#and then she did something mean in retaliation and he realized she actually hated it/him

[ladykailitha]

Never Hold Back Your Step... Part 11

Heeyyy...look at that! Another chapter of this story just a scant few days after part 10.

I'm putting this one out first because I finished a chapter for it first and it's always first come first post in this house.

I am little concerned that not putting these out like I should has severely hurt engagement (god I hate that word but it's accurate) for these stories. This one and werewolf Steve didn't even get out of the 50s in the notes. Metal band Steve did a little better I think because it's the Nancy chapters and people were really into those on WIP Wednesdays.

But if you guys don't want to post these let me know, I have dozens of other ideas that are just chomping at the bit to be written.

In this chapter Steve deals with Robin with mixed results.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10

~

Eddie found the YOU RULE/YOU SUCK board hilarious. As did most of their friends, only Jeff was on Steve’s side.

“He is sacrificing his dignity for Eddie’s comfort,” Jeff pointed out, “a little appreciation wouldn’t go amiss.”

Eddie wrapped his arms around the pouting Steve. “It just means it’s working.”

“She’s openly mocking me and you guys are having a giggle about it.” Steve didn’t push him off him but he didn’t return the hug either.

The smile slipped off Eddie’s face and he gently lifted Steve’s chin. “I didn’t realize it was hurting you that bad, Stevie. It wasn’t meant to be malicious.”

Steve nodded but didn’t say a word. He pinched his nose and rubbed the end.

“Hey, hey,” Eddie said, leaning down to look up at him. “We’ll stop.” He turned to Brian and Gareth. “Won’t we guys?”

Gareth and Brian shared a glance.

“Yeah,” Brian agreed. “We’re really sorry. It was meant in good fun.”

Gareth let out a sigh. “You know,” he said scratching his chin thoughtfully, “it is a pretty shitty thing for her to do. Like, she’s always so hostile to Steve when we go and get ice cream there. Not to us, just him. It’s almost like she doesn’t believe we’re actually friends with him.”

Brian and Eddie shared a shocked glance.

“Holy shit,” Brian hissed. “I don’t think I ever noticed.” He looked over at Steve. “What did you want us to do, man? Because she shouldn’t be allowed to keep harassing you like that.”

“Oh,” Steve said softly. He hadn’t been expecting them to want to go to bat for him, let alone ask him what he wanted them to do.

Normally Carol and Tommy H. would just retaliate if they did anything at all.

“It’s okay, guys,” he promised. “I just didn’t want to be teased mercilessly for it. She thinks I’m too dim to notice her eye rolls and sneers and then play it up in front of customers when they notice.”

Gareth burst out laughing. “That’s hilarious.”

~

“Harrington!” Robin called out. “There is someone named Henderson out here to see you!”

Steve came barreling out of the back. “Henderson is here?!”

They did their dorky little handshake that left Steve ‘dead’ on the floor. He bounced back up and hugged Dustin tightly.

“Just how many children are you friends with, Harrington?” Robin snarked, leaning back against the counter with haughty expression.

Dustin raised an eyebrow. “You’ve seen Mike and them?” he asked Steve.

Steve frowned and tilted his head to the side in confusion. “Why? Is something wrong?”

Dustin just shrugged and looked away. Steve frown deepened and he put his arm around the boy.

“Why don’t you go sit down and I’ll make you a banana split and you can tell me about it over ice cream?”

Dustin nodded and went to go sit down.

Steve turned around to see Robin smirking at him. “What’s that look for? It’s my lunch break.”

She rolled her eyes but slid away. Steve shook his head and went about making Dustin’s “Banana Boat” as it was called on their stupid little menu. He got it made but led Dustin out of the shop to one of the tables out in the food court so that the kid could feel like he could talk without judgment.

“So what’s up?” he asked as they slid into booth just across from Scoops Ahoy.

Dustin poked at his ice cream. “The guys were supposed to meet up with me yesterday after I got home and they didn’t.”

Steve felt that like stone sinking into his stomach. He knew what it was like to be ghosted by people you trusted. “Hey, maybe they just forgot. You know what airheads they are without you.”

Dustin snorted, but the mood lightened and Steve counted that as a win.

“Tell me about your camp,” he said. “You must have a lot of fun.”

Dustin lit up and started talking about the camp and all the things he learned. “But the best part was Suzie. She’s from Utah. Dude, she is so hot.”

Steve blinked at the other boy in confusion. There were girls at this nerd camp? “Hot, huh?”

His answering grin was blinding. “Hell, yeah. Even hotter than Phoebe Cates, man.”

Steve knew what the answer to that should be. And before he met Eddie, he would have said it instinctively. But now he wasn’t sure what he was going to tell him. So he just nodded, lips pursed tightly in a thin line.

“Her name is Suzie Bingham,” Dustin barreled on without noticing Steve’s obvious discomfort. “Kissing her is great. Though apparently kissing without teeth is better. Who knew?”

Steve was glad his lips were already pressed into a fine line because he would have burst out laughing. “Yeah, who would have thought.”

“So that co-worker of yours isn’t too hard on the eyes,” Dustin said wagging his eyebrows suggestively.

Where the fuck did this kid get lines like that? Jesus H. Christ! Oh. Oh, yeah. Him. He gave Dustin those lines. Before he met Eddie and found out the reason he had to work so hard with girls is that he was gay. Who knew?

“She is not my type,” he answered truthfully. “She’s mean, and a little weird and absolute nerd.”

She was too.

Dustin rolled his eyes. “When are you going to start realizing that high school hierarchy is a bullshit social construct?”

Steve tapped his lips thoughtfully. “Who does that saying remind me of?” He hummed for a moment as the kid glared at him. “Oh I know! Eddie! You know, the guy that befriended me when everyone else abandoned me? That guy! I think I know better than you what is and what isn’t a ‘social construct’, twerp.”

Dustin cocked his head back and forth, sticking his tongue out and making mocking noises. “I’m just saying that you should snap her up before someone else does.”

Not for the first time and certainly not the last, Steve briefly thought about telling this kid his sexuality at least. He wouldn’t even have to bring Eddie into it at all, he could just tell the butthead that he liked men and to leave Robin out of this.

Which he really needed to do, just maybe not in an overly populated mall on a hot day in the height of summer, though.

“Whatever, dude,” Steve said, shaking his head ruefully and rolling his eyes. “Look, I’ve got get back to work. I’ll catch you later.”

~

“Just how many children do you have, Harrington?” Robin asked when he got back. “Because seriously. There are actual hoards of them running around.”

Steve rolled his eyes. “Erica is a force of nature that cannot be contained. She comes with her own hoard. I am not responsible for her or friends. They scare me.”

Robin was about to say something mocking, but she had seen that little girl in action and actually secretly agreed with him on that one. “And the others?”

Steve took a deep breath and started counting off on his fingers. “There are the girls, Max and El. El’s dad is super strict about her being about. Max is a recent addition and could out bitch god and I love her for it. Then there’s ‘the Party’,” he put air quotes around ‘the Party’, “Dustin, whom you just met and the other three shitheads trying to get into movies free. Lucas, Mike, and Will.”

“And you are responsible for all of them?” she asked, eyes wide.

Steve threw back his head and laughed. “God no, at least not outside of being their babysitter, anyway.”

Robin slid up to the counter and leaned over it. She clasped her hands together and stared at him intently. “You mean to tell me that there are actual honest to God parents that allow you the sole custody of their child for a few hours?”

He rolled his eyes and ignored her, going to the back to clock back in from his lunch.

“Come on, Harrington!” Robin called. “You have to admit it’s hard to believe that King Steve, Keg King, Mr. Big House, No Parents actually watching kids. You know that right?”

Steve threw open the window shutters, and pounded his fist on the counter. “Look, I really don’t care what you think, you’ve obviously got a grudge against me or whatever. We don’t have to like each other or hell, even get along. But can you cut the bullshit, please?”

She opened and closed her mouth, stuttering and stammering, before she nodded.

“Thank you.”

~

When Eddie came to pick Steve up from work, Robin was eyeing him suspiciously.

“Hey, Eds,” Steve greeted. “Just let me grab my stuff and change. I am sticky all over.”

“Awww,” Eddie cooed. “You look cute in those shorts, Stevie!”

“Oh ha,” he grumbled. “I am coated in every flavor of ice cream, sauce, syrup, and topping we have today. If there was hose back there, I’d spray down my shoes. They’re gross.”

“And I know how much you care about those little blue sneakers of yours,” Eddie said with a chuckle. “Go. Get changed. I’ll be waiting at one of the tables.”

Steve nodded and made his way to the back. As soon as he was gone, Robin looked over her shoulder to make sure Steve had really gone to the back. She hurried over to the table where Eddie had sat down and sat across from him.

“I’ve got to know,” she whispered. “What blackmail does Harrington have on you to make him hang out with him?”

Eddie reared his head back and then tilted it. “You want to say that again? I don’t think I heard you right.”

“Come on, Munson,” she said. “People like us don’t hang around people like him. So what has he got that would make you keep coming back.”

Eddie’s mouth nearly ruined everything by blurting out a big dick! But thankfully he managed to stop himself in time. “I guess that depends on what you mean by people like us.”

Robin rolled her eyes. “Poor, nerdy, musicians, freaks and weirdos.”

He forced out a breath and then another. He thought that she was going to say queer in that list and then he really would have opened his big mouth.

“And I know the band teacher forced you to pit for the school musical, Buckley,” Eddie growled. “He fought hard for that part and almost got a bucket of water dumped on him for his troubles. He was at Hellfire’s table during lunch. I know the reason he changed, but have no doubt he has.”

He knocked on the table and stood up. “I won’t say I don’t get the impulse to rag on the guy, but he’s one of ours now.”

Just then Steve came out and Eddie walked out with him without a word to Robin.

~

Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16

Tag List: NINE SLOTS REMAINING

1- @mira-jadeamethyst @rozzieroos @itsall-taken @redfreckledwolf @zerokrox-blog

2- @gregre369 ​@a-little-unsteddie @chaosgremlinmunson @messrs-weasley @kultiras

3- @maya-custodios-dionach @goodolefashionedloverboi @val-from-lawrence @carlyv @wonderland-girl143-blog

4- @justforthedead89 @irregular-child @bookbinderbitch @bookworm0690 @blondie1006

5- @anne-bennett-cosplayer @yikes-a-bee @awkwardgravity1 @littlewildflowerkitten @genderless-spoon

6- @dragonmama76 @ellietheasexylibrarian @thedragonsaunt @useless-nb-bisexual @angels-of-hades

7- @mugloversonly @y4r3luv @greeniebean911 @birbsauce @acingthecounts

8- @cryptid-system @counting-dollars-counting-stars @ravenfrog @dreamercec @sadisticaltarts

9- @clockworkballerina

[viburnt]

Hellooo ! Can you write about bakugou being our bully since we were kids?? Loveur contect!

Heya! Anon, you didn't give me more specifics so I went with the "boys are mean when they like you" route. Hope you like this~

CW: Bullying, emotional manipulation, threats, coercion, angst, dark content

Childhood bully Bakugo

There has to be a reason for Bakugo to bully you since kids although, to be fair, anything could've triggered that reaction from him. Quirkless? Chasing after a big dream? Perhaps you are better on something he is not. Or maybe people likes you more! Whatever the reason is, Bakugo's grip on you gets progressively worse with time, not as bad as Deku's dynamic with him, but still.

Bakugo's mom likes you a lot, by the way; she always encouraged you to play with his sonny. If only she knew...

As a kid, Bakugo would tend to pull your hair whenever you were too happy about something, sometimes sticking gum to it so you'd have a hard time later. Something about your smile made him feel...weird, and don't get me started with your laughter. He also disliked how much adults and classmates praised you when you did a good job. Why? Because he's supposed to be the best! So if it was him who did good and got praised, he'd look at you with the most smug smile a kid can make and start saying things like "See? That's how you do it! Maybe learn."

Sometimes, just sometimes, he'd be a little bit nicer, scaring away other bullies that would annoy you. Your tiny brain couldn't understand why, so you'd only thank him and scurry away.

Don't get me started with Deku. If you had a nice friendship with Izuku as a kid, Bakugo used that as an excuse to be even more mean to you. "Friend of a loser is also a loser". Besides, he hates seeing you with the freckled boy, even after growing up. The blond can't pin point what bothers him so much about it, but he truly wants to vanish Deku with his own hands whenever you chitchat with him. He'd tease the greenette telling him he was your boyfriend of sorts, but he stopped once he realized Izuku actually liked you. It angered him to know that, getting rough with you.

Teen years of course allowed you to be more adventurous, and while you may have changed a lot, Bakugo was still the same prick to you and Izuku. How Bakugo behaves depends on your personality: if you allow him to bend you until you break, he'll do, just like how he did with Izuku. If you don't get bothered anymore by his antics, he'll retaliate. The only way you had to reduce his antics was to fight back. Mitsuki, Bakugo's mom, always asked why you stopped visiting; you never had the guts to tell her.

Highschool was an odd period for you an Izuku, but not weirder than your time in UA. Bakugo would hang out with his "friends" and annoy you in every given chance. Low grades? He had better ones. High grades? You were such a nerd. Trying to make new friends? He'd scare them away from you because he hated the idea of someone else being with you. Bakugo was the dragon of your tower, scorching any possibility of running away.

If you had the balls to stand up for yourself and Izuku, he'd get pissy. "How dare you talk back to me?" But he wouldn't do more than yelling. It's weakness that makes him worse, being passive triggers a violent response from him because "Why are you not paying attention?" He'd hide your stuff, throw out your books, write things on your desk. He wanted a reaction. Bakugo needs to know he is getting through you, he needs to know he is on top of you and owns you.

The beginning of your stay at UA was a bit scary, specially because Bakugo's behavior got amplified by the opportunity of being "the best". He was already angry that Izuku managed to get in (it surprised you too, honestly, but were happy for him), so you getting in too was a plus. Izuku and you were still very close because of your shared experience with the blond, both of you wary of the reality. Bakugo despised the way you'd protect and take care of Deku, to the point where he warned you that if you continued, you'd make it worse for Izuku. Low-key coerces you to bully Izuku because otherwise he'd do something bad to him, and you knew what he was capable of.

There's a high chance that Bakugo bullies you because he can't bear how you make him feel, but that's another story. Overall, Bakugo is the kind of bully that isolates you from others and hates when you're doing good. The kind of bully that enjoys making you scares because it's the only form he has to get to you, living rent free in your head like a nightmare. He low-key accepted that it didn't matter if he was a monster, he'd be your monster. A vice grip you wouldn't get rid of.

You stand in front of Izuku's desk, hot salty tears rolling down your cheeks as Bakugo holds out a permanent marker for you to take. "What are you waiting for? Do it!" The blond yells, growing impatient as you shake your head. "I'm gonna beat him to a pulp if you don't do it, is that what you want?" He laughs, hearing you sob.

Bakugo wanted you to write mean things for Deku to see, so that Izuku could see how much control he had over you.

"Please, don't make me do it!" You cry, hugging yourself in fear. Katsuki grunts, yanking the cap of the marker and approaching you. The black tip of the tool reaches your face, his hand scribbling something.

'Crybaby'

"Don't wash it, or else..."

Tags: @doumadono @shonen-brainrot @imaginationmess @shionancientsblog @trickster-kat

[starlightsuffered]

All is Fair In Love and War

I couldn't help but smirk as Regulus took his first bite of biscuit at lunch. I may or may not have tampered with it at some point before lunch, when Regulus was at Advanced Potions, and I had a free period.

Me and my fellow Slytherin had an ongoing prank war. It had started at the beginning of last year when Regulus had accidentally pushed me into the Black Lake. I'd retaliated by transfiguring his favorite ring into a rat. He hadn't been pleased about chasing the silver rat around.

I hadn't known if the war was happening this year, but then he'd shot aguamenti at me, at the train station. It was so strong, my drying spell wouldn't work. He'd snickered at me the whole ride.

When Regulus took his last bite, he sprouted large, fluffy, pink, bunny ears. The Slytherin table burst into laughter. Even the first years we're laughing, and they were usually terrified of Regulus.

"What?" Regulus asked Lucius, who was laughing so hard he nearly fell out of his seat. Regulus took out a mirror. He would have a mirror on hand, he was such a pretty boy. He gasped at his appearance and turned to me with a glare.

"Really? Rabbit ears?" He demanded. I was cackling.

"It's a good look," I said, with tears of mirth in my eyes.

"Oh really," he said with a devilish grin. "Well, try not to fall in love with me then, y/n." He batted his eyes at me, my stomach flipped.

"Oh for Merlin's sake!" Andromeda slammed her hand down on the table. Things quieted down as she looked from me to Regulus.

"What do you mean, 'try not to', you idiots are already in love. I can't be the only one who sees it, it's glaringly obvious!"

My face was hot, my ears burning as I looked down at my plate. I peeked over at Regulus to see his usually pale cheeks were a bright red.

"Very funny cousin," he spoke up, his deep voice laced with anger.

I left lunch as quickly as possible. I avoided Regulus for the rest of the day. It was odd, I usually spent most of my free time with him. Despite our prank war, we didn't hate each other, we were friends.

I kept thinking about what Andromeda said. Were in love? I'd never been in love, how would I know. What were the typical things people said.

Who was the first person I thought about when I woke up? Who was the last person I thought about when I went to sleep? Who did I want to tell first, when I had good news? Who did I mainly want to spend my free time with?

I was surprised to find the answer to each, was indeed, Regulus. I needed to think of more questions because this could NOT be happening.

Did I feel happy around him? Yes. Did he treat me kindly? Other than the pranks, which were jokes, yes, he always did. Did I trust him? Yes, implicitly, I could trust a prank would never go too far, and he wouldn't do anything that involved actual insecurities I had.

He was kind, and funny, and extremely attractive. Had I been lying to myself, telling myself I only thought of him as a friend? It seemed I had. Now, I had to find him and see if he felt the same.

I raced to the astronomy tower, where I knew he would be. It was starting to get dark. So I cast lumos to light my way.

I reached the top, out of breath. I saw Regulus. His hair was messy from his hands moving through it. He had been looking out at the grounds. He turned slowly, the low light casting his face in shadows. He took in my breathless and wide-eyed form.

"Did you realize Andromeda was right too?" He asked, with a small smile.

"Yeah," I said, and then I was running to him. He caught me in his arms and kissed me. Our lips had slotted together perfectly, and I felt my heart swelling in my chest. I ran my fingers through his hair, something I hadn't realized I wanted to do until now.

"We're idiots," he breathed into my mouth, and I laughed.

[bisluthq]

oh I HATE IT when I recommend something and the person ignores it and then someone else recommends it OR they just discover it for themselves and then they recommend it back to me. //

Another one is when you recommend something to a friend and they LOVE it but as soon as someone else says it's "cringe" and basic, they switch up and make you look stupid, dropped a few friends over that shit 😭

I don’t think that’s happened to me for a long time but *I* was the guilty party of that in high school and uni. Not quite like if something was recommended because then I think I’d feel too bad to deny it idk but I’d admit I like something to a friend and it’d be a “lame” thing to like and then if the person brought it up to other friends I’d be like “lol dafuq u talking about I don’t like that - I watch/listen/play it/do that ironically looool” 💀💀 and one girl did drop me because I did it a large number of times to her (and also because I slept with a boy she really liked, which she actually got over, but then I slept with his best friend as a fuck u to him because he started dating MY best friend at the time and anyway complete chaos followed and that girl dropped me).

On reflection, I was a really shitty friend to her and should maybe send a message to apologize at some point because I really did a number of shitty things to her and like some of it was legit and unnecessarily cruel like in hindsight. For example she told me she did forum role playing and I was like “oh rad I do too, idk if I ever met anyone in person who does” and she wanted me to join her site but it was like wholesome horsey shit right and I wrote smut lmao so I said I wouldn’t join her one but she can join the site I’m and I’ll write with her but I don’t want to write with the other horsey people so she joined it and then like idk wanted to write wholesome storylines so I kinda didn’t reply and explained the whole sitch to my online writing partner and we made fun of this girl together and she saw the messages at one stage and was like “oh I didn’t realize you didn’t like writing with me” and idk man I feel like I should’ve just said I don’t want to write wholesome stuff and I like to write smut and not been… cruel. But I also did that in convos irl where she’d tell people her and I do something/watch something together and it’d be a “lame” thing and I’d be like “yes lmfao ironically looool” 💀 Anyway. That was really mean of me. Also I shouldn’t have slept with that boy she liked because if I hadn’t done that, I wouldn’t have set off the chain of events that led to total chaos in our whole friend group and I can’t remember why I slept with him because I didn’t even really like him tbh and I did know that she did.

oh I do remember why I slept with him the first time. It was at my 21st birthday party and none of my crushes came and I made out with this hot girl who was a friend’s +1 but she didn’t want to go home with me because she’d never done it with a girl and stuff idk man she just wasn’t keen and so then I just went home with that guy tbh - he was my friend and I wasn’t stunned he wanted to but anyway - and the sex was fwiw pretty good so we carried on fucking for a month or two until he met my best friend through me and wanted to ask her out so I said yes but I then retaliated by fucking his best friend.

