy, I want to at least get to sample what my baby spent all morning cooking for me.” He laughs softly, planting a wet kiss to Steve’s cheek and shuffling him out of the way to start up the ladder, and if Steve has to take a second to readjust his pants before following him, that's between him and the trees. 

Ao3| Part 1| Part 2| Part 3| Part 4| Part 5 | Part 6| Part 7| Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10| Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 (Next Part)

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[ngray192]

Hi :) can you do a Madlyn angst but with a happy ending? Thank you! <3

This is how I realized I've never written anything really angsty, but I'm sure as hell gonna try!

This is aged up, they're in their 20's.

"I'm not supposed to tell you this, but Maddie is going to scare the shit out of you when she gets home," Jet said as soon as Ashlyn answered the phone. "I'm only telling you cause I know you've been kinda stressed, and I don't want you to punch her or whatever."

Ashlyn laughed, "I promise I won't hit her. Thanks for the warning, Jet. I'll text you how it goes."

She spent the next twenty minutes looking for a good spot to jump out and scare Maddox. When she decided on a good spot, she only had ten minutes before Maddie was going to open the door.

Ashlyn waited in the closet for her girlfriend (ha, fitting) to open the front door. She waited for what felt like forever before she finally climbed out and checked her phone. It was 8 o'clock, Maddox was supposed to be home at 6.

Ashlyn forced herself to take a deep breath and not instantly panic. Maddox was probably just busy with some elaborate prank, right?

After a few minutes of trying not to panic, she decided to text her girlfriend.

Me: you working late? I miss youuuuu

Delivered: 8:07 PM

Me: Maddie? Helloooo?!

Delivered: 8:24 PM

Me: OK fine, Jet told me you were gonna scare me but pls text me back I'm worried

Delivered: 8:52 PM

"Shitshitshitshitshit" Ashlyn began pacing around their living room.

Her phone rang in her hand, startling her. She picked it up quickly, "Maddox?"

"It's Jet..." Ashlyn was on edge as he spoke. Her world was spinning and the sounds were muffled as he explained. "Car crash... surgery... Lakeview hospital..."

Ashlyn drove well over the speed limit, barely putting the car in park before she hopped out and ran into the main lobby. She nearly ran into the front desk as she started spouting words, "Maddox Curda?"

The woman at the desk typed on her computer before looking up at Ashlyn, "She's still in surgery, honey. That young man over there is waiting for her, too. I'll tell you when she gets out." Ashlyn turned around and realized that Jet was sitting on the other side of the ER waiting room with his head in his hands.

Ashlyn cautiously sat next to him. He looked up at her with red, sunken eyes, and instantly hugged her.

--

"Ash," she woke up to Jet shaking her shoulder. "They said she's out of surgery, c'mon." Ashlyn jumped up and followed Jet to the doctor's.

"Sorry, ma'am, only family allowed," he said sternly. He took a look at Ashlyn as she almost broke down in tears again, and sighed. "Both of you can follow me."

The room was bright white, it reminded Ashlyn of an asylum. A bed stood in the middle, with Maddox laying there still. She didn't notice Jet step out of the room; it was too much for him. Ash immediately ran to Maddox's side and took her hand gently.

"When will she wake up?" Ashlyn asked the doctors, blinking back the tears in her eyes.

"We don't know. Her body went through a lot of trauma in the accident. We just don't know if she'll wake up, I'm sorry." The doctors left as Ashlyn sobbed into Maddox's unmoving arms, she needed her to wake up.

-----

Day 1

"I brought you some food," Jet said as he entered the room with a black tray and two plastic wrapped sandwiches for lunch. Neither of them had left the hospital. Ash weakly thanked him as he set the tray down. He sat in the chair on the other side of the bed, praying his sister would wake up. He looked at Ashlyn, "What're you thinking about?"

Ashltn let out a long sigh. "It just... it wasn't supposed to go like this." She saw Jet's questioning look and continued. "I was supposed to audition for my first real music this weekend, and Maddox was going to be there to cheer me on. And then she'd become a techie for the same show so we'd get to work together. And then on opening night she would being me flowers and propose, all super chill because that's just how she is. But I'd say 'no' because I had already planned out my own big proposal with my own song to sing to her and everything." Ashlyn chuckles lightly.

Jet walked to the other side of the bed and hugged Ashlyn tightly. Maddox needed to wake up.

