#and sometimes it makes me go back to memory lane

[ffive-by-fivee]

I miss London and I miss Paris and I miss LA and I miss Denver and I miss my new friends and I miss my grandpa and I miss my girl and I miss my best friend and I miss my other best friend and I miss being on a plane and I miss my band and I miss not having arthritis and I miss my old coworkers and I miss wn and I miss that feeling in my chest when I experience something beautiful for the first time and I miss

[powderblueblood]

Ooooh lacy falls asleep watching a movie with eddie and he hears her having a sex dream

an: LMAO I LOVE THIS SO MUCH!!!! alright MINORS DNI i have no problem sending swarms of bees to your houses and also warning for somnophilia (kinda) and hands free ejaculation

first of all, who the hell falls asleep during the warriors?!

the gramercy riffs have just dedicated 'nowhere to run' by arnold mcculler to the warriors and shit is about to go down and your head is bobbing forward on eddie's worn-out couch.

he rolls his eyes at you-- really? "hey." a finger jabs at your knee from the opposite sagging end of the couch. "wakey-wakey. it's just about to get good over here."

"mm-- i'm awake!" you jump, but your eyes barely flicker back open, lashes all heavy and voice all loopy.

"tough day at the office?"

"you would not believe." he watches you struggle to muffle a yawn and pinch your cheeks to liven yourself up. "christmas returns. you remember all those old men that kept coming in and buying copies of the joy of sex?"

eddie guffaws lightly. "uh-huh."

"well, today i met their wives."

eddie mouths a little 'oh no!' and you chorus back 'oh yeah!' and even then, with your cheek shoved against the heel of your hand, he can see you're struggling for consciousness.

"lie down," he tells you. your brow furrows, because you're always more stubborn than tired.

"but the movie--" "fuck the movie. well, no, it's a great movie but just-- take a load off."

you sit up a touch straighter and eddie's about to give you shit about always being such a little pushback. but then you decide, "okay. just for a sec."

what he doesn't expect is for your head to land in his lap.

i mean, couches, opposite ends, you could have cozied yourself up against the slouching arm, but no. you decided to stretch yourself forward and settle with your head basically in his crotch. facing the ceiling. facing him.

eddie's breath shallows as you look up at him, your expression the closest thing to peaceful he's maybe ever seen you. you don't even have that little hitch between your eyebrows you sport like a uniform. looks like that night in his trailer, when he hid you away in his bedroom, which-- look, memory lane is not on the agenda for tonight.

"do me a favor?" you say, and your voice is this cracked little purr.

your hand blindly tugs at his, resting it on the crown of your head. oh. right. that hair petting thing. that thing he gets you to do when you're not being such a pill or he's worn you out from being such a pill. you're so nice with your fingers, see, pressing them against his scalp in a way that makes his whole body shiver. scratching a little sometimes-- a little too harsh sometimes, which makes him cringe away. but not because it hurts. because it... does other things.

eddie sighs, like it's really putting him out, like you do, and slides his fingers into your hair. but that's nothing compared to the sigh you let out.

fuck you. how can one little puff of air make him want to flip you over and mount you?

but he's trying to be normal about this-- he's trying so hard, because you're friends, right?

he doesn't think before he says it. "that feel good?"

"mm-hm," you mumble, hand sliding across your stomach, tucking under your breasts, getting comfortable. "mm-hm... careful of your rings, though."

"i'll be... i'll be careful."

"thanks, eddie." your fingers rise to brush against his tummy, some physical acknowledgement of gratitude that he's sure you mean as like, a nudge on the shoulder or a slap on the back or a high five or a fist bump but it sure as fuck doesn't feel like that.

especially when your fingers stay there, suspended in position as you've fallen asleep almost instantly. like stick a fork in you, you're done.

which is a relief. because less movement from you means less focus on you, which means eddie can pretend to watch the movie and pray away the halfsie that is nestled at the back of your skull.

problem is, you're awfully hard to stop looking at.

as your breathing deepens, his fingers slow and he just... watches you. the ascent and descent of your chest. the soft flicker behind your eyelids. the way your mouth parts ever-so-slightly. you're exhausted, but you're relaxed and he-- alright, fucking shoot him, he feels a little responsible for that? a little proud, okay? you're never relaxed. you're so high strung and sharp, but the edges of that seem to dull around him a touch. especially on nights like these.

eddie finally deludes himself into chilling out enough to tune back into the warriors, and then you make a sound.

it's a soft one, but enough to pucker your lips out of shape.

"ohmm."

eddie freezes, jaw winching. your fingers flick involuntarily against his stomach-- a twitch. a very dangerous twitch.

you make another noise and fuck him, if it doesn't sound like the first delicious note of a whimper. oh god.

and his fingers are still tangled in your hair. ruffling a little, breathing out heavily through his nose, he goes, "lace-- lacy," but it's zero response from you. just a hitch in those eyebrows.

and so lazily, so feline, he feels you sleepily nudge into his touch. if he didn't know any better (he doesn't, for the record, he's never known anything in his life other than this moment, if you really want to know), he'd think that was a sign to... keep going.

digits move against your scalp and he watches, unblinking, as your lips part. a sigh flies out, and not the kind you make when you're fed up with him, not the kind you make when you get a less-than-perfect grade or snag your tights or have a headache... not that kind.

different. sweet. the way he though you might sound, once all those defenses were smashed down. how much is it to rent a bulldozer.

his dumbass, age-old pajama pants are tightening by the second and they don't hide a fuckin' thing. how are you not feeling this.

well, whether you are or you aren't, he's still moving his fingers through your hair and you seem to like that and he's so, so happy, like he's so, so stoked but-- watching the breath hitch in your chest, watching the way your tits kind of slope out of the neckline of your shirt, watching goosebumps flash across your skin.

jesus christ, he can see your nipples through that thin little top you're wearing. tight and pointed, an illusion through the slinky cotton and binding of your bra.

eddie's teeth tighten into his bottom lip, his free hand gripping the back of the couch. this symphony of quiet, broken sounds coming out of you is a full extended play in and of itself, and he wants you on repeat. forever.

your hips lift the tiniest fraction. your fingers, still curled up by his belly, stretch and catch at his t-shirt.

"oh, fuck," eddie breathes, hoping he's quiet enough.

he's doing everything, and he means everything, not to move his hips even one iota even though his cock is crying out-- crying out for you, for your hands, for your mouth, for the crook of your fucking arm, anything so long as it's you.

"mmnm," you mumble, completely unaware, thighs rubbing off one another.

aching. dashing a wet spot right under your pretty, brilliant, terrifying, pretty head.

oh, fucking wake up-- feel me-- but don't, because what if the illusion shatters, what if the bubble bursts, what if you see him for the filthy fucking pervert that he is, getting off on watching you sleep. stroking your hair, making you make those noises-- the fucking sounds coming from those pouted, pillowy lips of yours.

he throbs, and your other hand jerks up to your chest, and his thumb strokes the right side of your skull and you moan. full-bodied. almost real.

it's so dangerous. he wants to turn you over and plunge his cock past your smartass mouth and weaken immediately because you're you and he's him and he will end up begging you to let him gloss your lips with his cum.

too much! way too much! eddie has to bite down on the shoulder of his own shirt as his body tenses, his balls tighten, his vision blacks out--

his eyes squeeze shut, hand freezing on your head. moisture spreads like guilt across his conscience.

fuck. fuck. fuckfuckfuck!

eddie's eyes snap open and he doesn't waste a second of time. he grabs you by the shoulders and shoves you up and away from him.

"wmwhatthefuck--" "--gotta piss. move."

but he sorely underestimates just how dizzy he's going to be when he stands up. he stumbles to the bathroom like keith richards getting off a ride at six flags.

"eddie?" you huskily mumble after him, and he's like, ready to kill you. ready to kill you. ready to give you a home lobotomy so you never say his name all needy and crackly and lovely like that ever again.

when he eventually slinks back, different pants on this time, you give them a pointed look. you're all criss-cross applesauce on the couch and he, like, fucking hates you and wants to carry you to his bedroom bridal style and tear off your panties in a single mouthful.

"costume change?" you ask.

"you snore like a coal miner, you know that?"

eddie's never wanted to fuck a coal miner before.

[incorrectbatfam]

Batfam’s Father’s Day plans

(also on Ao3)

"Morning, Bruce."

The way Stephanie says that instantly makes him look up. She traces her socked toe on the right angles of the tile, looking down. 

"Morning, Steph." Bruce puts his coffee down. "Something wrong?"

"Huh?" She perks up in realization. "No, not at all. I actually just have something for you. I stopped by Walgreens on patrol last night 'cause I ran out of antiseptic, and I saw something that reminded me of you." 

She hands him a dark blue greeting card with a cartoon fruit bat and Comic Sans text reading: You drive me batty, but I love you.

"Get it? 'Cause it's a bat, and you're the Batman." She scratches the back of her neck. "Not trying to make it weird or anything, you're just a cool mentor and whatnot. But also, it's nice to have someone who you can mess around with. My old man was always talking business even when he was at home—you kinda do that too, but in a good way 'cause anything's better than being a D-list villain, y'know. Plus, unlike him, you're working on striking a balance. Sometimes you even have a sense of humor." She chuckles awkwardly. "Anyway, I'm going on a jog. Text me if you need anything." 

Before he processes her rambling, she grabs a granola bar and races out the door. He opens the card and out falls out a handful of purple confetti plus an ever-rare two-dollar bill. Smiling, he brushes the confetti up and puts it in his shirt pocket. 

Bruce checks his watch. Everyone else is already out, except for Cass. She was out late last night on that Clayface mission, but even she should be up by this time. He fixes her a bowl of cereal with the package instructions and brings it upstairs. 

"Cass?" He knocks. "Are you up yet? It's past 9:30."

He hears the duvet crunch like a candy wrapper as she shuffles around. A moment later, the door swings open as a messy-haired Cass yawns. 

"I'll leave this up here for you," he says, putting the bowl on the dresser. "Any big plans today?"

She shakes her head. "Write reports. And relax."

"Well, you deserve a break. Great job on the stakeout, Princess." He plants a quick kiss on her forehead. 

"Love," she says.

"Huh?"

"Favorite thing you do. Love."

He laughs softly. "I try. Now go get dressed."

The rest of the day goes by like any other. Despite it being Sunday, he still has a meeting scheduled with some Singaporean investors on their timezone. By eleven, he and some other executives are gathered around the long conference table as the video call drones on, and it's not until over an hour later that they're finally let out. Bruce loosens his tie and Tim does the same, sighing in relief and exhaustion. 

Bruce asks, "Did you have lunch yet?"

"Oh, I forgot that's a thing," Tim says, stretching. "Hey, remember that ice cream place on 32nd?"

"You want ice cream for lunch?"

"I'd break your no killing rule for their M&M cookie sundae, okay?" he says. "Besides, remember when you took my friends and I there even though we massively bombed our first off-world fight? I might still be a massive perfectionist but that made me get a little more comfortable with failing. Anyway, I thought it'd be cool to stroll down memory lane—and have junk food as a meal without Alfred knowing. Unless you're busy, which I totally get."

"Not at all," Bruce replies, putting an arm around Tim's shoulders. "Duke and Damian will be at the arcade all day and I don't have any urgent side business." 

And so, instead of calling Alfred for a ride, they journey through the Gotham subways with Tim's camera capturing the Grammy-worthy saga of a billionaire CEO battling a common turnstyle. They get a few side-glances in the sparse train car, but besides a teenager asking for Tim's autograph, the civilians leave them alone. Pretty soon, they're at a 1950s-themed ice cream parlor, where the waitress slides their orders down the long chromium bar. 

"Why do they call it a banana split?" Bruce asks, grabbing the cocoa powder shaker. 

Tim pauses mid-bite of his cookie. "...Because they split the banana in half?"

"Really?"

He moves the whipped cream aside to reveal the cut banana in Bruce's dish. 

"How would it sound if I said I never noticed that?"

He smirks. "That's why I'm the brains of this operation."

"Indeed you are." Bruce ruffles his hair. "Though this head of yours could use some shampoo." 

"Will saying I love you get me a free pass out of it?"

"No." He laughs. "But I love you too, son."

Alfred catches on to their little dessert escapade and picks them up from the parlor, though not without commenting on the strawberry stain on Bruce's jacket. As Tim plugs his music into the car, Bruce takes the time to listen to the voicemails he got during their lunch break. 

"Hiya Bruce," Clark's voice plays. "I hope today's going swell for you. I just want you to know that I'm glad I can call you my pard'ner." Bruce snickers at the country twang.

Next is Diana. "Bruce, I apologize if I must keep this brief since I have a curator's convention today. However, I wish to tell you that you are an invaluable teammate and even more remarkable friend."

"Hey Batman, I gave you a shoutout to the Central City press for your help taking down Weather Wizard," Barry says. "Also, thanks for letting me borrow your communicator. I can always count on you to be overprepared. Have a good one!"

"Bats, tell your kid to quit taking my yogurt from the fridge." Ah, good old Hal. "Also, today's all about guys like you, so... yeah. I admit, you could be worse." 

Finally, there's one from Zatanna. "Afternoon, Bruce! I'd tell you in person if I wasn't caught up in Kahndaq, but I hope today is extra special for you. I know how much the birds mean to you, and I know they're gonna treat you well."

(There's also one from Ollie, but he's just asking if he can use the communicator after Barry. In the background, Dinah is is clearly ordering food.) 

After dropping Tim and Alfred home and switching to a more discreet vehicle, Bruce makes his way to pick two of his other kids up from the arcade. 

"Did you guys have fun?" Bruce asks as they climb in.

"We decimated every game," Damian says, "and won you the finest specimen as a trophy."

He plops a five-foot Snorlax into the front seat and buckles the seatbelt.

"This is for me?" Bruce asks. 

"Tt, who else would it be for?"

"I didn't win as many tickets," Duke says, "but I also got you a spider ring and a Chinese finger trap." He puts them in the cupholder.

"Why are you giving me all your prizes?"

"Again, who else would we give them to?" Damian asks.

Duke says, "I think what he means is that you do a lot for us, so this is a thanks from us."

As silly as it might seem, Bruce is genuinely touched. 

Pre-patrol dinner is a quiet affair, with Kate stopping by because she apparently forgot to go grocery shopping. She takes a fingerling potato off his plate. 

"Um, you're welcome?" he says. 

"Bruce, we're family. It's what we do." She takes a bite. 

He takes a piece of asparagus from her. "I wish all of us were here, though. Too bad Dick and Jason have that Penguin stakeout. Hopefully they're being safe."

"Even if things go wrong, they were taught by the best. You should trust them more." Selina gets up and places a peck on his cheek before going to get a drink. 

"I do," he mumbles into his meal. "It's the world I don't trust." 

As he puts on his cowl, he asks Barbara for an update on the evening. So far, Duke is handling a carjacking, the girls are preoccupied with a strip mall hostage situation, Damian is patrolling Metropolis with Jon, and Kate is kicking off her shift with a car chase against Two-Face. Tim and Selina are staying back to catch up on some overdue reports, but other than that, the cave is quiet. 

"Before you go," Barbara says, "my dad was cleaning out the attic and found something you might like."

From her bag, she pulls out a blue mug that says: World's Okayest Dad.

"My brother got it for him a long time ago, but... you know. It's all yours now, if you want it." 

He takes it, running his thumb along the words. 

"It suits you," she says before turning back to relay something to Stephanie. 

The route laid out for him tonight gives him the perfect opportunity to swing by and check on two of his boys. He lands on the rooftop silently, where Nightwing and Red Hood have already set up camp. Evidently, they don't notice him as they keep going with their conversation.

"Did you get dropped on your head as a baby?" Jason asks. "Sour cream and Greek yogurt are not the same thing."

"They totally are, change my mind." Dick glances through his binoculars. "No sign of Cobblepot yet."

A moment goes by as Jason not-so-covertly steals some of his brother's patrol snacks. 

"So how'd family therapy go yesterday?" Jason asks. "Did the old bat finally show an emotion?"

"It was pretty insightful, at least on my part." Dick lowers his binoculars. "I think I realized where Bruce's persistence comes from. It's annoying as hell, but I think that's how he maintains hope. And who knows, maybe it's his love language."

Jason scoffs. 

"I'm serious," he says. "I know none of us are stellar at this family thing, but we care about each other. You can't deny that. We just gotta... refine how we express it." 

"Count me out."

"Jaybird."

"Codenames, Dickhead."

Dick snickers. "You love us, admit it. All of us."

Jason mutters a string of curses under his breath before saying, "If you tell him, I'm filling your mattress with sour cream."

Bruce smiles and leaps to the next building. 

At the end of the night, Bruce finds Alfred brewing tea in the kitchen and takes the kettle from him. 

"I got this," he says. "Why don't you go relax in the living room? I think they added your favorite detective movie to Netflix." 

"This is a pleasant surprise." Alfred raises an eyebrow. "What brought it on?"

"It's Father's Day, of course," he replies, pouring the cups of tea. "You know you've always been a second dad to me."

"You made that clear with last year's breakfast surprise," Alfred says. "Care to join me?"

"Always," Bruce says. "By the way, do the kids seem different to you today?"

[lucysarah-c]

~ Holy Ground ch. 2: We were both young when I first saw you.~

Summary:

"Alright, get comfortable because this is going to be a long, crappy tale. Join me as we travel down memory lane, back when Erwin wasn't yet a commander, when Mike and Nanaba couldn't keep their hands off each other, when Hange was… well, Hange. And Levi? Well, Levi was a twenty-four-year-old man who didn't give a damn about the rules. Are you ready?"

Warnings: This story contains age gaps, time period misogyny and mentions of homophobia, strong and offensive language, underage sex, alcohol, smoking, implied/referenced of drug use. This is a very slow burn so everyhthing takes a while to happen. Explicit sex content. Virginity, loss of virginity, cheating, mentions of cheating, pregnancy but no by the main character, consensual sex, consensual underage sex, underage kissing.

Pairing: Levi x Reader x Erwin. Levi x Reader are end game. (this is not eruri). This story takes place after ACWNR but BEFORE season 1.

-> Masterlist to all the chapters! <-

I won't begin this tale like everyone else, saying, "I will never forget the first time I saw you." That's because I can't recall the exact first time I saw him. However, I do remember the first time I noticed him, and there's a difference between those two actions. Anyway, at first, it wasn't me who noticed him. It was someone else who forced me to search for him in a crowded room.

I was sitting in the mess hall after breakfast with Nanaba. If I remember correctly, we were discussing whether it's acceptable to make out with a guy on the first date. Nanaba, who was in a not-so-secret relationship with Mike at the time, was arguing that you should leave a man wanting more so that he'll come crawling back to you. But let's not dwell on that. What happened next is what we should focus on.

We were both seventeen, such an age to be alive! We weren't cadets, but we weren't superiors either. It was a mix in between that sometimes I wish I could go back to. However, there was a cadet, a young fifteen-year-old girl who joined the Scouts a few months after Levi did, along with the rest of the new cadets. If there was a fan club for Levi, Petra would have been a founding member. Even I, his girlfriend, don't think I worshiped him as much as Petra did. She sat down next to us, sighing loudly and staring dreamily at the ceiling.

"Isn't he perfect?" Petra exclaimed with the voice only a fifteen-year-old girl in love could muster.

"Perfectly short, if you ask me," Nanaba commented, and we chuckled together. "No offense, but Levi is far from perfect for me. On the other hand, Mike is perfect in a human body!"

"With that sorry excuse for a beard? I don't think so," I replied to the tallest woman in our group. "Girls, let's be honest, neither of them comes close to being a perfect man."

"Oh, you two are so mean! (Y/N), did you see him? Isn't he amazing?" Petra questioned, looking into my eyes, searching for an answer to a question she had asked the night before in our shared room.

The night before that morning, Petra had been worshipping Levi so much, and Nanaba had been trying so hard to bring her back down to earth that they asked me what I thought about him. Nanaba knew Levi because he was usually with Erwin, who was usually with Mike, and Mike was usually with her. But for me? The day Levi and his friends were introduced, I had the flu, so I couldn't be there for his "amazing speech."

I had told them that I had never really paid attention to him. He was like a background person in my life at the Scouts' campus. I’d promised them that the next morning, I would make an effort to pay attention to him during breakfast. So, I did. And now I can tell you that the way you look at a person when you're in love is absolutely different from the way you do when you're not in love.

As I mentioned earlier, I remember that morning, the first time I noticed him. His straight, ebony hair flowed in the air. Back then, he used to wear it slightly to the side more often than he does now. Levi never really had a completely middle-parted hair look, but when he was younger, it was more to the side... and he had more hair, but don't tell him that. He was short, too short for a man, but I figured Petra was shorter, so it wasn't much of a problem (she was even a bit taller than me).

What caught my attention was his porcelain pale skin, as if the sun had never touched him (well, I mean, there probably wasn't much sun to soak up underground). I wished I had his skin. His face wasn't the most masculine, but it wasn't feminine either—a perfect middle ground. I suppose some girls are into that. His eyes were sharp and light, but I couldn't discern the specific color from a distance.

I was in the mess hall as he made his way through. Were they blue or grey? Anyway, he was buffed; you could tell by the width of his shoulders (he used to be skinnier than he is now, probably because he didn't eat as well in the underground). I would have continued observing him if he hadn't turned around and locked his dead eyes with mine. Returning to my conversation with my comrades:

"I did indeed," I replied to Petra, and her eyes shone with expectation. "Let me summarize my thoughts: he's not my cup of tea, but if he's yours, go and talk to him. You have nothing to lose by asking."

"Oh, I could never do such a thing! He doesn't like to be bothered," the younger girl of our group said, her cheeks blushing.

"In my opinion, he doesn't like anything. He always has this face that says 'I'm too good for all of you,'" Nanaba said, attempting to imitate Levi's expression, which made me laugh.

I often wonder how things would have turned out if Petra had gone and talked to him. He wasn't my "type," so to speak, and probably would have never been if things hadn't taken the course they did. Life is a whimsical, bratty thing, and I was about to learn that.

Perhaps you didn't have to go through this because your arrival at the Scouts was a bit out of the ordinary, but the training process for cadets is somewhat different. After being part of the Legion for almost two years (like Nanaba and I back then) and just after the new recruits arrived, the one-year training to become a superior began. It involved both physical and theoretical practices. It taught you how to work with a partner and solve the situations you would encounter. Being a superior involved a lot of teamwork, which is why there were two exams: a midterm to assess progress just before the winter break, and a final exam. It probably won't surprise you if I say that Nanaba and I were going to be a team.

Later that day, after our regular instructions, we sat down in the training area, waiting for a superior to call us. I had our forms ready to be handed to my squad leader. Back then, Erwin was my squad leader. He wasn't the commander yet, but his rise was imminent. Nanaba and I were waiting like the rest of the cadets.

"Hey, beauty, your boyfriend is looking for you," Gellar said, approaching us and pointing with his thumb towards the building behind him.

"He's not my boyfriend," I replied wearily, shaking my head, and my long hair swayed.

My blond friend chuckled at my response, and Gellar rolled his eyes. I stood up and walked toward the office of a certain blondie we all know. It used to annoy me to no end that people couldn't stop spreading that silly rumor. "I'm not Erwin's girl! ...yet, at least," I thought back then, little did I know it would never happen.

I strolled through the corridors with the papers tucked under my arm and held my head high, proud to be known as one of the prettiest girls in the Legion. I made a quick stop at the bathroom to check my appearance, making sure my eyes weren't puffy. I pinched my lips and cheeks slightly, giving them a reddish tint. Erwin was at a promising point in his career. He was handsome, young, and smart—everything I could ask for in a man. And I was everything he wanted in a girl… or so he’d said. Sometimes it felt like he truly meant it and others it felt like it was just the silly rumor that people whispered in the corridors. He hated the gossip, he insisted that was the reason it wasn’t official yet. Because it would overshadow his and my promotion. I understood… or so I faked that I did.

Perhaps I was young, but I wasn't naive. I knew how men looked at you when they desired you. And Erwin always seemed to find something in my hair to touch or would run his hand through it. He had a delicate way of saying that my teas were the best around and that's why he always asked me to make them for him. Yes, I was young, but I wasn't foolish.

Innocent little me. You truly think you have everything figured out at 17, you think you know everything. I thought I was smart, sometimes perhaps too much for my own good. Erwin, dear, you make me look so naive. 

"Wait! You and the Commander were a thing?!" The entire Levi's squad screamed, causing me to pause my narration.   "This is the juiciest rumor I've ever heard!" Sasha yelled so loudly that I'm sure the entire Legion heard her.   "Well, as I mentioned, we never became anything in the end. Besides, our flirting died a long time ago, and now we're really good friends," I replied honestly because it's true. There's nothing more than respect and friendship between Erwin and me these days.   But my answer doesn't seem to convince them, and once again, Eren is the first to throw another question.   "Does the Captain know about this?" he asked, suspicion evident in his voice.   "Of course he does! And believe me, he couldn't care less," I replied, amused. But I wonder, is that really true? I mean, if I were to tell Levi, 'Hey, I'm going to stay in Erwin's room because it's bigger and tidier than Hange's,' would he respond with 'Yeah, sure, no problem! Have fun!'? Who am I kidding? Levi would kill both Erwin and me in the process.   "Anyway, this doesn't have a place in this tale, so let's get back to the story," I clarified before they could ask another tricky question.

I knocked on the door with my free hand, while the other one held the forms. That deep, manly voice that I knew so well replied with a simple "Name and business."

"Cadet (L/N) (Y/N)! I was called to come here to deliver my form," I said clearly.

I waited for the response, and once I received it, I entered. There he was, the young and ambitious man that everyone in the military was talking about. Erwin finished signing some paperwork and looked up, meeting my gaze with his big, deep blue eyes. He smiled slightly at me, and of course, I smiled back.

"I was waiting for you, (Y/N)," the blond man said. 'Of course you were,' I thought. "There are some details that we need to discuss. Please have a seat."

So, I did. I walked over to the deep green leather tufted office chair right in front of his desk. I sat down and placed the papers on my lap.

"Would you like some tea?" he asked politely as he got up to serve it, knowing well that I never turned down a good cup of tea.

"Yes, please," I replied, following him with my eyes and offering a slight smile. I attempted to get up from my seat and serve the tea myself, but Erwin stopped me with a hand gesture. Superiors always had more privileges than recruits, and Erwin was no exception.

The single cup of black tea in that office was all I needed—a stronger and tastier flavor than only a good-quality tea could offer. I had always been a smart girl, perhaps too smart for some people's tastes, but I believed it was one of the main reasons Erwin had chosen me. After a few occasions, I noticed that the tea he drank when he was alone wasn't as good as the one he poured when it was for me. There was a slight, uncomfortable silence as we both took the first sip. Right after that, I picked up my papers and placed them on his desk.

"I have already filled in my forms, sir," I said, tucking my hair behind my ear. But what he did next caught me completely off guard. Erwin took the papers and placed them somewhere under his desk.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about," he said, intertwining his fingers. "You see, (Y/N), I have been re-reading your academic reports from your training years, and they point out your outstanding performance in teamwork and your ability to naturally encourage cooperation among the practice sessions."

"Thank you?" I replied, uttering the first thing that came to my mind. I didn't know where he was going with all this. I took another sip of my tea.

"Have you ever talked to Levi? He's quite new," he said, adding, "He may not be the most talkative guy around here, but his performance with the 3DMG is outstanding."

'Mr. Grumpy? Of course, I know who he is,' I thought, and the fact that Erwin used the word "outstanding" twice, referring to both of us. I didn't like where this was going. Suddenly, the tea, the office, and the day didn't seem as pleasant anymore.

"Wait! Mr. Grumpy? Seriously?!" Connie exclaims, while the rest of them try to control their laughter.   "Yes, that was his nickname among my close friends for a long time. Sometimes, when I want to annoy him, I bring it back for a couple of hours," I reply with a tender smile on my face. 'Yeah, we used to have silly nicknames for each other… when we used to talk,'

"I have never talked to him, but I don't doubt his capabilities since you personally chose him," I tried to give a neutral answer. I was so nervous that I couldn't take another sip of my tea. What a waste.

"I have been thinking that someone with your good reputation and patience could be a good partner for Levi. He may not have gone through regular training, but the commander and I think it would be beneficial for him to undergo the same training as the other cadets," Erwin's eyes seemed to penetrate my soul as he explained this to me. Did I mention that I didn't like where this was going?

"Um, excuse me, sir. But I already have a partner. Nanaba and I get along, and I think our performance would be splendid," I said, trying to evade his gaze. 'How can I refuse him without disrespecting him? ' My mind raced, desperately seeking possible replies, and I could feel a headache coming on.

"Don't worry about her; Mike has already found her a recruit. I believe pairing my two best cadets to work together would be a step forward for my plan for the Scouts, don't you think?" he said, and I wished I hadn't woken up that day.

'Save your dirty little compliments for later. Your best cadets? Fuck you, Erwin Smith! If this is what your best cadet looks like, then I think I'm failing my next exams,' I wanted to tell him to go to hell so badly, but I knew my position didn't allow it.

Despite all my attempts to change his mind, the blond man pulled out a form that was already halfway filled and placed it in front of me. Then he put a black ink pen beside it, and I felt like crying.

"He said he would be looking forward to working with you," Erwin declared with his perfect smile, knowing he had won the argument. That arrogant smile just made me want to punch him. ‘I adore you but I hate you,’ Perhaps it was the delicate state our relationship was in, that I wasted to make him happy not only as my superior but also as my “situationship” that forced me to agree without further complaints. Perhaps Erwin knew himself that I would have done anything to keep him pleased and that’s why he knew it was an already won battle.

Without knowing that as those papers landed gracefully on top of the oak wood of his desk, the domino effect of him digging his own grave started. 

I think all of you know what happened next—I signed the form. Right after that, I got up without finishing my tea.

"Am I dismissed, sir?" I failed miserably in trying to hide the fact that pure anger was boiling within me. 'How dare he do this to me? He set me up!'

"Don't you want to finish your tea first?" my squad leader asked, pretending not to know the answer.

"I'm not feeling very well, sir. I would like to rest a bit on my bed before dinner," I said, convinced that he was doing this on purpose.

He nodded, signaling that I could leave. I remember walking out of that room, seething with anger, and people in the corridors looked at me like they could barely recognize me

"That's not fair! I can't believe that Mike didn't say a single thing about this. They must have planned it for a long while," Nanaba expressed her frustration to me and Petra.

"Without a doubt, they planned this! How dare they!" I yelled in our shared room, lying on my back on that tiny bed they gave us.

"Maybe he isn't that bad?" Petra said with her usual optimistic personality. But both Nanaba and I looked at her as if to say, "Now is not a good time."

