#angstish

[themoonsbride]

She's Mine, You Stay Away From Her .

pairing; Peter Ballard x Fem!Reader

summary; Reader is basically in Elevens spot like in the episodes leading up to 7; The Massacre at Hawkins Lab in season 4

warnings; swearing, descriptions of - Murder, insanity, hatred, being shocked, anxiety, isolation. Peter himself is considered a warning for this fic.

a/n; I've spent forever working on this agh!!! it's been taking up my time of working on other requests </3 but I got the inspiration of this fic based of an edit I saw of Peter to this song! I also just really wanted to write him to a Pierce The Veil song because they're my favorite band :) (HOPING THIS DOESNT FLOP HHJ)

word count; 5.1k

--×♥︎×--

The lingering quietness was always off putting inside of Hawkins Labrotory. It always made you feel uneasy. The fact that you were forced to live and work here everyday for most likely the rest of your life was uneasy.

But there was nothing that could be done, Martin Brenner was a dangerously powerful man who ruled over everybody that was within the walls of his facility.

And it was clear to you that he had not a single silver of an amount for care for the humans inside of his building either. If he did, he wouldn't be scientifically experimenting on children to give them different forms of physiological powers. It was inhuman to do this to undeveloped brains of practically toddlers.

And you having to watch and document it happen every single day was picking away at your sanity piece by piece. What you would do if you could've had the power the children withheld.

You would take matters into your own hands and put an end to all of this insanity that went on, put an end to the man behind the madness.

You weren't sure if you were losing your sanity, or if it was already lost. But you would do anything to break free of this hell, Martin seemed to be Satan himself when someone did something he didn't like, if they even breathed the wrong way, his wrath would come their way and would last for longer than you'd prefer to admit.

But you weren't the only one who seemed to grow this type of hatred for a place like this, no. There was another, And though you'd never been directly told you weren't the only one, you could tell. It was obvious in your eyes.

He seemed to be Brenners favorite, and also his most hated worker, And his name is Peter Ballard. A man with the facial features made of pure beauty like a God.

He isolated from others, as they were uninterested in him and often spat shit at him, infront of him and behind his back and you'd heard it all. Some of the pesky rumors that went around about that gorgeous man seemed so ridiculous a fucking 4th grader could've came up with better.

You were both just looking at eachother, the tension wasn't awkward between the two of you, she was nervous to be standing before you, you towered over her.

She probably would have started to sweat thick bullets if it weren't constantly fucking cold. Which surprisingly didn't constantly get the children sick, maybe them having humanly impossible powers strengthened their immune system to the point they don't get sick anymore.

It wouldn't suprise you if that were true, nothing was surprising anymore unless Brenner left you off with a warning and not 3 hours of you getting shocked to the point your nerves went numb and you felt like you were about to take your last fucking breathe.

"play." Eleven mumbled out and lightly tugged on the hem of your skirt. you raised a brow at her, your face felt blank, and numb, you felt numb inside too.

"play what." your voice was clear and ferm, your remember how your mother used to tell you when you were a teenager that she loved the femininity in your voice, it made you sound more professional.

The image of your mother's face in your head made you feel a certain way, a feeling that had felt lost for a long time, like it was hidden deep and burrowed inside you.

"puzzle." Eleven spoke, bringing you back to the reality you lived in today. the dreadful reality you lived in.

"okay." her small fingers wrapped around your index one, guiding you towards a small table, leaving you next to one of the chairs, you sat down feeling somewhat hesitant. You didn't understand, why now? why would Eleven now be talking to you?

Maybe it was something under the control of Peter, or Brenner, maybe either of them convinced her to talk to you, to get you to like her and use her as a weakness towards you. You didn't trust anyone anymore, the first look you took inside this building, you knew you were fucked.

Eleven sat across from you and placed a tiger children's puzzle onto the table, opening the box carefully. Everything felt off, You'd never spoken to Peter before, but you didn't need too, you already knew he hated this facility as much if not more than you did.

But you did supervise the rainbow room together, You were never a fan of the room, infact you seemed to have a weird sense of hatred for it, the way the room was displayed.

Maybe it was those muted rainbows on the wall and flooring. Or all the toys that surrounded them to make it seem like they were cared for, when in reality it was most likely to keep them distracted from the mortifying reality around them.

The somewhat nice part about that room was the children mostly placed nicely with one another, the youngest would play with wooden building blocks or solve animal puzzles. There were only around 4 of the children that were in their tweens..

It was 002 and his gang, God you fucking hated 002 and his devious little followers. All they did was bother one of the subjects, and specifically one, her name was Eleven.

She never caused trouble, because she was too afraid. She feared everybody, and she was only a little bit older than the youngest ones. She was 8 years old, the younger ones were more around 5-6.

She was especially scared of the workers, but she liked to play around with the puzzles and challenge herself to see if she could solve them, she also seemed to be observant.

She seemed to take interest in you, often you would catch her looking over at you, but you'd never thought anything of it, mainly because you couldn't care enough.

But today was different, because this time instead of the small girl just eagerly staring at you, she ended up walking her walk over towards you. You tried not to show the suprise on your face, you saw Peter watching her as if he were a hawk and she was a meek prey from the corner of your eye.

Her shaved head looked up at your eyes, You assumed she wanted to talk to you, but since she was 8, and no one cared to teach these beings anything else other than how to enhance their powers, they most likely didn't understand how to form full sentences from what you've seen and heard.

You looked around the room carefully without trying to move your head much, you started inspecting the rest of the ominously quiet room. The children were usual to minding their business.

You brought your gaze to the blonde man who kept to himself, and noticed he couldn't seem to keep his own gaze off of you.

'..Weird.'

You looked back over at Eleven and found her struggling to fit a puzzle piece to connect with another, though it was the wrong piece. You carefully took the small cardboard photo from her tiny fingers and placed it in the spot, she just stared at you, like she were embarrassed.

You weren't really sure what you were supposed to do or say now, you sort of just awkwardly smiled, it was too quiet for you to speak, your sanity didn't want you to crack somehow by simply speaking to an 8 year old.

She sort of just awkwardly looked away from you like she felt shy or wanted to speak, but obviously as noted before, she doesn't really understand how. Which is expected.

She instead just went back to figuring out how to member the tiger into a normal photo once more. You observed her movements closely, usually when she would think very critically of her next move she'd place her small index finger onto her chin or lower lip.

Every now and again she had to look up in your direction, as her way of saying "help" or "can't figure it out" and you wordlessly helped her and pieced the correct parts together. She'd finished her puzzle just as Brenner had entered the room.

"Goodmorning Children." And there she was to get quick on her feet and in her spot where she always stood in union with the rest of her "siblings."

You were meant to stand as well and did so, you watched all of them follow out behind Brenner and were fast to break the puzzle and place it back inside its box and onto the shelf where it was kept.

When you turned again, Peter was still stood in that spot next to the door, you knew he was watching you, and as much as it would've put anyone else on edge, it didn't for you. You were constantly being watched by your every move in your life now, so it seemed like nothing new.

--×♥︎×--

It was now your break, taking your time into the breakroom, it was like any other room. Only with a fridge and a counter top inside of it with a coffee machine. The coffee was rancid, tasted horrid.

The taste of the dirt water reminded you of when your father forced you into summer camp, when he first told you he had signed you up, you were extremely pissed.

"I'm am not going daddy! I do not want to go to summer camp! I'd rather be home!"

You would whine and complain to him, but there was nothing to be done, he already signed the paperwork and handed over the cash.

And when you had gone, it was more fun than you had expected. You went inside of a swamp and a creek, and went fishing, did tie die and collected rocks and small insects. You'd even found a snapping turtle once.

Remembering the times of your early teenage years and how you'd been happy made you feel a sense of grief, and also anger. With yourself and the world around you.

You pushed through the double doors of the breakroom, grabbing water from the half broken refrigerator and sat down by yourself, alone.

You were always alone, even when there were others around you, you were alone. No one seemed to take interest in you, not like you'd wanted them to anymore at this point.

Even if you could see through that perfectly physical man with those deep blue eyes, you were still alone. you always were since birth. Barely ever had many friends, always the targeted girl when it came to kids who had troubles in their own lives and had the shit audacity to take it out on you.

What you would've given to get your revenge on those little fucks at the time you were dealing with them.

What you would give to get your revenge on Brenner and all the shit he's dumped onto you and the rest of the people who were imprisoned here.

Your train of thought about you getting your pay back was interrupted by the sound of the doors opening again. You didn't want to make it noticeable that you were checking who was entering, But you weren't too shocked to see it was Peter.

You stared at the bottle of water that was held in your hands, small beads of sweat forming on the plastic and making your hands moist.

The sound of coffee pouring from the dispenser of the machine filled the room, no matter how similar you could tell you were to others, you never understood the trouble they would put themselves through of drinking the mud water that was labeled as "coffee" in this building.

what's something that was a shock to you about the man was that he'd sat across from you, he never interacted with you before and now he's suddenly across from you, you could feel him staring again.

It was like Lazer beams burning through metal. You'd felt that same feeling with Brenner multiple times before, it was an anxiety inducing feeling.

It reminded you of how he'd lecture and yell at you for the littlest of actions, like giving one of the children candy or something else that doesn't even matter.

And then when you would refuse to look at him because you didn't want to see that familiar cold glare that would send shrieks of fear throughout your entire being he'd send you to the punishment room.

Your skin began to form goosebumps at the memory of your entire body going numb and not being able to feel anything and your throat constantly hoarse and sore from that fucking collar he'd put on you like you were some dog.

Your skin felt itself getting warmer like your blood was boiling with rage from all your mistreatment and how you could do absolutely nothing about what you've gone through.

You shook your thoughts away, not wanting to physically remember what it felt like to wear that collar or feel those metal rods connect with your skin.

"Eleven seemed to take an interest in you today." His voice broke the imagery of your memories and your eyes automatically looked into his, they weren't cold like Brenners, they were light, and reminded you of clear skies during the summer that you used to take in while you'd make castles at the beach when you were a child, or would learn to ride your bike as your mother helped guide you in the spring, how you'd ride around your neighborhood as a teenager and would embrace the warm air and beautiful sky.

"Yeah, I suppose she did." Your voice was flat, but it wasn't cold, or mean, but it also didn't sound normal, but what would he know anyway? he's never even spoken to you before.

"She usually doesn't do that with the orderly." He clearly wanted to talk to you about something and it wasn't Eleven, but you weren't sure if you should just go along with it, or tell him to get on with the point already.

"She usually isn't like that with anyone." you remarked, there was a slight snark in your tone, you didn't really want to come off as snarky, but who wouldn't after all the shit that goes on in this place?

"So I've noticed" He didn't sound mad, and he still hadn't taken his eyes off you the entire time, it was a little uncomfortable how good he was at holding eye contact, but maybe that's what the point of making it so strong, was to make the other uncomfortable.

Or maybe it could've been unintentional, it was clear why it was one of the reasons your coworkers commented it on it and called him 'weird' or 'creepy.'

It didn't make you as uncomfortable as it would've others, it was normal to feel that way in Hawkins Labrotory. But when it was Peter who was making this strong of eye contact, it didn't seem that uncomfortable anymore. His eyes were so angelic and his hair seemed perfect in the horrible light, almost like there was a halo around his head.

It felt almost like you were losing yourself in him, like the way you'd lose yourself in the pages of a book, or a masterpiece of a drawing that someone would spend day and night on.

Maybe because in your eyes, he was like a masterpiece drawing, he was beautiful.

The both of you were just glaring at eachother now. It wasn't awkward, it only would've been if you told yourself it was. You learned a long time ago about how it worked that way, your mother had told you.

"That was so awkward.." You spoke quietly, walking out of the doctors office with your mother.

"It was only awkward because you had told yourself it was." She replied, walking to the car that your father was waiting in.

"What do you mean?" You looked up at her as she suddenly stopped in her movements and looked down at your 13 year old self.

"It was only awkward, because you told yourself the tension and the interaction was awkward." You were still confused.

