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animasola86 · 5 months ago

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LOST & FOUND 🫂 CH2

You find yourself at the lowest point of your life, with no way out, stuck in your own darkness, but then a woman approaches you with an offer that may change your life…

soft!Daddy!dom x Mommy!domme x little girl!reader

WARNINGS: F!Reader insert. Angst. Hurt/Comfort. Depression, anxiety, mental health issues. Mommy/Daddy issues. Pet names. Mommy/Daddy kink. Dd/Md/lg dynamics. Age gap. Dom/sub undertones. Fluff. (More notes under the cut!)

WORDS: 6.8k 🔷️ READ ON AO3 🔷️ 1–2–3–4–5–6 7–8–9–10–11–12

A/N: This is the angsty-backstory/how-they-met episode. No smut here, just a bit of plot and a lot of angst. The real smut will commence in chapter 3. (This also marks the first part of the past-timeline which will continue in chapter 4 and onward.) If you don't care to read 6.8k words of backstory, there's a TL;DR at the end of the post! (For more information on Reader, check out the A/N in chapter 1.)

Chapter 1 🔷️ Chapter 2 🔷️ Chapter 3

Several months earlier

Sometimes it takes one single stone to bring the entire avalanche down on somebody. Or however that saying goes. You couldn't care less when it eventually happened to you. It started when you stopped going to college. You just couldn't anymore, physically and mentally. It was a chore to leave your room, an entire obstacle course to even think about going to your classes, meeting other people, doing anything anymore. And you still have no idea how it all came to be. It just happened.

You stopped going, but life went on, and in the end you had to drop out, missed too many classes, couldn't get back on track in time, lost contact to anyone you'd considered a friend before. And when it was official, you lost your room in the dorm. Because it was student living, and you were no longer a student. So you gathered the few things you owned (which wasn't much) and left the place. It was all a daze back then, a blind stumble through your darkness, an aimless wandering, your mind either too empty or too full to realize that you were now homeless.

And not even that. Prior to being kicked off campus, you were let go from your job in the coffee shop because you had excused yourself too many times. You tried to return to it, because the people were nice, but even they couldn't take you back because now you didn't have a home address anymore, and somehow that was important? How were you supposed to afford rent when you couldn't even get a job because you didn't have a place to stay yet? Life wasn't fair, and it accumulated quickly.

That first day, you stumbled through the streets, headless, still not quite understanding what was happening. You were numb, unable to process what your life had turned into.

You slept on a bench in the park that night, luckily it was late spring, already quite warm, the only good thing about your whole situation, but even now you realize that you were really lucky that night because who knows what could have happened. A young woman, alone in the dark, helpless. It's scary just how lucky you had been.

You made it back to the coffee shop, hoping they had changed their mind. They hadn't, but they allowed you to spend the day sitting inside, trying to get your bearings, thinking what you should do. The problem was, you didn't have any options. You had a little bit of money saved up, but it was not enough to pay the first-time payment for a new apartment, and you'd burn through most of it by just staying even at the cheapest hotel.

Your worst enemy, however, was your pride. Asking former friends to crash on their couch for a bit? Never in a million years. You had ghosted them, ignored them for so long they'd probably hate you now, and you couldn't face them, ashamed and insecure as you were.

On top of that, even before you fell into your black hole, you had made an effort to burn all the bridges of your old life when you moved to the other side of the country, leaving it all behind to start fresh.

The 'safety' of your family and your hometown was too far away now. Plane tickets were horribly expensive (as was train travel or a simple bus ride), you also didn't own a car, and asking them to send you money would never ever be an option either. Not just because of your pride (though admitting defeat and returning with your tail between your legs was also high on your no-chance-in-hell-list), but because you knew they wouldn't come to your rescue anyway. Somehow you knew they didn't care about you anymore.

Especially your mother had not been happy when you were accepted into a college all the way on the other side of the country, but for you, it was like a dream come true. A new beginning. All on your own. Finally. The first years truly were like paradise. But then, as if someone had flipped a switch, completely out of the blue, it all came down, and buried you alive. And as days turned into weeks turned into months, where you couldn't even leave your dorm room anymore, you kept seeing your mother's face in front of you, condescending as ever, hissing 'I knew it...' into your ear.