----

Day 3

"If you wake up, you can pick the movie for movie night every week." Three days was the longest Ashlyn had been without Maddox since they began dating back in high school, and she had hoped bribery would someone cause her girlfriend to wake up.

Jet smiled slightly, "Maddie, if you wake up, you can take anything you want from my room." The two laughed a little at their attempts to wake up Maddox. "Just wake up, Maddie, please."

----

Day 7

Ashlyn didn't want to admit it, but she was slowly giving up hope. She finally went home and took a shower on the 5th day of Maddox's coma, but she came back the second she could.

She placed a small bouquet of flowers in the small blue vase on the corner. Over the week, Ashlyn, Jet, and their other friends slowly filled the room with things to help Maddox recover; a handful of crystals by her bed, Ricky's radio and a handmade CD, the log with their names carved into it.

Ashlyn sighed, "Maybe true love's kiss would wake you up," she said to herself. She was practically out of ideas.

She sat back in her chair and pulled out the tarot cards she brought from home. "Alright, it's worth a shot. Cards, tell me if Maddie will be alright." She flipped over the first card; Death. "Nope, no thank you, we are putting this away." She quickly packed up the cards and tossed the box into the corner of the room. She looked back down at Maddox. "I love you, Maddox, please stay with me."

Suddenly, two brown eyes were looking up at her. "Boo," Maddox said quietly.

Ashlyn practically screamed of excitement as she held her girlfriend's face in her hands. Her beautiful, awake, alive face.

Maddox laughed, "sorry for scaring you, I was just going to tap on the bedroom window in a scary mask, but I guess a car crash works too." Ashlyn punched her shoulder gently before kissing her over and over again.

"You just woke up from a coma and all you can talk about is how your prank failed?" Ashlyn asked as she sat back in her seat.

"What else do you want me to say?"

"Anything, I'm just so glad I get to hear your voice." Ashlyn smiled down at Maddox, she couldn't stop smiling.

Maddox rolled her eyes as she thought of something to say, "hmmmm what should I talk about?" She tapped her finger on her chin as Ashly rolled her eyes. "Oh I got it! Will you marry me?"

Ashlyn's jaw nearly hit the floor. "What?"

"Is that a no?" Maddox asked, still smiling.

Ashlyn didn't respond, she just kissed Maddox deeply. That was all the answer she needed.

[xydamcg]

Newest member 5

Ghost x f character!

Cw: trauma trigger, daddy's home, teasing, stupidity with a weapon, nicknames?

Summary: Avery gets stuck training recruits and one of them just so happens to piss her off.

Pt 1 Pt 2 Pt 3 Pt 4

Her day started off rough immediately, waking up with the worst kink in her neck and Ghost no where to be found. She quickly collected her things from the floor as she made his bed and snuck across the hall to her room, nearly damaging her shoulder again in the process. Stupid door. Thank the heavens she got up when she did because when she checked her email, she saw a email from Price about him having her cover as drill sergeant because the original one was under the weather. She checked the time before shooting out of her chair and scrambling around the room looking for something to wear.

Jumping into a pair of cargo pants, not bothering to change the shirt ghost let her borrow she wiggled into a pair of socks and then her boots. She snatched her jacket off the hook as she left the room, she was half out the room when she noticed she didn’t have a hair tie to keep her hair out of her face. “Shit.” She cursed as she turned to enter the room only to bash into the door that now refused to open. “Stupid fucking door!” She snapped checking her watch—she didn’t have time! Groaning she zipped up her jacket and sprinted out the barracks and across half the base to the training fields.

Each person she ran past looked at her like she had lost her mind, it wasn’t her fault she had somewhere important to be. She was wheezing as she got to the training field finding Ghost leading a drill, Soap not too far down the field. She quickly sucked in a deep breath as she tried to calm her pounding heart, she knew her face was probably flushed from the cool wind. Ty straightened her jacket making sure her name tag was presentable as she headed into the field. She patted Soap on the shoulder as she passed, making her way to Ghost.