"If you don't tell yourself when something is awkward, you won't feel so anxious or uncomfortable anymore." And then she continued back in her tracks.

you were only 13, so you still didn't understand what the hell she was talking about, and even now you didn't really understand. She'd worded it in a way were it sounded like she thought awkwardness was just an illusion of the human mind.

Sometimes your mother would be very smart with her words or explanations, and others it seemed like she just didn't care enough to hear you talk about how you felt, or she just wasn't sure how to explain something to you.

It was now that you realized that you still didn't respond, assuming that's what he was waiting for, there weren't any words that were forming out of your throat, and lunch was about to end anyways so you just stood to your feet.

"Lunch is about to end, maybe I'll see you tomorrow." You spoke quickly before exiting, he was watching you the entire time, of course.

--×♥︎×--

It was now Training of the next day, the children were lined up against the wall whilst they waited for their turn to use their powers on a ring a bulbs that was implanted in the floor infront of a metal chair.

It was currently 002's turn to attempt to light the glass bulbs, You walked up and placed the headset onto his buzzed scalp.

You felt your skin grow warm with how close in contact you were with him as a visous anger grew deeper in you for him. And for a split second, you were thinking of what it would've looked like if you killed him right then infront of everyone.

When you finished placing the wiring on his head you quickly walked away back in your spot at the corner of the room, clamping your hands behind yourself as usual.

You glanced over at Peter, and he was quick to look back over at you, but it wasn't like he darted his head over at you, it was slow and calm. Maybe that's what was off-putting about him that people didn't seem to like.

It was sort of assuring to see him be slow and calm, almost like he was tired, or maybe just burnt out, whether it was mentally or physically you didn't know, but it was sticking out to you.

He was good at masking how tense he was and how much he hated everyone here, as were you. Maybe he could see through you too and that's why he had spoken to you yesterday.

He seemed to take a liking in Eleven though, he was sitting next to her and talking to her a few days before she'd spoken to you, which is why you were curious as to whether if it were his doing or not.

Brenner had forced Eleven to go next by brainwashing her with a piece of fucking candy. A piece of candy she clearly could've cares less for, she was so obviously scared and uncomfortable. Her powers weren't as strong as the rest of her siblings.

Peter had went up and placed a headset on her stubble hair, unnecessarily fixing the front of her headset. He'd whispered something to her, why would he have done so right infront of everyone in the room? infront of Brenner? He was practically asking for the punishment room, but why would you care? it wasn't you who would be tortured later on.

It was her who had you do that stupid puzzle with her, you weren't the one who came up to her asking to solve a puzzle, she just up and decided randomly to ask you to solve one with her. after almost 2 weeks of her just eye-balling you.

--×♥︎×--

It was now a week later, and todays training was different from anything else they've done before, Peter's been interacting with Eleven more, and it's quite strange.

Regardless of all the rumors of how strange he is, this was one of things you did find weird, why has he started randomly started interacting with her? What was he telling her?

Brenner proceeded to draw 2 circles with white chalk onto the lominum floor as he spoke.

"For today's lesson, we are going to play a game." His voice was mutated to sound kind with a plastic smile on his face. It was a relief that these children didn't understand how powerful and cruel he truly was, but it was also so fucked in the head that he would do this to any of them and act like some big teddy bear and like this was okay.

It wasn't, obviously. But it just pissed you off so much, and it only made things worse when you'd remind yourself there was nothing you could do about it. It started to feel like every passing day it felt more and more like you were living in an insane asylum.

You used to think about escaping from time to time, but now you full on fucking fantazied it. you truly were starting to go insane, who wouldn't though.

002 was beating all of his opponents, and then it was Elevens turn, and when Peter finished tying on her blindfold, he wasn't very quiet to whisper "Good Luck" in her ear.

This started to seem tedious to you, what the fuck is he telling her? what if he's attempting to brainwash her just like Brenner? Though you told yourself multiple times you could've given less of a shit about these kids, there was a part of you that felt protective over Eleven.

Almost maybe like a motherly kind of protection? Though it wouldn't matter, there's nothing you can protect her from because both of you live in danger. She just isn't aware of it.

To your suprise, Eleven beat 2, she had slammed his body against the mirror behind him, leaving it cracked, he was shaking and looked at her with fear But he'd get his revenge soon, and you were sure of it, whether or not he'd be successful in getting away with it was yet a mystery. Because he's gotten away with it before, you've seen it yourself.

You could still remember it like it were yesterday, when you had to monitor the cameras.

"You're weak, and useless. You don't deserve to have the place as papa's favorite.." His voice was hushed and filled with rage.

"I-im sorry.." Eleven was so young at the time, her lip was trembling and tears were forming in her waterline.

"I'm gonna hurt you, for having what I dont.."

"please d-don-" But before she could even beg him further to spare her, she was already being pushed around the room, into tables and on the floor.

And then they left her there, crying.

Why they were all in there? was never answered, but she shouldn't have been in there by herself with 002 in the same building as her.

But the small amount of guilt you felt for her on that day still lingers. 002 stumbled to his feet and sat with the other children.

"It looks like we have a new winner." Brenner spoke, Eleven seemed shocked and nervous at the same time, but at this point it seemed like nervous was just a normal feeling and vibe to get from her.

--×♥︎×--

You were back inside the breakroom now. Holding a bottle of water you most likely weren't going to drink. And Peter entered the room too, but this time was different.

"Miss L/n, may I speak to you, alone?" His tone sounded pleadful and curious.

"We are alone." You answered firmly, but he didn't respond he just continued to stare at you, and then that's when you glared at the camera in the corner of the room and sighed to yourself.

Standing to your feet and walking over to him, you didn't trust him or his motives regardless of seeing his feelings. it was how everyone felt about this place.

He took you inside of a small broom closet that seemed like it was never entered anymore, he closed the door behind himself and you just stood there.

He faced you and smiled lightly at you, but you were careful go examine him.

Your grandmother always told you to keep your head up and seem serious, men would take you seriously, especially if you'd show you didn't have a care for them.

And throughout your life, it mostly worked, but Peter was already here when you came here 2 years ago, so he probably would be smarter than that.

"How would you like to escape with Eleven and i?" His tone was excited but quiet.

"What?" You were in pure shock and weren't even sure if you heard him correctly, but you did your best to keep a straight face.

"I've been speaking with Eleven"

"I've noticed that." You kept your voice ferm and serious, you didn't want to agree with him, maybe if you kept this conversation with him, you'd be able to seek through his true intentions.

"And I've told her about how she deserves to escape this horrible place."

"Are you fucking insane?" You blurted out, you didn't mean too, it was just the first thing that came to mind.

Was he fucking insane? what the hell was he doing tell an 8 year old to escape the place she's lived in and only knows as good? what else has he told her?

He completely disregarded the question, which was appreciated on your end.

"I've got a plan set out for her and I, and I know you hate it here, Y/n."

"You don't know shit." So maybe he could see through you too, but this couldve still be a trap regardless, a trap to get you into trouble or become his little minion and do whatever he wants you too.

"Don't I? I've seen the way you've glared at Brenner and 002."

"You look at them the same way, It's not just them either, don't think I didn't know you couldn't keep your eyes off me either Ballard." You felt someone outraged that he would just randomly propose this to you, he didn't even know you. Maybe he didn't have too, though.

"The same goes for you, are you going to join us, or no." His voice sounded serious now, and after a few moments of just staring at him, you could sense this man was infact serious.

"..When is this happening exactly?"

"Tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" You looked at him like he had actually lost his mind, and maybe he did, but whats so wrong with that?

It's not like you had your sanity in tact with you anymore either, so if he's crazy then you can be crazy together surely.

"Are you joining us, yes. or no?"

"..Yes."

Part of you was mentally cursing yourself out for agreeing, you still didn't trust him, fuck no. But at least you just got a free get out of jail ticket so.

--×♥︎×--

You felt anxious in the rainbow room, Peter was nowhere to be seen all day, and you felt hazy, your vision felt blurry and eyes sore, but from crying.

Your breathing was shaking and so where your hands, you hadn't gotten anxiety since your freshmen year of collage.

You remembered the uncontrollable fear that was tensing throughout your veins, you used to get that same feeling when Brenner would have his gaurds shock you until he felt as though you'd had enough.

When you were barely breathing and laying on the floor like an injured kitten inside of a box that no one cared for.

Eleven was at a coloring station, she checked the clock and then stood to her feet, making her way towards an orderly and leaving with him.

You soon exited the room aswell, going down into the basement where Peter had instructed you to meet him.

'I'm going to be free, I'm going to be free. I want to get revenge, I want my revenge. I want Brenner to feel the pain he caused me.' Your mind raced as you walked down those steps and soon saw Peter waiting for you.

'I want him dead.'

"Hey." You spoke, walking up to him

"Hello, Eleven will be here soon." You didn't respond after that, instead just leaned against the wall next to him, picking at your fingers.

Soon Elevens small body was heading down the stairs, you stood up straight as she looked for the both of you, bumping into Peter.

"Shh, follow me." And then the both of you were following after him as he took the both of you over to a small drain, atleast, that's what it had looked like anyways.

He was able to convince the small girl to escape through the pipes, explaining how they worked.

"They lead out into the woods, when you get out of here you need to run, do you understand me?" She seemed extremely scared and shook her head no.

"What about you.. and Miss L/n?" Her voice was shakey, like she didn't want to leave him, gosh what kind of things did they have going on? what was he telling her before?

"Well be following you shortly after you escape, I promise. we promise."

Eleven looked over at you to confirm his promise, and you simply nodded your head, and she was quick to squeeze herself into that tunnel.

The both of you rose to your normal height, and he smiled at you.

"How are we getting out of here now?" You asked him. there was boredom in your voice, but that was just natural now, when in reality your anxiety was bolting throughout you.

"I'll show you, it'll be fun." He smirked and grabbed your hand, running out of the basement with you, and once you two exited, the alarms were already blarring, they must've discovered that Eleven was gone by now.

Everything was happening so quickly your brain didn't have much time to process what was going on, but the next thing you knew, Peter was slaughtering everyone in sight.

There was blood splattered all over the walls and floors, this answered your question.

"Are you fucking insane?"

Yes. this is his way of saying yes, Part of you felt absolutely terrified of him and wanted to run away, but there was another, stronger half of you that felt raged and viewed this as the both of you getting your revenge.

You didn't freak out, or runaway, or feel scared of him, because he let you do the honors of killing 002, and you made sure it was agonizingly slow and painful.

And then off you two went, escaping, running as fast as possible, feeling relief, and free. Feeling a smile that was stretched on your lips as you ran, feeling the wind all around your bodies and fresh air in your nostrils.

You were finally free at last.

[shortcakelils]

funky little concept

Song is here!

[me10dy10]

Hallways

Steve Harrington x fem!reader

Steve Harrington walked up to the apartments. He looked at the number on his hand. 219. Room 219. He walked up the steps to the second floor and counted the doors till he got to room 219. He knocked, hesitantly. Steve heard shuffling inside of the room and then the door opened. Y/f/n stood there, a straight look on her face.

"Hi," Steve said, smiling at her.

"Hi."

She moved out of the way and let him walk in. Y/n went and sat down on the bed, watching as Steve walked around and looked at the room.

"This is very... small," Steve mumbled.

"Okay."

Steve walked over to her bed and just stood there.

"Are we gonna do anything or are you just gonna stand there." Steve took his shirt off and tossed it somewhere behind him. "You just took your shirt off."

"No, I didn't."

Y/n sighed. "Okay, whatever," she grabbed his belt and pulled him on top of her.

It was two days later, Monday. Steve was messing around with his friends when someone ran into him. "Freaks," one of his friend said. Steve looked at the two people. Y/n and Eddie Munson.

"Yea, fuck off," Eddie told them. Y/n and Steve held eye contact before Eddie dragged her away. She looked behind her shoulder and saw him still looking at her.

[applbottmjeens]

Can You See Me Using Everything To Hold Back?

PHILLIP GRAVES X OC

(title is from Bags by Clairo)

tags?: angst to fluff, lovers to enemies to allies(?), Shadow Company mention, MW2 spoilers, Is Phillip manipulating her again or is he actually sorry who fucking knows, canon to my thing? i dunno man, no beta read we rawdogging this shit g

Yes, Anna believed in Jesus- but the idea of a man coming back from the dead was assumed to be more or less metaphorical… Not literally like the bastard sitting on her goddamn couch.

