#bill voice i love closing my eyes while skating ^_^ [gets his by a fucking car

[transgenderdragons]

go catboy go!!!!!

[minshookie]

Pillow Fight.

Pairing |Bully!Jungkook x reader

Genre | smut, angst.

Summary | “Another day spent babysitting your bully’s little sister...you should really quit but the pay is just too good.”

!warnings! | 18+ mature language, bullying, mentioned sexual acts, mentions of past bullying, NON-CON,financial struggle, Jungkook is a really shitty big brother.

| this is not in anyway shape or form a true depiction or representation of BTS, this is a work of fiction and is not to be taken seriously. For entertainment purposes only.|

(this is my work, please don’t repost or steal)

Requested [open for request] words: 1k.

A/N: I rewrote this so many times! Lmfaoo! Buuut get ready because some of requests yall sent in are 🥵🥵.

“Orange is your best color.” Aera chirped dragging the paint drowned brush along your pinky nail. “I think you’re just saying that because it’s your favorite.” The young girl giggles continuing to color your fingertips. “Uhm are you staying all night miss y/n?” Nodding you brushed back her wild strands of hair softly with your free hand. “Soooo like a sleep over?!” She squeals closing the bottle of nail polish, her eyes glittering as she gazes into yours intent for answers. “Yeah!” You matching her energy only made her more excited, “yay! And-and can Jungkookie Oppa come?!” She bounced on her knees smiling ear to ear, fumbling over her words.

“Oh...Jungkook huh... Hmm what about no boys aloud?” You planted the idea praying she’d take the bait as you started cleaning her toy makeup, giving her a chance to think it over.

“What? Jungkook isn’t a boy, he’s my brother!” Giggling she pounced from the couch striding towards his room. At this point all you could do is laugh at her innocent lack of logic. She looks so happy who are you to burst her little bubble, for all you know Jungkook might want nothing to do with the both of you and your little mock slumber party.

Closing the toy purse you hid it back away in the large toy chest she pulled from her room, leaving it open you cleared the floor of the multicolored blocks and dolls. A whisper of a laugh escapes your lips as you overhear Aera’s begs and pleas mixed with Jungkook’s refusals....but finally the door creaks.

Please no. “Y/n, guess what?!” She drags your name out as her small foot steps pitter the floor, Jungkook’s thudding. She comes down the hall pulling Jungkook by his middle finger. “As if you weren’t undesirable enough, neon nails really helped it out.” Grumbling he throws himself on the couch you just tidied up. “Nice to see you again too Kook.”Aera bounced on her toes watching us have confrontation, unaware of the negative connotations.

Truth is you hadn’t seen Jungkook since you left for college and you hadn’t planned on seeing him ever again...that is until relationships fell apart, your roommate left and things got hard to pay for, and you were two bills away from being homeless. the job up at university paid $9.50 an hour while the busy Jeons still offered $12.00 the choice was clear. Take a little break, live with family, get back on your feet, and try again. But little did you know Jungkook decided to stay local with his schooling.All this aside the work was easy since Aera had grown a bit, but the thought of dealing with the person that made your life hell for four years made you want to quit daily.

“Can I do your nails Too?!” “No Aera, now be cute and get me something to drink.” He orders putting his feet on the coffee table eyeing you up and down,disgustingly. “No Aera I’ll get it.” You grabbed her shoulder. “No y/n! I’ll do it, I’ll do it quickly!” Setting free she bolted for the kitchen.

“So, you went to college got broke and came back sniveling to my rich parents?” You rolled your eyes, looking in the direction of the kitchen for any sign of Aera. “I thought you would’ve out grown your asshole phase, that’s very high school of you Kook.” He scoffed defensively, “and you using babysitting as your main income is high school of you, what happened your little rapper boyfriend leave you high and dry?” “You shut the fuck up.” You snapped back my reflex. He held his hands up in defense, “Suga blew up and left you in the shit show not my fault.” We argued in hushed tones as Aera ran back into sight.

“Here you go kookie!” She handed Jungkook the can of Coke, heaving for air. “Aera this is warm, cold...I want something cold, go try again.” He handed her the can, “oh okay Oppa sorry!” And off she was back down the hall. He turned back to me, “why’d he leave you...couldn’t make him bust?” you tried to hide it but his words stung, you’d been avoiding anything to do with Yoongi since he’d ghosted you weeks before you left for college. Bigger things waited for him in the world of fame, and you weren’t in the blueprint.

“Fuck you Jungkook.” “Come try it bitch.” Smirking he was satisfied with himself as you stood almost defeated. “Oh I forgot you’re scared of sex.” “Leave the high school rumors behind...ran out a material? Maybe you should get out more.” He rolled his eyes scoffing, “shut up before I make you.” “You like to pretend I’m still afraid you...make me, little boy...since you insist on being one.”

Jungkook’s come back was cut short by the thumping of Aera’s feet. “Kookie!Kookie! Ice! I got it all by myself!” She gave the cup of ice to Jungkook and then the Coke. “Good job, now pour it.” He handed them back and you took it from her small clutches much to Jungkook’s disliking. You poured him the drink, pushing his feet off the small table and placing the glass. “She’s not your little slave Jungkook.” He kept eye contact picking up the glass, “you’re right she’s not, you...go get me a coaster now or you’re fired.” His eyebrow arched cockily, his free hand waving you away. “As if! You can’t fire me Jungkook.” He got Aera sitting her on the couch beside him as she caught her breath. “Is that so? Try me, my parents might have hired you but you work for us...now work.” His gaze alone told you he wasn’t playing with you anymore.

Angered you stormed to kitchen pulling a coaster from the table before swiftly Turing on your heels, almost jumping out of you skin as you met face to face with Jungkook. “What the fuck do you want now?” “You said some shit I didn’t like.” You threw the coaster back on the marbled table, “I wish you’d grow up already.” You atempt to go past him but his muscular arm halts your plans. “I have to go do my job-” “I put on her show she’ll be good for the next hour.”

You don’t remember Jungkook being so brooding he looked down at you, his new tall posture slightly off putting yet attractive. “What now, you wanna talk it out?” You walked away siting at the island, “I’ll leave you be if you leave me to do my job Kook.” He came behind you, trapping you in his arms. Tattoos, he’d change a lot but not enough to leave you alone.

“I see you came and got the coaster, scared of me now?” What an ass, “no I need this job.” He hummed from behind you, no sign of him letting you go. “You know y/n, you’ve grown quite a bit.” You became more and more uncomfortable by the second, his breathing became deeper. “I’m aware, so have you.” Rudely he became handsy, groping your breast earning a shocked reaction. “Jungkook please-” “scared of me?” He squeezed you with a little too much force making you give a Yelp, he had you trapped, you were nothing but a game to him. “Shhh shh don’t want to startle my baby sister while she rests...that wouldn’t be very babysitter like of you now would it?”

Silent what could you even say? He had you trapped, your position less than hopeless he’d made you feel small and that’s exactly what he wanted. He’s always wanted that ever since you’d met him, and he always succeeds. He intruded under your top, skating his chilled hand over your skin leaving cold bumps in his wake he held your bra covered breast.

You griped his unexposed wrist trying at escape, knowing fully how downhill this could get. “Oh is the brave girl afraid?” “N-no your hands are cold as Ice Jungkook...please stop.” You lied continuing to push his muscular arm. “Oh? Let me warm them for you.” He removed his hand from the island almost causing you to topple over. Reaching down he found himself with his hand now between your legs fiddling with the pant button. “Jungkook! Please no!” His hand along your chest he pulled you back into his sculpted figure.

“You must not value your job as much as you say, scream again and you’ll be broke and fucked over and to think I actually liked you a bit.” He came to your ear, sniffing your hair eerily. “Little did I know how much of a bitch you were, I loved you when you were shy.” He finally got through your button, getting to your panties he gave you a two fingered massage along your core, you strained not to react to the unwanted pleasure. “Look at you pathetic and wet I bet you’re so needy I could make you cum right here.” He began to focus his nimble fingers on your aching clit. “Fucking stop it.” You could only whimper. “Why should I, we’re old enough now and you’re sopping through your panties I know you want it.”

He invaded under your bra, fondling your hardening bud. “I loved you when you were weak and innocent...I know she’s hiding deep inside of you, the little girl that would cry over me-”

“Miss y/n! I’m tired!” Her voice softly called from the living room. Saved by an angel, finally Jungkook stoped his assault backing off of you with a groan. “You’ll meet me in my room when she’s in bed, or else.” He grumbled leaving you behind to collect yourself, how could bad get so much worse?

[phantom-curve]

Second birthday is such a cool thing to call that! 8 or 35 if you are feeling so inclined.

Thank you! When I was a kid my mom always tried to call it my rebirth-day and I was like no❤️ I went with some Willex whump (with a fluffy end) for this one! Set in the gimme a chance AU, featuring pro-skateboarder Willie and anxious Alex. This is also a bit of a companion piece to the #8 prompt I wrote earlier!

#35: kissing their bruises and scars (Trigger Warning: mentions of injury, mild description of panic attack, and mentions of a car accident. Rated T for language) 

Alex generally tried not to think about worst case scenarios when Willie was competing. If he let himself, it was way too easy to imagine all types of situations that ended with Willie broken and bleeding at the base of a halfpipe while Alex stood helplessly on the sidelines. It didn’t help anything for him to obsess over what could happen, especially because at this point, Alex knew skateboarding was as much a part of Willie as drumming was a part of him.

It was just that ever since Willie had gotten his first sponsorship and moved to the pro circuit six months ago, he had started taking bigger risks. More complex tricks and a lot less hesitation to go big when he was representing the brands that were paying his bills. And that meant longer hours practicing and a higher chance of injury on a daily basis. Alex wanted to be a supportive boyfriend, the kind that would show up at the skate park to cheer and not have a panic attack every time that Willie wiped out, but he wasn’t. He was just an anxious guy in love with a dude who seemed determined to break every single bone in his body.

Things only got worse when Willie started traveling for competitions. He was gone almost every weekend, and Luke had finally convinced the manager at the bar he worked at to let Sunset Curve preform regular Saturday shows, and so, more often than not, Willie would be somewhere else in California flinging his body down an insanely tall ramp with nothing but a helmet and some pads to protect him while Alex was trapped in LA losing himself in the familiar pattern of sticks against drums in an attempt to control his raging anxiety. It had about a 68% success rate. That success rate increased dramatically when Willie called Alex the second he knew his set was ending. It plummeted on the nights Alex didn’t hear from him until much later, or worse, heard from a different skater entirely.

Tonight was unfortunately one of those nights.

When their set ended, Reggie called out the same line he had coined after their first performance, a couple audience members chiming in with him because they actually had a bit of a fan following now, and Alex wasted no time in grabbing his phone from the fanny pack he kept behind his kit during shows. Instead of it lighting up with a picture of his boyfriend’s face, he was met with a series of missed calls and text messages from the guys Willie was rooming with for the weekend. He tried not to panic, tried to breathe in deeply to a count of five, holding it for just as long before exhaling again. It kept the anxiety at bay for as long as it took for him to unlock the phone and read the last missed message.

Don’t worry, bro. They’re gonna airlift him back to LA so you can just meet him at the hospital whenever.

Panic hit full force. What the actual fuck had happened to his boyfriend?! Alex’s fingers were shaking too much for him to open the other messages, his vision going blurry and a distant ringing sounding out in his ears. It took him longer than it should to realize Luke was crouched down in front of him, Reggie hovering just beyond the drum kit.

“You have to breathe, Lex. C’mon, follow me.”

Luke inhaled deeply before letting his breath out in a loud woosh. Alex tried to copy him, but his chest felt too tight, his throat closing in the more he tried to open it. Luke kept talking, his voice low and calm.

“Try again, we can do it together. We just have to breathe, nothing else.”

Alex inhaled with Luke that time, not quite as deeply and not quite as steady, but more air than he had managed to get before. It took several long moments before he was able to match Luke completely, the fog starting to clear from his brain, surroundings snapping back into focus.

“Great, good, just keep breathing, okay? I’m gonna go grab the office keys and we’ll take a minute in there to talk, okay?”

Alex nodded, not exactly wanting Luke to leave but knowing whatever his best friend was saying logically made sense. Reggie slipped into the space Luke had been occupying, breathing in the exact same pattern, and Alex refocused on him. When Reggie stood, Alex copied him, reaching out to grip the back of Reggie’s red flannel as he led them both off of the stage and down the hallway to the office in the back of the bar. Alex dropped onto the couch, burying his face in his hands.

“Lex? Can you tell us what’s going on?”

Reggie’s voice was soft and quiet, like a gentle melody. Alex let it wash over him, knew his boys would be able to help if he could just figure out how to get his mouth to form the words it desperately didn’t want to say out loud. He fought to speak for a few moments before finally just thrusting his phone forward. A hush fell over the room as Luke and Reggie scrolled through the texts and Alex was suddenly grateful that he wouldn’t have to read through them himself. After what felt like an eternity but was probably only a few minutes, Luke cleared his throat and spoke.

“Okay, so good news or bad news first?”

“How can there possibly be good news?”

Alex’s throat felt raw and scratchy, the words coming out broken and strangled. Luke and Reggie exchanged a quick glance before Reggie sat next to Alex on the couch. Not touching, but close enough for Alex to feel comforted all the same.

“Willie isn’t dead or dying, so yes, there is good news. Which one do you want first?”

A significant amount of the panic left Alex’s system at the reassurance that his boyfriend was alive and going to stay that way for the time being. It hit him all at once, sending him into Reggie’s side as he let out a cry of relief. Reggie’s hand stroked up and down Alex’s arm, a low hum sounding in the back of his throat. Luke spoke again.

“Okay, so good news is that Willie is probably already back in LA, he’s at the best hospital he can be at, and he’s going to be fine.”

Alex clung to the words like a life raft. Willie was going to be fine. He turned it into a mantra, repeating it over and over again until he felt like he was back in control, no longer on the precipice of drowning. He disentangled himself from Reggie’s arms, took a deep breath, and met Luke’s gaze.

“I’m ready. Gimme the bad news.”

Luke let out a long breath before sitting down on Alex’s other side.

“The guys were in a car accident. They didn’t even make it to the competition. Willie was in the passenger seat and he took the worst hit in the collision. The other guys got taken to a local hospital, but they had to send Willie to Cedars-Sinai because of some special orthopedic department there. Max said they mentioned he would be admitted to the post-trauma floor.”

A car accident. He didn’t even make it to the competition. Alex had considered himself prepared for the worst when it came to Willie and his chosen profession. He had told himself that loving Willie meant accepting the risk that came with skateboarding, especially at the level that Willie did it. He had not once considered the fact that Willie could be hurt in some type of freak accident that had nothing to do with skating. The life raft slipped from his mental fingers, hurtling him back into the sea of despair once again.

“We got this, okay?” Luke was still speaking. “Reg is gonna call an Uber and take you to the hospital, and I’m gonna get Dante and Felix to help pack up stuff here and then come meet you. It’s gonna be okay.”

Luke’s words painted a path for Alex to follow, a way to move forward without having to fight so hard to do so. He nodded, allowed himself to be bundled out of the employee entrance and into the car Reggie had called. Clung to Reggie’s flannel again as they traversed the white hallways of the hospital, eventually making their way to a nurse’s station situated on the post-trauma surgical floor. Alex didn’t even let himself think about what that string of words implied. Not until Reggie nudged him forward to speak with the blonde-haired woman with kind brown eyes sitting behind the welcome desk. He forced himself to clear the lump in his throat and scrape some words together.

“Hi, I’m uh, my name is Alex. Alex Mercer? I’m looking for my boyfriend Willie? William, actually, his name is William Stewart. He was...he was in a car crash.”

The words came out in starts and stops, cracking at the edges as Alex forced them through numb lips. The nurse nodded, her fingers tapping across the keyboard in a sharp staccato.

“He’s out of surgery, but might still be a bit groggy. The limit is one visitor at a time, so your friend will have to wait out here.”

Alex turned to Reggie with a blank stare.

“You got this, Lex. Remember, he’s gonna be fine. I’ll be right here, and Luke is on his way too. Whatever you need, okay? We got you.”

Alex nodded even though the movement itself felt like a lie. The nurse smiled softly at him and for one split moment Alex wished he could call his mom, hear her comforting voice the way he used to when he was a scared little kid. But he had Luke and Reggie now. And Willie, who was alive somewhere in this hospital.

“He’s in room 604, just down the hall.”

Alex forced his feet to move. Forced himself to count the numbers on the wall until he found 604. Forced himself to open the door and enter the room.

Willie looked so small on the bed, his dark hair a mess across the stark white pillowcase, his leg encased in plaster and suspended from some contraption that hung down from the ceiling. He turned his head at the noise of the door opening, eyes half open and soft with sleep or maybe painkillers. The smile on his face was a mere shadow of its normal sunshine.

“Hey, Hotdog.”

Alex wanted to cry. He wanted to scream and curl into a ball and absolutely lose it. But instead, he walked to the side of Willie’s bed and sat down in the chair next to it that seemed to have been waiting just for him.

“Have you been crying? Please tell me you weren’t crying.”

Okay, Willie was definitely on drugs. Because of course, Alex had been crying.

“Yes, I’ve been crying! Are you kidding me?”

Willie winced slightly and Alex was instantly swamped with guilt.

“No, okay, let me try that again.”

He took a deep breath and reached up to brush a few stray hairs away from Willie’s face. There were a number of cuts and bruises marring his skin, a few of them hidden under bandages.

“Hey pretty boy, I’m so glad you’re not dead. I’ve never been more scared than when I saw that text from Max. I thought you cracked your head open on a halfpipe or something, what the hell happened?”

Willie tried to shrug and grimaced, like it hurt. Alex’s hands fluttered uselessly above his boyfriend’s body, unsure where would be safe to touch. He settled for grabbing the hand that Willie offered which was thankfully unmarked, nothing but some leftover scars from catching himself at the skatepark.

“I think our car flipped? There was a lot of crashing and my leg really fuckin hurt. It’s still hurts.”

Willie frowned, clearly addled from the leftover anesthesia and whatever they were giving him for the pain. Alex pulled his hand up to press a series of kisses across Willie’s knuckles, making sure to cover each scar at least once.

“You can’t die on me, Wills. I fucking love you, okay? I know you do insane stunts and regularly let yourself get beat to crap at the skate park, but you can’t fucking die on me in some stupid car accident. I’d lose my goddamn mind without you.”

“You love me?”

Willie’s voice was soft and awed and Alex suddenly realized he hadn’t ever actually said those words out loud before even though they’d been living in his brain for months now. When he looked into Willie’s eyes he saw a hint of wetness there, and his heart melted.

“Yes, I love you, you fucking dork. I’ve been in love with you for months.”

Willie grinned, dopey eyed and pink cheeked.

“Well, I’ve been in love with you for like, ever. So, I win. Gimme a kiss for my prize.”

Alex laughed and rolled his eyes, but obliged, nonetheless. Willie might not remember this interaction, but Alex would never forget it. A look of absolute peace settled onto his boyfriend’s face.

“I knew you’d come. I knew as soon as that car hit us that when I woke up, you’d be here. You’re the best boyfriend ever, that’s why I love you. And you’re so hot. Like, really hot.”

Alex’s cheeks burned, his heart kicking into overdrive.

“C’mere,” Willie nodded his head to the side and tried to shuffle over, like he was inviting Alex to climb in next to him. He made a disgruntled sound when the contraption his leg was in refused to budge, frowning up at the suspension system.

“That’s so lame, what the fuck? I wanna cuddle.”

And Alex, unable to resist even when he knew it would probably be better for Willie if he did, climbed up to wedge his body into the small space between Willie and the guardrails on his bed. He tucked one arm behind Willie’s head, pulling his face into the space between his neck and shoulder. Willie let out a contented sigh, his breath sending shivers down Alex’s spine.

“You smell like you,” Willie whispered, the sound happy and relaxed. “I love you, Lex.”

“I love you, too.” Alex sighed, kissing his way across every single cut and bruise he could reach without moving.

Willie settled into place, his body going lax and soft snores sounding out against Alex’s chest within moments. Alex let his own head fall to rest against the top of Willie’s, finally allowing himself to believe everything would be okay. When the same nurse came to tell him that his other friend had arrived and maybe it would be best to come back in the morning, he accepted it without complaint. She gave him a final moment to say goodnight, Alex taking the time to make sure Willie was tucked in tight before kissing his temple softly.

Willie was going to be okay, and Alex was going to spend the rest of his life making sure he was always the one there to kiss his scrapes and bruises.

Send me prompts for my second birthday!

[hunflowers]

Skating Lessons

Word Count: 15k

Requested? Nope, but you always can here :)

Mood board

A/N: She is here! She was a doozy to write but I love her so much and I hope you do too <3 Enjoy babydaddy!Harry, and if you do (or if you don’t) throw some feedback my way, really helps a girl out y’know. *nose boops*

“Y/N!”

It was the voice she hated hearing. The voice she despised. The voice that brought her stress more than anything else in her life.

The voice of her landlord. Old Man Chris as she likes to call him. He was the typical stingy, grumpy old man that owned a small little apartment and hardly gave the young girl room to breathe when it came to rent money.

She always gave her money, albeit sometimes a day or two late, but that didn’t change the fact that she still gave him his expected money. This time was a little different however, seeing how she was already a week late, and at this rate going on to be two weeks late.

But, she was so close to giving him the money, plus a little extra to hold her over for next month. All Y/N needed was a few more days. Money had been very tight this past month for reasons she’d rather not discuss with Chris, and she knows she’s in the wrong, but she will get him that money.

Flipping onto her stomach in bed, Y/N holds her pillow over her head to try and drown out the incessant pounding on her front door. It was most likely just past seven in the morning, and Y/N had a very long day yesterday, so all she wanted to do was sleep away her worries for just a little while longer. Clearly, Old Man Chris had different intentions.

Y/N let out a very guttural groan as she threw off her blanket, slid her feet into her fluffy slippers, and wrapped her robe around her body before stomping to the door with a faux smile plastered across her face.

“Morning Chris,” she chirped, looking eye to eye with the man who looked like he was ready to stab her. Although he seemed like a miserable old man, he wasn’t always so bad. When the two met, Y/N was in a much darker place than she is now. Chris has children of his own so when he saw how desperate she was for help, his heart yearned for her.

It was a love-hate relationship the two shared.

“Is there something I can do for you, so early in the morning?”

He gave Y/N that knowing look that she had seen every month that she’s lived here. The look that said you know why I’m here, now hand it over. And in return, every time, she gave him that sheepish smile.

“Y/N, I can’t let this go on any further.”

“Chris, please, you don’t understand. I promise just a few more days,” she begged, clasping her hands together and bringing them up to her chin. He sighed, shaking his head and placing his hands on his hips as he looked down to the floor. She had a soft spot in his heart, so it was always so difficult for him to put his foot down, but he couldn’t let this go on any further.

He looked back up at her, noticing the way she pouted her bottom lip just like how his daughter does when she wants something. It’s hard for him to say no. “You have until Sunday, Y/N. I mean it. I can’t accept this anymore. Don’t pay your rent on the fifteenth, and I’m kicking you out.”

Y/N nodded her head graciously, not knowing whether or not to hug her landlord. He wasn’t too keen on human contact so she just gave him her brightest smile as he walked back down the stairs that led to her apartment.

It was Thursday, meaning she had two days plus the rest of today to gather up as much money as possible. One of her jobs pays tomorrow, and despite other bills she has to take out of that money, she should still have enough to get her that rent money.

Closing the door behind her, Y/N looked around at her apartment, taking in a deep breath and deciding to make herself some coffee since there was no chance she was going to be able to fall back asleep. Not that she had the choice to anyway, because she had to get downstairs as soon as possible if she wanted to keep her apartment.

By the time she managed to get the tiredness out of her system, it was a little past eight-thirty. Y/N locked her door behind her, hurriedly running downstairs and to her day job.

From nine to six, Y/N ran her ice skating lessons down at the local ice rink. And although there weren’t a lot of people that came to her for lessons, by the time six o’clock rolls around, Y/N is beyond exhausted.

But then seven comes, and she’s running to her night job as a waitress to one of the more popular restaurants in town. And by more popular, it’s a nonstop rotating door of people walking inside until it closes at midnight. But, even though it closes at midnight, that doesn’t stop the people already inside from taking their sweet time in leaving. Last night, the last group of people left at one-thirty, and they didn’t even leave a good tip. She survives off minimum wage there, and even though she’s been working there for nearly a year, a raise was out of the question. The owners hardly ever pay more than what they’re supposed to. But they’re the only ones who’ve given her a job and at this point, she had no choice but to stay.

Ann and her daughter Olivia were the first to stroll in once it was nine in the morning. They always book the first slots every Tuesday and Thursday because they both claimed to be early birds. And it was good for them, because being the first ones means they get Y/N when she’s not completely wiped out.

“Good morning, Y/N,” Olivia said happily, running up to her skate teacher and giving her a big hug. Olivia had just turned six last Thursday, and she was the most exuberant six year old Y/N had ever met. She gets it from Ann, because like Olivia, Ann always seemed to have a smile on her face.

Returning the hug, Y/N squeezed the little girl, standing up and twirling her around before placing her back down onto her tiny feet. “Good morning, Livie! Let’s get started shall we?”

❊ ❊

It was almost five, and no one had booked a lesson within the last hour. Usually after school gets a bit busier, but of course, when Y/N really needs it to get busy, it doesn’t, leaving her to sulk around for an hour as she thinks of what she has to cut from her budget for the upcoming months.

As the sun sets, Y/N decides to cut time early, to give herself that extra ten minutes to herself in bed before she heads off to her second job. When she sits on a bench to unlace her skates, she hears the door to the rink open. Turning around to see whoever walked in, for a split second, the breath is taken out of Y/N’s lungs as she sees the most handsome man standing before her and the small girl clinging to his leg.

But, just for a split second.

Gaining her composure, Y/N puts on her best smile as they made eye contact, yanking the skate off her foot. “Are you Y/N?”

A little taken aback by the question, since she didn’t expect this fine man to be there for her, she could only nod her head in response. “Great! I was uh – wondering if I could sign my daughter up for lessons?”

Y/N looked at the little girl, noticing the shyness as she stood mostly behind her father. She had cute, big brown eyes that matched her dark brown hair. She had a bit of pudge to her rosy cheeks and it took everything in Y/N to not reach down and give them a pinch.

Y/N was a sucker for children. Well, other people’s children. She wasn’t so sure she wanted any herself. Too many things were bound to go wrong if she had a child of her own and she’d rather not give that human being a fucked up life like her own if she had any say in the matter.

“Uh, yeah, of course! I always love teaching someone new. Especially if they’re as cute as her,” she gushed, making the little girl’s cheeks redden even more, and a small smile wormed its way onto her lips. Y/N took notice of the girl’s missing front tooth.

“Well,” the man looked down to his daughter, a smile of his own on his face as he reached down and picked her up into his arms, “that’s great news! Isn’t it, Abby?”

Abby nodded her head quickly but then soon stuck her head into the crevice between her father’s neck and shoulder, looking away from the woman. Soon, with enough of Y/N’s charm, Abby won’t be too shy to even look at her. That’ll be one of Y/N’s missions, as well as teaching her how to ice skate.

“I’m Harry,” the man stated when he realized he hadn’t introduced himself properly yet. He stuck out his hand, waiting for Y/N to grasp it in a friendly shake.

“Y/N. Do you want to sign her up for private lessons? Or group ones? Or both?”

Then they worked out the logistics of when Abby was going to come in for her lessons, the answer being at noon every Monday, Wednesday for her private lessons, and Saturday with a group around her same beginner level.

When everything was settled, including the pricing for the private and group lessons, Y/N took notice of the time and that twenty minutes had passed. She cursed herself mentally, because instead of gaining an extra ten minutes of rest, she now lost ten. She lost time as her and Harry made small conversation over Abby’s sudden need to figure skate and how they had to go searching immediately. The entire time Abby stayed quiet though, hardly lifting her head from her father’s shoulder.

When Y/N escorted the pair out of the rink, Abby quickly glanced at her before ducking her head back out of sight. For some reason, Y/N found the little girl very interesting - not to mention adorable - so she couldn’t wait for Saturday to see her again and hopefully work the girl into warming up to her. Also wouldn’t mind seeing her father again. Although, Y/N did have this lingering thought in the back of her mind that he surely was off limits, because he has a daughter who has a mother, and that mother is probably his wife or fiancee or girlfriend, whatever the case may be. But, Y/N did take notice that he wasn’t wearing a wedding band. Again, not that that means anything, because he could have a girlfriend, or maybe he forgot to put it on today.

So, Y/N pushed all intimate thoughts to the back of her mind because she deemed it useless, and didn’t want to get her hopes up.

Plus, she had a lot bigger, more pressing issues to think about.

When they finally started to separate, their small talk diminishing, a new voice spoke up for the first time that evening. “Daddy?”

Harry quickly looked to his daughter who squeaked out the soft call, raising his eyebrows in surprise, not expecting her to say anything in front of the stranger. “Yes, baby?”

“We get food now?”

Even her voice had Y/N swooning and wanting to coo at the girl. Abby was just that cute.

Then they officially parted ways, not before Harry spoke the words We’ll see you Saturday that had Y/N’s heart pick up pace for whatever reason. We’ll see you Saturday. We’ll see you.

We’ll.

Y/N can’t remember the last time something so trivial made her happy to see the next day. It was stupid, honestly, because why would something so small from someone so irrelevant in her life, make her this excited?

Only time would tell.

And clearly it made a bigger impact on her than she had intended. Because the moment she stepped into her restaurant for the night, her coworker, Kelly, who she likes to think of as her closest friend, immediately picked up on her brighter mood. Y/N was questioned without hesitation, because ever since Kelly met Y/N, she couldn’t help but feel bad for her because Y/N was always on the quieter side, keeping to herself and finding it difficult to open herself up to anyone who was interested. It was rare finding a genuine smile on her face, and so the fact she walked in actually happy something must’ve happened.

Y/N clearly denied because nothing did happen. All that happened was she met an extremely good looking dad with an adorable daughter and she was probably going to keep seeing them for at least a little while. It was just nice having something to look forward to lately.

“Make a move then!” Kelly continued on with their last conversation that had been interrupted.

Y/N rolled her eyes at the statement, finishing up making the bill for her last table. “That’s not gonna happen.”

“And why not?”

“He has a daughter which means there’s a mother who could be his wife or fiancée or girlfriend,” she stresses, turning to her friend with a bored look.

Kelly scoffed, “Or she’s not in the picture. Won’t know until you try.”

“Or I could save myself the embarrassment.”

“You’re the most stubborn person I’ve ever met, y’know that?”

Y/N shrugs, her chin turning towards her shoulder in a mocking manner as if to say she’s proud to hold that title. She was being stubborn but for good reason. She didn’t feel this need to want to make a move and in the end she knew nothing good would come out of it because that tended to be her luck, so she was protecting herself and saving herself from any unwarranted feelings and such.

And the idea of Harry made her sad the more she thought about it. Because being in a relationship was something she couldn’t have. It just wasn’t in her future and over the years she’s grown to get used to that. So it was best she admired from afar, because that would be the only way she could stay… happy.

❊ ❊

Saturday rolled around a lot faster than usual. During a normal week it felt like years until the weekend rolled around – not that the weekend even really mattered because it wasn’t like Y/N got to go out and have fun anymore, but the idea of it being the weekend settled her mind because that was another week down the hatch.