“They have you on drill sergeant duty too?” She asked as she came next to him. “No, I’m covering for you.” He spoke his eyes following the line of recruits doing push up’s. “I’m not that late..am I?” She asked checking her watch before looking up at him. “24:00, watch is wrong.” He said making her look down at it, her face twisted in concern as she began to push buttons to get it calibrated correctly again. “There’s no way..” she whispered brushing her hair behind her ear as she struggled to fix the time. “Take over, give me the watch.” He said, quickly removing the watch she handed it to him. Soap coming to join the pair as it appeared the warmup’s had ended. “What’s the plan double T?” Soap asked as Ty looked over at him. “Double T?” She asked confused making Soap smirk slightly. “Yeah I call Ghost Lt..and you’re second lieutenant and your name begins with a T so double T.” Soap explained causing Ty to stifle a laugh, Ghost didn’t seem to like it as he rolled his eyes. “Fuckin’ aye johnny.” He grumbled as he began to head off the field her watch in his hand. “It’s that bad?” Soap asked causing Ty to ignore him as she placed her hands around her mouth. “Attention recruits!”

All eyes flew in her direction, even Soap’s. Who knew she could holler like that? Such a small woman held all that voice. Ty was 5’9, a small little thing compared to most of the men on base who were around 6’ and higher, all she knew was that she wanted to be tall like them one day. “Grab your weapons because we’re headed to the range! You better have those safety’s on and those barrels pointed to the sky! March!” She screamed pointing down hill to the gun range. “Alright mates you heard the lieutenant move your asses!” Soap followed up leading the group down hill. Ty couldn’t help but smile as Soap marched with them. Falling in step she guided them to the range, making them pair up in twos so they could switch out shooters when the time came.

“Hey double T.” Soap called as he jogged up to her from across the pavilion. “What’s up J?” She asked pushing her hair from her face, this was why she always had it up because she got tired of having to keep brushing it from her face. “How was last night?” He asked shoving his hands in his pockets as the wind blew under the pavilion. It was getting colder as Christmas drew closer, she was dreading the snow. She hated being cold. “What do you mean last night? The mission?” She asked her eyes scanning the recruits down the line before starting again. Recruits sometimes didn’t use their brains and you have to keep a close eye on them. “No I mean..with Ghost.” He whispered leaning closer like she wouldn’t of heard him if he was any quieter. Her eyes flew from the recruits to Soap, was he being funny? “Mctavish, I hope you’re messing with me.” She growled as she stepped toward him but over his shoulder she noticed a recruit waving his rifle around, pretending to shoot invisible enemies. Something in her mind clicked and she found herself shoving Soap out of the way as she stormed toward the recruit.

“Hey! Solider have you lost your god damn mind?!” She yelled snatching the rifle from him. He seemed shocked at her sudden approach, her eyes trailed the rifle before stopping on the safety. It wasn’t on. “N-no lieutenant.” He stuttered stupidly. “No, what Solider!” She asked angrily. “No I haven’t lost my mind.” He squeaked, he had he surely had lost it. “Yes you have you idiot! Your safety is off and you’re waving your weapon around like it’s a toy! Do you wanna be the reason one of your comrades is in the infirmary?! I don't think you do! Now drop and give me 100 push ups, you got four minutes! I better not see you so much as break pace or I'll smoke you from here to deployment!" She continued, the soldier immediately dropping to the ground to bust out those push ups. The interaction had caught the attention of everyone under the pavilion even Ghost who was just making an appearance again. "You keep track of the time and you make sure he doesn't break pace , let me know if he does." She instructed two other recruits nearby.

Finally turning back toward Soap and now Ghost, she shook her head. "He doesn't get any firearm privileges until i speak to Price, Laswell and his original drill sergeant." She instructed Ghost and Soap while putting the rifle's safety on. "Yes ma'am." Soap confirmed before heading out to switch shooters. Her eyes moved up to Ghost nodded in affirmation. "Whatever you say ma'am." She couldn't tell because of that wretched mask but Ghost appeared to be smirking? "Lieutenant Avery.." A familiar called out to her. "Speaking Sir." She announced as she went in a swift parade rest, her eyes nearly fell out of her head as she saw the last person she ever wanted to see.