A year ago, she’d made her peace mourning that man, forgiving herself for her blindness. And after a year of therapy and her own personal downward spiral, things seemed to be okay for her again. 

While the boys pondered the imminent danger of Vladimir Makarov, she’d moved to South Carolina to get away from everything after the incidents in Las Almas in 2022, mostly trying to pretend she was just another girl and not a member of an elite squad of military personnel set on protecting the western hemisphere and its allies- and just… Anna. 

As far as her family in California were concerned, she was still working. She'd started to see them less- For their safety and her sanity. 

She’d changed since that fall. Maybe not as much physically…But the way she carried herself was more cautious. No more clever quips or bubbly banter. 

To be completely honest, this month had been a milestone for her. She was actually responding to her old teammates and co-worker’s texts. She could think of Graves without bursting into tears. She could look at photos of Las Almas’ streets and not feel her hands tremble. She’d gotten new tattoos and started leaving her house again.

She undoes the loose braid on her hair, longer and a bit harder to manage as she carries her duffel bag after spending a few hours at the gym and rescheduling her therapy appointment. She was so sure that she was over it all, 11 months after the fact. Sure she was ready to go back into the field-

Until she saw him in her goddamn apartment. 

You see, Annabelle grew up Catholic. Not just any Catholic, though.

Filipino Catholic.

Vietnamese Catholic.

The type of Catholic to believe in miracles and divine intervention.

Superstitious Catholic- the type to believe in holy oils to heal the sick and to pray when you slept, when you woke up, and that hammered the fear of God into your very being, praying that whatever angel that was keeping track of your thoughts was merciful in their script. 

So yes, Anna believed in Jesus. 

But the idea of a man coming back from the dead was assumed to be more or less metaphorical. Not literally like the bastard sitting on her goddamn couch.

“No.” She was the first thing she said when she set eyes on hm.

He looked just like he did the day he ruined her life, not a burn or anything on his stupidly pretty face but that scar under his eye she used to kiss before they did their separate duties.

“Annie.” Nobody else is allowed to call her that. Nobody but the man she swore burned alive. The audacity for him to just stand in her livingroom in that stupid Old Navy brand blue button down tucked into his fucking jeans and NOT EVEN TAKE HIS SHOES OFF INDOORS-

“Bạn đang đùa tôi à?” Are you kidding me? She whispers. It’s like she’s seen a ghost, and if this was some sort of joke the universe was playing on her… She wasn’t laughing.

“Annabelle, c’mon- I can explain-” The first thing she does is drop her bag. The second thing she does is throw a knife at him from her back pocket, which he barely dodges, landing on the wallpaper behind his head. Okay. She was mad.

"You. Have got to be. Fucking. Kidding me." She growls, feeling her hands tremble as she lunges to attack him only for him to catch her wrists as she goes from angry, to hurt.  

How dare he look at her with remorse in his eyes. How dare he stand in her home nonchalantly like this. How fucking dare he.

“I mourned you.” She says softly, tears trickling down her cheeks, wounds she'd long recovered from re-opening forcefully as she realized she'd been deceived by him yet again. She tears her wrists from his grasp, brown eyes pooling with tears she thought had dried up a long, long time ago. Her trembling hands swipe away her dark hair as they try to stick to her cheeks. 

She sobs, screaming at him as grief re-opens itself and she is forced to remember what he’d done to her. “I fucking MOURNED you! Eleven fucking months, Phillip. ELEVEN!" She looks at him with heartbreak in her eyes and she hates how he has the gall to have a similar expression reflected back at her. 

“I know.” He says, pulling her to his chest as she sobs, the scent of his cologne and the feeling of his arms around her making her stomach turn. How dare he look remorseful. How dare he be alive and well, while she was a manic wreck barely recovering from what he’d done? “I’m sorry.” His voice is low and calm, convincing. But she knows better. She can’t trust a goddamn thing he says. Even his death was a fucking lie.

“Why?” She asks, hating how her emotions fell apart so easily after all this time trying to keep herself together. “Why now?”

"I couldn't risk it." He explains, his usually booming voice soft and regretful. "If it slipped that you knew I was around, if it slipped I was with you before everything got settled…It could've meant something dangerous for you. For both of us." 

She knows he's right, but God does it still hurt. She flinches when his fingers graze the tattoo she’d gotten in memory of him- an ace of spades on fire placed on her right arm. 

“You get this thing for me?” He asks her softly soft blue eyes gazing down at her.

No. He won’t do this to her again.

Annabelle pushes him away. "Don't you dare say 'us' like I meant a goddamn thing to you, Graves." Her lungs feel like matches and every breath is sandpaper.

"You shot my friends. Shot at me." The fire in her words burns brighter than the tank they thought he was in. His loyalty was to Commander Shepard, to himself. Not to her. That was something she accepted a long, long time ago. She doesn’t want to waste her energy.

He follows her as she walks down the hallway, stomping to her bedroom as she grabs the gun from her makeup cabinet on her vanity and angrily points it at him. He raises his hands up in protest.

"I'm sorry, Annie. I really am." There he goes calling her that again.

He used to be the only one allowed to call her that. It was a nickname that grew on her the more constant it was, like Phillip.

If you didn't like Phillip Graves, he'd make you like him. Or at the very least tolerate him. If you were an unlucky bitch like Anna was, you'd fall for him despite telling yourself otherwise.

"If you think I didn't miss you, you'd be wrong." Phillip looks at her, standing at the doorway of her bedroom with a look of remorse she swears isn't true.

"You didn't come here cause you missed me." She says flatly, putting the gun down and crossing her arms. "Talk."

Phillip sighs as he lowers his arms, looking down before approaching her slowly.

"There's a storm comin' Annie." He says grimly, his hand gently holding the arm with the tattoo dedicated to him, brushing his thumb over the inked flames. "And we need you in Al Masrah to help us through it." 

Annabelle pauses, looking at Phillip with curiosity.

"Who's we?"

"The Shadow Company."

[hopefulfuturenovelauthor]

Panic Room

Crowley x reader (gn) part 1

about 5,000 words. I hope you all enjoy and please do not copy my work, thanks!

Warnings: read through at like 1:00 am once so probably many mistakes, canon violence, the supernatural, angst (I guess), and language. Also slight warning, I’m planning on making this a 3 part/ maybe short 4th part mini series, but I take forever to write anything, this has just been sitting in my drafts for a couple of months.

Panic Room

Hell Raising

Hair Raising

I’m ready for the worst

So frightening

Face whitening

Fear that you can’t reverse

Welcome to the Panic Room

Where all your darkest fears are going to come for you …

Seven and a half months. For you a total of 75 years of brutal, unrelenting torture. Hell did not treat you well and to call you bitter would not only be offensive but also the largest understatement of the millennium. 

You loved humanity, you loved your life, and you loved those in your life. Despite this, anger was all you could feel toward the people that used to bring you the most joy. The ones that made you laugh, that made you a better person, and left you behind. You didn’t even know if they knew. 

You died. You died and as your deal had stated; you were going to hell. Readying yourself for the worst did nothing to help in the end. The place was so frightening at first, but with time you became used to the fear. It was nothing anymore. Your only goal in life was to never be afraid again. You knew what you needed, but more importantly, you knew what you craved.

You wanted them to pay. You made the deal for them. You made the deal with his crossroad demons. You took the price when the one that fucked up refused to take responsibility for his actions. 

You sacrificed everything. You lost your will to live and more. You didn’t want to hurt just anyone you wanted to hurt them. You wanted them to feel every moment of your torture and then some. You didn’t want revenge, you wanted justice.

“Belial, the wicked one, it’s great to finally see you, however, I had been hoping I’d be able to put a name to a face. Is the mask really necessary?” Crowley stalled.

“No, it’s not necessary, I just prefer it. After all, I did go back to get my face, and I wouldn’t want my old identity to get out there, now would I?”

“I suppose not,” Crowley led on, making his way around one of his numerous castle rooms in Hell, preparing the both of you a drink. “How do you like your liquor?”

“Well, more recently I’ve come to like a nice earthy aged scotch or whiskey neat. Whichever you think would be better. Either is much nicer than the cheap beers I used to drink. However, you still stick to the room temperature yeast water if I’m correct Dean and Sam. As for you Castiel, your grace makes it unnecessary to even try drinking unless you want a whole nother liquor store,” you turn slowly to look at the shorter hunter sneaking up behind you. 

Dean had stopped his stride as you started to speak of him. Sam carefully made his way out from behind a bookshelf to your left. Castiel walked with his usual cadence from your right, out of the darkness.

Crowley gulped as you slowly moved back to look at the King of Hell.  The brothers collected together on your left moving closer to the demon you were staring at. Castiel armed himself with an angel blade shifting to Crowley’s side. 

“It’s nice to see I’ve sent you into such a panic, my King. But all four of you, here, in front of me, it truly seems all of my prayers have been answered.”

“What are your grievances toward us?” Castiel questioned, as he held his position as a warrior of the lord.

“What the hell did we do to you?” Dean asked.

You chuckled menacingly, “Hell is exactly right, Dean Winchester. As for my grievances, I simply can’t move past the fact that I was left here to rot.”

“We don’t even know who you are,” Sam said, trying to ease the tension of the situation.

“I assure you, you know exactly who I am.”

“What is it you wish to do to us for our mistreatment of you?” Crowley did not seem bothered by your accusations. He was in fact satisfied with his work, but only because he did not know whose face lay under the cover of your mask and hood.

“I’m simply going to take you to where all your darkest fears are going to come for you.”

Crowley scowled at this. Castiel raised his blade. “You can’t hurt me, angel, you promised.”

“I have only ever promised that to one-“ Castiel stopped speaking. The look of sudden and horrifying realization dawned on his face.

“Cas, Cas, what is it, who are they?” Dean asked as Sam tried to get Castiel to share the information he had just come to understand.

“Well, I don’t care who feathers promised to protect. This is my kingdom, no one threatens me,” Crowley pulled out his angel blade only making it a step forward.

“Really, Crowl,” your voice sounded as it used to, no longer holding the facade of an old and ancient demon, “when have you ever beat me one-to-one? We could make another bet, you’ll have to finally take me to that one restaurant you're always raving about and saying you’ll bring me to.”

His face fell immediately. “No,” it came out of his mouth with a hint of denial, but his eyes begged for what he was thinking to not be true.

It was your turn to smirk at the demon. You did so as you took off your mask and slowly removed your hood.

“Y/n,” Sam’s voice came out breathy. You were unexpected. Dean’s face whitened entirely, finally understanding Cas’s silence. 

“We burned your body,” Crowley’s voice was breaking and eyes watering.

“You should have gone to Heaven,” Castiel stated.

“And I would have. If I hadn’t made a deal to save you lot from Lucifer,” your nostrils flared and your glare was directed at the Winchesters. “You were like brothers to me. I saved you! And you!” your gaze turned to Crowley, “I was given two goddamn years, by your crossroad demons. And my life ended up shorter than determined because I sacrificed myself to save all of you. And-and you, you let me rot in Hell.” Your voice broke on the last sentence you let slip.

Each of the men before you crumbled at the weight of your words. Not a single one of them could look you in the eye. 

“Do it,” Dean said. No one spoke out against this. “Do what you need to do, make us pay. Just, please, let Sam out of this.” The begging was something your demon side liked, but the human part of you was sickened by it.

You walked forward, reaching out to cradle Dean's face in one of your hands. “No,” escaped firmly from your lips that were stuck in a hellish smile, fully displaying almost pointed teeth, like that of the many monsters you had all killed together.

The fear that followed your statement caught you off guard. Sam, Cas, and Crowley all flinched at your answer and Dean fell apart. 

“Please,” the pleading returned. Dean looked about ready to beg you from his knees.