It was also time to finally see Harry again. Maybe she was being dramatic because she only saw him two days ago so really it wasn’t that long of a wait, but Friday’s tended to be her most crucial day and it zipped by no problem.

Her normal Saturday crowd rolled around, and so far there had been no sign of Harry strolling in with Abby. Everyone else in her beginner group had arrived and she couldn’t prolong class any longer, so with a clap of her hands and an instruction to begin the basic maneuvers she had taught them, she tried not to focus on his absence. Why sign your daughter up and not show up? If anything that was more rude than anything, but maybe something important came up and all harsh thoughts flew out of Y/N’s head.

Around fifteen minutes after class started, the familiar clanky bang to the entrance of the rink sounded as someone threw open the door, causing Y/N to glance up, seeing an out of breath father and daughter with looks of nervousness etched across their features. Y/N excused herself for a moment to greet them, giving the pair a warm smile despite all of the negativity swarming her brain.

“I’m so sorry we’re late. Something came up and I– it’s not too late right?” Harry asked worriedly as his daughter just looked up to her new teacher with the same amount of shyness as Thursday.

Y/N dismissed his worry with a simple hand gesture to reassure him, beckoning Abby to sit down so she could help her tie her skates to her feet. She was clad in these pink patterned leggings and a white sweater to keep out the cold matching with little white skates that had pink laces. Y/N could sense the excited energy emitting from her little body the moment her second skate was fastened to her foot. Standing up with Abby’s hand in her own, the two looked back to Harry as he looked beyond nervous for his daughter to touch down on the ice.

“Try not to worry, she’s in good hands. You can go and wait with the other moms over there – and by the looks of it, they seem really excited to meet you,” Y/N paused as her and Harry looked over his shoulder to the mom’s who were ogling him without even trying to hide it. Y/N couldn’t help but giggle at their overt staring, causing Harry’s cheeks to redden and for him to nervously wave at them. “Or you could always leave and come back at one-thirty.”

Harry nodded to her suggestions, taking a glance again at the woman standing around a table and still watching him. “I think… I’ll stay this time. See how her first day goes. I also don’t know how comfortable I am leaving her on her own for the first time just yet,” he rambled, running his fingers through his hair.

Y/N tried her best to hide her smile at how endearing it was to see him be so nervous for Abby, because it genuinely seemed like she was his life even if she’s only known him for a total of thirty minutes. It’s adorable. He’s adorable.

Leaving him to do as he pleases, Y/N led Abby to the rink, hand in hand, introducing her to the other children and going extra slow with her since she already missed a few lessons in regards to the other kids and what they could do already. And for her first day, Abby was doing a pretty job in getting the hang of feeling the ice and letting it glide her along. The little girl had skating in her blood, and Y/N prayed that she stuck with it because she could very easily have an inclination to the sport.

Every once in a while Y/N would look at Harry, seeing him avoiding the flock of mother’s and their constant whispering and staring at him as he stood against the edge of the rink, sometimes looking at his phone, sometimes looking at his daughter and standing upright every time she had a misstep.

That was maybe the most tumultuous and excruciatingly nerve wracking hour and fifteen minutes for Harry to ever have to sit through, even worse than medical school and interning and residency and everything else he’s gone through to get to the point he is now. Watching his daughter, his precious little girl fall on hard ice and trip over her own two feet countless times while he was helpless because he was off on the sides, was the absolute worst and he doesn’t know how he’s gonna manage this for however long she wants to do it.

When he finally got his hands on her again, he hugged her close and congratulated her on her good work for her first day, kissing her face a whole bunch of times to express how worried he was. After what seemed to be fifty kisses, Abby was shoving him away and giggling at how his stubble was scratching her face.

Y/N couldn’t help but stare at how relieved Harry was for the safe return of his daughter into her arms, all but cooing as he planted many pecks of kisses to her cheeks and nose and forehead. She also couldn’t help but wish he’d give her love and affection like that but she laughed to herself at her wishful thinking. Bidding her goodbyes to her beginner group and welcoming her more advanced, Y/N realized at the last moment that Harry and Abby had stayed behind, hoping to get one final word in before she had to go to her next group of kids. Telling her kids to get some laps in around the rink, Y/N made her way over to Harry and could immediately see how relaxed he was now.

This time, it was actually Abby to say something first. Unbeknownst to Y/N, Abby actually really liked her and couldn’t wait to see her again on Monday for her private lesson. “That was s’much fun! I’m g’na be so good my daddy thinks,” she gushed, hugging her father’s leg as she muffled her giggles against his jeans.

“You’re going to be an amazing figure skater,” Y/N responded, reaching her hand down for a high five from the little girl.

“Thank you for… not letting her get extremely hurt or anything. I’m sure my anxiety will go away soon enough,” Harry chimed in, his heart slightly fluttering at the sight of his daughter actually talking to someone without him encouraging her to do so.

“It would be strange if you weren’t nervous,” she shrugged, standing to her full height in her skates, which reached to just below his eyebrows. Turning around to see a few of the girls in their normal bickering fest, Y/N had to excuse herself to tend to her class, bidding her goodbye for the day to Harry and Abby.

And when Harry wasn’t the one to show up on Monday to drop Abby off but her nanny, Y/N couldn’t help but be disappointed. She can’t say she’s surprised since he’s an adult and probably has his own job to tend to at noon on a Monday, but as she guided Abby around the rink with simple skating motions, she wished he was standing against the rink watching them. Though it did spark a question in her, if the nanny was dropping Abby off, was it because there was no one else to look after her meaning he didn’t have a wife or at least someone who lived with him unless she too also worked which wasn’t an odd thing, but Y/N was an overthinker and maybe if she did grow the balls to ask she’d have an answer for herself and get rid of all of this underlying anxiety.

When their time was done for the day, Abby cheerfully said her goodbye, hand in hand with Natalie her nanny. And for the rest of the day, all Y/N could think about was something Abby said to her on the ice, something that sent chills down her spine that weren’t caused by the cool atmosphere of the arena. “My daddy thinks you’re pretty. I think he likes you, but y’can’t tell him I told you.”

❊ ❊

He didn’t come Wednesday either. And she was convinced he wasn’t showing up Saturday because that was just her luck. But, when he did ten minutes before the group lesson started, Y/N couldn’t suppress the smile and this overwhelming sense of relief. Relief about what? She couldn’t quite put her finger on. She figures it because she has a crush on him, and whenever anyone sees their crush it’s hard not to be happy. But that doesn’t settle well in her brain. She doesn’t like the fact that she’s happy to even see someone’s face, she shouldn’t feel this sense of relief that he’s here again, she shouldn’t be focusing on anything other than her jobs and how she was going to afford going grocery shopping this week.

Yet, she happily waved to Abby and blushed at Harry’s genuine smile towards her, immediately thinking of Abby’s declaration from Monday. She internally scolded herself for acting like a little teenager, urging her skin to make itself feel less heated.

It also didn’t help that she told Kelly about this and she had her nagging words playing in her head to just ask the poor guy if he has a girlfriend or a whoever. Abby ran to the nearest bench to remove her boots and tie her skates, which per usual she needed help from Y/N, which Y/N didn’t mind. Harry bent down near her, his hand a few inches from her knee as he picked up his daughter’s boots, their eyes quickly meeting before just as quickly disbanding, before he stood up and quickly shoved her things into an open locker.

And also as per usual, Harry’s heart couldn’t help but flutter as he watched Y/N act so domestically with his daughter, asking her about her day and tying up her skates. His eyes slowly scanned over the features over her face, taking in each little blemish that made her face hers, subconsciously smiling the moment she smiled at something Abby said. He found himself enticed by the way she held her hair back from her face with a bandana wrapped into the ponytail, and couldn’t stop himself from dragging his eyes over her sweater covered shoulders and the curves of her breasts in her shirt, stopping at where her hips sat tucked beneath her leggings.

“Daddy?” A small voice snapped him out of his daze, his face turning red in an instant at the prospect that he had just been caught staring; and he doesn’t even know for how long.

Licking his lips and darting his eyes to his feet then to his daughters face then to anywhere but her he stuttered, “Uh- yeah, love?”

“We going now,” she spoke, her eyebrows furrowing as to why he seemed so nervous.

All he could do was nod his head and purse his lips, sitting himself down on the bench to collect his thoughts. He repeatedly questioned to himself why he had to be so fucking obvious, all but smacking his forehead in embarrassment.

When she turned to walk with Abby, Y/N couldn’t help but smirk to herself as the image of Harry staring at her so intently was now permanently imprinted into her mind. He was checking her out, no doubt about it, and again that sense of relief flooded her body as she relived it over and over again. It was probably a mistake and it was probably one of those things when he just so happened to look at her when he went into deep thought about something totally not related to her, so she can’t hope it’ll happen again, but boy was it nice while it lasted.

When she was instructing everyone on today’s task and glanced over to him leaning against the outside of the rink, she noticed his eyes on her again, but told herself he was too far away to clearly depict what he was looking at and honestly he was probably only keeping his eyes on his daughter.

Because he wasn’t interested in her. Men like him don’t have interest in women like her; broken and unfixable.

It was a load of bullshit, because Y/N knew she deserved something good after all of the bad she’s faced and still currently facing, but he was just too good and someone like him could never settle for someone like her. He wore expensive clothing and his daughter was wearing one of the nicest brands of skates. He most likely had a very stable and successful career and there was no way he could settle for her, a girl who was always days late on her rent.

The unsettling reality made her jaw clench, her throat tighten up, and caused her gut to twist painfully.

If she hadn’t been put through this scenario before she’d say she would’ve broken out into sobs, but she held herself together for the time being, knowing she was going to let a few tears escape her tonight in bed. And, she’d never forgive herself for crying in front of anyone, especially the man that was the root of it.

Yet, her thoughts didn’t stop him from staring. And when she lapped around the ice, passing in front of him and watching his eyes look anywhere but her, it made her believe that maybe he was actually looking when he thought she wouldn’t notice. And suddenly she was back to rethinking before and how his light eyes fixated on her chest before trailing down the curve of her waist and stopping at her hips. It was a sight that would’ve made her knees buckle if she were standing.

When time was up for the day, Y/N let out a sigh at the thought of waiting another week to see Harry. Even if she didn’t let herself imagine a future with him, she still loved seeing his handsome face for the hour and a half they had together. She sounded so pathetic to herself, but when she saw him talking to one of the other mother’s, admiring the movement of his jawline and the dimple that would appear every once in a while on his cheek, it was safe to say she was utterly infatuated with the sight of him and she didn’t care.

Abby all but ran to her father for a hug, hobbling and struggling a little to balance herself on the blades, urging him to pick her up. Harry walked them over to the same bench from before, helping to untie the laces and hand her her boots and jacket. He was quick to notice that Y/N didn’t walk her out of the rink today, seeing her slowly gliding around in circles as she waited for her next batch of skaters to join her. His stomach dropped a little, his mind immediately wondering if he had done something wrong to warrant her unusual absence this time around. It wasn’t possible for him to have upset her anyway, he doesn’t think, so he stood up with Abby in his arms and neared the edge of the rink again, standing to where she was absentmindedly approaching as she was lost in thought.

She didn’t even realize she was about to slam into the wall if it weren’t for Harry sticking his arm out and preventing her body from colliding against the surface. Y/N quickly snapped herself back to the present, eyes going wide in shock as she put at least a foot of distance between herself and the wall, which also unlatched Harry’s arm from her waist.

“I’m – wow, I’m sorry I didn’t realize how close I was to the wall,” she apologized, scrunching her eyebrows at how she could’ve gotten so lost in her own head to not notice a wall that was approaching.

“Have nothing to be sorry for,” he shrugged in response. “Just wanted to say thanks again for watching after her,” he ticked his head at Abby.

“And to say I’ll see you next Saturday. I’m not able during the week to drop her off but I tend to have off on Saturdays. So,” he pauses for a moment, “I, uh – yeah.”

Y/N nodded her head with a small smile, opening her mouth to say she’ll see him next week but he spoke again before she had a chance to push the words up her throat. “Unless I can see you before that.”

Her eyebrows shot up to her forehead, her head slightly cocking to the side at his sentence, wondering if he was asking what she thought he was asking. And again before she had a chance to question him, he beat her to the punch again.

“That was supposed to come out a lot smoother,” he grimaced, nervously laughing to himself as even his daughter looked at him with embarrassment for him. Y/N let out a small chuckle, trying to overlook the fact he just asked her out.

Guess that answers the question if he has a girlfriend.

“Well, I don’t know. Tonight’s my only night off and tomorrow is my only morning off and I think that’s a, uh, little short notice,” her words coming out a lot more sad than she intended. But, maybe at this news he’d say forget about it and just leave her to lonesome because that’s what was best. She needed him to turn it down himself so she wouldn’t feel guilty and so neither of them would harbor any feelings they didn’t need. It would certainly become too messy and Y/N didn’t need more of a mess in her already disorganized life.

But, he didn’t take the bait.

“Tonight works!” He rushed out, hitting himself over and over again mentally as he basically radiated desperateness. “What I meant to say was, I’m available tonight if you are.”

Y/N mulled it over as quickly as she could while on the spot. She couldn’t say no, she never said no, it wasn’t her to say no but there was no way she could possibly say yes. She had to maintain her level of normalcy and that included not going on a date with Harry.

“Yeah… tonight works.”

Well shit.

❊ ❊

“Wear the blue one,” Kelly muffled through the crunch of her chips.

“You think? My boobs kind of,” she paused, aiming the camera of her phone to the shirt on the bed, toying with the dip that sat on her breasts, “Spill out of this one.”

Kelly tilted her head, not blinking at her friend, slowly nodding her head and saying, “That’s kind of the point.”

Y/N rolled her eyes, tossing her phone onto her comforter to use both hands to hook her fancier bra on and slip on the long sleeve blue cotton shirt that tied around the front in a nice bow nestled between her breasts. It felt a bit much for a first date.

But maybe he would be intimidated and put off to how she was showing herself off and wouldn’t want to be seen out with her again. She could only hope.

He insisted he pick her up for the night, and even though he was only going to see the outside of her building, she was nervous he would just smell the poor that stunk up the area. It made her gut wrench and her heart to sink at the idea of him not liking her for her money – or lack thereof, but she really was going to try and enjoy the night.

She deserves one good night.

Her black flare jeans sat snugly on her legs, reaching just up past her belly button, leaving only a sliver of stomach visible between the shirt and jeans. The skin of her chest was a whole different story seeing as how there was basically nothing there to cover her up.

Picking up her friend again to show her final look, Kelly let out a squeal again through her chips, thoroughly agreeing with the choice of attire. “He’s gonna eat you up.”

“Well, I hope not. That’d be an awkward night,” Y/N snickered, tying a black bandana into her usual ponytail.

“Well if you’re lucky he will. In the good way of course,” Kelly winked, eliciting a groan of displease from Y/N.

“Do we know where he’s taking you?”

“Mm, no, he just said to dress casual,” Y/N shrugged, slipping her feet into her flat mules. She actually was pretty satisfied with how she looked for the night, hoping it wouldn’t turn out so horrible. It’d be a shame to waste a nice outfit.

A text notification sent to her phone, alerting her that Harry would be at hers in approximately five minutes. Quick to say goodbye to Kelly and promise to tell her everything, Y/N shut her phone and took the remainder of her alone time to really sit and mentally prepare herself for what was to come.

Trying to navigate how she feels about the entire situation was a lot to take in because it’d probably been close to a year since the last time she even interacted with a male let alone go on any sort of date. She was nervous and intimidated and her anxiety was sky high. She wanted this to go right she really did, but she couldn’t push away those doubts that she would ever meet someone who actually cared about her and properly had their head on their shoulders.

When her phone sounded another notification, Y/N was quick to gather herself and run out of her apartment, giving Harry no time to come to her door even if he wanted. Spotting him standing next to a very nice Mercedes, she had this flashing image of him grimacing at just the sight of her battered front door. But, she smiled at him nonetheless, appreciating the sight of him clad in a nice pinstripe button down shirt with the first two buttons undone, and nearly salivating at the sliver of chest being exposed to her.

And to make everything just so much better, he was holding onto a bouquet of various flowers, looking nervous as ever. Especially when he saw what she was wearing. His eyes nearly popped out of his skull at the sight of her exposed chest and he hates that his cock throbbed under his jeans. “You look… stunning.”

Y/N’s cheeks heated at the compliment, her head bowing down to look at her shoes before looking back up and taking the flowers from his outstretched hands. “Not too shabby yourself, Mr. Styles. These are beautiful, thank you. I don’t even know if I have a vase,” she nervously laughed, sniffing the flowers now in her hands.

“Just, uh- give me a second to put these inside.” And then she was turning on her heel and running back upstairs to toss these on the table by her front door. She made a mental note to buy a vase the next day, all while also keeping Kelly updated on what’s going on through texting.

When she came back downstairs, Harry was still next to his car, hands in his pockets as he looked around at nothing in particular. At the sight of her returning presence, he perked up, opening his passenger door for her. Even the inside of his beautiful car, the smooth tan leather practically calling to her as she neared closer. “This is a beautiful car,” she blurted, sliding into the passenger side.

He closed the door, quickly walking to his side and hopping in, “Thank you, she’s my baby. Aside from my actual baby, that is,” he chuckled, checking his blind spot before heading out onto the road.

The car ride to wherever they were going wasn’t exactly awkward but it also wasn’t the smoothest experience of their lives. It mostly was a consistent bickering back and forth of Y/N asking where they were going. He only had a couple hours in advance to plan something if he planned anything so how much could he have possibly planned for? But, she was excited anyway because this was nice being able to go out even if it were for just one night.

After around twenty minutes of constant back and forth of laughing and stubbornness, Y/N finally saw where on earth he was driving to. And it was the fair from a few towns over that was held this time of year every year. She’d never actually been herself, but she’s heard stories about how lovely it is and her nerves suddenly started to deplete and were replaced by growing bubbles of excitement.

Y/N can’t remember the last time she had been to a fair, if ever in her life and she sort of felt like a little kid in a candy shop. The moment he parked the car and turned it off, she was quick to unlatch her seat belt and jump out of the car, eagerly hopping on the balls of her feet, waiting to get further into the fair. Harry laughed at her giddiness, holding his hand out for her to take - which she easily slid her hand into his - and led her to the ticket booth to purchase a few rounds of tickets for the rows of games and maybe a ride or two.

“I don’t even think Abby was this excited when I took her,” Harry noted, admiring how happy his date was at the sight of cotton candy and the various stuffed animals kids were holding or were still being hung up.

Y/N hardly heard Harry, silently routing for the young boy trying to win his own date a stuffed animal at the ring toss. “Sorry… I just - I don’t think I’ve ever been to a fair, so this is really nice,” she responded softly, looking up to see Harry with furrowed brows before she retracted her gaze and focused on anything but his saddened eyes.

She didn’t mean to sound so depressing. Thinking about her shitty childhood was the last thing she wanted on this night, and she certainly didn’t want whatever pity was brewing inside that head of his. But little to her knowledge, all he was thinking was how badly he wanted to make this night unforgettable for her. And how badly he wanted to get to know her.

“What do you say we start with mini golf then?” He questioned, pointing towards the miniature mini golf that only had nine holes. “Up for a little competition?”

“Up for a little loss?”

“Oh, oh, so that’s how it’s gonna be? Fine, don’t come crying to me when y’lose, darling,” he shrugged, giving the worker the desired amount of tickets before being handed two clubs and two balls, one yellow and one red.

He lost.

Quite badly too.

And Y/N was smug the entire time. But in a completely endearing way, because ultimately she felt bad at how bad he was at mini golf. It was a makeshift set up so all of the holes weren’t even difficult yet somehow Harry managed to never get below a two on his shots. And the entire time Y/N was smiling at him and poking fun, and even though the night had just begun, she didn’t want it to ever end.

And to think she almost said no.

“I should’ve figured you’d be competitive,” he scoffed, mindlessly grabbing her hand back in his as they walked to their next stop. And she didn’t mind.

“That was not me being competitive,” she laughed, pushing his shoulder gently with hers. “Trust me, you’d know when I’m being competitive.”

“If that wasn’t you being competitive, then what is?”

Y/N thought about it for a moment, wondering if it were worth opening up to him even if about this. She just knew the moment she opened her mouth he would have questions and they were all questions she never wanted to answer. But, against her better judgement, she tore down her walls just a little bit. “I’m a figure skater - or was a figure skater. I don’t take anything less than winning. But back there, I maybe messed up a few shots so you could catch up.”

“Oh, how sweet,” he feigned appreciation, bringing his free hand up to his chest as if he was deeply touched. He was about to ask her a follow up question, wondering what she meant by was a figure skater, but she pulled him to the balloon dart booth, geeking out at the little rainbow bear that was hanging above the worker.

“You should get that for Abby! Told me she doesn’t have a favorite color, and I think she’d love a rainbow bear from her daddy,” Y/N insisted, taking the correct amount of tickets from Harry and giving them to the very bored teenage girl.

“Shouldn’t I be winning you the bear?”

“You can win me another one if you want. This one is for your daughter.”

Harry knew Y/N for a total of three days essentially. And he’s spoken maybe a few sentences to her before tonight. Yet, despite the logistics, he so liked her. There was something about the girl next to him that was adamant he win the prize for his baby girl instead of her that made his heart flutter and made his mind swirl. He hardly knew her, yet he could just tell she had a heart made of gold. Every other woman he’s been on dates with over the years were always immediately turned off to the idea of him having a daughter, begging his attention to be solely on them. But not Y/N. She was embracing Abby with open arms both physically and mentally, and that was an automatic yes in his book.

Abby was his everything, his light at the end of the tunnel, his eternal sunshine. They were a package deal, and have been for the past four years. That much was clear to Y/N whenever Harry talked about her, or how his face basically lit up at any question revolving around her. He didn’t go into much detail, but Abby’s mom wasn’t particularly in the picture anymore, so it was just her and him. They were best friends and Harry wouldn’t change that for anything or anyone. And Y/N respected that a lot, absolutely loving how close they were and how much she meant to him. It was sweet and deep down made her envious, wishing she had a relationship like this with her parents.

When he finally won the little bear, he was so proud of himself and agreed that it was the perfect gift for Abby, holding onto it as they walked over to the food concession for something to eat. “I bet she’ll never get rid of it. When she’s eighty and reminiscing, she’ll pull out the bear and immediately think of you.”

“Please don’t say that; I don’t even want to think of her being five,” he shuddered, letting out fake weeps at the thought of his daughter growing up.

“What about her dating? Hm? Wanna think about that?” She teased poking his side causing him to look at her with the nastiest glare he could muster before promptly turning his head away with a huff, his chin sticking high in the air.

“Alright, alright, I’m sorry. No talk about her dating or growing up, I swear on it,” she held up her three fingers in scout honor, making him chuckle at her gesture.

“Can I say how good she’s doing in her lessons though? She has a real talent for skating, I think she should go somewhere with it,” Y/N mentioned, grabbing their drinks they ordered as he held their food and walked over to a clear table nearby. “A lot of kids her age or at her beginner level can hardly keep their balance on the ice but, Abby doesn’t need to hold the wall or my hand and that’s only after three lessons. I’m not kidding, Harry, I think she’s meant for this.”

He nodded at her words, surprised at the revelation that Abby actually liked something and was good at it. This wasn’t the first time his daughter gained interest in some hobby before turning on it just a week later. “We’ll have to see if she sticks with it.”

“Maybe you should tell her to. I just don’t want to see something potential be wasted,” she disclosed, dipping a french fry into her little cup of ketchup. Harry picked up on how strongly she felt about this, seeing her get lost in her own thoughts for a few moments before regaining her hold on reality and locking eyes on her date.

“When did you start?” He questioned, biting into the straw of his drink.

She swallowed her fry, twirling the ends of her ponytail around the pads of her fingers. “Started when I was six. It’s good that Abby started early, gives her more time to practice,” she nodded with a smile, and it was so obvious that it was a pained smile as she thought about whatever was going on in her head. And it was hard for him to not notice the obvious deflections every time he tried to ask her about herself.

“Practice for what?”

“Well… What if she can be in the Olympics one day? She’ll need as much experience as possible,” she shrugged back, her voice seeming to grow softer the more they talk about this.

“I assume the Olympics is the ultimate goal?” He wondered, his eyes dancing over the way her face slightly twitched into a frown before being masked by a laugh and bright smile.

“Uh, yeah! It’s every skater’s dream. It’s what we fight so hard for, or maybe that was just me, I don’t know, but wouldn’t it be cool to say your daughter is an Olympic skater or an Olympic medalist? Automatic dad points,” she joked lightly, her eyes hardly meeting her smile.

“Y/N did you ever… make it to the Olympics?” He wanted to ask, he felt he needed to ask, yet at the same time he knew he shouldn’t have. Immediately her fake smile dropped and a layer of sadness washed over her features, something dark flashing across her eyes as her gaze dropped to the table between them.

It’s every skater’s dream. It was her dream, her ultimate endgame, it was everything she wanted and it was within reach of her fingertips. She could practically hold the gold medal in her hand, could see the camera’s flashing, could hear the people cheering, and could feel the adrenaline pumping through her veins as she skated along the prestigious ice.

But it never came true. And it never will.

Instead she’s a part time trainer, and a part time waitress. She can hardly afford her apartment and is just barely getting by. She was just within reach of Heaven, but then she plummeted straight to Hell.

Y/N shook her head softly, eyes glossing over with a light sheen of tears, her teeth nibbling on her bottom lip to help her prevent the pesky tears from falling down her face. Her hands instinctively started tugging on the ends of her hair a little harder as she mentally beat herself up for her lost opportunity. “I, uh - had an accident,” she murmured, finally looking up to meet his stare again. There was something about him that made opening up so much easier than it usually is. Maybe it’s because he genuinely seemed curious and cared to know more about her. Y/N couldn’t exactly tell but for some reason she broke down her walls just the tiniest bit more.

“I fell on a landing at Nationals, which was my entrance to the Olympics if I ranked third or higher. I dislocated my hip and twisted my ankle and that was the end. It happened a long time ago though, I’m over it now, I’ve moved on,” she reassured with that same fake smile, taking a small bite from her burger that she’d barely had touched.

It was clear she hadn’t, but they didn’t touch upon the subject anymore.

“Anyway, what about you? What do you do?”

Harry’s main flaw - at least to him - was that he was such a nosey person. The way their conversation around her sort of just terminated abruptly did not sit well with him and that was because there was so much more to the story that she wasn’t letting on. He figures though that since this is only a first date, he can’t pry too much into her life because he doesn’t want to drive her away. Despite her being closed off about herself, he really liked her and he really didn’t want to mess this up.

“I’m a pediatric surgeon,” he spoke nonchalantly, as if it weren’t an actual big deal. But, when he looked up to see Y/N’s eyes bulging out of her head, he guessed he was wrong, it is a big deal.

“You’re a surgeon? Like Alex Karev from Grey’s Anatomy, pediatric surgeon?”

Harry laughed at the comparison. It wasn’t the first time someone brought it up. “Yeah, but a little more real.”

“That’s… Wow, that’s so cool. What made you want to do pediatrics?” She hummed, swallowing her final fry, and chasing it down with the last of her soda.

“Abby. When she was born she had a small abnormal murmur in her heart and I knew that from that moment I wanted to do everything I could for parents and their children.”

As if he wasn’t perfect enough, he just had to be a children’s doctor. It was as if he took Y/N’s heart and strangled it in love and admiration, then stomped on it and left it lying in the dirt beneath their feet. She didn’t match him on any level. She was far from successful and he was so far past it.

All Y/N could continuously think was how could this possibly work out? She was trying her best to look on the bright side, to think positive thoughts, but she just… couldn’t. Him and Abby deserved good, not broken.

The rest of their time at the fair went fairly smooth. They were happy and joyous aside from their little chat when eating and if Y/N didn’t overthink too much, she’d want to see Harry again. She was free in the morning and was tempted to ask him to breakfast or brunch or something. She didn’t want this to end, she wanted to live in this happy bubble for the rest of her life. But, she couldn’t be selfish and needed it to end. It would be good for both of them if they just put this behind them.

When Harry pulled up to the curb in front of her building, he put the car in park and was quick to run around to the other side to open her door before she could get the chance. He took her hand and helped her out leading her to the door that led to the stairway. And if it were being selfish, Y/N didn’t care as she asked him to walk her to her door.

They stood in the small hallway, right outside the old wood of apartment 2, neither of them knowing what to say. But, then in an instant, nothing needed to be said as Harry leaned forward slotting his lips against hers in a quick kiss, his hands coming to rest on the sides of her face as her hands held onto his firm shoulders.

It only lasted a few seconds, maybe five at best, but those five seconds said so much more than anything they actually spoke the entire night. Y/N knew there was no way she was going to be able to let him go, because he was the best thing to happen to her in a long time, and why should she have to give it up? Despite all of the negativity swarming around in her brain she still wanted to get to know him, and she definitely wanted to kiss him more. Maybe it would turn out to be a mistake, but what’s life without a little risk?

The moment Harry touched his lips to hers, feeling the soft plushy texture of her mouth that he had been dreaming of kissing since the moment he first laid his eyes on her hours ago, he knew he was whipped. He knew her for three days and he couldn’t imagine not being able to kiss. And maybe he was desperate or pathetic, but what’s life without a little leap of faith?

“Goodnight Harry.”

“Goodnight Y/N.”

❊ ❊

Saturday’s became their day. It was Harry’s only full day off and Y/N’s only night off, so it became convenient for their dates that have now been on every Saturday for the past two months. And ever since that first date, it was easy for them to say they’ve never been happier.

Y/N’s still trying to find her footing in this whole relationship thing, still finding it hard to believe that some like Harry could possibly like her. She was coming around though. Abby made it a point to tell her every time she saw her when her father wasn’t with her that he says hello and wishes he could be there. Then Y/N would ask her the same every time she left.

The first week after their original date, Harry had walked in with Abby, and without even thinking about it, walked up to Y/N and planted a soft kiss to her right cheek, despite the gawking eyes of the mother’s behind him. They could practically feel everyone’s eyes on them, but it was okay, because it was just a little price to pay for happiness.

That same night he took her out to dinner - at her restaurant of all places, and the entire night was a mess of embarrassment as her coworkers sent her coy looks every now and again that Harry could also very obviously see. Y/N tried to pretend that she didn’t know any of them, but when their waitress also just so happened to be Kelly of all people, it was hard to ignore. And it made for quite the conversation when she had to tell him she worked two jobs and that’s why she hardly had time to even breathe during the week.

What surprised her most when she told him of her misfortunes, was how well he listened. He didn’t seem turned off to the fact she didn’t have one singular stable job, like other men have in the past, and rather he seemed like he didn’t care at all. It was a nice change of pace for Y/N to have someone who seemed interested in her rather than just sex.

Two months had passed and the topic of sex hadn’t really been brought up either. Which again was a total shocker to Y/N since she’s so used to guys asking as soon as they meet her. Yet, the only time she and Harry had mentioned it was when they had been in his car one Saturday night, things getting a little heated as she climbed onto his lap, their mouths dancing together as their tongues lapped over one another.

The make out session wasn’t even meant to get as intense as it did, the gentle rocking of their hips together and the sloppy kisses placed on each other’s necks while her fingers tangled into the curls of his hair and his palms rested gently on her hips right over the swell of her butt, all of it wasn’t even supposed to get that far. But it felt way too good to stop.