21 year old me was monster messy.

I should apologize to the horse girl.

[aethernightmare]

My ex-partner actually did have a lot of influence on how I designed my characters in games, because I'd get ignored or ghosted in regards to the hobby entirely if I didn't make a character that was hyper-feminine / conventionally attractive enough. Which is true of my actual appearance as well, I'm loathe to admit in hindsight.

As while he'd never say it to my face, because something like that would have garnered an immediate breakup, the manipulation was still there, even if it was subtle. If someone is only ever complemented or praised on things they dislike (or even hate) doing, and brushed aside or put down for things they like or makes them feel comfortable, it messes with their head and can often lead them to subconsciously adjusting their behavior. Even if it ultimately makes them more unhappy in the end. This is especially true if the coercion is coming from a long-term romantic partner, or only starts happening multiple years into an established relationship like mine did (romantic or platonic). Heck, he many not have even fully realized he was doing it, because nobody else in his life checked him on these kinds of behaviors. Meaning any observation I made towards my treatment always got drowned out by everyone else in his life calling it "normal". (Parents, co-workers, his friends, media, etc.)

So if you suddenly realize I'm making a lot more masculine, feral, and "scrunkly" OC's for my playthroughs as of late, that's just me going back to my own preferences, rather than taking any of his into account.

My super-scaley, short-haired, masc-coded Final Fantasy 14 character was the first one I made after he left. Almost out of retaliation, really. As I had to discard the old character with hundreds of hours on the account, that I created specifically to play with him, to even clear up the name slot again. Even though I'd already finished all job quests and most of ARR. (Also yes, I know I could have just used a potion of fantasia, but the old character felt tainted at that point).

Prior to that, we were actually supposed to go through the game together, but at that point he was making almost zero time for me. And then one of the few times we did meet up in-game to do stuff, was when I discovered he was cheating. As not only did he invite his most-current affair partner along (which would later lead me down a rabbit hole to finally discovering the others), but she understood the whole cheating dynamic long before I did, and so like a cat who was proud of eating the family canary, she was downright supercilious and haughty towards me about it behind his back. (To this day, I still don't think he knows how I found out. Fun fact, people who willingly have an affair with cheaters tend not to be good people in other aspects of life either lmao.)

Worth noting too, this character I use now is based on an OC I used to use for everything prior to even meeting him. Way back since like 2004 (middle school), at least. So it's not just an amalgamation of "picking traits he hates". It's more me than it is 'anti-him'. It's just that being myself by default, sadly, fits that criteria. Which honestly should have been a red flag much sooner. But it's hard to see those behaviors for what they are, when they're coming from a person you used to trust, heart and soul, for over a decade.

And I'm doing the same of my appearance in real life now as well. I've already started to focus a lot more on working out, weight training, and gaining visible muscle-mass back. And I've started to wear my old, more practical/masculine styles of clothes. Heck, some of the more "dainty" outfits don't fit my arms or shoulders anymore already, which is a good sign. I used to be absolutely ripped in high school, and I want to regain some semblance of that physique again. (My current form isn't unhealthy, but it's not as strong as I want to be either).

So for anyone who comments thinking I'm just making "mistakes" in character creators for what traits I choose - no, I'm not. Let people be in charge of their own appearance, and don't attempt to re-style someone to fit your preferences. If it's such a big deal to you, then find someone who already enjoys being in that form to begin with. On top of that, because I rarely go into detail about my sex/gender, especially in this political climate, and because those things shouldn't be necessary to determine whether or not you like or agree with someone on a non-related topic, like hobbies, there's a really good chance people have already made some incorrect assumptions to begin with.

I don't mind strangers who barely know me assuming one way or the other, as long as they're polite about it. And I don't like going into full detail online. But what I can't tolerate is people projecting their own insecurities, or trying to persuade me into becoming their version of head-cannon, in order to make themselves feel more comfortable. No matter who you meet in life, always remember to address them as a human being. Don't forget etiquette just because someone might not tick all the check marks of your initial assessment of them.

TL;DR: Gonna start being gayer and put up with less shit on main.

[dendrite-blues]

For a relatively short exchange, this scene is jam packed with characterization for Loki. 

It’s also our first reliable look into what Loki was like before Thor 1. Not as described by others, but first hand and from his own mouth. I think that deserves a closer look, to see what we can learn about Loki and how he thinks.

This scene is significant because it tells us what Loki’s personality is like when he’s not running for his life. It tells us who he was before his trauma and what his core beliefs are underneath those layers of humor and bravado.

Better yet, since he’s alone we can assume that every line in this scene is presumably true, or at least Loki believes it to be true since he has no audience but himself. 

The dialogue centers mostly around the statement “You deserve to be alone, and you always will be.” I’m not going to focus too much on the “alone” motif since I already dedicated an entire meta post to it.

What I think is more interesting about this scene is actually the looping, and the stages Loki goes through in trying to deal with it. There’s a lot of really interesting character traits on display in that progression.

Loop 1: A Warm Bath and Glass of Wine

The first loop entails Sif lecturing Loki about cutting her hair, kicking him in the balls, and storming away. Loki kneels on the floor and he gives us this great line:

“A bad memory prison? How quaint. Some punishment. I remember exactly what I did after that. I went and had a nice, hot bath and a glass of wine, and I never thought about it again. Because it was just a bit of fun.”

So we can take this to be Loki’s default reaction to pain and criticism. When put into an unexpected conflict without any forethought or outside influence, this is what he says/does.

1) Downplay the damage/threat. How quaint. 2) Dispel/soothe the emotion. Nice hot bath. 3) Minimize the impact. Never thought about it again. 4) Deflect responsibility. Just a bit of fun.

Keep those in mind as we move forward, since we’ll be using them to make sense of what else Loki says in this scene.

Loops 2 and 3: Okay, Sif, Hang On

This bit is about Loki realizing just how bad his predicament is.

L: Okay. Okay, Sif. Hang on. S: No, you hear this. You deserve to be alone... And I always will be. L: Alright, I get it. Listen. You are a reconstruction of a past event created by the organization that controls all of time. So you need to trust me and you need to help me escape. Yeah? S: Pathetic. (she kicks him again) L: (winces and groans)

As we all would expect from him, Loki’s first impulse is to try and talk his way out of it. What he says to achieve that goal is pretty revealing though. Because he doesn’t try to ease Sif’s upset by apologizing or explaining or offering to magic her hair back. 

Any of these would have been more likely to save his nads in the given circumstance, right? The present threat is Sif, and she’s mad about what Loki did to her hair. But Loki doesn’t really see that. Rather, he treats her as a means to an end.

“So you need to trust me and you need to help me escape. Yeah?”

To me, that choice reveals something of a blind spot Loki has to the feelings of others. Even if he doesn’t actively like hurting people, he does prioritize their problems below his, and quite shamelessly. And at least on his first impulse, he doesn’t seem to feel much remorse or empathy for them.

Usually in fanon we attribute this callousness to his trauma. He’s learned that no one can be trusted and no one cares, and so he doesn’t allow himself to care for others. 

But between his Loop 1 sentiment of “It was just a bit of fun” for an event which caused real hurt to Sif, and his Loop 2/3 behavior of “you, stop being mad and help ME” I think it’s reasonable to say that selfishness/low empathy are traits Loki possessed pre-trauma.

Loop 4-????: Happens Off Screen

It’s unclear how many times Loki loops while the camera is following Mobius, but the implication is clear that it was been many, many repetitions. Somewhere in this his denial and deflection must break, because we come back to a much humbler, more pleading Loki.

The Final Loop: I Crave Attention

S: You conniving, craven... L: Sif. Sif. S: ...pathetic worm. L: Please, please, no more. Please, I beg you. I'm a horrible person. I get it. I really am. I cut off your hair because I thought it'd be funny. And it's not. Uh... I crave attention... because I'm... a narcissist. And I suppose it's... It's because I'm scared of being alone.

HOOO BOY, so this is quite a tough bit to analyze. There’s a lot of interpretations you could make, and a lot of topics to delve into. For the sake of focus, I’m going to ignore the narcissism question. That one really needs an entire post, and I want to focus on something else here.

That being, Loki’s way of processing conflict/punishment.

I’ve always found it strange how Loki takes such pride in being called a liar and cheat when he simultaneously has this chip on his shoulder about how nobody likes him. 

Those two traits don’t seem to play well together, and I always scratched my head over how they coexist in his character. If he wants people to be nicer to him, maybe he should stop antagonizing them? Yeah?

Well, here we’re finally given a clear reason. Loki craves attention, he hates being alone. So how does he avoid it? Pranks and mischief. 

Fair enough.

But then, if all his pranks lead to this outcome--outrage, retaliation, insult--why doesn’t he ever learn? How is it that after 1000 years of this behavior, he hasn’t found a better way to get the attention he craves? 

Loop 1: Downplay, dispel, minimize, deflect. He accepts zero accountability for the impact of his actions, and doesn’t think at all about how they affect other people. Just a bit of fun. I had a hot bath and a glass of wine, and never thought about it again. 

The only reason he reaches the level of self awareness on display in the Final Loop is because the looping forces him to contemplate his actions and the impulses within him that lead to that behavior.

This is projection on my part, but to me he acts as though this kind of deep reflection is a new thing for him. He sounds like someone sharing a revelation that he’s just had about himself. We’re being shown that Loki is a man of action. He will always move forward if he can, possibly because looking back to so painful that he can’t bring himself to do it.

Circling back around to the pride Loki has for his knavery, let’s suppose that he’s been on this negative reinforcement cycle since childhood. He’s always acted out to get attention, then received retaliation and insults for it, and then pushed the bad feelings out of his mind with creature comforts and mental gymnastics.

What happens over time, when you’re being constantly told that you’re a pain in the ass and no one likes you? Most of us would take it to heart, but Loki doesn’t. He has a big ego, big enough to resist that constant barrage of hate coming at him.

So how does he marry these two conflicting realities? 

He turns it into an identity, the God of Mischief. 

In his head, Loki excuses himself of blame by shifting the culpability to his moniker. It’s not that he’s immature and petty, he’s just a “trickster.” It’s in his nature to cause trouble, so he can’t help it. You wouldn’t dangle a steak in front of a tiger and blame the tiger for striking, would you? And if other people can’t take a “joke” then that’s not his fault, that’s on them for not having a sense of humor. It was just a bit of fun.

Here we see the union of these two halves of Loki, the lonely ice runt and the mischievous scamp. (And a little bit of the original Loki who Thor accused of being incapable of growth!) 

By refusing to think about others, and excusing himself from responsibility, Loki successfully preserves his self worth and insulates himself to most of the negative emotions he experiences.

Pain, embarrassment, and grief aren’t pointless emotions though. They are vital feelings that serve to regulate our behavior, and that push us to conform to the ways of our social circles. Without them, we annoy and upset others. Be annoying for long enough and you will eventually find yourself, well, alone. As Loki is.

Thus “Mischief” is a self-defeating loop, and Loki is just as caught in it as the cell Mobius trapped him in.

In order to be free of both traps, Loki has to stop running. He has to take a deeper look at himself and realize how much he is getting in his own way. The entire scene is one big parallel between these two “loops.” Pretty neat, huh?

Sadly these kinds of thought loops are really difficult to break, they’re buried so deeply in our personalities and habits that we usually don’t notice them until life forces us to address them.

The cell is Loki’s wake up call, and thankfully he does seem to rise to the occasion. He tells Sif quite clearly what his problem is, and he does it with beautiful, painful honesty.

Which is why it’s so fucking awesome for Mobius to acknowledge that, and to finally give Loki a taste of positive attention. 

You don’t deserve to be alone. I believe you can be anything, even something good. Whatever you two did, it was powerful enough to bring this whole place down.

It’s a beautiful scene. Well written, meticulously acted. The clarity of vision in the pacing and shot selection, it’s really something special.

[roll-da-credits]

SC: Pro Heroes' S/o's Pet Not Liking Them

Characters: Keigo Takami (Hawks), Rumi Usagiyama (Mirko), Taishiro Toyamitsu (Fatgum)

A/n: this fic is brought to you by my rabbit who has unrivaled hate for any man except my dad. He would literally cuddle with my dad but the moment my friend comes who let me tell you ADORES my bunny, he would COMPLETELY ignore him and sometimes even bite him, not like nibbling like bunnies do when they're happy. No, full-on bites like incredibly hard, anyways hope you guys enjoy it. (Also, this was longer than I planned)

🖤❤️🖤

Keigo Takami (Hawks)

You would think Hawks would have a good relationship with birds right? Wrong.

Hawks in the eyes of birds was a bird of prey, which only means one thing, he's dangerous. This unspoken rule amongst birds who are usually weaker doesn't exclude your own pigeon.

It all started when Rumi (Mirko) decided that the group's movie night would be at your house for the first time ever. Obviously, you were rather excited, of all the times you had these movie nights they were never in your home. Another exciting reason was you couldn't wait to introduce Keigo, your lovey lover, to your budgie.

"Hey, birdie." Once you opened the door to your apartment Hawks was leaning there in front of you with a small bouquet of flowers, wearing some casual clothing. Giving a quick to your forehead, you led Hawks into your humble abode.

Your budgie, as always, flew towards you to greet the guest, like he would usually. But instead of landing on your shoulder, he instead flew around Keigo and dove to bite his ears and the exposed skin everywhere.

"So this is the friendly bird you've been telling me about???" Keigo slightly confused and panicked tried to lightly shoo away the flying menace.

You at this point didn't know whether to panic or to laugh at the situation. Your budgie was incredibly kind to everyone, even strangers you just met, and yet here he was, squawking at Keigo trying to bite him.

After a few minutes, you were able to calm your bird down, letting him rest on the crook of your neck and reassure Keigo that he was usually really kind to guests, which Keigo doesn't believe at this point. It wasn't until Rumi came knocking that you stood up to greet her.

Keigo, watched from a distance, excited to see Rumi get attacked by your menace of a bird. "What?!" He exclaimed pointing a judgemental finger at your bird who was now on Rumi's shoulder nuzzling her cheek.

"Scared of a birdie smaller than you Keigo?" Rumi's laughter mocked Keigo, and you couldn't help but let out a few giggles yourself.

"Awww love don't be like that!" You walked over to Keigo and enveloped him in a reassuring hug, still slightly giggling, "I swear I don't know why he doesn't like you."

When the movie started, you and Keigo were cuddling as usual with Rumi slightly third-wheeling, not that she really cared. Weirdly enough you felt a weird tension around you, when you looked over at Keigo, you saw he was staring at your budgie who was on Rumi's shoulder.

Both looking at each other with so much menace it made you burst into laughter. "Is there some kind of bird rivalry?????" Rumi now realizing what was happening laughed extremely loud. "Are you jealous of Y/n's BIRD???"

She teased Keigo, who in retaliation threw a pillow at her. He groaned and pulled you closer. "Whatever, but we're never having movie nights in your house again." You laughed a little before snuggling more into him, "Sure you big baby."

Rumi Usagiyama (Mirko)

"I'm telling you, that little piece of long-looking mouse stole my stuff!" Rumi yelled at you pointing an accusing finger at your ferret who was simply staring up at you her head slightly tilted as if confused about the whole ordeal.

This all started when Rumi decided to come to your apartment straight after patrol, something she's never done. She looked exhausted and in need of some comfort, so you let her in and gave her some clothes to change after showering,

When she walked in, she noticed your ferret staring at her. A weird sense of foreboding crept up onto her. She always had a slight suspicion that the creature didn't like her very much. Whether it was because she was taking up most of your play times with it, or something else, she couldn't care any less.

It was in the ferret's eyes, how they stared at her with intent and a glint of mischievousness. Though when she brought it up with you, you'd brush it off since ferrets are incredibly mischievous and smart.

But the icing on the cake was when she placed her clothes on top of a dresser, including her gloves, to take a shower. Only to come back with both of her gloves missing from the pile. The ferret looking up at her, as if challenging her.

"Rumi, love, why would she even know to hide BOTH gloves. She'd probably steal only one!!" Rumi's mouth fell agape at your statement. You were defending the THIEF???

"You said so yourself didn't you?!! Ferrets are SMART, SHE MUST'VE KNOWN." At this point it was borderline hilarious, so between your next words, you laughed and giggled.

"You probably just misplaced it, come on I'll help you search it. I'm sure we'll find it soon."

No

You both did not find it soon, it had actually been 30 minutes of nonstop searching. Searching your entire apartment close to twice already, you and Rumi both flopped on the couch, exhausted.

"Ok, maybe I should check her toys." Her being your ferret, you finally caved in and searched around her toys.

Low and behold.

"I TOLD YOU!!!" You found both Rumi's gloves tucked away in the long rubbery-plastic tunnel you made for your ferret.

Rumi crashed on the floor in a fit of laughter, with you holding the dirty gloves looking at your ferret rather disappointed at her. Your ferret looked up with its adorable eyes as if it had done nothing wrong.

"Your ferret's a demon I'm telling you!" Rumi wiped a tear from laughing too much.

"I'm sorry for not believing you." You said followed by an exasperated sigh. Rumi walked over to you and enveloped you in a bone-crushing hug, "It's fine, this was actually more fun than just watching random movies like we planned."

Taishiro Toyamitsu

Taishiro loves animals and animals love him. Both skinny and fat form, he's just a lovable person for every single living being. Animals, humans, plants, all of them thrive when being cared for by him. Including you, but excluding your cat.

Taishiro knew the moment you said you had a cat that he would have to work a little bit harder to get her to like him. What he didn't expect was for your cat to completely ignore him no matter what he did.

"Trying to woo her again?" You smirked a little bit when you saw him in his skinny form holding a small bag of catnip smiling rather sheepishly.

"No cat can resist catnip." He paused shortly, "Right?"

You giggled at his adorable antics, reaching up to slightly ruffle his soft hair. Inviting him you watched from afar as Taishiro approached your cat who was sunbathing near a window and, as usual, ignoring him.

He slowly approached her, his big hands slowly opening the bag. When he did, her head immediately darted at him, you stood up straighter at this. Really curious at the first time your cat acknowledged his existence.

Taishiro couldn't feel more excited at the moment and slowly got closer to her, shaking the bag slightly. Your cat's irises expanded, showing that she might be rather happy.

But just as Taishiro was about to pet her, she stretched from her position and walked calmly away from him. Ignoring him once again.

You stifled a laugh at his dejected form, shoulders slumping down and a dark aura surrounding him.

You draped your body over his back, a small attempt in hugging him, "Hey you'll get more chances, I'm sure she'll warm up to you eventually."

Taishiro looked up at you with watery eyes and a small pout, making your heart melt at the sight. "How about this? You'll get even more chances if you live with me."

Your eyebrows wiggled at him, and his slumped figure immediately brightened up. Crushing you in a tight bear hug and shaking you around. "I'll make sure your cat loves me."

[cryonme]

ɪ ᴋɴᴏᴡ ʏᴏᴜ'ʀᴇ ᴏʙꜱᴇꜱꜱᴇᴅ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴍᴇ

part one >< jj x reader

﹥ˏˋ♡̩͙♡̩̩̥͙♡̩̥̩ ⋆ ♡̩̥̩♡̩̩̥͙♡̩͙ˊˎ﹤

JJ and Y/n have a fuck hate relationship, well, JJ does. Y/n’s madly in love and JJ’s just mad. When Y/n finally decides enough is enough and confesses her feelings to JJ, she leaves the chateau in pieces.

word count- 1.4k

tw/ cursing, mentions of sex, jj is an ASSHOLE, drinking, shitty writing.

a/n- wowwie! my first outer banks imagine, how fun! I've been wanting to write for obx for a while now so I'm really excited about this, and I hope you all love it as much as I do!! there will be a part two, so don’t get too sad about the ending... yet. xo

++

“Wanna tell your best friend to stop glaring at me?” You spat as you grabbed a red solo cup while waiting in line for the keg.

John B just chuckled and shook his head, “I’m afraid it wouldn’t do any good, my friend.”

You rolled your eyes. JJ had been shooting daggers at you all night. Actually, scratch that. JJ had been shooting daggers at you for the past 2 and a half years. You were a pogue, just like him and his friends. You worked for everything you had, you wore the same 7 t shirts and the same 2 bikinis, and your parents weren't exactly star role models. So you weren’t sure where JJ’s hatred for you stemmed from, until you came to the realization that he couldn’t handle another person coming into the friend group, and did his best to try and drive you out of it.

And yet you were stupidly, uncontrollably, head over heels in love with him.

Yes, you heard that right.

Despite the blue eyed boy’s disdain for you, he couldn’t keep his hands off of you. The two of you had been drunk fucking for 6 months now. It all started when you were all getting drunk at the chateau and JJ had accidentally stumbled into the room you had been laying in, and things just escalated from there. Every time you fucked you saw a different JJ, probably just because he was drunk, which you tried not to think about. He would ask you if you were comfortable, cup your face when he kissed you, stroke your hair, like he was in love with you too. But as soon as you were done he wouldn’t look at you, like he was disgusted with himself for ever touching you.

You kept his secret, didn’t tell anyone about the nights JJ would drunkenly squeeze through your window and kiss you like it was the first time, everytime.