The three of us sighed loudly, tired from this crazy day. As if the training wasn't enough, I had to figure out a way to make things work with Mr. Grumpy. It couldn't be that bad, right? I just needed to go and try to get to know him a little better during dinner. I tried to see the glass as half full, but when I saw him sitting all by himself in the middle of the mess hall during dinner, I knew it wasn't going to work out.

"Good luck, girl. You're going to need it," Nanaba said, patting me on the back. Killing Titans was easier than this.

I took a deep breath and walked toward him, holding my dinner tray with both hands.

"Hey, do you mind if I take a seat?" I tried to be nice as I stood in front of him.

Oh God, do you remember when I told you that I can't recall the first time I saw Levi? Well, I would never forget the look in his grey eyes the moment he looked up at me that night. A shiver ran up my spine, and I had to mentally slap myself to regain my composure.

"May I?" I asked once again.

"Do you see my name on it?" Levi's deep voice echoed in my mind as I tried to understand what his problem was.

Anyways, I sat down because I probably looked like an idiot standing up in the middle of the dining room. I took another deep breath and extended my right hand for him to shake. Levi gazed at my hand as if it were pure poison.

"I'm (Y/N), and I'm looking forward to working with you. Let's get along from now on!" A perfect first impression. I gave him my infallible good-girl smile, but it faded as time passed, and he didn't even move to shake my hand.

"I was surprised to hear that you wanted to work with me, so I guess we'll try to make this work," I added as I withdrew my hand. I nervously tucked my hair behind my ear. 'Please say something!' I pleaded in my mind.

"What?" he asked.

"Erwin assigned us together," I replied. I was sweating so much that I felt like I needed another shower after this.

Silence—uncomfortable silence. Then he covered his face with his pale hand and sighed loudly. 'Someone, please save me.'

"That son of a bitch paired me up with the spoiled brat," Levi's words hit me like a bullet. I sat there, feeling as though it must all be a dream. 'Say something? Forget it! I hope he never opens that mouth again.' I regretted my last thought.

He was mean, he was rude, and every bad adjective you can think of. Why?! Why me?! Petra should have been here, not me. But how could she like him? He was the worst!

Which girl in her right mind would ever want to date him?!

Spoiler alert: Me.

Link to my masterlist and my other works if you feel like checking them out. Tags!: @nube55 @justkon @notgoodforlife @nmlkys @humanitys-strongest-bamf @quillinhand @thoreeo @darkstarlight82 @aomi04 @levisbrat25 @fxnnyackerman @secretmoneybearvoid @trashblackrainbow @l3visthighs @hannieslovebot @flxrartsstuff @feelingsandemotionsnotexplored @starrylevi @rithty @mariaace @ackrmntea @emilyyyy-08 @levisfavoriteteashop @katestrophes @katharinasdiaryy @ackermanswifee @levistealeaf @an-ever-angry-bi @youre-ackermine @searriously @blackdxggr @storiesofsung @abiatackerman @braunsbabe @moonchild-angel @galactict3a @lemonsupernova @hyuckwon-my-husbands @heyitsd1yaa @sydneyyuu @love-for-faeries-go-burrrr @mandaax @sugacor3 @r0ckst4rjk @vegetasgirl2799 @catiwinky @pinksaiyans @sparklykeylime Wanna join my tag list? Here!

[sky-high-standards]

Hi, i saw your requests open and i've been thinking what i should request but an idea came up to me.

What about singer reader x yandere fans? I think is a great idea.

Ah apart from that, what's ur favorite song?

Yandere!!Fans x Singer reader

Thank you so much for requesting and my favorite song is currently either the Daddy issues remix or Everything I wanted.

Yep I decided to redo this thing and I may make it a reverse harem

No one expected you to blow up you took the industry by storm your humble beginning and charming persona first got you a small fan base on TikTok then you only got more and more popular and here you are now sitting pretty on a talk show the bright lights blinding you as the host looks at you eagerly itching to start this interview.

Welcome back everyone today we have hit idol Y/n S/n here with us

The crowd roared when they heard your name thousands of people here just for you their beloved idol.

Host: So y/n what's it like to have such success so quick and young.

Y/n: it's pretty overwhelming that's for sure but I have my adoring and loyal fans supporting me.

You said and smiled at the audience and that sent them over the edge your fans were always quite insane lively but they meant well they got you your success in the first place who are you to complain but idol life was tough enough and you weren't exactly thrilled to see your Instagram filled with desperate fans begging for your attention everyday some even threatening to commit suicide if you didn't reply.

And the things they'd throw on stage when you performed were sometimes sweet like a teddy bear or roses and other times not so sweet the day you were preforming and got hit in the face with a dildo is a day you'll never forget...you still shudder st the memory.

And the amount of secret getaway houses you own are concerningly high since an extra persistent can always manges to follow you home no matter how many detours and lane switches you take.

No one said being famous was easy and all fans act like this right?

It's totally normal that they worship you like a God and it's totally normal to know jars of your sweat and used pads are being sold for millions on the dark and what celebrity doesn't have a dab try to kidnap them twice a week.

And you'd think you'd have your bodyguards preventing most of these things but unfortunately they're fans too and it's common to find your bodyguards being a little too close and going through your dirty laundry...

But unbelievably enough there were certain fans that stood out among the rest in the worst ways possible these fans will do anything and I mean anything for your acknowledgment oh you have an extra mean troll sending nasty comments no less then a day later they send an apology and they've mysteriously gone missing you signed an undeserving fans merch? they were immediately talked down and beaten up for it.

Completely normal fans ☺️

[seungsuki]

my you - he remembers you over a song (gn! reader)

warning: sae being down bad

note: i was listening to jungkook and decided to write lol. also i sneaked in rin from this fic i wrote

itoshi sae, japan's boy genius, wandered the vibrant streets of madrid. spain became his second home. he was often told how he would sometimes smell like the spanish spices whenever he visited back japan. the warm sun shone the cobblestone he stepped on as he made his way around the little bustling market. he had nothing better to do so visiting the market helps take his mind off things 

the prodigy let his eyes wander around the bright lights and his ears tuned into a familiar tune. why did it sound so… home? snapping out of his thoughts, he looked at his corner left to see a man with a guitar. the street performer was strumming his guitar, singing a melody that tugged sae’s hopeless heart. my you. a song that dearly connected him to his lover 

sae didn’t realise when he fell into his own train of thoughts. the memory lane looked so clear to him and he didn’t hesitate to enjoy the times when life was simpler. he recalled the younger versions of him and you. there you were, sitting on his family’s balcony, wrapped around a big sweater and a guitar in your hand. little rin was sitting not to far with his pile of mangas and his girlfriend peeking over his shoulders to see the pages

“sae! you’re back early!”, you cheered waving at the boy who dropped his duffle bag to sit beside you 

“yeah”, he replied 

“i were just chilling here with my guitar and these two”, you motioned at the duo who seemed absorbed in his own world 

“you really do like them”, sae noted 

“they reminds me of my own sibling”, you reminisced 

“he’s still not well?”, sae asked, referring to your younger brother

“he’s hanging on”

a silent gap came along. you didn’t want to talk about your sick brother or else you’d start tearing up. sae visited him as often as he could to keep the younger boy happy. you were relieved to know that rin took a liking for your younger brother and often asked you to let him go with you. you strummed your guitar to the tune that you listened to by heart. it was your comfort song.

“네 번의 계절 또다시”

sae looked over to you in confusion. you were speaking korean? he knew you were a master in languages but he never got around to ask you about it

“더 짙어지게 또다시”

rin hummed along with it. he too was familiar with this song. his girlfriend was an avid fan of jungkook so he was forced to listen to it. he looked over to his lover and she couldn’t help but giggle before reminding him of her favourite song, euphoria 

“내가 미소를 짓는 이유도” 

your honey voice made the song even more special. sure he didn’t understand but he presumes the words mean something deep considering your teary eyes. it was almost like the world stopped just for him to listen to you  

“이 노랠 부를 수 있는 것도” 

you stopped. you couldn’t continue. sae locked his eyes with you to read your emotions but you seemed to be lost in your thoughts 

the older itoshi was brought back to reality after realising he was staring at the street performer for too long. the performer didn’t dare to make eye contact with the player and continue singing away his heart. maybe the face made might have scared him? 

sae couldn’t care. his heart was hurting. it was hurting so badly, he could imagine himself crying. he’s homesick. he misses everyone and it hurts. he wants to smell his mothers cooking, see his father read the newspaper, apologise to rin for being a jerk but most importantly, he wants to see you in person. 

no amount of facetime can make him feel better. he craves for your physical touches and kisses. sae never imagined himself being so down for you. you may have fallen first but he fell harder. listening to his heart, his hands slowly reach to his phone as he loads the japan airline website

maybe he can tolerate going back to that shitty country he had to call home but he knew where his actual home was. he begins imagining you standing at the airport with open arms for him. he falls weak into your soft hug without bothering to entertain the paparazzi. he just wants you

it seems faith was finally looking good for the pro player as he sees your name flashing on his phone screen. he quickly threw in a few coins to the street performer’s guitar bag, to which the latter tilted his hat in appreciation 

“hey, are you busy?” 

oh, that voice that made him melt on the spot. he felt his heart easen as he lightly coughed before answering you 

“no, i'm just walking around. you?”, he asks 

“i just drove rin to his training camp. what was it called, blue lock?”, you tried remembering 

“blue lock? never heard of it”, sae sighed 

“you sound down… everything okay, prodigy?”, you teased 

“shut up- i’m coming home”, sae cut himself off and got to the point 

“no way!! that’s great! is it because you miss me so much huh?”, he swears he could see you smirking over the voice call 

“my passport expired so i had to come back”, sae groaned at your antics 

“i gotta go but i have something to say”, you said 

“네 곁이기에 감사해” 

huh? he pulled away his phone from his ear to see that you cut the call right after saying that he knew what you said. he already recognised that word. it was so familiar to him now. a ghost smile threatened to break on his face

“i’m thankful to be by your side too.. [name]”

© seungsuki 2024-25 -- do not repost, translate, alter, etc on any platform without permission. Any characters used in my work do not belong to me, they are created by their original creator

[mendeshoney]

apple of my eye, take a bite

A/N: surprise surprise! this is a part two to "a taste of the devine," with a special little halloween twist! to my lovelies, @pyotrkochetkov and @smileysvech happy halloween babes! the title is inspired by lyrics from the song “eve” by precious pepala

Summary: You and Andrei go to the team Halloween party at a club, and it takes Andrei down memory lane.

Pairing: andrei svechnikov x f!reader

Word Count: 5,120

Warnings: five year age gap, older woman x younger man, fluff, previously established dynamics (including msub x fdom dynamics, switch, mdom x fsub dynamics), smut, semi-public sex (in a club), hints of biting/hickies, penetration, finish inside, unprotected sex

Russian terms used (bearing in mind the author does not speak Russian and definitely Google’d these) can be referenced here.

~

“I feel like this won’t make much sense,” Andrei quietly mumbles to himself, adjusting the ‘hat’ of his costume, his eyes casting to the side once he sees movement from inside the closet.

The sliding frosted glass door is closed, so he can only see your shadow as you move around, and he can feel himself start to get antsy.

You’d kept your part of the couples costume a shrouded secret from him, claiming you wanted to surprise him. 

As far as surprises go, he typically liked yours a lot, but given his current predicament, he found himself a little more anxious than normal.

He glances at himself in the vanity mirror in your shared bedroom, running a cursory hand over the fuzzy material of his Halloween costume, and frowning a little at his reflection.

“Kroshka, I don’t-” He starts, cutting himself off and turning back toward the closet when he hears the sliding door open. 

You finally emerge, body in an emerald green mini dress that you’d sewed fake vines onto so that they curled and twisted around your figure, enhancing your silhouette, vines trailing down your shoulder and around your arms until they rested delicately on your wrists. Those beautiful legs of yours donned a pair of thigh high velvet stiletto boots, the color matching your dress perfectly. 

You looked a lot more like that character that Evgeny used to tease him for having a crush on when they were kids, Poison Ivy, than you did the biblical Eve.

Sukin syn.

Andrei’s hard in seconds, heart pounding furiously as his stomach flutters.

Babochki, he thinks. Butterflies.

He laughs suddenly, feeling nervous out of the blue. 

“What do you think?” You ask, turning your body a little so he can get a better view.

“I think there’s butterflies in my stomach,” he says honestly, the words coming out faster than he can process, but when you flush deeply, he feels a twinge of satisfaction. 

“You still have a way with words, don’t you?” You tease, trying to look anywhere else but him, and he knows that strategy.

Sometimes, when you’re not sure how to receive his compliments, you try to brush them off, but tonight’s not a night Andrei can let that fly.

He can feel his hands twitching at his sides, and his feet are moving towards you before he even realizes, that familiar gravitational pull too strong to resist.

“Ty vyglyadish' krasivo, lyubov' moya.” He murmurs. You look beautiful, my love.

You smile at his words, his hands coming to rest on your waist and pull you closer. “Spasibo, malysh.” You finally seem to take in his costume, and you giggle lightly. “You look so cute!”

He frowns, brows pinched together. “I’m glad you think so.”

You smile, giggling a little more. “Of course I think so.”

“Remind me again why I couldn’t just be ‘Adam’ for Halloween?” He asks, fingers playing with a fake vine on your shoulder.

“Because no one cares about Adam,” you remind him gently. “The story’s about Eve and the Apple. Adam’s just there.”

Andrei pouts a little, turning back toward the mirror and staring at the apple suit that covers his upper half, the red hat on his head with the apple’s stem and a little leaf, and the dark brown pants on his legs. “I guess so,” he laments, then turns his gaze back to you.

You know him so well at this point that when the corner of your mouth quirks up in a small smile, he isn’t even surprised, and just smiles right back at you. “Don’t worry, shchenok, everyone still thinks you’re sexy.”

“I don’t care about everyone,” he says without a second’s hesitation. “Just you.”

A small flush works its way up your neck and cheeks. “I still think you’re sexy, too.”

Andrei’s heart pounds then, that familiar disbelief that he was able to call someone like you the love of his life surfacing in his chest. He bends his head, pride surging through his veins when you accept his kiss. 

“We should probably go soon,” you murmur against his mouth.

Andrei hums, shrugging. “Or we could stay home. Have our own little Halloween party.”

“Not an option, I’m afraid.” You say, and pull yourself out of his arms to head back into the closet. He watches, completely entranced, as you pull on a pair of thigh high velvet stiletto boots, the color matching your dress perfectly, and he can feel himself start to tent in his pants. 

“Kroshka,” he tries again, the word nearly getting caught in his throat, “Are you sure we can’t just-”

You cut him off by standing, grabbing your small clutch and his car keys, tossing a curt “Let’s go, moye yabloko” over your shoulder as you head to the garage.

Andrei glances at himself in the mirror one last time, offering his reflection a long-suffering sigh, before grabbing his wallet and trailing after you.

~

His teammates don’t laugh as much as he expected, which he supposes is because out of all the costumes tonight, he looks the least ridiculous.

Jesperi, Teuvo, and Sebastian are dressed as Alvin and the Chipmunks - Jesperi was elected to be Theo against his will, Teuvo gladly accepted the role of Simon because it meant he was the smartest, which left Sebastian as Alvin, who claimed it was only fair since his last name began with an ‘A’ - Freddie, Anti, Jacob, and Brett dressed up as Michaelangelo, Donatello, Leonardo, and Rafael from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Brent was dressed as Sully from Monsters Inc, and those were just the costumes he managed to figure out on his own.

There were far too many others for him to keep track of or understand and some were just a headache to look at, so he ended up focusing on the one thing he knew would keep his attention - the way your ass moved in your dress as you walked through club toward the VIP section they’d reserved for the team party.

The girls complimented you on your outfit and assured Andrei that he looked cute instead of silly, and it only made him feel marginally better.

He was still dressed as a giant apple for the night, after all, while his bombshell of a girlfriend looked like a walking fantasy.

After you’d said hello to everyone, the two of you ended up separated, the girls heading out to the dancefloor, some of the guys heading to the bar to grab drinks and snacks, and the rest settling into the VIP section.

Andrei plopped down between Jesperi and Freddie, removing his costume’s hat and putting it on the little table in their section, tuning out most of the conversation happening within the first ten minutes and instead finding himself focused on you and that beautiful dress out on the dance floor.

His eyes were glued to you as you danced, lost in the familiar way your hips moved and how carefree you were. Other people may have needed a little bit of alcohol in them to be so uninhibited, but you didn’t. You never had.

Watching you now, it reminds him of the first night he met you.

It had been earlier this year, when the guys had been having a particularly rough week of games, and they’d gone out to a club to relieve some stress.

You’d been there with some of your friends, and Andrei had been feeling a little bit too confident after a few drinks. He’d locked eyes with you barely ten minutes after he’d arrived and couldn’t take his eyes off you the whole night, couldn’t seem to find the need to wander more than ten feet out of your orbit.

He finally found the courage to approach you after Martinook had all but threatened to send Freddie after you first, pushing off the bar and heading over to you. 

He tried the gentlemanly approach, introduced himself properly by taking your hand, and from that first touch there was this crazy electric wildfire of sexual tension that neither of you seemed to be able to deny. You didn’t seem disturbed by him being five years younger than you, and he couldn’t have cared any fucking less about you being twenty eight. 

He worried for maybe half a second about you not being able to understand him through his accent, but you had no problems with it, even beyond the blaring music of the club. Then, he offered to get you a drink or a bottle of water - whatever you wanted really, he didn’t care - before asking if you minded if he joined you for a dance.

One dance became two, then four, then six, and then the next thing he knew, you both had locked yourselves in a storage closet down the back hall of the club and he had you pinned against the wall, his jeans and boxer briefs around his thighs, your dress hiked up to your waist, thong pulled to the side, and his cock buried so deep inside of you that you had to bite down on the meaty flesh of his shoulder to keep from crying out too loudly. 

You’d fucked twice in that closet before you took him back to your place and fucked another two times. In the morning, you’d managed to contain yourselves in the shower, but Andrei lost all restraint and licked your pussy on your kitchen table until your throat grew hoarse and your legs shook so much your table started to squeak.

He managed to rein it in and take you on a date two days later, and then you invited him out for dinner another three days after that. After about ten dates without any sexual interactions at all, and about a month in total of you actually knowing each other, he’d asked you to be his girlfriend, and you both celebrated when you said ‘yes’ to him by locking yourselves in at his place and fucking like bunnies for about two days.

Andrei had learned everything about what you liked in bed in that first month, and you’d learned everything about what he liked. 

You’d also learned enough about one another that Andrei was pretty sure he’d end up marrying you and having about five or seven kids within the next seven years, because there was no possible way he’d ever manage to find someone as brilliant as you ever again.

And at this point, you’d barely been dating a year. 

He’d say he was probably moving too fast in any other circumstance, but he was pretty sure you were on the same page.

He feels a nudge in his side, and Andrei glances over, momentarily shocked because he’d completely forgotten his friends were dressed in costumes, and the orange fabric around Freddie’s eyes nearly scared him shitless for a second. 

“You want another drink? The chipmunks lost a bet so they’re buying for the night.” Freddie says, gesturing to where Jesperi had gotten up and was now writing down orders on his phone. 

“Sure,” Andrei says. “I’ll take one.”

Jesperi points to where you are on the dance floor and asks Andrei “One for her too, right?”, and when Andrei nods, Jesperi gives him a thumbs up before stalking over to the bar.

He has a feeling it’s going to take Jesperi awhile to put in the drink orders for the whole section, so Andrei resumes watching you, reminiscing on the day you first met and chiming in on the conversations around him every now and again.

You finally wander over with the girls once the drinks arrive, and Andrei immediately opens his arms, feeling content when you settle into his embrace and onto his lap. He hands you your drink, careful to keep your hair out of your face when you take a sip.

There’s a sound of fake retching, and you and Andrei cut your eyes to where Jesperi’s making faces at the two of you. You roll your eyes, settling into Andrei a little more, and he wraps his arms around your waist, securing you to him.

“Jealous, KK?” One of the other girls asks, and Jesperi’s nose scrunches.

“Hardly.” He scoffs. “I’m basically watching my older sister make out with one of my best friends. It’s disturbing.”

Andrei feels you stiffen in his arms, but Jesperi’s already turning away, and Andrei squeezes you gently. “Zajka?”

You turn to Andrei, a slightly stunned expression on your face. “I…does he really think of me that way?” 

“What way?” Andrei asks, bringing a hand up to gently caress your cheek. 

He can see the shock starting to settle in a little more. “Like an older sister?”

And though Andrei knows they’ve never really talked about it, because it’s not really a topic that would come up, he knows for certain the answer is yes. 

Especially after the way you looked after everyone during the beach trip this past summer, all Andrei heard for weeks during training camp and preseason was how much everyone missed your cooking, people asking how you were doing, and demands for him to bring you around more.

Since you’d barely been together for six months at that point, he didn’t push you about it at all because he didn’t want you to feel pressured or rushed, even though he knew you liked everyone just fine. It was another thing he felt like would make it feel like this was going too fast, even though you’d probably be on the same page about this, too.

“I think a lot of them think that way.” He admits. “Pretty sure Freddie thinks of you as a younger sister. Burnsy too, to be honest.”

There’s a thoughtful look in your eyes now, and after a beat, you nod. “I didn’t know that.”

“Is that…is that okay?” He asks, slightly unsure. He doesn’t know that he’s seen you this…contemplative before.

You turn to Andrei, and give him that dazzling smile of yours he loves so much. “Of course it’s okay. Just took me by surprise a little.”

He nods, sitting up a little more so he can press a kiss to the base of your neck. “They love you as much as I do.”

Andrei’s surprised when his kiss makes you shiver a little, and he pulls back a bit, raising a brow at you.

You flush, suddenly bashful. “I just…” He raises a brow when you seem to be trying to find the words to say, and you gesture with your head towards the dancefloor. “Feels familiar, doesn’t it?”

Realization hits Andrei and he smiles, nodding. “It does, zajka.” 

A sly, cheshire smile works its way onto your lips, and Andrei feels his heart begin to pound in anticipation. “Let’s see just how well you can tempt me a second time, moye yabloko.” 

You’re downing the rest of your drink and getting up from his lap faster than he can blink, and then you’re heading back out to the dancefloor with the girls. 

As Andrei watches you walk away, he catches the wink you send him over your shoulder before you disappear into the crowd, and he smirks to himself. 

Da nachnetsya igra.

Let the games begin.

~ 

Drink in hand, Andrei makes his way through the crowd, his puffy apple costume coming in hand by parting the crowd a little as he moves - he even has the ridiculous hat on again - until he finally reaches where you are in the middle of the dance floor. 

He taps gently on your shoulder, and when you turn around, your eyes look up at him curiously, a small smile on your face.

Andrei leans down so you can hear him better, saying “Hi, I couldn’t help but notice you earlier, and I thought I’d introduce myself and bring you a drink.”

It’s not exactly what he said that first night, but it’s close enough. So what if he skipped a few cheesy lines?

You lean back a little, staring at the drink in his hand before taking it with a small amount of hesitation. “Thank you,” you say back, leaning in like he had. “That’s really thoughtful of you.”

“I’m Andrei,” he says, holding his hand out.

You take it, shaking it once when you tell him your name in return.

The nostalgia has those butterflies resurfacing in his stomach, and he tries his best not to smile like a total idiot. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you, too.” You say, then smirk a little at his costume. “You know, I’m pretty sure I was warned to stay away from you.”

He laughs a little, stepping closer into your space. Bending down so he’s right next to your ear, he rests a hand on your waist and says “One bite won’t hurt.”

At your responding chuckle, Andrei feels goosebumps ignite on his arms. “I’ve heard that before.”

“It’s different this time,” he promises. “It’s just us. And there’s no punishment.”

“Sounds a little too good to be true,” you say, pulling away a little and taking a sip of your drink, blinking up at him from under your lashes.

Andrei rights himself, shrugging. “Only one way to find out, isn’t there?” He gestures with his head towards a hallway that he’d confirmed about ten minutes ago had both a storage closet as well as what looked like an unused office full of boxes, but still came equipped with a couch and a perfectly solid desk.

He makes his way toward the hall, waiting for all of five minutes before you appear in front of him, the glass your drink was in now empty save for the cherry stem he already knew had a knot in it.

“Fancy seeing you here,” you joke, taking careful steps toward him. 

He holds a hand out, pleased when you take it, and he leads you toward the end of the hall. The door to the storage closet is on the left, and the door to the empty office is on the right. He places you in front of him, his hands resting on your waist from behind.

“Pick a door, zajka.” He says softly. 

You hum a little, taking a step forward. You open the door on the right first, but there’s a small noise that leaves you, and Andrei’s confused when you don’t take a step inside. You open the door to the left, and the second you see the closet, you spin around, smiling wickedly at him before pulling him inside.

He flips you the second he crosses the threshold, shutting the door and locking it before pinning you against the wood, placing his arms on either side of your head. “Didn’t like the office?”

You shake your head, tilting your chin up, waiting. “Not the same.”

“I would’ve liked fucking you on the desk.” He admits, the image of it still fresh in his brain.

“You didn’t fuck me on a desk till I moved in with you.” You remind him.

He smirks. “Oh I remember,” he promises. “Hard to forget the time you made me come so hard I almost passed out.”

You shrug. “You’re still alive, aren’t you?”

He drops one of his hands from the door only to bring it up between you, running a finger down the side of your neck, to your collarbone, your chest, before teasing at the neckline of your dress. 

“If you rip this dress before you get me in your bed, moye yabloko, you’ll be sorry.” You warn, but even so, your back arches off the wall, pushing your chest into his touch.

Andrei smirks. He’s never been one to shy away from his punishments.

Instead, he trails his hand down your dress and to the hem, pushing it up your thighs until he can reach under it to bring his fingers to your core, pleased when he finds the fabric of your thong already soaked. 

“May I, moya koroleva?” He asks sweetly, eyes focused on where his hand lingers. 

You nod, breath hitching a little when he pulls your thong to the side and runs his finger between your folds. “I want it like the first time.”

Andrei blinks, eyes darting back up to your face. 

That first night was intense - and beautiful - but also not the kind of sex the two of you have most often. He likes to please you, likes taking his time warming you up or worshiping you the way he’s learned that you like best. Other than the occasional quickie, you two rarely ever just get straight to it.

“Can you take me like this? Right now?” He checks.

“I can,” you say. You reach forward, fingers finding one of the belt loops of his pants and pulling him forward. “Please, malysh. I don’t want to wait.”

His heart beats hard against his ribcage. 

It’s rare that you’re the one pleading for him, that you’re the one asking for it this way, and he can feel the way his breath starts to stutter as he tries to maintain his composure.

The second he nods in agreement, it’s a race to get inside of you.

In a hurry, the two of you work to unbutton and unzip his pants, shuffling them down his thighs along with his boxer briefs. His aching cock springs free, and before you can reach for him, he’s bending down to lift you up and pin you against the wall, helping to wrap your legs around his waist. 

He balances you in one arm as you press your weight into the wall, reaching down to line his cock up to your entrance. The second he can feel it catch, he presses in at the same time that you angle your hips downward, and he pushes until he’s seated all the way inside and his hips press yours against the wall.

You take a gasping breath, head lolling back as your eyes squeeze shut, arms flying to his shoulders and nails digging into the skin as your pussy grips him tightly. 

“Zajka?” He asks, worried. “Are you okay?” 

You nod, breathing harshly through your nose. “Move, malysh, spasibo. I need you.”

Andrei has a sudden feeling he’s going to have a hard time trying to remember to breathe if you keep talking.

Carefully, he pulls his hips back until just the head of his cock rests inside, and then he pushes back inside in one brutal stroke that seizes the breath from your lungs once more.

“Just like the first time,” he reminds you, before setting a rough and steady pace. 

Your moans fill the room in seconds, and Andrei doesn’t care anymore about who can hear you or who can’t. 

Especially when he knows you couldn’t care less about it either.

This time, you’re not at Freddie’s house and worried about making a good impression. 

You’re here, with him, pretending like it’s the first night you met all over again, except this time there’s less to be cautious of for both of you.

Although…

If you do want it like it’s the first time again…

“You can’t moan too loud, kroshka.” He says, pressing in closer to you as his strokes slow a little, dragging himself in and out of you with precision. “Don’t want anyone to hear how pretty you are when you’re dripping on my cock, do you?”

Recognition flashes in your eyes like a bright flame, and you capture your lip between your teeth, nodding obediently. 

“Need something to bite down on, my beautiful Eve?” He murmurs, gathering you up in his arms and pushing until he’s flush against you, tilting his head to expose his neck. “Do it, it’s okay.”

You wind your arms around his shoulder and lean forward, and when Andrei feels your lips on his neck, his whole body shivers, groaning at the way he can feel your teeth bite down before licking over the wound, then sucking a bruise into the skin.

That’s another thing the two of you don’t give a shit about anymore. 

Andrei’s all too proud to wear your marks like a badge of honor, so as you suck on his skin, feeling his pulse beneath your tongue, he knows you take notice of the way his cock drives deeper into you.

He doesn’t know if he’ll be able to manage a second round in this closet, too desperate to fill you up and then drag you home so he can do it over and over again.

When his hips stutter a little, you finally pull away from his neck, leaning back to examine your work, smiling proudly. “Such a pretty little thing, moye yabloko.”

Fuck.

It is just like the first night all over again.

Andrei remembers the dirty things you whispered to him then, too. He remembers how he’d never heard something so sultry, so sexy in his entire life. It somehow made him hornier, made him feel like he could go insane with how much it made him need you even more in that moment. 

It was like you knew exactly what to say and what to do to drive him insane, to make him feel like he would do anything to prove to you just how good he could be. 

“You’re the same good boy you were that first night, too,” You taunt again when he doesn’t respond, and a sharp hiss falls from his lips when you tug his hair harshly, prompting him to tilt his head up so he can look at you.

His knees nearly buckle, and he thrusts hard into you once in warning. 

“You can’t say things like that,” he breathes out, focusing on fucking into you in deep, hard strokes. 

“Why?” You breathe out, bringing your hands from his shoulders and tossing the hat of his costume off of his head before sinking your fingers into his hair. 

He shakes his head. Any other man might be embarrassed, but that’s never been a thing between the two of you, and especially not when you’re being intimate. 

“It makes me…u menya babochki.” Andrei admits, trying his best to stay focused. I get butterflies.

“Babochki?” You ask, tone just shy of a whine, slightly mocking him. “Do I give my pretty shchenok butterflies?”