"Dad?" She asked weakly, it felt like the ground was shaking under her feet as her knees felt like giving out. "That's Captain or Sir to you Lieutenant." He corrected as he smiled at her, the world was beginning to spin. "Sorry sir." She reassured as she noticed him coming closer, her body stiffened immediately as he wrapped her tight in his arms. Ghost was one of the few to notice besides, Soap and her own father. She hesitantly patted his back, why was he here? "What are you doing here?" she asked laughing nervously, checking her surroundings quickly. Price stood a few feet away, hands tucked behind his back. She looked at him quizzically and found him shrugging and shaking his head in return. "Can't a father see his daughter? I wanted to see how the new base was treating ya after you disappeared off the grid.." He chuckled but she knew what he meant by his words and unfortunately now Ghost did too. How did he find her?

Ty looked toward Ghost their eyes locking for a moment before her father focused his attention on an incoming Soap. "As i live and breath Captain Richard Avery." Soap swooned sticking his hand out to take her Father's. "Ha yes that's me, and who may you be son?" He inquired, taking his hand. Ty quickly moved, the rifle she had been clutching to death now on her back as she slung it over her head. "Captain this is sergeant Johnny Mctavish.." She piped in, hating that she would actually be introducing him to Soap. She never wanted them to ever meet him in person but here they were. Here they are.

"And who are you big boy?" Richard mused as his gaze shifted to Ghost, Ty stepped even closer trying to get back the focus of attention. "This is-" Ty started again only to be shushed by her Dad. "He's a big fella, he can open his mouth and speak can't he?" Richard poked, her heart was racing--she felt like she was going to implode. Ghost's eyes flickered from Richard to Ty, she subtly shook her head wanting him not to do anything out of line. "Simon Riley captain, but you can call me Ghost, sir." He stated ignoring her father's hand that was held out to him. This wasn't real. "Ghost? i made a few of those in my time." Richard joked, she was going to die.

----------

Tag list: @ellouisa17 @hypernovaxx

[mermaidsirennikita]

ARC REVIEW: Triple Sec by TJ Alexander

4.5/5. Releases 6/4/24.

Vibes: healthy polyamory, front and center genderqueer rep (from a trans nonbinary author), slice of life in the best possible way, BOMB ASS COCKTAILS

Heath Index: 7.5/10.

Ambitious high-end bartender Mel Sorrento has been in a rut since her divorce. Enter the vivacious, brilliant Bebe... who happens to have spouse. Quiet, reserved Kade doesn't have a problem with Mel dating their wife, however--because Kade and Bebe are polyamorous. Mel's never considered the lifestyle, but her instant connection with Bebe makes her willing to give it a shot. But when her dynamic with Kade begins to shift into something entirely new, she must confront what she's actually looking for in a relationship, and how much this new opportunity for love really means to her.

UGH. YES. This is how you do a contemporary romance that, at the end of the day, is a slice of life character piece. Triple Sec is not about shocking you with plot twists and over the top dramatics (and that's not a critique--often, I'd say that I prefer plot twists and over the top dramatics). It's just fucking good writing with great character development and romance. It's also one of the more realistic contemporary romances I've read, which is honestly so refreshing. I truly believed that there were grown-ass adults figuring out their shit.

Quick Takes:

--One thing I love about a triad romance (and while this is the most realistic one I've read (I say having never been in a polycule or a triad more specifically), I do generally enjoy reading about the complexities of both figuring out a three-way relationship and developing the different "segments". While I've read some that begin with love triangle elements, that isn't the case here. Though they aren't without expected hiccups, Kade and Bebe have a very healthy approach to Bebe's beginning relationship with Mel (and later Kade starting things with Mel as well).

I feel like in less capable hands, the degree to which Bebe and Kade communicate and deal with jealousy would seem overly sanitized or boring. Like, they begin the relationship with Kade sitting in on Bebe asking Mel out and everything, just to reassure Mel that there isn't any cheating going on. But like... it's NEVER dull. It never feels expected, or like these people are perfect. (I mean, they aren't--Mel has some struggles and stumbles when beginning her journey into polyamory.)

--Part of what makes that work, I think, is the contrast in the relationships. Kade and Bebe have been together for almost a decade--they know what they're doing, and their lived-in love reverberates off the page, even though the book is entirely from Mel's third-person perspective. (Kade calling Bebe "love" constantly, despite seeming kind of frosty? Swoon.) Bebe and Mel have this immediate chemistry, full of fun and fire. And Kade and Mel sort of like... I felt an automatic sexual tension, but I also think that Mel was a bit too "new" to their dynamic to super sense it. This is probably not going to make sense to anyone but me, but I got this kind of like... Darcy and Lizzie vibe? Kade was never as prickly as Darcy, but I definitely felt like Mel was in that "WHAT. BUT THEY DON'T EVEN LIKE ME???" space.