“I do not want revenge. I want justice. Congratulations, I don’t want to kill you any more than I want to kill anyone else at the moment. I want you to look at me and see what I am. I want you to know what you did. I want you to understand I screamed, and cried, and begged for each of you to save me. I want you to know that I held onto hope for so long,” the tears began to escape from your blackened eyes, “I thought you would come for me. I thought you cared! But you left me, never thought about me. You didn’t give any part of it a second thought. So this is punishment fit for the crime. I am a demon,” you looked at Dean, “I am not your friend,” you looked at Castiel, “I am not Y/n,” you looked at Sam, “and one day I rip this Kingdom from your grasp,” you looked at Crowley, and stepped back to view them all, “most importantly, none of this is personal. You left me behind, now I’m leaving you. You will forever recognize that you messed up and I will always be a reminder of your guilt. You are nothing to me, even if I am something to you.”

You began to walk off, reaching for the handle of the doors you had walked through earlier. You spared only one glance back before walking out, making one final blow, “goodbye boys.” After that, you simply disappeared.

—

“Your majesty,” the demon croaked out in fear.

“What?!” you snapped at your underling as you looked up from the scattered plans of hell and general paperwork. The demon shook under your gaze. It concerned you at times that your demons feared you so much. You were more of a force to be reckoned with than Crowley and he had been a demon for far longer than you had. The cruelty wasn’t what you wanted. You had hoped the damage done to your soul hadn’t changed you as much as it obviously did, but you supposed that was just your luck. “I apologize for my brashness, Anthony. I’m simply busy and stressed. Now tell me, what is the matter?” you looked at the demon before you with as much care as a demon can have for their personal assistant in a strictly platonic way.  

“I’m afraid the Winchesters wish to see you. The short one is in the palace with his angel,” he told you still wary of your scrutiny.

“Here… in Hell?” you questioned. Anthony nodded, swallowing down his hesitance. 

“They threatened to start killing your people if you refuse,” he said.

“Ahh, send them in then,” you told the demon, “make sure they know that if any harm comes to you I will be far less willing to even give them the time of day once they arrive.”

With another small nod, he walked off to collect Dean and Castiel. It had been a year since you had last seen any one of your old ex-friends. Hopefully, they would leave you alone if you showed little interest in their affairs.

As quickly as he left, Anthony seemed to return. Dean and Castiel were in tow, following behind the demon. You raised your brows at your loyal subject asking him if he was alright. As always Anthony kept it short with a brief nod before gesturing toward the door. You responded curtly back. Neither of you needed words to truly understand the other when it came to such dealings. 

“You seem to be doing well down here,” Dean said, rocking on his feet, a telltale sign that he was uncertain and needed to calm his nerves somehow.

“Yes, I suppose us demons just have a knack when it comes to Hell,” Dean paled at the distance of your voice. It still destroyed him that this was you now. All he saw was your body, but it wasn’t you inside, not the you that had been like a younger sibling to him.

You asked Dean what he was doing here, but he did not respond.

“Dean,” Cas said.

“Yeah.”

“I asked what you wanted,” you said again, this time he was actually aware. 

“Oh,” Dean was certainly out of it. Even Cas seemed to be affected by your voice. He tried to show it less, but Dean looked struck. If you had any empathy for them you would have felt bad. But you had none.

“Look,” you turned to actually face them, abandoning your work, “I’m not unreasonable, and I doubt this is a social call. I know that most of what you do tends to keep newer, larger, and more concerning players off the board. So what can I do for you so I can get back to my job and you can get back to yours?”

“We need help,” Dean replied.

“We need to find the angel tablet,” Castiel said. He seemed off somehow, even just slightly. He felt off too. It could have just been your new keen magic skills. You had recently been looking into seer magic and empaths.

“Oh,” you let out, leaning back into your throne, “Sorry, little above my level at the moment. I can get you a referral though. May I ask why you need this specific artifact?”

“So you’ve heard of it?” Dean pressed, stepping closer. Your eyes flitted black and he took a cautionary step back.

“I’m afraid I don’t let demon hunters and their angel friends too close, out of self-preservation. As for hearing of it, yes, I have. Let’s just say some information trickled down from Crowley’s kingdom.”

“Is this not all his Kingdom?” Castiel’s head cocked to the side.

“For the moment. It’s always healthy to have some respectable competition.”

“Who would this ‘referral’ be?” Dean used air quotes awaiting his likely disappointment.

“Ah,” you sighed, “I had a feeling you would ask that. Sadly, Crowley would likely know more than I would.”

“Crowley isn’t going to let us anywhere near him,” Dean argued.

“Well, that isn’t my problem. I’m not the one mucking around in other people’s business, now am I?”

“Y/n-” Cas started.

“It’s Belial or your majesty, angel,” you barked.

“I apologize, Belial,” Cas looked devastated. Fuck, what was that pang in your heart? Why did it hurt so much?

“He won’t talk to us. Not while he has the demon tablet,” Dean tried to present his case.

“Yes, and that has to be the one thing he is actually doing well at the moment, keeping it away from you, good for him. Now if that is all then respectfully, get out of my palace.”

“Thank you, Belial.”

“Cas we can’t just-”

“We can and we will, Dean,” the angel as always responded firmly and apathetically. Castiel placed a hand on Dean’s shoulder ready to fly out of your throne room.

“Castiel,” you said, your voice louder than it had been before that it echoed around the room.

The angel did nothing more than look at you expectantly. “Be careful, I don’t believe any of this is going to end well for you.”

“I will be fine,” he said.

“No, angel, I mean it. I have this feeling, watch out, please,” this was the closest you had ever been to who you used to be.

“Okay.”

—

“You, you helped me, why? I- you said you wouldn’t,” Crowley fumbled as you freed him of his restraints.

“Trust me, it’s not personal. You’re just easier to overthrow than Lucifer. So, as many say, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” The locks clicked, releasing the demon crouched beneath you. You dropped the chains to the floor and pointed back and forth between the two of you, “This little alliance will only last till Lucifer is back in his cage. After that, I will go back to ignoring your existence, other than me trying to take over Hell.”

“Well, I can’t say that isn’t logical. I suppose I’ll make do,” Crowley rubbed his wrists.

“There is no making due. Neither of us wants Lucifer in charge of anything. That would be bad for both of us.”

“Why is that so bad for you?” Crowley looked at you with curiosity in his eyes, “You want to ignore me forever. You wish the same for the Winchesters and Castiel. So why would joining Lucifer and letting him kill us to be so bad?” 

“I-” your loss for words was concerning to Crowley when it came to this form of you. The demon you was hard to throw off their game.

“Well?” He egged you on.

“How could you ever think that I want you dead?” your voice was low, as was your gaze. You avoided looking at him. Keeping your voice steady was harder than you expected.

It was Crowley’s turn to be at a loss for words. From the start, he had thought you wanted revenge as much as you claimed you didn’t. You were a demon after all, and you thought he and the others had wronged you. He fully expected you to fantasize about each of their ends.

Finally, your eyes found his face. He never thought he would see them as broken and hurt. The glossiness of your tears was begging to spill over. “You scare me. But never, ever believe that I want you dead. I can’t trust you. I can’t be around you, because I am afraid. Because I know if I have to I’d do it all again. Seventy-five years of torture to make me hate all of you, and only three to make me care for you enough to screw myself again. Fear is an incredible tool for motivation. So yes, I’m afraid of what Lucifer will do to me, but I am just as afraid of what Lucifer will do to you.”

——

“So you're the little demon ex-hunter Fergus is obsessed with?” the red-headed witch mewled.

“If you are asking rhetorically then you likely already know,” the answer was monotonous.

“I see why he likes you so much, this body of yours is most certainly a looker. You’re also far more mature and intelligent than the other demons.”

“Back off posh female Ron Weasley.”

“I’m afraid I don't know who that is.”

You rolled your eyes as she followed you like a dog seeking attention.

“Now, as I’m sure you’re aware, your son and I are not on speaking terms. Whatever he says to you about me does not pique my interest or concern,” you turned to walk away from the witch.

“What about the fact that there’s a human pregnant with Lucifer’s child,” her voice was smug, but her words made you stand straight. “I see that caught your attention, darling.”

“You have 10 minutes to tell me everything I need to know before I leave,” you growled at her, your black eyes attempting to bring fear into her soul.

“Well, that should be more than enough time. Once I finish with all the boring stuff, we can chat. My name's Rowena by the way. You should probably know that considering how much Fergus talks about you. With his enthusiasm I’ll one day be your mother-in-law.”

“I doubt it, considering,” you mocked her and gestured to your eyes. “Either way, as much as Crowley may talk about me, he most certainly talked about you.”

“All good things I hope,” she smiled at you. It was as if every gesture of hers and every action was manipulative by nature. You understood his hatred for her, she didn’t have a genuine bone in her body. You hoped for Crowley that would change, but at the same time, you wished she would finally let him go. He was far too caught up on the woman that never loved him the way she should have. But you would never tell him that, or anyone for the matter.

“Nope, even if there was any good to share, it would never have mattered, not based on everything else he told me about you.”

“Well,” she looked at you, for once appearing less devious, “I hope I can change that.”

“You can’t, and even if you technically could, it wouldn’t mean anything, because once more, I don’t care and I never will.”

———

Juliet nudged your leg. You were situated at the table in the bunker’s library. For the past year, you have riddled yourself with vigorous research and learning. You had been impressive before all of this, but with the extra reading and practice on spells, you were more powerful than you ever really imagined. You were more powerful than Sam, Dean, or Castiel ever expected you to become. It wasn’t necessarily healthy, but considering the track records of each of your respective companions, you were doing much better. 

The gorgeous black-coated supernatural dog whined a little to fully grasp your attention away from the article you were reading titled, He-Wolf/She-Wolf: a Study of Werewolf Transgenderism. You had honestly been curious about the intersectionalities of the two, but after a couple of pages in the read became more of one for pleasure than one for research. As much as you found it interesting it didn’t aid you in any of your studies. Still, you thoroughly enjoyed it, even bringing it up in conversation with the Winchesters and Cas when they talked to you. 

Placing down the paper you looked up at the adorable now one-year-old you had taken under your demonic metaphorical wing. Jack was the sweetest little antichrist you had ever seen.

“Hey kid, whatcha doing?”

He didn’t look happy, in fact, he looked unhappy and a little guilty. It made you sad to see him upset, after all, he was your one and only nephew, and you loved him dearly. He was the only reason you stayed around so much. The others you could care less about, but you’d damn yourself again for the boy before you. Juliet could sense his emotions as well, and ventured slowly over to the son of Lucifer. She gently brushed against the kid's leg. Without a thought, the boy petted the Hell Hound.

“Jack,” your voice was laced with concern, “is everything okay? Did something happen?” The boy looked away with sad eyes and the slightest pout, “come on kid it’s your birthday, you can’t wallow in your negative emotions with me around, not today.”

“Do you blame me?” he asked, looking back at you with tears in his eyes.

“Jack,” your voice broke as you stood up to embrace him, “of course, I don’t, whatever would I blame you for?”

Before you could reach him, he stepped back.

“Jack,” with every second you grew more worried.

“Because it’s my fault. Crowley would be alive if I had never been-“

“No,” you said firmly. But Jack only flinched. You didn’t waste time this go around, immediately engulfing him in a hug. “Don’t say that kid, don’t say that. You are the best thing that ever happened to me. I could never blame you, and either way, it wasn’t your fault. It was Lucifer’s and mine and Sam’s and Dean’s and Cas’ and Crowley’s. We all knew what we were up against, but you kiddo, you couldn’t possibly be at fault for anything that happened that day. I just got a little unlucky alright, the best thing that ever happened to me occurred on the same day that one of the worst things that have ever happened to me did. I love you, Jack, I love you, and I can tell you without a doubt none of it was your fault, but most importantly, none of it was your responsibility.”

“I’m sorry,” he cried into your shoulder as he gripped you right.

“Shhh, shhh, you have nothing to be sorry for,” you patted his head softly.

“I just-I just know how hard today must be for you. I know how hard it is for Sam and Dean to look at me- I” 

You pulled away, but only slightly. With precise movements you wiped the tears in his cheeks away, “It could never be hard for me to look at you, unless,” your voice cracked, “unless something happened to you, I- I love you, Jack. You're my nephew, you're the person I care about the most, okay? You could never make me truly mad or upset with you.”