He looks up when he feels your hand on his cheek, staring into your eyes, and he can feel himself getting closer to his orgasm just looking at you. You run your thumb over his lips as they part, resting the pad of it on his tongue before his cheeks hollow, sucking gently on the digit. 

You smirk, eyes rolling back in your head when Andrei gives a particularly hard thrust, causing your back to arch a little more and your body to press further against his. He can tell you’re getting closer, can read all your little tells. 

The way your chest starts to heave, how he can see your nipples starting to poke through the fabric of your dress, the way your body starts to go lax, thumb slipping from his mouth and hand moving to rest on his chest instead. 

“You gonna come for me?” You ask, tone somewhere between taunting and begging. 

Andrei nods furiously, welcoming the molten lava spreading across his spine as he finds solace inside of you. “Da, moya koroleva.”

“Gonna come inside of me?” This question is definitely a taunt. “Gonna fill up the pretty stranger the very first night?”

“I did it once,” he reminds you. “I’d do it again, but only for you.”

Your blinding, satisfied smile takes over your face and Andrei feels his heart fall to your feet in adoration. “Come with me,” he begs.

You nod, tilting your hips a little until he’s hitting that beautiful spot inside, and your eyes flutter shut, pussy squeezing tighter around him.

He loses all control after that, cock pounding into you in a frenzied, nearly manic pace, trying so hard to keep going for you while also chasing his own orgasm. 

When he feels you lock him in that familiar death grip, your come drenching his cock and making the slide oh so right, his eyes squeeze shut, and a loud, satisfied groan leaves his mouth as he throbs, spilling inside of you until he feels like he can’t breathe right.

For a moment, the two of you can only remain like that - you slumped and sated in Andrei’s arms and his hips pinning you to the wall. 

When he feels you begin to squirm, he carefully pulls out of you, then sets you back on your own two feet as gently as he can. He’s quick to locate a stack of paper towels behind him and grabs a few to help you clean up before pulling your thong back into place and tossing the paper towels into a trash can near the door.

“Do I look okay?” You ask, fussing with your dress.

Andrei nods, letting out a content sigh. “Beautiful as always. What about me?”

When you glance up at him, Andrei’s expecting the same, but then you blink, and a surprised laugh practically barks out of you. It startles him a little, and your hand is flying to cover your mouth, eyes glistening with delight.

“What?” He presses, starting to fuss with his own costume. “What is it?”

“Drei, how hard did you come?” You ask through fits of giggles.

“You said like the first night, so pretty hard.” He admits, unashamed. “Why?”

“You’re…you’re…” You can barely say it through your laughter. After a second, you take a deep breath, calming yourself, and then smile at him happily. “You’re as red as an apple.”

If he - apparently - wasn’t already red, he definitely would be by now. 

“How bad is it?” Andrei asks, rubbing at his face absently. 

You shrug. “No better and no worse than after a shift on the ice.”

He pouts, brows furrowing. “I don’t know if that’s good or bad.”

“It’s normal,” you explain. “It might be tough to explain away when we say goodbye to everyone in a minute, but it’ll be alright.”

“We’re going home?” He asks, already excited. 

You nod, shrugging your shoulders a little. “Pretty sure that’s what we did the first night, too.”

He smirks, stepping closer to you and pulling you to him by your waist. “We did a lot of things that first night. And the next morning.”

Your own cheeks flush now, and you nod. “That we did.”

“Feel like a trip down memory lane, kroshka?” He murmurs, already leaning down.

You rise up on your tiptoes, lips brushing against his when you say “I think that sounds lovely, malysh,” before kissing him softly.

[raya-hunter01]

Homecoming

One Shot

Carmelo Hayes x Black Female OC! (Kayla)

Rating: 18+

Warning: Smut

Summary: Carmelo is nervous about returning to his college alma mater FAMU for its homecoming. An alumni ball between his fellow brother Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity and sister sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha is taking place.

Why is he nervous, you ask? A special someone he took for granted is going and he has no idea how to make things right. Follow Carmelo down memory lane as he tries to figure out how to fix the mess he made. Will Kayla forgive him or will this end in disaster as Trick travels with Carmelo to be his wingman for homecoming weekend.

This was a story request from royalkay23 who gave me the music and ideas that we put together. I hope you enjoy it!

NXT Show

Carmelo POV

“Damn, another night, another show,” I sighed sitting down trying to unwind a bit before I showered and got on the road. Pulling out my phone I checked my messages.

“Damn, I already told Darnell, I was comin’ so what the hell he keep calling for?” I hissed putting in my code to listen to his voicemail.

“Man, I forgot you had a show, I talked to Angela, and she convinced Kayla to come this weekend. You better get ready to do some groveling to get yo’ woman man. I’ll see you down there, later bro,” his voice making my stress levels rise.

What does he mean she’s coming down? Fuck, should I even go? Will she even wanna talk to my ass?

“How did shit get so complicated,” I whispered pinched my nose truly frustrated.

Things used to be so easy; then we made it complicated by giving in to our desires. If only we never crossed that line, we would still be close.

I missed her, I knew the first day I met her that I wanted her to be apart of my life forever.

--------

FAMU Move in day 2019

“Remember we’re gentleman, carry their bags to their rooms. Be welcoming and act like ya’ll got some sense. Give them a couple weeks to get used to campus life before ya’ll start aggravating them,” our oldest fraternity brother Scott said as we all snickered.

“We got you, boss,” I said trying not to laugh as Darnell hit my shoulder trying to hold it together himself.

“No funny business Carmelo, this ain’t an opportunity for you to schedule your next hookup,” Greg hissed as I nodded scoping the parking lot not listening.

“Damn, I got her,” I said pointing to a beautiful young lady standing with her parents about to start pulling luggage outta their trunk. Oh, she bad….Legs and ass for days.

“You ain’t slick, you tryin' to holla at her,” Darnell whispered as I grinned. “I don’t know what you talkin’ about. If ya’ll will excuse me, I’m going to see if they need some help,” I said quickly making myself scarce before anybody could get a word in.

Making my way over to the family I couldn’t help but hear her mom fussing over leaving her daughter here. Smiling, I listened quietly trying to give them a minute before I interrupted.

“Mama, I will be fine,” she said reassuring her mother as they had her surrounded in a group hug.  “You go to your classes and back to your dorm, these folks are a little too wild,” her mom said looking at a couple making out not far from us as I snickered.

 Sorry mama, that’s something I wouldn’t mind doin’ to your daughter…Damn, Melo play it cool…

“Mama, I can handle it, I’m not going to be out here actin’ a fool but I will have fun sometime,” the Carmel beauty said being honest with her parents as her dad smiled.

“As you should, all work and no play sucks, babe give her a break. We raised her right,” her dad said as her mom took a deep breath.

“Yes, ya’ll did, now trust me,” she pleaded with a beautiful smile. Damn, a smile that could start a full-blown war….

 “I do trust you, baby, it’s just it’s your first time away from home, and I’m worried,” her mom said looking around at their surroundings.

“Have you talked to your little boyfriend who couldn’t bother to be here,” her dad said with disgust.

“Daddy, Justin is getting ready to go to college too. It’s ok, he’s going to come up soon,” she said her tone trying to keep the conversation light and positive.

Well, let me introduce myself, maybe that can change the subject, it seemed the mysterious beauty didn’t want to talk about it.

“Excuse me, do you guys need some help?” I asked said as she turned around and instantly blushed when we made eye contact.  

Damn she fine, fine, ok act like a gentleman and don’t embarrass yourself.

“Hi! Um, I guess we do,” she said looking around at all her things on the ground and in the trunk.

“What’s your name son?” her dad asked, as I grinned.

“I’m Carmelo, and I’m from the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, sir. I’m apart of the fraternity welcoming committee. We help students move in on campus,” I said shaking her dad’s hand as he smiled at him.

“An Alpha man! I like that, I pledged to that fraternity when I was in college, my daughter here is a junior transfer and is pledging to your sister sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha,” he said proudly as my ears perked up at the new information.

“You don’t have to tell everybody, Daddy, I might not even make it. Hi, I’m Kayla,” she said shaking my hand as I felt myself falling into those beautiful brown eyes.

“It’s always nice to meet a fellow sister, welcome to the family,” I said gently kissing her hand. Her mother scoffed, clearing her throat and interrupting our moment as I reluctantly let go of her hand as her dad laughed.

 “It’s nice to meet you as well ma’am,” I said taking her mother's hand in mine, kissing it as her smirk grew by the second.

 “Oh, you charming, stay away from this one Kayla,” her mom said as I smiled nervously at her…Alright, don’t let her see you sweat.

“Uh, let’s get you moved in Kayla,” I said trying to change the subject, helping her dad pick up some of her bags. “I would love that,” she said smiling brightly at me.

 For the next hour, I tried to learn all I could about her as we moved her into her dorm.

Her phone also had been ringing nonstop, but she ignored it. “He knows I’m movin’ so why blow me up like this. I’ll call him back in a minute,” she said as we carried up the last of her things.

 “When you do….Tell him he should have brought his ass here to help us move you in if he wanted to know what you are doing every fuckin’ second of the day,” her mom said as Kayla rolled her eyes behind her back.

Poor thing was getting it from all ends, I could see she needed a break from her mother, and it seemed her boyfriend.

Her parents walking ahead of us into her dorm gave me a chance to be nosey.

“Is that you and your man?” I asked, pointing at the wallpaper on her phone. Looking at the photo seemed to have her conflicted, almost nervous.

“Uh, yeah he is, we’ve been together for two years,” Kayla said as I observed her uneasiness.

“Ok, well maybe when he comes to visit, ya’ll can come check out one of our parties. We throw the best ones on campus,” I said trying to make conversation not wanting it to end as I sat her bags down inside.

“That would be cool, thank you for helping us, maybe I’ll see you around,” Kayla said as I felt the excitement dancing in my chest.

“Yeah, you definitely will, might as well call me your new best friend,” I said turning on the charm as she laughed.

“Well, maybe I’ll see you around best friend,” Kayla joked as I walked out of her dorm with a pep definitely in my step.

Senior year was definitely shaping up.

------

“Aye, you planning to shower or what?” Trick asked bringing me out of my thoughts. “Yeah, I am, just was thinking about Kayla and if I want to go to the Alumni ball,” I said as Trick sat down in front of me and stared intently.

“Well, you deserve to have fun too, maybe ya’ll can talk and work this shit out. I mean it’s been four years, she can’t still be mad,” he said as I sighed.

“I said some fucked up shit that I can’t take back, I don’t even know how to approach her,” I said feeling helpless.

“You go up to her, apologize, and try to make it right. That’s all you can do,” Trick said as I stood up shuffling around the room gathering my things.

“Thanks, man maybe it’ll all work out and I’ll have fun this weekend,” I said as Trick smiled.

“Now that’s it, be positive and have fun this weekend. I’ll even go with you and be your wingman.  I can tell you when to talk and when to shut the hell up, 'cause you talk too much sometimes,” Trick said as I laughed truly thankful for him and our friendship.

“Well, I might take you up on that, let me shower so we can hit the road,” I said heading to the showers.

“Aye, you gon’ get her back, you just gotta shoot your shot!” I heard Trick yell as I started my shower.

I truly hoped so but for now, I had to be realistic, I had a lot of groveling to do, and I was prepared to do it if it meant Kayla could be in my life again.

---

Delata Flight 193

Kayla’s POV

“Angela, I’m going to have fun and stroll with my sorors. I’m not going to resurrect issues from four years ago,” I said as she rolled her eyes at me.

“Ya’ll two need to talk and squash this shit, you know he didn’t mean it. He was jealous because he was in love with you…Still in love with you might I add,” she said as I scoffed.

“In love…..Carmelo…… Girl bye!” I exclaimed rolling my eyes. “Even if he was in love with me, it don’t make it right what he did.  Have a conversation like an adult and not say spiteful shit. And can we just drop this conversation, you are ruining my buzz,” I said finishing my glass of champagne as Angela sighed grabbing her phone.

Damn, I guess she was going to be team Carmelo all weekend. Love my ass.

“So, he wrestles, that’s cool,” Angela said as I looked over and saw her scrolling through Carmelo’s Instagram as I smiled.

Many of our late-night talks about our dreams began to invade my mind. He was always passionate about wrestling so it didn’t shock me that he made it to the WWE.

Leaning back in my seat I sighed trying to get in the right head space for this weekend. I wanted to have a good time, it would even be better if I could avoid him.

“Girl, he got to work with the undertaker, look!” Angela exclaimed as I leaned back over and looked at his latest Instagram post on her phone.

“That’s awesome,” I whispered happy him. He looked so happy. As she scrolled to the next picture My focus went to the tattoo of an eye on his upper arm, it seemed to stir something in me, but I didn’t know what.  

I felt like I knew the meaning of it but I couldn’t piece it together as I looked at the beautiful tattoo of a woman’s eye with makeup smudged. Angela quickly swiped to the next post before I could truly process it.

“So, are you going to talk to him this weekend? Angela asked as I sat back in my seat and closed my eyes trying to tune her out.

“No, I have no desire to talk to him, I’m over it,” I said as she laughed. 

“Bullshit, you were in love with Carmelo, and you still are,” she countered as I snapped my head back looking at her wearing a frown.

“Don’t look at me like that, you gon’ put your big girl panties on this weekend, and get yo' man back,” Angela said with determination as I shook my head.

“He was never my man Angela; we just were two friends who had sex one night and it ruined our friendship. Worse mistake ever, I should have taken my ass home that night,” I said smartly as Angela sucked on her teeth.

“Nah, I don’t agree with that. Ya’ll were two friends who loved each other and were scared. He self-destructed jumping to conclusions and you were hurt by his assumptions,” Angela said as I got my air pods out of my purse.

“I’m done talkin’ about Carmelo, I’m takin’ a nap now,” I said putting my air pods in, turning my music on low.

“I know you can hear me so I’ma say this. I know he was wrong, but I think you are takin’ the one bad thing he did and erasing all the good. It wasn’t always bad Kayla and one mistake shouldn’t define him or his love for you, or your love for him,” Angela said as I continued to tune her out.

Yes, he did a lot of great things for me, I couldn’t deny it. Did the good truly outweigh the bad?

---

Crossing Day 2019

Kayla’s POV

This is supposed to be an amazing night for me, but I feel shitty. It’s nothing but chaos all around me as I see Carmelo and some of his fraternity brothers helping set up the stage for our ceremony that starts in an hour. I hate we got a late start.

My phone ringing for damn near the tenth time within the last thirty minutes is pissing me off as I see Justin’s number.

“What do you want Justin?” I asked, truly fed up, especially after the bomb he dropped this morning.

“I just wanted to make sure you were good,” he said as I pulled the phone away from my ear in disbelief.

“Justin, how am I good? You called me this morning to tell me you’re not coming. You knew how important this was to me,” I said trying to keep my emotions in check not wanting to mess up my makeup.

“It’s not that big a deal, it’s just a sorority thing,” he said as I felt the tears coming. “Really, so something I want to do isn’t important to you. Even though everything you do, I come and support you,” I said raising my voice as Carmelo made his way towards me.

“You ok Kayla?” he asked as shook my head, sighing as he put a comforting hand on my shoulder. “Who is that? Is that your so-called homeboy, I shoulda known his ass was there. I ain’t blind I know ya’ll like each other,” Justin hissed.  

“Look, I got to get ready, I need to get my mind together,” I said trying to end the call.

“Well, that’s cold, you don’t even wanna talk about it. You must be spreadin’ your legs for his ass. Maybe we just need to call this shit off,” he said as I scoffed knowing where this was going.

Gaslighting 101, chapter five, Hide Your Guilt and Accuse Her of What You Are Actually Doing.

This bastard was cheating, and I knew exactly who it was with.

“You know I’m not cheating on you. Just grow a set and tell me you want to break up instead of playing games Justin. I know you sleeping with Regina, the jig is up, ok,” I said as the line got quiet.  

“Look, it ain’t about her, I’m just sayin’ maybe we just need to end this. Experience new people and just have fun, I don’t want to be tied down right now Kayla,” he said as I took a deep breath and looked at Carmelo, who gave me a nod of encouragement.

"I'm here Kay," he whispered as I fought back tears. He was always there to pick up the pieces and wipe my tears.

“Justin, why did you have to do this today? It could have been any other day but today. Look, just lose my number because you’re officially blocked, it's over,” I said hanging up and blocking his number as Carmelo took me in his arms and I broke down.

 “Hey, I got you,” he whispered as I cried. “I don’t think I can do this today,” I cried as his strong arms pulled me closer.

“Oh, yes you can and will because you have worked hard for this. Today is your day, don’t let him take that away from you,” Carmelo said as I nodded slightly pulling away a sad smile adorning my face as he carefully wiped my tears.

“No more tears, go get ready. I’m excited to hear your Crossing Introduction tonight. I know it’s gon' be fire, just like you, and make sure to shake that beautiful hair for me,” he said gently playing with my freshly silked-out hair.

“Ok, I’ll make sure to remember that,” I said reluctantly stepping back as Angela came running up.

“Girl, ya’ll can flirt later, we need to finish getting ready. See you in a few Melo,” she said pulling me away as I laughed.

“Never change Angela, and congrats!” he yelled as she waved back at him.

These two are a mess but it was time. It was time to step into my sorority destiny.

Everything seemed like such a blur as we waited in line with our heads down. I was getting more nervous as each new soror went before the crowd introducing themselves.

Focus Kayla you did well on the march, now it’s time to let them know who you are.

“Alright Kayla let’em know,” my new fellow Soror whispered as I smiled, tossing my head back and whipping my hair back and forth as the crowd screamed. Here goes nothing…

Stepping out of line and going to the front of the stage I felt nervous till I looked out and saw Carmelo about three rows back smiling at me.

“My…… Name….. is!” I shouted, loud and clear pausing between each word.

“What’s your name?!” the crowd asked as I smiled and began moving my body and hands in sync with my words.

“Kayla!”

“Yea!” (crowd)

“Belle!”

“Yea!”

The crowd participating as I said my name had my heart racing. Pausing, taking in the moment, I saw Carmelo wink at me.

Giving him a sexy smirk, I tossed my head back and began shaking my hair again just for him.

“Peaches!”

“Yea!”

 Slowly lowering my head, I paused, building excitement as they waited to hear what my last name was.

“Taylor!”

“Yea!”

“And I am from the Peach State, the one and only Atlanta, GA! And this Georgia Peach has joined this great sorority and I’m this line’s number 17! I shouted with pride bending down into our stroll stance with a bright smile.

Finally releasing the breath I was holding, my eyes found Carmelo again as he licked his lips. His gaze grew more intense as Darnell whispered something to him.

Were they talking about me? I saw Carmelo dap him up sharing a mutual nod before he turned his attention back to me and winked.

"A'ight Peaches, I see you Ms. AKA!" he shouted as I smiled getting back in line.

Yes, it was over! I had done it!… I was an AKA….

----

Later that night

Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity House

Carmelo’s Room

“You sure you good?” Carmelo asked as I sat my drink down and curled up next to him on the couch. “I’m fine, thanks for being there tonight,” I said glancing up at him as he seemed to be in deep thought.

“It’s no problem, it was no other place I’d rather be,” he whispered caressing my face as I felt myself melting under his gaze.

“What are we doing?” I whispered as his lips slowly descended towards mine.  “What we've always wanted to do,” he whispered gently taking my lips in a kiss as I moaned in pleasure.

“We can’t, I don’t want to ruin our friendship,” I whimpered against his lips as his arms encircled my waist pulling me onto his lap.

Feeling his hardness underneath me had me shook. He was hard from just a simple kiss.

 “Mmhm, you feel that Kay? That's what you do to me," Carmelo whispered as I shivered. "Melo we can't," I pleaded as he silenced me with another kiss.

"We both want this, stop fighting it, baby. It won’t change anything, we'll still be us,” Carmelo whispered, his sexy voice casting a powerful spell over me.

 Looking into his beautiful brown eyes I saw nothing but the truth in his words. Kayla just let go and give in to what you want.

"Tonight...Just for tonight," I whispered as Carmelo's grip on me tightened. "I got you," he whispered slowly undressing me.

I felt shy, as he tossed my dress, anxiously over his shoulder before caressing my breasts. “You are so beautiful, just everything I imagined you’d be and more,” Carmelo whispered kissing my neck as I moaned in pleasure, his masterful hands making quick work of my bra.

 His words eased my nervousness and awakened the boldness in me.

Playing with the waistband of his sweats, Carmelo bit back a moan in anticipation. “Go ahead baby, you can touch it. I want you too,” Carmelo moaned as I purred at his words.

Nervously stroking him, his moans urged me on as his mouth feasted upon my neck. “Mmm, yes,” I moaned continuing to stoke him as he slid my thong to the side.

“You got a condom?” I whispered into the air as he nodded, reaching over, fiddling around in the drawer of the small lamp table beside us, as I claimed his lips in a powerful kiss.

His moan of triumph as he retrieved the condom and ripped it open made me tremble against him.

 “Let me,” I whispered against his lips, climbing off his lap, slowly sinking to my knees, holding his gaze I slowly placed the condom over the tip of his length.

Damn he was way bigger than Justin, it caused me to pause in my actions and stare.  

“Don't be scared, I'ma make you feel real good baby. I promise, now gon’ put it on and come take a ride,” Carmelo groaned, picking up on my nervousness as continued to stroke him.

My pussy quivered at his words; it excited me. Using my mouth, I slide the condom down over his hardened length as he bit back a growl, entangling his fingers in my hair.

“Shit! It’s like that baby?” Carmelo moaned, looking at me in amazement.  “Uh huh,” I moaned looking at him, while taking him deeper into my mouth

“Got dammmn Kay,” Carmelo hissed as his head fell back against the couch in pleasure. “You like that,” I whispered as he looked at me through hooded eyes. “Hell yea, I love it but if you don’t stop, this gon’ be over before it starts,” Carmelo panted as I smirked releasing him.

“Mmm, I wouldn't want that, ” I whispered climbing back on his lap nibbing on his neck as he growled grasping my hips, slowly inch by inch filling my wet center with his hardened length until he was to the hilt.  Our moans of satisfaction filled the tiny room.

“Fuck, you feel better than I ever dreamed,” Carmelo groaned against my neck as I began to ride him.  “Mm, you too,” I confessed wrapping my arms around his neck as he began meeting my thrusts in desperate need.

“Yea, ride… Mmhm ride dat shit……Just like that Kayla,” Carmelo moaned encouraging me as we chased our end. “Promise me nothing changes….Mmm,Melo!” I exclaimed as he began gently massaging my clit with his thumb as I used his shoulders to steady myself bouncing with a purpose.

 “Mmhm, nothin’ gon’ change, I promise Kay. Now let’s get this nut together baby,” he whispered as he took me higher and higher. “Yes! Melo, Mmhm I’m ready!” I cried as I rotated my hips against him hearing a low growl escape his lips that began to grow in volume as we shared each other’s love.

That’s what it was, love and it was scaring the hell outta me and by the look on Carmelo’s face I could tell it was scaring him too.

“Kay…Kay..Fuck!” Carmelo moaned, finally finding words as we were reaching our end.  “I know, God I know," I moaned shuttering against him as our lips met in desperation.

“I’m cummin!” I whined against his lips as he caressed his tongue with mine, deepening our kiss.

“I’m right there with you,” he moaned as we exploded together. Collapsing against his shoulder I struggled to catch my breath as he held me tight.

For awhile, nothing was said as I relaxed in Carmelo's arms. I felt overwhelmed, I knew I had messed up…I had fallen hard for him.  I felt my tears coming as Carmelo caressed my back.

“Don’t cry Kay, we good. See you doin' all this cryin' lately, I'ma have to get a tattoo of a tear on this shoulder. Better yet, ima put your whole eye up there with the makeup smudges and all," Carmelo said kissing my shoulder.

“See why you gotta tease me,” I said caressing his arms as he sighed.

“Look at me Kay,” Carmelo said lifting my head off his shoulder wiping my tears.

I would never tease you. I’m just glad you trusted me and allowed me to be there to catch your tears,” Carmelo whispered caressing my face, placing a gentle kiss on my lips.

Yep….We fucked up….Big time.

---

“We're about to land Kayla,” I heard Angela say as I opened my eyes taking in my surroundings.

“I’m sorry I just meant to catch a small nap, not sleep the whole flight,” I said taking my air pods out and putting my seatbelt back. on.

“You good girl, it ain’t nothing like listening to music and letting it take you away,” she said smiling at me.

“Yeah, I guess so,” I said trying to shake the memories that were clouding my mind, and the other pieces of the puzzle coming together had me feeling overwhelmed.

Pulling my phone back out I went to WWE.com, turning slightly in my seat so Angela couldn't see. I would never hear the end of this if she knew I was looking at Carmelo's photos but I needed to see the picture again.

In my search, I found an article with the picture in question attached with several other backstage shots. I began skimming through the article and a question threw me for a loop.

WWE.com Exclusive

"So, what is the significance behind this tattoo of the eye with what seems to be makeup smudged?"

"I got it about three years ago, I got it to remind me of a special someone I knew in college. She was my best friend and my number one supporter. She encouraged me to chase my dreams, and I never forgot that."

"Well, are you two still in touch?"

"Uh, no we aren't, but who knows what the future holds."

---

“I can't believe he really got that tattoo,” I muttered to myself in disbelief. “Who got what tattoo?” Angela asked leaning over, trying to look at my phone as I quickly opened another tab.

“Uh, nobody I know, I was just thinking about the dream I just had,” I said which technically I wasn't stretching the truth very much. My memories with Carmelo were creeping into my brain and it scared me.

“I hope it was a good dream to start your weekend because we gon’ have fun these next few days,” she said as I sighed.

Girl, if you only knew I would rather be anywhere than Florida this weekend. This was dangerous, I had to keep my guard up.

Maybe I should have just stayed home.

---

The Next Day

PHIRSTPHAM Cookout

Carmelo’s POV

“Damn, it’s thick out here,” Trick said as I grabbed us a beer. “Yea, they partyin’ hard, half of them probably ain’t making it to the ball,” I laughed looking around trying to find Kayla. 

“Aye, didn’t her homegirl tell you they’d be here?  I’ma need you to chill man,” Trick said as I tried to shake my nerves still looking around.

“I know I’m jus…just,” I said stuttered as I spotted her. “What the hell is wrong with you?” Trick asked turning around to see what had me shook.

“Damn, is that her?” he asked smiling as I nodded still unable to speak.  “You stupid as fuck if I may say so myself,” Trick whispered shaking his head as I growled.

“Look you ain’t gotta rub it in, you supposed to be helping me, and stop looking at her like that,” I hissed as Trick shrugged his shoulders.

“I am here to help you but I ain’t dead. Is that her friend?” Trick asked pointing at Angela. “Yea, that’s her, a straight pain in the ass but I adore her,” I said as Darnell came running up.

“Ooou! I know you see yo’ girl, she out here serving body for days!” Darnell exclaimed as Trick smirked.

“Man shut the fuck up,” I said seething as he laughed. “Now is that how you talk to your frat brother who just talked to the DJ and he’s about to play our favorite stroll with the AKAs,” he said as my eyes widened in shock.

“I know you didn’t,” I whispered as he smiled. “Yep, so get ready,” he said taking off towards the crowd.

"This idiot here is just fuckin’ stupid,” I said as Trick seemed confused. “What’s the issue, I mean a dance can’t hurt nobody,” he said as I sighed.

“In the stroll, I lead the Alphas and Kayla leads the AKAs,” I said as Trick's eyes lit up. “Oh, shit that’s perfect, maybe it will break the ice with Kayla,” he said as I drank the rest of my beer.

“If anything it may entice her to choke my ass out for being so close to her, but I guess I ain’t gotta choice,” I said as I heard the opening cords of Knuck if you buck by Crime Mob

“Class of 2020 and 2021 I need you on the floor it’s your time to shine,” the MC said as I saw the girls already dancing falling in line behind Kayla as she smiled brightly swinging her hips and arms.

“Aye, you betta get yo’ ass over there,” Trick said as Darnell was waving me over as I went to join my frat brothers.

“Taking my place in line across from Kayla felt weird as she seemed to not pay me any attention as she strolled with her line sisters.

“Let’s get it fellas!” I shouted blowing my whistle as we began steppin’ in sync with the girls doing our own stroll.

I saw Kayla look over at me in shock for a second before she recovered and continued leading her line sisters.

“Knuck if you buck!” Angela screamed as the AKAs kneeled deeper in their stance, killin’ it.

“I see ya’ll!” I heard someone yell as I cracked a smile.  It felt good to stroll with my frat brothers and most of all Kay.

I couldn’t take my eyes off of her as she danced, whipping her hair back and forth almost teasing me. She knows what that shit does to me.  Trying to refocus I cut my eyes towards Angela as she smirked at me.

“Yeah, act like you know! Stop playin’ wit her, take us on out Peaches!" she yelled, swinging her arms as Kayla smiled, walking as only she could pretending one of her hands was a mirror as she fluffed her beautiful hair with the other.

The crowd parted, cheering them on while allowing them to pass as we followed closely behind them.

Damn, Kayla still could command a room like no other. “Uh, you can thank me now,” Darnell said as I looked back at him and rolled my eyes getting out of the line, trying to find Kayla again.

Kayla’s POV “We still got it, that was fun,” Angela said as I laughed. “Girl, AKAs gon’ always bring that heat,” I said smiling at her. “I know you saw him, so when ya’ll gon’ talk,” Angela said as I sighed.  

Jeez can I have a moments piece without somebody telling me to talk to Carmelo.

“I didn’t see Carmelo, what are you talking about?” I said playing dumb.

“Oh, so you don’t know me now,” Carmelo said as I sighed looking at the amusement dancing in Angela’s eyes as I slowly turned to face him.

"I’ll let ya’ll two talk," Angela said practically running away as I scoffed. “I hate you!” I hissed as she laughed.

“Look can go talk, I think we both can agree it’s overdue and we don’t want to make a scene here,” Carmelo said as I looked around at everyone having a good time.

“Fine, but I’m not going far,” I said following him through the crowd as he led me to the side of the building.

The silence was defining as we both were trying to think of words to say to each other. It had been three years since we last saw each other after all.

I don’t know what came over me but I slapped him as hard as I could the sound echoing around us as Carmello stumbled rubbing the side of his face.

“A’ight I deserved that,” he said as I took a deep breath trying to not make a fool outta myself. I couldn’t let him know how he truly broke me.

“Yes, you did and more. You’re lucky that’s all you got from me,” I said as Carmelo raised his hands in surrender.  “Kay, I know I hurt you and I’m sorry,” he said as I looked at him my expression unreadable.

“It's Kayla to you, only my friends call me Kay. Look, can you make this quick, I got something to do,” I said folding my arms over my chest.