You were tempted, wanted to embarrass him for the way he treated you in public, but you soon came to realize that if you told anybody, JJ would never kiss you again. So, you kept your mouth shut. No matter how badly you wanted to open it.

John B nudged your arm, “Don’t let him bother you, he’s really not worth it. He’s just jealous.”

“Jealous of what?” You asked.

“That there’s other people in this world we can get along with.”

You scoffed, “He needs to grow up, he’s acting like a child.”

“I agree.” John B said before ruffling your hair and walking off to find Sarah.

You sighed and turned your head toward JJ, who unsurprisingly was glaring at you again.

You smirked and mouthed, “I know you’re obsessed with me.” Before raising your red solo cup to your lips and taking a sip.

JJ clenched his jaw and turned away from you, walking in the other direction.

If he was gonna be a dick to you, you were gonna be a dick back. It’s not fair that he gets to treat you like trash but the second you retaliate the world ends.

You decided right then, standing on the beach with a beer in your hand and your toes grazing the water, you were done. He can’t treat you like this and expect you to spread your legs in return. No matter how much it would hurt not being able to kiss or touch him again, it had to be done. You had to respect yourself more than that.

You turned your body towards the party and scanned your eyes over the crowd, finally landing them on him. He was talking to Kiara, smiling and sipping on his drink, and your heart sank. He would never be that way with you, which is why it was time to do what you had to do.

You took your time walking over to the pair, kicking your feet in the sand, stopping and talking to a couple familiar faces before finally landing next to Kiara. She smiled and wrapped an arm around you.

“Where’ve you been, babe?”

You shrugged and leaned into the girl, “Around.”

JJ stayed silent as the two you chit chatted, looking everywhere except at you.

Once your conversation with Kie hit a lull you turned to the blond, “We need to talk.”

He scoffed, “Yeah, like that’s gonna happen.”

“JJ.” Kiara said in a harsh tone, looking at you apologetically. You dismissed her with a soft smile, assuring her it was fine. She looked between the two of you before backing off, giving your arm a quick squeeze. “Let me know if you need me.”

You nodded and watched the girl walk away, starting to dread what you had to do.

“I’m serious, JJ.”

“I’m not fucking talking to you.”

“Alright, fine.” You put your hands up in surrender and walked closer to the boy, leaning in to whisper in your ear.

“I’m done fucking you.”

Before you could walk away JJ firmly grabbed your arm and stared down at you. You kept your head high and your face serious, letting him know you weren't kidding around.

“Let’s talk in private.”

++

You got to the chateau before JJ did since he insisted you don’t walk together, out of fear of your cover being blown. You stood awkwardly in John B’s spare room, the one JJ had declared as his own, waiting for him to make his appearance.

When he did, he slammed the door and you willed everything in you not to jump. He stood in silence in front of you for what felt like hours, staring at you like if you made one wrong move he’d strangle you right then and there.

“I’m done.”

“Yeah, I gathered that much. Care to explain?” He said in a voice so intimidating it took everything in you not to shrink down and crawl out the window. You took a deep breath. You were really gonna do this, after all these months of burying your feelings, you were really gonna do it. “I love you.” You said. Your voice shook, but dammit, you said it.

“No you don’t.”

You weren’t prepared for that response. You expected him to laugh in your face, yell at you, maybe even kiss you and confess his feelings, but not that.

“You don’t know me.” You spat. “How dare you tell me how I feel?”

“I do know you, Y/n. I know you’re desperate for any form of attention. I know you think you love me because I give you just a sliver of that attention you desperately crave.” JJ’s voice got lower as he began to slowly walk towards you, not stopping until he was inches from your face. His hand came up and gripped your jaw, turning your face to make you look up at him.

“You literally mean nothing to me.”

You pushed him off of you, “You asshole.”

“Maybe. But at least I wasn’t stupid enough to fall for someone who hates me.”

If you weren’t angry before, you were now. You could feel white hot anger rising up in your chest as your fists began to clench and your muscles began to shake.

“If you hate me so much why do you fuck me like you’re in love with me?!” You nearly screamed in his face, while he showed absolutely no emotion. He stared at you for a long time,saying absolutely nothing, just breathing heavily and running a hand through his hair every 10 seconds.

You waited. You waited for what felt like forever for him to say something, anything. You just wanted to know what he was thinking, if he told you to fuck off, fine. If he told you he was in love with you but just didn’t want to admit it, fine. You just needed something from him.

“I think you need to leave.” He said finally, his eyes still not moving from his heavy gaze on you.

You nodded and quickly wiped a tear from your eye. “Gladly. Have a shitty life, asshole.”

You made sure to clip his shoulder with yours on the way out, and slam the door just like he had earlier in the night.

When you exited the chateau, the sun hadn’t even set yet, and the young drunk teens were still dancing and laughing. Your eyes found your friends, Kiara, Pope and John B. Pope’s arm was extended, holding a phone and snapping a selfie of the trio, all of them with the goofiest grins on their faces. You felt a pang in your chest watching them.

You weren’t planning on coming around anymore.

ahhhh.... part two??

[lightmeuplivly]

Stuck with you

Steve Harrington x reader

summary: you and steve used to be bestfriends until someone caught feelings...

WC: 1.1k

(not proof read)

(not my gif)

You had known Steve Harrington before he even became Steve Harrington. You were his best friend from kindergarten to ninth grade. He stopped talking to you in ninth grade when you sorta revealed that you had feelings for him. But how could you not? He had a great sense of humor and great hair. You were seriously disappointed when you realized there was no way he would ever like you back. You really were heartbroken when he started dating Nancy Wheeler. You didn’t dislike her, you just didn’t like that she was dating Steve. When you think back to that day you tried to tell him you liked him you try to imagine what it would be like if you didn’t say anything at all…

“Hey stevie,” you said walking with him after school.

“Y/N, you know I hate it when you call me that” he said.

“What? it’s a cute nickname.” you retaliated.

You were excited for this day. This was the day you would tell your best friend that you liked him. You had liked him since fifth grade and finally built up the courage to tell him.

“Steve, I have a serious question for you,” you said quietly.

“Sure what’s up”

“What would you do if I ever told you that I liked you” 

This was the way you would do it. Give him a hypothetical and hope for the best. 

“ I would probably barf because I could never date you. I only see you as a friend.” He said laughing.

Your heart broke right then and there. At that moment you wanted to run to your room and cry all night. You looked at him with watered eyes. You tried to cover them up by wiping them away but it only made things worse.

“ Wait, you don’t actually like me do you?”

He already knew the answer to that judging by your face. He didn’t know about your crush on him at all. He hadn’t noticed any of the hints you gave him but now it was crystal clear. The way you didn’t want to hangout with anyone else but him, or the times you just looked at him with heart eyes and he didn’t notice.  But now it all came crashing down.

“No way! Just thought about that and just said it. Sorry that was weird.” and with that you just walked away with tears falling down your cheeks.

And after that you never really talked to him again. Maybe a few encounters over the years but not the way it used to be. But three years later you still feel the same way you felt then. You never knew why though. He literally rejected you in almost the worst way possible but you just couldn’t shake him. Was that love? No it couldn’t be. These days Steve Harrington was single and hung out with Robin Buckley and a bunch of freshmen. You thought it was cute that Steve was friends with them. He was kinda like their babysitter even though they weren’t babies. You really wish that you and Steve were friends again. He was your rock for years and then one day he just wasn’t. You never really thought about what Steve felt like. I mean you obviously meant something to him, so how did he feel when you stopped being friends? 

Well, he was just as heartbroken as you. He didn’t tell you that day but he had growing feelings for you too. Why didn't he tell you that day? He was scared. He was scared that if you guys had started a relationship and something bad happened he would lose you forever. Every day since you both stopped being friends he imagined what it would be like if he just was a man and told you. Maybe you guys would still be together, maybe not. But right now senior year, he wished he would have rolled those dice with you. When he saw you in the halls he thought you looked more beautiful by the day. These casual hookups he was having could never ever compare to you. After his latest hookup with Veronica Walters (name i made up) he realized he was just trying to cope with his loneliness with these girls. Then he found out why…

You…

When he went home that night he made a plan to tell you his feelings. Even though it was three years later he just had to let you know and maybe there would be a slight chance you still felt the same. 

When Monday came around you were sitting at lunch eating with a few of your new friends you made after Steve. Ava and Oliver (sorry if that’s your names), you never told them about your past with Steve, you actually never told anyone because it’s kind of an embarrassing story. You guys were talking about what you would do for spring break when you saw no one other than Steve walking towards you.

Your heart started beating super fast. ‘Maybe he wasn’t walking towards you’ you thought, but when he stopped right in front of you it was obvious.

“Y/N, can I talk to you?” he breathed out. He was nervous as hell and it was definitely showing.

“Yeah, sure Steve” you said trying to calm your nerves.

You guys walked outside next to a tree you used to always go to when in middle school.  It reminded you both of good memories.

“Y/N,” He started 

“I know that we haven’t talked in like three years but I’ve been thinking about you all the time and when I see you in the hallways my heart stops because you look so pretty. And that day when you sorta told me you liked me, well I didn’t tell you at the time but I liked you too and the only reason I didn’t say anything was because I was scared of losing you but now I realize not having you by my side everyday is worse. I know it’s been so long and you probably don’t feel the same but Y/N Y/L/N I am in love with you.” He said in all one breath 

Your eyes widened and you couldn’t believe what you were hearing. It was the thing you have been wanting for so long and now it’s actually being said you wanted to cry tears of joy.

“Y/N, please say something” 

“Steve, I have been wanting to hear that since the fifth grade” You said with tears in your eyes. This, this was love. 

“Steve Harrington, I am in love with you too.” you said smiling

“Well thank God cause that would have been embarrassing if you didn’t” you giggled

“Now you know how it feels, Stevie”

“Ugh, you ruined it we were having a moment and you say that” He said with fake anger

You just laughed and you both leaned your foreheads against each other.

“Hey, your never gonna lose me Harrington because I will always be stuck with you”

[wlwmarvelenthusiast]

More Than A Friend

Summary: A weekend trip with Carol leads you to realize you might like her a little more than you'd thought.

Pairing: Carol Danvers x Reader

Warnings: language

Word Count: 6,194

You crept into the bar. It was a rowdy place, even this early in the evening. Your eyes scanned the crowd, taking in all the different people that were scattered throughout the room. The football game was playing on the TV, but unfortunately, it wasn't really your sport. Finally, your eyes landed on a blonde sitting at the bar. You moved toward her, a smirk on your face. You didn't even bother to slide into the seat next to her.

Your hand touched her hip and your lips were right next to her ear when you spoke. "What's a beautiful thing like you doing all alone here?"

She startled a little, whipping to face you. When she saw you, though, she smacked you away, an unamused expression taking over the surprised look she'd had a minute ago. You slid onto the stool next to her, eyes watching as the bartender held up a single finger to indicate he'd be over to you in a moment. You only nodded in acknowledgment before turning back to the girl beside you, the smirk still on your lips.

"You're an idiot, you know that?" She rolled her eyes.

"Come off it, Care-bear, you love me."

"Christ, I hate when you call me that."

"I apologize, oh Captain, my captain."

The bartender arrived and prevented her from retaliating. You didn't even bother looking back at her as you ordered your drink of choice, glancing up at the football game that you didn't care about in order to not look at Carol. She finally snorted and bumped her shoulder against yours. It made you look back at her, unable to keep a smile from forming on your face when she gave you a hearty wink. She laughed.

"How was work?"

You shrugged. "People are idiots."

When you were sixteen, you'd worked a retail job where you'd learned just how stupid people really were. You'd learned that fully-grown adults had nothing better in their lives to do than yell at teenaged, minimum wage workers during their spare time for nothing more than a minor inconvenience. When you'd become an Avenger, you thought that would stop. You were incorrect. You might not have been a teenaged retail worker anymore, but people found a reason to lose their temper anyway- even right after you'd saved their life.

"That good, huh?" She chuckled.

"Are people nicer on other planets, Care-bear? Take me with you?"

"They're not, no," Carol huffed, sipping from her glass. "And the drinks don't taste as good."

You wondered what she was drinking that she seemed to be enjoying so much. It was colourful, and had, at this point, piqued your interest. You reached out and snatched from where it sat in front of her on the bar. You sniffed it first. It was something fruity, that was all you could figure. Finally, you dared raise the glass to your lips. The second the liquid touched your tongue you felt like you might overdose on sugar and sweetness.

"Oh, my God, Carol!" You exclaimed, setting the drink back down on the bar top and sliding it to her. "What the hell is that?"

"She got it extra sweet," the bartender said as he walked by. "Your friend's got a sugar addiction."

It didn't seem to bother her at all. While you felt you could puke from the sugar content alone, she was sipping it happily. You rolled your eyes at her, reaching for your own drink, much preferring the taste of it. Carol turned to you suddenly, the straw still between her lips. You watched as she lowered it back down, using the same straw to stir the drink around, the ice clinking off the side of the glass as she did. She sipped it again.

"What's our weekend plans, then?" Carol asked finally.

"Who says I have plans with you?"

"Oh, please. You practically begged me to come stay on Earth for a weekend."

"I did absolutely no such thing."

You absolutely did do that. Carol was away from Earth more often than not and you missed her. It wasn't like it was a crime to. So, you'd phoned her up and asked her over and over to come spend just one weekend on Earth with you. She'd finally agreed on the eighth ask, and now here you sat; on the right of the girl you'd missed so dearly, teasing her relentlessly about whatever that abomination was swirling around in her glass.

"We're taking my new car on a little road trip," you finally gave, sipping your drink. "Music, fast-food, and deep talks on the interstate."

"Snacks?"

"Snacks too," you promised with a chuckle. "And we can get a nice motel room or pitch a tent at night. Whichever you please."

You had to laugh at the smile that had crept over her face. The way she giggled in excitement, you had to wonder if it'd just been too long since her last day off or if the alcohol had gotten to her already. She waved the bartender lever as she finished hers. He placed a new one in front of her, and she thanked him quickly, bringing it close and immediately bringing the straw between her lips. You wondered whether the sugar or alcohol content would hospitalize her quicker.

"So, when do we leave?" She chirped.

"In the morning. Don't drink too much. You'll get hungover and I want to actually have fun."

She stuck her tongue out at you. You rolled your eyes in response, finishing your own drink and then declining another. You didn't want to be hungover when you were the one driving the two of you around. The bartender brought you a pop instead. You sipped on it, watching a bar-goer stumbled over with a drunk grin on his face and tapped Carol on the shoulder. He said something you didn't quite hear, but you saw Carol nod. He took her hands and dragged her onto the dance floor. You brought her drink toward you.

Carol was a flirt. She always had been. She was a flirt with you, your teammates, and strangers. She was also gay. This dance with this guy didn't mean much to her. You weren't sure if it even meant much to him. You couldn't be sure that he'd even remember this dance. He was absolutely wasted, and it wasn't even midnight. Regardless, he seemed to be enjoying it. His eyes travelled up and down Carol's body and you squeezed the glass in your hand a little tighter. You were protective of her, despite knowing she could absolutely hold her own.

When the song finished, she winked at him, retreating back to your spot at the bar. She finished up her drink and then insisted the two of you head back to your place and that you were right: she didn't want to be nursing a hangover while you were supposed to be having a good time. You paid the bartender and then linked your arm with hers, leading her out the door and onto the streets. She glanced up at the tall buildings around her. A smile had formed on her face.

"You don't appreciate how beautiful this place is."

You glanced up at the glowing buildings that towered above you and marvelled, for a moment, at the soft light that radiated off them. Your gaze was tugged downward, though, at a rustling noise. You were snapped back into the reality of your city as you watched a rat scurry along the curb of the sidewalk in the direction opposite you. You chuckled at that, motioning to it as you looked up to catch Carol's bright gaze.

"Surely some of those planets are far more beautiful than this."

She shrugged. "Some, maybe. Some are worse. Some are kind of alike to this. This has always been my favourite, though."

You might have understood that if Carol had taken the time to visit the actual beautiful parts of the Earth. But she was always in the city. She'd never gone to stare in amazement at a waterfall or glance at towering mountains. She had never seen the true beauties of this Earth, and you promised in that moment to change that fact. If she thought New York City was beautiful, she would be blown off her feet by the things you showed her.

"One day, Carol, I'll show you the actual beautiful things on this Earth."

"You're pretty beautiful yourself."

You smacked her. That was her flirty side coming out once again. It didn't mean anything. It never had. So, you wondered what that strange flutter in your chest was when she said the words. You ignored it, passing it off as a longing for a meaningful relationship. You hadn't had one of those in a while now. You probably just wanted someone to say those words to you and mean it. You made a mental note to sign up for an online dating site after the weekend had passed. It was too hard to meet people in your line of work without them.

"Yeah, I know," was all you gave in response.

When you glanced over at her, she had a grin on her face.

It wasn't long until you'd reached your apartment building. You smiled at the front desk as you entered the lobby and immediately made for the elevator. You pressed the button to the seventh floor and waited patiently for the doors. You knew Carol was suppressing a squeal of glee when they arrived. She usually just flew everywhere. Using simple inventions like this one had always gotten her more excited than the average person. To anyone else, an elevator was just a boring elevator.

"Can I do it?" She asked as you pulled out your key.

Carol really was just like a child, in a sense. Everything was so advanced out in space that these were the things she enjoyed doing. You pointed out the bronze key and watched her run ahead. She practically skipped the distance to your apartment door. She pushed the key into the lock and turned it, glancing back at you and smiling widely when the door pushed open. You smiled affectionately as you took the key back from her.

She may not have visited Earth overly often, but every time she did, she visited your apartment. Resultantly, she knew her way around. She knew, as well, that you didn't mind in the slightest if she made herself at home. She slid her shoes off and jumped onto the couch, pulling the blanket down over top of her and snuggling into it. You actually took a photo of the sight before you moved into the room behind her, lifting her legs, sitting on the couch, and then dropping them back over your lap.

"Can we watch a movie?" Carol asked, pleading gaze turning to you.

You showed her the remote you'd been reaching for. "Already on it, Captain Danvers."

"I take it back," she giggled, tossing her head back so that it hit the armrest. "That's worse. You can call me-"

"Aw, my Care-Bear!" You laughed, shifting your position so you could throw your arms around her shoulders.

Carol grunted at the impact against her torso. Once you settled, though, she breathed a little easier. You were both squished against one side of the couch, now, but the closeness was nothing new to you. You still had the remote in hand, and aimed it at the TV, managing to get it to Netflix. You flicked on a random horror movie, setting the remote back down on the coffee table in front of you. You nestled back into the cushions.

It had always amused you how jumpy Carol got when she watched horror movies. She was a literal superhero that fought literal aliens all the night and day and yet a ghost jumping out of a darkened corridor had her cringing away from the TV screen and pulling the blanket further up her body as if in an attempt to protect her. She would always adamantly deny it if you ever brought it up later. You would never show her the picture you had of her, fuzzy blue blanket pulled all the way up to her nose, eyes wide, as she watched The Conjuring. She would delete it off your phone as you slept.

Today, though, her nerves seemed to be calmed somewhat by the cup of tea she had clasped between her hands. She looked entirely content, sitting cross-legged on the couch with that same fuzzy blanket draped over her lap and a grey, ceramic mug warming her palms. The alcohol had clearly gotten to her a little, you realized, as you watched her eyelids droop every once in a while. The corner of your mouth tilted upward ever so slightly. She was wide awake a moment later.

It was a sudden jump scare. Even being half asleep, Carol was still paying attention. So, when the TV boomed and there was a flash and a scream, she jumped. The tea that she'd been holding in her lap sloshed over the edges, a large amount of liquid soaking into the couch cushions. You were out of your seat in an instant, reaching for the remote to pause. Carol was apologizing profusely, jumping to her feet and following you to the kitchen.

"It's okay, Carol. It's fine," you chuckled, wetting a dish towel and grabbing some paper towels. "Hey, it's fine. Really. Chill out."

Carol seemed hesitant to do that. When you lightheartedly flicked the wet towel at her, though, she finally smiled taking the paper towel out of your hand and heading back to the living room, pressing the paper towel into the couch and absorbing as much of the liquid as she could. When she'd finished, you used the wet rag to clean the beverage out. As you tossed the paper towel away and threw the dishrag into the kitchen sink, you stood back and took a look at the large wet spot on the couch.

"Guess we're moving to my room, then. Let's go, Care-Bear."

Carol nodded. She trod behind you into the bedroom, where you flopped onto the bed. She was lagging behind and you waved her onward to hurry her up. She finally jumped onto the bed and sat next to you, sliding her legs underneath the covers. You turned on the small TV in your room and resumed the movie you'd been watching. In the soft comfort of the bed, though, it seemed the tug for sleep was greater. Carol's eyes finally fluttered shut and she lay down against the pillows. You chuckled, turning off the movie.

You, unlike your friend, hadn't fallen asleep involuntary. You were able to head to the bathroom and brush your teeth before yawning tiredly and deciding to join. You padded back into the room, climbed under the covers, shut off the lights, and lay your head onto your own pillow. You smiled once at Carol's sleeping figure before you shut your eyes, letting sleep take you.