All of it worked to me. I mean--I won't lie. I was a little partial to Mel and Kade's dynamic, because a) I like it to be a little difficult and b) Kade was my favorite but everything is great.

--Let us expand on Kade being my favorite. I really appreciate a "still waters run deep" character. Kade is that. They seem remote, but they have so much feeling and passion rumbling under the surface, and Alexander throws them into this situation with Mel that is sooooo tropey and fabulous and reading as the feelings spilled out of them was just pitch-perfect.

This does happen somewhat later, so you technically spend a lot more time with Bebe and Mel together on the page. However, Kade has a such presence, and they're constantly sort of like... looming in the background. And because of that, the slowly bubbling tension that Mel doesn't even fully register for a while is so HOT. I mean. Kade is also so hot. I was ABOUT them. Again--love Bebe and Mel, together and apart, but WHEW.

--This is completely an aside, but I do think the cocktail competition and the highlighting of the art of making a great cocktail was really cool. It made me both want to learn how to mix drinks (to the extent that I can) and try something new. These types of details make a contemporary romance way richer, and they're appreciated.

--I think it's really important to show books that are both incredibly romantic and sexy and approachable. Again, I've never been in a polyamorous or more generally non-monogamous relationship. I can't attest to have truly realistic this book is. But in general, I loved seeing a romance in which the relationship part started fairly early, showing negotiations, showing boundaries, showing rules. I mean, really, monogamous relationships should also be subject to rules and negotiations and boundaries. We should normalize this in romance. Things change. That HEA does kinda take work in some stories, and that is more reflective of real life.

Speaking of the HEA... I so appreciated that both Kade and Mel had been in very serious, very intense relationships in the past. Kade's openness and honesty about how their past partner did offer them things Bebe couldn't (and Mel can't either) was so refreshing. It's not that they necessarily need someone else to come in and take that space (though the rules do allow room for new partners--we don't see anything happen beyond the triad in this book). It's just a reality. No one person can give you everything, and that doesn't mean that every person needs to be with enough people to comprise "everything". If that's even possible. It's just something to accept, no matter what your relationship preferences.

I also loved that Kade was kind of like--yeah, this could end. How many things are really forever? But we love each other when we love each other and make each other happy and that's good. I mean, I think some people will categorize this book as one with an HFN versus an HEA--personally, I'd kinda disagree with that. But either way, I really loved seeing a romance that validated the idea that like... A relationship ending doesn't mean it wasn't VALUABLE.

The Sex:

HOT HOT HOT. Technically speaking, there are three full sex scenes in this novel. Every single one of those scenes went HARD. We have sex in a public space, we have LICK! IT! UP! (as in cum) the strap is indeed taken out and used to great effect. It's great. I loved it. I also liked and overall agree with Bebe's philosophy regarding sex and how people often tend to switch up their "out of bed" personalities compared to their "in bed" personalities.

(Also. Kade is a dirty talker. What can't they do?)

A super queer, super sexy, super bubbly contemporary romance with a heavy emphasis on character development and love story that really sold me on the "love" part. And on a personal note--I have a trans nonbinary person in my life who is much loved, and I so appreciate them having someone like TJ Alexander to see out there, creating art and leaving a mark.

Would highly recommend.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria/Emily Bestler Books for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[jhilsara]

I Can See You

Pt. 1/ Pt. 2/ Pt. 3/ Pt. 4/ Pt. 5/pt. 6/Pt. 7/Pt. 8/Pt. 9/ Pt. 10/

Pt. 11/ Pt.12/Pt.13/Pt. 14/Pt.15/Pt.16/Pt.17/END

Mariana Jimenez-Watson or MJ works in a normal pub living life paycheck to paycheck. Nothing exciting happens to her except the occasional drunk getting thrown out. She's 24 working away and finds a wrench thrown into her very boring life. His name is Hobie and she thinks maybe, a little excitement isn't awful. In fact she might start to crave some change for once.

Small moments of Hobie meeting his world's MJ. AKA I made an MJ variant and I think she's neat.

Chapter 7

Mariana's out buying a few bottles from the liquor store, to pick up for the pub. It was suppose to be a quick in and out, but everything just goes to shit and throws her day off.