“So is this how it’s gon’ be the whole weekend, you just ignoring me. I’m trying to apologize, Kayla,” Carmelo said as I tried to wrangle in my feelings.

“Why are you apologizing to a whore. I mean that’s what you said I was right?” I said as a look of defeat and horror crossed his face.

“I didn’t mean it if you would just let me talk,” he started as I cut him off.

“I’m just a needy whore that will ride any dick right,” I said slightly raising my voice as he cringed at my words.

“Look, I was drunk, and I said some shit I didn’t mean alright. You know I lo—,” Carmelo's voice trailed off as he looked down unable to look at me. What was he going to say?

“Carmelo, being drunk ain’t no excuse, I thought you were my best friend!” I exclaimed frustrated that I was letting him get to me.

I am your best friend! Regardless of how you feel about me, you are my best friend Kayla and I miss you. Can you please just forgive me? he pleaded as I tried to walk away. "Carmelo, please stop," I begged trying to walk away as he blocked my path. "Say you can forgive me, please," Carmelo pleaded, his eyes drawing me in as they stared into my soul. I couldn't look away if I wanted.

“Kay, you know I didn’t mean it, can we just agree to talk sometime before we both leave Sunday,” he pleaded as I finally nodded, not trusting my words as I saw Angela walking over.

“Hey, ya’ll good, Kay?" she asked rubbing my shoulder as I held back tears.

“Uh, yeah we were just talking about not letting the drama of the past ruin the weekend," I said wiping a few stray tears that had fallen as Carmelo sighed in relief.

“Well thank God, we all deserve a good weekend of fun,” she said my eyes still focused on Carmelo as he glanced quickly at the tattoo on his shoulder before looking back at me.

I felt a shiver run down my spine, as I tried to shake it off.

“Well, uh, I’ll let ya’ll get back to the party and I will see ya’ll tonight hopefully,” he said giving me a hug, catching me off guard.

Carmelo’s POV

I knew I was pushing it but I couldn't help it. I had to hold her in my arms. Come on beautiful hug me back.

I couldn’t let her go until she hugged me back.

I felt her trembling hands touch my back as I sighed in relief pulling her closer. “I’ma make it right, just let me please. I’m sorry Kay,” I whispered in her ear as I felt her relax against me. Angela smiled at me before leaving us alone.

"You hurt me, Mel," Kayla whispered as I felt my heart sink. “I wish I could take it back, baby,” I whispered honestly.

I didn’t know what else to say, I had played the scenario over and over in my head a thousand times. How different everything could have been if I had just told her how I felt that night. If I did, we wouldn’t be in this shit now.

“I need to go," Kayla whispered pulling away as I felt empty again.

"Yeah, me too, I hope I see you tonight," I said as she flashed a half smile.

"Maybe, I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we get there," she said not looking me in the eye slowly walking back back to the party.

Don't give up on me yet beautiful I whispered watching her walk away from me and carrying my heart right along with her.

----

Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity House

End-of-Year Party

Carmelo’s POV

It was the last party of the year, graduation was near but Kayla was occupying my mind.

We kept our word, after our night nothing changed. We woke up that next morning and went back into our regular routine. Two best friends who adored each other.

 I had gone out with a few girls since then and Kayla was into her sorority life and wasn’t dating.

She had told me how she wanted to heal from the breakup with Justin before she dated anybody. I can’t help but admit I wanted more, and no girl could compare to her but I didn’t even know how to tell her.

"Let me get this straight 'cause you are confusing the fuck outta me. You like Kayla, but instead of telling her you bring Robin to this party. The girl who has made her life hell since she joined the AKAs. You stupid as fuck,” Darnell scoffed hitting me on the back of the head.

"Shit, you didn’t have to hit me, I know I’m wrong,” I said rubbing my head as I saw Kayla on the dancing floor dancing with Angela as I saw Anthony approach them.

"What the fuck is he doin'?" I hissed seeing my frat brother whisper in Kayla’s ear as she blushed, nodding as he pulled her away from Angela and they began dancing.

“Looks like he knows a beautiful woman when he sees one and he asked her to dance,” Darnell said as I growled.

“Fuckin’ freshman thinking he can come in here and do what he wants. Let me set his ass straight,” I hissed finishing my beer.

“Um, why can’t he ask her to dance? She’s single and so is he," Darnell said as I stormed past him not wanting to talk to his ass anymore.

Soon as I got closer Robin slid in front of me catching me off guard. "Hey, I have been looking for you, let’s dance," she said throwing her arms around me as I reluctantly danced with her.

I didn't know how to feel as Kayla looked at me in shock and uncertainty as Robin and I danced. I knew by her eyes she was hurt by my dating choice of the night.

Sighing I tried to play it cool as our eyes seemed to fall deeper into each other before she laid her head on Anthony’s shoulder avoiding my gaze as he seemed to be enjoying it a little too much for my liking.

"Motherfucka," I whispered as Robin pulled back looking at me. "What’s wrong babe?" She asked as I played it off. " Uh, nothin’ let’s go upstairs after this song. I know better things we could be doin', " I said as her eyes lit up.

Yea, I was wrong but I didn’t care at the moment.

"Hands up here now," I heard Kayla say as she moved Anthony's hands back to her waist. He had been trying to caress her ass.

"I'm sorry beautiful," he said as I saw red, I don’t even know what came over me as I stepped away from Robin and went towards them.

"What are you doing!? I know you ain't going over there, she don't need you to save her!" Robin hissed following me. Hell I don’t even know what I’m doing, but I know he ain’t gon’ be touchin’ on her like that.

"Aye, you need to keep your hands to yourself," I said interrupting their dance gently grabbing her arm and moving her behind me as I stepped in Anthony’s face.

"What is your problem, Melo?! We were just dancing," Kayla said as Anthony smirked.

"Ain’t it obvious, he can’t take somebody else takin’ an interest in you Kay, he just wants you to be his little plaything," Anthony said as I grabbed him by the collar snatching his ass up.

"My problem is every time I turn around yo’ bitch ass tryin’ to take something that belongs to me,” I hissed dangerously low as he laughed. "Oh, so she's yours huh," Anthony taunted as the music stopped and people began to stare.

"Let me talk to you for a minute," Kayla whispered grabbing my hand, as I let go of Anthony. I was getting more pissed by the second looking at his cocky ass.

"I know you new freshman, so you don't know me. Keep smirking, I'll knock all your fuckin' teeth out," I hissed, his smirk dropping instantly.

"No your not, let's go," Kayla said steering me towards the stairs as the music started back up.

"Don’t you go up there with her Carmelo! If you do I’m going home!" Robin yelled following us upstairs as Kayla rolled her eyes.

"Just go home, I'll call you later Robin," I said trying to not cause a scene seeing a few people were still looking at us.

"I’m serious, you go in there don't ever call me again," she said as Kayla opened my door pushing me inside before turning to face her.

"Good! It'll save him a trip to the free clinic! Anybody fucking you ends up with something bleach can't wash off and a ten day perscription of penicillin, Bye, irrelevant!" Kayla yelled slamming the door in Robins's face as I heard her scream on the other side of the door before walking away.  

"Aye, you didn’t have to be so rude," I said as Kayla laughed sarcastically.

" Really, you wanna talk about rude. All I was doing was dancing with him and you come over acting like an asshole," she said as I invaded her space pushing her up against my door towering over her.

"I’m sorry ok, I just saw him touchin’ you and I wasn’t thinking," I said honestly caressing her face as she nervously bit her lip before my lips gently grazed hers.

"We need to talk Mel," she whispered as I groaned reluctantly stepping away from her. She was right we needed to talk badly but I didn't want to do it now.

"Ok, what are we talking about?" I asked frustrated the moment was ruined as she looked at me in disbelief.

"Are you serious?  Well, let’s talk about why all of a sudden you actin’ like you my man," Kaylas said as I sighed feeling the anger in me boiling. She couldn’t see that I liked her.

 "We’re friends Carmelo, remember that night wasn’t supposed to change us," she rambled running her hands through her hair, pacing.

"I know what we agreed on, I ain’t dumb!" I yelled as a knock on the door interrupted us.

"I heard yelling….Are you ok in there, Kayla?" Angela asked as she tried to calm her breathing before she responded.

The last thing I needed was Angela bustin’ up in here making matters worse.

"Yeah, I’m good I’ll be down in a minute so we can go," Kayla said as Angela tried to open the door.  

"She’s fine Angela, damn!" I hissed as Kayla sighed. "Don’t get no attitude with me 'cause you fucking stupid. Jealous ass, I’ll be downstairs Kayla,” Angela said as quietness filled the room.

"What are we doin'? This isn’t us, why are we arguing with each other Carmelo. What’s really wrong?” Kayla asked.

Ok, tell her how you feel…This may be your last chance.

" I’m cool, we’re cool. I’m just trying to say before you put yourself back out there, just know women can’t do what men do," I said as Kayla frowned at me.

"What are you tryin' to say?" she asked as I tried to choose my words wisely. "I don’t want a bad reputation following you, I mean all it takes is you opening your legs to one of these idiots and then you are labeled as a whore," I said as I saw the flash of anger cross her beautiful face.

Fuck, I opened the gates of hell.

"Are you saying I’m a whore!?" Kayla exclaimed as I growled. "No! I ain’t sayin’ you’re a whore! I’m sayin’ don’t be out here in these streets grinding up on these clowns like a needy whore that will ride anybody’s dick," I said as Kayla reached up and slapped the fuck outta me.

How dare you? I wasn't grinding on no motherfuckin' body, we were just dancing. Meanwhile, you fuck anything with a gash and me simply just dancing with someone leads to a conversation as to how you don’t want me to be a whore..You're unbelievable," Kayla said throwing her hands up in frustration as I rubbed my face.

"Look, I ain’t gon’ argue with you. I said what I said and if you don’t like it, you can leave. I’m sure Anthony is ready to make you his new little plaything anyway. I’m sure he’ll love that lil trick you do with your mouth,” I said not believing the words coming out of my mouth.

I was supposed to be telling her I loved her, but here I was spewing venom towards her because another man was interested in her.

"I tell you what, I’d rather be his plaything than your so-called best friend?  Hell, maybe he can actually satisfy me better than you did, so fuck you! she yelled storming out of my room, slamming the door behind her.

"DAMN ITTTT!!" I yelled sinking into the couch as I realized the finality of my words.

I had lost my best friend and the woman I loved.

-----

"Aye, earth to Melo! I heard Darnell yell as I cringed. "Stop yelling, I heard you," I said trying to get myself together. " I saw ya'll talking is everything good now? he asked as I smiled.

" We're gonna get together before the weekend is over," I said honestly feeling a little about the weekend. "That’s good to hear, hopefully, ya’ll move past this,” he said as we went back to join the party.

I hoped so, I knew one thing was for certain tonight was the time to shoot my shot and I planned on making my intentions loud and clear.

I wanted Kayla and nothing was going to stop me from telling her this time, not even myself.

------

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KaylaAKA4Life: Enjoying this weekend and living life to the fullest with my Sorority sisters and fellow Alpha brothers. Let's Party Ya'll! #AKAsDoItBetter #FAMUHomecoming2023 #FAMUAlumni

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-----

PHIRSTPHAM ALUMNI BALL

Kayla's POV

“Angela thank you so much for helping me find a dress,” I said looking myself over in the mirror as she touched up her makeup.

The Emerald gold hue colored dress looked good on me. The dress being off the shoulder with the built in bra enhanced the beauty of it. Also, who could go wrong with showin' a little leg. Yea, I’m wearing the hell outta this dress right now if I may say so.

“Yea, I was gonna comment on your Instagram post, but you disabled your comments bitch,” she said as I shrugged my shoulders.

“Yes, I did because when Carmelo liked it I kind of panicked. I knew he was going to comment next, then his fans would see it and I ain’t with all that attention,”  I said as Angela nodded in agreement.

“Ah, I get it, I actually don’t blame you on that one,” she said as we made our way back into the dining hall. The night had been going well but I was getting ready to soon leave.

Two hours was enough for me and I hadn’t seen Carmelo yet so my nerves were a little on edge. I can’t believe how just a hug from him was breaking down the walls I had built up. But for now, I’m going to enjoy the rest of my weekend.

“Heeeyyy, the party jumpin’ now,” I said looking at the crowded dance floor. “Gril, here come Anthony, don’t look,” Angela said as I sighed truly not in the mood.

“Damn,I was hoping he wouldn’t see me,” I whispered. I knew he was going to ask me to dance. Now don’t get me wrong, “I’ll give all my love to you” by Keith Sweat is one of my favorite songs but I ain’t dancing with his ass.

After the blow up with Carmelo I pretty much stayed away from his frat house all together. That didn’t stop Anthony from spreading rumors that he and I had slept together. So, yea I had to rock his shit one good time too.

“You ladies look amazing,” he said sizing us up as Angela cleared her throat. “Thanks, Anthony” I said as he smiled brightly at me.

“Kayla, may I have this dance?” he asked as I felt someone grab my hand gently bringing it to their lips. I actually sighed in relief seeing it was Carmelo as he smiled at me.

“She’s with me Anthony, ain't nothin' changed Bruh. Let's go Kay, I owe you a dance,” Carmelo said smoothly steering me away as Angela smiled.

“Well ok then Melo, come through boo,” Angela said as I blushed. She always hyping him up in his bullshit.

“Thank you, I was about to have a flashback and was probably gon’ rock his ass again like I did you earlier,” I said as he laughed pulling me close on the dance floor as we danced.

Carmelo’s POV

Step one complete I had her in my arms again our foreheads touching as I caressed her waist swaying to the music. She felt so good, this was a dream it had to be.

I love you in the night

I wanna take it real real slow, my baby

I understand what you told me

And if I, I didn't know

I always wanted someone just like you

“Thank you for dancing with me,” I whispered as she pulled back slightly, those beautiful eyes stirring something deep in my soul.

“Thanks for saving the day like you always use to do,” she smiled as I felt all my troubles melt away. She just didn’t know but I would always protect her.

I really need to hold on, hold you

I'd give the world to you, oh my darlin'

You know I will

Yeah yeah you know i will

I surely will

“You are so beautiful; you know that right?” I asked, caressing her face as she looked away.

“Carmelo,” she started as I cut her off gently grasping her face making her look at me. The more I stared into her beautiful eyes, it seemed the more I got lost.

 “Just be in the moment with me,” I pleaded, gently kissed her forehead, as she relaxed in my arms.

I will never do anything to hurt you

I'll give all my love to you

(I'm gonna give you every bit of my love, my love)

And if you need me, baby, I'll come runnin' (yes I will)

Only to you (yes my baby yes I will)

I looked over and saw Trick dancing with Angela as he smiled at me giving me a thumbs up. Smiling, I closed my eyes just enjoying Kayla being in my arms again as she laid her head on my chest.

One of her hands resting on my back as the other caressed my arm and not just any arm but the one that contained the tattoo I had joked about getting four years earlier.

“You remember, don’t you? You know it’s your tattoo,” I whispered in her ear,unafraid of the answer as she nodded against me.

I no longer had anything to hide from her.

Girl I've been longing for you baby for a long long time

Let's make love tonight

I can make me feel real good baby

I can make feel real good baby

Sometimes, sometimes I get a little lonely, baby (so lonely baby)

“Why,” she whispered as I leaned down and gently placed a kiss on her bare shoulder. “Why wouldn’t I? I wanted to carry you with me always, you’re my best friend and I love you,” I whispered as I felt her still in my arms.

And I need a little love that I can call all mine (I need some lovin')

Girl, you are the one for me, babe

I know that you are the world for me, babe

“I can’t do this, I’m sorry,” Kayla whispered pulling away, walking off the dance floor.

Defeated, my eyes met Trick’s who pointed, silently telling me to go after her.

He was right, I couldn’t let the chance pass me by again. I rushed off the dance floor determined to catch her before she left.

Kayla’s POV

“Don't fall for it... He didn’t mean it Kayla, stop being weak,” I muttered to myself pacing. I felt in flight or fight mode as I saw Carmelo rushing towards me. “Look, I forgave you ok, so you don’t have to do this,” I cried trying to put some space between us as I tried to leave again.

“Kayla we can’t keep running from this baby,” Carmelo said blocking my path as I felt my anxiety rising.

This couldn’t be happening right now, he didn’t love me, he couldn’t.

“Why are you doin’ this!?” I cried as he caressed my face. “I’m doin’ It because I should have told you that night. I should have told you that I loved you,” Carmelo confessed as I felt the room closing in.

“No, no, you couldn’t have,” I whispered as I felt the air rushing out of my lungs.

“I’m sorry to just spring all this on you but, I don’t wanna make the same mistake twice. I can’t let you walk away from me again without telling you. I still love you Kayla and I know you love me too,” Carmelo declared without fear, claiming my lips in an eager kiss.

I will never do anything to hurt you

(I would never, never do one little thing to hurt you)

I'll give all my love to you

My mind was fuzzy as our kisses became more passionate, was this really happening right now.

“I’ma leave, and give you some time,” Carmelo whispered against my lips as I whimpered at the loss.

“I want you to come to me when you’re ready to admit you love me just as much as I love you, he said gently brushing his lips against mine before rushing off towards the elevators.

And if you need me, baby, I'll come runnin'

Only to you

Running towards the bathroom I locked myself in a stall trying to process what had happened. All this time he loved me, all this time lost.

Did I love him? Who am I kidding, I’ve always loved him and I thought I was over it until I saw him today, and it hit me like a ton of bricks.

His words continuing to echo in my head as I got myself together.  Finally building up the courage to come out of the bathroom I ran into what felt like a brick wall as a strong set of arms steadied me.

"Hey, I'm Carmelo's friend Trick. I was looking for him, have you seen him,” the gentleman said as I looked at Angela,who stood behind him.

“He left and went upstairs,” I said as Trick frowned. “So did ya’ll talk?” Angela asked as I nodded.  

“Kayla, did he tell you how he felt?” Trick asked as I nodded again.

"Uh, can you give us an answers and stop all that damn nodding," Angela said I sighed.

“He told me he loved me and that he always had,” I said overwhelmed as Angela squealed in delight. “I knew it! My eyes don’t fool me," she said as I wiped my tears.

“How do you feel about what Melo said?” Trick asked as I contemplated his words.

“I love him too;” I said feeling relieved to say it out loud as Angela hugged me.

 “Then go to him,” she whispered as I nodded in understanding. I guess this is what she mean the other day about me putting my big girl panties on.

I had to tell him he wasn’t wrong, I did love him.

 “Trick, Do you know what room he’s in?' I asked as he smiled. “Room 984,” he said without hesitation as I gave him a hug.

 "Thank you and it was nice meeting you," I whispered as he laughed returning my embrace.

“Nice metting you too Kayla, and I’m sure we will be hanging out soon. Especially if your friend Angela here gives me her number,” he said as I smiled at him before I took off towards the elevator.

“Get ya’ man and have some mind-blowing sex you deserve it!” Angela yelled as Trick laughed. "Trick you better keep your eyes on that one," I said getting on the elevator anxiously waiting for the doors to close.

I felt nervous, the elevator seemed to be going so slow. I almost changed my mind, but the loud dinging noise let me knew I had reached my destination as I walked in a daze to room 984.

Taking a deep breath, I lightly knocked hoping he wouldn’t hear me, and I could leave.

“Damn no such luck,” I muttered as I heard him fumbling around the room. Just do what you feel Kayla, you already know he feels the same. Speak your peace and leave it at that.

Last night I thought to back to when we made good love

Listenin' to some Marvin Gaye all night long

Now I want that old thing back

 It was like time stood still as he opened the door clad in only a towel and a surprised look on his face. Wasting no time and closing the distance between us, I leaped into his arms, capturing his lips in a passionate kiss.

 It’s power startling us both as we moaned in pleasure as our ever-present need for each other continued to grow more intense by the second as we got lost in each other.

 Reluctantly parting to catch our breath, Carmelo looked at me in wonder, caressing my hips.

Make these moments once again a fact

So won't ya, won't ya, uhhh, do it for us, babe

“So, you do love me?” he whispered in disbelief as I caressed his face his piercing gaze had me under his spell.

“I love you, Carmelo,” I whispered against his lips as he groaned reclaiming my lips, pulling me against his bare chest and into his room, slamming the door.

“I love you too, baby,” he moaned as his hands masterfully unzipped my dress causing it to fall at my feet as I shivered feeling exposed under his intense gaze.

“Are we really doin’ this?” I panted as his eyes continued to roam my body. “Yes, and your even more beautiful than I remembered,” he moaned, his breath now hot on my neck as he slowly grazed his lips across my neck, helping me out of my underwear.  

I couldn’t contain my moans of pleasure as Carmelo entangled his fingers in my hair, kissing and nibbling on my neck.

 Purring against him I felt myself losing control as his towel fell, a barrier no longer between us.

Good lovin, body rockin' knockin' boots all night long yeah

Makin' love until we tire to the break of dawn

But oh, come on, a-come on

“Melo, baby,” I moaned as he growled, his hands caressing my breasts as he teasingly sucked and nipped at them as my grip on his head tightened.

“I need to taste you, Peaches, I bet you taste so sweet,” he groaned using his tongue, licking a path from my stomach to my pelvis as he kneeled before me.

And turn the lights down, and let me get on it, yeah

‘Cause when I do, just me and you, it'll be so right

“Can I taste you, Peaches?” he moaned caressing my thighs wrapping them around his shoulders as I trembled with anticipation as he kissed my inner thigh trailing his tongue over my wet center.

Carmelo’s POV

“Yes! Please baby,” Kayla gasped, arching her hips against my tongue as I tasted her. Her hands gripping my face as I licked and sucked on her clit. “Mmm, you taste so sweet peaches. I knew you would baby,” I praised, her eyes rolling back in her head as I pleased her. 

Her moans urging me on as I swirled my flattened tongue around her swollen sensitive clit over and over as she whimpered underneath me.

A-give me some good love

(Somebody rockin' knockin' da boots)

A-give me some good love

(Somebody rockin' knockin' da boots) Somebody rockin', baby, ooh

“Carmelo! Oh, fuck!” Kayla moaned as I groaned savoring her taste. Gripping her ass and standing up while still lapping up her juices, I lifted her higher into the air.

 “What are you doing!” she gasped in shock and pleasure as my hungry eyes met hers. Her back planted firmly against the wall as she shivered against my mouth.

“I'm eating my dessert baby,” I moaned devouring her sweet wet center as her legs trembled around my neck.

I feel so good when I'm near you

That's why I always wanna be close to you

“Give me what I want Peaches,” I moaned against her as her gasps were coming in short spurts, I knew she was close.

 “I want it now Kayla,” I moaned swirling my tongue one last time around her clit before taking it in my mouth sucking it gently as she rode my face, her head thrown back in pleasure.

"Oh God! Melo, I...." She trailed off as her whole body began to shake as her orgasm hit her strong as I slid my tongue inside her making her scream and writhe against my mouth as her orgasm continued to overtake her.

I moaned loudly as her essence drenched my mouth as I welcomed it.

Enjoying watching the pleasure on her face, I gently unwrapping her thighs from around my neck.  Maintaining my grip, I slowly slid her down my body as she leaned forward kissing me with urgency.

“I need you,” I panted against her lips as she arched her back against the wall as I entered her swiftly, as a strangled moan escaped her beautiful lips.

I'm so addicted, I'm so addicted

To makin' love to you, baby

All night long, baby, all night long, long, long, long

Her moans mixed with the feel of her pulsing around me had me reelin’. “Fuck! Shit, I missed this Kay,” I confessed reclaiming her as she clawed at my back.

“I missed you too Carmelo,” she moaned as I bounced her with ease on my dick. Her arms around my neck and her knees locked on top of my arms as we rocked against each other.

“Yea, bounce on this dick… Bounce on it like a good girl. You like how this dick feels in this pussy don’t you?” I moaned.

“Carmelo, yes! Fuck me! Umph,” She groaned sucking on my neck, her wetness soaking my dick as it got louder with each thrust.

Kayla’s POV

“Yea, this that grown man shit, you like it don’t you? That pussy so wet for me Peaches, you takin’ it so good baby,” Carmelo praised as I whimpered against him. “Yes! I love it!” I screamed holding on for dear life.

He was right, we weren’t shy college kids anymore.  This truly was real grown folks shit and I loved it.  Clawing at his shoulders in disbelief and pleasure, I felt that familiar tingling starting to surge downward. Good lovin', body rockin' all night long, oh, oh

Makin' love until we tire to the break of dawn

“I feel you baby, don’t fight that shit,” Carmelo panted as I whined not wanting to cum just yet. “I got you, I’ma make you cum,” he groaned as I gasped, his thrusts becoming more powerful as he revealed his plan for the night.

“Tonight, you gon’ cum again…and again…and again…and again,” he groaned as I fell apart in his arms, his mouth swallowing my cries as he held me tight.

“Yea, that’s it, you so fuckin’ beautiful,” he whispered against my lips.

But oh, come on, come on and turn the lights down, and let me get on it, uh

‘Cause when I do, just me and you, it'll be so right, so right, so right

Each stroke masterfully takin’ my breath away. “I want you to cum baby,” I whispered wanting him to let himself go.

I wanted to see his face as he found his sweet release as he eased us onto the bed towering over me. “Spread them legs wide for me Peaches, we gon’ get this one together, baby,” he groaned, his mouth once again overpowering mine as his strokes became deeper and harder.

“Yes! Carmelo! Cum with me,” I gasped as the new position allowed him deeper inside me.

“Mmhm, I’m real deep in this pussy, it feels so good too baby,” he praised. Moving in sync with him I knew he was close. His muscles began to twitch under my touch.  

A-give me some good love

(Somebody rockin' knockin' da boots)

“Your mine,” I moaned as a low growl fell from his lips as I traced my tongue against his lips as he caught it between his lips gently sucking on it.

“You mine too, you always been mine,” he moaned as my pussy pulsed tightly around him again. Smirking, he placed two of his fingers inside my mouth as I gently sucked on them.

“Fuck yea, good girl Peaches,” he whispered taking his fingers and begins rubbing against my clit matching in tune with his strokes.

“Ahh! Baby I’m cumin!!” I exclaimed, his growls becoming louder as his body shook in ecstasy exploding inside me.

‘Cause I'm ready

(Somebody rockin' knockin' da boots) I'm so ready

I'm so ready, baby

“You felt so fuckin’ good. Shit, that was amazin’” he moaned gently kissing me as we came down from our trip of ecstasy.

 “You ain’t never lied. Can’t wait until we do it again,” I whispered as he groaned against my lips.

(Somebody rockin' knockin' da boots)

To give you everything that we've been waitin' on

(Somebody rockin' knockin' da boots)

“Best homecoming ever,” he panted collapsing beside me as I laughed.

“I have to agree, it’s definitely one for the books,” I said smiling.

“So does this mean you gon’ be my girl,” he whispered running his fingers through my hair as I laughed.

“Uh, I would hope so, you done gave me head in the air…The damn air Carmelo, that definitely was a first for me and the rest I can’t even talk about right now because the feeling in my legs ain’t back yet,” I said as he laughed.

“That was hot as fuck wasn’t it. It’s you, I ain’t never done no shit like that, you make me this way,” he whispered pulling me close as I kissed his tattoo.

“Well, tonight was definitely happy tears,” I said caressing his tattoo as he smiled.

“I promise as long as you my girl, it’s always going to be is happy tears, I promise you baby,” he declared as I snuggled further into his arms.

 “I love you,” I whispered as I felt his heart beating faster.

“I love you too Kayla,” he replied dropping a tender kiss on my forehead.

Where do we go from here, I didn’t know but I knew he was my man and it was going to stay that way.

Taglist:

@reci24 @southerngirl41 @vebner37 @jeyusos-girl

@melaninsugababy @romanreignkisser @bebesobrielo

@arination99 @2-muchsauce @bakugoumarianawrites

@empressdede @alyyaanna @christinabae @anonandwannakeepitthatway @venusesworld @jeyusosgirl  @theninthwonder @mya2real 

[nolita-fairytale]

cigarettes & coffee (carmy x fem!reader songfic)

summary: carmy can't sleep and neither can you. after moving in together you spend a morning drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes. (part of the make my heart surrender verse, but can absolutely be read as a standalone piece).

word count: 1.2k

warnings: smoking, she/her pronouns, no use of y/n, but i don't think any others

listen to: cigarettes & coffee - otis redding

a/n: just a lil something to hold the carmy fandom over while i work on some engagemet smut and the prequel to make my heart surrender

"it's early in the morning about a quarter til three, i'm sittin' here talkin' with my baby over cigarettes and coffee."

"Can't sleep?" Carmy hears you say, your soft footsteps filling his ears.

He's curled up next to the windowsill, inside of the reading nook that's tucked perfectly into the apartment's alcove.

"Nah," you shake your head, your footsteps carrying over to your now shared open kitchen.

You notice that he's opened one of the windows and is fumbling around with an unopened pack of cigarettes.

"Sorry did I wake you?" he asks, just a hint of nervousness in the sound of his voice.

"It's okay," you respond, quietly reassuring him.

And it is okay.

But it's also going to be an adjustment.

"darling, I've been so satisfied, honey, since I met you, baby, since I met you."

You start making your morning coffee as you can hear Carmy beginning to fidget with his lighter. Carmy has a marlboro pressed in between his lips as he listens to you. He shifts forward from where he sits so that he can move the needle of your record player back over to the dark-colored vinyl you both were listening to the night before. He half-smiles as he watches the record begin to spin, turning the volume down just a hair from where it was the night before.

The love he has for vintage denim is the same love you have for vintage records, you'd explained to him when you'd first met.

You'd really lucked out yesterday by finding this old copy of Otis Redding's "The Soul Album" at the used bookstore a couple of blocks away. You'd purchased it as a symbol of you and Carmy's new chapter. Every time you wanted to remember this phase of your life, you could pull the vinyl from its sleeve and take a trip down memory lane.

"but it seemed so natural, darling, that you and I are here, just talking over cigarettes and drinking coffee."

Carmy takes a look around at the mess in your -- well, now the both of your -- apartment. Unpacking amidst the move felt like it would never end, and he felt bad about the state of disarray he'd left your apartment in. Pushing the thoughts from his mind, he lights up the end of his marlboro in avoidance.

He inhales the smoke deeply -- a somewhat frustrated and burdened quality to it.

You chuckle to yourself.

Yes. This is who you get to wake up to every morning: the man that you love, your best friend, your lover who sometimes carries the weight of the world on his shoulders.

"What's on your mind?" you ask softly, setting a timer on your phone for your French press.

Carmy sighs as he exhales the smoke, angling his face in the direction of the open window.