You felt like the biggest failure, letting everyone down, especially yourself. And you told yourself you didn't deserve help, maybe you deserved to rot at the bottom of this deep dark pit. Dropping out of college, losing your room, spending your time on the streets, was only the tip of the iceberg of a months long depression you saw no way out of.

You were stuck, too scared and stubborn and self-loathing to ask for help, unable to move back or forward. And when the coffee shop closed for the night that second day, you found yourself huddled in a nearby doorway, unable to even go back to the park or find somewhere else to stay. They told you about a homeless shelter, but you couldn't face any people right now. It felt impossible.

But it didn't stop other people from approaching you. Again, you were more than lucky, you could have met who knew who, you were aware that there were bad people out there, but instead it was a woman. A beautiful woman in a business suit who looked as if she'd stepped right out of one of those fancy fashion magazines. You stared at her in awe and confusion when she crouched down in front of you.

“You shouldn't be here,” she said, her voice so smooth and velvety and gentle, a subtle accent shining through her words.

What she said made you frown though, and you started to move, knowing you shouldn't loiter here like this, but her hand shot out and found your shoulder, holding you in place. You froze, blinking at her.

“Not the safest place for a young woman like yourself. Do you need help?”

There it was, the dreaded question. You wanted to say yes, scream it at the top of your aching lungs, please, yes, help me, but you couldn't. You didn't want to be a burden, you wanted to rot away in your little hole and that was it. It was a strain to ask for anything, had always been, you liked being independent, but that ship had sailed a long time ago.

So all you replied with was a pathetic sniffle that you hid by wiping at your face. It was numb by this time, too many tears, countless panic attacks, it had been all too much. And again the woman grabbed your wrist, pulled your hand away, watched you with genuine concern on her pretty face. You only sobbed more under her attention.

“Shh, it's alright. It's going to be okay,” she tried to soothe you, the back of her finger wiping at your wet cheek. You startled away, gasping, hitting your head on the wall behind you, which caused you to cry even harder. “Oh, sweet girl, it's alright,” she repeated, and then she pulled you into a hug, right against her impressive bust, and it was warm and soft and the touch so confusing and overwhelming that you just went limp in her embrace, sniffling pathetically.

You still don't know why she treated you like that, you were a stranger, a girl living on the streets for all she knew, and yet she looked right through you and saw how lost you were. You can't really remember what happened next, but she seemed to have convinced you to come with her, and she brought you to a diner that was still open, where she ordered food and drinks for you, and you sat there, stunned and still overwhelmed, and let it happen, mesmerized by this strange woman.

And you ate and talked, pushed by her attentive eyes and concerned questions, told this stranger everything, cried some more, had another panic attack, and as you thought she would leave then, too troubled or unimpressed by your story, she asked you something else. Something that would change your life forever.

“Do you know what a submissive is, sweetheart?” The question came so natural. She was sipping on her coffee, watching you over the rim of the cup, a little sparkle in her beautiful eyes.

You frowned and shook your head. You knew the word as an adjective, of course, but you weren't sure what she was insinuating by phrasing it like that.

She smiled softly and explained it to you, patiently and as if she was talking about the weather, and you felt your cheeks burning up, your attention focused on her and the picture she was painting. Your head was swirling with words like dominance and caregiver, deference and submission, guidance and devotion, and phrases like giving up control and letting someone else take over. She never actually said it, but there was a deeply sexual undertone to it all, which confused you as much as it overwhelmed you.

She finished with: “So my partner and I are looking for a girl like this, someone willing to let go for us, someone we can take care of, hold and pamper, you know? We've been looking for a while, but never found the right one.”

You stared at her as she leaned her elbow on the table and her chin into her palm, her eyes wandering over your flushed face. “You would live with us, you'd have a home. You'd be given tasks and chores, because, yes, nothing is for free in this world, but you'd be taken care of, you wouldn't have to worry about anything anymore.”

She inhaled deeply, leaning back in her seat. You watched her, your mind reeling, her words echoing in your head. You were more than intrigued, but it all sounded too good to be true. How was it possible that at your lowest point, when everything seemed hopeless, you'd meet a woman who'd tell you about a way out? And all you had to do was follow their orders, do what they told you to do, let them take control? Honestly, in your current state, at this point, you'd do anything to get out of your own head.

But the longer you stared at her and the longer the silence dragged on between you, the more you deflated, already knowing she'd be disappointed in you too, sooner or later. You chewed on your bottom lip, lowering your eyes, distancing yourself from this possibility even before it could come to fruition. Can't be disappointed if you don't have any expectations, right?