Jack nodded the tears in his eyes finally slowing down, “I never wanted anyone to get hurt.”

“I know, Cas knows, Sam knows, Dean is getting there, and he should have already gotten there okay? Dean- Dean just- don’t let him get to you kid.”

“He has every right to-”

“He has no right,” you said clearly to Jack, “he has no right.”

“Thank you,” he sniffled.

“Always, kiddo.”

“I um- I found these,” he showed you the old photos of you and Crowley before you had become a demon. You carefully took them from his hands, avoiding looking at the photos of the two of you. It was a mystery as to how Jack found these, considering that you hid them away from prying eyes because you yourself refused to look at them. 

———

“Get off my throne,” you growled at the witch.

“Ah,” Rowena smiled brightly, “Y/n, I’ve been waiting for you to show up. How have you been?”

“I was doing fine until I heard you're quite non-demonic arse was sitting on the freaking throne of Hell! You are not a demon, Rowena, what in the name of my goddamn sanity are you doing?”

“Just filling in the position. No one else took a grab at it,” her nonchalance was really starting to piss you off.

“Fuck off, Rowena,” the witch gasped shocked at you and your words.

“That is no way to speak to your, Queen, or a friend for the matter,” she held a hand to her chest.

“Get off the throne,” you spoke through gritted teeth, eyes blackened, and voice course.

“Darling-” Rowena had yet to move.

“Get off his Throne!” your voice amplified at your outburst. Dark magic encircled you, inky black coils, spreading out from your body. Tears escaped your eyes with the same fervor and enthusiasm as Lucifer escaping the cage. 

Rowena wasted no time bounding from the throne and to you. You were so lost, so without focus. 

“It’s okay, it’s okay, Darling. I’ve got you. You’re going to be okay, everything is going to be okay. Shush child, let it out, let it out,” she tried to soothe you. To your surprise, it somewhat worked. She had calmed your angered state, but you were still a sobbing mess on the floor. With careful and caring intent she gracefully brushed your hair with her fingers, humming sweet melodies. 

It felt like hours, hours of Crowley’s mother combing your hair softly swaddling you and your grief. “It’s alright, Darling,” she cradled your face in her soft, deadly hands, brushing away stray tears that hadn’t been caught by the fabric of her skirt. “I suppose, well I suppose, Hell could always use another monarch, don’t you think? You would be a wonderful ally, you would make a wonderful leader.”

“Why couldn’t it be me? If I’d just- If I’d just told him that I, that I, that I lov-” your body broke down again, your throat aching for the sobbing to stop. Your eyes pleaded with you to stop mass-producing tears, but your heart couldn’t handle the hurt.

———

Your heart was doing better at handling it now. You sat beside, Rowena. Two thrones, two leaders of Hell, one King, and one Queen. All demons respected you, followed you, and were loyal to you.

You were the only demon that resented you for sitting on that damned throne. But that was only half the time. When you felt this way, it was often that those you still had around distracted you from those thoughts or blatantly told you how wrong they were. Sam often joined the both of you in Hell, enjoying his time with you and Rowena. Jack seemed to become like Rowena’s grandchild. She constantly taught him new things you had to reteach him about because of her adverse teaching style. Somehow out of the two of you, it was the demon that had the better grasp on morals. Castiel typically stopped by to grab Jack from your palace or frequented your palace with Dean. As always the two were as close as ever. 

Those two and Sam were practically Jack’s three dads. Dean had finally moved on from what had occurred between Jack and his mother. The idiot even apologized to Jack after all the shit he put the poor kid through. Like the bright little ball of sunshine he was, Jack forgave him instantly, despite you telling him that he didn’t have to accept the apology right away or at face value. Jack let your concerns roll off of him, telling you he knew Dean was being sincere.

It took you longer to forgive Dean. The hunter even tried apologizing to you. It left you a laughing mess because you couldn’t fathom what warranted his empty words. You had heard Dean say it himself, that he often apologized to Sam without even meaning it. With time and patience, you moved past his ignorance, realizing some of your own. It was often demons get bitter, your negative emotions heightened, and your positive ones lessened. One day when he and Castiel had come to pick up Jack you extended the olive branch necessary to replenish as much of your friendship as possible. Dean gladly accepted your offer, stating he would love to have your help on cases, whether it be research or the actual hunt. With a smile on your face, your gaze moved to the incredible Nephilim you had helped raise standing beside his chosen father. Your only last hope for all of them being that Dean finally confesses to Castiel as well.

The smile remained on your face for the rest of the day. Despite not needing sleep you were preparing to go to bed. The cell phone you had been gifted by the hunter brothers rang throughout your room just as you were moving aside your covers. Reaching over you received a nice greeting from Sam. It seemed Dean had told Sam what you had said earlier that day. Snapping your fingers, your cozy fleece pajamas were swapped for your preferred choice of royal attire. A quick swoosh and you appeared at the library in the Men of Letters base. 

———

You didn’t like this one bit. In fact, you dreaded this quite a lot. 

[demeterlindavis]

Eddie never forget his first love, specifically when it comes to the woman who taught him how to play the guitar.  Years later after the events in the upside down, an outing with the group at a Battle of the Bands event brings him back to you.

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Eddie Munson x Reader

Post S4. Billy lives in this one.  

2.9 K words

(3/4 of Out by Midnight - Roxy, Billy, and Erik)

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It was a Friday night that Max had convinced the crew to go with her to an event that was happening over an hour away from Hawkins. There was some band competition to see who can perform the best covers. Eddie had been talking about it for weeks to go as a group since 2 members of Corroded coffin were out of town for the weekend, each for their own reasons so they didn’t have a chance to enter. Max added the cherry on top saying that her brother was in one of the bands. And so on the day of the event, the gang packed themselves into Eddie’s van and Steve’s car and made their way on the road.

It had been about an hour in when his back was turned, finishing up grabbing a couple of beers and a bottle of water at the bar when he heard the opening chords of one of his favorite songs. The soft strumming of an acoustic guitar was unmistakable to his ears. This band was playing a cover of “Battery” by Metallica. He made his way back to the group he came with and passed the beers to Robin and Nancy while Max grabbed the bottled water with her hand, a big ‘X’ clearly written with a marker on it to signify who wasn’t legally old enough to drink alcohol.

“Thanks!” Robin spoke before taking a large sip, tipping the bottom end of Nancy's beer up with her pointer finger and forcing her to catch up with herself and Steve. 

“This is it, it’s them!” Max spoke loudly over the speakers amplifying the build-up of the guitar.

“Who?” Steve moved his head closer to her and squinted his eyes as if it were to help him hear better.

“Billy’s band!”

Steve’s eyes rolled, still not 100% over the history with the Hargrove boy he had tussled with long ago. He was like 95% there. The other 5% was just a little bit harder to get over. He watched Billy on stage, a mixture of surprise to find out Billy knew how to play the bass guitar and had even joined a band, with a tiny bit of bitterness knowing this most likely added to his ego. He took a big sip, finishing the rest of what was in his bottle as he saw Billy lock eyes and wink to some poor audience member who was no doubt swooning over his strumming.

“They don’t sound too shabby.” The corner of Eddie’s lips curled down in an impressed smile. He wasn’t trying to judge too soon, knowing exactly how the song was supposed to sound especially with the tempo change that was soon to come. “Do you guys know who’s playing the guitar right now?”

The group looked over at the band member standing in the front line of the stage with an acoustic guitar, the solo stage light increasing the dramatics of the opening tunes as the 3 other band members either played quietly (Billy) or waited in the background. They shook their heads, unable to recognize him as they looked towards the rest of the performers on stage.

“I don’t know who that guy is or the girl on the drums, but-“

“Holy Shit.” Eddie had cut Nancy off, hearing the electric guitar and the drums kick in. The sheer power of their entrance changing the energy of the crowd from 0 to 60. Not only did they sound good, but he had recognized the other guitarist that kicked in with the electricity.

Her hands moved effortlessly as she held the guitar with familiarity from years and years of practice. Her eyes were closed, falling into a trance that allured the crowd into the speeding tempo.

“Why does she look familiar?” Steve looked at the familiar face, trying to figure out where he’s seen her before.

“[Y/N] [L/N].” Eddie spoke with an unbroken stare, awestruck at her absolutely shredding it on stage. 

“She’s hot - ow!” Robin rubbed her side where Eddie had elbowed her. 

“Sorry Robs, there’s no way you’re cutting in line when I had to wait so long.” 

Of all the places, he shouldn’t have been surprised to find you there doing the thing you loved the most: playing your guitar. He was just more so surprised at the fact that you were within his vicinity.

His heart pounded, nearly jumping up his throat from both an old crush and the music the group was absolutely killing. Your fingers moved quickly up and down the frets during the solo moments, also moving and stirring something deep within his heart and his groin. 

What’s that saying? You never forget your first love. Especially when they were also the first person to ever teach you how to play the guitar.

His hand reached up to his necklace, holding tight and still keeping the guitar pick you had given him close to his heart. He couldn’t take his eyes off of you as he watched you thrash your head from side to side on beat, the pure raw energy of being in your element. The sweat glistened as your personal highlighter, the lights amplifying your glow while flashing behind you and emphasizing your silhouette. 

The two of you never had a romantic relationship, not officially anyways. What started out as a middle school friendship turned best friends, turned into …whatever it was the last couple of years before you had moved away. 

It was a warm dewy morning that day in sixth grade when he walked into the band room, ready to start the first day of the year with the elective he thought was the least excruciating to partake in. He heard someone playing the guitar. The melodic tunes rang in his ears as his eyes settled on the musician: you. 

He’ll never forget the way your eyes were focused on the music in front of you, hair pulled back by the headphones loudly playing music in your ears. You pressed pause on the cassette player when you stumbled on a chord and you tried the same rift again and again before getting the sequence right. When you had, Eddie’s clapping surprised you as you turned to where he was just outside of your view. 

After the introductions and his compliments, he found out you both had the same first period together. It didn’t take long throughout the year for you two to speak comfortably around each other, your carefree and goofy attitude made it easy. A lot of your passion for the guitar came from your dad, who was a musical enthusiast and guitarist with the daytime job of being a high school teacher. That passion oozed out of you and consumed him, inspiring him to pick up a guitar and ask you to teach him outside of school. What started as guitar lessons turned into weekend hangouts strumming together and at some point the hangouts would excuse the musicians from their instruments, watching movies over one another’s place or reading books like learning about Dungeons and Dragons.

Along the way and as you two aged, high school soon came and so did the slow shift in your friendship. It was around junior year when the touches and gazes lingered for just a little bit longer. When the casual flirting thrown into the mix skipped over the nervously laughed response and instigated a comeback to catch the other off guard. The tension was thick but neither dared to make that first official move. Instead settling in the comfort of the quiet and cozy movie nights spent cuddled on the couches, the dissipation of personal space between you two as his arms would always somehow be connected to you and vice versa. It was literally like dating but with a condom to stop the blooming of the next stage to come. Garret, one of the freshmen they befriended, called it “annoyingly painful to watch them both play this ‘will they, won’t they’ thing and should just let it will.” The rest of the members of what would become the band Corroded Coffin the following year had agreed, especially when their senior year rolled in and everyone at that point got accustomed to the pair stuck in an infinite and never-ending dance. 

Eddie clapped with an extra loud “Woo!” Watching you graduate and walk across the stage with your diploma in hand. He promised himself he’d walk across the stage in no time and have you cheering with just as much love and swell of pride as he had at this moment.

Only the summer after graduation your dad had accepted another teaching job in California, one also closer to studios where the big shots had better chances of being scouted. That chance for him to finally cross that line and confess himself to you was ripped away, he had helped you pack your things, savoring every last moment that he could spend with you. With a promise to call you both kept it up at first but they became less frequent the moment you began helping your dad with tutoring after school and juggling it with the addition of your part-time job and band practice. Eddie himself became engrossed in his passions for D&D and Corroded Coffin, and just trying to pass high school.