*

As hard as you tried to convince her, you weren't able to get Carol to stick her head back inside the sunroof. You weren't sure how to breeze was so exhilarating to her. The superhuman could fly faster than your car was going right now. The wind in her hair had to be a familiar feeling at this point. Plus, there were no laws against flying above the interstate to feel the wind in your hair. There were, however, laws about standing with your entire torso stuck out the roof of the car.

You'd given up a while ago. If she fell out, she'd be just fine. If she got you a ticket? Oh, there would be serious hell to pay. She'd agreed to that already. You'd honestly be surprised, though, if she did get ticketed. It'd be quite a sight to see: a measly police officer ticketing the Human-Kree Hybrid superhero. That sight alone might actually be worth the fine you would have to pay. By the time she'd pulled her head back in, though, blonde hair windblown and a smile plastered to her face, you'd yet to see a single cop.

"Have fun?" You asked, doing up the sunroof.

"Absolutely. You should try."

"Do you know how to drive?" You scoffed.

"I can fly a ship."

"Yeah, I'm sure UFO controls are much different than cars so I'm gonna have to politely ask you to stay the hell away from my car."

Carol only stuck her tongue out at you. She still didn't do her seatbelt up yet. She twisted her body so that she could reach into the back seat. You turned back to the road, but when you shot a second glance at her a few seconds later, she was popping open a can of Pringles with a large grin on her face. She bit down onto a chip with a giggle before turning the can to you. You reached into it with one hand and took a small handful of them, setting them down on the centre console for easier access.

"Where are we staying tonight?" Carol asked through a mouthful of chips.

"A campground up in a small town in Ontario," you hummed. "It's still a good few hours away. I'd ask if you wanted to stop for food, but I'd guess you've filled up on snacks."

She dug through her backpack. "Do I need this?"

She held up the passport you'd made her get last time the two of you had headed up to Toronto. Despite the fact that she really wasn't a citizen of the United States... or even of Earth, you'd managed to get S.H.I.E.L.D. to make you an exception for Carol. It was the perks of being an Avenger, and a close friend of Nick Fury, you supposed. To answer her question, you simply nodded your head as you reached for the Gatorade in your cup holder. She stuck the papers back into her bag.

"So, are you seeing anyone?"

The question almost made you spit the red beverage onto the steering wheel. It wasn't that you and Carol had never talked about it. She was one of your closest friends, after all. She was the first one you'd called when you'd realized your feelings for your last girlfriend, and she was the first one you'd called when you'd broken up. Carol wasn't someone you didn't talk about your love life with. It was just that it was completely and entirely out of the blue. It didn't help that the answer was still no, even after the long period of time since she'd last asked it.

You'd tried to assure yourself that you were just busy with work. It wasn't a lie. You'd been busy as hell ever since Loki's sceptre had inexplicably gone missing after the Battle in New York. But it wasn't just that, you knew full well. Something seemed to be wrong with your brain, or maybe your heart. Maybe it was just that your standards were practically in the clouds, but no one seemed attractive to you anymore. Not even the girl Natasha had tried to set you up with (and you were well convinced that Natasha only knew attractive people).

"Not at the moment, no," you finally admitted. "You?"

"On-and-off," she shrugged. "Just a girl from a planet called Xandar."

A pang of jealousy struck your chest. You were carving something- anything. You would've given anything even for something on-and-off just about now. Had it really been that long? You could hardly believe you were jealous of her. It wasn't like you to be jealous of something someone else had. You were supposed to be happy for her, not sulking over your own lack of a love life... or sex life. You forced a smile at her, wishing it could be real.

"Oh, yeah? Tell me about her."

"Not too much to tell," Carol said, biting down on a potato chip. "She's cute, funny, sweet. A little younger than me, but most people are," she chuckled as she glanced over at you. You plastered a phone smile back onto your lips and forced a laugh from your chest. "Her name's Alya."

You almost grumbled, but managed to bite your tongue on time. You resorted to ripping open a packet of gummy bears in order to keep your mouth full and therefore unable to make any snarky comments. Carol didn't seem to notice that, only reaching over and grabbing a green bear out of the bag. Though you might have been a little frustrated, you let her. It wasn't her fault that you were touch-starved and desperate.

"You know, we could spend this trip trying to find you a girlfriend," Carol grinned, tossing a candy into the air and catching it in her mouth.

"No," you denied immediately. You didn't need for her to see how weird your head was being right now. You were certain there was no one she could find that would be able to snap you out of this strange state of no one being attractive to you, yet craving someone. "I'm not looking for a girlfriend in Ontario."

"What's wrong with girls from Ontario?" Carol teased.

She'd been to Ontario once before. She'd pointed out that, though they may have dressed a little different and talked a little different, the girls from Ontario were just as attractive as the girls from New York. You'd had to point out that, at the time, she'd had a girlfriend. With Carol's ogling at girls on Earth, clearly, she and the girlfriend hadn't been working out well. They'd broken up two weeks later, leaving them both a little hurt, but not beyond repair. Even still, they saw each other for lunch or for a drink, but just as friends. It was admirable; the respect they had retained for one another.

"Nothing is wrong with girls from Ontario," you huffed. "I'm just not in the mood. This is supposed to be our weekend."

"What if I want to spend our weekend finding you a girl?"

"I don't. Drop it," you finally snapped.

Immediately guilt rushed to settle in the pit of your stomach. You readjusted your grip on the steering wheel as your gaze refused to leave the road in front of you. You didn't want to glance over at the frown that had surely taken the place of that infectious smile you loved so dearly. You definitely didn't want to look at it knowing that you were the cause of it. Carol was so incredibly joyful all the time and that was one of the things you loved about her. To be the one who had taken that joy from her, even momentarily, broke your heart.

"I'm sorry," you muttered.

She didn't answer that.

You attempted to swallow the lump in your throat as you tried to focus on driving instead of picturing the frown that was probably tugging at each of Carol's features. You wished you could actually physically kick yourself for what you'd done. She didn't deserve you snapping at her like that. She hadn't done anything wrong. You were just being pissy for reasons you weren't sure even you quite understood. You finally turned to her, but she was looking out the window.

"Look, Carol-"

"Hey, don't worry. Sorry I pushed."

You didn't deserve Carol Susan Jane Danvers one single bit. She deserved more than the world and you swore right then you'd work every moment to give that to her. Despite how you'd treated her for reasons she couldn't possibly have understood, when she turned to you, she was still smiling. As always, her smile put a smile on your face too. You turned away from those soft brown eyes to glance back at the road in front of you.

"It's okay. I'm sorry I snapped. I just... it's a long story, Care-Bear."

"We've got a long ride ahead of us," she tried.

"I don't know that I'm feeling like talking about it right this second," you admitted.

She seemed to accept that. You felt her touch your arm with her hand. Warmth seemed to rush from her touch, up your arms, and into your chest. How one person could instill such comfort into you amazed you. She said a few soft words to you that you didn't quite hear, but you felt you might not need to. You knew they were words of comfort. Just that knowledge was enough to put a smile onto your face. Your eyes flickered from her to the road.

"No problem," Carol chimed. Then, without missing a single beat, she changed the subject. "Hey, which bag did you put the Fuzzy Peaches in?"

"The green backpack."

Just like that, it was easy again. Carol didn't let you linger on just how upset you were for more than a second. She practically dived into the back seat for the backpack, reappearing with the orange package in her hand. She plopped back down into her seat, still refused to put her seatbelt on, and ripped the package open. She reached out and turned up the music when one of your favourite songs came on. You wondered if she knew that.

*

"No! That piece goes over here!" You insisted.

Carol frowned and handed you the long pole.

Pitching a tent with an alien who hadn't even known was a tent was, up until five minutes ago, was not easy. She'd practically rolled herself up like a burrito in the rain fly right after nearly putting the stakes directly through the floor to pin the tent down. You'd been guiding her, preventing any damage from coming to it. She was listening intently, making sure she did everything exactly how you said. She stuck the peg through the guy line and looked at you.

"Like that?"

"Yeah. Perfect. I think we're just about done, Care-Bear."

At that, she unzipped the door, diving through it into the empty tent. You reached into the trunk of your car, throwing the many pillows, blankets, and sleeping bags through behind her, not caring much where they landed. When you finally shut the door and ducked into the tent, Carol was beneath the large pile, peering out from where only the top half of her face was visible. You had to chuckle, grabbing one of the blankets and pulling it over her face.

Carol insisted she set up. She had you sit aside by the door, munching happily on a small bowl of popcorn as you watched. She carefully unzipped the sleeping bags and lay them down on the floor, putting the pillows atop them, and then the two comforters stacked on top of each other on top of that. When she finally finished, she gestured proudly to her completed setup. You raised an eyebrow.

"We both sleeping there?"

She nodded. "It's cold."

You had to give her that. You were practically shivering just from waiting for her to finish. The sun had dipped beyond the horizon at this point, the darkness of night did nothing to heat up the air around you. You clambered under the blankets, careful not to drop any of the popcorn you still held. You placed it next to you, letting Carol reach over and grab some as she, too, climbed into the makeshift bed. She popped a piece into her mouth.

"Up to talking about it yet?"

It was a genuine question. Carol wasn't pushy. That was something you could tell by her tone. She had waited patiently and was continuing to wait for you to be ready to talk about what you needed to talk about. She didn't want you bottling it up, but she didn't want to pressure you. She was able to do that. You glanced down at the red blanket that covered your legs, pondering her question for a moment. Then you nodded your head yes.

"I just haven't felt myself recently," you shrugged. "I would like to get out there and find someone, no doubt. Recently, though, it's like my standards are unmeetable. No one seems even remotely appealing to me."

"No one at all?"

"Nat tried to set me up with her Russian model friend," you said, turning to Carol with a grin finally on your lips.

"Nothing?" Carol said, an exaggerated amount of shock on her face. "You must be broken."

You shoved her. She chuckled; the offensive action having done nothing. She was inhumanly strong. If you'd decided to punch her, you likely would've broken your hand against her. She shoved you back, only lightly, so you moved a few inches away from her. She stuck her hand back into the popcorn bowl as you shuffled back into your place beside her. She was chewing thoughtfully, and you didn't dare interrupt her with the very focused expression on her face.

"Do you already like someone? That usually takes away the appeal of anyone else."

You stopped to think about that. You knew that could be the case. In eleventh grade when you'd had a crush on Adelaide Artenbaker, you'd suddenly failed to find anyone else attractive at all. Of course, Adelaide had eventually rejected you on account that she was straight as an arrow. It wasn't malicious. She'd actually given you a kiss on the cheek and assured you that, if she discovered wasn't, she'd let you know. It had made you laugh.

Now, you had to wonder if there was anyone that was making your stomach flip and making you dismiss anyone else. It wasn't the Avengers. You'd been in the changing room with Natasha, the Black fucking Widow, two days ago, and she'd strutted up to you in nothing but her bra and underwear. You hadn't even bat an eyelash as she'd asked you if you wanted to get some Chinese food after the mission (but you had said yes, of course).

"Yeah. Maybe."

Her words had knocked some serious sense into you. You definitely had a crush on someone, and it had definitely been impairing your ability to get out on a date. That someone was around so little, though, that you hadn't realized right away just how you felt for them. Maybe if she visited Earth a little more often, you'd have realized why you blushed so deeply when she'd crawled into bed with you last night or right now.

"Who is it, then?"

Carol had a girlfriend. It may have been on-again-off-again, but she had a girlfriend. You were not now, nor ever, someone who would come between that. You were going to let her be happy with someone who was making her happy and you were going to be happy for her. You plastered a smile onto your face and reached into the bowl of popcorn that sat on your lap, letting the snack cloud the feelings of jealousy that you knew now weren't jealousy of a relationship, but if Carol.

"Nat."

Carol didn't miss a single beat. "Liar."

You glared at her. "The fuck do you mean? Telling me who I do and do not like?"

"I know who has your heart right now. It isn't Nat."

This time when she reached for the popcorn, she leaned over. To support her weight, her hand came to rest on your upper thigh. You had to refrain from reacting. You sucked the inside of your cheek between your teeth, biting hard on it to suppress any sort of reaction that Carol would have noticed. It seemed to have worked. She grabbed a small handful and then backed away, the pressure of her hand disappearing from your limb.

"Yeah? Who is it, then?"

"Someone that likes you back."

"And who says Nat doesn't?"

You might have actually been offended if it weren't Carol you were talking to. You were good enough for Natasha, right? She was practically a goddess in respect to her looks, but you were something, too. Not that you liked Natasha in that way. She was a friend. Carol was the one that you cared about. Something about that sweet smile and that confidence mixed with an innocence she had after being away from Earth for so long warmed your heart every time.

"Fair," Carol admitted. "But you know, you're pretty oblivious. With all the hints I've been dropping, you'd think you'd have realized your feelings are reciprocated."

"What?"

"I like you, dumbass. More than a friend likes a friend."

Your jaw might have dropped. You coughed, choking on the popcorn that you'd been eating as you whirled to face the blonde. She had a twinkle in her eyes, and a giggle escaped her lips when she saw the expression on your face. She tossed a piece of popcorn into the air, catching it in her mouth. She chewed on it as she waited, arms crossed, for you to collect yourself. Finally, after a long drink of water, you calmed.

"Pardon?"

"You're an idiot," she mumbled.

Then she grabbed the front of your shirt and pulled you closer. You didn't fail to notice, as your lips moved against hers, that she moved the popcorn bowl so that it wouldn't spill. It seemed completely unimportant, though. You felt everything starting to melt away into Carol Danvers. Her lips were talented and kissing her felt like an intricate sport and suddenly you needed to breathe. When you pushed away, you realized what you'd done wrong.

Her feelings to you didn't matter. She had a girlfriend. Unless that fact changed, she and you didn't get to be more than your friend. You pushed her even further away. You knew she had the ability to, but she didn't resist. You backed off a little further so that your bodies were completely separated. Her eyebrows knitted together in confusion, but she didn't push. She even waited for you to speak first. Your eyes wouldn't meet hers.

"You have a girlfriend."

"I just said that to make you jealous," she scoffed.

You immediately got defensive. "I was not jealous."

"You were so!"

"Shut up."

She did. You suspected the only reason she had shut up was because she was kissing you again. It didn't matter. You were on cloud nine. You felt right again. You felt more right now than you ever had. Carol was exactly what you had needed for longer than you could figure out right then. She was clouding your thoughts and, honestly, you couldn't have cared less. You didn't want to think about anything besides how good her lips felt on yours right then.

You couldn't even find it in yourself to be mad at her for the little stunt she had pulled. You could only be glad that this so-called girlfriend wasn't actually real, and was just a part of her stupid plan. Without the girlfriend, you were free to kiss her as much as she would let you. Judging by how she was kissing you now, she wasn't going to stop you anytime soon. Her teeth grazed your bottom lip as she pulled away, not moving more than an inch from your lips, though.

The hand that clasped your shirt uncurled. She pressed her hand flat against the centre of your chest, pushing you onto your back. You had to chuckle as her knees pressed into the ground on either side of your waist. She kissed your nose once, scowling at the laughs that were beginning to bubble from your chest. You leaned up and kissed her lips for a brief moment, before using a hand to caress her cheek and tuck her hair behind her ear.

"What are you laughing at?"

"Nothing. You were right," you stated. "I'm kinda glad you were right."

"You're kind of glad? Can you imagine how stupid I'd have looked if I were wrong?" Carol laughed.

"Quite," you agreed with a nod.

You pulled her down next to you, wrapping your arms around her and feeling hers do the same to you. You pressed your forehead against hers, taking the time to admire her smiling face. She giggled a little, pecking your lips quickly. She didn't linger, though, having been preoccupied in reaching over your shoulder into the bowl of popcorn once more. She shoved a few pieces into her mouth and chewed happily.

"Care-Bear, what's more important: me or snacks?"

"You are a snack."

You gaped. "How the hell did you learn that term?"

She shrugged. "I hear things."

You rolled your eyes, pushing her away from you. She let you, reaching for her water bottle to wash down some of the salty flavour that had come off the popcorn. She offered you some water, which you accepted. When you finished and handed the bottle back to her, she pulled you close to her. Your body moved until it was flush against hers. Her torso was so warm you could've fallen asleep right then and there.

"You're more important."

Being more important than snacks, in the opinion of Carol Danvers, was just about the highest compliment you could have received.

[p---ink]

Teach Me.

Author’s Note: So. I finally made a Peter Parker Fiction. And I know the gif is Arvin Russell, but that is for a reason, and maybe you'll see it, maybe you won't, BUT TELL ME IF YOU DO. So this is an unnamed OC fiction, but its mostly reader insert, aside from the fact that she’s black (surprise, surprise) and she has brown eyes. I made her an “OC” because of that fact. Also, get ready for some fluffy head cannons of Peter P. In the not-so-distant future though. 

Summary: Maybe Peter Parker, isn't as innocent as he seems. 

Warnings: Smut. Smut. and more Smut. Car-smut. Dark-ish Peter (Not really, but he’s not his usual wholesome self) 

Song: Star-gazing by The Neighborhood. I literally based this entire fiction on this one song. Even if you don’t read the fic, you should listen to it. 

Word Count: 5.5k

“If you don’t mind me asking,” She started, pausing a bit to give him time to look up at her, “ who brings a textbook to a frat party?”

His heart stopped for a moment when he realized who was speaking to him. But then he matched her grin shyly and replied, “It’s more of a conversation starter than anything.” 

“Would you say its been working well?”

“I did somehow manage to get someone as pretty as you to speak to me.” 

The smile that was already plastered on her face, grew wider along with her eyes and brows. “Wow Parker: Who knew you could be so bold after a few drinks?

“I’ve only had one, so the rest is all me.” He closed his book and readjusted his leg inviting her to sit. Then as if just realizing, he asked, “You know who I am?”

“Of course I know who you are. We went to Midtown together.” She said, getting comfortable on the couch. 

“Yeah I know. But we barely spoke to each other. Sometimes I wondered if you even knew I existed.”

“I always kept tabs on cuties like you. Especially you, actually.” She declared. 

“And you call me bold.” He muttered under his breath, a small blush creeping up.

“I’m always like this. Anyone who knows me, can tell you that. But anyone who knows you, would say the opposite. You were always so good.” 

“Good?”

“Yes! Good. Innocent. Nice. Whatever floats your boat.”

“And I remember you being, bossy, assertive, and intimidating.”

She threw her head back in laughter before stating,“You say that like its a bad thing.” Coming down from her fits of giggles she adds, “You noticed me, too? Never thought I was on your radar.”

“How could anyone not notice you.” He asked. “We had English together our freshman year. First day of class, you challenged Mr. Frechowsky, for inflicting his political views on the rest of the class. He got so red in the face, after yelling at you for three minutes straight, but everyone was more shocked at you for being unfazed.”

“I forgot abou-”

“Sophomore year, you “accidentally” tripped Amy Shuemacker,  after she made a rude comment about Ned’s weight. Junior year, you announced that you wanted to be not only the first female president, but the first who was black too. I remember telling myself you’d have my vote. Senior year, you almost had a mental breakdown when it looked like Michelle Obama was gonna run.” Peter finished, with not a hint that he was out of breath. 

“I-” She was more than taken aback. “I’m embarrassed that you remember all of that. Its been like four years since we graduated. Frankly any other person would have forgotten.”

“I think its impossible for anyone who’s met you, to forget the day they did.” He admitted to her. 

She just stared at him in awe for a moment. Mouth slightly agape from surprise. A shadow of a smile ever so present. 

Even though he was the one to say it, it was his face that turned a tinge pinker than before when he realized the weight behind his words. He swallowed thickly, averting his attention to the patterns that lined the carpet, fearing that he made her uncomfortable. In all honesty, he used to have a proper crush on the girl, rivaled by even Romeo’s adoration for Juliet.

This was the same girl he once described as ethereal. He once told Ned that fairies wove the strands of her hair, and butterflies still lived there, claiming that he saw them playing beneath her braids. The sun literally lived under her skin, and it was the secret as to why it would glow, and why her smile was so bright. He would swear to anyone that listened, that the harp was made with her voice in mind, and that it, her voice, played a better melody. He used to be lovestruck. Guess those feelings still lingered. 

If you asked him, two minutes ago had he gotten over it, his answer would’ve been yes. Would’ve been. 

His sudden fluster—which she found adorable by the way, broke her from her trance as she grinned and said “Don’t act bashful now!” playfully shoving his arm as she uttered the words. 

Quickly recovering from his earlier hiccup, he slowly returned her grin and tried to retaliate but before he could, “We have to go. Now.”

They looked up to see an irritated looking preppy girl impatiently scowling down at them. She couldn’t have been much older than 21, but no one told that to her clothes and aura. Her olive skin couldn’t hide the frown lines that had been assigned to her, nor the bags that would put a raccoon to shame. Besides the current circumstances that she would tell them in the next minute, Peter could tell on his own that the girl needed a date with sleep. 

“What’s the matter Li? Is everything okay?”

“Yes, aside from the fact that Angie locked herself out of the apartment again.” She said sarcastically, muttering this last part under her breath “I swear I’ve had it with that girl.”