She moved, extending a hand to touch your arm, her long slim fingers hooking under it, slowly dragging downwards until she could get a hold of your hand. You looked up in confusion, tears burning in your eyes. She squeezed your hand gently.

“Will you be our submissive, sweetheart?” she asked quietly, her eyes boring into yours. “Will you give it a chance? There are no strings attached, you come with me tonight, I'll show you the house, you meet my partner, and then you can decide what to do, okay? I know I'm just a stranger now, and telling you to trust me certainly sounds weird, right? But I mean it, you can trust me. I really want to help you.”

You parted your lips, wanting to reply, but only a sob came out. You didn't deserve this. And this stranger was too nice, too generous, offering you all this? Where was the catch? Were you being pranked? Was she a serial killer looking for her next victim? Maybe she just saw another charity case in you, someone to help for publicity or something? All those thoughts flooded your mind as you watched her, but the longer she patiently held your hand, smiling softly at you, the calmer you became.

She didn't look foul or like she had an ulterior motive. She seemed sincere. You swallowed hard, licking your dry lips. In the end you came to the conclusion: it's either this or the park again, and even if she wanted to kill you or do whatever else with you, it beat being alone and miserable. And if you were meant to die that night, then it would happen anyway. Besides: you didn't have anything left to lose.

So from the lowest point of your life, without seeing a way out on your own, you looked at the woman and nodded, biting your lower lip, blinking away your last tears. “Yes,” you quaked out, squeezing her hand back.

Her smile grew wider, and it reached all the way to her eyes, little creases breaking through her perfect make-up. She seems real enough, you thought. Genuine. She really wanted to help you.

And so she took you with her, and as you sat next to her in the back of her car (which was driven by a man in a black uniform and a hat), you realized you might have struck gold with this woman. Your tears dried on your cheeks as you watched in awe how you drove through the better part of town until you reached a large house, almost a mansion, fenced-in and with a fancy gate, something you'd never seen up close before.

She guided you inside, you in your dirty clothes with your bulging backpack that held all your belongings, while her expensive shoes clicked along the hardwood floors, and at first you felt completely out of place. You didn't belong here and these people would notice this soon enough. Whatever they expected of you, you'd never be able to meet those expectations. They were rich, privileged, and you... were nothing.

She seemed to feel your growing worries and grabbed your hand, silently taking you upstairs to a room somewhere in the middle of a long hallway. You were too overwhelmed to even notice the interior of the place, but when she opened the door and gently motioned you through it, your haze lifted slightly. You were in a bedroom, a simple bedroom with a big bed and two nightstands, a large closet, a desk and a bookshelf, and a door presumably leading into a bathroom. It was somewhat posh, but it was also simple, and it was...

“Yours,” the woman said, her hands on your shoulders. “If you say yes.”

Still biting your lip, you turned your head to look at her. She tilted hers, one of her hands gently cupping your face before her thumb pressed on your bottom lip.

“No need to be nervous, sweetheart,” she told you. “How about you take a nice long shower, get freshened up. Maybe you'll find something to wear in the closet, have a look. And when you're done, and when you're willing, come down and we'll have another talk, yes? Don't feel pressured. If you change your mind, you can still stay the night, no problem. But I'd really like you to consider my offer. You may not see it right now,” she adds, stepping around you to fully cup your face, leaning down a little to look into your eyes, “but we have been looking for someone like you for so long. You are the right one, sweet girl. Give it a chance, okay?”

You swallowed, nodding into her hands. Then she leaned in and actually pressed her lips to your forehead, and the gesture seemed to already settle your raging thoughts. She was so gentle, so nice, it almost broke your heart. Leaning back, she watched you, a smirk on her full lips, and without hesitation she leaned in again, and this time she touched her mouth to yours.

Your eyes went wide, the touch short but intense, a moment frozen in time. And while your mind was silenced, your body became alive with a strange throbbing, an urging need, a feeling you hadn't felt in ages. You'd been numb for so long, this felt like a wake-up-kiss. When she retreated and straightened up, you gave her a shy smile that caused her to issue a short little laugh.

“Take your time, honey, I'll be waiting downstairs,” she told you, caressing your cheek before she walked past you and out of the room.