She sees something zoom by in a blur out of the corner of her eye. She turns to the window and sees Hobie, well Spider-Man, in the middle of a fight that was getting closer to her. Before she can even think to pay for her purchase, the clerk is scrambling to get out the back door. She sees a crowd rushing to get off the streets and the hoard screams as they run for their lives.

She’s frozen in place, eyes glued to the window, watching Hobie in the distance. She shuffles on her feet for a second, knowing she should run back to the pub, but she doesn’t. All she can think about is how the last time Hobie fought the Goblin he ended up bleeding out in her floor. She can't leave, she feels something deep in her gut compel her forward.

“Fuck me…” She mutters to herself, knowing it’s a bad idea to go out there. A very bad idea. She never said she was bright though. Her self-preservation has never been her biggest trait, especially when it comes to her friends. She sees Hobie's bloody body flash in her memory and it's enough to push her forward.

 She runs out the front door of the store, trying to get a better look. She’s has to help. She doesn't know how she will, but she has to. She’s almost knocked over by group of people running past her, scattering the streets to get as far away as possible. Bodies pushing past her, ricocheting her around between people like a pinball.  

She sees the Goblin's silhouette and her stomach churns. They're the person who can hurt Hobie. She feels a bubble of rage building in her.

She’s still standing in front of the liquor store on the empty streets. The Goblin’s face turns looking towards her. Ice runs through her freezing her in place. The Goblin's masked gaze looking through her. They don’t move just keep staring at her, fidgeting with the bomb in their hands.

She realizes they're not looking at her, but the liquor store behind her. A bomb to a liquor store would cause a massive explosion, and she's just collateral damage. She feels her feet move as she tries to escape, but everything happens in slow motion. She sees Hobie turning to follow the Golbin’s line of sight, his masks eyes widening as he locks onto her.

He’s swinging toward her, almost tunnel vision trying to get to her. The bomb is hurled toward the store. He’s desperately trying to be faster then the Goblin’s explosive. He shoots his web towards her, trying to pull her to him and swing them to safety. The projectile hits the liquor store and the explosion goes off. The building combusting, bricks flying, fire raging, and glass shards moving as deadly projectiles. 

Hobie has MJ in his arms but the two are flung to the ground, rolling into the street.

She can’t hear anything, or rather she can, it’s all just ringing in her ears. She’s struggling to move, but she knows Hobie’s on top of her. His body shielding her from the falling debris.

She sees his chest moving rapidly and she thinks he’s coughing. Everything around her sounds too far away and too close at the same time. Her visions blurry and she’s in more pain than she’d care to admit. She can't see past Hobie's body and the bright light of fire and the darkness of smoke. 

She groans as she tries to pry herself off the street to sit up. Hobie’s in front of her, and while she can’t see his face, she knows he’s frowning or glaring at her. Probably a mixture of both.

His head turns trying to look for the Goblin through the smoke and fire. He can’t see much past their small area though. He grunts and turns to look back to her.

She feels his eyes look her over, assessing the damage. He moves to help her up, trying to be as gentle as he can. She hisses in pain, eyes widening for a moment. She feels something wet on her face and she realizes she’s bleeding. She goes to touch her forehead and recoils from her own hand.

She’s definitely going to get scolded when this is all over.

Hobie leads them through the smolder and on the outskirts there's flashing red and white lights. There’s a few ambulances and firetrucks arriving trying to maintain control over the situation. Hobie takes her to one of the EMT’s and hands her off like a kid. She gives him a confused look.

“Don’t, do not look at me like that,” He tells her softly before turning to the medic. “Take care of her and don’t let her out of your sight… She’ll go runnin’ back in.” He gives her an accusing look at the end of his sentence.

She’s in a lot of pain but she’s not letting him go back without a fight, “Don’t do that to me,” she moves to get up but he’s faster. He’s webbed her hands down before she can even fully stand up.

She shoots him a nasty glare, “Are you fuckin’ kidding me?” she demands.

Hobie ignores her and addresses the EMT, “I’ll be back for her, don’t let her wonder off alright?”

She groans and bites her tongue to stop herself from screaming his name in irritation. She loses sight of him quickly as he disappears into the smoke. She tries to pull against the webs, but she knows it’s useless. She turns to the EMT who looks at her in confusion and a hint of amusement.