Y/N always put her romantic life on the back burner in regards to trying to navigate her actual life instead. Having sex or finding love was something she hardly let herself think about, but when she could feel Harry’s growing erection beneath her center, she forgot how badly she wanted this. It took everything in her to separate their mouths, a trail of spit connecting their swollen lips. It was too much too fast and she wanted to take it slow. She needed to take it slow in order for it to not end just as quick as it started.

And Harry respected her wishes. He didn’t want to mess things up just as badly as her, if not more, and if she didn’t want things to go further, he had no choice but to abide by that.

That didn’t stop him from thrusting his cock into his fist that very same night as he remembered the way she slowly grinded her center against his, the texture of her velvety tongue sliding against his. Those thoughts led him to imagine how her warm mouth would feel against his bright red tip, slowly sinking down further and further until he was grazing the back of her throat.

Since that night the topic of sex hadn’t been mentioned.

When this Saturday rolled around, Y/N was beyond excited for their weekly date night. With their busy schedules it is always hard to see each other during the week no matter how hard they try to fit in some time, so the weekend was always built on a bit of excitement to see one another. And this Saturday was no different, especially since it was Y/N’s turn to plan their night.

After he and Abby left from the usual Saturday lesson, Y/N told him to meet her back at the rink around eight. It wasn’t an expensive date and it doesn’t need a far in advance planning, but this night was truly going to make or break their relationship, because it was easily going to be the most important for Y/N. She planned on opening up to him more than she had with anyone else, and she needed to do that in the comfort of her sanctuary, because  - for lack of a better term - she was shitting bricks.

As per usual Harry had arrived right on time. Measuring time had to be their biggest difference, because Y/N always felt like she had a lot more time than she really did, which resulted in her always being late for everything. Harry on the other hand was a very organized man and scheduled himself perfectly to go about his days. Yet the more time they spent with one another, the more they started to adapt to the other, Y/N not being so late anymore and Harry not being brutally early.

Though he did arrive just a minute after eight.

It was a start though.

From the time the rink closed at six, up until the moment Harry walked in the door, Y/N had been busy decorating every inch of the place, setting up their little picnic at one of the tables, stringing lights all around the rink it self, and mastering the best playlist that would be echoing around them until they leave.

Dinner consisted of Harry’s favorite chicken parmesan from her other job that he continued to rave about up until this day because it was just that good, as well as the cookie crumble dessert that had his mouth watering every time he thought about it.

When she saw him knock at the closed entryway, she took a deep breath before scurrying over to him, letting him in from the night time chill outside. They greeted each other with a soft kiss on the lips before she all but dragged him further inside. “Can you guess what we’re doing today?”

Harry’s jaw dropped in anguish, his eyes screwing shut as he whined about the impending future of their night. “Just because my daughter is a prodigy, does not mean I am,” he sighed as Y/N giggled, wrapping her arms around his shoulders as she stood on her tiptoes to try and match his eye level.

“Try not to worry, you’re in safe hands,” she spoke cooly, recalling what she once said to him about Abby. There’s a reason Abby is learning and - not to toot her own horn or anything - she wouldn’t be anywhere without Y/N coaching her through it.

So, how hard could it be to teach Harry?

The answer was very hard.

After they finished their dinner, sitting for a few minutes to let it settle within them, Y/N had to practically rip Harry off of the bench. It didn’t help that they both also had two glasses of wine coursing around in their veins, which raised Harry’s stubborn attitude from a seven to seventeen on a scale of one-to-ten.

He was nervous, that much was obvious, but if he didn’t relax everything was going to be a lot more difficult for the both of them. “Why don’t you skate your little heart out and I’ll just stay right here,” he gestured to the wall of the rink where he usually stood during Abby’s lessons.

“Where’s the fun in that? C’mon, you can even hold onto the wall. Please?” She begged, clasping her hands together under her chin as she pouted her bottom lip and giving him her best puppy dog eyes.

How was he meant to say no to that face?

Y/N must’ve gotten a few tips from Abby on how to win over Harry’s heart, because within a few moments he was caving in and ripping the pair of skates she picked out for him right out of her hands, grumbling a few not so innocent words under his breath. He sat on the nearest bench with a very exaggerated sigh, almost like a child trying to make their point that they were not happy. Y/N wonders if he took that out of Abby’s book.

Watching him trying to even stand on the thin blades was a sight in itself, and Y/N couldn’t wait to get him out on the ice. He looked sort of like a penguin as he waddled across slowly, hand clenched tightly in Y/N’s as he tried to keep his balance. “Y/N I can hardly even bloody walk on a stable surface, how d’ya think m’gonna manage on ice? It’s hard enough to walk on ice and now I’ve got skates on! I’m g’na crack my skull open,” he rambled on, throwing in a few more curses here and there. Y/N knew it was him trying to stall, but it wasn’t going to work.

“Will you relax, I won’t let you crack your skull open,” she shook her head, pushing open the gate to the rink and stepping down easily on the ice first.

The moment his first skate touched down, he almost slipped forward and almost collapsed in a split, making Y/N try her best to not break out into a heap of laughter. He grabbed onto her arm even tighter as he eased his second foot onto the slippery surface, probably leaving bruises for the next day.

“How the hell does Abby do this? M’scared shitless, hope you know,” he grumbled, trying to scoot a little past the wall, but again nearly falling on his ass.

“Hold my hand, let me pull you so you get a feel of the ice,” she contained her giggles. He was hesitant though as he stood in his place, slightly swaying back and forth as he tried to gain the courage to move his foot an inch forward.

Y/N looked at him with soft eyes, observing all of the nerves that were dancing across his features. Lacing her fingers in his, she raised her free hand to his face, getting him to look at her rather than his feet. “You trust me right?” she murmured, looking into his vibrant eyes.

He almost immediately nodded his head in response, a slight look of confusion carving into his face as his eyebrows scrunched together and his eyes flashed between hers. “Of course, why’re you asking?”

“If you don’t want to fall, I need you to trust me,” she spoke reassuringly, leaning up to place a quick peck to his lips before joining him back at his side. Harry took a deep breath in, giving her hand a squeeze before he followed in her instructions and guided along the wall at a slow pace.

Trust was obviously the most important aspect to any sort of relationship, and especially to Y/N. Through her whole life she struggled keeping trust in anyone, and she felt she spent so much of her life getting people to entrust her, yet she can’t remember trusting anyone like she trusted Harry. And it was such a refreshing feeling to see that he trusted her just the same. That’s why this night meant a lot to her, because if he could trust her with his well being and his daughter’s, then it was only right to return the favor.

After his initial fear and trepidation, Harry finally developed a basic movement that helped him in his skating endeavors. He was beginning to gain pride in himself for not falling on his ass yet. They slowly made their way around in one lap after about twenty minutes of missteps and yelps in anxiety. The biggest thing they were going to take away from this experience though was how much fun they’re having. If anything, it’s always good to look on the bright side of things and appreciate the good amongst all of the bad.

When they made it back to the gate, Harry declared that was enough for one night on his part, and couldn’t get off the ice any faster. Y/N was about to follow him, when she mulled over an idea in her head, looking back to the ice. He noticed she wasn’t trailing behind him, and wondered why she seemed stuck in her place. She looked lost in thought, looking around her as she bit her lip in concentration before finally snapping her gaze to meet his after a few calls of her name.

“Is everything oka-”

“This has been my life, my entire life. I don’t know a world outside of this and I’ve kept myself closed off for years. Before you, I don’t think I’ve been on a genuine date…  ever because I’ve always been so scared,” she rambled, pacing herself back and forth on the ice.

Harry kept quiet, standing next to the wall now, leaning his upper body down on his elbows. “I’ve been so scared of people getting to know me and my past and my fucking demons that I’ve never given myself the chance to be happy. I grew up privileged, I had - or my parents had money and I was blessed to be able to skate without having to worry about prices or anything of the sort. But, that came with a price which was my parents never letting me breathe and pushing and overworking me, telling me that since they were spending so much money on me that I couldn’t settle for less than the best.

“And I mean, I wanted to be the best anyway; everyone does. But knowing they would be disappointed if I were to get second because I was a tenth of a point behind, hurt like hell. Then, Nationals came and if I placed in the top three, I was going to the Olympics. I was the most confident I had ever been. I knew the choreography, I knew my timing, and I knew how to fucking land… but then I fell. Hard. Twisted my ankle and shattered my hip and it was safe to say I wasn’t going to Russia.”

Y/N looked to her feet and let out a mocking laugh, not even caring that a few tears managed to escape her eyes as she rehashed her past. “As soon as I was able to walk again, my parents kicked me out. Tossed me to the curb and told me to never look back. No money, no friends, no idea of what to do.”

Harry’s heart yearned for his girlfriend. He could tell she had some murky past that always kept her quiet and avoided the topic at all costs, but he never would've guessed it to be like this. He tried to butt in but she held up her hand to stop him, asking him to let her finish. He retracted himself, allowing her to continue on. Harry’s heart yearned for his girlfriend, but it also swelled in pride as she felt comfortable enough to want to share this with him.

“I find it hard to trust anyone because I’m always scared they’ll hurt me like my parents did. If my parents could treat me that way then what’s stopping anyone else?” She took a breath before inching herself closer to Harry, coming to stand right in front of him. “But… then I met you and I find it so easy to let you in, and I think that scares me more than anything. You’re the only person I’ve told this too and I’m working on opening myself up more, I am, I just - it’s gonna take some time. My heart is in your hands, Harry… and I’m begging you to please take care of it.”

Y/N finally finished, swallowing down the clump in her throat, her forehead involuntarily pressing against Harry’s as silence swarmed them. Her doors were opening and her walls were falling down and anxiety traveled up her spine as she slowly stepped out of the dark and into a world she’s never known; A world filled with comfort and happiness. If someone told her two months prior that she would be feeling like this, whatever this is, over a man that was way out of her league, she would’ve laughed in their face and tell them to kindly fuck off.

A few tortuously slow seconds passed by, tears still slowly trickling down her face that Harry took upon himself to brush away. With her doubts and self-deprecating thought process, she was sure he was going to turn around and walk out of her life, leaving her to suffer and wallow alone, just like she was used to. But, then she felt the soft press of his lips against hers, and her body broke down into a pile of tears and cries as relief flooded her.

Y/N grabbed onto his face and pulled him harder against her, their kiss filling with passion and ardor. He held her close, not letting her slip away from him as they broke apart, their foreheads resting against each other again, their noses brushing and their breaths mingling. They smiled at one another, mutually agreeing that actions speak louder than words.

“I promise, I’m gonna take care of you, Y/N.”

And then they were kissing again, this time not as intense but the adoration for one another still leaked through the seams. At this moment, right now, this is exactly where they belonged. In one another’s arms, holding on tight to that trust and pushing aside their worries.

This was all that mattered.

❊ ❊

“I know you’ve got your lavish lifestyle, so please, bear with me,” she cautioned him as she shoved the key into the lock of her apartment door. Y/N had been to his house and it was beautiful as she expected it to be. There was actual room for people to walk around and not feel like they were crowding each other.

Y/N hadn’t actually ever had anyone to her apartment, but even alone she felt crowded in the tight space. When stepping in, the door to the bathroom was on the right, and her living room / bedroom was ahead while her small kitchen and little dining table sat on the left. (this is how i imagine it to look)

The grey blue paint of the walls were chipped in certain places that Y/N has been meaning to fix but hasn’t gotten around to doing. The carpeting looked old and in a certain spot right next to the couch there was a stain from when she accidentally spilt red wine and never was able to get rid of it. A few chinese take out cartons littered her table that she never cleaned from the night before while a few random clothes were strewn about on the floor or her bed. She mentally slapped herself for not thinking ahead and cleaning up after herself, hoping he doesn’t turn around now at the pigsty of an apartment.

“I’m not always this much of a slob…” she grimaced, quickly throwing the empty cartons in the trash, smiling sheepishly at Harry.

“If I didn’t have Natalie, I’m sure my place would look a lot worse,” he brushed her off, looking around at the books she had stacked on a shelf and the small collection of CDs. “I like you, Y/N, a lot. A messy apartment won’t change that.”

Y/N took in a calming breath and nodded her head, trying not to run around and fix everything that was out of place. Instead, she walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his torso from behind, and watched as he shuffled through the CDs, wondering who piqued her interest musically. Just when he was about to tell her he admired her taste, she turned his body around to face her, her soft eyes gazing up at him, lust dancing across her irises.

“Harry?” she coaxed, a hint of flirtation laced into her voice.

“Hm?”

“Can we have sex now?” she wondered, tilting her head to the side by a fraction, like a little puppy or a curious cat.

Harry’s eyes widened slightly at her forwardness, her question making him gulp in shock. They both knew this was exactly why they came here, but just thought that this was happening was enough to send a chill down his spine. His hands came up to cradle her jaw, desire flooding his veins as various images of her naked body circled around his brain, and as he could practically hear her whiney moans filling the air.

His mouth connected to hers in a fast movement, his tongue swiping across her bottom lip to allow him access to meet hers. She greedily opened her mouth, walking them over the few feet to her bed. The back of her knees met with the mattress, her almost falling over, but Harry held her up. One of his hands wrapped itself into her hair, pulling her head back and exposing her neck to him. He peppered wet kisses along the skin of her jaw, before trailing down to the collar of her sweater.

“Can I take this off?” He mumbled, tugging on the hem of the purple sweater that adorned her torso. Y/N ushered out a small ‘yes’ bringing her arms above her head as he brought it up and tossed it to the side somewhere. His eyes fixated on her chest, her breasts nestled into a black lace bra. Harry was practically salivating at the sight, immediately his mouth pressing against her chest, and he traveled down until his lips met her navel, his knees touching the soft carpet beneath them. His hands caressed her bottom, softly kneading the flesh clad in her leggings.

His eyes met back up with hers as an unspoken agreement was shared, him pulling down the soft black material as it pooled at her ankles. Soon they too were tossed aside, leaving Y/N in her matching underwear set that had Harry seeing stars. Normally, she would be nervous about someone seeing her in such a vulnerable state, but just like everything else lately, she’s never been more comforted in the presence of her lover. The way he looked at her body as if it were heaven, his eyes roaming over every inch without a look of apprehension or disgust.

Harry pushed her to lay back on the bed, keeping her feet on the ground as her knees bent at the edge. He placed a kiss on her covered pubic mound, his mouth ghosting over her pulsing core as he bit down softly into the flesh of her thigh, just next to her core. A small whimper left her mouth as he breathed a line of cool air to her heated center before sucking on her other thigh, again going right over where she wanted him most.

His fingers hooked into her panties, bringing them down her thighs, leaving her completely exposed to him as he then spread her legs wide enough for his shoulders to fit between. “So beautiful,” he purred, eyeing her wet pussy with fervor.

Then a second later he was licking a broad stripe through her folds, the tip of his tongue circling around her clit. A moan escaped her throat as she rocked her hips gently to gain more friction against his tongue. He took her legs and draped them over his shoulders as he began to mouth away at her dripping hole, gathering up all of the wetness dripping out of her. He moaned at the taste of her, the vibrations of his noises hitting against her and causing her to shiver at the sensation before a moan of her own was let out.

He reached up to hands, bringing them to his hair, urging her to tug on his curls when he dipped his tongue inside of her cunt. Y/N’s eyes rolled to the back of her head, her hands fisting his hair and pulling on his roots harshly, the sounds of their groans mixing together.

“Harry,” she cried out, her heels digging into his back as she tried to push him impossibly closer to her heat. “Shit... you’re so go-good at this.”

She could feel him smile against her from her words before licking away at her and sucking her clit into his mouth. One hand remained on her thigh, holding on tightly while his other met her pussy, one finger dipping into her and thrusting in at a slow pace. She whined as he added another finger, quickening his pace as he could feel her walls clench around his digits.

“You’re so tight, love. Can’t imagine how y’gonna feel against m’cock,” he grinned, looking up at her through his lashes, leaving one final wet kiss to her clit before removing himself from her completely, her feet falling back to the floor with a thud. She gasped at the loss of contact, eyes rushing over his figure as she tried to coax him back to her.

He giggled at her impatience, stripping himself of jeans and sweater, the bulge in his briefs looking like it hurt as it strained against the material. He palmed himself, a whimper leaving his throat before he leaned down over her and moving themselves further up the bed. He grinded his center against hers, his precum and her wetness leaving a patch of moisture at the front of his briefs. Y/N gulped at the feeling of his covered cock, measuring in her head just how big he was. She assumed he had some length and girth to him just by his aura, but she didn’t expect this big.

When he finally kicked off his underwear, his bright red tip slapping against the underbelly of his bellybutton, Y/N’s jaw all but fell off at the sheer size of him. Immediately she wondered if he was even going to fit inside her or how badly the burn of the stretch of her walls was going to be. It had been a while since she had sex, and now she was nervous.

“Are you even sure that’ll fit inside of me?” She questioned, nibbling at her bottom lip as she looked into his eyes with a little worry.

Harry pursed his lips to contain his smile, leaning down and giving her a quick kiss before whispering, “We’ll take it slow.”

They engaged themselves into a soft make out session, the final piece of clothing being her bra thrown over his shoulder, leaving the two of them completely and utterly bare and vulnerable for the other. No part of this entire night felt rushed and neither of them had this urge to just get it over with. No, instead they took their time with each other, allowing themselves to get used to this new step in their relationship. This night solidified just how serious they were about each other, and taking things slow helped that. It wasn’t about reaching that orgasm or the amazing feeling that comes with it. It was about them and how much this meant.

After he rolled a condom down his length, he positioned himself at her entrance before lacing their hands together and settling them on either side of her head. Then slowly and tenderly, Harry pushed himself in, cries of pleasure leaving their mouths as he stretched her walls. He didn’t thrust himself all the way in at one go, instead rocking his hips slightly back and forth, pushing just a little bit further each time he reentered her allowing her time to accommodate his size. When he was finally all the way in, Harry nearly passed out as her tightness squeezed around him. He stilled himself for a moment, giving her a second to breathe before he pulled back and thrusting back in with a harsher movement.

Y/N was right when she knew there was going to be a burn as her muscles widened around him, and she felt wetness prick at the corner of her eyes before she blinked them away before he could notice. She raised her head to capture his lips in a kiss, looking to distract herself as the pain slowly dissipated into pleasure. Their tongues lapped over one another as Harry quickened his pace, his hips slapping against hers in a more feverish manner. Soon enough, all Y/N could feel was immense pleasure as her once denied orgasm began to build back up.

The tip of his dick, reached so far into her that she could feel him brush against her cervix, a hazy feeling clouding her brain. When he felt her thighs tighten around his waist, and her walls began to flutter around him, he brought one of his hands to her clit, rubbing quick circles on it with his thumb. “G’na cum for me, baby? G’na let y’self go?”

Y/N moaned in response, her eyes screwing shut as he delivered a hard thrust to her special spot, her climax flooding her body quick and hard. She’s never felt herself get off that much, not knowing that she was even capable of that grand of an orgasm. The moment her body calmed down, she felt herself go into a dreamlike state as exhaustion hit her like a train. Harry continued to pound into her, working himself to his own high. Y/N quivered at her sensitivity, but urged him to continue because she wanted to see how beautiful he looks when he comes undone.

His jaw dropped open in the slightest as his abdomen clenched and his prick twitched, the familiar feeling starting in his balls shooting up through his spine before he released into the condom. A lewd string of curses fell from his lips as he gently continued to ride out his orgasm, his body completely spent as they both panted out quick breaths.

Slowly Harry removed himself, taking off the worn condom and tossing it into the garbage before joining her back in bed. “Should get cleaned up,” he muttered, still catching his breath and calming down.

“Mm,” Y/N hummed, turning herself over so her legs tangled with his and her arm draped over his sweaty torso.

Minutes went by when neither of them said anything, and Y/N was convinced he had fallen asleep as his breaths became more steady. But there was one thought on her mind that she needed to get off of her chest, because ever since they started dating it’s been eating away at her. She wanted to get it out of the way as felt her eyes getting heavier.

“Harry?”

A few moments pass before he softly answers, “Yeah?”

“What does Abby think of me? Not as her trainer but y’know… your girlfriend? She tells me how close she is with her mother and I just - I don’t know,” she shrugged, resting her chin on his chest to look up at him.

Harry looked at her, his one hand gently pushing the hair away from her eyes. “She’s the one that told me to take you on that first date.”

Y/N was shocked at this, her eyebrows shooting up at his confession. She knew the little girl liked her as her teacher and the one showing her how to skate properly, but Y/N never knew how she felt about her being the girl her father was dating. Kids don’t always understand how relationships work and Y/N feared the little girl would end up hating her since she was with Harry and her mother wasn’t. “Really?”

He nodded, “She admires you, Y/N. Yeah, she’s close with her mother but in all fairness I think she likes you more.”

“Oh, don’t say that!”

“Why not? It’s true. She can see how happy you make me and I think that’s all that matters to her,” he surmised with a shrug of his shoulders. At this, Y/N couldn’t help but smile, connecting their lips in a gentle kiss before her eyes fluttered close as she nudged her nose against his in a little eskimo kiss.

She was convinced he was her happy ending. He was the voice she loved hearing, and the person that made her life just a little stressful. And boy, she was happy Abby decided to take up skating lessons.

“You make me happy too.”

[futurebicon]

Couples

I’ve posted a lot today but none of them were fics so here one is

“Don’t you dare.” Fizzy laughed as she backed away from a flour covered Caspin.

“What? I can’t give my girlfriend a hug?” Caspin smiled as he crept closer.

“No you can not.” Fizz walked around the kitchen island without turning her back to him. “Caspin O’Hara Trembly Knut I swear to god I will break up with you.”

“Oh will you?”

“Yes I WILL” she shrieked as Caspin lunged at her. Covering her in the white powder.

She shrieked and laughed as she tried to wiggle out of her boyfriends grip.

“Cas” she whined and gave up, no point in fighting if she was already covered.

“Fiz” he mocked her and hugged her tight.

“I hate you” she grumbled against his chest.

“Love you too, baby.” He kissed her head.

“I thought you were making cookies. Did you change your mind and decided to make a mess?” Logan asked as Caspins parents walked into the kitchen.

“Hahaha. You’re so funny, Papa.” Caspin rolled his eyes as he pulled away from his girlfriend.

“Dad.” Caspin hit Finns hand. “Don’t eat the dough.”

“But it’s good.” He ate the scoop of chocolate chip cookie dough anyway.

“There’s eggs in it.” Leo scolded his husband. “You’re gonna get salmonella.”

“Only about 1 in 200,000 eggs have salmonella. I’ll be fine, Peanut.” Finn kissed him and ate another scoop.

“But we aren’t gonna have enough left for cookies if you keep eating it.” Fizzy pushed his arm away from the dough.

“Fine.” He huffed.

“Don’t burn the house down.” Leo told them as they left the kitchen.

“We won’t, Pa.”

++++

“He shoots. He scores!” Harry cheered as he shot the puck into the empty goal. “Gotta be faster baby.” He smiled and wrapped his arm around Draco as he skated over, causing them to spin.

“What’s the score?” Draco asked.

“You’re only winning by 5. And you’ve been trained every day since you were 3, cut me some slack.”

“You’ve been trained too.”

“Babe. We are skating in a full size hockey rink in your backyard while your NHL hockey player dad visits his hockey legend uncle. I think you’ve had more training.”

“Excuses, excuses.” Draco teased him.

++++

“Hi, beautiful.” Ginny kissed Luna as she got into the Jeep. “Where do you want to go?” She pulled out of the Lovegoods driveway.

“There’s an old cemetery in Tulick forest that I want to visit.” Luna said in her soft voice.

“The forever hotel it is.” Ginny smiled.

“How are your brothers?” Luna asked her as they drove.

“Bills still dating the suck up.” Ginny scoffed. “We were all pretty surprised she stayed after the accident.”

“How is Bill doing?” She asked in concern. She’d been concerned for her girlfriends oldest brother since he was in a car accident 4 months ago.

“Better. Cuts are healed but his face is severely scared. He’s getting better with the prosthetic leg though.”

“That’s good. How are the others?”

“Fred and George are swimming, literally they filled a kiddie pool, in their money.” Ginny lifted her leg onto the seat and set her elbow on the windowsill, driving with one hand. “They had to hire more help for the shop. Offered me a job but I told them to fuck off. I am not leaving the tattoo shop for a sucky joke shop, I don’t care if I only work the counter.”

“Ron’s still oblivious to the fact that he’s in love with Hermione. Percy’s being more of a git then usual. And Charlie’s still at the zoo.” Luna lit up at Charlie’s name. The two of them had grown close over their love for animals.

“How’s Griffin?”

“Who?” Ginny gave her a confused look.

“The baby bat.”

“Oh, no idea. But you can ask him when we go help next week.” She smirked.

“What do you mean? Help at the zoo?”

“Yep. They have this day where you can bring in a couple family members to follow you so he said that me and you should go.”

“Yay!” She cheered, kissing Ginnys cheek. “I’m surprised you want to go.

“Oh I don’t” Ginny laughed. “But I do want to see you get happy about all the animals.”

They talked, Luna talked, about the animals the entire rest of the way there.

“It’s so lovely isn’t it?” Luna said as they walked through the forest.

“Yes you are.” Ginny kissed her.

“I meant the woods, silly.” She giggled.

“I know. But you are just, if not more, lovely than them.”

They tried to hold hands as they walked but Luna kept running off to look or collect something new.

They got to the graveyard after 5 miles of walking.

“Why is this even here, love?” Ginny asked her.

It had about 50 graves in no particular order with statues and fountains scattered throughout, a black gate surrounding the patch of grass.

“The abandoned mansion we always visit is down the way.” Luna gave a short response.

“I thought there was a graveyard beside the mansion.”

“There is. This is where the servants were buried. It’s quite a nice resting place compared to what most people gave their helpers.” Luna placed flowers on all the graves.

“Me and dad should come out sometime and clean up the graves.” She stood up.

“We should go back, baby. It’ll be dark soon.”

“Okay.” Luna nodded and said goodbye to each grave.

@lumosinlove

We need a Caspin and Fizzy ship name

[artificialqueens]

On The Ground (Rosénali) - Moonshot

A/N: So… Guess who is back after a year of not writing fics? Yours truly! What can I say? Rosénali is that powerful of a ship. As always, I hope eveyone enjoys this fic. Feel free to let me know what you think… Who knows, there might be a follow up to this little fluff in the future! Little side note: this is a lesbian au where most of the s13/s12 girls appearing are cis-female, however Mik is still a trans man in the fic.

Summary: The diner girl!Denali x street singer!Rosé AU based on Blackpink’s Rosé’s solo music that nobody asked for!

ao3 link https://archiveofourown.org/works/30267687

Denali stared at the round clock above the entrance of the diner.

4:57 PM. 

Three more minutes until her shift was over.

Three more minutes until the girl who had been a fixed character in her dreams would come from around the corner, set up her guitar, greet the passersby before starting her set for the evening like she did every Wednesday.

“So, gorge, are you going to ask the champagne girl out today, or are you just going to keep on creepily staring at her from afar?”, her coworker, Kade - or as everyone called him, Mik - appeared next to her with an empty tray.

“Her name is Rosé, not champagne girl!”, Denali rebutted, “and also, for the record, I don’t just… stare. I just happen to like appreciating her set without bothering her! It’s not like she was flirting with me that one time”.

“Did I just hear our Nali denying her crush on that pink-haired singer, again?”, Olivia, who was busy running the cash register, chimed in.

“Girl, I think we should start betting against her and maybe we’ll make more money than what they can pay us here!”, Mik joked as he washed some of the dishes in the sink.

The black-haired girl rolled her eyes, ignoring her two best friends and focusing on the performer’s much-anticipated arrival.

Denali didn’t believe in love at first sight but after the first time Rosé and her guitar had shown up on the other side of the road from Tamisha’s Diner, she couldn’t think about anything else. 

There was just something about the other girl that had the Alaskan girl enamored.

The first - and so far only - time she had talked to Rosé was out of necessity as the other girl and who she assumed were her two best friends - the diner girls had dubbed them ‘Pastel Powerpuff girls’ - had decided to dine in just as Denali’s shift at the register had started.

“Hi! Did you enjoy our diner?”, the skater had put on her best smile, not quite able to meet the gaze of the taller girl as she typed out the receipt.

“Oh, sure, the skating gig is cute, the food’s great, and the service… isn’t too bad either,” Denali could see from the corner of her eye the smirk on the pink-haired girl.

“Rosie! Quit flirting with every cute girl that breathes and hurry up or Jan and I are leaving you here, the Uber is going to be here in 2 minutes!”, the blue-haired girl went on with the other girl in the friend group while ‘Rosie’ rolled her eyes at them.

“Sorry about Lagoona, she has the tact of an elephant on rollerskates,” the taller girl joked.

“O-Oh, no problem. So, your total is 20,04$, will you be paying in cash or card? Also, are you splitting the bill?”

“Since dumb and dumber over there already left, I’ll just pay everything with my card,” she replied taking out her purse and taking out her credit card, “here you go, angel”.

Denali tried her best not to blush at the sudden pet name, maintaining her on-the-clock persona as she brought out the card reader. She quickly finished up the operation and handed the pink-haired girl her card back with the receipt, “I just need a quick signature here and you’re free to go to your friends”.

‘Rosie’ scribbled down her signature - she learned her actual name was Rosé, classy yet slightly worrying - and left a tip for her. 

A 10$ tip for her.

“Gorge, she left you a 10$ tip, she was basically asking for your hand in marriage”, Mik reminded her, his eyes darting around the half-empty diner. 

He nodded his head to his left where Denali saw another one of her co-workers sharing a milkshake with her girlfriend, giggling like teenagers, “I’m just saying. If Utica managed to end up dating that self-proclaimed ebony enchantress over there, you got a chance with wine girl”, he ended with his trademark L.A vocal fry.

Denali knew Mik had a point, but as she was about to reply, she heard the familiar sound of a guitar starting a new song. Her eyes glanced back at the clock.

5:14 PM

Damn, she had missed the beginning of the set.

The Alaskan girl didn’t lose any more time as she clocked out, skates still on her feet as she zoomed out of the diner.

“Aaaaand she’s gone!”, Olivia commented, turning her head to Mik, “Do you think this time is the good one?”

“Well, if she doesn’t finally go after her, I might as well go after her myself!”

Denali reached the usual crowd that had already formed around Rosé, trying her best to blend in and not be seen by the singer while still getting a good view of the set.

“Well, aren’t you guys a lovely crowd!”, the pink-haired singer smiled as she got ready for the next song, “I’ve got one last song for today and this is going to be the first time I’ll be performing it, so, don’t hate it too much!”, she chuckled as she checked her guitar before turning her head back to the mic stand, “This is On The Ground, I’m Rosé and I hope you’ve enjoyed the set! Feel free to drop your tips in the guitar case!”

Denali couldn’t take her eyes off Rosé when she heard the guitar’s first chord paired with the honey-like vocals.

My life’s been magic seems fantastic

I used to have a hole

in the wall with a mattress

It’s funny when you want it

Suddenly you have it

You find out that your gold’s just plastic

The black-haired girl quickly pulled out her phone, opened her voice memo app, and hit record. She wanted to treasure the magic Rosé’s voice brought. 

What she failed to notice while she was so into the song was a pair of hazel eyes settling on her as the song reached its climax.

A couple of days later, Denali had just finished with her teaching job at the local ice rink when she spotted Olivia on the railings. 

“The suspicious lack of a certain pink-haired girl makes me think that you still haven’t asked her out” she heard the younger girl say as she skated her way to her.

“You’ll never let it go, won’t you, Liv?”