A drunk Robin thrashing around with an energy-high Dustin had pulled him out of memory lane, the song had shifted into their next Metallica cover, ‘Fuel’. Nancy was swaying with an equally drunk Johnathan to a tempo only heard by the pair. Steve was sipping his beer, shaking his head as he watched Dustin jump and down like a maniac after Mike and Lucas joined beside him. El, Will, and Max were more subdued than the others thrash-dancing but were still moving with the high energy consuming the venue. Eddie joined Robin, downing the rest of his drink and matching his dance partner’s wild and almost comedic movements.

When the song ended Eddie let out an extra loud “Woo” as he did the day of your graduation, clapping past the point where his hands turned red as the crowd continued cheering. 

The lead singer was catching his breath, allowing more time for the band to soak in the moment. High-pitched screams were erupting as the singer and Billy removed their shirts, their muscles, unfortunately, glowing in the light.

Steve once again rolled his eyes while Mike and Lucas stared questioningly at El and Max who joined in with the screaming. 

The singer took his spot again infront of the microphone and took a breath before speaking into the mic, “We are Out Past Midnight and it’s been fucking amazing playing for you all here!” The cheers echoed at the profanity, as he introduced the next band that broke out into a cover of Black Sabbath. Max lead the group out of the venue and towards the back where Billy had told her to meet him the last time they spoke on the phone. 

The step-sibling’s relationship had gotten better over the years. The strain slowly healing after the events of the Mind Flayer and Billy leaving back to California to get space away from the hauntings of Hawkins, but the phone calls kept them in touch, even visiting for a while after she was Hospitalized thanks to Vecna. He had surprised her with the fact that he joined a band, telling her he’d give her the full story when they caught up in person again instead of having to explain it on over the phone. He was going to be in the state, another one of the band members having family ties nearby and the Cover Band Competition was on the way. 

Max was the first to spot them, putting away their instruments and equipment into a shiny new van before heading back into the venue to enjoy the rest of the night.

“You know, I see now that they let you join the band solely for the number of fangirls you’d bring in.”  

The curly blonde head of hair turned at his sister’s voice after setting down an instrument case. The same old shit-eating grin resting across his face. “Tell me you brought more of them back here with you.”

“Gross.” Max said with a scoff, still moving forward with a small grin and giving Billy a hug. When she pulled away she turned to the rest of the group, “You remember the gang. I don’t know if you’ve met Robin,” She pointed to her and then to the metal head of the group, “and Eddie” Billy had given them a nod as the others waved in greeting. The lead singer had come through the backdoor, the last of their equipment in both hands and passing one to Billy. With a final check and slam of the trunk doors, Billy introduced the unknown man to the rest of the group.

“This is Erik. He’s the guy with the vocals.”

Erik stood tall with a brooding stare that was broken with a grin. His long brown hair blew in the wind and proving a magazine cover-worthy look with nothing more than his black jeans and opened leather jacket with nothing underneath. “It’s nice to meet ya, I’d introduce the rest of the band but the girls are already inside getting shots.”

Billy chuckled, “Are Rox and [Y/N] actually buying the shots themselves?”

Erik gave him a knowing look. “They’re being bought by someone but hey a free drink is a free drink.” 

While everyone else introduced themselves, Eddie’s lips pursed at the comment, imagining someone flirting with you, being close to you. He shouldn’t have felt so territorial about you, but old habits die hard, especially when old feelings were coming back just from seeing you.

Erik turned to everyone else, pulling the back door open again. “We’re going to head back in and enjoy the rest of the show, do you guys want to come in through this way instead of going back all the way around?”

Robin walked up to him and patted his shoulder in a drunken haze, “You’re not so bad, Erik!” She walked in with everyone trailing behind her. The shortcut into the building soon engulfing them in the music and lights once more. 

The younger kids of the group stayed in the crowd, enjoying the music as the rest of them headed to the bar, but still in sight of the others for Steve’s babysitting sake. Eddie followed behind, a bit more nervous the more and more he was able to see you in his view. You were raising a shot glass with your bandmate, a woman with darker skin and black twisted hair cheering you on. She wore a loose multicolored top, following the fashion of the band with the top opened but a tank top underneath.  You both took a big gulp, slamming the glasses down with a boisterous laugh.

“Ladies, Ladies” Erik shouted, gaining their attention as he gestured toward the rest of the newcomers. “Billy has friends he’d like to introduce us to.” 

He met your gaze when you turned to face them and he saw when the shock had registered in. Your eyes nearly teared as your feet slowly pulled you towards him, hands lifting to rest on his cheeks, slightly squishing them together. “Please tell me I’m not hallucinating right now.” Your voice was wavering with emotion, Eddie couldn’t help but laugh. You were a lightweight when it came to drinking, smoking being your chosen vice. But nonetheless, this was a greeting letting him know he was missed. His hands steadied you by the shoulders, an unbreakable grin spreading across his face as his warm brown eyes stared into yours. 

“Hey Sweetheart.”

Erik leaned closer to Roxanne, the drummer of the band, who was perched at the bar. “Jeez, you two were gone for like 10 minutes, how many drinks did she have?”

Roxanne gave him a look, similar to the knowing one Erik gave Billy not too long ago. “3 Shots.”

“Back to Back?” Billy joined in.

The rest of the group watched in silent curiosity at what was happening in from of them. Roxy’s mouth slowly agape as she watched you begin to sway forward unintentionally. “[Y/N] is going down, I repeat, [Y/N] is going down.” 

Billy moved fast to reach you, not really knowing Eddie’s character and how comfortable he’s feeling with you being intoxicated embarrassingly fast. He was not going to let you live this moment down but that’s for another time. His arm moved around your waist as he pulled you to the side and suddenly Eddie’s eyes were like a magnet towards the touch. 

Steve was the first to break the silence after you were pulled towards a booth to sit down. “What was all that?”

“We’re-“ Eddie tried to fight his eyes watching you past the crowd, settled in a booth with Billy standing to the side, choosing not to sit down. His arms leaned on the table and the back of the seating, encasing you between him as you were both locked in a gaze, him saying something that made you break out into a laugh. Eddie looked away feeling a sting to his chest, letting out a laugh he hoped that didn’t come out as forced “We were best friends once upon a time.”

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[orchidlatte]

Bruno, 15, exhausted from endless visions and without thinking, snapped at his mamá in an argument. He learned to never say those words again.

I tried out a new way of texturing hair, and I have mixed feelings about it 🙃

[bciamhere]

Immovable by asdfjkl129

༻ BKDK ༶ 76K ༶ PG ༺

Faint crackling electricity, like the fabric of a windbreaker rubbing against itself, covering the sound of shifting rubble and settling dust. It’s a sound Katsuki’s heard a thousand times before, usually preceded with a shout from Deku saying One For All-

“Full Cowling,” Katsuki whispers, staring and grasping for words. “What the fuck.”

Deku is standing near Katsuki’s feet, back bowed forward like Atlas and body lit up with a green so bright it’s incandescent. Blackwhip escapes from his arms in countless tendrils, lightning arcs off his body every second, and there’s a faint tremble running through his legs.

He’s terrifying. He’s beautiful.

He’s holding the fucking building on his shoulders.

-

Bakugou and Midoriya get trapped under a building together.

As Midoriya struggles to keep them both alive, refusing to give even an inch, Bakugou realizes some crucial things and refuses to leave without Midoriya by his side.

[grumelot123]

Crowley: Go to Hell Aziraphale, tearing up: W-what?

Crowley: WAIT-

[themoonsbride]

hello my darling ❤️ yesterday i was feeling soo insecure about my body, especially my thighs, and i wanted to ask you - could you write something where y/n is feeling insecure about the same thing as me and when she's trying on her new dress from jamie she can't stop looking at her thighs and when jamie notices he tells her she's beautiful and he gently kisses her thighs (don't worry i don't wanna smut!! just pure fluff!) 🤧🫶🏻 love you sweet girl, keep writing cause you're amazing ❤️ Mia xxx

hello amazing Mia !!! I'm so sorry you weren't feeling the best the other day, insecurities are awful to handle, but you're absolutely stunning and always will be !! :) xox

You're Beautiful .

pairing; Jamie Bower x Fem!reader

summary; in the request!! Reader is feeling extremely insecure about herself (specifically her thighs) and once she tries on the dress he bought for her, he quickly catches onto her feelings and kisses her thighs . <3

warnings; feeling insecure, almost crying, thigh kissing (fluff !)

a/n; I have another request that I should be able to get out this week hopefully !! (trying to come up with ideas for my first Anthony Hope imagine. . . .)

--×♥︎×--

It was mid spring, the weather was getting warmer by each day, it was currently 78 degrees outside and you were supposed to go out with your boyfriend tonight.

He was out at the moment, and wouldn't be home until night fall.

You got up for about the 5th time that hazy noon and walked in front of the mirror, observing yourself.

You groaned groggily looking at your thighs.

God they seemed so hideous in your eyes and you couldn't stand it, all of the women on your media feeds had beautiful bodies that only made you feel envious and more insecure.

'How am I supposed to go out tonight when I look like this?' your mind seemed to like to torture you today and it was completely draining you to your core.

You placed your head in your hands and decided to crawl inside of your bed until it was time for you to get ready.

--×♥︎×--

You'd been switching between binge watching TV and scrolling through your phone when you heard the keys rattle inside of the knob to your front door and footsteps start to come closer to your bedroom you shared with your boyfriend, Jamie.

"Darling I'm ho- What are all the lights off for in here love?" He went from happy to concerned within seconds.

"Forgot to turn them on, sorry" You had been able to frame your voice to seem like you were okay when you weren't, Jamie always knew you were faking even if you were doing a pretty amazing job at acting like you were.

"I'll be here if and when you want to talk about it okay? I'm going to be getting ready now love" He smiled empathetically at you, his brows cruved in a worried expression.

You weren't always one to speak up at first but after awhile you'd be able to have it inside of you to be able to speak up and let him know what was bothering you.

After Jamie had left into the bathroom to get into nicer, fresh clothes you sighed and walked over the closet between the two of you and picked up your dress, quickly getting the fabric on your skin before waltzing over to that forsaken mirror again.

You started to examine yourself, Jamie had picked out your dress, it was black and the hem had lace on it as well as the v neck collar and tank top like sleeves, and the crimson red roses scattered about make it beautiful to look at.

But the way it had looked on you, how your thighs were so noticeable, atleast thats what you had told yourself. Your lips started to quiver and your eyes became soggy.

"oh lovely please don't feel bad about yourself." Jamie's voice suddenly broke the silence between you and your self hatred as you turned to look at him.

"You're absolutely gorgeous Y/n, you should never cry over your body." He stroked your hair and kissed your forehead, gently wiping a tear that started grazing mid-way down your cheek, that you hadn't even realized.

"I, I'm so-"

"Don't, apologize dear, please."

He grabbed your hand gently and had you sit down on the bed that had been to the left of the both of you, and then leaned down onto his knees.

"Jamie babe I'm not in the mo-"

"That's not where this is going babe, just trust me okay?" His voice was small and comforting, almost like it was wrapping you in a warm hug before you nodded slowly.

Then, he started pressing gentle soft kisses against your chilled skin that you'd currently felt deep hatred for, but within seconds Jamie was soothing you into feeling better and started to feel like your happy self once again before you both stood and headed your way out to dinner.

[monpalace]

Slight angst maybe idk but maybe Songbird asking Time to show her how to wield a sword and as he’s showing her, he can see in her eyes and stance the same face of Athena -🧚🏽‍♀️

noooooo that's literally so cute? while time can see glimpses of athena in the way songbird stands and holds the sword, he also gets flashbacks of when they were children and how she taught him (as best she could for a child) how to wield and properly use a sword because "my dad's a blacksmith, so i'm basically the best person to ask when it comes to everything about weapons"????? he just gets so caught in his memories that one time while they're practice sparring, she manages to knock him flat on his ass and score a point?????? and then when twi does whatever to congratulate her for winning, he's immeadiately reminded of the way athena congratulated him for winning a match against someone or something????????