Sure, you'd both agreed he wouldn't smoke in the house but... it would take some getting used to.

"The agnolotti you made me a few weeks ago," he finally answers, his eyes fixed on the sun peaking just underneath the horizon.

Of course he's thinking about a menu.

"For The Bear?" you ask, curiously.

"Maybe. What do you think?" he asks back, turning his head to look at you.

You turn to him, your back pressed against the kitchen counter as you say: “I thought you said you already tried a stuffed pasta."

The corners of his lips curl into the smallest smile as he answers, “Not yours.”

You smile softly, thinking it over.

A few weeks ago, before the madness of the move, you'd been on a creative bender. You'd dreamed up a savory braised leek agnolotti del plin with a lemon beurre monte to brighten up the dish. You and Carmy had been working opposite shifts as of late, and it had worked out perfectly that you'd been able to surprise him with a home cooked meal when he'd gotten off of a particularly challenging shift.

"It could work," you state, a strategy beginning to unfold in your mind.

"We could do a little R&D with it as a special before committing to something that detail oriented. Think it would still work with the flow of things. Not too much extra work for Manny and Angel? Maybe Syd would be up for the challenge...? Or maybe you and I could work on it together."

"I'll throw it out there... talk it over with Sydney," he replies, coming to a temporary pause on the thought.

Carmy continues smoking his cigarette as you busy yourself with the remaining dishes left over in the sink. Since you started moving him in, it'd mostly been takeout or ordering a pizza -- neither of you having the energy to cook between the move and the restaurant.

"and oh, my heart cries out, love at last I've found you, oh, and honey, won't you let me just build my whole life around you?"

As your timer goes off for the coffee, you push pause on dishes and dry yours hands off.

You make up one of your little serving trays with two mugs, filling both cups 3/4 of the way. You add the remaining coffee, still in the French press, and the remaining milk you have in your fridge, to the tray.

Ready for your morning coffee, you turn around, tray in hand, as you take in the image of your handsome boyfriend. He's exhaling the smoke out of the window, his back pressed up against one of the walls of the alcove. The sun is just starting to rise, and you can't help but think he looks like an old hollywood movie star with the way that the sunlight hits his face.

You can't believe you get to wake up to this every single morning now.

"i would love to have another drink of coffee, now, and please, darling, help me smoke this one more cigarette, now, i don't want no cream and sugar, 'cause I've got you now, darling."

Sure, you'd agreed you wouldn't smoke in the house but when he looks this good doing it, you don't have the heart to stop him. You make your way to where he sits in the apartment's little reading nook before setting down the tray of coffee.

He looks to you, noticing the amused look on your face as your eyes flicker over to his cigarette. He looks down for a moment, before looking back to you, his blue eyes catching yours.

"Am I in trouble?" he asks, a small smirk on his lips. You pick up your cup of coffee taking a sip before responding.

You shake your head, "Not this time."

You lean in towards Carmy, and just as he thinks you're going to kiss him, you take the cigarette from him, trading him your coffee cup. He watches you, completely enchanted with you as you curl up on the other side of the seating area. With your back pressed up against the closed window and your feet hanging off of the reading nook seating, you bring the cigarette up to your lips to inhale.

Carmy takes a sip of your coffee as you exhale, facing towards the open window just like he'd done previously.

His chest filled to the brim with warmth, he asks you, "How're you mine?"

You shrug, the corners of your lips curling into a smile you reply, "Guess we both got lucky, huh?"

"it's so early in the morning, and I've got you and you've got me, and we'll have each other, and we don't, and we don't want nothing but joy."

taglist: @allthefandomstogether @gaysludge @sobshoney @harrysmatcha @starbritestarlite @tpwkkmila @cool-girl-is-hot @nunya7394 @galaxyprincess51-blog @carmensberzattos

[nox140497]

Sam's Mission

Prompt: No

Request: No

Authors Note: Hi guys. Here's another one for you. You guys seem to like the Sam and Colby content, so here you guys go. Also, please feel free to make requests if you have any.

Also, this >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> means timeskip This<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< means flashback.

Summery: Sam introduces his girlfriend to his friends and family... they don't particularly like her very much. Knowing this, she starts to doubt that Sam will stay with her.

Pairings: Sam Golbach x Female Reader

Masterlist

Prompt List

------------------------------------

Y/N had been dating her boyfriend Sam for almost five months now. She was very happy in her relationship with the very sweet and loving blond boy.

Today was the day she met his family for the first time. To say she was nervous was a massive understatement. She was scared that they would not like her. You see, she had met his friends a couple of weeks ago, and the meeting had gone anything but well. They had not liked her very much, and she was afraid that this meeting with his family would go as teribly as the one with his friends had gone.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Sam nervously held Y/N's hand as they walked into the living room of the Traphouse to meet his friends. All the boys as well as Devyn were there. Colby greeted them with a hearty laugh and a pat on the back, but the rest eyed Y/N with skepticism.

"I'm so glad you're finally meeting everyone," Sam said, smiling at Y/N. "Hey guys, this is Y/N."

His friends offered polite smiles, but the atmosphere grew tense. "So, Y/N, what do you do for a living?" Colby asked, breaking the silence.

"I'm a YouTuber," Y/N replied. "I love gaming and sometimes exploring abandoned places with Sam when he's not filming for the duo channel."

"Ah, sounds exciting," Corey said, unconvinced.

Later, as they drove to Y/N's apartment, Y/N said, "Your friends don't seem to like me much."

Sam tightened his grip on the steering wheel. "They just need time to get to know you. They'll see how amazing you are."

She had at one point overheard thwm say a couple times that she wasn't good enough for him.

One that hurt the most is when she overheard a conversation between Sam and Colby.

Colby: *grunts* Sam, she's not what I expected.

Sam: What do you mean?

Colby: I don't know, man. She seems... different.

Sam: Different how?

Colby: It's hard to explain. Look, I just think you can do better.

The reason that one affected her so much is that she knew how much Sam valued Colby's opinion.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Y/N snapped out of her little trip down memory lane when the car stopped and sighed. They still hadn't warmed up to her at all.

Now she was sitting in the car now in front of Sam's childhood home, and she feared his parents would feel the same.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

She had been right to worry. She had not even been in the house ten minutes, and they had already been looking at her with disapproval in their eyes.

They had finally retreated to their bedroom for the night and she could finally relax after hours of sitting awkwardly trying not to burst into tears at the family of the love of her life's disaproval.

She knew that if they made him choose, which they inevitably would, then he would choose them, and she would be alone again.

"I don't want to cause any problems," she confided in Sam after they had both taken a shower and were cuddling in bed together.

"Baby, I love you. Don't let them intimidate you. Let's show them how happy we are together."

"I don't know Sammy... If I'm just going to cause problems between you and your family and friends, maybe we shouldn't be together." She said in a soft voice.

Sam immediately pulled her into his chest and shook his head. "No. I will not lose you because they are being stupid." He said with determination in his voice.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

She really didn't care much for his other friends, but she wanted Colby to like and accept her.

Sam and Colby had been inseparable since they were 14 years old. They shared everything together - from their love for adventure to their quirky sense of humor, and she knew that. She didn't want to be the reason for any tension between the two boys, and she had told Sam as much. She understood the brotherly bond the two shared and absolutely adored it.

------------------------------------

They had always been close. Since that day at band camp, when they were 14 years old, they shared everything from secrets to dreams, and there was nothing they wouldn't do for each other. However, there was one thing that had been bothering Sam lately - Colby had expressed some reservations about his girlfriend, Y/N. Sam couldn't understand why Colby didn't seem to like her as much as he did.

Determined to change this, Sam hatched a plan. He knew that Colby loved ghost hunting, so he suggested they film a video, visiting some of the most haunted places in the city. Sam saw this as the perfect opportunity for Colby to get to know Y/N better and hopefully grow fond of her.

Excitedly, Sam shared his idea with Y/N, who agreed to join them on their ghost hunting adventure. She had always been interested in the supernatural and was thrilled at the thought of exploring haunted locations with her boyfriend and his best friend. Little did Sam know that this trip would change their dynamics in more ways than he could ever imagine.

On the day of the shoot, the trio gathered their equipment and headed to the first haunted spot, an old abandoned asylum. As they roamed the corridors with their camera, searching for evidence of the afterlife, Sam noticed something peculiar - Colby seemed genuinely interested in what Y/N had to say, she had done some research on the place so was telling them and the viewers about what she had found. He asked her about her thoughts and opinions, listening intently and treating her with utmost respect.

Throughout the day, as they visited different locations, the bond between Colby and Y/N grew stronger. They laughed together, shared scary stories, and even pulled pranks on each other. It was during one of those moments, when Y/N pretended to see a ghost lurking in the shadows, that Colby playfully tackled her, shouting, "Gotcha, little sis!"

That statement took Sam by surprise. It seemed that somewhere along the way, Colby had formed a brotherly bond with Y/N. Colby started treating her like his little sister, looking out for her and joking around. Sam couldn't help but feel a mix of emotions - he was thrilled that Colby had grown to like Y/N, but there was also a tiny pang of jealousy, as he had never witnessed this side of his best friend before.

As they reviewed the footage for their video, Sam noticed how Colby's gaze softened whenever Y/N was on screen. It was evident that their friendship had evolved into something special. The viewers started noticing it too, leaving comments about how they shipped "Colby and his little sister Y/N."

Despite the initial purpose of the trip, Sam realized that he had inadvertently given birth to a bond that was both unexpected and beautiful. Instead of being upset, he embraced the change. He couldn't help but admire the connection between Colby and Y/N as they teased each other and shared inside jokes.

With time, Sam understood that his original plan had succeeded beyond his wildest dreams. Colby not only came to like Y/N, but he had accepted her into his heart as family. As for Y/N, she saw Colby not just as Sam's best friend anymore but as a protective brother figure.

And so, what began as a simple attempt to get his best friend to like his girlfriend turned into a heartwarming tale of friendship, love, and newfound relationships. Sam learned that sometimes, the best outcomes happen when you least expect them. As a result, their ghost hunting adventure became a turning point in their lives, forever strengthening the bond between Sam, Colby, and Y/N.

Needless to say, Y/N and Sam were both over the moon. Now, if only his family would come around as well.

------------------------------------

The final hurdle for the couple was getting his family to adore Y/N as much as he did. Sam's big sister, Allison, was always skeptical of his romantic endeavors. She believed that no one could ever be good enough for her beloved little brother. His little brother, Ben, was ever the mischief-maker. He loved to tease Sam about his new girlfriend, often whispering witty remarks that left Sam red-faced. And then there were Sam's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Golbach, who were initially hesitant in accepting Y/N due to her unconventional lifestyle.

Determined to change their minds, Sam decided to embark on a mission to win his family's favor for Y/N. He knew it wouldn't be a straightforward task, but he was not one to give up easily.

First, Sam decided to approach his big sister, Allison. Knowing her love for art, he invited Y/N to a local gallery to experience the mesmerizing strokes of the masterpieces within. Y/N, being an artist herself, effortlessly bonded with Allison over their shared passion. They spent hours discussing colors, techniques, and inspirations. Allison was amazed by Y/N's talent and felt a kinship with her newfound sister-in-law.

Ben was easy to win over as Y/N appealed to his sense of mischief and humor. Much to Sam's horror as he was most often the target of the two's pranks.

Once the siblings were getting along, his parents conceded that she was not so bad. Over time, they could even come to love her as one of their own.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

And to think just a few months ago, she was questioning their relationship.

[powderblueblood]

HELLFIRE & ICE — eddie munson x f!oc as enemies to star-crossed lovers

CHAPTER SEVEN — WELCOME to the REAL WORLD, JACKASS

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summary: christmastime in hawkins brings a bunch of cherry bombs in the boy's bathroom, a trip down memory lane via seven minutes in heaven avenue, and the least likely trio this town has ever seen. content warnings: MINORS DNI i'm going to fuck you up and santa isn't real so we've got, smut including references to and descriptions of male and female masturbation, smoking, swearing, a pregnancy scare, era-typical misogyny and ANGST in the form of a flashback!!! word count: 12.5k. merry christmas babies

Dear reader, it takes you less than five weeks to become incapable of imagining your life without Eddie Munson.

Which, given his propensity for being an absolute neanderthal, is concerning.

Eddie Munson talks with his mouth full and plays his music too loud. He never closes a cabinet all the way. He walks through anywhere, literally anywhere, be it a store or the library or Ronnie’s trailer–leaving a trail of destruction in his wake. He talks during movies and puts his feet up on the seats at the Hawk. He makes fun of the books you read, but always grabs them away from you to stare at the blurb on the back. He never finishes a cigarette all the way before lighting another one, which is just wasteful. He pretends to be good at holding his liquor, but he’s not. 

He stands too close to you in places where he’s got plenty of room to move. He makes you laugh, even when you don’t want to. He holds the door for you in school, at the bookstore, getting out of the van, even though you’re more than capable of doing that yourself. He takes advantage of you when you’re in a good mood, like making you scratch his head as if he were a cat.

Sometimes he calls you ‘baby’, as if you don’t have a nickname already. As if you two are…

You lean toward the only mirror in the girls’ room with decent light, reapplying the red lip stain you’d taken to wearing– it was coming on Christmas, for god’s sake, and despite everything, you’re feeling festive. Quick. Lighter on your feet than you have been in a long time. 

“Hey girl, could I borrow that?” an out-of-tune simper rings right next to your ear and you almost jump out of your skin, lipstick clattering into the sink.

“Jesus!” you say, and Eddie Munson cackles. You knock him back with a one-handed shove, face setting into that funny little grimace you’ve taken to wearing when he acts up– and he’s always acting up. You’re gonna get wrinkles if he doesn’t cut it out. “What the hell are you doing in here? Hair in your eyes make you miss the sign that says girl’s room?”

You know that’s not true, because you were the one that just about tied him to a chair in Ronnie Ecker’s trailer so you could trim his bangs last week. 

This is a fuckin’ violation of my human rights, Lacy!

Every time I’m seen with you, people think I’m out walking a goddamn Briard. Hold still!

“So, hot off the press, newspaper girl,” Eddie says, leaning against the yellow porcelain, “One, I am literate, much to everyone’s shock and awe. And two, someone threw a bunch of cherry bombs down the john in the boy’s bathroom and the place is fucking Hiroshima, but wet and kinda shitty smelling. So we all got told to use this…” He gestures around at the clean-ish tile. “...salon of iniquity.” 

“Was it you?” you ask, plucking a cigarette from the soft pack he’s offering you. 

“Huh?” He scrunches his brows, leaning with a lighter ready. He’s taken to doing that; cigarette at the ready, lighter at the ready, low-grade explosives at the ready, probably.

“The cherry bombs, was it you?” you say through a reel of blue smoke.

“For once, no,” Eddie sighs, head slumping forward like a Peanuts character, “Some other gorgeous, anarchistic genius got the jump on me.” 

“Oh, god,” a frown sets in; you pick up your dropped lipstick and in its wake, ash into the sink, “There’s no other bathrooms on campus you animals could use?”

“Nuh-uh. Unisexuality, baby, it’s the way of the future,” Eddie tells you, fanning out his hands like P.T. Barnum. 

A beat. You think. This bathroom, the unofficially allocated senior bathroom, the one you and the rest of the Hawkins in-crowd had been using since sophomore year, got crowded at the best of times. The fumes of Aquanet were a definite health risk, but that’s an occupational hazard when it comes to being a girl. You add boys into the mix, nay, couples into the mix–

Damn.

“We’re about to witness the conception of so many toilet babies.”

Realization dawns on Eddie, his brown eyes flaring. “Oh shiiiit. I never thought of that.” 

“The band geeks alone, Eddie,” you whisper, head tilting toward him all scandalized-like, “We’re gonna show up at our fifteen year reunion and every single one of these suckers is gonna have their own little freshman clones.”

“Spare a thought for Heather Holloway.” Eddie’s face, a mask of mock concern, makes you roll your eyes.

“Why?” you scoff, not a fan, “She doesn’t inspire many.” 

“Objection. Her implants do.”

You turn to face him fully. “J’excuse?” 

“Swear to god,” and his palms are up, “Just saw her in Chemistry.”

“Good? Bad?”

“Conical. Jayne Mansfield.” Aaand his hands are gesturing, animatedly. Crassly. Pervily. “Take your goddamn eye out.”

“Wow. Christmas came early.”

“Christmas ain’t the only thing that’s gonna be coming early…”

“Ew.”

Eddie smirks and flicks his cigarette into the sink, hitting the faucet to wash it away– there were at least three good drags left in that, you think. 

“Heather H, first one to get knocked up in the Great Bathroom Insemination Project of 1984. Mark my words.”

“And you think you’re in with a shot?” Your tone is dripping in sneer. 

Eddie regards you for a moment, so you know something deeply annoying is about to happen. His voice goes all serious, barely above a whisper, as he closes space between you like he’s trying to beat a draft. 

“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, Lacy baby.” His hands brace either side of the sink you’re standing at, trapping you against him. See? No respect for boundaries. But– Hm. Not… that annoying. “Oversexed teenagers sharing the same bathroom– at Christmas, with all that mistletoe around and shit.” His eyes, searching you with a glint that’s s’posed to be provocative. You, elbow propped up by your folded arm, puff a plume of smoke into his face. He doesn’t even blink. Smirk pursing his lips up. The two of you have established a rhythm. “Anything could happen.”

“Ew, what the hell are you doing in here? This is the girl’s room.” Enter some upstart underclassman, and Eddie’s peeling away from you.

“You didn’t see the biblical flood on the second floor, Pippi Longstocking?” His voice is big and booming and bouncing off the tile, making the underclassman cringe. “Forcible takeover. This is my house now.”

“God, shut up, freak.” She shuffles by the two of you to a vacant stall with a look you recognize– she’s so telling her friends about those two trailer park abnormos just about copulating in the bathroom later.

“Great choice!” Eddie exclaims, door of the stall slamming, “I warmed the seat for ya!” 

—

“Watch where you’re going, you almost milled down that stroller!”

“I wouldn’t need to go so fast if you two, freakin’ Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Priss Ass, didn’t insist on getting to this place before it closed!” 

“We wouldn’t need to rush if you hadn’t spent all freakin’ afternoon at goddamn Lipton landing getting all– all–”

“All?”

“--toked up and shit!”

“Market research, Ecker! And, I’m gonna remember you said that! Later! When you want to get all toked up and shit– woah!”

Listening to Ronnie Ecker and Eddie Munson bicker in the front seat while you balance on a drum stool in the back of his van, clutching onto Ronnie’s passenger seat for dear life– no better way to get into the spirit of the season. You’d be joining in the milieu if you weren’t currently suffering from major motion sickness. 

Eddie takes a harsh pull into a parking spot outside of Family Video and–“Go, go, go!”--you three load out like soldiers, locked on the target. He takes the lead, swinging the door open for the two of you ladies, but a voice calls out from the counter before Ronnie can even get a toe over the threshold.

“Oh, no– no way, no way!” Steve Harrington’s yelling from the helm of the ship, waving his hands. “We are– fifteen goddamn minutes away from close, I can’t do this tonight!” 

“Highly unwise of you to turn away paying customers, Harrington!” Eddie gasps, Ronnie ducking under his arm. 

“You guys come in here and spend honest-to-god hours talking shit in the aisles and– and you never even rent anything!” 

“Well, your luck’s about to change!” Ronnie says, and Steve regards her with a mask of total confusion because, well, it’s likely he’s never heard her speak directly to anyone other than Eddie before. 

That’s when you roll in the door under Eddie’s arm-arch, color rising in your cheeks that’s not from the cold. 

“I am deeply reconsidering my association with you guys.” 

“Tough shit.” “Find another trailer park.” “You love it. You love us. You’re obsessed.” 

You pinch both of your hands towards them, the universal action to encourage zipping it, and cast a glance towards Steve. His shoulders relax. His vest is green and garish and a terrible color on him and… he’s wearing elf ears. And he’s Steve Harrington. And your stomach clenches, though it’s more muscle memory than anything else. 

“Hey, Steve,” you smile, soft and small and not really all that there. 

“Lacy. Hi.” He does smile at you, after a beat. “You responsible for these assholes?”

You hadn’t seen him since the night of his party, that grand inferno that had landed you here, standing between Eddie and Ronnie and feeling not entirely awful about it. Well, you hadn’t exactly seen him then either, except for a flash when Eddie was dragging you out of his house. 

So, y’know, the blush is entirely justified.

“She’s bankrolling us,” Eddie says, closing the door to keep the heat in and speaking just to break the tension. True, too– you’d scored a part time gig at The Bookstore after a confrontation with the eagle-eyed Ivana regarding certain missing copies of Little Women, The Woman Destroyed and Fear and Trembling. You assumed you were working off the thievery, which you never directly admitted to and she never directly accused you of– but then, she paid you. 

Ivana, it turns out, is incredibly pro-workers rights and even more incredibly anti-Hawkins gossip mill. Which works out a treat for you. The bookstore’s become more of a haven than it had been before. 

“Can you scatter already?” you direct two thirds of your threesome towards the stacks. “Let’s make this breezy, I feel a wave of mortification rising.” 

“No. I was promised in-store bickering,” Eddie says, rooting himself to the spot. You catch a weird flash of– something in his eyes. Ronnie, with her unlikely band geek strength, groans and yanks him toward the horror section. “It’s my favorite part! It’s like the pre-show!”

You take to the counter, gingerly, shyly. Why are you shy? Why, all of a sudden, after showing your ass in such a spectacular bruise-garnering fashion, are you shy to speak to Steve Harrington? Is it because Nancy’s dropped a tidbit here and there that he’s not exactly great boyfriend material? Is it because you sometimes secretly think, good, I hope you two are having a terrible time, even if you and Wheeler are making baby steps towards a friendship?

Is it because you never forget the first person that called you Lacy?

Fuck knows. Some of that. 

“So you’re… what, hanging out now?” Steve asks, gesturing to the twin dipshits. There’s a bite in his voice from a former incarnation of Steve Harrington, one with (somehow) bigger hair and an unchecked ego. It doesn’t all shed at once, you figure. He’s sloughing it off and there’s still some left over, judging by the way he’s staring at Ronnie and Eddie. 

You look over your shoulder to them. It would be so easy to deride it, right– only due to my unfortunate proximity to them, yes or girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do for a ride these days or it’s community service, I swear. 

But you don’t. You turn back to him with a pinchy little smile. “I’m this close to getting them to let me play tambourine in their band. Can you even deal?” 

Steve, after a beat and a brow furrow, sort of half nods. “Think I kind of… get that.” 

You’re about to answer when another body comes barrelling in through the back. 

“Just wanted to let you know, dingus, that I just got off the phone with Keith–you remember Keith, right, our manager who is currently in a war of words with our boss trying to keep this place open–and your little stock-take fuckup has cost us, like, weeks of manhours in work and–” Robin Buckley, complete with a light-up Santa hat, stops dead. Counts every person in the room. Shakes her head like she’s in a dream. “What is…”

“H–hi Robin!” Ronnie calls, her voice all squeaky– due to the scuffling headlock that Eddie has somehow managed to put her in without you and Steve even noticing. “Don’t worry, we– we’ll be out of your hair in a second!” 

And Robin– wait, is Robin kind of… blushing? She backs down immediately, putting her Family Video branded binder flat on the counter. “Yeah, no… that’s totally okay, take your time!” 

You look at Steve. Steve looks at you. You quirk an eyebrow like– is that, is she… And Steve shrugs like, don’t ask me, sister. Pleading the fifth. Saving Robin’s dignity. 

But you’re still you and you’ve been bugging Ronnie about her situation for weeks so you hold up a finger.

“What are you two idiots arguing about?”

“Black Christmas–” “Silent Night, Bloody– ow, Ronnie, don’t pull hair, you girl!”

A swivel back to Robin, who is totally pink-cheeked. “We need a professional to settle this.” 

Her mind seems to stutter like a badly wound tape. Oh, she’s suckered. “Uh– uh, Black Christmas, for sure. Not exactly the coziest thing to watch, but–”

“We’re not cozy people!” Eddie yells, Ronnie coming at him with arms like weed whackers.

“--but Margot Kidder, right?” you poke, goddamn Jimmy Page and John Bonham for the Midwest set slamming into the counter on either side of you.

“Olivia Hussey,” Ronnie says breathlessly. Eddie seems to have winded her somehow. “That’s– she’s cool–I heard she was in this–”

“Exactly!” Robin lights up, excited, “She– she played Juliet in Romeo and Juliet–”

“Wait, don’t you see her boobs in that movie?” Eddie jerks in. 

“Yes,” Robin and Steve chime in unison. And glance at each other. Telling. 

Ol’ Munson there snaps his fingers. “Sold.”

“But not in Black Christmas,” you say, almost gently, so as not to… let him down?

Eddie rolls his eyes and tilts his head toward your shoulder. “I’m a man with an imagination, ain’t I?” he rasps. You pretend-shudder.

“Okay, let’s do Black Christmas and– you got a copy of The Thin Man?”

Blink-blink goes Robin, like a cartoon. It’s nearly audible. “... like, the William Powell, Myrna Loy Thin Man?” 

Your turn to roll your eyes. God, you guys love to roll your eyes, huh? “Is there any other?”

“Like the black and white movie. You’re sure? I just didn’t think it’d be your–” 

But Eddie cuts right through that assumption that’s making an ass out of you and Robin, because he knows. He knows because you’ve made him sit through Double Indemnity at the Hawk, scolding him for putting his feet up (god forbid, right!) and you’ve even threatened to drag him to some Buster Keaton retrospective that’s playing there after the holidays. He keeps thinking, man, if Wayne Munson ever comes across this girl, he’s a goner, and then he remembers why that won’t be happening any time soon. 

“She’s a freak.”

You regard him with a tight smile. Kind of a thanks, kind of a fuck you. Kind of your thing. 

“I’ll watch it when these bozos pass out.” 

—

Something’s gotten into Eddie. 

You three are absolutely basking in the glory of your one night of freedom– see, Granny Ecker’s away on a weekend hotel stay in Indianapolis with one of her special friends from the Hawkins Senior Center. Which, on the one hand, gross, Eddie never ever wants to think about Granny Ecker getting lucky no matter how happy for her he is. But on the other, in the words of her beloved granddaughter–

“God bless the Indiana Sweepstakes!”

Eddie has stolen Granny’s usual spot, the kick-out recliner that seems to sag more with every movement. You and Ronnie are bunched onto the little two-seater together, with Ronnie shyly suggesting that you paint her nails (black, how totally hardcore)– now, Eddie knows this move. This is so she can distract herself from the bonafide creepiness of Black Christmas because while she tries to put on a brave face, Ronnie’s eyes for horror movies are way bigger than her stomach. She’s all nerves. It’s why she’s such a good drummer. 

As you’d predicted, by the time the movie ends and you all clear the six pack that Eddie had procured, Ronnie’s nodding off– but Eddie is determined to stay wide awake. You make a move off the couch and she grumbles, having narrowly avoided propping her head on your shoulder. You move to arrange her in such a way that she’s sleeping Nosferatu style, crossing her arms over her chest. “Because I spent an awful lot of time on that polish and I won’t see it ruined, not on your account,” you chide, real quiet. Ronnie’s not listening, she’s pretend honk-shooing. Eddie, on the other hand, is. 

He likes you like this. You’re sweet to Ronnie, in your prickly little way– making her flustered with your misdirected flirting, bonding with her about things so far out of the realm of his male understanding. Being a girl with her. It’s occurred to him that Ronnie, in her testosterone-soaked world of current comrades, might actually need that. Like, she’s friendly enough with Jeannie and that Vickie girl from band, but they’re not people she’d go out of her way to make a case for so’s that Granny Ecker will let them stay for dinner. 

Which she’s done for you. Once or twice now. Which you’ve nervously accepted and even ruined your manicure for, by insisting on washing up the dishes. Eddie dried, because of course he did, because the Ecker trailer is the only place close to home that the two of you can hang out.

You’re, like– friends. 

Which is horrible.

Eddie tosses you a cold can of soda from the fridge. You catch it, hands basketing above your head.

“Power forward.”

“Cheerleader.”

You lean over to the TV to swap the tapes out, insistent on watching your dumb little black and white movie. As you do it, your skirt lifts a little bit and– 

Eddie’s gotta break eye contact. Stare at the floor for a second. Cock jumping like the fucking mole from whack-a-mole.

He almost hits it.

You bitch, are you wearing thigh highs?

“You need to pull trig, Munson?” he hears you from the kitchenette, clicking the video player’s play button. “You only had two beers.”

God, maybe. Was the room spinning? “Smoked a lotta weed today.” 

“Right. Lipton landing,” you smirk. Ronnie’s derisive little nickname for Reefer Rick’s place. “Are you gonna get over here and snore through my movie or not?”

I do not snore, or some muttering of a similar fashion comes out but he’s doing exactly what you tell him to do. He can’t help it. Brain function gone all freaky from that flash of flesh squeezed out the top of your– yeah. 

Eddie lands on the floor next to you with a little groan. Your eyes flick between him and the now-empty recliner. 

“What are you doing down here?” 

Oh. Busted. “I’m a gentleman, Lacy. Take the damn seat.” 

Your face screws up in that silly way it does whenever he talks sense to you but you don’t wanna hear it. Brat. “No. I like to sit right up near when it’s something I really want to watch.”

A shrug of your little shoulder as you wrap your arms around your knees like a kid. Face illuminated by the greyscale on the television. Skirt rucking back against the carpet. Fuck.

Eddie lets out an unsteady breath, crawling forward to lie on his tummy. Closer to you. “You’re gonna get square eyes if you keep doin’ that, dorko.”

“Who died and made you my optometrist…” but you say it in this half-hearted, distracted way, eyes on the screen.

“Y’know, if you–” Eddie starts, eyes on the lace top of your–yes indeedy–stockings.

“Shut up,” and you tap him on the shoulder. “I love this part.”

Your hand stays there as some fancily dressed chick totally eats shit in the bar of some hotel or something. Christmas presents flying everywhere as she falls. 

Women and children first, boys.

Say, what is the score anyway?

Oh, so it’s you he was after.

Hello, sugar.

Your hand stays there as you’re totally mouthing every single word, you true-blue nerd. Eddie, completely at a loss of how to react to this other than gaze, gaze, gaze at you, snaps his teeth at your hand. 

You, so completely embroiled in Nick and Nora’s white hot banter, gasp at the near-bite and swipe at his head. Eddie dodges the blow by rolling onto his back, hair fanning out on the Eckers’ rug. He grins up at you, and all of a sudden the rise and fall of his chest in that worn-out Alice Cooper shirt is very distracting. 

Pretty girl. 

Yeah, she’s a very nice type.