“Ah I see. Well then we better get going.” The girl affirmed, standing from her seat, making Peter rise from his. “Peter it was so nice seeing you. I hate to leave, I would’ve enjoyed catching up a bit more.” She said, turning to grab her coat. 

“Well then we should catch up soon.”

She turned to nod her head, seemingly interested in his suggestion. “I’d love that. When did you have in mind?”

“How about now? if its a ride you’re looking for, I can drive you home.” Peter’s inner sixteen year old self, screamed at this opportunity. Time alone, with his four-year crush? He couldn’t not take advantage of the moment. 

“I couldn’t ask you to do that. It’s all the way on the other side of town.” She informed him. 

“But you’re not asking me to do it. I’m offering, because, ‘ya know; I haven’t seen you in a while and I’d like to catch up, too.” He said, second-guessing himself and praying that he didn’t come on too strong. “Ya know. Only if you want to.” He added just in case. 

Taking too much time debating whether or not she should say yes, the girl’s friend did it for her.  “Sounds great! I’ll see you at home.” Spinning on her heels,  and walking out of the door.

“Well.” The girl started, smiling at her old schoolmate. “I guess that settles it.”

“Shit!” He cursed, killing the engine completely, and slamming his head back on the headrest. After a couple minutes of trying to get it to start, the boy gave up like his car did.

It had been a full three hours since  Alisha left the party. The time was spent competing about who could find out more about the other. He learned that she still had a thirst for changing the world and community around her. She learned that the boy had been bitten by a radioactive spider and was now New York’s most friendly vigilante. She never knew that Peter could be so hilarious. 

They were stranded on some back road, miles away from civilization, with rain coming down on the roof of the car like they owed it money.

“Peter, what did you expect?” She began to question, giggling as she spoke. “This car is so old, Fred Flintstone has a newer model.”

“Hey!” He cried, “Don’t badmouth Karen. She just needs a little work.”

“You mean a lot of work. Karen is ancient.”

“She’s been good to me.”

“Should I call Triple A?” She asked, ignoring his dramatics. “The rain will probably let up by the time they get here.”

“I’ve got this.” He sighed, readying himself to leave the car. “Besides, triple A doesn’t know Karen like I do. They won’t be able to give her the love and patience she deserves” He explained, the car’s rickety door sounding as he disappeared into the rain. 

She heard that same distinct sound not ten seconds later, as he reappeared, soaking wet from the rain’s onslaught. His white t-shirt clung to his body, while beads of water raced down his skin. His messy locks, traded their dark brown hue for a jet black one, and his dirty converses shone a little brighter than they did before he left the car. 

“Maybe that wasn’t the best idea.” He admitted, the leather making a squelching noise as he glued himself back to his previous seat. 

“The offer for triple A still stands.”

“No. I’ll let this play out. But maybe I can call you an Uber.”

“There’s no way I’m leaving you out here all alone. We’ll let this play out.”

“But this may take a while.”

“I’m the reason you’re out here in the first place. And I like your company, so i’ll stay.”

Peter knew he couldn’t argue with that one, so he let silence befall the two of them. It stayed like that for a moment. It wasn’t quite awkward, but it was definitely palpable. 

She thought to say something, he did the same, but neither could quite let their words come to life. It was unlike the girl he knew before, who said the first thing that came to mind. Unlike himself, who did the same, but in a less graceful way. 

Finally, after what felt like hours of deafening quiet, Peter begins with, “How long have you and Brad been a thing?” The question fresh on his mind, since her phone rang yet again, with his ugly mug lighting up the screen. It was the fourth time she ignored the notification. 

It was rare for Peter to hate a person. In fact he didn’t hate many at all. But there was something about Brad that always made his stomach clench. Didn’t help that he was sniffing around his girl. 

“Hmm.” She pondered, tapping her chin with her index finger. Acting as if she was carefully thinking about it.“For about for-never and a day” She finally answered.

“Oh I thought, that since—“ Peter stammered, growing embarrassed by his assumption, and the disdain that coated his words.

“Anyone would have, with him blowing my phone up.” She sighed. “But alas, nothing will ever come of us. No matter how much he wants it to. Wish he’d take a hint.”

Back to silence. But this time it didn’t consume Peter. It gave him a bit of hope, enough hope to ask her his next question. 

“Back at the party,” he started before pausing, which prompted her to question, yes, before he could properly collect his nerve to ask her what he wanted. 

“Back at the party, you mentioned you always kept tabs on me. Especially me. What did you mean by that?”

“I may have had a small crush on you.” She answered without missing a beat. This of course took him by surprise, but not for long. 

“Why did you never act on it?”

“Because I quickly realized you weren’t my type.” She said as if it was nothing in the world.

“Ouch. What did I do to make you realize that?” Peter asked. Though his tone was light-hearted, he tried not to let on that he was hurt. 

“Nothing.” She replied. “You were just yourself. Peter Parker, the innocent good boy who would never harm a fly.”

Peter thought to himself for a moment. He thought long and hard before he decided to bring up the word she had uttered more than once tonight. “There goes that word again: innocent. What makes you think I’m innocent?”

“Come on Parker. Ned told me you once donated a one hundred dollar bill you found lying on the sidewalk to the local homeless shelter. And that was after you couldn’t find its original owner. That’s got innocence written all over it.”

“Does that make me innocent or a good person?”

“They’re one and the same.”

“There is a big difference between the two.”

“I disagree. The two are definitely interchangeable. Good people are the ones who haven’t been corrupted yet.”

“So does that mean you aren’t a good person?”

“I think I’m a neutral person. Not exactly good, not exactly bad. Just walking the tightrope. I probably would have taken the money, and felt bad about it later.”

They both chuckled at her statement, letting it end that segment of the conversation. Though Peter was done fighting with her about her type’s moral compass, he wasn’t done with the subject all together.

“So,” He paused, and she braced herself, taking notice of how every time he did that, a question she was reluctant to answer followed. “what exactly is your type?”

An uncomfortable breathy laugh passed through her lips as she answered. “I didn’t exactly know it at the time, but I’m able to put it into words now.” She admitted, taking her time as she explained. 

“I guess ideally you were my type. Nice. Harmless. Smart. But I was also looking for someone who knew how to take control. I’m in control of everything in my life, so it feels good to meet a person who lets me relinquish that. Or in more crude terms, a person who has the ability to fuck my brains out.” She declared as she leered in his direction with a small smirk playing her lips. 

She was only teasing. But she could feel that the air had grown thick on the side of the car that Peter had resided in. For a split second, she could have sworn that she saw something snap in him. But as quickly as it appeared, it vanished, making her feel as though she had imagined the entire thing. 

But she knew that couldn’t have been right. Known for many things, her vivid imagination wasn’t one of them. His breath hitched. His shoulders tensed. She hadn’t imagined that. What he said next, after what felt like an hour of silence told her that she didn’t imagine anything at all. 

“Did teaching me, ever cross your mind?” He asked. His grip on the steering wheel, turning his knuckles white. She saw his Adam’s apple bob after he spoke, and his chestnut eyes focused on the rain that splattered against the windshield. 

“U-um I-,” She stammered, Peter catching her by surprise. She had to really think about his question. “I suppose it never did.”

“You still want me?” He asked her, turning his attention back on her. 

“Huh?”

“Am I still your type? Aside from the fact that I can’t take control?” 

She just swallows, before nodding.

Noting her surprise, but not relenting he says, “Then teach me.”

“What?” She questions, fearing she misheard him. 

“Teach me.” He repeated, only elaborating when she scrutinized his face. “Show me exactly how you want to be touched. Kissed. Fucked.”

The way he said the word, fuck, was so filthy. It almost made her lose the rest of her composure. Not like she had much left. He had already rendered her speechless, now he was ruining her panties.

No. She wouldn’t let it play out like this. She had a reputation to uphold.

She peered over her shoulder, then back to him trying to assess whether or not he was serious. When his face showed no sign of amusement, she swung her door open, to trade her passenger’s seat for the back one. 

The rain’s onslaught was still vicious, so her previously dry form was borderline drenched. July’s summer heat, did no favors in keeping her warm, and she had no idea if she was shivering from the rain or her nerves. “Are you gonna come keep me warm or what?” She challenged, trying to find her confidence again.  

It was only seconds before Peter joined her, but it was no question that his body was shaking with anticipation. He looked at her expectantly, surveying her every move. From the way her eyes flitted to the ground, to the way her hands busied themselves by rubbing at her thighs. She was nervous. 

It must have been a snowy day in hell.

“What should we do first?” She asked. 

“Does the instructor usually ask the pupil what lessons they should start with?”

“Kiss me?” She suggested, half-ignoring his comment. 

“Are you asking me, or telling me?” Peter remarked, amusement glinting in his eyes. 

Annoyance overtaking her tone now, she demands this time, “Kiss me.” 

“Say please.” He teased. 

“Damn it Peter, fucking kiss m—”

And then he glued his lips to hers. They were sweet and gentle, like him, but still managed to convey his longing. He hoped the kiss would capture all the times he imagined doing it when she would flash those pretty brown eyes his way. When she would speak in a way that put an angel’s timbre to shame. Even when she would fucking breathe, he imagined kissing her until his lips fell off. He hoped the kiss would make up for all of the ones he was dying to share with her over the years.

The pads of his fingers roamed over her silky smooth skin, starting at her cheeks, ending at her neckline. He tasted the flavor of her strawberry chapstick, the same one that made her lips feel and look as smooth as butter. When he inhaled and tasted the faint scent of minty watermelon on her breath, he decided he couldn’t get enough. He wanted to kiss her until he committed to memory every bump on her tongue. Then he would be satisfied. 

“Like this?” He whispered, pulling back to inhale the same air as her, almost turning feral at the sight of her swollen lips and blown pupils. “Or,” he started, leaning back in to go again, searching her eyes, “like this?”

Whereas kiss one was innocent and sweet, the way that Peter portrays himself, kiss two was the definition of what he could be…or maybe what he already was, she couldn’t tell. He was filthy with the way his tongue glided against hers. The hot wet muscle played hers like an instrument, before locking the two together. One of his hands planted itself on the nape of her neck, forcing her to feel every measure against her mouth. She couldn’t move if she wanted to, not that she wanted to. Just like him she wanted to relish the taste of him. 

With his nose pressed against her cheek, and hers against his, they kissed like they wanted to touch the other’s souls. They began breathing in the rest of the other’s air, like they wanted to swap lungs. Exploring the other’s bodies, like they would die if they didn’t study the exact texture of the other’s skin. 

It took everything in Peter to restrain himself. To keep his thumbs from traveling beneath her shirt. He nipped at his tongue to keep from nipping at her lips and skin. He tried shifting in his seat to distract himself from the shifting going on in his jeans. 

It certainly didn’t help the growing tent in his pants when the girl planted her thighs on either side of his, rocking and rolling her hips to alleviate some of the tension in her panties. 

She took over the kiss, setting the pace and overcoming the surprise from Peter earlier.

Her fingers, that were previously glued to his face, began fumbling with the hem of his shirt, peeling the wet material off and over his head. She marveled at his sculpted chest for a moment, before Peter followed suit, pulling her dampened top over her arms and flinging it over the seat. 

A throaty groan passed his lips when she resumed her measures against his hips. Grinding herself down on his hardening member. 

Her breathy whimpers intensified when his surprisingly warm hands traveled along her skin, caressing her soft flesh. She was getting more worked up the more Peter mimicked the movement of her hips, grinding upwards while simultaneously pinning her waist down. 

She tugged harshly on the patch of hair that lived on the back of his neck, eliciting one of the sexiest groans she had ever heard. His heavily lidded eyes that held the same fire as hers, both scared and excited her. 

As she leaned in closely, preparing her words carefully she ordered him to, “Kiss me here,” before planting her lips on his neck. Flattening her tongue to lick a stripe up the exposed skin, she began swirling the appendage before nipping, licking, and sucking until his skin had a reddish purple hue. 

She got lost in the feel of him, succumbing to the sound of his hisses and moans only to yelp a moment later, when Peter mimicked her earlier actions.

With a fistful of her hair, and her exposed neck jutting out towards his lips he licked a stripe against the skin, just as she did earlier, only his measures were steady and calculated, taking note of every flinch and hitch of her breath. He found her sweet spot in seconds, focusing all of his attention there. 

With her nails digging into his flesh, and her hips stuttering, Peter knew he had her where he wanted her. “Like that?” He rasped, pulling away to admire the strings of purple and blue that littered her skin. 

“Fuck yea Parker; you learn fast.” She gasped, attempting at a laugh, as she peeled her chest off of him.  She took a hand of his into hers, grasping two of his fingers as she bought them to her lips. 

Hollowing her cheeks as she sensually sucked and lubricated his digits, she bought his other hand down to her shorts, beckoning him to unbutton them. “Touch me here.” She murmured, eyes taking in the wide curious ones staring back at her. 

With the newly slick fingers, Peter did as she told him, dipping his fingers beneath the waistband of her panties and finding her nub instantaneously. “Right here?” He enquired, when her breathing turned shaky. 

“Mmm, god yes!” She praised, as he worked his fingers over her. 

Setting a consistent pace, Peter lightly grazed her clit, every time he ran his fingers up and down her folds. “Am I doing this right?” He questioned, flicking and teasing her core. 

“Mhm” She mewled, “fuck y-your fingers feel so good” Her speech was now becoming slightly incoherent.

“Yeah?” He groaned, “What about my mouth?” He asked, just before unclasping her bra a little too effortlessly with one hand. Latching his lips against her perky chest, he massaged the other mound with his free hand.  

Words were lost on her, as she became a wanton mess. She couldn’t fathom how he could be so skillful with both hands. How a person could multitask the way that he did was indescribable. His hand on her clit didn’t let up, but neither did the one that tweaked and pulled on her nipple. Not to mention the hot tongue that darted and sucked meticulously at her other. She couldn’t stifle her cries if she tried. 

Riding his fingers, she pressed his head further into her chest,  becoming greedy with his touch, as she sprinted towards her orgasm. She thought that this feeling couldn’t get any better. 

Of course, Peter was full of nothing but surprises tonight, and needed to prove her wrong. He let two of his fingers slip inside of her, while a thumb replaced the ones that were glued to her clit. Rubbing circles against her sex, he pumped the two fingers furiously in and out of her hole. 

“Does that feel good, baby?”

But the girl didn’t answer, Her mouth hung open as if she wanted to, but the words were jumbled somewhere in her throat. Her face twisted into pleasure, and she couldn’t do anything but succumb to his measures against her body.

It wasn’t long before she felt her stomach spasming, the heat pooling to her core, her already sensitive flower growing even more sensitive, as she came into his palm. 

Her juices coated his digits, her walls fluttered around them, and her skin was now hot to the touch, as Peter forced her climax out of her. 

Tears flooded her eyes, as she took in as much air as she could. When had she stopped breathing? Maybe sometime during the earth-shattering orgasm her old classmate was giving her. 

Once the ringing in her ears subsided, and her lower region began to cool again, she thanked the boy and praised him as she said, “You did so well,” before planting hot wet kisses on his shoulder and neck.

She stopped when she felt his body shaking. Coming back up to eye him, she asked what he found so funny. 

Peter tried to hide the smirk that plastered his lips but he couldn’t hold his act any longer. “You just don’t get it do you?” He asks as he casually licks and sucks at his fingers, just as she did earlier, relishing in the taste of her essence. 

The confusion on her face and brain was evident. “Get wha—” He had her pinned on her back, before she could utter the last syllable.

The tight space was cramped, but the boy had more than enough room to stalk his prey. He hovered above her, ridding her of the rest of her clothes in one fell swoop, before delivering his monologue. 

“I don’t know what it is about girls like you, but I swear you drive me crazy.” He admitted, before removing his jeans in a quick motion. “You always assume that just because I’m a nice guy, I won’t be able to fuck your brains out.” He informed, before revealing a hidden condom and rolling it on before lining himself up at her entrance. “But I hope that if tonight proves anything to you,” He starts, eyes finally darting up to land on her horror-filled ones, “it will be that your mindset can land you in a whole heap of trouble.”

And with that, he grasps the door above her head, before sinking himself into her.

Groaning at the feel of her, Peter’s facade dropped completely. Her tight little cunt feels even better than he imagined, and he hopes that he feels better than she ever imagined. 

He starts slow, with the intent of her feeling every ridge of his cock, as it threatens to invade her stomach. Her soft tits bouncing with every thrust, send a jolt through his body every time her nipples graze his chest. The way his name falls off her sweet tongue, has him in shambles, as he picks up his pace, throwing slow and steady out of the window. 

Her cries are loud in his ear, as he ruts against her sex. He’s so thick, its hard for her to think straight. He can feel the indents of her nails as they dig into his lower back; she tries to press his ass closer to her, never wanting him to leave.

Maybe if it were any other guy fucking her, she would have felt the seat buckle digging into her back. Maybe she would have felt her sticky sweaty skin on the leather of his back seat. Maybe the awkward position her head was in would have spoiled her experience. But with Peter, she could only focus on the pleasure. 

His thrusts were relentless now. His hot breath was fanning the side of her cheeks. His previously damp hair, stuck to her neck, as he drove himself further into her skin. Nothing could distract him away from her in this moment.

Nothing but the faint glow of her phone, that is. It’s buzzing, and vibrations immediately catching his eye, as he held his head up. That same dangerous smirk that she saw earlier returning. 

“Look who’s calling, baby.” He purred, overcoming the stutter of his hips. When he held her phone up for her to see, her heart sank at the mischief behind his words. Brad. “Should we answer it?”

“No, Pete!” She cried. 

“Oh come on, that would be rude wouldn’t it?” He dared, before delivering a particularly hard thrust, that sent her mind into a haze. “We can stop so you can take this—”

“No! D-don’t stop” She begged, prying the phone from his fingers, and fumbling with the answer button. 

“Babe? Hello?” Brad’s irritating voice answered flooding, her phone’s speaker. But the girl didn’t answer immediately, because she was too busy trying to stifle her whimpers. 

“Hey Brad!” She finally choked out, sounding somewhat normal. How she managed to do it, she couldn’t say. 

“Wow! Finally. This is like my eighth time trying you. I almost can’t believe you answered. What are you up to?”

“Should you tell him what you’re up to, babe?” Peter devilishly whispered against her skin.

“Nothing!” She whined into the phone. 

“Whoa. Are you okay? You sound a little off?”

“You should tell him you sound like this because I’m making you feel so good.” Peter suggested, driving her body up and down the seats. “I bet he’d wish he were me right now.”

“I-I’m just a feeling a l-li-little sick is all.” She breathlessly stuttered.

“Should I come over?”

“Ah yes Peter!” She wailed, when the boy starts circling his fingers against her clit, while simultaneously grinding slowly but roughly into her. She’s no longer paying attention to the man on the other end. His curses don’t faze her, nor does Peter’s actions as he releases the phone from her grip. 

“Hey Brad. Remember me.” He casually asks, ignoring Brad’s threats. “Yeah no man, don’t worry about her: I’ll make sure she’s real good and taken care of.” He promises, before ending the call, and tossing the device into the passenger’s seat. “Think he finally got the hint?”

Peter then takes the girl’s hips into his hands, lifting her inches off the seat, before pulling her body onto his dick at an ungodly speed.

Crying. She’s literally crying, with tears streaming down her face. Her voice is becoming hoarse with moans. She had never experienced such intense sex in her life. 

Peter brings the hand that was previously plastered on the glass down to the girl’s face. “would this be the definition of fucking your brains out, baby?” He grunts, in reference to the girl’s constant repetition of his name. It’s the only word she can remember, as he fucks her into the chair. 

His movements shook the car. The heat that their bodies radiated, fogging up the glass. The scent of their sex now embedded in the fabric of his seats. The boy was completely untamed. 

Her screams were one among the things that set him off. The way her body writhed against his was another. The stutter in her speech another. But the unbridled lust that her eyes held, was the literal icing on the cake. 

Thank fuck she came before him. Her tight little hole constricting and clenching his dick. And when he started slipping in and out, her eyes glued shut, and her chest started to rise and fall, he knew that she had came. 

A sweaty fucked out mess before him, she needed Peter to finish her off before she was satisfied. “Drown me in your cum” She begged, and it was like he knew exactly what she wanted. 

Unsheathing himself from her, he ridded himself of the condom, and started tugging violently at his cock. Fucking his hand, not unlike the way he fucked her earlier, he spurted his milky white seed all over her supple brown canvas, a husky groan roaring from his chest as he threw his head back in pleasure. His seed extinguished the heat that resided in her skin, and she closed her eyes shut, letting her head fall back down on the seat. 

The image of his white paint, all over her stomach, chest, and tits, bleeding into his memory, as he came back down from his high. 

Once back down to earth, reality began to sink back in. Immediately recomposing himself, Peter blurted, “Fuck are you okay? Was I too rough?”

His sudden outburst almost made her jump out of her skin, but she quickly recovered. “Oh god no Parker! I loved every minute of that.” She lazily smiled reassuringly.  “Do you always fuck like that?”

Peter returned the smirk, blushing before saying, “I’ve always wanted to fuck you like that.” 

After planting a final kiss on her lips, he reached into the center console, to scavenge a few wet wipes, cleaning her skin before discarding them. 