She gives the guy a pointed glare and tilts her head down to her hands, wiggling her fingers in exaggeration.

“I don’t, Spider-Man said to not let you out…” he tries to tell her, voice much too timid.

She leans forward and meets the man with her much stronger conviction, “If you don’t get this web off of me… you better hope you’re gone when he get’s back.” She growls out at him.

He blinks for a moment before he immediately is cutting the webs. She doesn’t know what he saw on her face, but it was enough to scare him into helping her.

Once she’s free she assesses her surroundings, trying to find the best course of action. The smoke is still billowing up and there’s a large fire that two trucks are actively trying to contain. Explosions are still happening, she can hear them in the distance. So Hobie’s still fighting.

She turns to the EMT, an idea popping into her head. “Do you have any flares or a flare gun would be better?” she asks him frantically.

The man blinks at her and points to the firetruck that’s on the outskirts with him. She nods her head and jogs over. Her body is screaming at her but she doesn’t care. She has one goal in mind.

She grabs one of the firefighters, “Do you have a flare gun?!” She demands, voice firm.

He is taken aback by her but he points over to the equipment they have out. She doesn’t do more than quickly look over and find what she’s looking for. She snatches it and goes running off back into the smog. They man tries to call out after her, but his yells fall on deaf ears.

She’s sprinting towards the noise. Her field of vision is short and she doesn’t have a lot to go off of. The airs thick and she hacking up a lung, but she’s thankful she has decent cover.

She can see the Goblin before she sees Hobie. The lights at the bottom of their glider makes it a beacon for her.

She checks her flare gun and counts. She has three shots. She has to make them count.

She’s trying to find something to give herself a better view. She notices a fire escape on the side of one of the buildings and doesn’t hesitate to start climbing. She climbs until she’s about level with the glider’s lights.

She raises the flare gun and tries to keep her aim steady. She can’t afford to miss. The flare alone won’t kill the Goblin, but it will explode their own mass number of bombs. That’s all she needs. She just has to take them out, just long enough to help Hobie.

She can’t see much besides the lights and not knowing where to look for Hobie is her only concern. She takes a deep breath, positions herself, following the lights and shoots.

She sees the flare light up a bright red and fly across they sky. It lights up the area that surrounds it. She can see that it just skims past the Goblin.

“Fuck!” She mutters angrily.

She sees the glider move, it wobbles and turns toward her direction. In her panic she aims again, sending a second flare. If the Goblin get’s close to her there is no guarantee Hobie can save her. He thinks she’s stuck with the EMT.

She has to do this quickly because she's on her own.

Her aims slightly better this time, and she it nicks the Goblin. It's still not what she needs and it doesn’t do much besides irritate the villain.

“God dammit! I can’t be muckin’ about right now!” She growls to herself.

 She goes to aim once more but the lights that have been encroaching upon her suddenly spiral as if they were knocked away. She sighs in relief, but now her aim is totally off. To be fair, it was off to begin with. She can see the glider frantically moving and she literally cannot waste her last shot. She decides she has to get closer. She's of no help if she just wastes three shots and annoys the villain. She refuses to be a nuisance.  

She goes back down to the street to try and follow the glider. She’s running trying to keep up with it. Her lungs are burning from inhaling the smoke around her but she doesn’t care, she’s determined to take the Goblin out.

When she finally finds herself close enough she stays low to the ground. She sees them fighting above her. She has to time this perfectly.

She sees the Goblin hover, unmoving for a split second. They look around, trying to find Spider-Man. He’s taken this chance to hid in the smoke. She doesn’t waste her time and aims the flare gun up at the bottom of the glider and shoots. The glider, from what she remembers, has countless bombs attached to the bottom of it.

The Goblin sees the light but doesn’t have the reflexes to dodge or understand what’s happening until it’s too late. The glider combusts.

Even with the Goblin high above her, it’s not far enough away that she can escape the blast zone. The explosion sends her hurling back. She hits the ground hard, her head hitting the concrete with a gross crack.

Her vision swims in front of her as she lays down on the ground. There's a blurry form of someone running toward her, her ears are ringing, head throbbing in pain. She loses consciousness before she can even decipher who's running toward her.

When she finally comes to, she’s in the back of the ambulance and she’s hooked up to an IV and and a heart monitor. The noises a low thrum in the background. 