You got types?

Only you, darling–

“--lanky brunettes with wicked jaws,” you say, beat-for-beat with William Powell. 

“Talkin’ about me?” Eddie says, lips peeling back, eyebrows quirking.

“Not in your wettest, wildest dreams, Eddie Munson.” 

“Oh, you don’t wanna know what happens in those dreams. It’s filthy.”

“Uh-huh.”

“It’s twisted. It’s disgusting.” 

“I bet.”

His hand is absent-mindedly stroking his chest, shifting the hem of that t-shirt up a little bit. Brushstrokes. You remember that? Eddie Munson has a happy trail like– 

“You’re so nice to me. It’s so fffffucking hot.”

“How wildly out-of-character,” you scoff, and he laughs, and you shift in your spot the teensiest bit. Eyes back on the screen, back to safety. 

From here, where he’s lying, Eddie has a fully illustrated view of the flash of skin up your skirt. Now that you’re not looking at him, he’s looking at it. Swallowing back saliva. Ignoring Nick and Nora. 

It’d be simple as pie to walk his fingertips along the rug and brush up against you there–oops–by accident or design. Feel how soft that skin is. Feel that heat radiating from your–

“It’s alright,” he hums, eyes flicking to the ceiling. Otherwise, all the blood’s gonna drain away from his head and he’s going to fucking die. “I know I’m not your type anyway.”

Your head lolls to your other shoulder, exposing a flash of your neck. It’s sorely missing a tongue running along it, he thinks, breath shuddering a touch. 

“You wouldn’t know my type if it hit you with an eighteen wheeler.”

“Can Steve Harrington drive an eighteen wheeler?”

Lolling your head back in the most exaggerated form of exasperation, you groan. “God. The way you talk about Harrington, I’m willing to put money on the fact that you have a crush on him.”

Eddie shrugs, hand resting on his sternum. You had your hand there once, you recall.

“I got prescribed one on the first day of freshman year, just like everybody else. But it wore off.”

“Sure about that?” Your eyes narrow.

“Sure as I am that I saw you makin’ googly eyes at him at the Family Video tonight.” Eddie crosses his own peepers for effect. Your attention darts back to the screen.

“I was not–”

“You can just say it, Lace.” His face is a twisty little smirk, if you’d care to look. “Regardless of how utterly pedestrian it might be.” That was a dig at you, by the way. That was an almost eerie impression of you. 

“The things I felt in seventh grade don’t really have a lot of gravitational pull on me anymore,” you shrug, not giving. Because, when you think about it, you don’t have to give. It was a baseless kind of thrill, seeing Harrington tonight. One hit wonder. “He’s a cute boy. Reminded me I have a pulse. Nothing wrong with that.”

Eddie’s quiet for a few seconds, flicks his eyes up to watch the TV from upside down. Nick places an ice pack on a drunken Nora’s head. 

Hmm… what hit me? 

The last martini.

He smiles as you smile, and he wonders if you’re thinking of the same thing he’s thinking of. 

“Alright, well– we can forget this ever happened. Resume being assholes to each other on Monday. Don’t, like, die in the meantime.”

“You say resume like we ever stopped being assholes to each other.”

“Funny you mention seventh grade…” Eddie trails off, tugging at the rug underneath him.

“Funny ha-ha or funny peculiar?” Your voice is distant again. 

“Little bit of both.”

“Why?”

Well, he thought you might be fucking with him, but– “... God, you really don’t remember, do you?”   

“Remember what?” He sees your brow pinch, he’s getting to ya.

“Not a fucking clue.” No give, no glory, eyes on the peeling ceiling. 

“Remember what?” You’ve snapped your neck and are looking down at him now, thirsty for him to fucking spill it already.

“Total–” he blows a raspberry, “--blackout before freshman year, right?”

“Eddie.”

His name makes him sit up. Pavlovian, sure, and he’s trying to deny the fact that he’ll do just about anything you say when you call him Eddie in that slightly-tinged sour way and not Munson like you’re writing him off. He’s trying to deny that. He swears.

“Nancy Wheeler’s thirteenth birthday party.” 

You two are shoulder to shoulder, him facing the couch, you facing the screen, his breath warming the bare skin of your off-the-shoulder top which is an insane thing to be wearing in the dead of fucking winter, but praise Jesus hallelujah you’re wearing it. Your expression is unimpressed. 

“... yeah?”

“We played Seven Minutes in Heaven.” He lays that out a little too plain for your liking. Playing Seven Minutes in Heaven at a thirteen year old’s birthday party is like the non-denominational Hora for pseudo-white bread Christian teenagers, at least in Hawkins. Everybody does that shit. But hold on.

“... you were there?”

“Fucking obviously, dimwit, that’s the setup to the whole story.” He sighs in a puff, and he’s very close to you. Chin almost on your shoulder like that night at the Quarry. “Tommy Hagan ripped into me for like, fifteen full minutes because my spin of the bottle landed on you.”

Confusion is a disease and you’re terminal. “That was… not you.” 

Insistence is a disease and Eddie’s fatal. “Yes. It so was.”

“That was John Hudson-Wasserman.”

“That was not–,” Eddie full on splutters, like slapstick splutters, reeling his head away from you, “you’re gonna get me confused with John Hudson-Wasserman? The guy who was like, pathologically obsessed with the Kennedy assassination? The guy who moved to Des Moines like, two weeks after that party?”

Then you’re spluttering back all of a sudden. Everything you two are doing is contagious. “His parents named him after John F., can you blame him? –actually, I can totally blame him, that was bizarre.”

“Lacy.” Well, the way he says that straightens your spine. “Use that pretty little brain to think for a second, huh? There’s one unmistakeable detail I bet I can get to jog your memory.”

But you’re already there. Activated. Like a sleeper cell. 

“Your hair was all buzzed off. You had that bandage on your head.”

“I did. And you asked me what was under it, and I said–”

A hole. They cut out a part of my brain so I’d be– The Wheeler’s linen closet was tiny and you were breathing in lavender detergent from all angles. 

The boy in front of you, scrawny and angry, had an aura around him like a firework. You knew it was dangerous, but you wanted to look closer. 

–less of a freak? you finished. Such was the accusation du jour for this kid. 

Less of a danger to society, he said, chest puffed. They let me keep it in a jar. Just in case shit gets really real and I need to shove it back in. 

You don’t quite know what to do with that. Like. He is so weird, and his hair is unevenly shaved and he’s got little cuts and scratches and scabs all over him. Like he’s been running through brambles. He looks like a kid someone found in the wild. 

Did you name it? you ask, finger drawing circles on a nearby towel. Your jar brain.

Eddie Junior, he told you, crossing his arms. 

Aren’t you already Junior? Shouldn’t it be Junior Junior? 

His jaw hardened. No. I’m Eddie. 

You nudged forward on your toes to get a better look at the bandage– he was taller than you. It lumped out of his head, unmissable. Nothing to be done about it. 

He seemed to cringe away from you. 

Don’t try anything, skank. 

You bounce back onto your heels. 

I wasn’t, asshole. We don’t have to do anything– just… like… did it hurt? 

He paused for a full ten seconds (you counted) and swallowed real hard. Eyes wide as hubcaps, and dark, and frightened. He craned his neck toward you a little. 

Then the door swung open, Tina Burton standing there hand-in-hand with an irritated-looking Steve Harrington. Time’s up, losers! 

Al hadn’t asked if it hurt, when he beat the crap out of him for doing something so stupid. Wayne hadn’t even asked if it hurt, when Eddie came back from the hospital like a dog with its tail between its legs. 

You were the first, and you were the last, and it was before everything. Before you were even Lacy.

“What happened, anyway?” you ask. Soft. Like that last time.

Now, in retrospect, Eddie sees the error of his ways.

“I lit all my hair on fire with a butane torch.” 

“You what?!” 

“It’s not– entirely my fault! I think I saw someone with hair on fire in an X-Men comic and I thought, y’know, that’s an achievable look.” That’s a severe understatement. It was Johnny Storm from The Fantastic Four and Eddie believed that he could be like Johnny Storm only more badass and maybe with like a sick motorbike. What, you’re telling me you didn’t go through a pre-teen-to-mid-teen phase where you were secretly convinced you had superpowers? Smarten up. 

“And how high–”

“Yeah, okay, I was also hitting a Reddi-Wip can like crazy.” The nitrous oxide did not help these delusions. 

“Why the big bandage?”

“Eh, I got some, like, bitsy little burn. Total overreaction.”

“Do you have a scar?” Before he can answer, you’re parting his hair, right near the place you remember that bandage being. Eddie freezes, your frigid fingertips searching his scalp. You are… very close. 

“Uh– no, I don’t.” He gulps, avoiding looking at you directly in your bright, curious little face. “Can I tell you something truly fucking dumb?”

“Wouldn’t be out-of-character for you, that’s for sure.” 

Deep, deep breath. Fucking shit fucking goddammit fuck. Balls. “I regret it.”

“The hair thing? Yeah, you’d think–”

“No. Not kissing you.”

“Oh.” Your hands drop from his skull but don’t exactly leave his hair. Just kind of wound in there, hovering, the way you feel like you’re hovering now. 

“You asked me if it hurt, and then I was gonna– but then, fucking Tina–” Eddie says, eyes dashing to you in these minute little glances. Away, back, away, back.

“Fuckin’ Tina,” you breathe. 

“--and Harrington.”

“Ah.” You shut your eyes. He didn’t notice you were wearing green eyeshadow until right now. “The square root of the problem.”

“Huh?” Barely heard it. Too busy looking at the glitter on your eyelids. The way your eyeballs shift around underneath.

“You’re totally lemon sour bitter with Harrington because you think he made you blow your shot with me.” You open your eyes with a squint.

“That is so not–” Break a spell, why dontcha! But then, Eddie takes a bite. “Actually, if you pop-psychology that, there might be somethin’ there, but… I regret it because I didn’t just–”

You cut in. “Go for it.”

“Shoot.” He confirms.

“Power. Forward.” You emphasize, lips curling.

“Cheer. Leader.” Eddie says, gravel in his voice.

Do you know that your hand is still in his hair? Like, are you physically aware of it? (Answer: no.)

Nick. Nicky?

What.

You asleep?

Yes.

Good. I wanna talk to you.

Your head swivels back from the screen. He watched you look away, dart your tongue out onto your lip, look back at him. 

“Eddie.” There’s fizz in your voice.

“Yes, Lacy.” He wonders what flavor. 

“I think…” and you finally extract your hand to lay it in your lap. Withdrawing, willing to be shot down, but you’re you and you know that you won’t be. “We could make a case for making up for lost time.”

Eddie’s mouth has become very dry. “... meaning that…”

“Eddie, I think that you should kiss me like a seventh grader– eighth grader? So weird, why did Wheeler have eight graders at her bir–”

“Lacy. Back on track, please,” which is another horrendously pin point perfect impression of you. And he needs to be sure that you just said what you just said and that isn’t the ghosts of Lipton landing talking.

“We should try it out. An honest-to-god, never-been-done-before Seven Minutes in Heaven kiss. I happen to think it’d fix something in you.”

“Oh, come on,” he scoffs.

“No, I’m serious!” And it is kind of fizzing out of you, and you might not be entirely just talking about him for this next part, “I think you’re holding onto a lot of pent up energy that may have just gotten even more pent since we became, y’know–”

“Zoo animals with parallel enclosures?” Eddie says with an arching eyebrow. 

“Wow,” you swallow a breath. “That really sounded like me.”

“I’m afflicted with a Lacyism from time to time.”

“Is that like astigmatism? Because you should get that looked at.”

“Who died and made you my optometrist?”

“Eddie.” Your voice, coming from your face, which is all dappled in the unserene technicolor glow of the Eckers’ Christmas lights, highlighted by the blaze of the black and white on TV. You make it look like stained glass. He would walk into oncoming traffic– “You trust me, right?” He would go and play on the freeway if you asked him to.

Eddie, Christ, he’s got to gather himself. Like the sweat gathering on his palms, he thinks, great work ethic, I need some of that. He gets a bright idea, brighter than those twinkling lights. “I think I need full authenticity in order to make this experience worth it.”

“What?”

“We need to find a closet.”

It’s pretty much a hard no on whether or not the Eckers have a linen closet (you’re a long way from Maple Lane now, babe), so it’s agreed that you’ll give Granny Ecker’s wardrobe a shot. You follow Eddie in there with tentative steps, like you can almost feel her watching all the way from the Best Western in Indianapolis she’s no doubt staying in. Trespassing is bad, yadda yadda, but it’s also exciting.

It’s exciting, being in here with him. 

He glances back at you, eyes a glimmer in the darkened bedroom. “After you,” and he flourishes a hand toward the open closet. 

You two are so not seventh graders anymore– heads bang against hangers, you’re kind of melting into a lot of denim and fleece and you… you don’t have much breathing room. No lavender detergent, just the beer-and-old-weed-sweet smell of Eddie Munson pushed close to flush against your chest. The scent of that shampoo you both use caught somewhere in the middle. 

Your breathing is so shallow, you feel like you might be having an asthma attack. You don’t have asthma. 

“Tight,” he says, and knits his brows, “I mean–”

“Cozy,” you correct, unsure of where to put your hands.

“We’re not cozy people.”

“So let’s do this,” you attempt to smooth your face into something resembling nonchalance, “Kiss me like a seventh-or-eighth grader, Eddie Munson.”

He clears his throat, shaking his head. A smile keeps flicking and dying on his lips. Heart about to burst out of his chest because of how weird this is, because of how weird you are, because of how– how– 

Eddie knits his fingers behind his back in an imitation of you, your girlish pose, and leans forward. About ninety percent, just in case you decide this was a stupid idea, or you don’t like the look of his face up close, or– or–

You close that perfect ten. Your lips feel like flower petals. Light. Baby-soft. Crushable.

It’s so chaste and it’s so innocent. It’s so the diametric opposite of the two of you, brash and harsh in your diverging, abstracting ways– waving only to meet in the middle. It’s pretty, like you are, and Thumper-from-Bambi-thumping-his-foot nervous like he gets around you.  

You pull away a fraction, and Eddie swallows a sound. To save face, he is about to say something– I give it a six or that’s what I’ve been missing out on this whole time or you flap that mouth an awful lot for someone who doesn’t know how to use it, something equally goading. Something that would make this… normal.

Until you take his bottom lip between yours. And it’s wet there. And it’s warm. And your lips are so, so crushable– 

Eddie’s fingers unweave and find your arms, find your waist. Slow, slow, he takes it slow because he could scare you and he doesn’t want to scare you. You’re curving into him, lips slicking against his, and then his tongue licking it’s way into your mouth which you just fucking open for him and it’s so good–

–and he tastes like salt and smoke and he holds you like he’s anchoring himself against you. Your hands wind on up, up, up his chest, catching on his t-shirt where his chest is (duh duh duh you fucking idiot), where his heart is thrumming under that smatter of a tattoo you got caught staring at that night in his trailer. It’s all you’ve got in you not to tug it up and off him, but Christ, no, because you need to keep kissing him. It’s so nice, it feels so nice, kissing him, when was the last time something felt as nice, that’s all you can think with sensation seeping through your body like a sugar rush. Hands move to either side of his neck and he makes a noise. 

Your fingers, fishing hooks in his hair, pulling him closer and closer to you. 

The heat. Of his body. Matched only by the heat gathering in the cherry pit that lives in your stomach. 

And he needs, god, Eddie needs it fucking bad. It is a lot of things. It includes your tongue so far inside his mouth that you can taste the Tab on his uvula this time. It includes more of your tits pressed against him, so he can feel if your nipples have hardened under his touch. It includes this moment, just this moment, just kissing you as your body winds around him–

But then you pull back. Before he can whisper the little, “No…” that’s coming like a reflex, you cover his mouth with your hand. The mouth that’s all slick from kissing– you. 

Jesus Christ. You had really done that. The stupid, idiot both of you. 

“Guys?”

Eddie, dizzy and down-the-rabbit-hole tipsy Eddie, gets the impulse to lick your hand, to take your fingers in his mouth and just start sucking, but he doesn’t do it. Because he has now snapped to the fact that that’s Ronnie Ecker calling out for you. 

The two of you, twisted around each other like snakes in her grandmother’s closet. 

“Go,” you hiss– no, you breathe. He was just expecting you to hiss. But you’re breathy and unsure about the command you’re giving. Still, you jerk your head. 

Well, Eddie’s pretty hard up about telling you this, but, “Can’t. Need a sec–” Like, can’t you feel that?

Eddie’s standing more than half to attention, pressing in between the both of you. 

You let out a jagged breath that sounds like oh, fuck, and it’s not the kind of oh, fuck he was hoping to hear and his heartbeat stutters. 

And then you’re gone. 

Eddie stands there, hands held aloft around the ghost of you that was there, that was right there and kissing him. Like you meant it, like it wasn’t an experiment or a joke or a dare or anything other than what you wanted. You wanted him. You wanted him. “Oh, Jesus Christ,” he breathes into his hands, dragging them down his face, his lips, the smell of you still lingering around him. “Oh… I am so fucked.”

Kentucky fried fucked. 

You make your way back to the living room on trembly legs, reaching for every steadying surface, attempting to destroy the evidence of a swollen mouth and Munson-finger ruffled hair. You find Ronnie sitting upright on the couch. Nick and Nora have nearly solved the case. You don’t give yourself enough time to make a mask of your face that could easily lie to her. 

“Munson had to pull trig,” you say, and it’s not steady enough for Ronnie to not call bullshit.

But she doesn’t. Not outright anyway.

“He okay?” she asks, nearly wary.

“I don’t know. Could be comin’ out of both ends, I don’t know,” you start scrambling around for your bag and your shoes and your coat and not your right mind because you left that back in the closet, somewhere between Eddie’s teeth and tongue. “Look, I hate to ditch on you, but my mom–”

“She’ll be on your ass,” Ronnie says, measured like a cup. “Sure. Go on. I’ll think about calling 911 if he chokes.”

Breathing out some piss-poor rendition of a thanks, you dip out of Ronnie’s and past his van and all the way back the lot towards home. 

It’s freezing. You’re not. For once.

When Eddie finally reappears from the closet, Ronnie is sitting in the exact same position. Except this time she looks somewhat judgier– maybe because it’s easier to be judgier toward Eddie than it is toward you. Some kind of girl politico he doesn’t understand. 

“You feel better?”

“Huh?” Eddie says. Wiping his mouth on the back of his hand. 

“Do you feel better. Lacy told me you had to barf.”

“I… I guess.” Eddie has already cashed in his once-in-a-lifetime lie convincingly to Ronnie Ecker voucher. 

“She also told me you maybe shit yourself?”

Alright, well, that was unnecessary. “Alright, well, that was unnecessary.”

“I guess I was just hoping that…” she sighs, crossing her arms, “... that you weren’t puking and shitting yourself…” she sits back against the couch, “... when you were making out with her. In my… bathroom?”

He really does consider leaving out this detail. “Granny’s closet.”

“Oh, you’re fuckin’ kidding me.”

“She’ll know. She’ll kill me.”

“Oh, she’ll kill ya,” Ronnie mutters, “And then I’ll go to work on ya.”

—

You two have got to stop fucking each other over like this.

Fucking each other over, conceptually, actually, is interesting. Because Eddie’s done a whole lot of fucking you over in his mind since that closet. Sliding your panties aside and fucking you with his tongue, polyester lace of your stockings creating static against his hair, sparks snapping off your inner thighs as you rub against his nose. 

Following you back to your trailer and fucking you with his fingers against the cold, metal exterior, your nails digging into his neck and your voice stabbing his name into his eardrums. 

Pulling you into his lap in the driver’s seat and tearing through the cotton of your underwear with sheer animalistic fervor, making you lean back against the steering wheel as he sucks your tightened nipples, cock safe and warm in the slick, deep wet of you. 

Somethin’ like that. He didn’t sleep much this weekend.

Mind stuck on the one track, your lips smacking against his. Now in fabulous 3D!

In every single one of these fantasies, too, his idiot sap ass is whining your name fifty billion times more than you’re whining his– so much so that it breaks the fantasy barrier and he’s crying, “Fuck, Lacy-yy–,” into his limp pancake of a pillow, cum careening down a fist that should have nerve damage by now. 

He is exhausted. And to make it worse, he hasn’t seen you. 

He hasn’t even been avoiding you this time. So that’s all on you, you bitch.

“You bitch…” he mumbles, head resting against the cold brick of the newly-unisex senior bathroom, which has become a hellhole in no time. First period on a Monday is usually an okay time to get a bit of peace and fucking quiet, though, because everyone else is at least making an attempt at starting the week off on the right foot. 

But not Eddie. Not worn out, prick-tired Eddie. 

And not whoever is doing a horrible job of hyperventilating in the stall next to him. 

“Excuse me?” a breathless voice says. He thinks he kinda recognizes it but–

Then, ew! Some gagging, some violent coughing, a little ugh, Jesus, please not again–

Eddie slides out of his stall and knocks on the next door– and it swings open with ease. 

She’s crouched over the cistern–gross, fucking gross–and tears are streaming down her peachy cheeks, catching on her pointed chin. 

“Christ, Wheeler. S’matter, you pregnant?”

Nancy Wheeler’s eyes flash in a flare of rage, a choked scoff spitting out of her. She’s about to fucking cuss Eddie out, it looks like, which he kind of wants to see, but then whatever straw that’s holding that together snaps and she lets out this wild sob of total incredulity. 

Ohhh, as much as he would love to bolt out the door like it’s not his problem, Eddie realizes that this has now, somehow, somewhat become kind of his problem. 

—

“I gotta talk to you.” 

Ronnie Ecker appears like a lightning flash, knocking you clean out of your reverie of slowly crawling fingers and lips and teeth and guilt that had been plaguing you all weekend. 

You had spent most of the last forty eight hours staring into the middle distance, ready to glue upright nails into your shoes and walk on them for penance. You fucking stupid slut. Kiss me like a seventh-eighth grader, Eddie Munson. You unbelievable fucking cowshit. See, because, okay, do you know what you’ve done?

You’ve taken the first real friendship you’ve possibly ever had in your life (save for Phoebe, God rest her soul that moved to Saskatoon) and completely entirely fucked it sideways, and sure, you’ve also spent a lot of the weekend thinking about other things getting fucked sideways, like you since you’re now cursed with the knowledge of the vague suggestion of the outline of Eddie Munson’s dick but moreso, foremostly and mainly you want to fucking take a swandive off the edge of Sattler’s Quarry. 

Addendum– there’s too many quarries in this fucking county. 

A ping-ponging of guilt-to-orgasm-to-guilt-to-orgasm-to-guilt-to-orgasm-to-guilt-to-slinking your way to first period the long way that’s only now broken by Ronnie Ecker coming down on you like an Acme anvil.

Meep meep.

She knows. Of course she knows.

“Ronnie,” you whisper, eyes following her as she lands herself into the aforementioned Munson’s seat behind you, “I can explain…”

“Don’t!” There is this vigor, this knife’s edge in Ronnie’s voice that is terrifying and kind of thrilling but mostly scary and having been in the presence of Granny Ecker even those few times, you knew she always had it in her. 

You recoil. A little.

“If Eddie wants to be a fucking moron about you, please can we just let him, and not–” Ronnie’s mouth clamps closed like a Muppet’s might. Like she’s physically trying to calm herself down. “Look. I really like being your friend.”

Oh, Christ, your heart. “I r– I–”

“You’re dogshit with the emotional stuff, I get that, but I’ve been friends with that asshole so long that wearing my heart on my sleeve is like, second fucking nature so I’m not and I’m pissed off, frankly, that there’s a chance of him coming between, like… us.”

You and Ronnie. You, and your friend Ronnie. “Oh, it’s–”

“Because technically, by absolute technicality, I was your friend first, okay? We were lab partners first and I thought we had a vibe goin’ in Biology and I was the first person you wanted to talk to at the Hellfire table even if it was a thinly veiled ploy but you’re so good at ploys and you’re such a piece of work and you’re so funny and I wouldn’t know what Ponds cold cream actually does if it wasn’t for you. Fuck.”

“Granny’s a soap and water girl.” There’s a fluttering in your chest and a thickening in your throat. You swallow big, and you think you might actually start– “This doesn’t mean I’m gonna try fencing, Ron.”

“But it’s fucking cool, even if we do it with sticks.”

You take her in, baseball cap shoved over her coiled hair, darned-all-to-hell sweater sagging out under her overalls and you really feel like something is about to bust out of your chest. Your honest-to-god friend, Ronnie Ecker. 

“Miss Ecker, last time I checked, that’s not your assigned seat.” God, Kaminsky’s such a relentless dickwad.

“I’m having a conversation,” Ronnie says, with the kind of as-yet-unheard volume from her that makes the rest of the class go ooooh!

Jesus fucking Christ, have you turned Ronnie Ecker into a bad girl?

“I don’t give a shit!” rumpled Kaminsky says, slapping that dusty chalkboard duster full of dust, “Have it in detention.”

“Hey! That’s–”

But if you can do one thing for Ronnie. “No can doozy, Mr K, Miss Ecker has a prior commitment.” 

“Oh, Jesus Christ, not you again,” he mumbles not-quite-under his breath. “And what is that? Lacy?”

Before you can even say the words peer tutoring, none other than Eddie Munson is barrelling through the door. He stops comically short at the top of the classroom, gesturing to Ronnie in his seat like what the fuck? 

“Lacy!” he eventually says, and he’s breathless and flustered and just like you imagined him in–

“Munson, what in the name of the goddamn Father Almighty–”

“Weekly Streak–” and guy is just snapping his fingers, blinking wildly at you, “–thing!”

You stare on in a state of confusion until you spy Nancy Wheeler right in your eyeline, right through the open classroom door. Her little face streaked with tears, and god, she looks like shit, and she’s beckoning to you with a flutter and a fury. 

“No, of course!” a little murmuring, uh, shit, and you hurry to the top of the classroom, slamming the homework that Kaminsky’s obviously going to ask for on his desk with a rattle. 

“Kaminsk, my man, the future of print media is forever in your debt!” Eddie calls, ushering you out the door and into the echoey hallway. 

“What is going on?”

Both Eddie and Nancy shuffle you down the hallway, avoiding the monitors (rat finks!), dipping under the east stairwell. A great stairwell. So much illicit shit has happened in this stairwell and you have an itemized list of it all, somewhere in your brain. The kind of person people tell things to.

Nancy’s just full tilt gulping like a fish out of water, and Eddie’s all, “Wait, shit, are you gonna barf again?” and you’re all, “Answers, please, tout suite!”

“I’m late.” Nancy’s voice doesn’t even tremble. She’s that scared.

“Fuck.”

“Very?”

“Extremely.”

“You’re sure?” you press, and suddenly you’re the kind of person that grabs Nancy Wheeler’s shoulders. 

Her lip trembles. “I mean, I haven’t–” 

“Well, we gotta. Right now.” And it occurs to you that Eddie is just standing there, a polite enough distance away that he’s involved but kind of not involved, but respecting the space that you two need. How does he know how to do that? How does he always know the right… “Eddie.” 

He snaps to attention, mouth all serious and eyes all eager. You want to kiss him again, but this shit is not about you. 

“We need a ride to the drugstore.” 

The three of you pile into Eddie’s van, him insisting on doing the honors of opening the passenger door for you again, and Nancy quietly requesting that you share the passenger seat with her. You two are squished together, her spindly thighs overlapping yours. Denim versus dark suede. There is a very tense silence in place the entire van ride there, Nancy digging her nails into her palm and Eddie nervously thrumming against the steering wheel. The tape deck plays resumes mid-play– Metallica’s Ride the Lightning. 

For your part, you experience a harsh zoom-out moment– Nancy, who you’ve learned is almost as strong-headed as you, just on a better moral track (lawful good versus chaotic neutral, you think Eddie once framed it), is stranded. She’s the eldest sibling to that little shitstain Michael and Holly, who’s a baby so to you has no discernible personality, and her mother is kind of an airhead and her father… you don’t know shit about, but it’s Hawkins, so dads. The responsibility of everything seems to fall on her all the time, and you can only be so resourceful as a teenage girl in a town like this. Especially when the other teenage girls seem to, at best, keep you at arm’s length, or at worst, ostracize you. 

And Nancy had lost Barbara Holland. Who, when she mentions her, is talked about with such a glow that’s followed by such a wave of sadness that it nearly takes you under too.

She misses her so much. She misses her best friend so much. 

Barb should be the one dealing with this. Not you. Which sounds like you’re shirking responsibility. But really, it’s because you don’t know if you fully deserve the privilege of helping Nancy. 

Truth is, Nancy would probably be okay, handling this on her own. Sure, it’d be another inch of depth added to the chasm of loneliness building in that poor girl’s psyche, but she’d do it, because she’s Nancy and she handles things.

Just like you’re Lacy and you handle things. 

But however Eddie Munson ended up as part of this situation… he brought her to you. Because he knew you’d know what to do. So she wouldn’t have to do it alone. 

Because Eddie doesn’t want people to do things alone. 

You only really have that impulse if you know how terrible it feels. 

And if you don’t see kindness as a weakness.

Which Nancy doesn’t. And Eddie doesn’t. And you… don’t want to, anymore.

You reach and peel Nancy’s fingernails from the grooves they’re digging into her flesh. You don’t even look at the half-moon marks they’ve made. You just glue her palm to your palm and web your fingers. And over the frizz of Nancy’s perm–the nice kind, salon kind, the kind that doesn’t stink of egg–you look at Eddie, just as he glances at you.

He smiles, small and unsure and wavering. You bite your lips between your teeth and try the same. 

“Shit, I don’t think I can go in here.” 

The van has skidded into an inconspicuous (but not entirely, because have you seen that fucking vehicle) place near the drugstore.

“Why?”

“People– the pharmacist knows my mom and everything,” Nancy shudders, “There’s no way that people won’t have something to– fucking say.”

Eddie’s eyes widen and you give him a look like, welcome to the Nancy Wheeler Actually Swears Club. Care for a canape?

And y’know, you could argue so what. So what if people have something to say. You’re young, mistakes happen, the world keeps turning. But one skip in a perfect twelve-inch record of reputation like Nancy’s can make her life a living hell. You know that. 

Shit, she knows that– you weren’t not aware of that stroke of creative genius vandalism that went up on the Hawk marquee that one time.  

And it would shatter Nancy’s mom’s heart. And while you don’t have the same time of day for her, Nancy really loves her mom. 

Once you’ve ruined your reputation, you can live quite freely. 

That moveable feast motherfucker was onto something. 

Click, and Eddie’s glovebox pops open in a clatter of tapes and a one-hitter and other ephemera. You reach in, retrieving sunglasses you’d left in here a little bit ago. 