[wawataka]

guys pick serirei or terumob

[idkanameatall]

Now that I have finished/caught up to all the Taz arcs, it's finally time for me to make the crossover au between all the arcs

[fully-caulked-wagon]

Some of my favourite lines/passages from my shitty Aidungeon Zosan fanfics Part 4

Fic 4: ‘Bartender's outfit, although you wouldn't quite think it, given he refuses to wear it like an actual human being: his bandana is tied around his forehead for once, masking that veritable tenhead.’ - Sanji about Zoro (This is an excerpt, mind you. I realise a sentence starting with ‘bartender’s outfit,’ is grammatically incorrect. I swear I do-) ‘After a moment, a man who looks to be the sheriff appears,‘ (...) "Welcome to our neck'a the woods, good sirs. Mah names Adam Bronson,” - Straight up just Starlight Glimmer if she were Southern and also Sheriff Sheriff Bronson Stone from Mystery Inc. (Cause, fun fact: this fic is literally just a modified one piece version of the mlp season 5 premiere. Initially it was just meant to be an excuse to have cowboy Sanji and it just devolved from there.) "Alright then, we're Usopp - that's me, Zoro - the green one," "Oi." "And Sanji, the blonde one.” - Usopp (And Zoro) to Adam Bronson. ‘Weight training reps as he swung the weight... stick... thing, whatever the fuck it's called.‘ - Sanji about that giant fucking weight thing Zoro uses. (I project in my writing sometimes, don’t worry about it-) ‘Usopp and the Shitty Swordsman take the lead of their walk - or rather, Usopp takes the lead and the Marimo constantly veers off to the left or backwards and Sanji has to tug him by the collar back to the right direction.’ - Sanji about Usopp and Zoro. (I essentially just write Zoro getting lost the same way I play car arcade games.) ‘The female whips out a notepad and pen, speaking in an all too drone-like voice, sounding more static than simply rehearsed, "May ah take your order, sirs? We have buttered toast...." ‘ - ‘She trails off and it's then that Sanji realises, not only is a bakery of all places serving buttered toast - which isn't incredibly out of place but still feels weird - but it is their ONLY item. Jesus Christ.’ - Bootleg Sugarbelle to Zoro, Sanji and Usopp + Sanji about Bootleg Sugarbelle "Enjoy, sirs!" (...) ‘Sanji feels an eery shiver down his spine before he looks down at their plate and freezes. He almost snorts when he hears Usopp mutter, "How are we meant to ENJOY the carcass of a volcano..." - Bootleg Sugarbelle serves them the toast + Sanji and Usopp about the toast. ‘Rather than buttered toast, it's more like crumbled ashes in the shape of toast, slathered in what honest-to-god looks like congealed piss. And there's a full plate of it.’ - ‘Ugh, it's times like this where Sanji has to question whether his never wasting food rule applied to cases like these if he wasn't sure it even was food.’ - Sanji about the toast. ‘He puts on a fake smile, "Ah~ Tastes better than it looks." - ‘He then whispers under his breath,’ - "It tastes exactly how Franky's balls look - but after they were set on fire and drowned in a toilet." - Usopp about the toast. ‘Since Usopp obviously won't want to eat anymore of this and the Mossball is a dick, Sanji'll be the one who has to eat the rest of it.’ - ‘Gagging slightly at just the smell, Sanji glances at the twins. He startles as they approach them, still smiling until the cows come home apparently, with a dark look around their eyes.’ - Sanji about Zoro, Usopp, the toast, knockoff Sugarbelle and uh... knockoff... no fucking clue yet, honestly. Maybe Party Favor, idfk. ‘Around half an hour later, Sanji gags, covering his mouth as he finishes, a grim look taking over his face as he feels very fit to throw up directly on whoever was responsible for training these two in the kitchen.’ - Sanji after eating the toast + about the bootleg twins. ‘Usopp and the Mossball stand up as well, the Marimo stiffly stating in the worst acting voice Sanji has ever heard, "Oh no. It seems the perverted, horny, swirly, curly, dartboard brow, annoying, terrible, horrible, no good, very bad, shitty--" "Alright, get a move on, asshole." "-Cook has eaten ALL of our food! Can we order some more?" - Sanji about Zoro not being able to act. This also contains a reference to a book I think maybe one other person on this site has read. (Alexander and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.) ‘Sanji glances behind him and sees Usopp and Zoro sharing a look before Usopp mouths to him, 'Are we gonna be killed or what? They sure are taking the scenic route if we are.' Sanji mouths back hastily, 'How the fuck am I supposed to know? Give it a minute!' The Marimo simply yawns and mouths lazily, 'Who cares? There isn't enough sake in this entire town to get me to care even a second before they're actually waving their weapons in our faces.' ‘ - Sanji about the second instance of non verbal communication in this fic because apparently I was feeling that when I was writing it. ‘The female one continues, "Ah. Ahm sure y'all've noticed the citizens here come off a lil..." ‘Sanji offers, "Strong?" Usopp and Zoro in tandem, for once, follow up, "Hysterical?" - Sanji grins over his shoulder teasingly, "Wow~ Didn't realise you had four syllable words in your vocabulary, Marimo~" - The Mosshead apparently also has human blood cells in his body, - another surprise, if you ask Sanji, considering how much he has to have lost by now over the last 3 years or so - given that his cheeks turn a light pink and he mutters, "Shut up, Shitty Cook. Didn't realise you had.... shut up." - Sanji, Zoro and Usopp’s recurring shared braincell moment I keep writing. ‘While the Marimo has his eyes narrowed and Sanji can almost hear the smoke coming from his tiny brain as he, Sanji can only hope, formulates some kind of plan.‘ - Sanji about Zoro.

[demeterlindavis]

Out Past Midnight - Ch 2

You never forget your first, specifically when it comes to the woman who taught you how to play the guitar. 

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Eddie Munson x Reader

Post S4. Billy lives in this one.  

A little bit more reader x Eddie in this chapter.

Warnings: Cursing. Smoking. Drinking.

3.8 K Words

Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who liked and enjoyed the last story! I haven't posted a story in a while, none the less on Tumblr, but I created a new account specifically so I could do so!

Hope you enjoy this part

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“Hey,” Billie snapped his fingers, trying to gain your undivided attention. “Come on babe, come back to me.” Your body took a minute before steadying itself, the blurriness of the lights coming back into focus after the building tears from your eyes was wiped before they could fall.  “Can you hold yourself up?” He stayed close just in case he needed to suddenly support you.

You nodded your head with a goofy grin.

“You sure you’re good?”

“Billiam,” Your gaze locked onto his in the most serious demeanor you could muster. “I know drunk when I see it. And I am 100% not that.”

Billy licked his lips with a roll of his eyes. “Yeah except you can’t see yourself, moron.”

You let out a laugh, being called out in your drunken stupor and deciding on changing the subject about the next thing on your mind. You leaned your head against the cushioning of the booth seat, looking up at Billy. “We kicked ass tonight. I haven’t felt myself get in the zone like that for a while now.” 

Billy lifted the hand that rested on the table and pet your head, grazing his fingers across your hair. The physical touch calmed you down. The sudden sadness in your chest growing at the thought of seeing Eddie again was starting to snap you out of your intoxicated haze that soothed into a dull buzz. “I thought I saw an old best friend again and ended up feeling some random look-a-like’s face.”

A scoff made you look at the offender, Billy looking off somewhere before meeting your gaze. “Eddie? Oh, you saw him all right. And that was not a random look-a-like.”

Your eyes widened as you looked around. Lo and behold, past your fellow bandmates stood Eddie within a group of his friends. His long hair and stature were easily recognizable. You felt the blood leave your face as the realization of your earlier actions hit you, your hands covering your heated cheeks at how embarrassingly drunk you were upon meeting him for the first time in years.

“I need another shot.”

“Oh no, you don’t.” Billy gave you a pointed look before locking eyes with Eddie from afar. “How about,” He crouched down to your eye level. “I go catch up with my sister and on my way over I tell loverboy to stop burning holes into my back and tell him to sit over here with you.” 

“Burning holes in what?”

“Pretty sure he doesn’t like me being so close to you.” 

“Oh what like he’d be jealous? Besides, what if he’s seeing someone?”

“…”

You began to ramble and stumble over your words “And- and being close to someone doesn’t mean you’re together. I mean I- I nearly act the same way with you like-“ 

“-You did with him…? ” He finished for you.

Your mouth opened and closed as you could see the point Billy was trying to make. The only difference between your friendship with Billy and your friendship with Eddie was that you had feelings for Eddie. Billy and you were strangers that grew closer after confiding in each other when you were both in rough patches of your life, the intimacies between the two friendships were different types but both strong and dear to you. You never cuddled with Billy as you had with Eddie, close enough to feel his breath tickling your neck when he fell asleep. At most with Billy, it was a loose arm with some sort of space. Your bodies didn’t fit perfectly together like connecting puzzle pieces. Looking at the man in front of you, you pinched his cheek with a face of defeat. He swatted your hand away and kissed your forehead. Standing with a cheeky smirk on his face, he turned and made eye contact with Eddie, making his way over to him before meeting up with Max. 

That little instigating shit.

“Hey,” It wasn’t long before he was right in front of you, looking down to you from where he stood with one hand in his pocket and the other holding his half full beer. “Your boyfriend called me over.”

A frown grew on your lips, “He’s my best friend, not my boyfriend.” You scooted over, patting the open spot next to you. 

Eddie’s mouth twisted in disbelief as he sat down, his eyes focused on the empty beer bottle in his hands that rested on the table.  “Best friend like we were best friends?”

You couldn’t help but notice the way his thumb was mindlessly picking at the corner of the beer label stuck to the glass. Your hand found his, trying to put him at ease. Hearing the way he was pouting made you chuckle.“No one’s best friends like we were best friends.” 

He scoffed. “Could’ve fooled me.” His brown eyes looked up to yours, sparkling even through the dim lighting of the venue they were in. “What made our friendship different?”

Your lips scrunched together in thought. Shit, you embarrassed yourself the moment you saw him again, what else did you have to lose? Mustering the courage you thought now would be the perfect time to confess pent-up feelings. “Well for one,” your eyes looked over seeing Billy getting hit by his sister after playfully messing up her hair. “He’s certainly no Eddie Munson, and two,” You looked back at the man sitting beside you, just observing the subtle changes on his face despite it only being a few years since you last saw each other. He nearly looked the same physically, but there was a more serious weight carried behind his stare. 

Eddie Munson had always been a character with little to no filters when it came to what was on his mind and how he felt. So seeing him act a little reserved especially toward you admittedly threw him off. You couldn’t think of any reason as to what could have happened between you two for him to respond that way. Maybe you should’ve swallowed your pride and tried to call him more-

“And two?”

You snapped out of the thoughts in your head, your gaze dropping to the necklace around his neck; the same lucky guitar pick you gave him your 8th-grade year after he gifted you a new one for your Birthday. Your hand moved to take the bottle from him, downing the rest of the small amount of alcohol left in the glass. “And two, one of them would’ve turned into something more if I wasn’t so scared at the time.” Setting the empty bottle down, you stood to your best ability in the booth, nearly straddling him as you made your way around him to the floor. “I drank the rest of your drink, if you want another one it’s on me.”

“Wait.” Eddie watched you retreat to the bar, weaving your way through the crowd. He stumbled a bit to catch up to you, thrown off by your casual admission. He caught your elbow in the midst of you nearly rushing away from him (truthfully embarrassed after the rush of being bold) You turned to face him, his brows raised in confusion. “Earlier when you said all that, what did you mean- Why were you scared?” 

Not wanting to have to scream over the music and honestly wanting more time to formulate the word vomit that was no doubt about to come out, you motioned for him to follow you to one of the side doors that would lead you back outside and allow you both a little more privacy. You took your time to step out into the fresh air of the night, reaching in your back pocket to pull out a cigarette and offering one to him when he stood beside you. Already beating you to it, he lifted his own lighter to the cigarette between your lips. You quietly thanked him before he spoke again.

“You’re doing the thing where you keep stalling to try and buy more time.” He lit his cigarette, taking a drag and releasing the smoke through his nose, a knowing grin on his face. 