And you were floating, barely able to think as you walked into the bathroom, stripped out of your clothes and enjoyed a hot shower you had needed for so long, or so it felt. It all fell off you as the water cascaded down your body. A new chance. A new life. In a house like this? Everything had looked so bleak before, tainted by doubts, but now the colors were coming back, one hue at a time.

When you were done, you dried off with the softest towels you'd ever experienced, and with one of them wrapped around your torso, you walked back into the room and towards the closet. It was wide and sleek with sliding doors, and opening it showed you a variety of clothes, but your eyes quickly wandered to the dresses hanging on velvety hangers. All colors one could think of, all shapes and sizes, and in the end you chose one that matched your eyes. Somehow it fit you perfectly also. It was elegant and cute at the same time.

You felt like a new person. Watching yourself in the mirror that stood in the corner, you felt mixed emotions though. It had been a while since you'd taken a long look at yourself. The dress went barely over your knees, and looking down, you realized you hadn't shaved your legs in a long time it seemed. Shame flushed your body, drowning out the excitement for a moment. Self-care hadn't been on the agenda while you were wasting your life away...

Sighing loudly, you shook that thought out of your head. No matter now. You had to look ahead! So you grabbed some complementary tights from the closet (and a nice looking pair of panties alongside it, colors you'd never buy for yourself), and easily covered the flaws of your neglected body. You also found a little matching cardigan to hide your arms. And slowly, you felt better. Like a person again, not entirely like yourself, but it was a start.

In a strange way, this was giving you serious princess-makeover-vibes. A few hours ago you were sitting in the dirt, in the dark, lonely and forgotten by the world, spat out to deal with the broken pieces of your life, and now... you were standing in this nice looking bedroom, surrounded by wealth and warmth. You did pinch yourself a lot that night, but you always came to the conclusion that you were not dreaming.

But when you walked up to the door, about to leave the safe space of this room, your heart sank. Doubts came rushing back, and you wondered how this could be real. A woman you'd never met before came up to you and asked you to be her and her partner's submissive, basically their little pet, if you understood her correctly, you'd get a home, and they would... well, do whatever they wanted with you? (Whatever that meant. You were not so sure.) All you had to do was listen to them, do as they said, give up control?

It all sounded rather strange. But what were your options? Go back to live on the streets? Wallow in your failure at life? (Take the walk of shame back to the life you had tried so hard to forget about?) You inhaled deeply, squared your shoulders, flattened the skirt of your dress, attempted to bring order into the mess that was your towel-dried hair, and then, you went to meet them. You could only go forward anyway.

You heard voices from downstairs when you approached the large staircase. Your heart beat faster the closer you got to the room they were in. Your tights-clad feet tapped over the expensive looking hardwood floors, and it would have been a good idea to distract yourself by looking around and taking in the splendor surrounding you, but you couldn't look, couldn't focus, your mind fixated on meeting these people who wanted to give you a new life, without really knowing you.

Why did they trust you so much? What did the woman see in you that made it clear to her that you were the right one (whatever that meant)? You couldn't see it. But it wasn't up to you, apparently.

Taking a deep breath, you extended a shaking hand to grab the door handle, then paused, breathing harder, before you decided to knock. It was a frail attempt, barely audible over the voices still coming from behind the door. So you knocked again, your heart nearly exploding in your chest. And suddenly: silence.

“Come in!” sounded a female voice, before you heard footsteps coming closer.

You pulled the door open and stepped into what looked like a giant living room. Your eyes moved quickly over the interior. Couches, plural, facing each other, a large fireplace (with a TV above it) on one wall, bookshelves on the other. Big potted plants in the corners, a lot of black and white and wood colors. And in the middle of it, next to a little cart laden with alcohol bottles and glasses, stood a man.

For a moment all you saw was him. Tall, dark, handsome, came to mind. His eyes were on you, so intense you couldn't move another step. There was an air of authority around him, enhanced by the black suit he was wearing, by the way he stood, tall and intimidating, wide shoulders, long limbs, muscular but not too bulky, his angular jaw covered in a trimmed beard, short dark hair thick but kept in order. He watched you with a hard expression, and you had never felt smaller in your life.

The woman approached you then, and by touching your arm, broke the spell the man had on you. You blinked and looked at her, and she was just as stunning. Perfect skin, heavy eyes and full lips, a mane of dark hair cascading down her back. She had changed and was now wearing a tight black dress and high heels, and her legs were long, so long and toned and slender. Together they looked as if they'd just come from some kind of gala.