“Not when I see that you like her and, from what I’ve seen, she is at least interested in you. Mik tried to ask her out yesterday after your shift was over,” the other girl replied.

Denali furrowed her brows, “Wait, he was serious about asking her out? I thought he was just joking!”

“If you don’t act on your cute pink crush, you can’t expect everyone else to stop for you,” Olivia reasoned, “if it’s of any help, Mik did say that, and I quote ‘she didn’t want a piece of this fine ass’”, she finished, air quoting their co-worker.

“To be honest, the dude’s barely got an ass compared to me,” Denali muttered, but her best friend managed to catch it.

“Well, as Symone said, you do have a fat ass,” Olivia commented, causing both of them to laugh out loud.

She continued, “Point still stands though, you gotta do something or you might just end up regretting not doing anything about it”.

The dark-haired girl sighed, “I know, I’m just… scared to get hurt because she seems so cool and unreachable, and I’m just so… me?”, she confessed, resting her arms on the rails.

“Give it a chance, Nali,” Olivia replied, laying her hand on the skater’s arm and giving it a gentle squeeze, “And just in case, if she fucks you over, we’ll just unleash Kandy on her!”, she added, making Denali chuckle.

“Girl, if she knew you said that…”

“She would do absolutely nothing because she’s too busy chasing after that Joey guy”, she didn’t miss a beat with her reply, giving her a knowing look, “Almost forgot to ask, are you coming later to the club with the others?”

Denali shook her head, “No, sorry. I don’t feel like clubbing today, I’ll just skate a bit more and then go home to watch some Netflix”.

Olivia shrugged her shoulders, “You do you, girl. But think about what I said, okay?”

She gave her best friend a small smile, “Thanks, Liv. See you at work?”

The younger girl nodded and left Denali to her thought as she exited the room. The black-haired skater turned her head back to the rink, noticing that only a few people were left on the ice. 

She took a deep breath, putting her earbuds back in and looking through her phone to decide on what song to use for her last routine of the day. Her eyes fell on the voice memo app, immediately reminding herself of the recording she had taken just a few days prior. She hadn’t even listened to it since she had recorded it.

It wasn’t a clean recording, she could hear the sounds of the city and the people around her, but she closed her eyes and focused on Rosé’s voice, letting it guide her. 

The music fully took her over as she performed her usual stunts.

I’m way up in the clouds

And they say I’ve made it now

But I figured it out

Everything I need is on the ground

She found herself in the center of the rink, the bridge of the song was blasting in her ears. She smiled to herself as she started to spin, gradually picking up speed while Rosé’s high notes were all she could focus on.

Just drove by your house

So far from you now

But I figured it out

Everything I need is on the

Everything I need is on the ground

The recording stopped abruptly, she remembered how she had to bolt away, almost missing her bus home. 

Denali could hear her heavy breathing, suddenly aware again that she wasn’t alone. But she had made up her mind.

She was going to talk to Rosé the following Wednesday. 

That Wednesday the diner was busier than usual, giving Denali barely a moment to think, let alone realize she was missing Rosé’s set outside.

She glanced at the clock.

5:26 PM

Shit.

She turned her head and looked outside the diner’s big windows and saw that the pink-haired girl was starting to gather her things.

“Miss Iman just left, go to her! We’ll cover for you and we are not letting you get back in unless you got a date!”, Olivia said quietly enough for just her to hear.

Denali couldn’t help the grin spreading across her face. She grabbed some of the tips that she had made before she bolted outside, faintly hearing the cheering of her friends.

As she reached Rosé on the other side of the road, the singer’s back was facing her, she didn’t seem to have noticed Denali yet.

The black-haired girl took a deep breath, just like she had done on the ice rink, and let the tips fall into the still open guitar case.

The noise of falling change was what made Rosé turn around, a surprised look on her face as she registered Denali’s face.

“Denali?”

Gosh, she could hear the other girl say her name all day.

Wait.

“How do you know my name?”, Denali asked slightly confused.

Rosé didn’t reply but simply pointed at the waitress’s chest.

Oh, right. The nameplate on her uniform.

“That and also I tend to remember a pretty face when I see one,” she added, now her attention fully on the shorter girl.

“Oh, yeah, right”, she fidgeted awkwardly, not knowing where to look, “Uhm, I just wanted to say that you have a really beautiful voice. You can consider me your first fan when you make it big”.

Rosé smiled at her and Denali couldn’t help but notice how beautiful of a smile she had. 

The singer turned back to her stuff, shuffling things around and leaving the brunette to her thoughts. She wanted to ask the taller girl out but felt all her courage leave her body.

Way to go, Nali.

“Well, Uhm, I think I should-”, she started but she was stopped by the pink-haired girl, who had finished packing everything up.

“Here, this is for you”.

It was a jewel case cd, a picture of Rosé in a very 80s inspired attire on the cover with pink marker writing across the front.

‘To Denali

My first (and hopefully not last) fan

     Rosé xo’    

  It was signed with a small rose doodle next to Rosé’s name and, much to Denali’s surprise, a phone number along with the phrase ‘put it to good use’.

She looked up to find the other girl staring at her, her guitar case strapped on her back. She gave her a wink and started walking towards the subway.

Denali stood there for what felt like forever as she watched Rosé disappear in between the crowd of people roaming the streets. 

She looked back down at the cd, committing the number to memory. She turned around to look at the back, her eyes were drawn to the tracklist. 

She smiled when she saw On The Ground. 

Finally, she didn’t have to listen to a shitty phone recording to enjoy it. 

“Wait, what? You had recorded it all secretly and shady, mama?”

Rosé’s laugh filled the room as Denali tried to hide her face on the other girl’s bare chest.

“You’re an ass! I just wanted to use it for one of my skating routines”, she muttered, causing her girlfriend to laugh even harder.

“I find it cute that I’m not even famous and my music has already been pirated!” she commented, “I’m already halfway there to stardom, baby girl,” she added, kissing the top of Denali’s head.

The shorter girl groaned as she hid the increasing blush on her cheeks, rolling her body so that she was on top of the pink-haired girl.

“Well, miss Rosé, is it pirating if it was for personal pleasure only?”, Denali teased, running her hands upwards on the naked skin, slowly lowering herself until her face was inches away from her girlfriend’s.

She felt Rosé’s hands take a firm hold of her behind, “Oh angel, I’ll show you personal pleasure,” the singer replied, eliminating the little space left between their lips as Denali brought her hands to cup the older girl’s face.

Rethinking about those lyrics Rosé had written months prior, Denali knew she was right, she did have everything she needed on the ground.

It was to be right there with Rosé.

[cc-pdf]

What’s It Like In New York City?

Katsuki Bakugou x reader

Quirkless rock band au

Based off of the song, Hey There Delilah

Word count: 2913

Warnings: Slight alcohol use. Nothing to be worried about though.

  After a long day at university you decided you deserved a night out on the town. Although you had piles of homework to do, you decided to put that all aside and just relax and have a few drinks. You grabbed your big winter coat and stepped out of campus into the swirling cold winter outside. L Street Tavern was one of the closest bars to your campus, so you decided to settle down there. Plus, they always have live music there, even better.

  After a short walk through the blistering cold air you had finally arrived at the historic bar. You noticed a flyer on the window it read,

  "Sex Bob Omb playing tonight."

  You had never heard of them before. It was probably just some local band. You stepped through the bars creaking door and took a seat on one of the oak stools. There were only a few other people at the bar. Most of them were probably in their mid 40s or 50s. You had given them a slight wave when you sat down just to be friendly. They had waved back, but then quickly returned back to their conversations. You weren't really looking for people to talk to, you just wanted to relax after the stressful day.

  After a couple of drinks you heard the tuning of a guitar in the corner. You looked over to see a couple people in the corner. They were dressed like classic teenage band members. Black jeans, skate shoes, a random t-shirt they found in the back of their closet. You examined each member. A spiky blond seemed to be the lead. He was tuning his guitar and had a microphone stood in front of him. Behind him was a short black haired girl behind a microphone. She seemed to be the backup singer. The last person was a crazy red haired boy at the drums. It seemed like your typical band that probably practices in the garage. You loved those types of bands. Something about them just seemed so raw and authentic.

  A few moments later you jumped to the sound of the red hair banging his drum sticks together.

  "ONE TWO THREE GO!" He yelled signaling the band to start.

  You never really thought a band like this would be playing at a historic bar in the middle of a harsh Boston winter. But, bands really will play wherever they can nowadays. They have to try and get any recognition they can.

  "This is the beginning of the song." The blond muttered into the microphone with his raspy voice. "I'm hearing voices, animal voices. The creme da la creme. the feminine abyss. And I'm reaching my threshold. Staring at the truth till i'm blind." He began lazily singing with the sound of a rough, badly tuned guitar.

  The lyrics weren't too bad for just some random band. You actually thoroughly enjoyed the sound of such a band like this. You could see the the crazy red hair banging at the broken down set of drums releasing all of his anger. It made you giggle a bit.

  "My body's stupid, stereo putrid. Spilling out music into raw sewage." The girl jumped into sing. She surprisingly had a pretty good voice, although it didn't really suit the vibe of the band.

  "Reaching my threshold. Staring at the truth till I'm blind." They all sang together. They repeated the same verses a couple more times. When the song had ended you could tell they were all out of breath from the loud performance. They were panting like dogs on a hot summer day.

  "WE ARE SEX BOB OMB!!!" The girl yelled out to the bar while raising her hands in the air.

  "I hope you guys enjoyed, but we've lost all of our breath for tonight, peace." The blond said while walking into the back room. Most people started clapping and cheering, some people were booing them at the fact they only played one song, but you just returned to your bitter cold beer in front of you. The cold alcohol entering your stomach calmed you from your hard day.

  A few moments later the band members took a seat at the bar near you. It seemed they just wanted a few drinks after that harsh performance.

  "Miller Lite, please." The spiky blond said to the bar tender under his raspy tone.

  "Same here." The other two members said. The bar tender poured the three drinks and slid them across the bar to them.

  "You like the show?" The blond looked over and asked to you, as you sipped your cold drink.

  "Yeah, wasn't expecting such a lame band to go this hard." You said looking over to him.

  "Hey, we try our best to look professional here." He snapped back at you.

  "I'm just teasing." You said focusing back on your drink.

  "So, you from around here?" He said with his masculine tone.

  "I go to university near here, but I'm originally from New York City." You said fiddling with the rim of your drink.

  "The big apple, huh? Must've been rough living there." He responded.

  "Not really..." You said taking a sip of your beer.

  "We're from around here. Cambridge to be exact. We spend a lot of time over in Boston though. Trying to get a good gig." He explained while taking another sip of his Miller Lite.

  "I'm sure you'll get a gig. You're pretty good." You said trying to sound nice.

  "Thanks. Maybe you can come watch us here again sometime." He said passing you a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket with their schedule printed on it.

  "Thanks, but I'm leaving the city for a few weeks to visit family back in New York. Maybe I'll see you after. My names y/n, by the way." You said looking into his bright crimson eyes while grabbing the schedule. You could see the disappointment in his eyes.

  "Oh, well that's a downer. You must be pretty busy with school too..." He said trailing off.

  "Damnit Bakugou, stop flirting with the poor girl." The red hair chipped in. The girl laughed along.

  "Shut up you prick, at least she's not a whore. I'm not even flirting." He snapped at them while getting up to go to the bathroom.

  After he had came back things were pretty quiet after the remark the red hair had made.

  About a half hour later you decided you should start heading back to campus. It was 12:30 and you needed some rest.

  "Hey, I'll try and come see your band when I come back." You said waving to them as you walked out the door.

  "See ya!" The blond said with that tired voice of his.

  "Yeah, see ya." The other two trailed along.

  You knew you probably wouldn't see them again because you're always so hung up with school. It didn't really matter to you anyways, they were just some random band at the bar.

  Little did you know, the ash blond, Katsuki Bakugou, thought you were absolutely stunning. With that perfect h/l, h/c hair of yours, your big, e/c eyes, and your little smile, you were nothing but perfect to him. You were stuck in his mind for the next few weeks. You weren't some crazy little fake fan girl looking to fuck for once. You seemed genuine.

  You had pinned the schedule he gave you onto the cork board in your dorm. Although you didn't really care too much to go and see them again, maybe it would be nice to check and see if they're still playing at L Street Tavern when you get back.

  Only a couple days later you got on the bus to New York. It was a long ride, but it was worth it all in the end. You desperately wanted to see your family after 4 long months of living alone at school.

~

  A couple weeks after your encounter with Katsuki Bakugou you still hadn't left his mind. Your beautiful name was glued to his brain. He decided to tune up his guitar and start a song about you. He liked to get his thoughts out by writing songs. It calmed him. He started with a simple,

  "Hey there y/n, what's it like in New York City? I'm a thousand miles away, but, girl, tonight you look so pretty." He thought it sounded cheesy, but he continued writing it anyways. He enjoyed the sound of a rough acoustic guitar against a sweet love song. He had never written a song like this before, it was all so new to him. He usually wrote songs about his anger or hate for people, usually engaging in more of a hard rock, or head bangers.

  A couple days later he decided to find an open mic to play the song at. He was pretty proud of the new tune and couldn't help but share it. He found an open mic session at a small family owned restaurant right around the corner from L Street Tavern. He was worried you might show up and hear the song, but he remembered, you were staying in New York for a pretty long time.

  The night of the open mic had come. He stepped into the tiny restaurant and sat down at a table with his guitar. There was quite a few people at the restaurant that night. He hoped they would like his newly crafted love song.

  Eventually, he stepped into the space with the cheap microphone and pulled his guitar strap over his shoulder.

  "I wrote this song for a girl that's been stuck in my mind for the past few weeks. I hope you enjoy." He said into the microphone.

  Authors note - Hey, I would suggest maybe listening to Hey There Delilah by Plain White Ts during this part :) okay back to the story.

  He started gently strumming his guitar to a rhythm.

  "Hey there y/n what's it like in New York City? I'm a thousand miles away, but, girl, tonight you look so pretty. Yes you do. Times square can't shine as bright as you. I swear, it's true." He began the song with his lazy guitar playing. He continued the song. He could tell most of the people in the restaurant enjoyed the honesty behind the lyrics. It made him happy someone was enjoying his work.

  "Hey there, y/n. Don't you worry about the distance. I'm right there if you get lonely. Give this song another listen. Close your eyes. Listen to my voice, it's my disguise. I'm by your side." He sang under his gruff voice.

  "Oh, it's what you do to me. Oh, it's what you do to me. Oh, it's what you do to me. Oh, it's what you do to me. What you do to me." He led on with the catchy bridge.

  "Hey there, y/n. I know times are gettin' hard. But just believe me, girl. Someday I'll pay the bills with this guitar. We'll have it good. We'll have the life we knew we would. My word is good." Bakugou carried on.

  "Hey there, y/n. I've got so much left to say. If every simple song I wrote to you. Would take your breath away. I'd write it all. Even more in love with me you'd fall. We'd have it all." He went on, after that singing the bridge again.

  "A thousand miles seems pretty far. But they've got planes and trains and cars. I'd walk to you if I had no other way. Our friends would all make fun of us. And we'll just laugh along because we'd know. That none of them have felt this way. Y/n, I can promise you. That by the time that we get through. The world will never ever be the same. And you're to blame." He sang emotionally while strumming along.

  "Hey there, y/n. You be good, and don't you miss me. Two more years and you'll be done with school. And I'll be makin' history like I do. You know it's all because of you. We can do whatever we want to. Hey there, y/n, here's to you. This one's for you." After this he slowly ended the lovely song with the bridge,

  "Oh, it's what you do to me. Oh, it's what you do to me. Oh, it's what you do to me. Oh, it's what you do to me. What you do to me, oh oh, woah, woah. Oh woah, oh. Oh." He sang softly, ending the song by strumming all of the strings on his beat up guitar.

  After he had finished the sweet tune someone came up to him.

  "Hey kid, that song you played was actually pretty good. The lyrics and rhythm were amazingly catchy. No one can ever go wrong with a classic love song. Maybe I can help you get big. I know some people in the industry. I came here to find some new musicians, actually." The mysterious figure said to him.

  Bakugou was in shock. He knew people liked his music. But not to the point where somebody like this would notice him. Especially this song. It was just some overly cheesy love song.

  "Thanks." He said not knowing what to say. He was speechless.

  "Here, give me a call." He said while slipping his business card over to the blond.

  Of course later that night he couldn't help but call the guy. He had never heard anything like this from someone.

~

  Y/n was nearing the end of her trip. She was sitting in her Mother's car on the way to the bus station back to Boston. She couldn't help but over hear the radio.

  "Hey we have a new love song from this band called Sex Bob Omb. I thought it was pretty good, how about we give it a play." You couldn't believe what you just heard, so you immediately turned up the volume on the radio. You could hear that spiky blond's classic voice over the sound of a relaxed, acoustic guitar. It seemed very unlike the band to have a song like this, or even be on the radio.

  "Hey there y/n, what's it like in New York City? I'm a thousand miles away, but, girl, tonight you look so pretty. Yes you do." The song started out gently. You jumped at these lyrics. You thought you were dreaming. But you weren't...

  "Mom, I think this song is about me..." You said trying not to sound insane.

  "Sweetie, it's just some song on the radio I'm sure you're over thinking it." She said calmly.

  "No, Mom, I saw this band at the tavern a few weeks ago. The lead singer was talking to me at the bar." You denied her.

  "I'm sure it's just a coincidence." She said keeping her eye on the road.

  "Times Square can't shine as bright as you. I swear, it's true." You softened at these lyrics. The way he wrote them... It made you feel like you were the only girl in the world that mattered.

  "Hey there, y/n. Don't you worry about the distance. I'm right there if you get lonely. Give this song another listen. Close your eyes. Listen to my voice, it's my disguise. I'm by your side." You couldn't help but feel like he was actually by your side, like he stated. You wished he could sing this to you, with that guitar of his, while looking you in the eyes. You really were falling for some mysterious guy. You would have never thought you would fall for some rebellious band member... or someone that you barely even knew. Music had never moved you in a way like this, it was so connecting, yet unexpected.

  Finally, You had made it back to your campus. You rushed up to your dorm to see that schedule he gave you. You wanted to see him again. The lyrics of the song made you melt. It warmed your heart. Making you fall for the random blond even more. Thankfully, the band was booked pretty far ahead on the schedule.

  A few nights later you caught yourself back at L Street Tavern hoping to see them there. You were sure they wouldn't be there now that they had made it on the radio. But it didn't hurt to try and see if they would be there.

  Unexpectedly you heard the sweet voice of the girl scream,

  "WE ARE SEX BOB OMB!"

  You turned around and made eye contact with the blond. His face flourished red. You couldn't stop staring into his glistening crimson eyes.

  "Wait, it's y/n." He said walking over to you, stopping the other band members.

  "The girl you wrote the song about? I thought that was just a made up name." The red hair said furrowing his eyebrows.

  "You came..." He said looking into your love struck eyes.

I really wanted to make a story inspired by this song so I hope you liked it. :)

Please comment some more songs you would like me to write stories about.

Also yes I got the name Sex Bob Omb and the song they sang is from Scott Pilgrim vs. The World hehe. Also, L Street Tavern is a real bar in Boston!

[stxn-the-mxn]

Alone Time || 2019!Bill Denbrough X Reader

IT CHAPTER 2 SPOILERS

! blood, death, mentions of rape !

He couldn’t believe he forgot about her. Of all the things about Derry, he forgot, why did it have to be her. He knew there was something holding him back from marrying Audra and later breaking up with her. 

There was always something in the back of his head, yelling at him, telling him to hold back. And now he knew, it had been her the whole time. That voice in his head, his subconscious… they were all her.

When they passed by her at the Chinese restaurant, he paid her no mind, trying to get out of their as quick as possible, especially after Richie lost his shit at some poor child. He hadn’t even realised it had been her. 

***

Back in 1990, she had been his everything. It was a while after Beverly had left, and he could feel his feelings for her dispersing quickly. In time, he would find every second of the day was taken up with thoughts of her.

He was disappointed in himself for never having noticed her before. She was in literally all of his classes. Every single one, and yet he never paid her any attention. He had mentally slapped himself after that discovery.

After that summer, Bill didn’t really hang out with the Losers Club as often. Every now and again he would talk to Stan, maybe Eddie or Richie. Ben and Mike were a different story. Bill never seemed to see them anymore.

So, he turned to her for a new best friend. At lunch, he joined her at the table she sat at by herself usually. She smiled at the boy, and Bill swore his heart skipped a couple of beats. After that day, they seemed to be spending days on end with each other.

Later that year, the school decided to put on a play. The most basic school play, Romeo & Juliet. The week before auditions, Bill had discovered Y/N’s love for Shakespeare. She had been talking about it non-stop since the announcement was made.

“Y-yknow, you s-s-should audition for J-Juliet.”

She had choked on her juice, staring at Bill, waiting for him to laugh it off. It had to have been a joke, after all.

“I’m s-s-serious, Y/N/N. You’re a g-great actress. Look, if y-y-you audition, I will t-too.”

Bill regretted that promise. He wasn’t ready to play Romeo and was most definitely not prepared to kiss you on stage in front of everyone. But he was ready to admit that he loved you, truly he did.

You had believed him. He said he loved you. He said that he wanted to be with you forever.

And then he left Derry.

***

How could he have forgotten his Juliet? He could feel the kisses on his lips again, her hands tangled in his hair. He could feel everything he felt for her, just like he did before he left Derry. Had Y/N left Derry?

He wasn’t sure, but he sure as hell wanted to know. He would search this damn town top to bottom if it meant finding you again. But first, he wanted to pass by somewhere that meant a shit ton to him.

He pedalled up to his old house, and he was surprised to see it hadn’t been changed one bit. It was the same colour, just freshly painted. He glanced up at the top window that used to be his bedroom and saw a woman in the window.

She seemed familiar, and the second they locked eyes, it didn’t feel awkward. It felt right. He watched as the woman ran downstairs. The door swung open, and the woman ran out to Bill.

“Bill, holy shit, it’s you! You’re right in front of me, breathing and everything oh my god.”

He knew it was her. He knew immediately. How could he not? All these years later, and she still had the same smile.

“Y-yeah, yeah it’s m-me. You h-h-haven’t changed. And you live in my old home?”

She chuckled, and it sounded like music to Bill. Her smile was the same, except the silver braces were gone. He examined her face. She had more noticeable freckles, her glasses gone, likely being replaced with contacts.

She was still the Y/N he was utterly in love with.

“What can I say? I missed you, this was the closest I could be to you.”

“Mom? Sewer guy?”

Both adults whipped around to meet the small kid with his skateboard. Bill’s jaw dropped, as he stared at the kid he had yelled at only an hour ago. It was just his luck, wasn’t it? He and Richie had both yelled at this poor kid, only to find out he belonged to the love of his life. 

“You know Dean?”

Y/N questioned, pure confusion in her voice. How on earth did Bill know her own son? Bill didn’t answer, just staring between Dean and Y/N.

“Bill? Come in, we need to talk. Dean, don’t stay out too late, I need you back from the fair at least 10 pm.”

Dean skated off, staring at Bill weirdly as he passed him. Bill watched the kid go, his eyes darting between Y/N and skateboard kid. 

“Fuck,” he thought “that probably means she’s married.”

Sensing that Bill was in a state of mild shock, Y/N sighed and dragged him inside. The floor plan was still the same as when he had lived there. Georgie’s old room now belonged to Dean. His old room was now occupied by Y/N and her husband.

They sat down on the bed, closer than Bill expected for a married woman.

“I’m not married.” Y/N seemed to read Bill’s mind. He glanced at her hands to find, to his joy, not a single gold band in sight.

“Well, where’d D-Dean come f-f-from then?” Bill had genuine curiosity in his voice, as he glanced at a photo of Y/N and Dean. he couldn’t help but smile at how happy they were. He had to ask about Dean’s father, but he didn’t want to come across as pushy or nosey. He failed that last part.

“He, uh, he never had a father. It’s always been just me and him.” She was holding back the truth. He needed to be nosey and pushy. He didn’t feel like he had any other choice.

“Y/N, even after 27 y-years, I k-know when you’re not t-t-telling me the truth. You d-do the thing with your h-h-hands.”

She looked down, seeing her right ring finger tapping her thigh. He really remembered everything after all those years. 

“Dean… he wasn’t a child of consent. That’s all I want to say on the matter.” Y/N’s words were quick and sharp. Bill could tell she was touchy about the subject. Who wouldn’t be? Silence fell over the room.

Bill held her tightly, as her sobs broke the silence. It was painful, seeing the woman he loved break like this. She had always been the second strongest woman he knew, as no woman would ever be as strong as Beverly Marsh, and that was fact, not opinion.

“I remember when Dean first asked about his dad. I told him he was off in California, writing stories and making movies that he wasn’t allowed to read or see yet.” Y/N laughed softly as she saw Bill’s dumbstruck expression. He still seemed to be processing it all, but that didn’t stop her from continuing.

“He had smiled, yelling that his daddy was famous while jumping in circles. I never had the heart to tell him the truth. I still don’t think I could.”

“So, what y-you’re telling m-m-me… is that y-y-your son thinks I-I’m his dad?”

She had looked down awkwardly, mentally calling herself stupid for bringing that up. Bill probably thought she was insane at this point.

“Maybe… maybe he n-n-needs a dad. One who’s a-actually around.”

“W-what?”

Bill pressed his lips against hers, those 27 years of lost emotions rushing into this one kiss. It was messy, rushed, somewhat chaotic. It was everything the both of them had wanted. It was perfect and beautiful and everything in between.

***

Bill, Ben and Beverly surrounded Eddie as they stared at the hole in his cheek where Henry Bower’s switchblade had been. Everyone was in a panic, not knowing what to do when someone gets stabbed through the face.

While Bill was also worried for Eddie, his mind was elsewhere. Specifically, his mind was on her. The voices of Ben and Bev and Eddie’s painful moans dissolved as Bill saw a skateboard roll over to them. It looked identical to Dean’s.

Bev noticed it too. Blood trailed upwards. It was floating. 

They flipped the board over, and Bill’s knees buckled.

Guess he couldn’t cut it either.

“I have to go.”

He ran, ignoring Silver and Bev’s calls for him to wait. He couldn’t let Dean get hurt. He couldn’t let Y/N get hurt. The fair was quite the distance from the Inn, but he ran the whole way. Dean wasn’t safe, no child was in this devil town.

The screams, happy screams, of kids and neon lights signalled his destination was extremely close. As he turned the corner, he immediately scanned the crowds for the mop of curly blonde hair.

Like a hitman finding his target, his eyes closed in on Dean L/N. He had made it time. Dean was there, breathing, all limbs attached. Bill continued sprinting. Dean was running with his friends towards the funhouse.

“Kid! Dean! Stop!” His pleas were useless as Dean ran through the spinning walkway. Bill stumbled across the walkway, feeling dizzy.

The next hallway was filled with swinging clowns. Dean must have already made it through. A clown slammed him into the wall, but he got back up and ran, only being hit by one more stuffed clown.

“Oh, you can not be serious?”

Bill faced the mirror maze, his head spinning. He didn’t stop to get his bearing though, sprinting through the maze, running into almost every mirror. He turned the corner successfully and saw the blonde boy up ahead.

“Kid!” He yelled, running at full speed, before cracking his head against another mirror.

“Kid?” He looked around, feeling his surroundings. It wasn’t possible. Not in some attraction designed for kids.

He was completely surrounded by those fucking mirrors. He continued to feel around, eventually finding an open passage. Bill stumbled through more hallways, this time avoiding running into anything.

Around another corner was Dean, walking idly. He ran towards the kid again but found himself stuck behind another barrier of mirrors. He shouldn’t have been shocked, running into mirrors in the mirror maze.

Spinning around, he saw him again. Dean was at the end of the hallway, staring through the mirrors. Bill ran, for the millionth time that day, calling out for Dean. and, for the millionth time that day, he found himself trapped behind a wall of glass.

Dean spun around at the thump on the glass. He stared at the man who seemed to be following him around this town and had been hugging his mom not that long ago. Bill clutched his face in pain, muttering “shit” not so quietly.

“K-kid! Hey, hey!” Bill smiled, and Dean backed away.

“What are you doing here?” 

“H-h-hey, I-I’m here to help,” Bill said, and Dean scrunched up his face in annoyance.

“Stop following me!”

“I’m gonna, I’m g-gonna get you o-out of here.” Bill walked backwards, and as his eyes drifted down past Dean, he seemed to freeze.

Dean followed his gaze, his breath catching in his throat as he saw the creature staring them down.

Pennywise The Dancing Clown stared at the two of them, trailing his tongue up the glass. He had hunger in his eyes as he watched Dean’s every move.

“No.” Bill pleaded. Pennywise moved up the glass, his tongue still licking the glass. Dean didn’t move, frozen in place.

“P-please..” Bill felt helpless.

Pennywise stared at Dean, who was shaking. Bill realised he was shaking too, as strong as he always made himself seem. The fucking clown smiled creepily at Dean, the poor boy crying and trembling.

Neither Dean nor Bill could say anything, both standing in silence as Pennywise reared IT’s head, before hitting it on the glass.

IT laughed at their fearful silence, the only other sound being Dean’s wavering breaths. IT smashed its head on the glass, harder this time, and Bill responded by pounding on the glass. Dean backed away, straight into the glass Bill was on the other side of.

IT repeatedly smashed its head on the glass, not holding back. Bill did the same, only with his fists. Dean yelped in fear, each cry a spear through Bill’s heart. The clown was relentless, never holding back as its head came in contact with the glass.

Dean was crying, and Bill felt tears welling up too. This wasn’t happening. This couldn’t be happening. But it was, and it was a real as the fear pounding through their bodies.

The glass was cracking, Dean was screaming, and Bill was trying, but to no avail. IT slammed its head faster, more aggressive. Dean turned to Bill who was punching the glass. He knew he couldn’t do anything, but he didn’t want to believe it.

Two pieces of glass separated Dean from either safety or… something else. 

Bill moved to kick the glass, but it still remained intact. The other piece of glass did not. Dean’s screams echo through Bill’s mind, and they motivate him to try harder, to be stronger. He tries everything. Kicking, punching, pushing against it, all while looking into Dean’s fearful eyes. The same eyes he would have to look into after this. The same eyes that would fill with uncontrollable tears.

IT stops. But the glass is one tiny hit away from shattering. ITs face contorts, the horrifying smile it displays burning into Dean’s memories. Bill and Dean breathe heavily, and Pennywise can smell their fear.

IT rears its head back, before smashing it through the glass. Razor-sharp teeth slash out, latching onto Dean, who is still screaming. 

A gruesome blood splatter signifies Bill’s failure.

***

The incident had happened two days ago. In those two days, Bill had never felt more enraged. That anger, however, had been one of the keys to defeating IT. But as the Losers left the sewers, hauling an injured but living Eddie with great difficulty, the anger wasted away, and the sadness took its place.

He didn’t know how to tell her. He now knew how his parents felt, the day they had to tell him of Georgie’s fate. He felt so utterly useless. He had walked to her house, not ever wanting to arrive.

On the slow travel to the house of death and despair, Bill had contemplated how he would tell her. Nothing seemed right. He knew he needed the other Losers by his side if he was ever going to make it through.

Once the six of them had made it to your doorstep and rung the doorbell, Bill had broken down. And that’s how Y/N found them all, huddled around a sobbing Bill. They had all immediately noticed the tears in her own eyes.

“B-Bill?” 