“So let’s give ‘em something to talk about,” you say, sliding on the shades. 

Nancy clutches your arm, eyes wide and searching. “Lacy.”

You shrug, like it’s nothing. Except nerves have started nibbling at you. “Spot me a ten. What am I, a goddamn Rockefeller?”

“Not anymore,” Eddie Munson grins at you. Sun breaking through the bleak midwinter. The nerves cease their nibbling. 

—

The tension doesn’t exactly ease when you make a beeline for the drugstore (particularly because you’ve just accepted a goddamn miniature hero’s quest and he’s a little… well, he’s not not watching your ass as you walk away, let’s put it that way). 

Eddie and Nancy Wheeler are still absolutely enormous universes apart. Not even the same species. He doesn’t mind keeping it that way. This right here is just, like… the right thing to do. 

He moves to turn the radio down, figuring that the thrum of Fade to Black might be a little much for her right now. “Sorry. Didn’t mean for–”

“No, it’s okay.” Wheeler smiles that flat, priss smile reserved for the barest of polite gestures. 

Eddie nods, propping his elbow against the window, cupping his face in his hand. He keeps kind of sneaking sidelong glances toward Wheeler, because– well, had you told her anything? About… Seven Minutes in Heaven? Does she even remember that, from her birthday party all that time ago? He knew that you two weren’t exactly tight, but were well on your way to getting tight, but not as tight as you are with Ronnie and certainly not as tight as you are–or were–with him and Jesus Christ almighty, he’s got to find a synonym for the word tight.

“You… play Dungeons and Dragons, right?” Wheeler asks all of a sudden.

Eddie glances down– he is in fact wearing his Hellfire shirt. She’s a sharp one, that Nancy.

“I dabble,” he says, a derisive little chuckle that’s not all-the-way mean spirited.

Wheeler bobs her head. “My brother, Mike,” she says, and he sees now that it’s an effort to keep her nerves steady, “he loves it. Like, he’s totally obsessed. Him, and his friends, they’ve got their own little party going. Majorly long campaigns, very involved.” 

“Campaigns, parties. Using terminology like that, I’d say you’re something of a dabbler, Wheeler.”

Nancy chuckles. “I– may have dressed up as an elf for one. Or two. When I was way, way younger, though.”

“Well, your brother– Mike?” Eddie checks and Nancy nods, “Once he gets to high school, why dontcha tell him to look up Hellfire. Could be the best-worst decision he’ll make for the next four years of his life.”

“Right, because you’ll be passing the torch,” she says, grinning.

“And possibly to a Wheeler. Oh my stars and garters,” Eddie gasps, clutching his chest in mock-shock. 

Wheeler laughs and, okay, maybe she’s not so bad.

“Shoot, we have movement.” And out you come, holding the Advance pregnancy test over your head, gleaming and victorious– but Eddie and Nancy flap their hands, willing you to put that fucking thing away! We’re being subtle!

Climbing back in the van, you announce, “Alright, so the good news– no doctoral interference, obviously. The wonders of modern medicine, everybody give thanks to Johnson and Johnson, et cetera. The bad news– who knows of somewhere we can steal–” you glance back at the box, “--thirty glorious uninterrupted minutes of time?”

“Lacy, I can just–” Nancy starts, but you stop her short with a tap to the head. 

“And have you sitting in class all day with your guts churning because you don’t know what’s up or down that spout? I think the fuck not. We’re doing this now.” This is out of the goodness of your heart, you swear it is. 

But there might be a fraction, just a generous sliver, that still loves the drama. 

Like Steve Harrington, it’s not an immediate shed of the ego. It’s a slough. 

“Well, my place is a no-go,” Nancy tells you, shrugging into herself. “My mom will definitely be home.”

“Ditto,” and your mother is the only person you know that loves gossip more than you do. Besides Eddie, of course. 

After a beat or two of wondering silence, Eddie raises a hand. “I may… have someplace… we can go.”

—

How many cherry bombs does it take to make a boy’s bathroom look like the bombing of Dresden?

“So fuuun fact, turned out that some nerd swiped a hunk of sodium from the Chemistry lab and just blew this mother to shit,” Eddie brightly informs you and Nancy as the two of you pour over the instructions for the pregnancy test kit. 

“While everyone was distracted by Heather Holloway’s implants, you mean?” you murmur, scanning over the small-sheet size booklet.

“Streets are saying she was an accomplice.”

Holy fuck, these instructions were involved. Nancy stands clutching the little rectangular tray that her pee is supposed to go in, nailing Eddie with a look beyond normal categorical nerves. “You’re sure no one’s gonna come in here?” 

He shakes his head. There might as well be police tape all over the door of this bathroom, that’s how off limits it is. “It’s cold, it’s broken, it smells gross. Maybe some people are using this place to huff paint, but I can guarantee, Wheeler–” and he bends a little to meet her earnest eyes, “--I will bark like a fucking rabid dog to clear ‘em away if I need to.” 

Nancy nods shortly. Jerk, jerk. She disappears into the least dilapidated stall with her pee rectangle. 

“God, she is so scared,” Eddie murmurs to you, crossing his arms. 

You’re still studying the instructions. This shit has droppers and test tubes and color changing strips, oh my. “Pissing shouldn’t be a problem, then.”

Wrong.

“Guys.”

“Yes?” “Yeah, Wheeler?”

“I’m a little, ahem–” Bladder shy. Perfect. Awesome. Not that you guys aren’t going to be shacked up here for thirty minutes anyway, but that’s only after Nancy Wheeler goes number one and you, like, mix up the pregnancy oracle potion. 

Shit. “We’ve gotta do something to like, make her chill out–” Eddie half-mouths at you. 

“Yeah, but she’s so high strung, that’s like–” a spark hits you. “Wait, have you got anything on you?”

“Fresh out. Waiting on a shipment from Lipton landing.” 

You smack him, not even thinking, and he winces. “And all that shit you were smoking the other day, that was–” “That was market research, babe, and I told you that–”

Nancy clears her throat from inside the stall. “Please, don’t quit bickering on my account. I’m only trying to figure out whether or not I need to start rehearsing lullabies.” 

Damn Nancy, Eddie mouths and you almost laugh. Wait.

“Nance, what’s your favorite song?” 

“Huh?”

You shake your hands. “Like, the song you absolutely cannot go without hearing? The one that makes you feel, just–”

“Ticklish?” Eddie suggests, the paragon of knowledge, the pinnacle of your annoyance. You thump him again. “I need a safe word.”

“Um– uh…”

“C’mon, Wheeler, the song that makes you feel just… awesome and chill and on top of the fucking world, c’mon!” Eddie encourages, kicking detritus around the bathroom floor.

Nancy eventually, eventually mumbles something. 

You pivoting around on your heel by the sink. “Louder, Wheeler, I wasn’t born with sonar.”

“It’s– it’s ‘Just What I Needed’.”

What? Eddie mouths to you, arms binding across his chest. 

“What, like– The Cars, ‘Just What I Needed’?”

A pause from Nancy’s end. “... yeah.”

You know this song. You know that song, right, it’s like duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-DEW-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-DEW… Shaking yourself out, you brace up like a boxer heading into the ring. 

“Gimme a lead in, Nancy.” Holy fucking shit, you’re really doing this. Nancy hesitates, probably because she can’t believe any of you are really doing this. 

A mumble… “I don’t mind you comin’ here…”

“--and wastin’ all my time!” you jump in, “”cause when you’re standin’ oh so near, I kinda lose my mind…” 

Visions of a plush lilac bedroom, yours, and a mountain of clothes and makeup and drained wine cooler bottles on the floor. You, standing on your bed in your socks and shorts, vamping– Tina and Carol singing hairbrush backup, Nicole on air guitar and Cass smoking out the window. There were flashes of this, you know, when it wasn’t all boiling vitriol and subtle shivving and one-up-manship. When you and those girls that you wished you weren’t near but knew you needed actually felt like friends. 

A memory like that makes you feel empty. 

“It’s not the perfume that you wear,” oh my god, “It’s not the ribbons–in–your–hair,” is he really, “And I don’t mind you comin’ here– and wastin’ all my time!”

Why the fuck does Eddie Munson know this song?! Your jaw drops open, your eyes go wide and your feet stamp against the tile like a goddamn kid. Yes! Yes! Amazing! You’re both so fucking out of tune, like there is absolutely a reason he does not sing a single note in Corroded Coffin but by god alive, you’re giving it everything you got in that fucked up boy’s bathroom. 

Eddie’s so much better at it than you are, pouring every bit of obnoxious showmanship into it that he possibly can– complete with pulling you in for a fully nonsensical dance number. You spin into him, crashing into his chest with a clumsiness you never thought possible, laughing so hysterically that you can barely get the words out. He’s holding the reins, and holding that falsetto so badly you think the mirrors will shatter. 

Your skin is buzzing, your heart is hammering and Eddie is pressed against your back and you are both scream-singing to the door of Nancy’s cubicle– “I guess you’re just what I needed! Just what I needed! I needed someone to feed– I guess you’re just what I needed! Just what I needed I needed someone to–”

“Pee! Pee, you guys, I’m peeing!” Nancy’s voice, bright and high from actually laughing, rings from the busted toilet. 

You and Eddie erupt into a triumphant yell, him shaking you like a rag doll against him. The laughter peels away and then it’s just kind of him, looking at you from over your shoulder. His arms wrapped tight around your waist. His lips, a little cracked. Breath a little labored. Lashes still so long. You nearly–

The door flings open and he jumps away from you first. Nancy heads toward the sink and you resume the position, helping her figure out the Chemistry play set that holds the answer to how the rest of her life pans out. Thirty whole minutes, they’ve got to wait. 

Nancy notes the time on her watch. 

She even suggests that you guys can go at one point, but Eddie reminds her that a) he’s keeping an eye out for paint huffers and b) “... y’know, maybe it’s not so great to…” “Do this on your own,” you finish for him. Nancy nods, silent and grateful and so fucking nervous. 

At about the seventeen minute mark, when you and Eddie have smoked four cigarettes each and Nancy has tried a puff of one (“Nope,” she hacks, “still totally vile…”), Eddie tosses this stink bomb between you two. Nancy has excused herself to stand with her head against the cubicle door. Something about calming her nerves. Coming up with a plan. Something to tell Steve, no doubt. 

So it’s just you and Eddie, you sitting on the edge of the sink and Eddie rhythmically kicking the wall. 

“You ever wanna be a mom?”

“Jesus, what a time to land that one on me.” You almost make a joke like you haven’t even stuck it in me yet, but that’s in bad taste. And implies a yet. 

Eddie smiles over his shoulder, fluttering his eyelashes. Stupid. Stupid eyelashes. “Grounds of relevance.”

You pinch your lips between your teeth. “... fine. But, I fully reserve the right to change my answer given the fact that we are eight-shitting-teen years old.”

He points to the cubicle and mutters, “Well, she’s seventeen.”

You, wide-eyed at his dumbassery, mouth I know!

“Okay. Sorry. Go.”

“Fuuuuuck no. No babies pour moi, merci, c’est bon, au revoir!”

Eddie turns to lean against the wall, propping one leg up. God, but he does lean great. 

“Why?”

“Genetic fate.”

“Huh?”

A sigh flutters out of you, shoulders slumping forward. “A certain… how do you say, thread of assholery runs through my family, I don’t know if you’ve noticed.” 

Eddie nods sagely and you kind of want to punch him for it. “Daddy issues. Right.”

“Uh!” A hand flies up in your defense. “Let who among us here without them cast the first stone.”

From the cubicle, Nancy calls, “Not me.”

Surrendering, Eddie grumbles, “Yeah, not me either.”

“Glad we agree.”

There’s another tick and tock of silence, and you get the distinct feeling of something being pried open in the atmosphere. 

“... whatever happened with your dad, anyway?”

Ah. The million dollar question. Whatever happened with your dad, so-called upstanding member of the Hawkins community, poor little poor boy done rich, scaling his way up the ladder of property management in this delightful little Midwestern enclave?

“Not a big fan of the news, are we, Munson?”

He seems to grimace at you tugging on his surname. “Print’s too small.”

“Taking offense to that,” Nancy chimes. 

“It was the big ‘E’,” you say, kind of not into bantering about it. 

“‘E’... ‘E’... ‘E’...” Eddie kicks the wall on each utterance. Possibly forgetting that he could also be the big ‘E’, if he wanted. You wonder if, just in terms of size…

“Embezzlement, Eddie,” you cut that thought off cold. 

His eyes widen, eyebrows shooting under his shaggy bangs. “Shooooot.”

“Score.”

“What all did he, like… embezzle?”

The raising of the hackles is not entirely intentional. “Y’know who’d be able to answer that question, Eddie?”

But he sees it. He calms it. In unison, you both shrug, “Al Munson.”

Boom! Cubicle door flies open again. You’re starting to think that Nancy might just love making an entrance. Lot of flourishing happening here. Not entirely unlike Eddie in that way. 

“It’s time.” 

Each and every one of you beeline to where the test is set up on one of the sinks. Nancy gingerly plucks the offending strip from the test tube and Eddie, a man with money on his mind, asks another million dollar question. “So how do you know…”

You grab the instruction leaflet that you’d been tearing corners off of, making it look nearly moth-bitten. “Wait, it’s white, right?”

“It’s white,” Nancy whispers.

“It’s not, like… off blue, or…”

“No, that is white,” she’s trembling. “Is white– is that good, or– I can’t remember.”

“Nancy Wheeler…” you breathe, peeking over the paper, “Congratulations. You are nobody’s mother!” 

She emits a shriek like nothing you’ve ever heard and barrels straight into you, near knocking you off your feet with a strength you didn’t know this little waif was capable of possessing. Her arms wrap boa constrictor tight around you, her words bubbling over like a shook up can of pop. “Jesus Christ, I’m so relieved, I just– I–!”

“You’re relieved?!” Eddie yells, ringed hands tearing down his face, “I’m way too young to be an uncle! Fuck! Thank god!”

Nancy chokes out a laugh through her tears, tears of relief, thank god and– and you don’t know if it’s selfish and you don’t know if it’s possible but you hope… you hope that’s helped close the chasm. Just a little bit. That she didn’t have to do this all alone in a shithouse bathroom that smells like sulfur and piss. 

Breaking away from you (damn, you wish you knew how to hug), Nancy straightens herself up. Not that she needs to. She’s a pretty crier, that bitch. 

“Just one more thing, you guys.” 

“Anything,” you say before you even know you’ve said it. 

“This is… between us, okay?” her eyes dart from you to Eddie, and you both take a step closer to her. Ceremoniously, Nancy holds out her two pinkie fingers. You link. Eddie links. His finger looks comically large compared to hers– and yours, when he reaches and hooks it around your unsuspecting baby finger. 

“No one can know. No one needs to know.” There’s that headstrong Wheeler reserve you’d been missing. 

“Cross my heart,” you proclaim.

“Hope to d– well, I don’t hope to die, that’s a little dramatic–”

“Eddie!” you both bark, varying degrees of amusement. Yours is on the lower end. “Swear on something real,” you push. 

He hesitates a moment, then gives Nancy a look. “Alright. Swear on Hellfire.” 

“Swear on Hellfire,” Nancy grins all tight, and kisses her right hand, hooked into Eddie’s finger. “Lacy?”

“Swear on Hellfire…” You mumble, rolling your eyes and kissing your Nancy’d hand. You need to swallow, first, before you tug your hand that’s hooked into Eddie’s toward your mouth. 

And he does the worst thing. He leans down to meet your gaze, suckering you right in as his lips pout. They’re hungry. You’ve met those lips. “Swea-aar,” he sing-songs. 

“--on Hellfire, okay,” you scoff, half-laughing into the little kiss. 

“Ha!” Eddie barks, so fucking loud that it jumps off the walls. “Trick! You just made a deal with the devil, ladies, so I hope you enjoy eternal damnation at the hands of yours truly!”

Dumb as he is, Eddie might be right. If the way you’re looking at him is anything to go by.

author's notes: MERRY CHRISTMAS MOTHERFUCKERS. WE GOT IT WE DID IT WE MADE THEM KISS WE MADE THEM REALIZE SOMETHINGS NOT ALL THE THINGS SURELY BUT IT'S. IT'S SOMETHING. IT'S A START! on to the fun bits, like the jokes in the christmas crackers - absolutely obsessed with the mental image of eddie munson's bangs grown too long and he looking like this - cherry bombs down the john is a reference to the classic prank but mostly to american graffiti my beloved. later in the chapter, eddie says that some kid just threw some sodium down there which is something i read about on this reddit thread when researching cherry bombs. domestic terrorism at hawkins high! - p.t. barnum is that mfer that the greatest showman is based on. horrible man! not a fan! - heather holloway's jayne mansfield titties got me thinking about the jayne mansfield-sophia loren photo which has its own wikipedia page??? anyway, lacy coded! - black christmas is a stunning christmas horror film from 1974, which is loosely in part based on a bunch of murders that happened in the westmount neighborhood in montreal, quebec. fun fact, i just moved back from mtl after living there for a year. anyway black christmas kicks ASS - lipton landing is 100% a juno reference. big up my king elliot page - the thin man is one in a series of fantastic lil films from the 1930s all about nick and nora charles, a married couple that get drunk and SOLVE CRIMES. i'm not doing it justice by describing it that way but myrna loy and william powell are the royals of married banter and i model everything i write after their rhythm, more or less. - you're trying to tell me eddie munson didn't do whippets as a kid fucking wise up - one of my personal precious favourite recurring jokes in this series is 'who died and made you my x' and baby. i love a recurring joke - ronnie saying "oh she'll kill ya. then i'll go to work on ya," is a special reference because a) it's from my favourite film of all time, ocean's eleven and b) ayo edebiri, who i've fancast as ronnie ecker, has an ocean's eleven tattoo. we are sisters and also wives! - meep meep! - all i could think about when writing about how guilty lacy was - another metallica needle drop!!!! - pregnancy tests in the 80s really were that insane and involved! there's a great scene in glow (rest in fucking PEACE! gone but never forgotten) of alison brie's character using one, and here's more of the history - maybe the best needle drop of this whole series imo - finally peeped into those daddy issues. look forward to more of that and with that my hellcats, i wish you the merriest of holiday seasons wherever you find yourself and whatever you're doing. i will be back after the christmas break because i have to fully wreck my bank account and see every single person i have ever known and drink every espresso martini on dry land. sorry if there's typos in this, i have been labouring over it for... ever. reblogs, comments, likes and asks are always appreciated and i love you so much it's bordering on criminal! thank you!!!!

[upat4amwiththemoon]

Love your writing. Could you do one that R is Maya Bishop’s sister and is training for the Olympics. She is stressed about her Olympic tryout the following week and is hoping her sister can calm her fears and nerves. Reader kind of barges into her sister’s apartment with very bad timing catching Maya and Carina in a heated discussion which is a little triggering to R bc Lane is being terrible and placing all sorts of pressure in R. Maya and Carina help Reader calm down and feel better.

Under water

Summary: It’s hard to be your father’s favorite child when your sister has an olympic gold metal.

Pairing: Maya Bishop x sister!reader, Marina

Warnings: I have zero knowledge of the Olympics or swimming as a competitive sport, Lane is an abusive father

Word count: 874

a/n: What’s your passion? Swimming. I really like swimming.

masterlists | guidelines

Y/N is running towards Maya and Carina’s house, having lost her car privileges, because according to her father, she needs to use every minute of her life to train for the Olympic tryouts. Even going to her sister’s house.

Her legs are screaming at her to stop, or even slow down her pace, but she can’t afford to slack off. She needs to be the best, just like her sister. You need to be more like your sister. Your sister was a lot more serious about this than you are. Did you know your sister has a gold metal from the Olympics? The sentences run through her head as she pushes herself to speed up on the last meters. Considering the way her father uses her sister’s success against her, it’d be easy to become bitter to her too, but Y/N loves her sister. Maya is her safe place. Has been since she was born.

Panting slightly, Y/N comes to a stop in front of Maya and Carina’s house. She does a few harsh knocks on the door, but decides to just open the door with an extra key she got from the couple. She steps inside and closes the door behind her, immediately hearing loud voices coming from the living room.

“Hello?” She calls out, not wanting to walk in on anything she shouldn’t be a part of, but no one seems to hear her. Y/N starts walking towards the shouting, her heartbeat fastening with every step.

“You know that isn’t how it works!” Maya’s loud voice boom through the house. “I can’t just-” the sentence gets cut off by a groan.

In the logical part of her brain, Y/N knows Maya is nothing like their father, but the way she sounds when angry is so similar to him. Her breath hitches as a bang comes from the living room. All the memories of Lane throwing something her way coming up. “Shit.” She mumbles, leaning against a wall to calm down.

“I can’t talk about this right now.” Carina sighs, walking out of the living room, but stopping the moment she sees Y/N in their house. “Maya!”

“What n- oh.” Maya stares at Y/N, instantly worried of her. “What are you doing here?” She sets her hand on her arm.

“I was just really stressed about the tryouts and dad, so I wanted to come here, but then you two were fighting and I didn’t know what to do, and I-“

“Hey, hey, hey,” Maya pulls her into an embrace, “it’s okay. You’re okay.” She rubs her back. “I’m sorry you heard that.”

“What did your father do?” Carina asks, also setting a hand on Y/N’s shoulder once she pulls away from the hug. Maya glances at her girlfriend at the question, but doesn’t comment on it.

Y/N shrugs, leaning to the touch. Ever since Maya started dating Carina, the Italian has become another safe place for her. “Telling me to train a lot, gives me no breaks, yells,” she hesitates for a moment, “sometimes he throws stuff.”

Maya and Carina look at each other, the latter has a look on her face that Y/N can’t decipher. It looks like the subject makes the couple tense. “Has anything hit you?” Y/N avoids eye contact at the question, which makes Maya ask it again, “has anything hit you? Are you hurt?”

“It’s not a big of a deal. He wants me to do well on the tryouts and get a gold medal like you did.”

Rubbing her forehead, Maya starts pacing. ”It is a big deal, honey.” Carina’s hand goes up to brush her hair. She has a worried look on her face. “He is abusive.”

“Carina.” Maya speaks up. “He just- he wants us to succeed. He is the reason I have my medal.”

“Don’t say that stuff in front of her.” Carina whispers, as if Y/N wouldn’t be able to hear her. “He is hurting your little sister, Maya. He hurt you. He is not a good father.” The conversation is starting to get heated again. Clearly this was the subject of their earlier fight too. “I know you don’t want to accept it yet, but you have to agree that she’d be better off with us.”

Y/N frowns. Were they talking about her? “We’ll talk about it later.” Maya mumbles, turning back to her sister, clearly ending the conversation. “Carina cooked some lasagna earlier today, you want some?”

“Dad said not to eat too much.”

Biting the inside of her cheek, Maya shakes her head and pulls Y/N to the kitchen. “Well, I say you eat some lasagna. And then the three of us can watch a movie, okay? You’ll sleep over this night.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.” Carina speaks up, having followed them to the kitchen. “We’ll paint our nails and do our hair, have a pillow fight,” she laughs, “all the things they do in those American films, right?”

“Okay.” Y/N nods with a smile, already feeling like a small weight has been lifted. She knows it’ll all come back when she goes back home, but for now, she’ll enjoy Maya and Carina’s company.

[lucysarah-c]

~ Holy Ground ch. 3: Girl at home ~

Summary:

"Alright, get comfortable because this is going to be a long, crappy tale. Join me as we travel down memory lane, back when Erwin wasn't yet a commander, when Mike and Nanaba couldn't keep their hands off each other, when Hange was… well, Hange. And Levi? Well, Levi was a twenty-four-year-old man who didn't give a damn about the rules. Are you ready?"

Warnings: This story contains age gaps, time period misogyny and mentions of homophobia, strong and offensive language, underage sex, alcohol, smoking, implied/referenced of drug use. This is a very slow burn so everyhthing takes a while to happen. Explicit sex content. Virginity, loss of virginity, cheating, mentions of cheating, pregnancy but no by the main character, consensual sex, consensual underage sex, underage kissing.

Pairing: Levi x Reader x Erwin. Levi x Reader are end game. (this is not eruri). This story takes place after ACWNR but BEFORE season 1

-> Masterlist to all the chapters! <-

I observe the expressions on the faces of each of the kids here with me. Sasha and Connie appear quite bored, Jean and Armin seem skeptical, and Eren is in a heated argument with Mikasa about the cold weather and the need for him to wear a sweater or something.   "Am I boring you guys? Is this not what you had in mind?" I wonder, trying to understand why my story isn't having the impact I expected.   I receive mixed responses. Jean and Armin seem more engaged, but the rest... Well, they seem to be lost in their own world.   "Did the captain treat you like that?" Armin asks, visibly dismayed.   "What? You don't believe me? You can always go and ask Levi about the truth of the matter," I say, attempting a smirk to appear cool, but then I realize what I've just said. "Actually, no. Please don't go and ask Levi about it."   "Why not? Are you lying?" Sasha asks with a mischievous smile.   "No, I'm actually telling the truth, but the problem is that Levi hates sharing his personal life. So, for the sake of all of us, we should keep this as a secret," I explain, hoping to persuade them, and thankfully, it seems to work. If he found out I've been talking about him to his squad, it would pretty much seal the deal on our breakup.   "If it's true that you two used to hate each other so much, how did you start dating?" Jean asks, resting his face on his hand.   "Jean, a relationship isn't just a matter of saying 'hello, how are you? Do you want to get laid?' There's a process," I explain while rolling my eyes.   It's amazing how at that age, we think that love is some magical thing that happens suddenly and lasts forever. But in reality, it's much more complicated and terrifying. It's a painful process that can end well, or poorly, or sometimes it takes a long time to reach a resolution. I can't help but wish that my case isn't the last one as I touch my bandages.   'Is this what you wanted?' I reflect, suddenly feeling exhausted. I could do better than this, I know it. Running away like a frightened child. I shouldn't be here on this watch post. I should be talking to him, reminiscing while he holds me in his strong arms after a night of passion. Not here, not with them, not like this, no--   "Speaking of getting laid," Connie interrupts my train of thought. "When do we get to the spicy part?"   Suddenly, everyone is excited again. They all look at me with curious glances and a slight blush on their young cheeks. They can't seriously expect me to chat about my sex life with their Captain, right?   "Don't tell me you think I'm going to spill the beans about what happens in my bedroom?" I speak my mind, trying to confirm my suspicions. However, their silence and blushing faces confirm their disappointment. Except for Mikasa, who somehow reminds me of Levi.   "Let's make a deal. When we get to that part, we'll see what I'll share with you. The problem is, we're not there yet, and we'll never get there if you keep interrupting me," I say, and they nod, waiting for me to continue.   I take a sip from one of the bottles on the table. I wish I could hide my disgusted expression as they laugh at my reaction. Damn teenagers and their cheap alcohol.   Where was I? Ah, yes, the first morning of training with my not-boyfriend back then…

For those who may not know or haven't noticed yet, I'm originally from Sheena's Wall. I spent my entire life there before joining the military. Not just any district, mind you, but right in the heart of the capital city. It's truly an extraordinary place to call home. Now, the story of how a privileged girl like myself ended up in the Scouts is a tale for another time. My distinctive capital accent always seemed to give me away, and I'm willing to bet that Levi knew where I was from even before I uttered a word that night. It wasn't exactly a secret.

Perhaps it was my wardrobe, the variety of shirts and dresses I wore on our days off, or my hair clips and perfume that gave away my origins. This little fact about me may have made my initial coexistence with Levi quite challenging. While he was struggling to survive on unclean water, I was comfortably sleeping in a king-size bed surrounded by teddy bears and feather-filled cushions, with my maid preparing breakfast for me.

As usual, I woke up in my small, uncomfortable cadet bed, with my hair scattered all over the pillow. Mornings have never been my strong suit, to say the least. I stretched and prepared for the day ahead. During my morning routine in our shared room, I noticed two things. Firstly, Nanaba was not there, meaning she must have spent the night in Mike's room.

‘Lucky her, having a superior boyfriend. They get those beautiful rooms all to themselves, ’ I thought as I brushed my hair.

Secondly, I realized I needed to hurry because my training was about to start. Breakfast was served between 6 and 7 am for recruits, and somehow, I always managed to arrive ten minutes earlier and grab a cup of tea. I did a crown braid to keep half of it out of the way, washed my face, applied some moisturizer, and chose a shirt to wear for the day.

Once I was ready, I headed to the mess hall. Some might argue that I put too much effort into my appearance, but I could easily justify it. You see, one thing I learned during my time living in the capital city is that how people perceive you determines how they treat you.

With a smile on my face, I greeted and waved to everyone I passed along the way. This may have been another aspect of my personality that Levi couldn't tolerate back then. I entered the gates and scanned the room, searching for that particular short, black-haired man. To my disappointment, he wasn't there.

Glancing at my watch, I thought to myself, ‘ It's 6:45. Maybe he's not a morning person.’ I shrugged, thinking I might find him later to tackle our chores as a duo. I grabbed a tray of food and joined Petra and a few other girls, including Nifa.

“I adore the shirt that you are wearing today!” Nifa complimented me, a sweet girl who shared my interest in fashion.

“It would look lovely on you. The deep navy blue would make your gorgeous honey eyes shine even more” I added, smiling at her. Nifa and I used to go downtown together from time to time.

Usually, there wasn't much effort put into our outfits on duty days. I typically stuck to basic-colored shirts like white, shades of gray, and black. Occasionally, I'd opt for a black and white or navy blue and white horizontal striped long-sleeve shirt to add a touch of drama. However, that day, I had chosen a simple white shirt with a deep navy blue hem and buttons. I had always liked how blue complemented the color of the Wings of Freedom. Even the lace of the small braid of my hair was in the same shade, matching always. 

The majority of the others usually wear the first thing they find in the morning, regardless of its cleanliness or condition. In contrast, I take pride in my appearance, treating the corridors as my personal runway as I carry the tea for my squad leader.

"Hey Petra, since you seem to know so much about Mr. Grumpy, have you seen him?" I asked, not that I wanted to share breakfast with him, but I needed to make sure someone had spotted him at least.

My paranoia grew as Petra shook her head in response. "I hope he didn't oversleep on the first day," I mused. Little did I know that words like "oversleep" or even "sleep" were missing from Levi's vocabulary. I tried to enjoy the remainder of my breakfast, keeping my attention fixed on the door. But mealtime came to an end, and that little troublemaker was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey Gerald, have you seen Levi?" I inquired of one of my male comrades, thinking that a fellow cadet might have better insight.

"Who?" was his simple reply.

"Levi, the short guy from the underground?" The future Captain was nowhere near as popular as he is now, primarily because he hardly spoke to anyone.