You couldn’t help but laugh.

“That’s exactly it, Eddie. You know me so well. You knew me the best out of everyone else and I was so scared to just lose what we already had. By the time I really wanted to say something I found out I was moving and I didn’t want to put you through all that long-distance relationship crap.”

“And who were you to make that call without even asking me?” He stood tall with his hand out as he went on. “That’s not fair that I didn’t get the choice.”

“You could’ve said something too you know? Besides, are you really telling me the difference between putting more effort would’ve been us in a relationship? You were my closest and best friend and we still drifted apart after trying to keep in touch. We grew busy with our lives, not that I hold anything against that, but we would’ve most likely have broken up anyways.” You winced at how you sounded. “But regardless of what could’ve been, the past already happened and we can’t change it.” 

You didn’t want to dwell in the past and the regrets that you had of holding your feelings back. Back then, the comfort of spending your time and holding each other close engulfed you into a safety net of settlement. 

Eddie swallowed with a pause, attempting to make his voice calmer than before. He wished he could tell you what had happened during the time you spent apart. Admittedly at one point during the last couple of years he realized he hadn’t spoken to you in a while but by then the whole ordeal with Chrissy and Vecna happened. How was he supposed to tell you he was acquitted for a murder he didn’t commit? How was he supposed to tell you about the monsters he discovered that lay hidden within the secrets of the small town you used to live in? How could he possibly tell you about his reoccurring nightmares, especially of the ones where he dreams of reuniting with you, only for you to be ripped away from him again as a hoard of demobats swarm after only you?

The cigarette ran cold and he tucked it behind his ear. His hands reached to hold your arms by the elbows. You couldn’t help how your hardened frown softened at his touch. “You’re right, we can’t change what happened but you can’t keep making these decisions about us without me from here on out.”

You felt yourself sharply inhale at his choice in wording. About us. From here on out. 

“Eddie...”

“Now I’m sorry for how uncool I was when I thought Billy was your boyfriend.” You chuckled as he wiped away a tear that sneaked its way down your cheek. “I hadn’t felt that jealous since Jeff told me he wanted to ask you to homecoming our junior year.”

You gave him a confused look. “Yeah, but he asked Lauren to homecoming that year.”

“After I gave him a little talk.” He took a moment to look at you, your face fitting perfectly against the touch of his hand. “That was when I realized that I had real, romantic feelings for my best friend and I got scared too. But then we became- we were just-shit I don’t know. I spent nearly all my time hanging out with you, whether I was at my best or my fucking worst. The times when you just laid in my arms and I held you close, those were the moments I craved for. People had stopped flirting with you because they already thought we were together. I wanted you to be mine and I wanted to be more than just a friend…and I still want that.”

He saw the hesitation, easily reading you within seconds. “I know this sounds out of nowhere seeing as how we didn’t plan to run into each other tonight, and I’m saying this knowing that we’ll eventually have to part ways again but I’m not letting go of this second chance. I’ve been through some tough shit to know it’s hard to come by and I have to at least get this off my chest.”

You searched his eyes for any fear or doubt but all you could see was passion and determination. Your arms were drawn to wrap around his waist, a nostalgic feeling that pulled your bodies closer like magnets. “It won’t be easy being away from each other when I have to go back.”

He leaned in, his breath tickling your face as your noses touched and his forehead rested against yours. “Then let me enjoy every moment I can with you and we’ll work through the hard parts when we get there.”

You smiled, easily smitten by his charm. You would do anything for this man and it would be the end of you one day. “At least take me out on a proper date, Munson.”

“Oh trust me, I will.” He left a teasing kiss on your nose. “You looked hot on stage by the way. Who do I have to fight to be your #1 fan?”

“Nobody, you’re my first fan.”

He pulled back with an incredulous look. “Ok, I call bullshit on that.”

“Eddie?”

“Yeah?”

“Just kiss me already.”

He obliged with no hesitation, his intrusive thoughts nearly getting the best of him. He leaned forward, the pair of lips about to meet before he bent forward in sudden pain. A loud ringing in his ears.

“Eddie?” You were caught off guard, the moment short-circuiting all brain functions as you tried to think of what to do. “Eddie what’s wrong?” You held on to him, just trying to hold him and understand what was happening. “Talk to me Eds.”

His hands pressed diligently into his ears, his eyes scrunched close in pain. “There’s this-there’s a high pitched ringing in my ears - god- Make it stop!” He grunted in distress, speaking through closed gritted teeth. 

A deep, faint grumble of a voice spoke, echoing in his head. “It’s time to go back.”

Within seconds of hearing it, everything stopped. The ringing, the pain. Nothing lingered as if it ever even happened.

In your frantic moment of helplessness, you didn’t hear when the exit door not too far away bursted open, your friends and Eddie’s pouring out. 

“[Y/N]!” You whipped your head at your name being called, Billy hurriedly making his way towards you. You called out to him, helping Eddie straighten back up to a stand.

“Something happened with Eddie, he was in pain or something, like he heard a ringing in his ears!”

“Something’s happening again.” Everyone turned to the sudden voice of Will who lingered towards the back of the group. He had a ghastly look on his face.

You looked to Billy. “What’s happening again?”

“It doesn’t matter, we’re packing our bags and heading back to California. Max, you’re coming with us. We’re not going to Hawkins.”

“I can’t just leave my mom to deal with this-“ Max interjected.

“Why can’t we go to Hawkins?” You tried to ask.

Will looked at Billy, “You heard it too?”

This cryptic way that they were speaking and keeping you in the dark was starting to get irritating. They were running around answering any questions you had. “Guys tell me what’s going on!”

Roxy spoke up this time, a concerned look on her face. “Billy and I were talking when he just went out of it- kept covering his ears, I thought it was the music just being too loud but he shouted ‘Shut up’ like someone was talking to him.” 

Jonathan nodded along before talking. “That same thing happened with Will. He said there was a voice.”

“What did it say?” Erik questioned.

“It’s time to go back” Eddie said solemnly, giving you an apologetic look. “Sorry about that scare, sweetheart. I’m all right now, for the most part.” His hands found its way into his pockets. 

You gave his arm a reassuring squeeze before looking at Billy, pleading. “Why do we have to go back to California? What’s the purpose of us going there now?”

Billy stepped closer and pulled you aside, he gave a look toward Erik and Roxy, keeping his voice down as he spoke. “This isn’t about us going back to California. This thing was telling me to go back to Hawkins, and I don’t want any of us to go back there. I know what’s waiting for us, for me. Remember when I told you about the things that I went through back at home before I moved back out west?”

“About your family and how your dad treated you?”

“The other things besides that. Remember when I said I’ve fought monsters before?”

You nodded and he gave you an expectant stare, waiting for it to click in your head.

Your face straightened in seriousness as a memory of that conversation replayed in your mind. Billy had mentioned his change in character, mentioned that he was more of an asshole and jerk before he learned to fight his demons. But he couldn’t have meant it literally, right?

“[Y/N]. I need you to remember.”

“…When you said you fought monsters in your past I thought it was a figure of speech.”

“I’m serious [Y/N].” He motions towards El, “This was the girl I told you about, the one who helped saved me. 

You remember the general description of her that he gave and thinking El was an ex of his, not someone his sister’s age who actually had real powers. Again, you thought it was a figure of speech when he said ‘she had a power and it saved me, helped change me and give me another chance.’ 

You turned to look at Eddie, reaching for his hand. “You also heard it? Does this mean you fought this monster too?”

“Vecna” Dustin spoke. “His name is Vecna.”

“Or Henry.” Robin mumbled to herself as Steve lightly jabbed his elbow into her. The second time tonight she’s been attacked at her side.

Eddie glanced at Billy for a moment before meeting your eyes, discovering something in common with the blonde man. “I don’t know what his experience was but yeah. I nearly died because of it.” His voice became quiet towards the end.

It made more sense to you as you took in the information. The talk about second chances, the seriousness hidden behind his tone like he carried a weight of something. “I’m not leaving you to go through this without me Eddie.”

“I have to agree with Billy on this one, It’s safer for you to not be in Hawkins. I thought things were getting back to normal but you’re going back to California.”

You scoffed, moving your arms around him to hold him closer to you. “You can’t make a decision about us without me.” You threw the same words he spoke right back at him. “It’s either you leave with me or I’m coming with you."

“Sweetheart,” As scared as he became after that episode, he couldn’t help but feel the swell in his chest at your adamance to stick with him. He wished things could be under different circumstances, no Upside Down, no Vecna, just you and him getting back on track with where things left off. “I can’t lose you again.”

Nancy stepped forward, “Regardless if you all choose to go to Hawkins, the rest of us still live there and have no other choice but to return. We need to come up with a plan on how we’re going to handle this, we need to find more information . The last plan we had almost worked until Vecna somehow got away in the end.”

Erik and Roxy, who didn’t get the full story of Billy’s background that you did, were still lost amidst the conversation. They had never heard of Hawkins before Billy and you had entered their lives, and after that at most they had heard of rumors of the small town being ‘cursed’. 

Turning to your bandmates, you gave them a hard look. “I can’t say that I know exactly what’s going on but I’ve made my decision to go. I won’t force you to follow me and won’t hold it against you if you decide to turn back with Billy.”

“Like hell I’m letting you go without me.” The curly-haired blonde spoke. “I’m not letting Max deal with this thing again after how I saw her end up the last time.”

“We’re coming with,” Roxy uncrossed her arms, walking to Billy and putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. The band remembered when he had left for a little to visit his sister, mentioning that she was in the hospital. The group had known one another for a few years but had been there for each other through their own ups and downs. Though some may have known more than the others’ business there was still a sense of loyalty keeping them together. They were in a band and they knew that together they’d have to face any obstacles they were to face. This wasn’t exactly what any of them had in mind but regardless, the same concept applies. Her eyes met Erik’s pensive stare, his brows flat in a straight line as he silently came to an agreement with her thoughts, giving her a nod. “But we need to know more if we’re about to join in this battle.”

The Hawkins gang spent the next hour explaining the full story on their experience. They told them the story of Will, how he got the traumatizing name of being known as “ The Zombie Boy”. They told them about how their town’s mall had burned down because of Russian spies and conspiracies, and after telling them about their most recent encounter when Eddie had joined in their mismatched group, you found yourself staring at him in awe.

You knew Eddie had already been through so much growing up and having to deal with being bullied throughout high school. After hearing about what he had to go through on top of that, you couldn’t help but feel sad knowing you weren’t there to help him or even offer a listening ear to support him afterward. 

In another life, tonight would’ve played out without Eddie. You would’ve met everyone else not knowing that your once best friend had passed. A part of you hoped that maybe Wayne would’ve called to tell you if something that serious were to ever happen but you couldn’t let your thoughts let you spiral into a black hole of ‘what if’. You had to bring yourself back to the present and figure out how you could help them.

The past already happened and you couldn’t change that.

“Shit,” Erik ran a hand through his chocolate waves. “I think I’m going to need a drink after all that.”

“Don’t we all? Minus the youngins of course.” Robin added, earning a laugh from Roxy.

“Well if we survive all this then the next round is on me.” The drummer threw the dirty blonde a grin, unknowingly stuttering the beat of Robin’s heart as she looked at the musician. 

“God she’s so pretty.”

[imogenlefay]

Chapters: 2/3 Fandom: Glee Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Blaine Anderson/Sebastian Smythe Characters: Blaine Anderson, Sebastian Smythe, Kurt Hummel Additional Tags: Seblaine Week 2022, Day 7: Years and Years/Years Later, Or as my head insists Years And Years Later, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, AU from Season 3, Blaine never transfers, Featuring a Klaine Breakup, Also mentions a Seblaine Breakup, Equal opportunity Breakups?, And Reconnecting, seblaine endgame, allusions to depression, And making a new start, Some angst Series: Part 4 of Seblaine Week 2022 Summary:

"You'll regret this," was what Blaine heard when he left Kurt for Sebastian. He still was sure to make the right choice. And even if it didn't work out, he'd regret not taking the chance more.

Years later, he stands by that. Still, one call on a random whim might lead to a reconnection, and maybe make things even better for the both of them.