She brought them all inside, making each one a cup of coffee or tea. They sat in silence, waiting for someone to say something. No one spoke, Bill and Y/N simply let out quiet sobs every now and again. An hour after, and a few coffee/tea refills later, Bill finally spoke up.

“Y-Y/N. Can we g-g-go upstairs?’

Bill held the woman close to him as they made their way upstairs. They both froze outside Dean’s old room, and Bill made the move to push her next door.

“What happened to Dean? Why did he never come home, Bill?”

Bill knew that deep down, she knew the answer to that. Not the specifics, of course. But he knew that Y/N could not have ignored the signs, like the missing posters that only seemed to be around when he was.

“Y/N, h-h-he’s gone.”

She couldn’t do this anymore. Bill held the sobbing woman, and he knew the other five Losers downstairs could hear everything. Her crying eventually brought the other five upstairs, one by one.

It reminded them of 1989 after they first defeated IT, when Bill had found Georgie’s yellow raincoat. Bill made the connection too, which hurt even more. They all found their tears dotting each other's clothes as they hugged the woman that they had not met until an hour ago.

“I… I think I need some time alone.” She mumbled, and the Losers left her room. Bill was about to leave when she pulled him into a kiss. It was like the one he shared with Beverly all those years ago; a farewell kiss.

***

It had been more of a farewell than Bill hoped. Not even two months after he left Derry for the second time did he receive the letter. It was addressed to him, from an address he didn’t know.

Opening the letter, he immediately recognized her handwriting. It hadn’t changed since high school. The note was short.

I’m sorry. I tried to be strong, I really did. I couldn’t do it without you and Dean. And I feel so selfish for doing this, and I don’t want you to be mad. It was best for everyone. I promise I’ll see you again, but as I said that horrible night, I need some time alone.

Yours forever, Y/N L/N

Dropping the envelope, another piece of paper came flying out. He didn’t want to, but he had to pick it up. Turning it over, he wanted to believe he was back in Derry, and this was just some cruel trick that clown was playing on him.

But it wasn’t. He wasn’t in Derry. If he was, maybe it would’ve changed things. It would’ve for sure stopped him from receiving the letter he currently held in his hand.

Celebrating a life well lived

Y/N M/N L/N

Loving mother, daughter and friend

1976-2016

***

@chipoisaloser

[lynnchkn]

Protein, Parrish

Adam Parrish is the newest member of Aglionby University's men's hockey team and for the first time, he feels like he's a part of a family. But Adam's rec league hockey team didn't prepare him for the scariest part of college ice hockey. Checking.

If Adam's going to stay on the team, he's going to need help from the last person he wants to ask, his apathetic captain, Ronan Lynch.

*A TRC Check Please!AU.*

Read it on AO3!

Chapter One

Adam Parrish, a habitual skeptic, believed Cabeswater was magic. As the sun rose past the trees, they cast a haunting shadow over the ice. He’d been awestruck by it when he’d toured the rink, but he still couldn’t believe it was his home.

Technically his home was a 115-square-foot room in Dittley Hall, but he wasn’t interested in splitting hairs.

He hadn’t been on the ice since May, and he hadn’t been at all in his new skates, so he was a little shaky to start. He hovered near the wall to avoid suspicion.

Gansey, who had taken a liking to Adam for some undetermined reason, stuck close to him. It wasn’t that Adam minded. It was just that he was trying to break in new skates without announcing it to the whole team, and Gansey’s persistent hover wasn’t helping.

Gansey trailed off from the story he was telling. “You’re from Virginia too. Right?” Adam nodded. He didn’t want to talk about where he was from, but it wasn’t a secret. “Near Jonesville?”

“Henrietta.” He tried not to spit when he said it.

“Right,” Gansey said. “How could I forget? The cave systems near there are extraordinary. Have you ever had the chance to explore them?”

He could remember a cave on a field trip once when he was a kid, but nothing recreationally. Robert and Sarah Parrish didn’t do family outings.

“Only a little,” he said.

“I haven’t been in probably five or six years.” His enthusiasm was a quiet hum in Adam’s ear. He could see Gansey physically restrain himself from fidgeting. It would have been endearing if the conversation at hand was about anything other than Henrietta. “I’d love to go back sometime. The Welsh influence in the region is fascinating.”

“Gansey,” a voice called from across the ice. Ronan Lynch skated toward them. Adam didn’t let himself flinch, but it was a conscious choice, certainly not what his body’s first instinct would have been. His rigid stance threw off his balance, and he grasped the wall tighter to recover.

Ronan was taller than Adam had imagined, and there was a permanent sneer on his face that warned casual observers off. But after a moment of consideration, the fear relaxed. Not completely. Adam never wholly relaxed, especially not around new people. But Ronan couldn’t be too dangerous if he was going to so much trouble to look it. The people Adam actually feared hid their menace behind layers of polite conversation and neighborly handshakes.

The two fist-bumped casually and what a strange pair the two of them were. Gansey, encased in marble, trapped forever with the face of a teenage scholar, and Ronan, with rough stubble and bags under his eyes that made him look closer to his thirtieth birthday than his twentieth. “Ronan,” Gansey said, turning the attention to him. “This is Adam Parrish.”

Ronan’s stare was unwavering, but Adam was the most stubborn person he knew. He held his chin up and matched the larger, scarier man eye-to-eye. Adam wasn’t scared of some trust-fund legacy player. If he kept thinking that, maybe he could convince himself it was true.

“What’s wrong with your fucking skates?” he asked.

Adam didn’t have a good response. He thought he was hiding his discomfort pretty well.

“Jesus,” Gansey said. “Are those new?”

“Yeah,” he said. There was no point lying when the truth was so obvious.

“You didn’t have time to break them in this summer?” Ronan asked.

“No,” he said. “I promise you my old ones were beyond hope.” Persephone had offered to buy him new ones, but he didn’t feel comfortable with that. He liked his new ones. He could already tell they were going to speed him up. For what they cost him, he sure hoped so. “I’ll be alright. I’ve just gotta break them in.”

Ronan rolled his eyes, an irritating gesture that oozed indifference. Indifference was a privilege Adam had craved his entire life. If Adam didn’t give a shit, he didn’t get shit. He’d only stayed alive as long as he had by caring. By wanting so damn much, it leaked out of his pores. Ambition was a hell of a drug.

“We’ve got ourselves another Virginian on the team,” Gansey said, thumb rubbing anxiously at his lip. “Adam is from Henrietta. That’s near you, right?”

Ronan nodded. “Singer Falls.”

“Really?” Adam said. Another lie, of course. Everyone in the Shenandoah Valley knew the Lynch family.

“Yep,” Ronan said. There was nowhere else for this conversation to go without bringing up Ronan’s background, or worse, Adam’s, so the three of them stood in silence for way too long to be comfortable. Gansey glanced between the two of them like he was waiting for them to make some grand connection, but they continued to stare.

Ronan’s stare was a wild one, meant to scare off opponents. But Adam didn’t shy away from it. He didn’t like conflict, but he was good at it. He’d lived with it since he was born. This was his arena. A little staring competition was nothing.

“Well,” Gansey said, clapping his hands together. He rubbed them anxiously against one another. “Good talk. Ronan, I think Blue wanted to talk to you about something in the equipment room.”

Ronan took a moment to tear his gaze away from Adam, but Adam held it even as he turned to go.

“Sorry about him. He’s not always like this,” Gansey said.

Adam was willing to venture a guess that he probably was.

The first few rounds of warm-ups and drills went better than Adam expected. He was getting more comfortable in his new skates, and while he was struggling to keep up, he wasn’t the worst on the ice like he thought he’d be.

Then they started running plays.

They weren’t overly difficult or complicated. Adam was doing okay for the most part, but there was one thing he’d been dreading since he’d first signed his contract with the team.

Technically, Adam had never been checked before.

In Henrietta, the ice had been the safest place he could be. Persephone used to let him stay for hours after practice, running drills by himself or making penalty shots, or sometimes just sitting around, killing time before he had to go back home.

Here, in Cabeswater, it was going to get violent. He’d known that all along, but he’d hoped it wouldn’t happen during his first practice. He’d hoped he’d have a little time to adjust.

Henry Cheng was not a big guy, no bigger than Adam anyway. It shouldn’t have been scary watching him charge across the ice. But the second their pads collided, Adam went down hard.

His father was leaning over him. He had a tight grip on the front of his sweaty t-shirt. His breath smelled like cheap beer, and Adam couldn’t figure out why that of all things bothered him so much.

“Look at me when I talk to you,” he hissed.

Adam couldn’t get his eyes open. There was dust in them. Dust in his blood, pumping through his veins. It was who he was. It was where he came from, and when he died, he’d turned back to dust. He could only hope it was soon.

“Parrish,” a voice called, softer than his father’s, almost hesitant.

He peeled his eyes open.

He was at center ice. He was lying at center ice at Cabeswater, and the entire Aglionby Men’s Hockey Team was staring at him.

“I promise I didn’t hit him that hard,” Henry said.

“Shut up,” Ronan said. “You gonna survive, Parrish?”

Adam nodded. He pushed himself to his feet. Ronan reached out to help him, but he brushed it off.

“That was impressive,” Noah said. “Do you think we could make a play out of that?”

Adam watched the coaches, gathered at the wall, watching him, expressions concerned. He gathered himself, turning his expression to stone. It was fine. He was fine. He had to show them he was tough enough for this. He couldn’t freak out every time he got checked.

Except once a guy hits the ice in a full-blown panic attack, the team gets a little nervous about hitting him again. He watched them skate around him, slowing down to let him pass. They moved slower, more deliberately. But it wouldn’t work long-term. Other teams weren’t going to leave him alone just because he was scared. He hated them, their pitying looks, their tense smiles. Fuck all of them.

He didn’t stop to talk to anyone when practice was over, not even Gansey.

He let himself take far too long in the shower. He couldn’t remember ever showering without worrying about the water bill, so he let himself enjoy then warmth as it washed over him. Once he was sure everyone else had left, he scrambled for his towel and clothes, changing as quickly as he could before returning to the main part of the locker room. Several of the guys had already left, so it wasn’t hard to avoid stares and questions. He didn’t want to talk to any of them ever again. He’d never been so embarrassed.

In the parking lot, a small crowd had gathered around a shiny, orange Camaro. He wanted to walk away. He wanted to get ahead on the reading for his Sociology class, and he hoped to find time to call Persephone and lie to her about how his first practice went great, and it was going to be a great year. But something drew him in. Whether it be fate or intuition, he wasn’t sure. Persephone used to call him perceptive. Maybe that was it.

Gansey sat in the driver’s seat, hopelessly turning his key in the ignition. A guttural growl came forth, but no signs of actual life. Blue, the team manager, was leaning out the passenger side window, yelling unhelpful instructions at Ronan as he fiddled helpless under the hood. Noah, in the backseat, stretched over the center console, face concerned. “I don’t have a fucking clue, man,” Ronan said. “You’re going to have to call Triple-A.”

“Need any help?” Adam asked.

“That depends,” Gansey said. “Do you happen to know anything about cars?”

“I know a thing or two.”

It turned out to be a faulty spark plug, a stupidly easy fix. Adam finished quickly and soon found himself in the backseat, tucked between Noah and Ronan on his way to Nino’s.

They led Adam straight to a booth at the back of the restaurant. He rushed ahead of Gansey to put his left side against the wall. Gansey slid in beside him, and the other three piled onto the opposite booth.

They ordered a large deep-dish pizza—half avocado and half sausage. Adam didn’t order anything other than water. He had a meal plan and had been taking full advantage of it. But he still couldn’t afford to be blowing what little money he had on pizza.

“You play hockey. You fix cars,” Gansey said. “What can’t you do?”

“Take a hit,” Ronan said.

Blue smacked his shoulder. “Shut the fuck up.” She turned to Adam. “Ignore him. We’re thinking about getting him a shock collar.”

Adam had known this outing was a bad idea. He’d been distracted by the hope of it all, their closeness, the way these guys knew each other better than anyone else. These were uncharted waters for Adam. He’d let them draw him in. But he knew better, and he had to keep reminding himself. He was unknowable. Untouchable. He was a functional machine made of broken pieces, and one day it would all come to a grinding halt. It was better to keep everyone else out of the way of the inevitable crash.

Gansey turned a stern glare to Ronan like he was about to scold a toddler. He opened his mouth to say something, but then shut it in a silent huff. He turned back to Adam. “Any other hobbies?”

Adam knew how to do lots of things, just nothing he’d call a hobby. His father had taught him how to protect his face. His mother had taught him how to lie. But Persephone had taught him how to play hockey. When he’d showed up at the rink, scrawny and hungry, searching for a third job, she’d seen him for what he was. She gave him a job cleaning the stands after games. She’d paid him more than he was worth and bought his equipment. Hockey was his ticket out of Henrietta, but there was one more thing she’d taught him.

“I can bake a mean pie.”

“I beg your pardon?” Gansey’s grin broke through his marble features. It made him look less noble than his previous politician-perfect smile. “Pies?”

He nodded.

“You should come bake at Monmouth,” Noah said. He bounced in his seat, an impatient gesture that shook the whole table.

“That is not a bad idea,” Gansey said. “We never have baked goods.”

“I made brownies last year,” Noah said.

“Those do not count.” Gansey shook a stern finger at Noah. “And you know why.”

When their waitress came back with the pizza, she sat it in the middle of the table and handed plates to each of them. Adam gently pushed his away. He didn’t want to make a big deal out of it.

“I’m sorry, Adam,” Gansey said, eyebrows pulled up in a concerned crease. “We should’ve asked what you wanted. We can order something else if you’d like.” His words said I was wrong, but his eyes said you poor thing. Adam hated pity.

“I’m fine,” he snapped. “I’m just not hungry.”

Ronan leaned over the table, grabbing a slice with sausage on it. It slapped onto the plate, and Ronan slid it forward, just under his face.

“Eat it anyway,” Ronan said. “You could use the fucking protein.”

Fuck Ronan Lynch.

He ate it anyway.

[spideyy-girl]

Red Cheeks and Bloody Noses ~ Richie Tozier

Request: HEYYYY beautiful! I had an idea and I thought you’d be the perfect person to write it. I was hoping I could request a Richie T. x reader where she wants to do something nice for Richie so she rents out the Derry’s arcade/roller rink for a cute little hang out but it makes them both all flustered and ends up being a fluffy date with a bit of kissing? ✨

Summary: Richie takes Y/N out to distract her and have a fun day to themselves at the roller rink, even though Richie isn’t the best at skating…

Fandom: IT (2017)

Warnings: mentions PTSD, swears a lot, sexual innuendos (obviously, its Richie), blood (nothing too violent).

Word Count: 2016 (5.6 pages)

Date: March 11, 2019

A/N: So I sort of did Richie is more comforting the reader, but also the reader is comforting Richie sorta. Also sorry this took soooo long but I hope you like it. My first IT imagine yay!! REQUESTS ARE OPEN so if you liked this and want to see more, please tell me!!!!

It had been a week or so since the events that occurred at the crackhead house on Neibolt. It had also been a week since the Losers stopped talking to each other. Y/N sat in her room, legs crossed on her double bed, blank-mindedly staring at herself in the mirror hung up across from her. She had been in a dazed sort of state ever since she saw it, the creature had been plaguing her mind and appearing in her horrible nightmares since. She had tried reading a book, that always seemed to calm her down before, but she couldn’t find herself focused enough to even get through a page. In fact, she felt like she couldn’t focus on most things nowadays.  

The loud ring of the telephone made her jump, and knock herself off the high bed. She rubbed her head, looking at the doorway. She steadily stood up and made her way downstairs, still trembling from the earlier shock. Her shaking hands slowly went for the receiver before picking it up and holding it to her ear.

“H-hello?” she asked quietly, hoping not to hear children singing some creepy anthem again. Her breaths were uneven, waiting for the person on the other line to respond to her.

“Jesus fucking Christ, Y/N. I thought I ringed Bill with all the s-s-s-stuttering!” Richie Tozier’s loud voice erupted through the smallish device, causing her to immediately bring it away from her ear slightly. She sighed and rolled her eyes.

“What do you want Richie?” she asked, slightly annoyed. Y/N L/N and Richie Tozier have known each other for as long as they could remember. Sure they were considered as best friends, but they still annoyed the hell out of each other. To Y/N because he kept asking her out, and to Richie because she wouldn’t accept his offer.

“What do you think I want, babydoll,” Richie says, trying to sound flirty but just coming through as awkward. “I want to take you out and for you to ride me like a merry go round-”

“Oh my fuck, Richie! Do you ever shut the fuck up!” Y/N screamed as to hopefully not hear the rest of that sentence. She closed her eyes tight and cringed, trying to get that horrible statement out of her head. “How many times do I have to tell you, it will never, EVER, happen.”

“You say that now,” Richie counterparts, she could hear his smirk in the way he talked.

“Yeah, and I’ve been saying it for the past 7 years,” she replies. She hears Richie sigh on the other side of the line.

“Yeah whatever, but it will happen!” Richie proclaims. Before you could tell you otherwise, he continues. “So… have you talked to anyone yet?” he said, his voice suddenly getting quiet. It was odd to hear Richie so serious and concerned.

“No, I tried calling Bevvy but she didn’t answer.” Y/N said, feeling sad again. When she had met Beverly, she was so happy that there was finally another girl in the Losers Club, since she had to deal with the four boys for at least a decade. They had gotten really close but had disagreed when it came down to the fighting the demon clown argument. “What about you? Have you heard from Eddie or any of the other boys?”

“Well, Stan invited me to his bar mitzvah, so that’s sick,” Richie said, he also sounded a bit down. “You’re actually, uh, t-the first person I’ve c-called.”

“Look who’s stuttering now?” Y/N joke light-heartedly, earning a small laugh from the boy.

“Yeah yeah, whatever,” Richie dismissed her quickly, before mumbling something that was almost inaudible, but she had just heard. “Goddammit, Y/N. The one time I tried to be nice to you-” he cut himself off with a sigh, before speaking at a normal level again. “How are you? How’s your, uh, injury?” he asked. Y/N took a deep sigh, before lifting her short sleeve up to her shoulder, revealing a large and still very bruised and puff gash, she pushed it back down, not wanting to look at it.

“Let’s just say that it’s definitely not going anywhere anytime soon,” she said quietly. Her slightly brightened mood dimming out again fast.

“You alright?” he asked again, sounding concerned. Y/N didn’t know, but Richie very much loved the girl, and wouldn’t be able to handle if anything happened to her, which is why he freaked out on the other Losers when her arm was almost slashed off.

“Yeah, Richie, I just told you that it’s okay-”

“I’m not talking about your arm, dumbass,” Richie cut her off mid-sentence. “I meant after what happened, Y/N, you looked like you were about to shit yourself and you suddenly became mute. I know you, Y/N L/N, and you’re an obnoxious loud little bitch all the time. You fucking scared me.” Richie started to ramble, not knowing why he was suddenly spilling everything to her but knowing she probably needed the comfort anyways. After waiting for a response and not getting one, he spoke again.

“Alright, get off your ass and out the door, L/N. We’re going rollerskating! And yes you have to because I know it’s your favourite!” And before she could complain, he hung up. Y/N let out a loud groan before getting dressed and ready.

Half an hour later, Y/N finally pulled up to the rollerskating rink. Bright pink and green neon lights flashing the words right in front of her. She locked her bike and helmet to a nearby pole before walking in. She had tried to cover up the bags under her eyes with her mother’s makeup, and the stress pimple that formed on her relatively clear face, but neither seemed to be successful. She walked through the building, to the attached small diner on the side of the rink, where she found Richie sitting in their usual booth, slurping aggressively at a chocolate milkshake. Another Y/F/F milkshake stood in front of him, waiting for you. You smiled while you plopped down on the bench across from him and pulled the sweet beverage closer to you, already starting to feel better.

“Hey there, hot stuff,” he said, slicking his hair back and nodding at you. You rolled your eyes, trying not to let your small smile peek through.

“Don’t ruin this for me, Rich,” she warned him, quickly taking another sip of her milkshake before standing up with him and going to the desk to rent a pair of roller skates. Richie followed her, shrugging at her warning. They put on their wheeled shoes and got on the track and started skating around the brightly lit room.

Y/N had always loved rollerskating, she loved to overly loud music playing, the dark room lit up with patterns made up of neon lights on the walls, the oddly delicious milkshakes they made here. She came here almost every day, so it was safe to say that she was quite comfortable when she got on the rink. Richie watched as she gracefully placed one foot in front of the other, gliding against the sleek wood floor, as if it was easier than walking.

Richie definitely couldn’t relate to that sense of easiness when it came to this particular activity. Richie struggled before his wheeled skates even touched on the slippery floors. He must’ve fallen on his face at least 5 times before he joined Y/N on the track. And after that, well it was a bit of a shit show, for Richie at least. To say he was completely flustered would be completely true. Richie thanked god that the room was so dark so that Y/N couldn’t see his terribly red face, even though the darkness was also a factor to him tripping every two seconds.

“You alright, Rich?” He heard Y/N question, after Richie fell again, his face making a loud slapping sound against the wood. Y/N skated to him quickly, bending down and trying to help him on his knees. She gasped when he lifted up his face, revealing a slightly crooked nose and blood, lots of blood. Y/N had to really calm herself down, as the sight of the dark red liquid made her feel like crying, starting to bring up horrible memories.

“Yeah, yup, I’m all good,” Richie says, grasping at his nose. He and Y/N quickly get off the rink, Y/N making sure to hold his arm so he doesn’t trip again.`Y/N unties his laces, not really bothering to do hers in the process, as Richie stuffs his face with tissues to attempt to stop the bleeding. After taking them off, they rush quickly to the bathroom. Y/N immediately sat him on a toilet and got a wet paper towel to put on the back of his neck, as well as an abundance of toilet paper to help stop the bleeding from the source.

“Y/N, I appreciate this and all but… you know this is the boy’s washroom?” Richie ass, as she rushes around the small disgusting bathroom, trying to find more ways to help.

“You know I don’t really give a shit?” She quickly replied, finally walking over to him and kneeling down next to him, holding the paper towels in place as he tries to control stream. “It doesn’t look good, Richie. We should take you to a doctor-”

“No no no no no, I’m feeling better already!” Richie exclaims, attempting to get up, only to be pushed back down by the girl, giving him a stern look. She continued to tend to him, but taking a step back and looking at him. Richie smirked, pushing up his glasses.

“Whatcha lookin at, sweetcheeks?” He asked, wriggling his eyebrows. Y/N scoffed, rolling her eyes before going back to help stop the blood.

“The giant fucking mess on your face,” Y/N replied sarcastically, referring to his out of place nose, which she grabbed and snapped back into place, causing Richie to let out a loud groan of discomfort. He grabbed his nose, as Y/N cleaned up the rest of the blood before standing up to wash her hands. Richie stood up after her, going to the bathroom mirror to check out what happened.

“Hey, look! Good as new!” He says happily. Y/N smiled, her teeth peeking past her lips. She shrugged.

“All in a days work,” she joked, taking Richie’s face in her hands, examining the wound. Richie’s face fell and his cheeks went red again. “You should still get that checked out though.” She pulled away, not removing her hands from their position, and looked at the flustered boy.

“O-okay, t-thanks,” he managed to get out, the words falling quickly from his lips. Y/N smiled, she went up on her toes and pressed a lingering kiss to Richie’s lips, her hands winding around to the back of his neck. Richie tried to kiss back, but the kiss ended as quickly as it began.

“Thanks, Richie,” she said, a smile on her lips. “Today was actually a lot more fun than I thought it would’ve been.” Richie smiled nervously at the girl, not knowing how to reply. This was literally his dream coming true. Her hands slipped from his neck back to her sides as she went up and pressed another kiss to his cherry red cheek. “I can’t wait for our second date,” she whispered in his ear, before slipping past a man trying to get into the washroom, giving her a weird look in the process. Richie couldn’t help but stand there starstruck for a few seconds, before a giant shit-eating grin came upon his face as he ran all the way home, shouting and pumping his fist in the air.

“Stan the Man!! You wouldn’t believe what happened today!”

“You’re right, Rich, I probably won’t.”

[hello-justawriterofthings]

New guy in Town - Billy Hargrove

------------------------------------------------

Requested by @kaitlinlexiexx I really hope you enjoy, Thank you so much for requesting! Hopefully this will make you happy, I'm always nervous when doing requests <3 <3 

In which you attend Hawkins High When Billy rolls up and since you're a rebel, you'll  do anything to make him yours. { Warning - a few swear words, lots of fluff and flirting, this also just takes place in one day } I'm the most awkward person, so flirting isn't easy for me to write ( Or even do ), but I tried. Sorry it's so short. The timeline also is off the breakup between Nancy and Steve has already happened when Billy shows up.

-----------------------------------------------------

I lent up against my car, waiting on my friends, glancing around at the very dull Hawkins high. The same people, wearing the same outfits, acting the same way, it never ended, nor did it change. Jonathan and Nancy pulled up right next to mine, in Jonathan's vehicle. I sighed deeply still focusing on other things, what we needed was something new to spice up this town, something fresh. I lit up a cigarette as I let out a deep sigh, " Morning Y/N " Jonathan stated with a smile as he stepped out of the car. " Hey " I waved, " I really wish you would stop smoking Y/n, it's horrible for your health " Nancy sighed pulling the strap of her bag over her head.  I shrugged slightly as I put out the cigarette, I only ever started smoking to piss my parents off. I had to do something to get noticed, I was the middle child. My oldest brother was a scholar in collage and my younger sister was only 4 and just learned to count to 10, so my parents seemed to focus on them over me. I shook the thought from my head as Steve pulled up moments later, " Did you guys finish the history homework last night, it sucked ass!! " he exclaimed while slamming his car door. I chuckled while nodding, things were getting better in out group. After the drama between Nancy and Steve took place, it was awkward. Steve ended spending most of his summer days with Dustin, he accepted Nancy and Jonathan's relationship now, even though everyone knew he still loved Nancy. " I can't believe summer went by so quickly, I feel like I haven't seen you guys in ages! " Steve then stated squeezing me with a hug, " Steve, you saw us last night, get a grip! " I chuckled hugging him back. After talking with the three of them for a few minutes, the roar of an incoming car started most of the students in the parking lot. A shiny blue camaro came barreling in, nearly hitting a few students. I furrowed my brows at the mysterious car, I'd definitely not seen in before. The door swung open, a boot hit the ground and a guy wearing all Jean got out. Along with a small red headed girl, who ended up skating over to the middle school. Everyone had their eyes on him, especially me. The mystery man turned towards us, cigarette hanging loosely from his lips. Nancy groaned deeply, already sensing the trouble coming from this guy. I couldn't take my eyes off of him though, as he made his way into the building, something about him intrigued me. " Y/N " Nancy called, but I ignored it. " y/N! " she then shouted louder, making me finally look at her with a smirk on my face. " Don't, I can tell he's trouble " she stated with a sigh, I continued to smirk though " But Nance, you know how much I love trouble ". She rolled her eyes, I grabbed my bag and made my way towards the building " I'll see you at lunch ".

Most of the day, I spent  keeping an eye out for that blonde hunk. Bu the time gym came around, I was over being in school. I was in the unflattering gym clothes, today we were running the track, which I wasn't looking forward to, but once I saw who was in the class, I was excited for it. He had a group of girls following him everywhere and now I had to find a way to get his attention somehow. Steve chuckled as he walked up beside of me " Having troubles with Loverboy? ", " I sighed deeply " Why would you think that? ". " Because of the glare on your face, just forget him, he's just a flirt " Steve then stated, " Don't count me out just yet Harrington " I smirked. Once we got out onto the track and started running, that's when the plan came to mind. I waited until he was close by and pretended to trip, unfortunately scraping my knee on the fall. " Are you okay? "  the blonde questioned as he lent down in front of me, " Um, yeah... I just lost my balance " I stated with a small smile. Tina scoffed from beside him " Come on Bill, let's keep going ", " You go ahead " the blonde stated. Causing Tina to groan slightly and continue to jog, he smiled at me " Looks like you fucked up your knee pretty bad, let me help you up ", I nodded offering him another smile. " I'm Billy by the way " he stated, " Y/N " I sighed in response. Billy helped me to the nurses office, but not before I glanced back at Steve while wearing a large smirk. He only rolled his eyes and shook his head, but continued running. Billy got me to the nurses office and sat there while she bandaged me up, making me laugh the entire time, apparently I did more damage than I thought. Once she was done it was time to get back to class, which I wasn't going to do. Billy and I headed back to the gym, since the class was over, we had to get changed back into our clothes. Afterwords I glanced around to make sure no one was around, then I snuck out the back door and limped over the the bleachers. The site where most people ditched class to make out or smoke. I let out a deep sigh, seeing that it was empty. I pulled the pack of cigarettes out of my back pocket and lit one, leaning up against one of the poles. I heard a quiet chuckle to my left, making me glance that way. " Mind if I join you? " Billy asked in a flirt tone, lighting a cigarette himself. " Didn't think you were a smoker, you seem like a good girl " he then stated, I shrugged my shoulders " There's a lot you don't know about me Billy ". He sent me another smirk " Oh yeah, will I ever get to see what your all about ", I smirked back " That'll be completely up to you ". I put out my cigarette out and sighed deeply " You know, I love your car by the way, the color is amazing ", he lifted an eyebrow " Oh yeah, maybe I'll take you on a drive one day ". I smirked as he started to approach me, " See you in class " I stated with a smile as I started to leave. Hearing him groan in the background, which made me chuckle, the game had only begun. " Y/N! " he shouted after me, causing me to stop and look back at him. " Did you fall on purpose, to get my attention? " he questioned with a brow raised, I smirked " It's possible ". He smiled while nodding " You didn't have to, you had my attention the moment I laid eyes on you ", I nodded in return " Good to know ". I then sent him one last smirk, then turned and walked away. This school year was going to be very interesting.

Lunch approached quickly after, I was sitting at the usually table when Nancy and Jonathan approached. " Why did the new guy ask me for your number, why are you getting involved with that scumbag! There are plenty of other guys in this school " Nancy ranted, causing me to roll my eyes " But their all so boring... No offence Jonathan, you know I love you ". He chuckled " I know, we've known each other since we were two ", he was right I had known him the longest. " Not everyone is boring, Lenard is very nice, he's my lab partner " Nancy then stated, I groaned deeply " Lenard is nice, but he's eaten his own boogers since he was five. It was fine when he was a kid, that's normal. He's almost 18 now ". Nancy sighed deeply " Fine, you have a point... Just be careful ", I smiled " I'm always careful aren't I? ". She rolled her eyes " You're always cocky ", I smirked while raising my eyebrows. " Y/N! Come sit " I heard Billy's rough voice shout, making me look over in his direction, only to see him smirking at me. " Gotta go, my future boo is calling " I smiled at Nancy and Jonathan, making Nancy roll her eyes and Jonathan chuckle quietly. I made y way over to the table Billy, Tommy and Carol were sitting at. " Why did you invite her to sit with us, she's one of those losers  Carol groaned while chewing her gum extra loudly, I sat down the the chair beside billy while smiling sweetly " So Tommy, Carol. How's that case of herpes clearing up? ". Billy busted out a loud laugh, Carol scoffed while getting up and stomped out of the lunchroom. Tommy didn't follow at first, to busy picking at the food in front of him. " Tommy! " Carol shouted, causing him to get up fast and sprint out of the cafeteria. I sent Billy a slight smirk, " Now that those idiots are gone, let's get to know each other more " Billy stated with a flirty smile. " Okay " I then stated raising a brow.