Moments later, they reunited with their lost articles of clothes, pulling the fabrics over their limbs before crawling back into the front seat.

When Peter put his seatbelt back on, and cranked the car up with no effort, he felt the heat of the girl’s eyes on his skin. 

“What?” He asked, dumbfounded by her glare. 

“Was there ever anything wrong with the car?”

And then as if just realizing Peter mouthes oh, before telling her simply “No.” Adding on that he just wanted an excuse to spend more time with her. 

“Well how the fuck did you know I wasn’t gonna just take your offer for an Uber?”  She asked, more impressed than pissed.

“Because you’re a neutral person, and a neutral person would feel too bad about doing that.”

“There’s a lot of things I still have to learn about you Parker.” She admits, sinking down into her seat. Heat rising to her cheeks, as a new crush began to develop. 

“Don’t worry. I’m willing to teach you.” 

 A/N: So like...don’t be afraid to tell me what you think. I swear I dont bite...unless you're into that. also this was edited it, but probably not well, so tell me if you see an error. 

[just-a-quirkless-loser]

What Did I Do To Deserve You?

ITS WHAT!?!

Alpha Dabi x F! Omega Reader

Words: 2.5K

Summary: Dabi finds out it’s your birthday

Soundtrack: ‘Safety Net’ by Ariana Grande ft. Ty Dolla $ign

Cuddling with your alpha, Dabi, is always the best. His smokey scent always engulfs your entire being as his strong arms keep you grounded against his chest. He always looks at you like you’re the best thing on this planet. Although, his snuggles are the least of your concern right now. 

Right now, you’re trying to figure out how you’ll survive another minute of the cuddling position he has chosen for this moment. He’s sitting on the couch with you straddling his hips, your body arched into him as he keeps on hand settled on your ass. The other hand is fumbling with a Wii controller, clumsily playing bowling. It’s actually kinda cute how much your alpha loves to play video games (you hypothesis it may be because of how he was treated as a child but, Dabi barely talks about his childhood nowadays). 

The problem, however, is that your alpha has decided to make you suffer. His hardness grinds into your core every time you try to move. You swear up and down in your mind that he does this on purpose to torture you for going to work every day. It’s pure agony laying there, feeling yourself get wetter and wetter after each second. 

Dabi, on the other hand, is having the time of his life. He enjoys the way your core radiates warmth on his dick. Plus, you’ve been at work so much lately that he’s barely had you to himself for longer than an hour before you retire to your shared bedroom and pass out from exhaustion. Your asshole boss has been keeping you in the office longer since you have a big project coming up. 

The alpha within him hates being separated from his omega but, he understands that you need your own independence. Thus, having this Thursday morning with you all to himself has made him incredibly happy. He thinks for a moment that maybe you might be sick (you only ever call out of work if you physically can’t make it) but you show no signs of illness. Then, his mind rejoices at the idea that you’ve finally agreed to quit your stupid job and allow him to provide for you; you quickly shot down this motion and told him you simply wanted to relax for once. He pouts. 

“I’m not giving up hope,” you giggle and kiss his cheek. Kissing him on the lips would be a dangerous game right now. 

“I’m sure you won’t, alpha,” Dabi’s nose flares. Glancing down at you, he runs his tongue along his teeth. Goodness, how have you survived this long in his lap? 

Your starting match with your mate is cut short by your phone ringing. You flick his nose on your way up and yelp as he swats your ass in retaliation. You look back to glare at him but he’s innocently looking at the t.v., looking up at you with puppy-dog eyes. Sometimes you truly cannot believe this same man works for the League. 

“Hello, Momma,” you sigh a bit as you answer the phone. You didn’t expect her to call you. 

“Y/N!!! Happy Birthday, my beautiful girl. How are you enjoying it?” you can hear Dabi pause his game. You silently curse your mother for finally deciding to be attentive to you.

“It’s going good, momma. I took off of work for the day,” by now, Dabi is silently staring at you. His tall figure looms over you as he mouths ‘birthday’ to you. You nod your head, wondering for a moment how the fuck his hearing is so good. 

“You deserve it. It’s such a beautiful thing to turn 17,” you sigh once again. You suppose you were asking too much for your mother to remember your age in addition to remembering the day she pushed you out of her vagina. 

“Momma, I’m turning 20,” you try not to let her ruin your mood. You try to be thankful that she’s at least making an effort. On the other hand, Dabi looks at the phone in disgust. You’ve never really told Dabi about your childhood but, he had picked up over time that you were in the same boat as himself.

“Oh dear, I’m sorry. Time is flying by so fast,” you just shake your head.

“Yeah, it really is. I have to go, ma. I’m getting ready to go do some shopping. I deserve it.”

“Yes, yes you do. I love you, Y/N,” you can tell she feels bad.

“As I do you, momma,” you end the call. You know it must hurt her when you don’t tell her you love her back but, you’ve never been able to tell her that. You care for her but, it’s so hard forgiving her. 

“IT’S WHAT!?!?!” ahhh, yes, you now have to deal with Dabi. It’s actually kinda funny how your birthday has just now dawned on his mind. However, you don’t dare laugh because you already know he feels bad enough for not knowing in the first place. “Omega, why didn’t you tell me?”

“Well, I don’t normally celebrate it. My boss normally gives me the day off no matter how much I protest. I just wanted to spend the day with you,” you relish in the warmth of his palm as he starts to stroke your cheek. You stare into his deep, cerulean eyes, feeling yourself get lost. “Don’t feel bad, alpha. It’s not that important.”

“IT IS IMPORTANT,” he snaps a bit, nuzzling your head. “It’s the day you were born to be mine. I don’t know what I’d be without you.”

“You’d be the same, just a bit more aggressive,” you giggle. You have no doubt in your mind that your alpha would be single without you. It takes a special kind of person to deal with your Dabi. 

“That’s beside the point. Why didn’t you celebrate your birthday?” your eyes narrow as he speaks in the past tense.

“I DON’T celebrate it because I never got into it. I never really told you this ‘cause uh,” you rub the back of your neck in embarrassment. You know that you owe it to him to at least give him a good explanation. “Growing up, my parents were on really hard drugs. I mostly tried to avoid being in the house after things got bad so I was out working most of the time, trying to survive. I never really noticed my birthday since, you know, I was too preoccupied with taking care of myself. Then, the years started going by too fast till I just gave up trying to celebrate.”

“Y/N, Omega, look at me when I say this,” he cups your face in his hands, his nose rubbing against your, both of your eyes staring at each other. “Never feel ashamed of your past. Never feel ashamed to tell me things about yourself. I will never judge you. I love you so much, baby. Never forget that.”

“Yes, alpha,” and the matter was forgotten in your eyes. For the rest of the day, Dabi treated you like a queen (although, if you’re being honest, it didn’t really feel any different from how he normally treats you. If anything, he didn’t even let you walk). That night, he cooked you dinner and played with your hair the way you liked as he lulled you to sleep.

Once he was sure you were asleep, Dabi crept out of the bed. He watched you for a moment as you whined, hand-stretched out searching for your alpha. Your hand soon found his scented pillow and you decided it would be your ‘faux’ Dabi. It was adorable. Dabi made sure to snap a few pictures before sneaking out to the living room to make his call. 

“Dabi, this better be fucking good. It’s booty-call hours and I know you’re not calling me for that….unlesssss?”

“Giran shut the fuck up and listen. I want to use some of my money to take Y/N on a small trip for her birthday. Not too extravagant. She hates shit like that,” Dabi was already regretting calling the man. 

“When’s her birthday?” Dabi could hear Giran shuffling around with a piece of paper. He could imagine he was probably writing down information. 

“It was today. She just t-”

“What the fuck, Dabi?!?! How could you forget her FUCKING BIRTHDAY?! SHE’S THE BEST FUCKING THING YOUR SORRY ASS IS GONN-” Dabi had to cool the rage of his inner alpha.

“She just fucking told me, you old, senile bastard. She wasn’t even going to tell me. I found out because her good-for-nothing mother called,” Dabi was pinching the bridge of his nose. He was still pissed you hadn’t shared something so important with him. He was even more pissed at himself for not realizing sooner. 

“Oh...my bad. How soon do you want the plans to be made?”

“As soon as possible. I don’t care how much money it costs to get reservations and shit. I just want to treat her the way she deserves. Also, tell Shigaraki that I’ll be out of commission for the days you book. I mean it. None of you better fucking call me,” his voice dropped an octave. “This is my omega’s time. I’ll let you sorry fucks die if you’re stupid enough to get into trouble while I’m gone.”

“Geez, I get it. I’ll tell the others. If it’s for Y/N, we’ll lay low for a few days,” you had managed to weasel your way into the hearts of the group. Every time one of them had come to your home pleading, you took care of them. Hell, even Shigaraki tolerated you. 

“Thank you,” Dabi meant it. “I’ll let you get back to your sleep.”

Then, he was back in the bed with you. You knew nothing of what had happened and he couldn’t wait to see the look on your face when he told you of the plans he (well, technically Giran) made. 

                                                          ***

“Hell no,” why did you have to be such a difficult omega? “I have a job, Dabi.”

“Baby, it’s only a few days. I know you have more than enough vacation days saved up. Just let your daddy take care of you,” you blushed hard. You had been getting ready for work when Dabi told you he had planned something for your birthday.

“Dabi, I can’t just not show up to work. Plus, I have work to do for this project,” you went to step around your alpha when he grabbed your wrist and pulled you into his chest.

“No, you don’t. I already asked your boss and he said you can come. It’s only for a few days babe. I promise you’ll love it,” he was giving you his pout. You turned your head to the side knowing that you would cave in to his demands the longer he looked at his face. You must resist temptation. You must...you must...you...have never seen Dabi look at you the way he is now. He seems so excited for whatever he has planned. You can’t bring yourself to deny his excitement. 

“Fine. What do I need to pack?” Dabi rejoiced in your defeat, smiling down at you. 

“I’ve already packed for you,” your alpha pulls a suitcase from underneath the bed. Ahhh, so that’s where some of your clothes had gone. “I’ve already got the car outside all gassed up, Giran said he’ll drop by to make sure the house is taken care of, and I’ve got your favorite snacks waiting to be eaten by you.”

This man truly loves you with all his being. You spend the next hours napping in the car per Dabi’s request. Even though you’d never admit it, it feels so good to have a break from working in your work cubicle. Maybe, you’ll decide to take a few more days off more often. After you wake up for your cat-nap, you eat your snacks like a good girl, giggling at any of the stupid roadtrip games Dabi comes up with. 

Every time you ask about your destination, Dabi just shoots you a conspiratorial grin and tells you to “enjoy the ride like a good girl.” You squint your eyes at him the first few times as you think about reaching over to grab his dick. You decide against it, your self-preservation telling you that idea may not be the best course of action. 

The day is slowly turning into evening but you don’t mind. The day has been immaculate at your alpha’s side. 

Eventually, Dabi tells you to close your eyes. You do so with no argument, ready to see what your surprise is (at this point, you’ve learned there is no point in trying to protest). You hear the car stop and Dabi helps you out, his hands covering your eyes as he walks you somewhere. From what you can feel, you’re somewhere with gravel. That revelation does nothing to tell you where you are. 

“How much further?” you whine. You’ve been walking for a few minutes now, every so often you stumble over a pebble, making Dabi laugh.

“How do you manage to trip and I’m literally guiding you?” you huff.

“Answer my question fool,” you yelp as Dabi gives you a quick swat to the butt. You rub the sting away and give him an imaginary glare. 

Instead of answering, he uncovers your eyes to the most beautiful thing you've seen in your life (aside from Dabi ofcourse). A log cabin stands in front of you, large windows spanning from the ground to the ceilings. It looks like it may be made of pine wood. Everything looks so polished and poised. But, that’s not even the best part. 

From where you stand, you can smell water. Walking a few steps ahead of Dabi, you can see a beautiful lake behind the cabin, the water glistening as it reflects the setting sun. Hues of magenta, tangerine, and candy apple sprays across the sky. Light is giving way to night before your very eyes and you feel yourself beginning to tear up. The sandy beach feels heavenly on your toes, the air feels calm and fresh, the lake still sparkling. 

You can still hear Dabi behind you as you wrap your arms around yourself. You try to cry silently but, you just end up full-on sobbing. No one has ever done something so thoughtful for you; no one has cared enough about you to do anything like this.

Your alpha doesn’t ask you what’s wrong. He just keeps you against his chest as he lets you deal with your emotions. By the look on your face, he can tell he’s done a good job by consulting with Giran. 

“Thank you.”

“Anything for my omega,” you grin. You’ll have to start letting him care for you more often if this is what he comes up with.

You both walk along the beach, laughing at each other when either of you trip on the mounds of sand. It’s another moment of calm that is reserved for only the two of you. 

“So, you do like the beach?” Dabi looks nervous as he holds you.

“I love it.”

“Good. It’s our beach now,” and, although it sounds innocent enough, you look at him with squared eyes.

“What do you mean by that?”

“I bought the beach,” give it some time to set in. Okay, maybe a few more moments of digestion.

“YOU DID WHAT?!?!”

—————————————————————————-

TagList💕

@sinclairsamess @sakurashortstack

[christinesficrecs]

Any Sterek fics where Stiles is also a werewolf?

There are more fics in the tag.

Until I Wrap Myself Inside Your Arms (I Cannot Rest) by EvanesDust, flymeofftoneverland | 16.3K | Explicit

It’s been two years since Derek returned and, so far, he’s kept his promise. He's never left again. But, as far as Stiles is concerned, he might as well have never come back.

It Was a Wednesday by isthatbloodonhisshirt (wasterella) | 80.1K | Mature

“What happened? Where are you? What’s that sound?”

Derek jumped, having momentarily forgotten Scott was on the phone with him because Stiles had started moving. He’d stalked over to the other side of the cave, still eying Derek warily and growling, then settled protectively over a mass of clothes, leaves and animal innards. It was probably where he was sleeping.

Lovely. No wonder he smelled like death.

“Stiles,” Derek said, answering Scott’s question. Or, one of them, at least.

running with the wind by  thepsychicclam | 15.4K

Derek’s been running and hopes he can find sanctuary in the Stilinski Pack’s territory. The Alpha isn’t the strong sheriff he thought he was, but a sarcastic awkward teenager that Derek finds he kinda hates.

Bonds of Blood, Bonds of Family, Bonds of Love by TyReed | 44K

After being beaten up by a door, werewolf Stiles Stilinksi finds himself bonded to Derek Hale, of the Hale Noble Bloodline. For a scrawny, wimpy, Tainted Bloodline werewolf, Stiles runs away, embarrassed and humiliated as he worries about bringing shame to the Hale Family, and even more shame to himself. Because the Nobles and Tainted just don’t mix, never have, never will.

Except, things aren’t exactly what they seem.

With the help of the (meddling) Hale family, his adoptive (meddling) human parents John and Claudia Stilinksi, and one very persistent Alpha Derek Hale, Stiles might come to see himself as more than just the blood that runs through his veins, and open his heart to find the happiness, friends, pack, and the family that he’d always wanted.

Welcome to the Pack, Omega by  alisvolatpropiis | 4.7K

“Derek Hale is a wandering Omega looking for a pack to call his own. When he comes into Beacon Hills, he’s intercepted by the local pack. They take him to their Alpha who Derek is expecting to be an older werewolf. What he’s not expecting is for this kid that can’t be more than 20, with the smirk playing about his kissable looking lips, to be the Alpha. Needless to say, they don’t exactly get off on the right foot. But, Derek thinks later that night, he could easily find his home in Beacon Hills with Stiles Stilinski and his pack.”

hold my hand (it’s a long way down) by  Chosenfire | 3.5K

Derek has no intention of ever going back to Beacon Hills, but a call from Scott changes that. When he gets there, Derek finds something unexpected.

The Alpha to My Alpha by  CupcakeGirlA | 10.7K

“Derek will kill you. He’ll tear you limb from limb!” Stiles says, scrambling away from him. The Alpha ambles closer.

“No, I don’t think he will,” the Alpha says. “I mean aside from killing a couple of hikers in his territory and doing him this favor, I haven’t really done anything to Hale. Once I’m gone he’ll probably be happy with the gift I’ve left for him.”

Throw Me to the Wolves by  skoosiepants | 13.4K

Stiles accidentally gets bitten, and everything goes to hell.

This is Not (In Fact) Okay by  rileywrites | 3K

Derek and Stiles end up partnered for a project, and Derek contents himself with being a part of Stiles’ life. For a while.

Regarding the Epigenetic Effects of Kissing Werewolves by Unloyal_Olio | 33.8K | Explicit

Stiles’s mom had tried to tell him before she died. He should have listened.

The Hour of the Wolf by Suaine | 54K

Stiles never wanted to be a werewolf, but the choice is taken out of his hands by a series of unfortunate events. When he wakes up his life has become infinitely more complicated.

Pale Horses by Jana_C | 56K | Explicit

Being bitten had never been on his to-do list, but he could deal with that. Helping Derek Hale become a competent Alpha, though, that was so not in his job description.

Choice by Omni | 8.6K

Derek knows what it feels like to not really have a choice, what it’s like to be manipulated. He’d never take away someone’s right to choose freely. The fear of even accidentally doing so is enough to hold him back from acting on his own feelings.

Stiles has never had a problem making his own choices, and fuck anyone who would try to tell him he can’t.

best case scenario by verity | 13.1K

The fourth time Stiles breaks the fridge, Dad is less sympathetic. “Stiles,” he says as Stiles holds the door steady for him to screw it back onto the chassis—there’s new hardware involved this time, and not a little duct tape— “I thought this werewolf thing was going to help.”

“Yeah, with the dementia,” Stiles says.

Trust Fall by Stoney | 144.2K | Explicit

Stiles is fairly certain that a case could be made for every bad thing in his life coming back to Peter Hale. This time it’s pissing off a powerful witch, who retaliated by swapping Stiles and Derek a la Freaky Friday, because sure. That makes sense. Um, there are GPAs on the line, not to mention the whole thing where his dad wants to shoot Derek on sight. Except who he sees as Derek is actually Stiles, and Stiles did not sign up for filicide.

Great. Wait…does this mean he’s the Alpha until they figure this out? Holy. Shit.

Entelechy by the_deep_magic | 7.2K | Explicit

entelechy (n): a realization or actuality as opposed to a potentiality

Unbroken by Piscaria | 43.4K

When Stiles starts getting sick, he assumes his appetite loss and lethargy stem from the darkness the Nemeton left in his heart. But soon enough, even he can’t deny that he’s showing the same symptoms his mom had. When he’s forced to face the truth about his illness, Stiles finds himself making a choice he never thought he’d make.

Go Away, Scott by HelloWhyTheFuckAmIHere | 66.2K

After the incident at the warehouse, Stiles is fed up with Scott. He finds himself drawn into Derek’s pack and in the process, drawn to Derek himself.

With the Alpha Pack closing in, Derek needs to learn how to trust his pack and those around him. And who better to help him than Stiles?

Ukochany by VincentMeoblinn | 34.1K

Derek comes home to find a mail order husband and two amused betas waiting for him. When he realizes their prank was far from harmless he ends up saddled with a husband who barely speaks English but insists Derek is the love of his life. He’s also determined to win him over.

[toiletguy04]

Was supposed to be a take but it turned into a short fic so yeah enjoy ig 😭

Okay but what if the “You lied” confrontation isn't actually gonna be about Mike and Will but Will and El?!? Like El confronting Will about the painting, and Will being speechless then she'll pull off this Edwina Sharma monologue “You love him.” And Will would retaliate, wanting to speak versus wanting to apologize, but El beats him to it. “Friends don't lie.” And Will can only bite back his tears. “It wasn't my intention to lie to you. Or to Mike. I just wanted to help.”

And El's gonna be like. “So you put your words under my name? You still lied.”

“El, I'm sorry.”

El couldn't even look at him. Will hated himself more. “When are you going to tell Mike?”

Will snapped his eyes at her. “What?”

“He needs to know.”

“No he doesn't. It's not—”

But El can only look at him with disdain, she was hurt. Will knows it. “I'm not stupid, Will. I'm not as stupid as the both of you think I am.”

“El—”

“Tell him or I will do it myself.” El turned around, walking away.

And Will was left there, guilty, pained, scared and confused.

Then Will was ready to tell Mike but the last war already began and it was too late for that. But amidst the war, Mike found out by connecting dots like El's letter about not knowing the painting and he confronted Will about it but Will never got a chance to explain because duh they're in a war so he was like “I was planning to tell you!” “You waited years to tell me?” Will faced life and death, so as El. El was ready to sacrifice herself for Will but Will didn't let her. And when they're safe, El in the hospital, Mike was being a total bitch around Will, like purposely ignores him and focusing more on El. Came to a point where Mike asked Will to leave because he wants to spend alone time with his girlfriend, and of course, El noticed Mike's repressed anger, so El talked him through it.

“Did you and Will fight?”

“No, it's just, it's nothing important.”

Then El holds Mike's hands, Mike couldn't look at her.

“I'm not stupid, Mike.”

Now Mike looked up, a little anxious, a little scared. At the back of his mind: she knows.