"I have no freaking idea where that bastard is," the brunette answered, then added, "But maybe you should ask Will. I think they share rooms in the barracks."

I thanked him for the information, left my tray behind, and embarked on my search for my missing partner.

"Didn't Erwin tell him that we have morning chores to attend to? Where the hell is he?" I muttered while scanning the surroundings. I checked every nook and cranny, searching every corner and corridor for Levi or William. I even peered through the windows, hoping to catch a glimpse of him. Just as I was about to turn the corner, I spotted Will. He was mopping the corridors with another recruit, and I greeted them both with a smile.

"Hey Will, good morning," I greeted the tall black-haired boy. "Mind if I ask if you've seen Levi?"

"O-oh, hey! Good morning," Will saluted me back, a faint blush coloring his cheeks. He was such a sweet boy. "MH, I usually don't see him in the mornings. He's already gone by the time I wake up."

"What a pity," I sighed loudly, disappointment evident on my rosy lips.

"Maybe you should check the shower room in the male barracks. That guy definitely takes too many showers," the helpful cadet suggested without a second thought.

I thanked him and continued my investigation. It was already half past eight when I finished checking the common areas, and Levi was nowhere to be found. I didn't particularly want to venture into the male barracks, not only because it was prohibited for women but also because it was incredibly uncomfortable. But did I have any other choice?

"Y/N! There you are, the little lady of the Scouts," I recognized that distinctive voice anywhere. Hange was calling out to me from behind.

"Squad leader Hange, good morning!" I turned around, stood at attention, and saluted. Hange may be a bit peculiar, or rather, eccentric, as they prefer to be called, but they were still a squad leader.

"Oh, drop the formalities, sugar cube. We're good friends, no need to be so strict," the brunette said with a broad smile, as they always did. Extrovertly placing an arm around my shoulder as they pushed me closer to speak. "Anyways, shouldn't you be with Levi?"

‘Speak of the devil,’ I thought. Of course, I should have been with him if  he could be found anywhere. However, Hange was the only one who managed to have conversations with Levi, or at least tried to. Perhaps they had some tips for dealing with Mr. Grumpy.

"Well, I should be, sir. But I can't find him. Have you seen him yet?" I inquired, trying to sound as unbothered as possible.

"So weird, I saw Levi picking up his orders this morning. He must be somewhere," Hange raised their hand to stroke their chin while contemplating. "But if I were you, I wouldn't keep him waiting. He doesn't appreciate being made to wait."

‘He doesn't appreciate anything, if you ask me,’ recalling Nanaba's words. If he had already received his orders, then he must have known that we were supposed to do this together. I bid farewell to Hange and continued on my way.

If the female barracks were typically untidy, I couldn't even begin to describe the state of the male ones. With resignation, I knocked on the door of the shower room, and a partially dressed guy opened it. He had a towel wrapped around his waist and his bare chest exposed. I tried to avert my gaze as my cheeks grew warm. The male recruit leaned against the doorframe and examined me intently.

"Well?" he asked gruffly.

"O-oh, y-yes," my stammered response betrayed my embarrassment. "I'm looking for Levi." He turned around and called out loudly.

"Hey Levi, there's a good-looking girl asking for you here!"

I didn't know what was more humiliating—the fact that I was referred to as "a good-looking girl" or the insinuation that there was something going on between Levi and me. I could hear the laughter from the men inside the room.

No one replied, just silence. I didn't dare to peek inside to see the recruits' expressions, but I could sense that they, too, were awaiting a response.

"Well, it seems like that shorty isn't here. But if you're looking for a good time, I'm at your service, m'lady," he attempted to sound sophisticated, making a reference to my status. I rolled my eyes at his failed attempt.

"No, thank you," I retorted, slamming the door in his face and walking away.

‘Not in the mess hall, not in the common areas, not in the showers. Where the hell is he? It's already 9 am! We've wasted almost the entire morning.’ My mind raced with thoughts. Letting out a frustrated sigh, I approached one of the cadets walking by and asked for the location of Levi's room.

"Last room on the right," he had mentioned. I repeated it in my mind to avoid forgetting. If only I had known how many times I would sneak into that room for activities far from training.

Once again, I knocked and waited for someone to answer, but this time it was different. Another recruit answered the door, and as soon as I caught a glimpse inside the shared bedroom, I saw him sitting on his bed, engrossed in a book. I didn't wait for an invitation; I walked straight toward him.

"Excuse me? Can you explain what you're doing here?" I questioned, my tone laced with anger. I was far from being in a good mood.

However, my attempt to sound imposing failed miserably as Levi raised his gaze from his book to meet me. Nervously, I swallowed, feeling as if Levi's deep, piercing gray eyes were cutting through my soul.

"What the 'ell are you doin' 'ere?" Levi's deep voice echoed through the room, causing everyone to turn and see what was happening.

‘Think quickly, don't let him get to you,’ I reminded myself, preparing for the confrontation.

"I wouldn't be here if you had been in the mess hall like everyone else, starting their chores," I retorted, refusing to back down from the conversation.

"Huh? What did ya just blurt out?" Levi closed his book and rose from his bed. He walked towards me, clearly attempting to intimidate. The problem was that even a few inches taller, he appeared incredibly powerful.

"That's nonsense! You heard me! You should have been there!" I insisted.

“Lis'n up, ya posh little brat. I was bang on time; it's you, ya lazy scumbag, who never showed up.” Levi shot back.

"I was there before seven o'clock. On the other hand, you were missing," I argued.

“I ain't your damn servant. I stuck around 'til quarter past six. Next fuckin’ time, get your ass there earlier,” Levi retorted.

"Who cares what time I arrived at the mess hall! You should have waited for me. We wasted so much time!" I exclaimed.

"You're a right pain in the ass, innit?I done my bit, now piss off from my fuckin’ room. This is the last time you show your face 'ere,"

"This is supposed to be teamwork, Levi. You can't just go out and do 'your part.' Besides, what exactly is 'your part'?" I challenged.

“I ain't gonna sort out your crap life for ya. Go and take a look’s at what I've already fuckin' done 'cause I did wake up on time. Maybe if you didn't waste so much time tryna flaunt, you wouldn't 'ave missed me.” Levi hit back.

His words stung, but there was no way I would let him dictate how I should spend my time. "Well, at least I can show off. You can go out and buy the most expensive shitty clothes and still look like a filthy rat from a trash heap," I retorted.

My remark seemed to genuinely offend him, as he grabbed the collar of my shirt and lifted me up. I closed my eyes, expecting him to strike me.

"What the hell is going on here? Women aren't allowed, and I thought I made that perfectly clear! Levi, put that damn girl down, and Y/N, leave immediately before I report this to your superior," a commanding voice interrupted Levi's actions.

The other cadets who had been watching quickly stood up and saluted the superior. Once I was back on the ground, I hastily made my way out, not wanting to draw any further attention to myself.

Needless to say, I completed the rest of the work alone that morning. I didn't dare to approach Levi again, mainly because I wanted to keep my head attached to my body. The truth was, Levi had indeed done a significant portion of the work, but the question remained: When did he do it? I hadn't spotted a single strand of his dark hair on campus that morning. As I fed the horses, Will's words echoed in my mind, raising yet another question: "When the hell does that demon wake up if he manages to finish all the chores?"

After completing my duties, I headed to the mess hall for lunch. My mind was preoccupied with how to make this team function smoothly. "I was a bit harsh with him. I let him get under my skin," I reproached myself, reflecting on the events of the morning. "There's no use crying over spilled milk. We still have the afternoon training to make things right. If anyone can make this work, it's me. Don't let him affect you." This pep talk boosted my confidence and allowed me to approach the rest of the day with more optimism.

However, maintaining my positive outlook became nearly impossible when I entered the mess hall and felt everyone's eyes on me. As usual, I picked up my tray and joined my friends.

"Why is everyone staring at me?" I asked once I sat down and tasted the first spoonful of the flavorless soup they served.

"Well, well, well, look who we have here. They say there's a fine line between love and hate, but I never expected you to cross that line on the very first morning you were paired with that jerk," Nanaba teased, clearly enjoying herself. Meanwhile, Petra seemed quite upset with me.

I struggled to express my surprise, my bewildered face revealing my emotions. The spoonful of food I had scooped up fell back into the dish as I tried to gather my thoughts.

"Excuse me?" I managed to utter.

"Come on, don't act so surprised! You know better than anyone that rumors spread like wildfire here," the tall blonde girl explained matter-of-factly. She noticed that I was still lost in the conversation and added, "Everyone is talking about how you went to meet him in his room and how your faces were just inches apart before a superior interrupted."

I closed my eyes, trying to process this nonsense. Resting my head on my left hand, my hair obscured my face. It always amazed me how information could be distorted in just a matter of hours.

"That's not even close to what happened. He was nowhere to be found, so I went looking for him, and it turned into an argument in his room," I summarized the events.

"How could you do that to Petra? You knew how much she likes him," Nanaba remarked, clearly mocking me as she took a sip of her water.

But the real issue was that Petra actually appeared upset. She was sitting right in front of me, on the other side of the table. I reached out my right hand and placed it on her arm. "Petra, I would never do something like stealing someone's boyfriend or crush. So, you don't have to worry about me. In fact, when I get the chance, I'll find out what he thinks of you."

That seemed to ease her mind. I remember her smile, her innocent golden eyes filled with admiration for me. I know there's no excuse for what I did, but at that moment, my words were sincere. I never intended to come between them; it just happened. If only I had known then what I know now.

Link to my masterlist and my other works if you feel like checking them out. Tags!: @nube55 @justkon @notgoodforlife @nmlkys @humanitys-strongest-bamf @quillinhand @thoreeo @darkstarlight82 @aomi04 @levisbrat25 @fxnnyackerman @secretmoneybearvoid @feelingsandemotionsnotexplored @l3visthighs @hannieslovebot @flxrartsstuff @feelingsandemotionsnotexplored @starrylevi @rithty @mariaace @ackrmntea @emilyyyy-08 @levisfavoriteteashop @katestrophes @katharinasdiaryy @ackermanswifee @levistealeaf @an-ever-angry-bi @youre-ackermine @searriously @blackdxggr @storiesofsung @abiatackerman @braunsbabe @moonchild-angel @galactict3a @lemonsupernova @hyuckwon-my-husbands @heyitsd1yaa @sydneyyuu @love-for-faeries-go-burrrr @mandaax @sugacor3 @r0ckst4rjk @vegetasgirl2799 @catiwinky @pinksaiyans @sparklykeylime Wanna join my tag list? Here!

[midnightstay-blog]

hi! about the prompt list, could you do 6, 21 and 38 for jackson wang? fluff or angst, it's up to you. thx

Sure here you go. 🙂 I hope you like it. I did more of a mix of fluff and angst but it’s mostly fluff. But I don't know if I like the ending. Anyways thanks for requesting.

Tw: mentions of blood and alcohol.

💫Rain & Wounds.💫( Requested)

Angst 🌒 | Fluff 🌙| Gender neutral reader 🌓 | Romance🌹 |Request 💫| Scenario✨

Genre: Jackson Wang x reader

Theme : Friends to lovers

Summary: After an eventful night out with friends things between you and Jackson change forever.

Rating: Pg13

Word Total: 1,898

“Stop moving You’re making things worse for yourself.” You tell Jackson as you try to bandage his hand for the third time. You were out at a club when a guy started hitting on you. You tried to reject him, but he wasn’t in the mood to take no for an answer. Soon it caught the attention of a slightly drunk Jackson and let’s just say things went left from there. The night didn’t start out with him getting in a fight the complete opposite actually. Originally you were supposed to be out celebrating after you got the news that Your book had become a New York times best seller. However, as the night went on the group of friends that y’all were with suggested going clubbing. Fast forward a few hours and now here you are at 3 am in the bathroom of your two-bedroom apartment with medical supplies and a drunk Jackson to look after.

“I’m fine really.” Jackson stated trying to move you out of his way.

“You are far from it actually. “You tell him while placing a hand on his chest and lightly pushing him back towards the counter. “Your hand has a huge gash on it and you’re bleeding on my floor.” You state in a matter-of-fact tone.

For as long as you’ve known him Jackson had always been protective of you. Though you mentioned on multiple occasions that you are in fact grown and can take care of yourself, part of him could never quite let you.

“Oh, please that guy had it coming.” Jackson exclaimed.  Reaching into the first aid kit you grab an alcohol wipe in order to properly clean his wound. Noticing this Jackson quickly removes his hand from your grasp.

Letting out a sigh you grab his hand in an attempt to wipe the wound.

“Give me your hand I have to clean the gash. “Looking between you and the wipe he shakes his begins to shake his head making you roll your eyes.

“Jackson you’re a grown man you should be able to handle an alcohol wipe.” He goes to protest again but before he can you grab his hand wiping the blood from his palm.  He winces at the alcohol begins to work its way through his hand. Shortly after you apply some antibiotic ointment. Eventually the room briefly falls silent as you begin to reach for the gauze and the non-stick pads. Pressing the pad into his hand he winces again as you finish up. Examining your handy work, you instruct him to remove himself from your counter while you clean up your mess. Agreeing he makes his way into the living room. Sometime later you emerge from the bathroom and make your way over to the kitchen. Going over to the fridge you pull out a bottle of wine that you had opened the previous night and set it on the counter before offering him some. With his approval you reach over to your glass cabinet and pull two glasses before joining him on the couch.

For a while you two talk about all different kinds of things from work to friends even his upcoming fashion line. After a while you even started to go down memory lane a bit. “Remember that time you took me to meet BamBam and Yugyeom and he spilled what was it.” You pause snapping your fingers as you recall the memory. “Um… Oh it was lemonade I think strawberry lemonade if I’m not mistaken.” He insists. “Yeah, that’s right because it was a big pitcher of it too.” You said laughing. “Yugyeom ended up knocking the pitcher over and breaking it because he was trying to impress one of the girls at the pool party with this one dance move.” Jackson laughed as he recalled the memory. “And then turns out she had a boyfriend the whole time.”” I felt so bad for him, but man was that funny.” You added. After a while you could feel a slight buzz from the wine starting to take over and for a second you contemplate calling it a night. However, the memory of how you met begins to creep into your mind and you begin to smile.

“What?” Jackson asks noticing the change in your features.

“Nothing I was just thinking about how we met and how lucky I am that we did.” You tell him.

“Oh, please if anything I’m the lucky one. “He tells you.

“How so?” you begin to inquire. Silence falls over you and for a moment you can hear rain begin to fall against your apartment window.

Jackson takes a deep breath before he begins.

“How can I not be?” he admits.  “Your kind and you have a great personality.” “Also, you always look out for the people that you love and you’re there whenever I need you even if I don’t feel like I do.” “Not to mention you bake a mean birthday cake.” He says as he recalls the cake you baked him last year for his birthday. “And you always know what to say in times of crisis.” “You actually care about people not a lot of other people do that.” “Usually, it’s just an everyman for themselves type of deal.” Your smart and not to mention you are beautiful even when you don’t think so at times.”  He adds. “So, believe me when I say that I am very lucky to have you as my friend.”  He finishes. You sit there for a while touched at his beautiful words. “Jackson that was so beautiful thank you.” You say while pulling him in for a hug. You stay like that for a moment before you begin to pull away. Upon pulling away you both pause taking in each other briefly before sharing a kiss. Coming to terms with what is happening you both pull away before Jackson begins to speak once more.

“I love you.” he states. Though hearing it this time it sounds different. You take a moment to soak in his words letting them fully hit you. Soon after you clear your throat before getting up from the couch with you wine glass in hand.

“Your drunk “You exclaim waving your hand dismissively.

“So? “he says.

“So, you don’t mean that. “You say with a pause. “At least not in the way that you think you do.” You tell him.

He stands up from the couch and begins walking over to your kitchen island meeting you by it.

“I mean every word of what I just said to you otherwise I wouldn’t have said it.” He states sadness evident in his tone. Placing your glass in the sink you rinse it out before brushing past him and heading towards your hallway closet. Sometime later you re emerge with a blanket along with a few pillows and place them on the couch.

“It’s late you can sleep of the wine here you tell him as you begin to make up the couch.”

“Why don’t you believe me?” He questions. You stay silent for a bit before continuing. Walking over to you he places his hand over yours stopping you in your tracks.

It’s not that you don’t believe him. In fact, a part of you had always secretly hoped this day would come. You just wanted him to be sure this wasn’t one of those drunken confession things that he would regret later.

“Hey, talk to me what’s going on?” He questions placing his bandaged hand on your cheek. You lightly place a hand on his chest as you begin to softly push him away from you.

“Nothing.” You state placing your hands by your side. “I just- I just think that you should sleep off the wine and if you feel the same in the morning then we’ll talk about it.” You say giving a shrug. Not believing you but also not wanting to push the matter Jackson agrees. Not to long after you exchange goodnights before you make your way to your room and eventually fall asleep.

The next morning you are woken up by the smell of breakfast. For a moment you lay in bed confused before remembering the events of the previous night. Feeling somewhat embarrassed you crawl out of bed and make your way into the living room. There Jackson is stood at your stove making eggs. His shirt is missing but he’s still wearing his pants from the night before. Clearing your throat, you catch his attention before muttering a small “Good morning “and siting at the island. He response with a brief “Morning “before turning his attention back to the stove. “How is your hand? You inquire.

“It’s fine I changed the bandages already.” He states in a dryer tone. “Oh... okay.” And with that a brief and awkward silence befalls you both. Soon he joins you at the island and places your breakfast in front of you. Feeling the awkwardness cling in the air you contemplate addressing the conversation from the previous night. That is until he beats you to it.

“Look about last night.” He chimes. He tries to explain but you manage to cut him off.

“Don’t even worry about it we were both drunk and said/ did somethings that we probably didn’t mean so it’s fine.” You state hoping to save yourself from embarrassment.

“I meant everything I said to you last night.” He expresses. You sit there in a bit of shock. Noticing your state, he continues “When I’m with you it’s like seeing the sun after a week of rain.” “When I look at you, I forget how to speak.” “Often times I find myself saying something so embarrassingly stupid that I want to just evaporate into thin air.” I genuinely don’t know why my brain just goes blank when I look at you. I think I’m going crazy. “He states as if he just had an epiphany of sorts. Once he finishes, he looks over to you. For a while you just sit there looking at your plate of eggs while in deep though. If he really did love you, why did it take him so long to realize it? How long has he felt that way? Questions like this and more swirled in your mind however, in that moment the only thing you felt was happiness. A smile began to form on your features before you turned to him and gave a response. “I love you too.” You said slowly letting the words hit one by one.

“In all honesty I wanted to say it back when you said it last night, but I didn’t want this to be one of those drunken mistakes for either of us, so I waited.” You responded. “Really, I wanted to tell you ever since you showed up to my event last year, but I saw that really pretty girl with you and I chickened out at the last second. You say truthfully.

Your confession leaves him speechless for the first time since last night. Getting up from his seat he makes his way over to you. You take a moment to explain further. However, before you can he cuts you off with a kiss. This one is warmer than the last tender almost.  In that moment all of your previous worries melt away leaving just you and him.

Request are open

[anotherblinder]

My Sunshine

Summary || A trip down memory lane

Word Count || 1,004

Pairing || Thomas Shelby x Reader

Warnings || Angst, Reader Death, Mention of blood, Mention of sex and nudity

Note || Hello, it had been awhile! It has been a rough week, and i had found myself singing you are my sunshine. I realized i tend to do it as a comfort thing when things get really rough. Even if it tends to make me kinda cry. It seems that day was today. But don’t worry, it was just built up stress and I’m okay! Only I sing my own little one with a couple words changed, as i like how it sounds to me. This time as i softly sang it to myself this popped into my head and thought I would share it. I hope you all enjoy it! Also please, i don’t own the song. It would just make a good fic. I claim nothing man. Please don't steal my work

You are my sunshine

Bright, beautiful, warm, that’s how Tommy felt as he looked at you. The woman who loved him without hesitation. The mess he is, the ugly parts of him, the one he didn’t really want. It was a wonder to him how you could, but he didn’t think about it much. Not when he held the sun in his heart. Nothing could compare to the warmth you made him feel. The fullness he felt and never wanted to let go. The shine in your eyes every time your radiant smile graced your face.  

My only sunshine  

Nothing made him happier, brightened his world like you could. His family made him feel happy, but not like you. It's like a weight is always lifted off his shoulders when he’s around you. Just being next to you. It had always been that way. For as long as Thomas has known you. Deep down, he wanted to be selfish and keep you all to himself. Trap that shine and have it as only his, and you let him. Where he was somber like the moon, you were mellow like the sun.

You make me happy when skies are grey

It seemed to always go like this. He would come home late, beat the shit out of him. Looking and feeling like death; but you never faltered. Gently wiping away the blood and tending his wound with a touch he felt he didn’t deserve in that moment. The small, soft, loving smile as you did it. Or when his head got the better of him and the demons came blazing in. Tearing everything apart and making it hard to breathe. Thomas would feel your arms around him, humming a soft tune, and everything would melt away. Silence would enter his head and make it feel as though he could breathe again.

You’ll never know dear how much I love you

How could he properly express how much he loves you? Thomas felt as though he never would be able too. Sometimes, he felt as though you knew, that’s what he told himself. But there are moments he hesitates that you do. Thomas knows he would do anything for you, take a bullet for you, a beating, hell even death and the devil himself. He tried to show that as well in the actions he did. Buy you things he thought would make you happy or look even more beautiful in. When he takes you to bed and makes love to you, hoping you can feel the love he pours into it. But he feels it’s never enough, you’ll never know the extent of his love.

Please don’t take my sunshine away

There wasn’t anything that could take you from him. It was a thought Thomas never let cross his mind. Least that’s what he told himself. To move through that fear of losing you. It was suffocating, never can Thomas stay on that image. Even when he banishes, it lingers in the back of his mind.

The other night dear, while I was sleeping

It was a long day and Thomas didn’t hesitate to fall into bed and fall asleep. A rest his body needed after the day he had. Long and tiring. Nearly getting in a fight, shots being fired, new deals needing to be made. Anything to keep him going.

I dreamt I held you in my arms

Sunlight shined though the window and he felt warm. The dip in the bed beside him, making a smile come to his lips. Turning over, he slung an arm over your waist, looking down at you. Sleeping like the world had already woken up. Shifting, he laid back down on the bed and pulled you into his arms. Close to his chest and heart. Feeling the warmth radiating off of you. Making the cold air around him disappear and he kissed the top of your head and fell back asleep.

When I awoke dear, I was mistaken

Slowly Thomas opened his eyes and felt that warmth slowly vanish. Sunlight streamed through the blinds and a heavy feeling came over him. Empty, hollow, cold. Slowly he sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. The cold air pricked his skin, but he paid it no mind. Taking a deep breath, he looked over his shoulder. To the spot you used to sleep, the warmth that would come from that side of the bed in the mornings. Who would put that warmth there.

And I held my head and cried

Turning his head away, Thomas felt the familiar tightening of his throat. The heaviness on his chest, the stinging sensation in his eyes. Taking a shaky breath, he placed his elbows on his knees and held his head in his hands. A broken sob escaped him as he recalled the dream that felt so real. How he secretly hoped it was. The scene played in his head, you lying there in his arms. Blood staining his shirt, his heart, his soul, his sun. If only he had been faster. If only.

You are my sunshine

"Are you sure? There are other woman far better to be on your arm than me Tommy.”

“No, there is only you, please, marry me. Give me the honor of calling you (Y/n) Shelby. My wife.”

“Yes, I love you, Thomas. My husband.”

My only sunshine  

“There is no place I’d rather be than here with you.”

“Oh? Is that because I'm here naked next to you Tommy?”

“That does help.”

You make me happy when skies are grey

“You shouldn’t be getting your hands dirty over me (Y/n).”

“I’ll dirty my hands over you until they fall off Thomas. It’s my job to care for you.”

You’ll never know dear how much I love you

“I love you so much, I don’t say it enough but I do.”

“I love you too Tommy. As the sun falls and the moon rises.”

“Please don’t take my sunshine away.”

[sasheneskywalker]

brudick fic recs

a bird in the hand by wingdingery The first time Clark meets Robin, he’s completely confused about why Batman (Mr. I am vengeance, I am the night, and I work alone) would choose to have a hyperactive neon-colored ten-year-old as his partner in vigilanteism.

Over the next twenty years, he comes to understand clearly what makes Nightwing so special—though the relationship between Dick Grayson and Bruce Wayne never gets any less complicated over time.

T | No Archive Warnings Apply | Dick Grayson & Clark Kent, Dick Grayson & Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson/Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent & Bruce Wayne

a painting you could never frame by wingdingery Batman gets hit by a curse that can only be broken by his soulmate. Fortunately, that’s easy enough for Dick to fix.

The only problem is, no one else knows that he’s Bruce’s soulmate—not even Bruce himself.

T | No Archive Warnings Apply | Dick Grayson/Bruce Wayne

the courage of stars by wingdingery Dick's time at Spyral ends with the Somnus satellite getting activated – and all memories of Richard John Grayson ever existing wiped from the world. After Dick realizes that trying to get anyone to remember him only causes them pain, he decides that the best thing to do is say goodbye to Gotham and leave his old life behind entirely.

The only problem is, his old life can’t seem to let him go.

T | No Archive Warnings Apply | Dick Grayson/Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson & Everyone

love is a river by wingdingery Realizing that he’s in the future is unsettling enough for Bruce; realizing that everyone in the future is trying to keep something a secret from him is even worse.

But realizing exactly what that secret is turns out to be the worst of all.

T | No Archive Warnings Apply | Dick Grayson/Bruce Wayne

mutually assured by wingdingery Dick’s mom always told him that kissing a wound would help it heal faster.

Somehow, Dick’s not sure that’s ever really worked for him and Bruce.

E | No Archive Warnings Apply | Dick Grayson/Bruce Wayne

when all the walls come down by wormsin This isn't the first time one of them has been dying in the other's arms. But it might be the last. As far as deathbed confessions goes, Dick thinks his is pretty good.

“Once upon a time, there was a kingdom without a King or Queen…”

-

Or: It takes a building falling on their heads for Dick to tell Bruce how he really feels.

E | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings | Dick Grayson/Bruce Wayne

One-Way Glass by wormsin Dick Grayson—husband, father, hero—is de-aged to his early days as Robin.

There are lots of different ways to look at the past. Sometimes, it's hard to know what really happened.

E | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Underage | Dick Grayson/Bruce Wayne

Hit me with your sweet love, steal me with a kiss by ful_crum After Jason’s death, Dick spends more time back at the manor. There are many opportunities for sparring between Bruce and Dick, but it’s only a matter of time until sparring turns into fighting.

Or, what happens when you fistfight your former mentor that you kind of hate and kind of love?

M | No Archive Warnings Apply | Dick Grayson/Bruce Wayne

Compromising Positions by ful_crum Bruce and Dick keep getting caught in compromising positions. It’s all just circumstantial though, of course. Dick keeps insisting they aren’t fucking, so they must not be.

Right?

OR, five times someone walks into Bruce and Dick in compromising yet innocent positions, and the one time they’re actually fucking.

(BruDick Week 2024 — Day 6: Caught in the Act)

E | No Archive Warnings Apply | Dick Grayson/Bruce Wayne

Fledgling by quickmanifyouloveme "But are you in love with me?"

"I can't let you leave."

Bruce Wayne has died. Tim asks Dick why he doesn't want to help get their father back. Dick is tired of lying about the two years before he left to become Nightwing.

E | Rape/Non-Con, Underage | Dick Grayson/Bruce Wayne, Tim Drake & Dick Grayson

Down the Line by Averia It's just Bruce being Bruce, Clark says. Lois Lane begs to differ.

M | No Archive Warnings Apply | Dick Grayson/Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent/Lois Lane

Your fortress face belied your fort of lace by treacherous And does any of this lame introspection even matter now when his dick is chubbing up and Bruce is looking at him the same as when he’d brought flavored lube to bed and they didn’t come up for air until the next morning?

(or, Bruce and Dick inevitably come together, inevitably fall apart, and tonight, Dick is weighing the ethics of asking your ex exactly why he broke up with you while he’s dosed with truth serum)

E | Underage | Dick Grayson/Bruce Wayne

Happy Acres by Kyele When a seemingly-rehabilitated Dr. Quinzel opens an upscale retreat for couples in crisis, Batman needs to investigate. An undercover mission as Bruce Wayne and partner should do the trick. Unfortunately, his first choice for the mission is unavailable. As is his second. And his third. And -

“What’s more important?” Dick challenges. “Your considerations - or the lives of the people who may be endangered by a delay in getting the truth about Happy Acres?”

Bruce opens his mouth, and then closes it again. He knows the answer to that. He believes the answer to that. He just - he can’t even form the thought. Logically he knows what Dick is suggesting, but it won’t even compute. He has spent too long preventing his mind from ever considering Dick and romance at the same time.

Dick, who doesn’t have Bruce’s feelings, also doesn’t have Bruce’s difficulties. “That’s what I thought,” he says. Despite his victory, he somehow sounds weary. “So get over yourself, and hand me the damn pocket square. I’m your date tonight, and you’d better start getting used to it.”

E | No Archive Warnings Apply | Dick Grayson/Bruce Wayne

Casino Royale by spaceisgay (ChancellorGriffin) Boravia’s grand casino, once a hotbed of European crime, has reopened with a high-stakes poker tournament Bruce Wayne suspects may be the work of Roulette. In a country where superheroes are banned, the only way to foil a criminal conspiracy is to enter the tournament as himself, and play his way up to the top.

But not just any card-playing billionaire can get his name on the list. The real price of admission is a lot higher than the two million dollar buy-in. You also need a secret to offer up as your stake. A dirty one. The kind a man like Bruce Wayne would pay dearly to keep quiet.

Enter Dick Grayson.

Though he agrees to accompany Bruce to the tournament in the guise of his illicit lover, to help him fake a blackmail-worthy secret besides the one with masks and capes, Dick's not wild about spending so much time with his old friend in flirtatious playboy mode; but somehow it's harder than expected to watch Bruce direct that legendary charisma at other people, and Dick doesn't quite know why. Over the course of four days, what began as a straightforward undercover job devolves into a messy emotional tangle which forces both men to confront truths they’ve kept hidden for years . . . even from themselves.

E | No Archive Warnings Apply | Dick Grayson/Bruce Wayne

You are forever in my mind by orphan_account This started off as a simple idea: Bruce installs a new set of cameras in the manor; cameras he doesn't tell anyone about. One night, he accidentally sees something that fundamentally affects him - and the way he looks at Dick.

E | Underage | Dick Grayson/Bruce Wayne