That lunch felt like it went on for hours, the amount of flirting that went n between us was crazy, I was never one to flirt. Once the bell rang, signaling that it was time to get to the next class, Billy took a hold of my wrist. " So, when I am going to get your number? " he asked with another smirk, causing me to shrug slightly. " Can I at least give you a ride home? " he stated, I smiled " We'll see... " ( Knowing that I had brought my own car today ). He smiled again as we both stood up " okay, can I walk you to your next class? ", I nodded " Sure ". He smiled widely as we exited the lunch room, catching everyone's eye on the way out. 

After School, I made my way outside and into the parking lot, ready for the day  to be over. " Hey Y/N! " Billy shouted from besides his car, I sighed while walking to my car and throwing my bag inside. He jogged over by me, " Hey, I thought I could give you that ride home " he stated looking confused. " I have my own car, sorry I didn't tell you earlier " I sighed, " But, I wanted to hangout with you some more " he stated semi desperately. I smirked " But, we just met Billy... Are you already that attached? ", " No.. I mean, there's just something about you that I'm attracted too, I want to get to know you and I've never never said that to anyone before " he stated honestly. I smirked " Wow, what a sweet talker ", he groaned deeply. " How about, you take your little sister home, because she's looking very impatient over there.. And give me a call after, I'm sure I can squeeze you into my schedule and show you around Hawkins " I stated handing him a folded piece of paper that held my number, " She's not my sister " he huffed. I rolled my eyes, " Can I take you on a drive? " he questioned with another smirk. " Absolutely, you drive and I instruct you were to go, I'll take you to all the amazing spots here " I stated with a smile. He nodded, sending me a wink before heading back to his car and I climbed into my own. I didn't know where this little flirt session was headed, but something about Billy Hargrove intrigued me. I knew I was going to have a great time with this guy and i could careless what anyone thought. Maybe things would go further beyond flirting, but now that's a different story. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Hey guys, I changed the request up a bit. I'm sorry if this isn't any good, I'm just not great ( That I know of ) with flirty things, I've never really been n a relationship myself and I'm definitely a lover of angst, so that's usually what I write, because I love drama. Thank you so much for Reading, your all so amazing and I hope you enjoyed <3<3

[thetaekooklibrary]

enemies to friends pls?

Ènouement by merelypretty - Being a fairy prince isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, especially when you’re cursed to die by the age of twenty. A year before his birthday, Taehyung meets fairy hunter Jeongguk, and he’s pretty sure he’ll die a little earlier than planned.

make it to me by thestarsabove - Pride and Prejudice AU ft. Jeongguk as a rich boy with daddy issues and Taehyung as a graphic designer who sees him for exactly what he is: an asshole. (Or so he thinks.)

They Long To Be (Close To You) by vantoa - Kim Taehyung is a sassy and talented KBS World Sports reporter. Jeon Jeongguk the most outstanding speed skater in South Korea. They meet, hate each other and then, one eventful day, they like each other, a lot.

(Maybe I Love You) We’re Too Young For That by kaihua - If there’s anything Taehyung dislikes more than writing pop songs, it’s writing songs for Jungkook: rising idol, CF magnet, and one of the biggest douchebags Taehyung’s ever met. But hey, it pays the bills.

Electric Touch by grimmjoy - Jungkook can’t stand the cocky, infuriatingly attractive alpha across the hall. Despite his best efforts to avoid said alpha, fate seems stubbornly determined to unite them.

put your hands up, let the lights drop (make the world stop) by cypherkooks - jeongguk (21, alpha, wants to get fucked hard) and taehyung (22, alpha, wants to fuck hard) aren’t good for each other until they are

Running on Fumes (But We’ll Make It Through the Night) by littleheichou - Jungkook’s a fresh face on the force, destined for greatness like his parents. A symbol of hope for the city that, maybe, will finally overcome the android ‘infiltration’ after decades of turmoil. But Taehyung? He’s just trying to survive. It’s on a rainy Friday night that a hot-shot investigator meets the young man being hunted down by some of the most powerful forces in the country and Taehyung may not know a whole lot about life, but, god, does he know about living.

Thin Ice by Itfires - Unstoppable \ˌən-ˈstä-pə-blē\ adverb:incapable of being stopped: an unstoppable army: an unstoppable rise to power. “You’re not invincible, Tae,” Jimin mutters while on one knee, helping Taehyung lace up his professional ice skates. “And neither are the people around you—try to remember that.” “I know I’m not invincible, Chim,” Taehyung scoffs, patting Jimin’s fluffy hair. “I’m unbeatable.” Also known as: Figure Skater Taehyung needs Hockey Player Jungkook’s help in order to get back to the top.

The Blood Donor by IncubusRose - A series of kidnappings and killings has led the world to the astonishing discovery that vampires have been living alongside humans for centuries. And it seems they’re just as bloodthirsty and twisted as ancient lore makes them out to be. So when Jungkook finds himself the victim of a kidnapping that’s perhaps not as nefarious as he initially thought, why is nothing the way that he thought it would be? Now he’s been roped into helping a sick, red-haired vampire against his will. But the more he explores and discovers in this new world, the faster and harder he falls into Wonderland.

Fair Game by Wontonz - Taehyung and Jeongguk are constantly at each other’s throats as they try to win over the same girl. They didn’t mean to end up with each other.

Requiem by tbz - “How you ever manage to charm humans is truly a mystery. You’re like a walking turn off.” Taehyung replied very belatedly through clenched teeth, tightening his grip. He was surprised the demon could even hear him over the roar of the whirlwind, but it all vanished the next second without a hint of warning, making Taehyung stumble forward a few steps. He felt a sudden presence right behind him.“You want to find out firsthand?” The demon whispered right beside his ear, an unbearably hot hand brushing the bare skin of his waist and swiftly creeping around to his lower stomach. Taehyung almost jumped out of his skin, instinctive fear, shock and a jolt of an unrespectable something else exploding in his body at the sudden touch.

dancing on the blades (you set my heart on fire) by dunedain - Taehyung’s pride was weak these days, and it’s probably why he pressed his nose against the plexiglas of the rink, blowing hot air on it and telling himself he wouldn’t be able to look Jimin in the eyes ever again if Jimin caught him making fog hearts with little Y’s in them (which he really wanted to do if he’s honest). So he peeled his eyes off Yoongi for a moment (he’s not sure why) and caught Jungkook staring at him, head tilted like a confused mutt. Taehyung drew a dick on the glass instead, and then winced at Jungkook as he held his thumb and forefinger a centimeter from each other. Jungkook aimed a slapshot at Taehyung’s face.

Boys of Fall by ennomi - “You two have so much pent up frustration I can feel it radiating whenever you step in the same room.” “I think that’s their sexual tension.” “Oh, is that what they call hatred nowadays?” (Or, Jungkook just wants to make it through college and play soccer. A mortal enemy with benefits who also happens to be your team captain can make that pretty damn difficult)

Fated by avantaegarde - “Taehyung, do you really believe you can…” Hoseok glanced around anxious, making sure yet again there was no one near. Still he lowered his voice even more, “Kill Jeongguk?"Taehyung gulped, his eyes somber like Hoseok had never seen. "Or I’ll die trying.”

Through Twilight’s Veil by silver_butterfly - If Taehyung learned something, it’s to never turn your back to someone. Not even your closest friends.

got a question or request? check our tags page first to see if what you’re looking for is already there, or use the search bar on our blog! if you don’t have any luck with that, feel free to send us an ask - only when the inbox is open^^

[notsugarandspice]

get you out my mind

eeeeee, I love my Losers so much, and I love Beverly, and I love cute flirty boys playing nurse just AH ♡

Not Rated, Meet-Cute, Skater! Eddie, Richie is in a private school & is #miserable, pretty Cali life, playing nurse

Read it on AO3.

Eddie hasn’t been able to sleep for a whole week. It all fell on him like a vicious monsoon in the middle of an open field. No hopes for cover.

It was just another sunny day, dreamy and pleasant, like most Cali days. The ocean had a pretty glisten, it wasn’t too crowded at the skatepark because the weather was more chilly than usual, and Bill agreed to go out instead of playing video games, which had recently been his favourite occupation. Eddie couldn’t understand for the life of him why a teenage boy would want to stay indoors. Well, he kind of could.

He used to sit at home a lot in elementary school. That’s all he did, really. His mom was overbearing to the point of insanity, and she refused to admit she had a problem. She and his dad were teetering towards divorce when Sonia’s diabetes finally made itself known, giving her a heart attack she couldn’t recover from. She never went for check-ups but loved taking her son. Eddie was only ten back then, he couldn’t remember a lot, but he never missed his mother as much as he probably should. The only memories of her he had was a lock in his door and a bottle of cold medicine that he didn’t need on the bedside drawer. And their constant fighting. As much as he hated to think it, everything was better now.

He flips over to his side, watching the way the drying laundry flops outside his window, uneasy with the morning wind. The Sun just started peaking over the horizon, Eddie can tell by the slightly dim light in his room devoid of curtains. He’s been tossing in his bed for the last thirty minutes, trying to calm his mind enough to let him get another half an hour of sleep. It obviously wasn’t happening. Nada. As hard as he tried, he couldn’t get the dark-haired guy out of his head.

He could never understand the whole thing with crushes. Eddie doesn’t fall for random people. It just doesn’t happen. Until last Friday, that is. The guy really didn’t try to stand out at all, quite the contrary, he was in his uniform, with a book in hand, occasionally glancing at the beach, all forlorn and beautiful. But something about him exasperated Eddie as if Richie was placed on that beach to personally taunt and distract him, all plans of peacefully skating totally ruined. The moment he saw Bill talking to someone on the bench (Bill’s board always ran away from him because he never listened when Eddie said you need more practice before you go crazy) he couldn’t shake the image out of his head.

Richie’s curls sticking out of the hair tie, blue eyes that seemingly changed contrast mid-conversation, all the freckles on his nose and lips. It’s like the image of Richie’s face was permanently stuck behind his eyelids, and the sounds of his slightly croaky voice, and the way that blue polo shifted around his chest when he shimmied on the bench, embarrassed about every adorable thing he’s said. It’s been a week, and Eddie still can’t get him out of his head. They talked once. This is getting ridiculous.

Eddie sits up tapping his foot on the floor, lost in his head completely. He goes to the bathroom on autopilot, rubs his face with cold water and moves down the stairs. Everything is starting to take shape as sunlight slowly creeps upward, all pretty and golden, and Eddie smiles before turning into the kitchen, an image of that shade on Richie’s skin perfectly clear in his mind. Frank is already there, sipping his herbal tea, wetsuit covering the lower half of his body.

“Aren’t you running late?” asks Eddie kissing his dad’s cheek.

Frank puts down the tea smiling and ruffles Eddie’s hair fondly. “I gotta pick up Marcy from her house so we can go together.”

Eddie opens the fridge door and rolls his eyes. Sometimes, Frank Kaspbrak is a tad too generous. “Dad, she lives in Malibu.”

“So? It’s barely a forty minute drive.”

Eddie takes out orange juice and pours himself a glass. “Yeah, if you go at five in the morning. And it’s not anymore, so you’re already late.” Frank looks at his son for several seconds, and Eddie eventually meets his eyes. “What?”

“You’re fussy, is all. Like your mama.”

Eddie’s eyebrows instantly draw together. “I’m not fussy. And don’t compare me to her.”

Frank cocks his head to the side in that parental manner that indicates that he’s crossing the line. “You don’t need to get like that anytime I bring her up.”

“Then don’t.” Eddie finishes the glass and puts it into the sink.

“I made you avocado toast,” says Frank, pointing at two pieces neatly placed in the frying pan.

Eddie smiles fondly and hugs his dad from the back, burying his face in his back. “You didn’t have to.”

Frank laughs and taps Eddie’s hands around his belly. “Sure, kiddo. You can’t keep eating Clif bars for every meal.”

“They’re good.” Eddie lets go and grabs the plate, headed towards their cozy back porch. He hears Frank say good doesn’t mean healthy and opens the screen door, the scent of the ocean making his stomach flip with excitement. He can just see a sliver of the dark blue water between a couple of houses several streets down. He might be able to go skating early if Bill doesn’t come up with another elaborate plan to stay indoors. Not that Eddie needs the company that much, but it’s always fun to go with someone else. And Beverly usually works every day of the week. Her showing up last weekend was a goddamn miracle.

He’s halfway through the first toast when Frank pushes the door open, a bottle of water in hand. He places it in front of the plate just when Eddie gets the first hiccup. “Right on cue.” He kisses the top of his son’s head and grabs his sunglasses from the table. “I’m out. I’m going to stop by the store later. You need anything?”

Eddie hiccups again and irritably slams the fist on the table. “No, should be-“ hiccup “DAMN IT-  fine.”

Frank puts the fist out, and Eddie bumps him quickly before emptying half the water bottle. His throat calms by the time Frank leaves, but his mind drifts back to Richie and the irrational fear of never seeing him again. Don’t live that close. He might not ever come to that beach again. Eddie wallows in self-pity for ten more agonizing minutes before he decides to check the extent of his weekend homework. He might be able to finish everything before he goes out tonight.

—

Naturally, Eddie didn’t anticipate the amount of work that needs to be done by Monday, and since he has very serious plans for the rest of the weekend, he forces himself to complete most of it, excluding the reading that he could cram in before he goes to bed. By the time he finishes everything, it’s almost 5:00 PM and he picks up the phone to call Bill. He responds right before Eddie hangs up, already on the front porch to head out.

“Hello?”

“Bill? How long does it take to answer the phone?”

Eddie can hear the background music of a video game, and he knows the call is hopeless before he asks. “I’m buh-buh-busy.”

“Busy sitting on your ass? It’s Saturday. You really gonna stay home?”

“Did you call in t-t-to be my mom?”

Eddie drops the board to lock the front door. “Wow, mature. You really not going to show up?”

“Dude, I’m on the graveyard l-luh-level. I’ve been stu-uh-uck all day.”

Yeah, like your ass is stuck to that bean chair. “You really think it’s going to take you five more hours to finish it?” Eddie pushes the board forward and runs up to jump on it, swerving on an empty road.

“Have you ever played a v-v-video game, Eddie? -FUCK!”

“You know I have. Whatever, this is pointless. You know where I’ll be.”

“Sure. Have f-fun.”

“You too, Billy.” Eddie rolls his eyes and puts the phone in the pocket of his overall shorts, speeding up to grab a smoothie on his way to the skatepark.

He gets to the café across the street from the beach and orders the pineapple strawberry smoothie and asks to add kale, thinking that dad would be proud to see him trying. What he doesn’t need to know about is a mint chocolate Clif bar in one of Eddie’s pockets. The less you know…or something.

Eddie waits for the walking light to turn on while he sips on his smoothie, trying to make out the people at the skatepark across the road. He can’t see anyone he’s close with, just a couple of people from school he sees in the hallways. The light changes and Eddie is already halfway done with the drink, silently cursing himself for being a fast eater. There’s a heavy feeling in the pit of his stomach, and by the time he makes it to the other side, he’s battling light waves of nausea. And somehow, he still feels hungry.

He rolls through the skatepark to the sidewalk that leads to the beach, the sun still bright and warm in that particular May-California way. Eddie stops the board right before the sand, throws out the nearly done smoothie, and quickly takes the yellow Vans off. He walks barefoot towards the lifeguard post, his beady ankle bracelet shifting pleasantly as he moves. Eddie remembers the time when he hated the beach when the feeling of the sand between his toes seemed foreign and disgusting. Then Frank took up surfing and took his son with him every day. Now it’s home. Venice is his little getaway, a small paradise a mere mile away.

He gets to the post and drops his shoes on the first step, carrying the board to the top to make sure no one nicks it. Eddie knocks on the door and smiles wide when Mike opens it almost immediately, chewing on an apple. He waves Eddie inside and sits back on the chair. Eddie immediately grabs the large binoculars and looks over to the ocean, noticing a young couple slashing in the waves, happy and drunk judging by the redness on their faces.

“You’re late today.”

“Yeah, I had so much shit to do.” Eddie puts down the binoculars and climbs up to sit on the table, turned sideways to Mike. “Exams are in a week, and they all collectively decided to fail us.”

Mike snorts and takes another bite, looking off at the water longingly. Eddie sees his strong want to just go and surf as soon as he’s off which should be in less than two hours. Eddie takes the Clif bar out of his pocket and bites off almost half of it at once, much to Mike’s delight. He stifles giggles and picks up his phone to take a photo of Eddie with a mouth full of chocolate oats. Eddie pretends to dislike the attention.

Eddie is kind of grateful he doesn’t have Bill with him today - Bill and Mike had a fling last year that ended in their collective inability to hold a serious relationship. As it turns out, neither was ready for it. And Mike was older anyway: if Eddie had zero patience with Bill, the other had even less. Fortunately, they didn’t act hostile towards each other, but there was still a grain of awkwardness anytime they hung out. So Eddie tries to stop by alone.

They talk for almost half an hour, completely lost in conversation since they haven’t seen one other for a solid month. Eddie invites Mike to tomorrow’s bonfire, and he happily agrees, doesn’t even ask if Bill’s going to be there.

Mike sees someone struggling to make it out of the raging waves, and he grabs a lifejacket, sprinting down the steps with alarming stability. Eddie huffs an incredulous laugh and hops down to his shoes, carrying them to that same spot Richie sat yesterday. He cleans off the sand from his feet, puts the shoes back on and smiles at the lowering sunlight, gradually moving towards the horizon. He has about an hour of light, and he intends on using it. Eddie runs with the board and lets it roll just before the bend, sliding down gracefully, feeling free and happy. A couple of guys who usually hang out there whoop him and he shoots them a thumbs up.

Eddie gets to the other end of the park and stands on top, fishing out his headphones. He plugs them in and turns on Feel It Still, tapping his foot on the board with the rhythm of the beat. He quickly shoots Bev a text hoping she’ll have a chance to stop by.

Eddie skates smoothy for about half an hour, warming up, feels his legs move with less effort now, feet gliding on the smooth surface when he pushes. He ollies onto the sidewalk, high and easy, his lower body moving on its own accord. Eddie rolls towards the clearing with the rails and practices his jumps, scaling them as he goes. There’s an especially long rail he’s had his eye on for a while now, taller than others and he has all the intentions to actually go through with it today. He practices on smaller ones for a while, long enough for the Sun to almost touch the horizon.

He takes a deep breath and finally collects the courage to attempt scaling it. He fails three solid times, skating away with zero to none contact before he manages to even go halfway. It takes him some time, but he finally does it right, feeling light and invincible. Eddie continues practicing as sunlight moves to hide behind the water, and more people start showing up at the park.

But he makes a small mistake when he’s on top of the rail for the nth time, thinking he’s confident enough to avoid looking at his feet even for a split second. He lifts his head to look out at the approaching pedestrians, hoping one of them is going to be Beverly jogging with her skateboard towards him. It would take him next to no time to register the red hair and look back down. But what he sees instead is a face he hasn’t been able to push out of his mind, haloed in loose black curls, same perfect black glasses. Eddie knows he’s not nearly confident enough on this rail do to shit like that, and that’s how he loses his balance, the board tipping too much on one side, the wheels catching on the metal, and his body somehow does a full 360 in the air before he smacks hard on his elbows and knees, miraculously holding his neck to avoid grazing the forehead.

Eddie doesn’t fall. Even the idea of it shocks him enough that there are several seconds of numbness and slight deafness before the world seems to resume and he flips over, groaning slightly. He starts feeling the blood pulsing in both of his elbows and one of the knees, on the heel of his hand, and he doesn’t dare open his eyes, still in a state of mild shock.

He’d laugh if this was a regular thing for him. If he fell every day, somehow landing perfectly well on the board, sliding away to other’s cheers. But this simply doesn’t happen to him, he’s too careful. He’s not scared of pain at all, not scared of falling, but rather the implications of open scratches, his blood mixing with the dirt on the sidewalk, the leftover sand from the beach mere feet away, all the ger-

“Fuck, Eddie, are you okay?”

Eddie opens his eyes, somehow only now realizing that he’s been wrapped in himself on the ground for fuck knows how long. Richie is bending down in front of him, eyes wide and black eyebrows drawn together, the pink and orange of the sunrise reflected on his skin. He looks so beautiful that Eddie momentarily forgets what happened mere seconds ago.

“N-no,” he chuckles because his heart is stuttering and his mind is too occupied with this stupidly attractive and caring boy next to him that the pulsing in his elbows is replaced by the nauseating feeling of great, my crush just saw me fall on my ass.

Richie’s face relaxes slightly, and he takes something out of Eddie’s hair. Richie’s wrist comes close to his face, and he smells some sort of cologne. His whole body is buzzing. “Where’s your board?”

It takes Eddie a second to force himself to cooperate with the real world, and he looks behind him, seeing it at the end of the sidewalk, on the very edge of the park. He points at it, his elbow stinging harshly when it bends.

Eddie hisses, and Richie looks panicked for a second. “Wait here.” Nah, I’m not moving until you carry me to the ER in your noodle arms. The only form of transportation I accept. Richie runs towards the end of the park, jumping a little when a girl almost comes crashing into him, swerving at the last second. Eddie chuckles and just notices that Richie isn’t wearing his uniform (obviously) and has on some blue shorts, an open white button down and some nonsensical white boy t-shirt underneath. He looks amazing, clothes fitted well and hugging him all right. Eddie’s heart jumps when he sees the same style Vans on him, but in white, slightly dirty and dusty. Richie stops by the board to tie some of the hair in half-up-half-down, smiling back at Eddie bashfully as he does so. Wow, you’re so far gone, Kaspbrak.

“So, you’re Eddie?” asks a guy standing on the same spot Richie was earlier, arms crossed, a blank expression on his face.

“Huh?” Who the fu-

“Richie hasn’t stopped talking about you for the last eight days. He never stops talking, but it’s been especially annoying this past week.” Eddie looks at him in pure confusion, and the other’s face still doesn’t change. “I’m Stan, Richie’s friend from school.”

Oh. At least he introduced himself as a friend. “Yeah, I’m Eddie.” He tries to get up, starting to realize it might be impolite to talk to people in this position and leans on the heel of his hand, forgetting about the scrape there. He hisses and tries to lean on the other one when he sees an arm extending in front of him, slightly softer expression on the boy’s face. Eddie takes it with a smile, and Stan lifts him up like he weighs nothing, wiping his hands on the khaki shorts after. Eddie represses a snort, and he’s saved from some awkward small talk by Richie, who finally stops in front of them.

“Your board looks alright, no dents or anything.”

Eddie takes it out of Richie’s hands without so much as a glance at its condition. “I mean, it’s a skateboard…it would be weird if it didn’t have some scratches.” Stan snorts and connects eyes with Richie whose cheeks are tinted pink. Eddie feels himself figuratively melting into the ground. “Well, thanks for helping me. I think I’m gonna uber to the ER.”

Eddie gives the two of them an awkward wave, his stomach tumbling from the unwavering gaze of his crush. He chastises himself for ruining possibly the only opportunity to hang out with Richie. But not thirty seconds later there’s a hand on his bare shoulder, and Eddie turns, smiling when he sees black eyebrows drawn together.

“Eds, you don’t need to go to the emergency room.”

Eddie is momentarily offended, and he steps back slightly, feeling judged and mocked. But none of those things are reflected on Richie’s face, nothing but concern, really. He thinks maybe he’s overreacting slightly, but he can’t stop his brain from making a thousand scenarios of how this fall could result in an auto-immune disease or something. Not that that would be Richie’s fault. Eddie’s eyes fall on Stan who’s casually strolling towards them, his eyes searching something in the palm trees.

“Hey, are you okay?” asks Richie, grabbing Eddie by the elbow in the most gentle manner but one that still results in an embarrassing whiny sound. “Oh my God, I’m sorry, I-“

“Don’t worry about it.” Eddie can feel the heat on his cheeks, and his heartbeat is rising again, either from the touch or the stupid sounds that seem to escape his mouth around this guy. Either way, he can’t stop looking at the way Richie’s curls hug his ears, or how his blush spreads all the way to his chest, and Eddie forgets the pain for a while.

“Um…my friend works at this café across the street. They have a first aid kit and everything. I could help patch you up,” says Richie with a hand on his neck and the sweetest crooked smile Eddie has ever seen. He’s pretty sure having Richie’s hands on his knees would quite literally give him a heart attack, but he nods nonetheless, too enthralled by the possibility of spending a little more time with the guy.

Stan finally makes it to their awkward little bubble and reaches something out to Eddie in an outstretched hand. It’s Eddie’s phone, seemingly scratched but miraculously void of cracks. I really need to get myself a phone case. “Thank you.” Eddie puts it in the pocket of his overall shorts, and when he lifts his eyes Richie is staring, a dopey grin on his face. “What?”

Richie’s eyes lift, widening a little from being caught. “Nothing, just…love the outfit.” Eddie would think he is being mocked if not for the quiet way Richie said it, and the prompt roll of Stan’s eyes that Eddie wants to think signifies wow, you’re so far gone, man.

“Thanks.” Eddie puts down the board but thinks better of it and grabs it back up. He doesn’t want to tumble in the middle of the crosswalk because of the stinging throbbing in his knee, and embarrassing himself in front of Richie for a second time is definitely not going to make him more appealing in the boy’s eyes. So he silently walks in front of the guys, turning only once to see Stanley smack Richie on the shoulder, much to the other’s chagrin.

Eddie knows this café well but has never been inside before. They have a small to-go window on the side where he always gets his smoothies, mostly reserved for soaking wet surfers who aren’t allowed indoors. Eddie opens the door and holds it with his sneaker, letting Richie and Stan in. Stan nods his head, and Richie salutes him, making Eddie giggle. He then falls behind, following them to the register.

The whole place is full of the cutest pastel colors: pale blue counters, baby pink and white walls, canary yellow tables. The atmosphere is peaceful, and Eddie easily recognizes Alina Baraz coming through the speakers. Everything smells like vanilla and tropical fruit.

Richie beats his fingers on the counter, imitating bongos and Eddie just notices how much more relaxed he looks in the company of his friend. It makes Eddie long to know that side of Richie, carefree and happy. He hopes to see that someday.

A man comes out the backdoor, yellow apron on, and his face instantly lights up upon seeing his two friends. He extends a fist to Richie, but the other leans over the counter to clap the boy on the back. The guy laughs, and his cheeks redden slightly underneath a growing beard. Stan only raises a hand to him and smiles, crossing arms behind him. He catches Eddie staring and cocks an eyebrow. Eddie steps in front of the pastry display case to avoid having a conversation with Mr. Unapproachable.

“Haystack, let me introduce you, this is Eddie. Eddie, this is Ben.” Richie gestures between them and they wave at each other awkwardly. “Hey, do you still have that first aid kit in the back?”

Ben furrows his brows, looking at the expanse of Richie’s bare limbs. “What’d you hit this time?”

Richie sends him a finger gun and then gently turns Eddie’s arm to show a nasty scrape on the elbow. “Not me, this time. Eds needs some help.”

“Not my name,” mutters Eddie under his breath, looking at Richie from under his lashes. The other merely smiles wide, hands in his pockets, rocking back and forth on his heels. Carefree and happy, huh?

“Looks bad, Eddie. Here, follow me.” Ben waves a hand and goes to the other side of the coffee bar, lifting the opening for the rest of them to pass through. Only Stan hasn’t moved an inch, curiously studying the menu as if he’s never seen it before.

Ben pushes the backdoor leading to a small kitchen and further down to the freezers. There’s an office table right behind an enormous industrial sink and Ben steps on his chair to retrieve the first aid kit from the shelf. He gives the box to Richie, probably out of habit, and points to Eddie’s skateboard.

“Ah, you skate. That explains the…” Ben walks around Eddie to assess the damage, “three bruises. Damn. Happens a lot?”

“Not really. I don’t fall.” Richie snorts, and Eddie shoots him a glare.

“You need my-“

“No! I’ll help him. You go on, Benny boy, you have customers waiting.” Richie clutches the box to his chest, smiling wide, eyes darting between Eddie and Ben. Weirdo.

Ben lifts his arms in defense and huffs a laugh. “Whatever you say. Holler if you need me.”

He disappears behind the service door, and Richie turns to Eddie, lips twitching a little. “Um…you should probably sit down.” Richie points to the chair, and Eddie puts the board underneath. He tries to get comfortable, folding the hands in front of him but then his elbows bump into the jean fabric and he suppresses a hiss, putting his palms on top of the thighs instead. Richie leans in front of him, his chin on the bony knee, ruffling through the contents of the box somewhere on the floor.

“You get hurt a lot?”

Richie lifts his head with wide ocean eyes as if he’s half-surprised Eddie is sitting in front of him. “More than I probably should.”

“Why, because you don’t skate?”

Richie chuckles and the sound makes Eddie’s heart beat faster. “No, because you’d think I’d be in control of my body by seventeen.” He gets up and walks towards the sink, washing his hands. Eddie watches his face intently, seeing it relax and then go back to a contemplative state, and he wants to ask what the boy is thinking. I wonder if I make him nervous as much as he makes me. Richie bends down to pick up some tissues from the box and goes to wet them, settling back in front of Eddie after.

“Oh, um…you might wanna…they’ll probably get dirty.” Richie points to the Vans, and before Eddie has time to react, Richie takes one off with his left hand and puts it on top of the board. He fidgets on the spot with a clean wet tissue and decides to put it in the box while he runs back to wash his hands. Eddie wonders if he’s this thorough when administering his own cuts but he’s grateful nonetheless. If Richie touched his knee after touching his shoes, he might yell loud enough to scare all the customers.

“You know, you don’t have to do all this for me. I know how.”

“Thought you don’t fall?” He cocks an eyebrow, but his face almost instantly changes to something wounded. “Do you not want me to help?”

“No, I- that’s not what I meant. I just- forget I said anything.”

Richie leans in front of him in the same manner, and their eyes connect, making Eddie’s skin tingle. “Are you sure you want me to continue?”

“Yeah.”

Richie smiles in relief and picks the tissue back up. “Okie-dokie.” He gently presses on the knee, then rubs around it cleaning the dirt and the dried up blood. Eddie’s breathing gets slightly ragged when Richie’s face gets closer, his hand on the back of the knee, inspecting for debris. Richie wipes the small dry stripe of blood that trickled down sometime after the fall.

“You’re really good at this.” He is but the main reason Eddie speaks is to distract himself from the hurricane of inappropriate thoughts.

Richie smiles and a blush tints his cheeks as he absentmindedly wipes Eddie’s calf. “I guess. My own fault for falling so much.”

“Right. Like a baby giraffe.” Eddie can’t help but grin. That image hasn’t left his mind since last week.

Richie bashfully pushes his glasses up and folds the tissue in half. He goes to the side of the chair, looking over the wound on Eddie’s elbow. There’s one running down the forearm too, a lot more mild but stinging nonetheless. He wipes there too careful and slow, and Eddie feels his arms cover in goosebumps anytime Richie’s fingers connect with the skin. Richie goes behind the chair to do the other arm, and Eddie tries to listen to the sound of plunking water drops in the sink instead of the boy’s breathing. He can feel his back cramming and ass numbing from sitting in the same position, but he doesn’t want to be rude by moving or doing anything to accidentally deprive himself of Richie’s touch. Eddie patiently waits for his wounds to get cleaned and for Richie to crawl back to the front to finally shift on the chair.  