“I can see the way you look at him.”

Mike gulped. “I don't understand what you're trying to say. Just rest, El.”

El pursed her lips, now stern. “You can never look at me the same way you look at Will, Mike. And I deserve more than that.”

Mike froze. She knows.

“Mike...”

Mike refuses to look at her.

“You love him.”

“I don't!” He snapped.

El gripped his hands tighter. “You do.”

“Just rest, okay?” Mike stood up, frantic. “You're not well. I'm going to tell Hopper you're resting.”

Mike was ready to walk out the door but El said something. “All this time, I've always wondered why you keep lying to me. Why I keep lying to you. But you know what I realized? That we're both lying to ourselves. I love you, Mike. But I don't think I really know what that means.”

Mike was silent.

“I hope you find the courage to stop lying to yourself. Friends don't lie, remember?”

Mike gripped the door's handle tighter. “It's not as easy as you think.”

“I know, but it'll never get easier as time go by so when are you gonna face the truth? When everything's too late?”

Mike didn't answer. “Will... he cares for you, Mike. More than you think. More than I am capable of. He cares for you the same way you care for him.”

Mike catches his breath. He does?

“So tell him the truth, before everything's too late. Who knows what tomorrow will bring afterall?”

Then boom Mike finds Will. Jonathan told him he left to change his clothes. When Mike got to Hopper's cabin, Will isn't there. He went to the old Byers' house, he isn't there. And when he reached Castle Byers, Will was standing in front of the ruined fort, just staring.

“Will.” He calls out. Will jumped, startled to see him. He tried wiping his tears and Mike tried stopping himself from doing so. “I was looking for you everywhere.”

Will clears his throat. “You are? Sorry, I was just, I was planning to change clothes but I just thought I need some air so, I kinda, uh...”

Mike smiles. “I didn't realize it was this wrecked.” He stood beside Will, looking at the pieces of woods, and muddied carpets, molds forming everywhere.

“Yeah, me neither.”

Mike gulped. “I'm sorry—” They both said at the same time.

Will chuckled, Mike shook his head. “I was the one who should apologize. I was being an asshole again, and I—”

Will interjects. “I lied. I deserve that.”

“You don't —”

“I do, Mike.”

Mike was silent, surrender. A beat of silence, neither was talking, just staring at the remnants of the place that held many memories.

“El... told me something.”

Will slightly stiffened. “She did?”

“Yeah she basically broke up with me, again. But this time, it's sure.”

Will gulped, worried. “Was it because of my painting? I'm sorry I didn't know it'll end this wa—”

“No, it's more of her decision. And I think she's right. All our life we've been dependent on each other but I don't think we really needed each other.”

Will listened like he always does. But for the first time, he doesn't know what to say. And maybe Mike doesn't need to hear anything anymore.

A couple more minutes passed when Mike spoke. “I called, you know.”

Will looked at him. “What?”

“A week after you and El left, I called but no one really answered.”

Will was taken aback. “I didn't know—”

“I had to wait a whole week to confirm from El's letter that it was indeed the number because no one's really answering. I called a few times, Nancy was giving me an earful about it. As if she wasn't hogging it all to herself when Jonathan calls.” Mike glanced at him, embarrassed. “At least, Jonathan calls.”

Will gulped. “I'm sorry...”

“I really thought you forgot about me, you know. You called maybe once or twice. I thought you were having problems and I wasn't there for you but El told me all of you were doing fine so I figured, maybe you don't need me anymore.”

“That's not true.”

Mike grinned. “I know. But I was so scared and angry. I didn't even know why I was angry or that I was pissed until Dustin called me out. But I was just so annoyed I couldn't reach you. And when I did, you seem so distant... I thought you're the one who isn't interested in anything I had to say. I really thought I lost you.”

Will looked at him, unblinking.

“Then I got El's letter, about a painting and a girl. She told me you like a girl and I was angry at you for not even telling me. Like did I seriously have to find that out through a letter? Why can't you just tell me?”

Will rolled his eyes, laughing. “Did she really say that?”

Mike chuckled. “So yeah, maybe I was being purposely a douche at you in the airport. Maybe... a little jealous too but it's not like I know that! Okay?”

Will nodded amidst his laughter.

Mike liked it a little too much he had to jokingly roll his eyes. “You're enjoying this too much.”

Will shrugged, taming his laugh but failing miserably. “I'm not.”

“Whatever, Will.” Mike looked down, letting Will's laughter die down. And when it did, Will was already looking at him. Mike needed to scoff. “So I guess what I'm trying to say is...”

Will smiled.

“I love you.”

Now Will paused. The smile turning into a firm line, eyes blinking rapidly.

“I'm sorry, what?”

Mike pursed his lips, opened it, closed, then with a sigh “I said I think I'm in love with you.” A hesitant, quiet, beat. “Always have been. But I was so scared. And I think, I was also scared that you will find it weird, find me weird, cause we're kids and boys. We're both boys and we aren't really supposed to be liking each other, at least that's what I was taught growing up. But I have always liked you. I was just, I think I was too scared to admit it even to myself so I kinda pushed you away, rip you off like a bandaid but, I mean, you can't blame me I was a kid and—”

“Mike, I love you too.”

“And— what?”

Will smiled at him. “I love you too.”

Mike blinked, cheeks flushed, unable to breathe and with a clipped breath he scoffed. “You do?”

Will chuckled, nodding. “I do.”

Mike starts nodding to himself, now a painfully wide smile on his lips, unable to look straight at Will. “Cool.” He repeated.

A moment of silence.

“Does that mean—”

Will snickered. “I think we should go back?”

Mike pressed his lips together. “Yeah, totally.” He scoffed, pushing the question down. What are we? “Geez how long were we away anyways? I can already imagine Max nagging me all day. I still wonder why she hates me. Like did I do something wrong?”

“You didn't, Michael.”

“I know but she looks at me like anytime she'll slash my throat open.”

“Well, you're an ass boyfriend.”

Mike glares at him. “It's not my fault I was in love with you or something.”

Will scoffed. “Oh so now it's my fault?”

Mike looked away, biting the inside of his cheeks, hiding a smile. “I didn't say that.”

Will can only shake his head affectionately. “You didn't have to.” He mocked, Mike laughed pushing Will a little. Will pushed back.

Max swore the two were holding hands when they arrived. Lucas only shrugged. Dustin asked if they should say something, and El was laughing as if she knew something.

Fin :'D

[underragingwaves]

Well, I had an idea for a modern-day AU Halloween-themed fic.. I think this one saw half a dozen incarnations in my head, varying from shippy to anything but shippy, before it landed on this. You should be advised as a reader that it contains some heavier themes, most notably references to drug abuse and death, and that it also contains outright acknowledgment of a more-than-brotherly relationship between Ubbe and Hvitserk. 😊 

Ivar and Hvitserk are attempting a horror movie marathon of sorts, but the question is if they actually managed to settle down to watch anything. After all, a family phone call might be more important..

Halloween movie night

“Really? You’re not even a little bit dressed for the occasion?”

Hvitserk raises his brows at the petulance that greets him the second he walks in the door. “Neither are you,” he points out, though he knows his little brother’s rules never quite apply to Ivar himself. He huffs as he sets his overnight bag down on the floor. “Staying in and watching a bunch of horror movies with you is hardly something I’m going to get dressed up for, you little shit.”

“You could at least have worn black. Like me. See?”

“One of those days, huh?” he retaliates instead when Ivar pushes his comforter down to reveal the baggiest black shirt his brother owns.  He squints against the dim light as he steps closer to the bed. Isn’t surprised to find Ivar’s eyes are brightest blue and tinged with actual hurt. “You should’ve texted sooner. Fucking dumbass, I bet you’ve been crawling around all morning and made it that much worse.”

Ivar’s voice is so hushed Hvitserk almost doesn’t catch his brother’s mumble. “Not all morning.”

Hvitserk sucks in a breath through his teeth in response. This close to the bed, he can tell how bad it is all on his own. Ivar’s many furry blankets are strewn across his legs, while an additional comforter rests upon his feet. There’s a whole pitcher of water on the bedside table beside a stack of medicine Hvitserk hasn’t seen piled so high since two years ago when Ivar had gotten on the wrong side of a Labrador puppy. Worst and most offensive of all, however, is the fact that there is a bowl of popcorn and a veritable assortment of food on the bed.

“You’re getting crisps all over your comforter.”

“I know.”

“This is the same comforter you lost your fucking temper over when your ex spilled a bit of hummus on it. What was it, something about dry-cleaning smells being the worst offense to mankind and how you would never be able to lie under this comforter the same way again?”

“It was a whole box of hummus mixed with garlic. And she didn’t even say sorry.”

Hvitserk sighs. “I’m not even sure your ex knew that word,” he snarks while he fishes his phone out of his pocket and drops it on the bedside table. “I remember the time she had me pick her up at four in the morning and proceeded to spend the whole car ride trying to hook me up with her even more batshit crazy sister. Almost crashed when she shoved her sister’s nudes under my nose – Katia was still wearing that fucking furry hat, can you believe it? – and she did not apologize in the slightest.”

“Hvits..”

He blinks. Follows Ivar’s line of sight to his phone. Groans as he realizes it didn’t land screen-up, then turns it around in a flash.

“It’s fine, see?”

Ivar folds his arms in response. “I hate you.”

“Tell me something I don’t know,” quips Hvitserk back while he toes his shoes off and removes his socks. “You’ve been telling me that since you were two and took offense to me having a bigger lumpy pancake than you. Never mind the fact that mom gave you another even lumpier pancake to stop your screeching or that Ubbe tried to distract you with his stupid magic tricks that always failed on him.” He shakes his head at the memory. “I think I’m fucking immune to you saying it by now. Like, it doesn’t hold any meaning whatsoever. I’d be fucking worried if you went one week without telling me that, you know?”

“Does your phone have to be in this room?” Ivar bulldozes straight over Hvitserk’s nostalgia with all the self-centered entitlement that Hvitserk has never managed to smack out of him entirely. His little brother’s practiced airs – sure, there comes the dismissive hand wave when Hvitserk opens his mouth and the little tsk that makes him want to strangle Ivar straight off – almost make him reach for his phone and turn it case-up again despite the potential fit Ivar would have about it. “You could just drop it outside” – whines Ivar, entirely undeterred by Hvitserk’s sharp intake of breath – “on some of Ubbe’s stuff instead of on mine.”

Hvitserk shrugs out of his vest and drops it to the floor. “Or you could just decontaminate your bedside table when I leave instead of bitch about my phone.” He eyes Ivar’s central position on the bed critically. “Budge.”

“I’m comfy right here.”

“Fucking move.”

Ivar pats the small space between his stack of candy and the edge of the bed. “You can sit here.”

“I’m not going to explain to you how much I can’t do that.”

“Well, you’re out of luck, brother,” explains Ivar with all the air of addressing someone far dumber than he, “because my legs hurt a lot today and if I move I might break something. You wouldn’t want me to break something, would you?” There comes the pout, predictable as anything, and the sheen in Ivar’s eyes might almost be believable if it wasn’t paired with a glint of amusement. “I need to be right here.”

Hvitserk snorts. “No, you really fucking don’t,” he says. Rolls his eyes as he grabs hold of the candy packets and throws them onto Ivar’s lap. He sinks a knee onto Ivar’s mattress. “Budge, you little shit. Or I just help myself to my popcorn bowl and leave.”

“That’s my bowl.”

“Newsflash: Ubbe bought it.”

“He gave it to me.” Ivar grouches as he shifts on the mattress and slowly moves toward the wall. The candy packets tumble onto the comforter as he does. “You have the least right to it.”

“Ubbe’s stuff is –”

“Your stuff, bla bla bla,” dismisses Ivar. An annoyed groan escapes him as he settles into his new position. “Fucking married couple, the pair of you. It’s disgusting” – he snorts out as he moves the bowl as far out of Hvitserk’s reach as possible – “and I’m convinced you’ll even share a toothbrush if we ever get into a zombie apocalypse situation.”

“Pretty sure there won’t be a shortage on toothbrushes during one of those.” Hvitserk topples onto the bed rather unceremoniously. Stretches out in the recently freed space with a groan and tilts his head to look up at Ivar. “Unless zombies brush their teeth, which I’ve never seen them do. Maybe you can find us a movie with that, huh?”

“I’m not watching a zombie film with you. You ruined Night of the Living Dead.”

“By snoring through it? Fucking boring film.”

“It’s a classic!”

“It,” enunciates Hvitserk very clearly, “was so boring even Ubbe fell asleep.”

“Ubbe’s taste in films is limited to werewolf movies and you fucking well know it. One more viewing of Ginger Snaps and I’m going to..”

“Right there with you,” nods Hvitserk, shuddering a little to himself. “What’ve you got then? I remember you screeched absolute bloody fucking murder the last time we went for a ghost movie.”

“I did not.”

“Did too.”

“Did fucking not.”

“Did fucking too,” counters Hvitserk decisively as he tries and fails to reach the popcorn bowl. “We could always watch Buffy. The movie one, I mean.”

“Not again. No. Elaborate death scene or not, it’s a no.”

“Then what?”

“All slasher movies are still out, yeah?”

Hvitserk shudders a little. “Yeah.”

“Okay. Ubbe watched Ready Or Not with me this morning before he left, anyway. It was kinda funny. In-law problems and all.”

“Relatable,” snorts Hvitserk.

“We could watch the kid stuff. Goosebumps or whatever.”

“You already sound bored saying that out loud.”

“You’re cramping my horror style,” grumbles Ivar as he toys with the remote control. “Did you know how many horror movies have murder?”

“Plenty don’t. And I’m fine if it’s, like, a vampire or something.”

“You’ve seen every vampire movie on the planet.”

“Pretty sure I haven’t.”

Ivar’s quirked brow dares dispute it, even when his brother merely shrugs and doesn’t respond out loud. He clicks through his movie catalog so decisively, dismissing titles Hvitserk hasn’t even heard of and not bothering to pause on the vastly unwelcome like Midsommar or Hereditary, but doesn’t land on anything good just yet.

Hvitserk’s phone chimes.

“No, absolutely not!” bursts Ivar out indignantly. “You’re not picking your clown phone up in my – Serk!”

The phone chimes again as Hvitserk reaches for it. Ivar’s strangled noises of protest get a whole lot louder in turn.

“Shut up, Ivar!”

“You’re not pick– I won’t let” – huffs Ivar, throwing the remote down on the bed and trying to reach over Hvitserk to stop him – “don’t you dare grab it, Hvitserk!”

“It’s my phone, you big baby!”

“It’s my bed and you put clowns on your phone casing!” screeches Ivar, just as Hvitserk’s hand closes around his phone. Ivar’s nails scratch a pattern over his arm. “You’re not.. I..”

“Shut the fuck up,” snarls Hvitserk. “Yes, I put clowns on my phone casing,” he affirms, not even bothering to flip the phone over to show Ivar, “because you keep going into my phone if I don’t. I love that you’re so shit-scared of them that you won’t even touch the damn phone now.”

“You’re so fucking mean,” hisses Ivar.

His youngest brother attempts to scramble atop him in a last-ditch effort to dislodge his phone from his hand. Hvitserk grunts. Clutches his phone a little tighter, then flips Ivar back onto the bed with no great effort. Squeezes down in warning as his hand lands on Ivar’s throat.

It’s a blessing that Ivar can’t kick out at him the way Ubbe would’ve done.

Hvitserk glances at his phone screen. Smiles. Ivar’s eyes go comically wide as his thumb slides over the screen right when he puts the phone to his ear.

“Don’t pick i–!”

“Hi love,” he greets brightly, ignoring Ivar’s indignant noises beneath his hand. The line crackles. Splutters with sound a moment. Hvitserk frowns. Gives his phone a little shake, then puts it back to his ear. “Ubbe?”

“Uncle Hvitty?”

Hvitserk grins broadly as he leans over Ivar in a bid to stop his brother from grabbing the phone. “Asa! Hi baby,” he coos down the line, hissing a moment as Ivar’s hand hits the small of his back. “Are you having fun trick-or-treating?”

“Hali got punched,” giggles Asa’s voice on the other end. “Daddy’s holding Hali’s nose like ’s gonna run.”

Hvitserk sits up straighter amid Ivar’s strangled sound of complaint. He squeezes down on his brother’s throat in warning, just a little, and shakes his head at him. Something in his expression must give it away – this is serious, this is not something to fight me on – because Ivar ceases most of his writhing to adopt a baleful glare faster than Hvitserk would have expected him to.

“Björn’s there? Asa, Asa baby,” he shoots down the line at lightning speed, interrupting some unintelligible babble or other, “listen to Uncle Hvitty, is Björn there?” He notes Ivar’s raised eyebrows and reads the will kill him his little brother wordlessly offers him. Hits the button that puts Asa on speaker seconds later. “Your dad?”

He can practically hear Asa’s frown. “No. Is not Björn.” There’s an actual sigh on the other end of the line that sounds entirely too much like the sigh Ubbe sometimes offers him when he’s being particularly dim. “Daddy Ubbe is holdin’ Hali. An’ he’s making scary face at people.”

Hvitserk’s eyes go as wide as Ivar’s. He mouths daddy Ubbe? at his brother, who looks just about as shocked as he feels. He feels like he needs to sit down, except he’s already sitting now that he has released Ivar and sank back onto the bed. Ivar doesn’t even freak out over the fact that the back of the phone has now actually hit the comforter, which is the most telling thing of all.

“Asa?” offers Ivar, now that Hvitserk sits back and stares at the phone. “Asa, darling?”

“Uncle Ivar?”

“Yeah. Asa, sweetheart, can you do something for me?”

“Yeah?”

“Can you put your daddy on the phone for us real quick? Tell him it’s Uncle Hvitserk, yeah?”

There’s a noise of assent over the speaker. Hvitserk blinks as they hear a Hvitty! voiced by Asa, followed by some mumbles and a wailing sound that wouldn’t be amiss in a horror film. A huff of breath, deeper than Asa’s shallow little breaths, follows soon after.

“Hey babe,” greets Ubbe, as if nothing is the matter and the world didn’t just stop spinning for a moment. “Where are you?”

“I’m right fucking here, for fuck’s sake,” gripes Ivar, “before you continue and ask him what he’s wearing.” Their little brother sits up and glares at the phone as if he can set it on fire with his mind. “And, yeah, Serk’s sitting here acting a little freaked about what the kid called you just now.”

“What’s that?”

“I’m not gonna fucking say that word to you,” protests Ivar. He exhales a noisy breath. “She called you some version of dad just now, Ubbe. Since when does she –”

“Later, Ivar, I’m currently holdin’ one kid’s bloody nose and got the other kid clinging to my leg while that fucking English bastard seems to think that I won’t put a dent in his bloody Porsche just because, and I quote, there are kids present as if his shitty offspring didn’t just whack Hali with that candy holder I’m going to shove all the way up his –”

“Ubbe!” shouts Ivar, loudly enough to probably be heard screaming over Ubbe’s threats. “Focus! Listen. To. Me.”

“Ivar, I stopped listening to you when you were three and told me to drown Sigurd in the bathtub,” remarks Ubbe immediately.

“He had it coming, you know he did,” responds Ivar with a small hiss. “Forget the Porsche. Focus. Go get Hali’s nose fixed.”

“Take him to Amma,” croaks Hvitserk helpfully as he leans over the phone. He feels like he’s clutching at straws. “Get her and Gunnhild to watch the kids or something.”

“Yeah, yeah, sure,” huffs Ubbe. “Why the fuck are you with Ivar anyway, babe?”

“He’s going through an episode.”

“No, he’s fucking not,” comes the immediate reply, “unless he tripped over his own dance moves I spotted in the kitchen before I left. Did you fall on your face again, little man?”

“Am not little.”

“Ivar, you cunt,” breathes Hvitserk in realization, trying to keep the admiration and distress away from his voice even as they bubble up inside his chest and make him want to laugh as much as he wants to throttle his baby brother. “Did you just – you fucking – you shitty little brat, you absolute asshole – I’m gonna fucking stran–!”

Ubbe’s voice crackles low in warning over the speaker. “Don’t kill him before I come home, you hear me? Hvits?”

“You better come home right fucking quick,” grounds Hvitserk out as his hold on Ivar’s arm turns into a vice-like grip, “don’t know what the fuck you think – you fucking nightmare, you absolute cow – yes I’m gonna fucking call you that don’t you dare – IVAR!” He shrieks as his brother lashes out at him and topples him onto his back. “Let me go, you utter pain in my ass, you miserable psycho– you lied to me!”

“Shut up! Shut the fuck up!” snarls Ivar, pinning Hvitserk down on the mattress with alarmingly little effort. Hvitserk attempts to get his legs under him, to kick back at Ivar and kick him where it’s gonna hurt, but he can’t gain a foothold. “Yes, I lied to you, end of the world as we know it, get a fucking grip. You got some fucking nerve getting mad at me after all the stunts you pulled!”

“What?”