She groans and tries to move but she feels someone grip her wrist in their hands. The gloved hand tells her its Hobie.

Her eyes drag slowly over to him, “You’re so stupid ya know that?” He mumbles to her, tightening his grip.

She looks at his masked face and wishes she could see his expression. Maybe she doesn’t though. It’s easier to talk to him if she can’t see his brows furrowed at her. Or a scowl of disappointment on his face.

The EMT is on her other side, working on her, “She’ll be good to go soon, nothing too damaging." He reassures them. "Except maybe some damage to her decision-making skills.” He mumbles.

She turns her head slowly to glare down the EMT and she’s surprised it’s the same one who cut the webs off her. She raises an accusatory brow at him.

He stands quickly, “I’ll uh, let you two have a minute.” He says stumbling to get out and close the doors.

As soon as the third party leaves the tension in the small truck is palpable.

She can feel his eyes, regardless of if they’re behind his mask, burning holes into her. He takes his mask off once he knows the EMT is gone. She brings her eyes over to look at him and his stare is stony. He won’t move his eyes away from her. They roam her body, looking at the damage.

She takes a deep breath, “Hobie-” She starts to talk but he stops her.

He leans over her, gently cupping her face and looking into her eyes in the way he always does. That gaze that’s too intense, like he’s picking apart her soul.

She hears the heart monitor spike up. She almost curses the damn machine out. She tries to even out her breathing.

“I need you to listen to me when I tell you to stay back.” He tells her, voice low and more serious than she’s used too.

“I know, but I couldn’t sit there when you could have died back there!” she starts to defend herself, her voice rising.

“That’s not for you to worry ‘bout, I can’t-” He starts to say but looks away. He stands fully and pinches the bridge of his nose.

“I can’t always protect you and I don’t know what to do if that happens.” He says quietly, his back turned to her.

She sits up slowly and narrows her eyes at him. She can feel herself getting irritated in her own righteous fury.

“And you think I don’t want to protect you?!” she asks accusingly.

She gives a huff of disbelief, “You are so busy, fighting to keep this city safe, and you don’t look after yourself half the time!” she tells him her voice cracking as she tries to hold back.

He turns quickly to her, “I signed up for this, I know what I get into everyday MJ!” he tells her with a ferocity behind his gaze she’s never seen before. “I know how to handle myself, you don’t!” He says, his tone hard.

She meets him with her own volatile emotions, “I can’t just sit and wait for you to crawl into my window at night to patch you up Hobie! I can’t, I refuse.” She says shaking her head and avoids his eyes.

She takes a shaky breath, “I’m either in it with you or-” she can’t finish her sentence and runs her hands through her hair, bringing her knees up she rests her forehead on them.

He balks at her, “Or what? Ya givin’ me an ultimatum?” He says defensively.

“No! I’m not, I just-” she’s exhausted and angry tears are pricking at her eyes. “I just need… fuck,” she takes a sharp breath.

She looks up at him, “I’m not trying to make you run off okay? I’m not giving you an ultimatum but you can’t give me one either.” She pleads.

“Telling me to not help you when I can, isn’t fair. You don’t get to tell me how to live my life.” She says looking up at him, trying to make him understand.

He instantly deflates and takes a step toward her, he takes a deep breath, “I’m not trying to tell ya what to do luv, alright?” He sits and grasps her hands in his tightly.  

“I just can’t lose you.”

Her heart monitor, while it has been going crazy, spikes loudly at his words. She wants to throw the treacherous thing out right now. Her heart feels like it’s going to explode.

“I don’t want to lose you either.” She says softly, gripping his hands. “I need you to not put me on the sidelines okay? I’m asking you to trust me a little.” She says.

He sighs and pulls her into a tight embrace, Shoving his head into her neck, “M’sorry alright.” He murmurs softly.

She wraps her arms tightly around him too, clinging onto him.

“How do you feel?” He asks pulling back, brushing her hair out of her face.

“Sore, but fine I think.” She says giving him a soft smile.

“Let’s get you home.” He presses a kiss to her forehead that makes her face heat up.

He pulls his mask back on and opens the ambulance door looking for the EMT.

She sits there for a moment just taking in what happened. Her face is warm and she can’t stop her heart from pounding.

She rubs her face and sighs, she’s too caught up in him… and she doesn’t think she wants out.