Richie gently turns Eddie’s hand, wiping the scrape there. Eddie fights a smile when he sees the contrast of their skin and how small his hand looks in Richie’s. He spares a look at the boy’s face and the length of his lashes kind of takes Eddie’s breath away.

“Are you not gonna..?” Eddie points towards the small hydrogen peroxide spray in the corner of the box.

“Nah. I used to do it as a kid but I’ve heard it does nothing but irritates the skin, so…” Richie takes out a couple of bandaids from the box, assembling them on top of Eddie’s thigh. He smiles up and opens the first one, putting it on the upper half of the knee scrape.

“What’s up with Stan?”

Richie is so taken by the question that he loudly laughs, angling his face down to look at Eddie from above his glasses. “Is that a loaded question?”

“No, I just- He’s so…”

“Reserved? All don’t-talk-to-me-I’m-intimidating?”

Eddie cocks his head and huffs a laugh. “Yeah.”

“I don’t know. He has strict parents.” Richie opens another band-aid and fits it under the first one. “He’s always been like that.”

“How long have you two known each other?”

Richie moves to the side to put a little cross on the elbow. “Here, keep it bent- Um…probably since sixth grade? I’ve been in that school since elementary but Stan the Man joined in middle.”

Eddie hums, and a question slips out before he can stop it. “Is he a friend?”

There’s a long stretch of silence afterward, and Eddie wants to either swivel the chair and aggressively demand answers, or run until he gets to the ocean. Either way, he’s near a death wish at the moment. He stares forward, avoiding eye contact.

“What are you asking?” Richie’s question is a lot more mature and calculated than Eddie expects, and it throws him off for a second. What does he want?

“I don’t know. Just curious.”

Richie chuckles but doesn’t say anything, moving behind the chair to do the other elbow.

“What?” Eddie is growing exasperated, either with himself or Richie, or Richie’s proximity, or how nice it feels to have Richie’s fingers on his bicep.

“Don’t get defensive.”

“I’m not.”

Richie finishes the work and collects the wrap in the ball, walking to throw it out by the sink. “It’s cute.”

Eddie can feel his eyes widen to a laughable degree. “What’s cute?”

“Not what, but who.” Richie turns and nods towards Eddie who’s just about to explode from the last minute of rollercoaster emotions.

“I’m not.”

Richie sits on the balls of his feet to close down the box. He puts it on the table and stays in the same position to look at Eddie. “Is this a scenario where you expect me to convince you you are?”

Eddie leans forward, their faces now so close together he can feel the spearmint on Richie’s breath. He didn’t notice him chewing so it must be Altoids. He suddenly has the strongest desire deep in his belly to crash their mouths together. “I don’t expect you to do anything.”

“Why did you ask about Stan?”

Eddie’s eyes dart towards Richie’s lips, pink and inviting. “Why did you ask why I asked?”

Richie laughs, and his head falls forward, so close to Eddie’s nose that he can smell the shampoo the boy used. “We’re doing this now, huh?”

“You didn’t answer.”

Richie lifts his head back up and stares at Eddie’s lips for a while before responding. “Stan’s just a friend.”

Eddie grins wider than is probably socially acceptable and slaps both hands on his thighs, making Richie laugh. “I knew it!”

“You seem excited.” Richie grabs the shoe from the board and puts it under Eddie’s foot. He slips it on, and Richie helps him with the heel. He doesn’t miss the ankle bracelet, and he moves it up and down before looking back up at Eddie.

“What are you doing tomorrow?” Eddie doesn’t know if it’s their proximity or the knowledge that Richie’s single that does it, but he suddenly feels bold and hopeful.

Richie gets up and rubs the back of his neck, lost in thought. “Uh, nothing but homework, really. Why?”

“There’s a party on the beach tomorrow night. Well…more like a small bonfire.” Eddie gets up from the chair, and he suddenly feels awkward and small, his heart stuck in the middle of his throat. “Will you come? You can bring whoever you want.” Unless it’s a date. Then I’ll throw him into the fire.

Richie’s blush spreads down to the collar of the white shirt, and he smiles so wide it makes Eddie’s chest hurt. “Sure, I’ll be there. Can’t miss an opportunity when a cutie like you asks me out.”

“I wasn’t-“

“Yeah, right.” Richie rolls his eyes and walks towards the back door, basically escaping their awkward conversation. Which Eddie is infinitely grateful for because he might’ve jumped Richie in that sterile backroom.

He walks out after checking that they didn’t leave a mess and notices that the café is mostly deserted now. Most people would be at the bar at this time of night. The group is sitting at the large table closest to the register and Eddie’s eyebrows shoot up when he sees a curly redhead standing by it, talking to Ben animatedly. “Bev?” She turns towards him and beams instantly. Her board is abandoned on the floor when her arms wrap around Eddie, slightly lifting him off the ground. “How did you know I was here?”

“Your location, dummy.” Her short hair tickles his ears, and he pulls away with a small squeal. She turns his arms to see the damage and gives him an adorable pout. “My boo got a boo-boo.”

“You wish I was your boo.”

She groans loud, throwing her hands towards the hypothetical sky. “God, I do!”

The boys at the table laugh, the entirety of Ben’s attention on all Beverly’s movements. Richie, on the other hand, doesn’t take his eyes off Eddie and it’s making him restless. He walks towards the table and touches Ben’s shoulder gently. “Hey, thank you for the kit.”

Ben puts a hand on top of his and smiles bashfully. “Don’t worry about it.” He gets up from the chair and moves in the direction of the register. “By the way, do you guys want anything? I’m closing soon.”

Eddie feels something tickling his fingers and looks down, seeing Richie’s hand hovering there, uncertain. “You want something Eddie-Spaghetti?”

“I’m sorry, what did you just call him?” Bev leans on the table and looks at Eddie with raised brows that translate to you better spill ALL the tea, immediately. Her eyes drift down to where their fingers helplessly gravitate towards one another, and she sticks the tongue between rows of white teeth, trying to be all playful and cute. Eddie hates and loves her all at once.

“He has a thing for nicknames, I think,” says Eddie and Stan hums in response, too enthralled in his book to actively participate in the conversation. Where he got it is a mystery to Eddie.

“Are we here to discuss me or your empty stomach?” Richie lifts himself off the seat and grabs Eddie by the hips, stubbornly leading him towards the display case. Eddie’s first instinct is to swat him away but it’s Richie, and his lower body is all tingly where long fingers sneak through the jean fabric, touching the barely covered skin of Eddie’s waist.

Eddie’s brain doesn’t function enough to make a conscious food choice, so he picks the first thing he sees - tomato mozzarella panini and Richie gets the same, ordering himself some kind of a green bubble tea. Eddie asks for a bottle of water, and he almost flips shit when Richie takes out his wallet to pay for both of them. But then Ben shares his employee discount and Eddie doesn’t feel that bad. The whole thing makes his stomach feel all fuzzy as if they’re on a date. Which they’re not. But he wants it to be and daydreams about exactly that when they sit down to eat, surrounded by their friends.

Ben closes the café about half an hour later, and they hang out with him until he leaves. Bev is very enthusiastic to help, volunteering to wrap the plates with pastries and wipe the counters while Eddie and Richie flip all the chairs to go on top of the tables. Stanley locks all doors and documents the expired products and Ben repeats several times that he’s infinitely grateful and they’re all angels. Most of the words are directed towards Beverly though. He’s not fooling anyone.

The night is over quicker than it began and Eddie finds himself stalling, buying time to talk more, participate in some banter, maybe offer to teach someone how to skate. But as they file out the back door, he can see that all of his friends are yawning, and he feels the exhaustion push heavily on his shoulders. Eddie is usually asleep by ten, and he wants to make it back home to do some of the school reading. He knows he’s going to be too lazy to do any of that tomorrow.

Everyone walks towards the parking lot, and Richie falls slightly behind as if expecting Eddie to temporarily stop him. Which he does, grabbing the tall boy by the elbow, making him turn. “So, will you come tomorrow? Around eight?”

Richie grins and tugs on the strap of Eddie’s overall shorts. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world, Eds.”

Eddie rolls his eyes at the nickname but doesn’t say anything. This guy is really rubbing off on him. “Thanks for patching me up. You really don’t seem like a kid who’d know stuff like that.”

Richie lifts his shirt and Eddie sees a small Finding Nemo band-aid on his ribs, but it only takes him a second to notice that. He spends the rest of the time studying the outline of the dark trail of hair that leads to the silver button. “This is me successfully making it to my front door on Friday. There was one on my chin, but it wasn’t as bad.” He shrugs and lets the shirt go, smiling at Eddie.

Eddie chuckles and puts the board down, moving it back and forth with his right foot. He wants to say so much and so little at the same time, but nothing comes out. Eventually, Richie quickly bends down and kisses him on the cheek. It’s so soft and swift that Eddie doesn’t have enough time to register what happened until he sees Richie walking backwards towards the rest of the group congregated around the only two cars at the lot. Eddie touches the burning cheek, his abdomen tumbling violently. When Richie finally turns back, Eddie lets his hands drop and laughs stupidly at the ground, dazed with all the events of what he thought would be an average afternoon. He feels a crazy buzz running through him as if someone just kick-started his body. Everything seems bright and pretty, and he feels so happy he could scream. He will scream in his pillow when he gets home.

He pushes off in the opposite direction after waving everyone goodbye, skating fast with no care in the world. The bruises are a dumb reminder to be careful, but he can’t think of anything coherent right now. He got to see Richie again, got to spend time with him. He even got a kiss. He smiles like an idiot and halfway home he hears another board behind him. He stops and turns to see Beverly speeding towards him, all smiley and giddy. She halts to his side and gently punches his arm.

“Okay, that was the most interesting group of people I’ve ever met.”

“Yeah, they’re pretty cool.”

“Are you gonna tell me about the tall, mysterious guy?” She wiggles her eyebrows and makes a miming move of covering her face with a cape like a vampire.

Eddie giggles and pushes off again, down the empty street. “Are you gonna tell me about the cute coffee man?”

She laughs and goes after him, swerving from side to side. “Awh, dammit! How did you catch on to that?”

“I see everything.” Eddie puts two fingers to his eyes and directs them back to Beverly. “Wanna come over?”

“Duh! Why do you think I’m skating in the opposite direction of my house, dumbass?”

They come back to the Kaspbrak residence and see Frank sleeping on the chair outside, snoring so loud Eddie’s sure they’re going to get a noise complaint. They stifle giggles as they gently wake him, half-leading him down the hall towards his bedroom. They end up talking much longer than Eddie thought they would, running way past midnight. They’re so entranced in it that by the time Bev runs out of the bathroom half-naked, seemingly interrupted by something she remembered, Eddie knows what she’s going to say before he hears it. With all the talk about their crushes, he’s shocked he forgot about it himself.

“Oh my God, you’re a birthday boy! Happy Birthday!” She squeals when she bends down to hug him, and he laughs when the cold drops land on his face and pajamas.

They whisper more in the darkness of the room, the reading forgotten and Eddie falls asleep daydreaming about a birthday kiss, and blue eye lit up by the warm glow of the fire.

Perma Tag: @studpuffin @j0ys @its-stranger-than-you-think @tinyarmedtrex @d-nbroughs @aizeninlefox @constantreaderfool  (I’m removing some people who don’t interact - I’m not here to force my work on anyone, so no hard feelings. Let me know if you want to be removed/added to a perma list or a specific fic ♡)

[creativeashproductions]

Painted with Pain // Steve Harrington

Summary: The more liked and calm Hargrove twins intimidates peers through her family tie to the knew King of Hawkins High Billy. Born into a family with an abusive father and a runaway mother you protect each other from your father. When Billy isn’t there to take the hits and learns exactly what you do and who you do in the abandoned classroom what exactly happens to you?

Characters: Steve Harrington x Hargrove!reader, twin!Billy Hargrove x twin!Reader, Neil Hargrove, Max Mayfield, and Susan Hargrove (mentioned).

Words: 2008

Disclaimer: I do not own Stranger Things or the characters involved. I also do now own the gifs or images that may appear.

Warnings: Swearing, parental domestic abuse, angst, and fluff

Author: Caitsy

A/N: If you or a loved on is being abuse you could talk to a respected adult like as a guidance counsellor, police officer, or teacher. There are many numbers to hotlines that can help. Remember if someone hits another person as punishment, they’ve thought before it lands to hit that person. They had intent and it can and will happen again. Be Safe.

Master List

Prompt List

ASK US A QUESTION LIST

Billy wasn’t the nicest person in Hawkins and for good reason but he was a good brother to you when it came to caring for someone. Billy and you were twins that protected each other as much as you could in a house with an abusive asshole of a father and a woman that wasn’t your mother. Billy was the worst of the two of you when it came towards your step-sister but he always taking the hits for you.

“Hurry up.” Billy stated leaning against the car his gaze pointed directly as Max.

“I’m coming.” Max retired reaching for the passenger door handle.

“Backseat.”

“I never get the front!” Max exclaimed.

“Backseat or your walking!” You glared at the young girl.

Max didn’t understand you took the emotional abuse from your father for her so she didn’t have to live the same life you did. While Billy took the physical abuse for you, all because your mother was woken him up when you both were really young and told him to protect you. She immediately fled in the night once she had spoken to Billy and never looked back or said goodbye to you.

“Not fair.” Max muttered gently placing her skate board on her lap.

“You’re really pushing it.” Billy growled at her.

The rest of the ride was loud music, quiet fury in the backseat, and yawning from you as the scenery passed by. Billy did cast you a few concerned looks for the screaming your father did at you last night. Sometimes it bothered you that Billy spend all his kindness on you but nothing but hatred for the rest of the world.

“Y/N’s driving you home if you aren’t a brat.” Billy yelled over the loud music.


“Where will you be?” Max questioned.

“None of your business.” Billy snarled before smiling with mirth, “But if you must know. I’ll be balls deep in Carol.”

“Tommy’s Carol?” You smirked, “Is it true that he…ya know…stares at the guys in the shower room?”

“Haven’t noticed I’ve been hitting Carol’s tight-“

“Look school!” Max exclaimed just wanting to leave the disgusting conversation between you and him. There was something wrong with Billy just openly talking about sex with his sister that freaked her out.

Sharing a smirk with Billy as the ginger haired girl raced out of the car and towards the middle school entrance before the car had even stopped. Getting out with matching smiles you tossed Billy the pack of smokes you sometimes shared while he tossed the keys over the top of the car. Splitting up to your lockers you easily grabbed your textbook for when the neighbouring locker slammed open.

“Can you be any louder?” You groaned throwing your head back in annoyance.

“I could but you’re not worth it or my time.” The owner of the locker said with a smile.

“Idiot.”

“My heart. How will I go one?” He glared back at you.

You grabbed the notebook that went with your textbook before storming off to one of the classrooms that was dedicated to studying. Nobody used them other than making out but there was one classroom that everyone else avoided. It was the one that you used and had threatened everyone from using it. You sat down at the only table in the room to begin using your free period to study.

“Idiot?”

“You said telling to you eat shit and die was too harsh last time.” You chuckled at the arrival. The sound of the lock on the door being engaged echoed in the small room.

“It was hot also.” Steve grinned grabbing your hand as he sat next to you. He pressed a swift kiss on your cheek before leaning back.

‘What time do you want to meet?” You asked playing with his fingers.

“When does dipshit hit come home?” Steve rolled his eyes as he asked the question. He anticipated the playful slap that you never delivered since you began talking to him.

It never came. Ever. You had a personal rule that hitting someone else for any reason could never happen because you were scared you would become your father. You left that abuse for Billy to pick and choose to do.

“I’m taking wannabe rocker home.” You snorted rolling your eyes, “Billy’s got plans between Carol’s thighs later today.”


“You know your step sister does have a name?” Steve defended one of the kids he babysits.


“Just because I got along with her for saving Hawkins, doesn’t mean I like her.” You returned.

“She isn’t-“

“Honey, why are wasting our free period talking about my life when we could be using our mouths for something different?”

You didn’t wait another minute before your boyfriend was glued to your body sitting on the table. Your time went quickly with minimal clothing taken off and evidence of your time together buried under papers in your most hated teacher’s trash basket.

“You little bi-“ Dad’s voice broke when you stepping in front of Max and took the slap intended for her. The slap resonated through the living room leaving your head spinning as you unexpectedly faced the wall.

“Max.” You calmly said, “Go to Susan.”

“But-“

“Now Maxine.”

She fled the room with a concerned hesitation while your father let a sick twisted smile coat his face. The fear inside you intensified but you didn’t regret protecting the child in your home from the brutality that was your father.

“She needs to learn.” He spoke.

“She’s your step-daughter. You know Susan would leave you if you put one hand on her daughter.” You reminded him as you stood your ground.

“Well that’s alright.” Neil Hargrove smiled in his charming way, “Why don’t you go and see if Susan needs help with supper?”

You waited to scan his body language before you turned to leave the room but the unmistakeable sound of a bucket releasing reached your ears. Your spine tingled with recognition of what would come, a violet lashing to your back. When the belt wrapped around your neck you knew you had pissed him off more than anyone in your family had.

“It seems my blood doesn’t know respect.”  He hissed as your struggled to fit your fingers between the dark brown strip of leather and your slim neck.

“H…elp.” You choked as it began to slowly tighten until your back was closely pressed against his body.

“Shame dear big brother isn’t here to save you.”

Darkness edged your vision as you slowly sank to the ground not any relief on the belt wrapped tightly around your throat. When it did lessen a slap on the imprint from before reddened further. Laying on the ground while your father stood above you with the belt in one hand he landed a severely hard kick to your ribs and that was the last you knew before you were unconscious.

“Y/N?” A soft concerned voice spoke.


“What the hell happened?!” Billy roared seeing his twin sister out cold on the ground.

“I don’t know.” Max admitted, “She made me go to my mom and I did it because Y/N can be scary sometimes.”

“Yeah she can.” Billy admitted scooping your into his arms.

That was one of the only times that Billy was kind to Max from the minute they had met back in California. Of course Billy was still abusive to Max and she bore the emotional marks from his words.

Billy managed to threaten a doctor into treating you without making a report or paying the full bill for the treatment. You were placed in the private practice room that the clinic had for the night while Billy stayed by your side.

“Billy?” You moaned in pain.

“Hey sis. How are you?” Billy whispered holding tight to your hand.

“How’s Max?”

“The lil shit is fine because of you.”

“Steve?”

“Harrington? Why would he be here?” Billy seethed with a deep hatred in his eyes.

“Because I’m dating him but don’t tell my brother. He hates him.”

Billy growled to himself before you fell back under the drugs control to calm your pain. You were mumbling in your sleep while Billy slung his jean jacket onto his shoulders before stomping out of the room. He jumping into the car and slammed the car into movement with one destination in mind and bloodlust enveloping him.

The car was still running when he banged not the door to the Harrington household just waiting for the ass to answer. He didn’t know if he should use words of his fist first but he clenched his hands when the door opened to show a middle aged man. In one hand a newspaper and the other holding onto the door frame.

“Can I help you?” The man asked. Billy identified him as Steve with the similar hair house and bone structure.

“Is Steve around? We have to talk about a project.”

“Steve! You had a friend here.” Mr. Harrington called out over his shoulder. Steve halted when he saw Billy standing there fuming in front of his oblivious father.

“Shit.” Steve mumbled pushing in front of his father to step outside. When the door was closed he turned to face his enemy.

“I know about you and my sister.” Billy snarled clenching his fists more.

“No we’re-“

“Cut the shit Harrington. She told me, delirious but she told me.” Billy retorted, “I’m okay with it.”

“Wait. What? You’re okay with it?!”

“Give me a reason to kick your ass dad when you hurt her and you will.” Billy grinned, “That’s what I hear? Steve fucks with girls and when he dates prissy Nancy Wheeler we find out he sucks as a boyfriend.”

“Well looks like your dream of killing me won’t come true.” Steve smiled just as harshly as the two boys squared up with each other, “I plan to marry her and give her the life she deserved,”

“Won’t happen.”

“Excuse me but I have a family dinner I’m needed at.”

Steve was waiting when you got to your locker early on Monday morning with a nasty bruise on your face and bags under your eyes. The violent black-purple bruise on your neck drew the attention of everyone in the hallway, including your boyfriends. You had a limp from trying to not injure your fracture rib more.

“Y/N?” Steve choked out at the battered body of his girlfriend.

“Hey ass-“

“Billy knows.” Steve interrupted gently moving your chin around to take in the bruises and trying to estimate a time where you got them. 
“How?”

“You told home.” Steve whispered, “Did he do this to you?”



“No. Billy would never do this.” You mumbled looking away from Steve’s face.

“Who did it?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Oh we’re talking about it sweetheart.” Steve sternly told you as he pulled you into the closest vacant classroom, “I want to know who hit my girlfriend.”

“My Dad okay?!” You screamed without looking at his. You kept your stare at the window to the playground.

“I’m sorry but what did you say?”

“My father did this.” You cried clenching your fists in the typical Hargrove twins way, “He went to hit Max so I stepped in front of her and took the hit. He didn’t like that so he choked me with his belt!”

Glancing out the door window he saw Billy was walking by and Steve opened the door with fury painted on his face.

“Hey Hargrove!” Steve yelled at your brother.

“What.” Billy seethed holding a cigarette between his lips.

“Thank you for protecting Y/N.”

“It’s my job.” Billy snorted, “This doesn’t change anything Harrington.”

Billy and Steve had a mutual understanding that you were the light of both their lives and you meant everything to them. They would do anything to protect you but the hatred between them didn’t lessen at all. Not even as Steve and you planned a life together and followed through with it.

Forever Tag List

@cityofsobbingfangirls @tas898 @barbidollash @trustnobodyshootfirst @winchesterfanfiction @deanwinchesterisamazing @oh-my-hecky-padalecki @padackles2010 @msimpala67 @deangirl5509 @heyitssilverwolf @therealme13posts @petlaufeyson @professionally-crazed @winterhurricane @tearsandbloodofmyenemies @blackwidow-romanoff @crazybarnes @marvelofcourse @takemetothefictionalworld @destiel67bellarke @ohmy-sammy @fightinthepain @vivabucky @waituntilthedustsettles @daydreaming1393 @cumonbucky @inhumans-of-shield @basicwhiskeyprincesss @soulfull-ofevans @spookass @glitterintheairblog @girl-with-wild-dreams @frickin-bats @darkestgrungeuniverse @shamvictoria11 @buckyappreciationsociety @sammysgirl1997 @fly-f0rever @archer-whovian-violinist @jenn0755 @anamarieswift2194 @unicornofdanger @ifyoudie @jealousbitxh @stormin-thru-glitter @sparklyaura @stilescstilinski @curlyxtomato @katshrev @its-sanaa-k @theoismydad @im-a-light-child @tmriddler @flirtswithdanger @divide-supermarketflowers @arkhamasylumpatient-blog1 @introverted-fandom-human @jennylj16 @potterandbucky @harleenq4life @runs-with-sciss0rs @superhero-lover101 @ridingmoxley @edward-lover18

Stranger Things Tag List

@bilesmccall

[bxxpbxxprichie]

um can i get uhhhhhhh bichie soulmate part 2

Part One / Two / Three

Legit I had no time to edit this but I have to get ready for a show tonight, so I figured you guys would prefer that I got it out now rather than it be 100% perfect and not out until like Monday sometime!

Warnings: Cute shit, upset Richie, bloody lips

Word Count: 2742

It was cold outside. Eddie was pressed closely to Richie’s side with one of their high school sweatshirts on, jeans, boots, and a flannel blanket around his shoulders. They walked a little awkwardly, but it was okay. It would be okay. They usually got used to the cold pretty easily, but Eddie always needed the blanket when they first went out.

As they passed Bangor High, Richie lifted his middle finger. He hated the school. He hated the teachers. He hated his classmates. He hated that he was about to graduate. His arm tightened around Eddie’s waist, but the shorter boy didn’t speak of it, knowing exactly what Richie was thinking.

Richie’s house was only a ten minute walk from downtown Bangor. They had to walk through the park to make it, which was honestly Richie’s favorite part. The park was always so pretty during the winter. And it was pretty much why he insisted on walking rather than driving.

They were walking slowly, though, so it was definitely more than ten minutes before they reached the park.

His arm was still looped around Eddie’s waist, and they stopped to look up at the trees. Ice crystals were hanging off the branches from the sleet the night before, making it look like a winter wonderland.

“What’s the plan?” Richie finally asked, shifting his gaze from the trees to his boyfriend.

They hadn’t really made a plan before coming. They usually didn’t. It was easier to just go downtown and do whatever caught their eyes.

“I would say the arcade, but I didn’t bring my disinfectant wipes. Lord knows how many hands have touched those things today alone.” Eddie shuddered lightly in his arms, making Richie grin widely down at him.

“God you’re so fucking cute.” He tells him, before leaning down to kiss him.

A shock to his lips made him pull back.

“What the hell?” Richie cursed, letting go of Eddie and reaching up to touch his lips. When he pulled his fingers back they were stained in blood.

He started to panic.

“What the fuck?” His chest heaved wildly, and he looked to Eddie. The blood was on his boyfriend’s lips too, and it seemed they were both on the verge of hyperventilating.

Eddie hadn’t needed his inhaler in years. He didn’t even keep it on him anymore.

Springing into action, Richie cupped the boy’s cheeks and made him look into his eyes. “Hey! Hey, it’s okay, baby. Just breathe with me okay? In,…and out.”

Eddie was nodding frantically in response to Richie’s words, and they took in deep breaths together, both trying to calm their racing hearts.

This wasn’t right.

They should’ve just stayed home today.

LINE BREAK

The drive to Bangor was easy. It was about thirty minutes north of Derry, if you drove the speed limit and there was lots of traffic.

Stan didn’t drive the speed limit. And there weren’t lots of traffic.

It was about midday, so adults were working and anyone on the road were probably just other teens heading up to downtown Bangor, judging from the high speeds.

They made it downtown within twenty minutes, the windows rolled down and the cold air whipping at their cheeks. They were singing loudly to old 80’s hits, holding hands atop the center console. Stan’s jeep was perfect for sleet and snow covered roads, the four wheel driving making it smoother than Bill thought possible.

His nose was red, and running by the time they parked. Stan reached into the back seat and put a box of Kleenex between them. The both of them went to work, blowing their snotty noses, all the while grinning and feeling high from the fun drive.

They both got out of the jeep and started their stroll through the park, hands clasped together and shoulders touching to keep some warmth between them.

Stan pointed out a few of the winter birds, a wide grin on his face. They watched kids ice skate on a frozen pond. They passed by a frozen, dead flower bed and admired it for a bit.

“It’s crazy how something like this can still be pretty.” Stan spoke, through his numb lips.

“No kidding.” Bill grinned, the movement pulling the skin of his lips a little painfully. His eyes caught on another couple just past them, and for some reason he felt like he knew them. Or one of them. “Do they look familiar to you?” he asked Stan, nodding to the two boys.

Stan turned to look at them, just as the taller one grinned down at the shorter one with all the love in his eyes. “I’ve never seen them before in my life…but it feels…familiar.” Stan admits.

The two boys kiss, and within seconds Bill felt a shock on his lips.

“Shit.”

He was vaguely aware of Stan cussing similarly, and they both touched their lips. Blood was dripping from their fingers seconds later, and Bill looked at Stan, all to excited.

“That’s a huge coincidence.” Bill tells him, pointing to the boys. “Those are ours. They’re together. We’re together.” He couldn’t believe it honestly. His mind wasn’t even thinking of the actions from this morning because by god his soulmate was standing twenty feet from him with blood dripping off his lips.

He just didn’t know which one it was, exactly.

“Do we…do we go over there?” Stan asked.

Bill didn’t know. But he wanted too.

“They look like they’re having a moment.” Stan says.

He was right. Their foreheads were pressed together, and eyes were closed. He couldn’t tell what was going on, but the moment they broke away from it, Bill was on the move. He had to meet his soulmate.

He ignored the calls from Stan, telling him to wait, to think this through. He had to do this. He had to meet him.

LINE BREAK

Eddie’s breathing finally calmed down, and Richie puffed out a breath. “Okay.” He spoke softly, brushing his fingers against the boys cheek. “Maybe we should just go back.”

They both knew what was happening. They were told that things like this could happen. One of their soulmates was in the area. Or both, judging by how much blood was shared between them. Richie could even feel the spot on his lip where it had busted.

He looked up and his heart dropped. Not one, but two guys were stomping through snow towards them, both of them having blood smeared across their lips.

“Fuck.” Richie cursed again. It was too late. They’d already seen them. He wasn’t ready. Genuinely, he wasn’t ready for this moment.

His jaw was clenching and unclenching, and he reached for Eddie’s hand. His boyfriend took it, and they both held on as tightly as they could. Richie because he was terrified of losing Eddie, and Eddie because he was having so much anxiety over meeting his soulmate.

“We should’ve stayed home.” He mutters under his breath, although he knew Eddie didn’t feel the same. He knew Eddie was ready to know his soulmate. He had been ready since they were kids.

The two boys stopped in front of them, and Richie took a short step closer to Eddie, while the shorter one grabbed the blanket that was starting to fall from his shoulders.

No one spoke for a moment, the four boys sizing each other up. It wasn’t until the shortest of them gave a few heaving cough that anything was said.

“Are you okay? Should we go get your inhaler?” Richie was more than worried, his eyes now only on his boyfriend.

Eddie cleared his throat, “I’m fine, we should probably just get out of the cold before we get sick.”

“The diner.”

Richie’s head snapped up. He didn’t know which one of the two spoke as all his focus had been on Eddie.

“We were…we were going to go grab lunch. You should join us.” It was the shorter of the two, with wild curls rivaling his own who had spoken.

“Not on his mother’s life.”

“We’d love too!”

He and Eddie had spoken at the same time, and Richie couldn’t help but shoot a glare at the shorter boy.

“Fine.” Richie spoke. “But someone is paying for at least my hot chocolate.”

“Deal.” The tallest of them grinned.

LINE BREAK

Over the walk to the diner, Bill had learned their names. Richie and Eddie. He had a hankering that Richie was his soulmate, mostly because of the pull, but he wasn’t sure yet. They hadn’t touched. And his neck was covered with a scarf, much like all of theirs were. The only skin showing were his hands, and his face.

He was pretty. Gorgeous, really. But he didn’t seem as enthusiastic about meeting them as Eddie did. Bill got it. Nothing about this was easy, especially if they were together. He didn’t want to get between anything, but it’s not like he really had a choice. None of them did.

They settled into a booth at Nicky’s, Richie and Eddie on one side, and he and Stan on the other. His eyes trailed over the plastic records that hung on the walls in decoration, and the racing stripes below.

“So…are you guys from around here?” Eddie asked, leaning over Richie’s arms to look at the menu, even though he had one in front of himself.

“We live in Derry. It’s south of here. Twenty minute drive on a good day.” Bill answered, doing his best to not give a peculiar look.

“Never heard of it.” Richie said, a little harshly, turning the page on his menu.

“We’ve been through there before, mom and I.” Eddie says, sniffling softly.

“Oh yeah? What for?” Stan asks.

“Oh. My parents used to live in Derry. After my dad died we uh…me and my mom, we moved to Bangor. She said it was too painful for her to stay in town, but she loves Maine. My dad’s buried in the Derry Cemetery, so we go every once in awhile.” Eddie’s voice was a bit quiet. He didn’t like talking about his father much, mostly because any time he did his mom got upset.

Stan nodded slowly.

“Sorry you lost your dad.” Bill spoke up, his own voice quiet. He knew how hard it was to lose someone so close to you.

“So can I ask something.” Richie piped up, putting the menu down.