“You dropped your clown-decorated phone on my bed even when you know I’m fucking scared of them,” comes the gripe, “and yet here you are, acting all bananas about that little girl calling Ubbe what he’s been to me for years.” Ivar’s eyes spark with ill-disguised emotion as he holds Hvitserk in place. “Björn wasn’t a dad to her. I won’t even mention that bitch our mother took to court after she’d babysat the pair of you, though I had to remind the judge of her the other day when he asked why I thought their mother would not be fit to take care of them either.”

“Iv–”

“Shut up, Ubbe,” sighs Ivar, with absolutely no venom behind his words at all. “I told you that you were playing it way too fucking nice. Björn almost spilled the very little beans he had about the two of you, did you know that? Huh? Did either one of you two geniuses know?” He shakes his head even as Hvitserk bares his teeth at him in warning. “Of course I told that judge everything except what’s going on with the two of you – because even you two don’t know what the fuck that is – and yeah I might have mentioned that Ubbe had custody of me for five months after dad died and mom went off the deep end. So fucking what?”

Hvitserk blinks up at Ivar. “You what?”

“I wasn’t gonna let Asa and Hali grow up like we did, okay? Ubbe’s been my dad, too, and I never forgot it.” Ivar’s voice grows so soft it’s barely audible, though Ubbe’s sharp intake of breath on the other end of the line means he’s heard every word. “And yeah, I lied about the amount of pain I’m in today. I didn’t wanna.. I didn’t want you going off to some party, Serk.”

“I wasn’t go–”

“You missed Halloween last year. You said you’d come, said you’d be here in time for our marathon session the way we do it every year. And you weren’t. You weren’t fucking here, Serk. Wanna know where I found you?”

“What the fuck do–”

“Amma knows all the places you can find drugs in this town, did you know? She pointed them all out to me, every last one, when she drove me around looking for you. She’s a really good nurse, even though her blue hair is an assault on my eyeballs. But she got scared that night. Finding you.”

“Wha–”

“Ivar,” crackles Ubbe’s voice in soft warning.

“No. Fuck you. Fuck you for telling me I can’t tell Serk that he scared the shit out of me that night, Ubbe!”

“It doesn’t sol–”

“You don’t even remember, huh?” Ivar’s eyes bore into Hvitserk’s skull in a way that makes his blood run cold. “Of course you don’t. You were so far gone, doped up on that bullshit, that you don’t remember anything. Well, I do. I remember looking at you and feeling scared for the first time in my whole life.”

“I don’t” – breathes Hvitserk, feeling like ice has lodged somewhere in his belly – “I’m not…”

“I was s-scared,” says Ivar, voice wobbling on the notes like he isn’t sure of how to utter them, “b-because I thought you were gonna die. Y-you were so out of it, you didn’t even know who I w-was, and all I c-could think of was having to tell U-Ubbe. H-having to tell him y-you..”

“Ivar,” comes Ubbe’s voice on the other side of the phone, blasting over the speaker as calmly as though he is discussing a simple matter over dinner, “it’s okay. Hvitserk’s right there with you. He’s still here.”

“He almost wasn’t. When’s that gonna land, hm? When are you going to discuss that? You never talk about it. Never. And I’m sick of shutting up about it like it didn’t hurt you, like.. like..”

“I’m sorry.”

“You’re what?”

“Hvits–”

The ice in his belly turns into a lick of flames. “I’m sorry I missed your birthday, Ivar. And your graduation.” He blinks up at his little brother. “I’m sorry I was a piece of shit for months – yes, Ubbe, yeah I was” – he directs at the phone with a bark – “and I’m sorry I didn’t call. I’m sorry I missed you getting custody of Asa and Hali. I’m sorry I walked out on you. I’m fucking sorry for walking back into your lives and expecting you to just deal with that.”

“You can’t just say you’re so–!”

“I know that!” interrupts Hvitserk, glaring up at his baby brother with all his might. “But I can’t.. I can’t. I tried to protect you, Roo. From what happened with mom. From all of this family bullshit that’s been going on. I c-can’t t-talk..” He blinks away the tears that are threatening to spill. “I don’t want you to know. Either one of you. I f-found her. I called the cops. I did that. So you wouldn’t have to. So you would see mom like she was, so you’d remember her smiling and happy. So you.. You won’t be as messed up as me.”

Ubbe’s breath over the phone and his more distant murmurs of assurance to Hali and Asa clenches something painful in his belly. Makes him remember all over again why he didn’t say a damn word. Why it was easier, then, to simply drift. To move away from it all, even when every fiber in his body was begging him to stay.

He sighs.

“Y-you called me Roo,” says Ivar, rather stupidly, as he releases Hvitserk rather abruptly and rolls over to lie beside him. “Just now. You haven’t called me that since.. since..”

“Since mom was murdered,” says Hvitserk, and takes his brother’s hand. “Yeah. S-She was putting photos in an album. Then.” He swallows thickly. Shakes his head as though it can clear his memory from the sight of his mother’s messed-up manicure. “There was this photo of you and me dressed up for Halloween. That last year when you were still small enough to fit in that stupid pouch Ubbe carried you around in all the time, which made me give you that nickname. S-she.. s-she was still holding that.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Last thing she saw, I think. And I.. I couldn’t even.. I couldn’t look at you, after.” He blinks away the tears. Swallows noisily. “But you’re my baby brother, Roo. I love you. You’re the biggest pain in my ass and I hate the fact that every other thing that comes out of your mouth is a straight-up lie, but that’s just you.” He sniffs once. Twice. “I know you’re scared of me using drugs again. I am, t-too. I-is why I.. Why I was glad that you wanted to h-have that stupid horror movie marathon with me, even when a-all we can watch is the kid stuff b-because I’m scared of everything else these days.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m glad too.”

Ubbe’s voice sounds a little strangled. “Hv-Hvits?”

“Yeah, love?”

“You stay right there, okay? Both of you.”

The line goes dead.

“He’s going to race home, isn’t he,” deadpans Ivar.

“Oh yeah,” snorts Hvitserk as he kicks his phone off the bed and grabs the remote control. Releases a breath, then tilts his head to look at Ivar. “There. No more clowns in your bed, except me. And Ubbe, once he gets here.”

Ivar’s soft giggle breaks on a sob. “I-I-I.. Serk, I..”

“Yeah. I fucking know, okay?” He bumps against Ivar’s shoulder. Squeezes his hand as tightly as he dares. “Love you too, baby Roo. Don’t kill yourself saying it back. I know.”

Ivar’s fingers interlock with his so tightly it hurts. “W-we’re n-not watching Hocus Pocus again, I don’t care how many times you say you love me,” warns his brother, always seeking the next argument to distract from any kind of pain. His words are slightly muffled by the fact that his face rubs up against Hvitserk’s shoulder. “You pick something nice. Like.. like..”

“Like Nosferatu?”

Ivar’s amused exhale lodges warm against Hvitserk’s neck. “He’s not very nice.”

“No? He was your favorite, growing up.”

“He’s not nice.”

“And he is on TV right now,” smirks Hvitserk, now that he’s found the correct title in Ivar’s long catalog of stuff and clicked play before Ivar can disagree. He nuzzles against Ivar’s hair as his brother’s head lifts slightly. “Just for you. One very old, very not-nice vampire.”

There’s a small pause as Ivar’s transfixed by the opening title. Hvitserk watches his brother patiently. Takes in the blink of his too-blue eyes, the small curve of joy around his mouth, the soft intake of breath. Isn’t surprised when the next word Ivar utters is his name.

“Hvitserk?”

“Yeah?”

“He’s still my favorite,” sighs Ivar happily, just as the movie’s title cards disappear and a town square comes into view. He settles back against Hvitserk decisively. “Like you.”

Hvitserk blinks at the declaration that’s as close to an I love you as Ivar can possibly muster. Tries to hide the small laugh that bubbles up victoriously in spite of everything else. “Ivar?”

“Hm?”

“Hand me the popcorn?”

[intheticklecloset]

Say Mercy (My Hero Academia)

Primary Universe

Summary: When Deku bets Shinsou that he can win in a tickle fight against him, Shinsou takes him up on the offer to find out.

A/N: YES YES YES!! This isn't officially ShinDeku but it's those two boys tickling each other and I liiiiive for this! I was so excited to finally write for them again! Enjoy! ^^

Word Count: 2,302

~~~

“Oh, give me a break,” Shinsou groaned, letting out a defeated sigh. His character spun off the track and had to be rescued, costing him precious seconds as Kaminari’s character whizzed by him into third place. “Dang it, I was actually doing well that time.”

Kami smirked, eyes glued to the screen. “Sorry, bro. Peach waits for no man!”

“She waits for Mario,” Deku pointed out.

“Details.”

The three of them were seated in the living room, having claimed the TV for the night in 1-A’s dorms. Deku was finally getting his wish to become better friends with the purple-haired boy. He’d been elated when his phone had buzzed with a text from him asking if he wanted to join in on some Mario Kart, and he nearly broke another bone in his haste to get to the living room. Kami had seemed concerned, but Shinsou looked amused.

Now they were on their final race in a four-race grand prix, and Kaminari was dominating them both. Deku was content to hang out in fourth and fifth place, but he did feel bad for Shinsou, who had gradually gotten better with each new track until he’d finally claimed third for the first two laps of the last race, only to be thwarted with a red shell.

Kami crossed the line in second, with Shinsou in fourth and Deku in seventh. The electric hero pumped his fists in the air. “Yeah, baby! Gold trophy!”

Deku and Shinsou exchanged amused glances.

“Just wait, Kaminari,” Deku said, grinning. “One of these days Shinsou is going to catch up to you and then you’ll be eating those words. And his dust.”

“Sure, sure.” Kami waved his hand, unbothered. “But I’m going to enjoy the moment while it lasts. I always lose against Bakugou; you gotta let me have this, Midoriya.” Just then his phone buzzed, and he let out a groan of his own. “Ah, crap. Speaking of Bakugou, I promised him and the others I’d study with them tonight. Stupid math, anyway.” He got to his feet and waved, heading out of the living room. “Night, guys. Have fun fighting for last place.”

“Rude!” Deku laughed, waving him out. “Go on. See you tomorrow.”

Then – for the first time – it was just Shinsou and Deku.

“Um,” Shinsou started, “perhaps I should head out, too. I don’t want to overstay my welcome.”

“What? No! You’re more than welcome,” Deku said hurriedly, worried he wouldn’t get the opportunity to talk with his newest friend one-on-one. “Want to do another grand prix? We can knock it down from that 200cc insanity to something more manageable. I’m sure you can get first place if it’s a little easier.”

“With a handicap, you mean.”

“No!” Crap, think about your words, Deku! “No, I just mean that it might be smarter to start with something a little easier, that way you can work your way up. You can beat him on 200cc eventually, I just thought—”

“Midoriya,” Shinsou said, stopping his rambling with a smile. “I was kidding. Relax.”

“Oh. R-Right. Sorry.”

Shinsou chuckled, picking up his controller. “Let’s try 100cc. That way I’m not starting from the complete bottom of the Mario Kart ladder.”

“You know, you might be really good at Sonic racing instead,” Deku suggested, swapping out his player three controller for the player one controller Kami had left behind. “It’s a little more involved, but it’s also technique based more than just random luck. I think you’d be great at it.”

“Sonic has a racing game?”

“Well, yeah. It’s Sonic.”

“I suppose that’s a good point.”

From there the two of them settled into conversation with ease, discussing everything from video games to schoolwork to Shinsou’s latest run-in with Bakugou.

“I can’t believe Kacchan agreed to owe you a favor. He hates owing favors.”

“I got the sense that he was desperate, even if he wasn’t saying as much. It’s satisfying, honestly. I wasn’t going to tell anyone anyway, but it feels good to put that hothead in his place.”

Deku’s lips twitched in a small smile. “The only time I’ve ever really been able to ‘put him in his place’ is when we have tickle fights.”

“You have tickle fights with that maniac?”

“He’s my oldest friend, so it kind of comes with the territory. But it’s fun, too. I like it.”

Shinsou paused for a moment, not reacting at all to the fact that his character once again got knocked from first to fourth with a blue shell. “Sorry. I should be more sensitive. I didn’t know you two were such good friends.”

“Well…” Deku sighed. “We’re not good friends, really. But we’re not enemies either. It’s kind of weird.” He did his best to explain his current standing with Bakugou.

“I see.” Shinsou nodded. “Well, even so, I’ll try to be more delicate in the future. Despite my grievances, I know he does have friends in these dorms, as do I.”

Deku smiled at him, taking his eyes from the screen for a moment to observe his profile. “So you’re making friends after all, Mr. I’m-not-here-to-make-friends?”

“I wasn’t lying.” Shinsou smirked. “But you are nothing if not persistent individuals. You and Kaminari, especially. But…I’m grateful. It feels good to have people actually want to hang out with me.”

Deku went silent for a moment. He could only imagine the kind of social isolation Shinsou went through because of his quirk. He thought back to their fight at the sports festival. How genuinely angry and upset Shinsou had been. He wished he knew what to say, but before he could formulate a response, the boy from 1-C was changing the subject.

“So you and Bakugou have tickle fights, eh? Who wins those?”

“Um…m-mostly Kacchan.”

“I wonder why.”

Deku eyed him again. “Are you saying you don’t think I can win them?”

“Not against him, certainly.”

“I’ve won before! Once or twice…”

“How many times has he won?”

“Look, the number’s not important. What’s important is that we have fun.”

Shinsou laughed, and it was such a surprise the sound actually startled Deku for a moment. “I suppose that’s all that matters, right?”

Feeling emboldened by the conversation and that laugh, Deku challenged, “I bet I could win a tickle fight against you.”

“Oh?” Shinsou crossed the finish line, then turned to look at Deku, who suddenly grew nervous as he waited to cross a few places behind. “Bold words, Midoriya.”

Having finished the race, Deku turned to look at him, suddenly feeling flustered. “I-I mean…since I’ve tickled you before, and I know where your worst spot is already. I just feel like I’d have an advantage…” He trailed off. He knew where Bakugou’s worst spot was, too, but that rarely helped him win those tickle fights.

“I suppose I have been curious how ticklish you actually are, since I’ve never seen it for myself. I’ve only heard stories. Do you seriously get tickled almost every day in this class?”

“U-Um…y-yeah, I do. But I don’t mind.”

Shinsou smirked. “Which means you like it.”

Deku could feel himself blushing now. “Yeah.”

“All right, Midoriya,” Shinsou said, shifting in such a way that the green-haired boy instinctively scrambled back, blushing even harder when his friend chuckled. “I want in. You think you can win a tickle fight against me? How much are you willing to wager?”

“Um…” Deku scrambled to think of something. “I-I don’t know…what do you want?”

“A thousand yen says I win.”

“Oh, yeah? W-Well…two thousand says I win!”

“You’re that confident? Very well. Quirks or no quirks?”

Deku froze. “N-No quirks. It’s not because I’m afraid of you, I just—”

“It’s okay, Midoriya. No quirks is actually advantageous for me, since mine doesn’t help me physically.” Shinsou smirked, pushing his controller aside. “Ready?”

“Y-Yeah. Ready.”

Deku barely had the words out before Shinsou was on him, shoving him to the floor with surprising speed and strength, wiggling his fingers into his sides.

“Eeep! Ahahahahahahaha, nohohohohohoho!” Deku giggled, trying to bat Shinsou’s hands away. “No fahahahahahahair! There wasn’t eheheheheheven a countdohohohown!”

“I asked if you were ready, and you said yes,” Shinsou replied calmly, grinning at the mess he’d made of 1-A’s most promising student, all with just a couple of light scribbles. “If you were lying, that’s your own fault.”

“G-Gehehehehehet off!” Deku squealed, reaching up to squeeze Shinsou’s ribs, pleased with the bright smile he got in response. He squeezed harder, willing himself to reach both hands up despite the continuing tickle attack on his own sides. “Get ohohohohohohoff!”

“N-No,” Shinsou grunted, obviously fighting back giggles of his own. He was tempted to reach for what he knew was a good spot, but decided against it for the moment. There would be plenty of time for that later. Right now he wanted to get to know every weak spot he could. He darted his own fingers up to Deku’s ribs and vibrated. “Heh, h-how’s it feel, Midoriya?”

“Fihihihihihihihine!” Deku shoved his hands up under Shinsou’s arms in retaliation. The purple-haired boy retracted his hands to bring his arms in protectively, giving Deku the opening he needed to push him over and grab at every ticklish spot he could think of. Ribs, sides, belly. He went for them all in rapid succession. “W-What about you, Shinsou? A little ticklish, huh?”

“D-Don’t – you cahahahan’t act like y-yohohou don’t already knohohow!” Shinsou protested, curling up into the fetal position on the floor, chuckling into the carpet.

“Why? Does it fluster you when I do that?” Deku used the opportunity to grab at his friend’s knees and squeeze. Shinsou kicked his legs out so hard in response he almost took Deku out with them. “Whoa!”

“S-Sohohorry,” Shinsou giggled, batting at the hands that had returned to his sides.

“Bad spot?”

“Nohohot really. Just surprised mehehehehe.”

“You’re not really fighting back, you know~” Deku teased, amused by the realization. “Do you want to owe me two thousand yen?”

“Juhuhuhust indulging a lihihihihittle. Dohohohon’t worry…” Shinsou suddenly shot upright and dug into Deku’s underarms. “I’ll still win this tickle fight!”

“NAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!” Deku screeched, falling back onto the floor with laughter bursting from his lungs. “NOHOHOHOHOHO!! STAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAP IT!!”

“Ooh~ Bad spot?”

“NOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!”

“No? You sure? You seem like you’re lying.” Shinsou grabbed one of Deku’s wrists and pinned it above his head, drilling deep into his underarm with his free hand.

Deku shrieked, tossing his head back and laughing unabashedly. “AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! SHIHIHIHIHIHIHINSOU!!” He desperately tried to grab at any ticklish spot he could with his other arm. He managed to succeed in scribbling against Shinsou’s side, causing the taller boy to choke out a giggle and unpin him so he could fight back.

Without really thinking about it, Deku sat up and grabbed his hips, digging in deep.

Shinsou burst into his own round of laughter, grasping at Deku’s wrists and trying to push him away while also desperately trying to keep from falling over again. “NONONO – NOHOHOHOHOT THEHEHEHEHEHERE YOU CHEHEHEHEHEATER!!”

“Cheater? There was no rule against worst spots, Shinsou.” Deku grinned, feeling a rush of happy satisfaction at having made Shinsou laugh so freely without even needing to pin him down first. “Tickle, tickle, tickle~”

“SHUT UP!! DOHOHOHOHOHON’T TEHEHEHEASE ME, MIDORIYAHAHAHA!!” Shinsou flailed for a few moments more before grabbing Deku’s hips as well. “TAKE THIS!!”

“NOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!” Now Deku was laughing hysterically as well, trying to fight his attacker off while still keeping up his own tickling assault. “YOU JEHEHEHEHEHEHERK!!”

“YOU STAHAHAHAHAHAHARTED IT!!”

It was a hilarious sight, the two of them tickling each other’s hips in the middle of the living room floor, Mario Kart long forgotten on the TV behind them, laughing loudly and desperately trying to push each other off. In the end, it came down to which of them was more ticklish, and soon the tides began to turn in Shinsou’s favor.

“HA!! CAHAHAHAHAHAHAN’T LAHAHAHAHAST FOREVER, CAN YOHOHOHOHOU, MIDORIYA?!”

“NOHOHOHOHOOOOO!!” Deku whined as he finally relented his own attack to focus on defense, grabbing Shinsou’s wrists and trying to push him away. “NO FAHAHAHAHAHAHAIR!!”

“I can’t help it if you’re just that ticklish,” Shinsou teased, still smiling uncontrollably as he finally managed to push Deku to the floor and straddle him, kneading into his hips deeply. “Much better. This is how I suspected this would end.”

Deku fought for a few more moments, then finally gave up and relented, kicking his legs wildly and holding onto Shinsou’s wrists weakly, feeling the muscles in his hands move as they tickled him, only making him more sensitive. “AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA FIHIHIHIHIHIHIHINE!! FINE YOU WIHIHIHIHIHIHIN!! I GIHIHIHIHIHIVE UP!!”

Shinsou smirked, feeling a rush of satisfaction at his friend’s desperate cries. “Say mercy.”

“MEHEHEHEHEHEHERCY!! MERCY, MERCYEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE!!”

For a long moment, Shinsou kept up his assault, not saying a word, making Deku shriek with ticklish panic at the fleeting thought that maybe he wouldn’t stop after all. But then, finally, it was all over, and he could breathe again. He gulped in large doses of oxygen greedily, reaching up to wipe the corners of his eyes where mirthful tears had started to form.

“You okay?” Shinsou asked, chuckling a little at the sight.

Deku sputtered out some leftover giggles and sat up. “Y-Yeah. I’m good.”

“You owe me two thousand yen.”

“Jeez, you don’t waste any time, do you, Shin?”

Shin? The boy from 1-C smiled a little at the nickname. “Not if I can help it, no. Told you I’d take you down.”

“In a tickle fight, maybe,” Deku conceded, picking up his player one controller and brandishing it with a new kind of challenging spark in his eye. “But I bet you still can’t win gold even on 100cc!”

Shinsou laughed, grabbing his own controller and knocking it against Deku’s like they were doing a fist-bump. “You’re on.”