There wasn’t much of a response.

“The bite marks.” He nodded to Eddie. “How did they happen?”

Everything clicked then. For all four of them. It was like they had all been blinded from shock that they hadn’t noticed facial features all that much, but now that it was pointed out, the scars on both Stan and Eddie’s faces were evident.

“Oh.” Stan spoke, his brow furrowing. He looked to Bill, and Bill shrugged in response.

“You’ll probably think we’re crazy. How we remember it is not how our p-parents think it happened.” Bill said, his eyes casting down to his hands, which were folded on the table.

Stan placed a soft hand on Bill’s leg. Bill appreciated it. “Long story short, Bill’s little brother went missing. We went looking for him. According to my parents, and the doctors, I was bit by large dog. Maybe that is how it happened. We were kids with overactive imaginations.” Stan seemed like he didn’t want to say much more.

“Did you find him?” Richie asked, sounding gentle for the first time since the two showed up.

Bill shook his head.

Silence fell over the group for a good ten minutes, before a waitress came to take their order.

LINE BREAK

True to his word, Bill paid for Richie’s hot chocolate…and his lunch. Richie had been a bit surprised, but he figured Bill was trying to make an effort. Richie appreciated it, but he really wasn’t ready for all of this.

It was like Bill could tell.

Eddie and Stan, however, were hitting it off completely. They held most of the conversation, Bill and Richie only interjecting when explicitly addressed. It was very obvious Stan and Eddie were meant to be.

It was painful for Richie the whole time.

But he kept a smirk on his face, and started interjecting all too inappropriate comments, as the four of them exchanged numbers and promised to make plans and meet up again.

Even though they were far from finished that day.

They spent a few hours at the diner, before leaving to go see the movie Bill and Stan had been planning on seeing. Richie paid his own way in this time. He sat between Eddie and Bill, and restrained himself from holding his best friends hand, or wrapping his arm around his shoulders.

He loved Eddie so much. He didn’t want to mess this up for him.

Richie barely watched the movie. His thoughts were ranging from anger, to sadness, to fake happiness, to scared, to loneliness, to all out depression. He left more than once to go to the bathroom when it got too bad, not wanting to let tears escape from his eyes around the others.

No one bothered him. Not even Bill.

It was dark by the time they left the Cinema, and they all piled into Stan’s jeep, something Richie was actually excited about.

“This is yours?” He asked, hand running over the sleek paint. “She’s beautiful.” Richie was very in tune with cars, and a Jeep Wrangler was by far his dream car.

“Her names Deborah.” Stan had told him, grinning for the first time at Richie, rather than Eddie.

He hated to admit, he really liked Stan. He also really hated Stan.

They drove to the Christmas lights showing, and Stan and Eddie took the lead, both wrapped up together in Eddie’s blanket. Richie and Bill were behind them, walking at a much slower pace together.

Richie marveled at the lights. It really was beautiful out here. The snow crunched delightfully under his feet, and he felt calm for the first time that night.

“So, what’s your favorite thing to do?” Bill’s voice broke the trance, and Richie looked over at him, before shoving his hands into his jacket pockets.

“Fuck my boyfriend.” Richie stated bluntly, still quite bitter.

Bill snorted, the sound close to a laugh as they continued on.

“I like fucking my boyfriend too.” Bill admitted, walking a little closer to Richie.

“Two tops don’t make a right.” Richie stated, his eyes glued to a bright Santa dunking gingerbread men into milk.

“Who said I was a top?” Bill countered.

“Who said I was?” Richie shot right back.

“You sort of just did.” Bill grinned.

Richie hated that he was enjoying this banter. He didn’t respond.

Bill accepted his silence for only a few minutes, before speaking again.

“How does it feel to be the short one?” He had to ask. He wasn’t much taller than Richie, but the inches were definitely noticeable.

“Fine…I guess.” Richie honestly hadn’t thought about it.

Bill nodded, eyebrows raised.

Richie sniffed, and rubbed his cold nose on his sleeve.

“So…how long have you and Eddie been together?” Bill asked, trying to keep the conversation going.

Richie cleared his throat, his eyes shifting to Rudolph. “Two years and five months, today.” The months didn’t matter as much once you hit the year mark, but Richie still counted.

“Oh…that’s a long time…Stan and I aren’t together.” Bill told him.

“So he’s not fucking you?” Richie asked, turning to look at him.

“No…no, he is…or was. I have a feeling both of us are going to be out a fuck buddy after today. “

Richie stopped in his tracks, “Eddie isn’t a fuck buddy. He’s my boyfriend.” He was serious about this. Eddie meant the world to him.

“Chill out, Richie. I just meant that you’re not soul mates with him. You had to know this day was coming at some point.” Bill was trying to reel the conversation back, realizing he overstepped a boundary.

“Chill out? He’s my boyfriend! I’m in love with him! Don’t keep reminding me that I’m losing him to a fucking bird watcher!” Richie was puffing his chest up to Bill at this point.

“Okay. C-c-calm down, Richie. I’m s-sorry you love h-him and you’re l-l-losing him. I really am. B-but you have a s-s-s-soulmate too, okay?”

“Oh, fuck off, Stutters!”

Tag List: @beepbeeprichie @killerxqueer @spoookyboi @spooky-kaspbrak @lemon-drop-writings @ithinkthe4thkindisabuttthing @antisociallilbrat @reddietoziier @toziergazebos @multifandomimaginings @godhateslil @cupcakeatl @richie-n-eds @paperboat-bill @ssmirking @acerichie @crutchiedeservesmore 

[ticklishhpickle]

Bloom and break

Summary: Phil Lester’s been hiding something his whole life. No, not murder, or being gay. He’s out and proud. He has the power the grow plants- but only when he has feelings for someone. Sounds cool, right?Not when it nearly cost him his life. Phil had fallen deeply in love with his last boyfriend, and when he'd left him Phil wilted like every plant he'd grown during their time together. After a few crappy months in hospital (aka the worst time in his life), Phil promised himself he would never let himself catch feelings again.Two years later, Phil has moved on and has a best friend, Dan Howell. Everything's going great, they hang out pretty much every day and Phil is happier than he's ever been. That is, until he finds himself with growing feelings (and plants).

Word count: 5.4k 

Warnings: none

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Phil Lester wasn’t normal. Sure, he went to high school like a normal 17 year old, had a solid group of friends and even had a fairly good relationship with both his parents. But the difference between him and most 17 year olds was that he had a power.

Whenever Phil began growing feelings for someone, plants would grow on him, around him, under him; the intensity of the growth all dependent on the intensity of his feelings.

It sounded a lot cooler than it actually was.

Maybe at first it was fairly innocuous, like when he was seven years old and had a small crush on a girl in his class named Sally. A small green stalk had shot out of the palm of his hand, and while it confused him at first it wasn’t a point of concern. Seven year old Phil had actually liked his power.

Plants continued to grow on and around Phil; small daisies shooting out of the ground when he walked to school, the grass he ran over while playing tiggy turning greener, and even some wilted plants reviving when he touched them. Phil knew that if he told anybody about his powers they wouldn’t believe him but that was ok; he was content keeping this little secret to himself.

When Sally moved away however, this all changed. The daisies that had grown on the sidewalk? Shrivelled. The grass at school? Wilted. The plants he’d revived? Dead as they were before he touched them.

Phil had noticed this- the sudden death of all the plants he’d grown in the past few months and was feeling confusion and disappointment on top of his sadness over Sally leaving. Phil wasn’t doing much better than the plants either. It was harder to breathe when running all of a sudden, he’d suddenly become quite thirsty for water when he’d always preferred juice and the sun would burn him a lot easier than it had before.

At the time Phil hadn’t connected the dots but it was clear what had happened; Sally moving away caused not only the plants to wilt and shrivel, but Phil as well.

Things only got worse from there on out for as Phil got older he developed deeper feelings for people and for longer periods of time, too.

His little crush on Sally was nothing compared to the most recent person he’d fallen for; Thomas Ryan.

Thomas had asked Phil out two years ago when Phil was nothing more than a naive freshman. Initially, Phil had been reluctant to date someone two years older than him but eventually Thomas had won him over with his enviable smile and charming personality. They dated happily for one year, in which Thomas had taken Phil out for countless romantic dinners, picnic lunches in the park and even ice skating a couple times.

In that year, Phil had grown more plants than he ever thought he could. Huge, metre tall sunflowers would spring up whenever he walked in the park. Bright blue petunias would spring up in his neighbours’ gardens when he’d bid them a good morning.

Most notable of all, however was what grew the night Phil had fallen in love with the older boy.

The morning after he’d fallen in love with Thomas he’d woken up to find a beautiful red rose- growing out of his chest! Phil wasn’t expecting it at all, either. He’d probably grown every flower known to man previously, ever flower except a rose. When he’d woken up and discovered the rose growing out of his chest, he’d yelped and hastily pulled it out. The thorns on the stem had pricked his skin, causing a small amount of blood to seep out and Phil to hiss in pain. Once he’d cleaned himself up however, he’d examined the rose closely. It was deep red in colour, had petals that had no imperfections or creases and when he’d smelt it he’d sworn it was what heaven smelled of.

As he skipped to school that day flowers of every kind had blossomed out of the ground, suddenly and bigger in size than they usually were. Phil felt on top of the world. When he’d finally reached school, he’d thrusted the rose in Thomas’ face and wished him a happy anniversary.

“Wait. Is that today?” Thomas had asked, a panic-stricken look on his face.

Phil had retracted the rose from his boyfriend’s face sheepishly, feeling quite awkward. He’d forgotten.

Silence followed. Phil hadn’t known what to feel. A little hurt, of course but at least it hadn’t been Thomas’ intention to hurt him. Things like this happened all the time! It wasn’t a big deal. Phil had been just about to tell his boyfriend that he was forgiven when,

“I-I think we should break up.”

His stomach had dropped.

“What?”

Thomas had bitten his lip, clearly debating something in his mind before speaking again.

“I’m so sorry I’m doing this today of all days but I can’t keep this going any longer. I just- I just don’t think I love you anymore. And I feel so fucking shitty for doing this today of all days but I’ve been planning to for a while now and I can’t keep dragging you on like this any longer. It’s not fair on either of us.”

Phil ended up not going to class that day. After Thomas had comforted Phil for a few minutes he’d attempted to coax him into going to class. Phil had simply shaken his head and stood his ground, crying even more when the bell rung and Thomas left.

When he’d finally worked up the energy to walk home, he remembered the flower he’d kept in his hand the whole time.

The rose was dead and black, its previously plump and soft petals shrivelled into nothing. Its smell had disappeared, too and all that was left were the thorns.  Phil would’ve started crying had he not spent the past two hours bawling his eyes out.

That night he’d gone to bed with a minor headache, hoping that would be the extent of the post-breakup deterioration. He was wrong. Just within the span of a few days, Phil had grown so weak he’d lost his ability to eat, move or even breathe properly. He’d wilted like the rose.

Phil’s mum had been understandably distressed over his health, and so the day she found her son sickly pale and coughing up blood she’d put her foot down and admitted him into hospital despite his protests.

The next few months were filled with medical bills his mum couldn’t afford, hundreds of tests to find out what Phil’s illness actually was and more injections than he could count. By the end of it, Phil had sworn he would never allow himself to fall in love again. If the risk of falling in love was his own life it was one he just wasn’t willing to take.

-

Phil swung his school bag over his shoulder and walked hastily over to his friend’s locker. He tried to ignore the immense pressure he felt on his shoulder from the weight of all the textbooks that he was going to pretend to read over the weekend. He made a note to buy the online copies of his books next year in order to save his shoulders dying from the weight of chemistry and mathematics- the subjects were already doing that to his mind.

He reached the locker of interest and stood expectantly in front of its owner, his hands on his hips. Dan always took a billion years to pack up his stuff after school. After a few seconds, Phil grew impatient as Dan still hadn’t noticed his presence and so took matters into his own hands.

“Daniel…. It’s time for your neck exam!” Phil said in the creepiest, sing-songiest voice he could with his post-pubescent vocal chords. He shot his hand out and lightly brushed over his friend’s sensitive neck, laughing when Dan dropped his textbook to the ground and jerked away. He looked around for a few second before he noticed Phil standing there, a proud smile on his face.

“Not cool, Phil. You know how much I hate having my neck touched!” Dan’s warm brown eyes were now narrowed and accusing, his forehead crinkled up in a way Phil thought was very amusing. His arms were crossed defensively against the My Chemical Romance tshirt he always insisted on wearing. The one giveaway that he wasn’t actually mad was the small smile fighting its way onto his face, nearly overpowering the glare he was giving Phil.

“Oh hush, you don’t even care when I do it. You were taking too long anyway.” Phil grinned up at his friend as he bent down to pick up the worn textbook that had dropped to the floor. He frowned when he examined the pages properly- they were all tattered and falling out. Maybe it would be best if Dan bought the online copies of the textbooks next year too.

“I SO do care when you do it, Lester.” Dan argued weakly, his face tinted red all of a sudden. He looked like a nervous tomato.

Phil unzipped Dan’s backpack and carefully placed the textbook in the back pocket, not wanting to cause the pages even more damage.

“Whatever you say, Howell.” Phil replied, amusement clear in his voice as he finished zipping the pocket back up.

“You should really take better care of your books, you know. They cost a lot.”

Dan shrugged his shoulders thoughtlessly, causing his backpack to hitch up a little and closed his locker door. He pushed Phil on the shoulder playfully, eliciting a laugh from his black-haired friend.

“It’s alright. I’ll be burning them as soon as we get out of this hellhole anyways.” he marched over in the direction of the gate, Phil not noticing at first before quickly catching up to his side. “Now, your place or mine?” Dan wiggled his eyebrows mock-suggestively.

This was a running joke between the two friends; always asking whose place to go to when they both knew they’d always end up going to Phil’s. It was just an added bonus that they could turn it into a joke about one night stands as well. Though they’d only been friends for just over a year, Dan had been to Phil’s house approximately 293 times. It was a very fast-growing friendship, as well. Phil had made his return to school after spending three months in hospital, hoping things would be the same with his friends. They weren’t.

The entire year level plus the whole of Thomas’ year level had caught wind of Phil’s hospitalisation. To the doctors, his mum and the school he had a ‘severe but treatable case of an illness yet to be officially registered’. He’d become  ‘mystery boy’ and ‘the sick one’ to friends he’d hoped would never treat him differently because of it but the sad thing was that they did.

It wasn’t necessarily even bad, either. Phil knew they only had the best intentions but he couldn’t stand any more pitying looks or comments from his friends, so it came as a relief when Dan transferred to the school.

Just as tall, just as introverted and possibly even more awkward than Phil himself, Dan had sat next to Phil in literature one day and they’d been friends ever since. Phil admired Dan’s love for Shakespeare and his sarcastic sense of humour that he’d since adopted; Dan admired Phil’s disgustingly positive outlook on the world. They were quite similar, but also different in many ways. Their friendship was just one of those things that just worked, like peanut butter and jelly.

The walk back to Phil’s house was full of teasing, banter and complaints about all the homework they needed to but probably weren’t going to do until the night before it was due. Walking home was always a little hard for Phil as he’d usually be reminded of that one day two years ago when he’d walked home, running past hundreds of wilted plants that had bloomed when he’d had Thomas. It got easier every day, not by a lot but when he’d started walking back with Dan all thoughts of that day had suddenly become non-existent.

After an easy ten minutes, they’d arrived at the familiar house and immediately begun raiding Phil’s cupboard and refrigerator for food. They were well aware it had been 2 hours since they’d last eaten, and quite frankly that was 2 hours too long for two lanky teenage boys.

After 15 minutes of fruitless searching, both Dan and Phil gave up. All they’d managed to find in Phil’s cupboards were expired pop tarts, vegetables (shiver) and a few questionable cuts of beef. Dan had taken to melodramatically crying in the pantry, sitting on the floor and hugging his knees to his chest.

“WHY PHILIP, WHY? I’M SO HUNGRY!” he wailed before fully collapsing onto the floor.

“Dan! Get up, you spoon.” Phil sniffed in amusement at the sight in front of him. Dan would definitely have an imprint of flour on his butt when he stood up.

“I’ll just order pizza, it’s fine.”  Phil shook his head and took his cell phone out, dialling the number for his favourite pizza restaurant.

Dan abruptly stood up and dusted his black jeans of flour and other pantry floor particles.

“Oh. I’ll have a large pepperoni please. But hold the pepperoni.” Dan declared, no sign of humour in his voice. Phil looked at Dan incredulously, what was his friend thinking? That was just a cheese pizza then! He was a strange one indeed. A second later, someone picked up on the other line and Phil was forced to talk to a stranger, something he’d hated his whole life.

“H-hello. I’d like a large chicken pizza and a-,” Phil looked at Dan disappointedly, shaking his head, “large PLAIN cheese pizza. Yep. That’ll be all. Thank you.”

Dan gaped at Phil, apparently shocked for some reason. He gesticulated wildly for a second then realised no words were coming out of his mouth.

“Phil! What was that? I told you I wanted a pepperoni pizza, hold the peppers. What was that?”

“Oh my god, Dan. That’s what you told me to order! You said, pepperoni pizza, hold the pepperoni. I just assumed you wanted a cheese pizza and were trying to be funny!” Phil couldn’t stop himself from laughing now, Dan’s face had gone all pouty and sad.  It was hilarious.

“Oh fuck. Did I?” Dan’s mouth was still open in shock.

“Yes!”

“Well you better call them and change it!” Dan exclaimed, looking expectantly at his friend.

If it were anyone else, Phil would have refused. His best friend was a pleb, however and as his best friend it was his job to be understanding of that. Shaking his head at Dan, Phil dialled the pizza place back up.

-

By 8pm the pizza was long gone and the boys had taken to playing Mario Kart on the couch. Phil bit his lip in concentration, working hard to beat Dan at the game he always seemed to win. They’d played the game every Friday together for the better part of two years, and Phil was still yet to beat Dan. Phil’s character of choice, Yoshi was zooming through the track. He was in second place, quickly gaining on Dan’s character, Mario who was in first. He zipped over a rainbow speed booster, instantly overtaking Dan who had missed it and yelled out triumphantly. He continued zooming through the course, only a few seconds away from the finish line when a green shell hit him right in the back, allowing Dan to easily overtake him just before the finish line.

Phil threw his controller frustratedly onto the couch. This wasn’t fair. Dan won every time! And to lose by something as lame as a green shell, not even a blue shell was just embarrassing. He refused to look at Dan or the screen.

“Ha! Did you choose Yo-shi cause yo-r SHIT?” Dan quipped, nudging Phil in the side. He was way too pleased about this, his eyes crinkling up with glee and the dimple on his left cheek popping out. This would not do.

Phili pushed the stupid boy in front of him, causing him to fall onto the couch butt first.

“That was a terrible joke. Apologise.” He demanded, crossing his arms.

His friend’s face showed no signs of remorse or guilt, however and instead of apologising he merely grinned and held out a hand to Phil.

“Nope. Help me up now please.”

Phil glared angrily down at him, but they both knew he wasn’t really mad. Being the kind friend he was, he begrudgingly reached his arm out but was caught off guard when he was suddenly jerked onto the body below him.

“Daniel!” he yelped, his voice two octaves higher than it usually was.

His face was squashed into the crook of the other boy’s neck awkwardly while their hands stayed linked. Phil felt the warmth of Dan’s chest radiating onto him, an admittedly nice feeling. Phil could feel Dan’s heartbeat, it was beating way faster than any healthy heart should. The boys remained silent, neither sure what to do next.

After too long, Phil pushed himself off the chest below him using both hands and sat up straight. The warm feeling that had overtaken his body was now gone. He felt strangely disappointed for some reason.

A slightly pink-in-the-face Dan scrambled up too, making sure to keep a reasonable distance between him and Phil on the couch. He cleared his throat and sniffed.

“It was a great joke and you know it. Don’t even try to deny it.” Dan’s voice sounded a little shaky and held an air of false confidence that Phil chose not to comment on for fear of making this kind of awkward moment even worse.

“Hmph. Well Mario? How about, Mari-no humility!” Phil decided on saying, knowing his joke would go down well with Dan.

“Oh my god. You did it. A joke even worse than mine.” -

The rest of the night was pretty normal for the two boys, the awkward moment forgotten as quickly as it happened. Phil was sad to see Dan go at the end of the night, as usual but was comforted by the thought he’d see him the next day, probably.

He pulled his pyjamas on after he’d bid Dan goodbye and jumped into bed, exhausted. It took him quite a while to fall asleep, his thoughts plagued with his best friend for some reason. Tonight had been… weird to say the least. He wondered if Dan was feeling as awkward as Phil was about it. Was he making too big a deal out of it? It shouldn’t be a big deal, he guessed. They were best friends for crying out loud! Phil forced his mind to shut up, faintly feeling a small tickling sensation on his left hand as he drifted off to sleep.

-

Phil jumped awake to the sound of his phone blaring ‘Toxic’ by Britney Spears. He slammed his hand down on the alarm before getting out of bed. He walked to the bathroom and fumbled with the door handle before grabbing his toothbrush. Phil was sleepily brushing his teeth, looking at his reflection in the mirror before noticing something green on his hand. He promptly put his toothbrush down, inspecting his hand closely.

Oh no.

It couldn’t be. There was a fucking plant growing out of his palm. Phil knew what this meant, it’s what had happened when he’d started liking Sally in the second grade, Kyle in the fifth grade and Thomas in freshman year. Phil quickly pulled the plant out of his hand, feeling a soft tug on his skin. He knew it meant he’d caught feelings for someone, but who? He barely talked to anyone anymore, having shut off all of his friends after what happened with Thomas. Literally the only person he talked to was Dan!

Wait. Phil thought back to what had happened the night before, how warm he’d felt lying on Dan’s chest and how strangely disappointed he’d felt when forcing himself out of Dan’s tender embrace. His thoughts had been filled with his friend the whole of last night, and as much as Phil had wanted to deny it then, the fact that a plant had sprouted out of his palm left no room for questioning. He liked Dan.

This was not good. Very not good. In fact, so not good that Phil began pacing around his bathroom, hyperventilating while he was at it. His thoughts were running wild with what he should do, he couldn’t let himself nearly die again. One heartbreak had been enough for his emotions, not to mention his body.

After a good ten minutes of thinking (freaking out, really) Phil had come to a solution for his problem: he had to distance himself from Dan, ideally cutting him off completely. It made his heart hurt at the thought of not being as close to his best friend anymore, but it’s what he needed to do.

Phil quickly sent Dan a text saying he was feeling ill and would not be coming to school, and that Dan should just walk to school alone today. It wasn’t a lie, really. Phil wouldn’t be going to school, and he was feeling unwell, just not for the reason Dan would be assuming. Phil wiped the sweat off his brow and went back to bed. He couldn’t deal with this right now.

-

Phil spent the rest of the day playing video games, but it wasn’t much fun without Dan. He sighed. It had only been 16 hours and he was already having Dan withdrawal symptoms. Phil was just about to finish the level when the doorbell rung.

He groaned and begrudgingly made his way to the front door. He hated unexpected visitors. Phil swung the door open, his eyes widening when he saw who was on the other side of it.

“Phil! You’re a bit of a weakling, aren’t you? Missing school and leaving me all alone.” A smiling Dan teased, handing Phil a container filled with a mysterious brown substance.

“I made you chicken soup as well!”

Phil examined the liquid closely and cringed. It did not look appetising at all.

“Why is it brown?”

“I-erm, I’ll explain when we’re inside.” Dan said, pushing past Phil and walking into the house.

Phil internally groaned, why did Dan have to come over? Phil was supposed to be ignoring him!  Dan was the last person he should be around right now, but Phil was missing his best friend and did not have the heart to kick him out when he’d brought him chicken soup and was clearly missing Phil too.

Phil was snapped out of his thoughts when Dan tapped him on the shoulder.

“Oi, mate were you playing Mario Kart without me?” Dan was looking genuinely offended, his bottom lip sticking out in a pout. Why did he have to be so frickin adorable, it wasn’t helping Phi’s problem at all!

Phil nodded, ashamed of his betrayal.

“You’ll have to make it up to me. 1v1 me right now!” Dan grabbed Phil’s hand, guiding him to the couch.

Phil needed to forget, just for a bit that he couldn’t hang out with his best friend anymore. This would be the last time they’d hang out properly, at least until Phil was sure his feelings were completely gone. Phil chucked Dan a controller and grinned,

“You’re on, Howell.”

-

The next few months were a struggle for Phil. He’d had a great time hanging out with Dan that day, which came as no surprise. It really didn’t help his growing problem, however. The minute Dan had walked in he’d known he was seriously fucked. Seriously, why was Dan so cute? Coming over and bringing chicken soup just to make sure Phil was feeling better, he truly was a great friend.

After that day, Phil had tried, and succeeded to some extent of hanging out with Dan less. He’d declined Dan’s offers of hanging out as much as he could without seeming too suspicious, began walking to school alone (telling Dan he preferred solitude in the mornings, which Dan had just nodded suspiciously at) and only had Dan over a couple of times in the three month span.

Yet despite these efforts, Phil had just felt himself falling deeper into a dangerous abyss of feelings for his best friend. Anytime Dan smiled, laughed, or did anything really, Phil could feel his heart growing fonder. And there was proof too.

Spending less time with Dan wasn’t the only reason Phil had taken to walking alone to school. His feelings had grown, and as a result more plants were growing too. He wouldn’t have been able to hide the hundreds of flowers shooting out of the ground as soon as Phil walked past. They were beautiful, too as much as Phil hated to admit. They were more vibrant in colour, taller too than any flower that had grown from Phil’s previous crushes. Phil was more than a little scared of what that meant.

Right now, Phil was holding tightly onto Dan’s hand despite his better judgement. They were at the cinema, watching a horror film and Phil was terrified. Dan’s hand was soft and warm, calming him down a little, but not enough for him to be able to let go.

The film finally ended, thank god and Phil slipped his hand out of Dan’s, feeling empty at the loss. They walked out of the cinema side by side, bumping shoulders as Dan teased Phil for being so scared.

When they made it outside, Phil felt his heart sink with disappointment. He didn’t want to go. He was happy just being there with his favourite person. Stupid plants that grew with his stupid feelings could be screwed.

Phil leaned in to hug Dan goodbye, finding himself smelling Dan’s hair. Dan’s hugs never failed to make Phil’s tummy flutter. It was the way Dan held him so tightly, like he was protecting his little Phil. He felt so warm and so… Dan. Phil swooned for what was probably the seventh time that night. God, this was just sad AND creepy.

Phil reluctantly began pulling away, already feeling the warmth enveloping him disappearing.

His heart started beating ten times faster when he saw Dan’s eyes flicking down to his lips. It nearly short-circuited when Dan leant forward, capturing them in his own. Phil’s mind was void of all thoughts except one: Dan. He kissed back with everything he had in him, tangling his hands through Dan’s soft brown hair.

Phil felt like he could burst, a tingling feeling of warmth spreading throughout his body making him feel whole. Dan’s hands were around his waist, holding him like he was the best thing in the world.

Too soon, Dan was pulling away and the realisation hit Phil. Dan had kissed him. And he’d kissed back. What was he doing? He shouldn’t have let this happen! Dan was just going to leave him in the end, and Phil would be left heartbroken and nearly-dead. His eyes began welling up.

Dan’s satisfied smile fell as soon as he saw the tears in Phil’s eyes. He propped Phil’s chin up with his hand.

“Phil, what’s wrong? Is this not what you wanted?”

Phil shook his head, tears now falling down his cheeks. He tried to speak, but his voice was too thick with tears and he choked instead.

Dan looked even more worried now, gathering Phil up in his arms. He squeezed his friend tightly. He just wanted Phil to be okay. Phil continued sobbing into his chest, his cries getting more and more hysterical.

“I’m so sorry Phil. I didn’t mean to force myself on you, I thought you liked me too- god, I’m such a fuck up I don’t want you to feel like you have to be anything more than my friend.”

Phil wished he could talk, but he was sobbing too hard to get any words out. Dan couldn’t be more wrong, Phil wanted to be his friend and so much more but that was the problem.

He felt himself being walked over to the bench outside the cinema, sitting down when Dan did. The two boys sat together on the bench for what felt like forever, Dan just holding Phil and stroking his hair comfortingly.

When Phil finally calmed down, his voice was croaky and raw.

“You didn’t do anything wrong Dan,” Dan’s head perked up, surprised Phil was finally talking. “I like you, and not just in a friend way. You didn’t force anything on me, I wanted to kiss you.”

Dan’s brow creased with confusion.

“Then why’d you start crying?”

Phil gulped. He’d never told anyone about his powers before, but he needed Dan to understand.

“The last time I had feelings for someone I nearly died.”

Dan gasped, his hands flying to cover his mouth.

“Let me explain. I um- I have these powers that make me grow plants, but only when I have feelings for someone.”

Phil stood up and walked to the sidewalk, standing on a patch of grass. A bed of white gardenias immediately sprouted up around Phil’s feet.

Dan fell off the bench rather ungracefully. He quickly brushed his jeans off, ensuringPhil he was alright. Phil smiled a little at his friend’s clumsiness before continuing.

“When I’m in love with someone, like I was with my ex- a rose grows out of my chest. But when that person leaves me, every plant I’ve grown wilts, and I get really sick. When my ex left me I got so sick I had to stay in hospital for three months and I promised,” Phil gulped, willing himself not to cry again, “-I promised myself I’d never let myself catch feelings again. But a few months ago, I started liking you which is why I’ve been trying to avoid hanging out recently. I’m just so scared you’ll leave me and not only will I be heartbroken, I’ll be half-dead as well.”

There was silence for a few seconds. Phil played with his hands awkwardly, afraid of Dan’s response. Phil felt something tingling on his hand, and this time it wasn’t a plant. Dan was rubbing the back of his hand with his own.

“Well that was a fucking emotional rollercoaster. I can’t believe my best friend is a weird plant dork.” Phil clasped Dan’s hand tighter when he saw that his eyes were welled with tears.

“Tell me about it.” Phil shook his head, smiling at the boy in front of him.

“I know I’m young and dumb, and probably don’t even know exactly what love is. But I’m pretty sure it’s what I feel for you, and what I’ve been feeling for you for a long time. I don’t plan on ever leaving you. I’m not stupid, I know that most high school relationships don’t last but I promise you I’m not going anywhere. It doesn’t matter if we’re friends or something more, I’m always gonna be here.”

Phil couldn’t answer, even though he really wanted to. He felt a sharp pricking at his chest, something was trying to burst out. He cried out in surprise before lifting his shirt up slowly, already knowing what was underneath.

With trembling fingers, he slowly extracted the most beautiful flower he’d ever seen. The rose was white in colour, different to the dark red one that had bloomed when he’d fallen in love with Thomas. Its petals were velvety and smooth, and its thorns were miniscule.

Phil saw Dan’s eyes widen in surprise, before his expression settled to one of pure giddiness. Phil loved him.

“I guess this means I love you too?” He said, looking into Dan’s eyes.

“I guess it does.” Dan’s eyes were welling up even more now.

“Thank you for- for reassuring me. I believe you. I know you’re not going anywhere, and lucky for you, I’m not going anywhere either.” Phil leaned his forehead against Dan’s, their eyes locking before Phil pecked Dan’s lips, causing him to blush. Dan leaned away from Phil after the short kiss, but laced his fingers through Phil’s, unsubtly wiping at his eyes.

“Ok Phil, let’s wrap this shit up before I start crying.”