And here you were, in your borrowed dress, towel-dry-hair in messy waves all around your flushed face, hiding your shame under layers of too colorful clothes. You swallowed thickly, blinking again as you lowered your gaze.

“Here you are,” the woman addressed you, gently taking your hand and pulling you into motion. “I'm so glad you came down. Had a nice shower?” Her voice was soft and friendly, and you shot her a nervous smile and a nod. She pulled you to one of the couches and firmly nudged you to sit down. You did, still fighting the overwhelming emotions.

“Would you like a drink?” the man asked, and you looked up like a deer in headlights, staring at him, his voice a low grinding sound in the atmosphere, a timbre that made your core shake.

“I... I don't drink,” you stammered, your eyes flickering over his handsome face. “Thank you, though.”

A shadow crossed his features, but he nodded. “A water, then?”

You licked your suddenly dry lips, your pulse thrumming in your ears. “Yes, please,” you whispered and looked down at your hands. They were shaking badly, so you grabbed the hem of your dress and kneaded it roughly.

You heard the clinking of ice cubes, before heavy footsteps approached you. Looking up slowly, you saw the man holding a tall glass of water towards you. For a moment you just stared at his hands. Beautiful hands, big with long fingers, short nails, veins and tendons snaking under tight skin. You felt your cheeks burning up. To cover the strange excitement crashing through you, you quickly grabbed the glass, giving him a short nod and smile, unable to fully meet his eyes, and when your fingers brushed against his, a garbled gasp escaped you.

“There's no reason to be nervous, darling,” he told you, his hands closing around yours to stabilize the shaking glass. You stiffened nonetheless, your eyes widening.

You took a deep breath and somehow found the courage to look up again. “Y-yes, sir, s-sorry, and, uh, th-thank you,” you fell into an awkward stutter, meeting his dark eyes. A subtle twitch went through his face at your words, a soft smile growing on his lips. He let go of your hands and walked away with a nod, settling in an armchair close-by, still watching you like a hawk.

The woman then sat down beside you, throwing one arm around your shoulders as you tried to take a sip of the cold water. You almost spluttered when you felt her fingers tracing down your arm. “So,” she said with a sigh. “How about we get to know each other a little, hm?”

You saw her exchanging a glance with the man, who leaned back in his chair, large hands splayed out on the armrests as he crossed his legs. “What's your name, girl?” he asked.

You told him. The woman then introduced herself and her partner. They were not married, she told you, but worked together. He was in his late thirties, she was in her early thirties, they'd met through work and continued to cross paths until they moved in together, pursuing the same goals. A strange relationship, you thought (but you'd learn more about that very soon). She did most of the talking, giving you snippets of their lives, while the man watched you and nodded occasionally or added some details. But whatever they told you, mainly what they did for a living, didn't really register in your reeling mind (you couldn't even remember their names at this point).

You were too focused on just sitting there, holding your glass of water, trying to make a good impression by listening intently (or pretending to do so), being polite, hoping they wouldn't change their minds about you. When they were done telling you about themselves, the man uncrossed his legs and leaned his elbows on his thighs, clasping his hands as he looked at you. And then he asked the dreaded question:

“Tell me about yourself, darling.”

Your throat tightened immediately. Over the last months, you'd lost yourself, buried in doubts and dark thoughts, and thinking about the person you once were hurt in a strange, crippling way. You still tried to answer him, told him where you came from, how happy you were to have been accepted to this town's college, to finally leave your hometown, how fun it had been... at the beginning.

But when it came to retelling the events (or the lack thereof) that had led to your downfall, you choked up, quickly hiding the croak in your voice by taking a big sip of water. You felt the woman's hand on your arm, giving it a gentle caress, but it only made it worse.

Tears spilled from your lashes when you tried to tell him what a failure you were. A loud exhale (akin to a sigh but less condescending) escaped him, and when the woman took the glass from you, you looked around in confusion, blinking against the tears burning in your eyes.

“Come here, girl,” sounded his voice through the large room, the dominant tone causing you to stiffen.

But you stood immediately, shuffling towards him, your hands clenched into fists, your head bowed. His long fingers brushed down your arms until he gently grabbed your waist and pulled you between his legs. You ended up sitting on his thigh, a pathetic sniffle escaping you as he held you, tilting his head to look at you.

The hand that wasn't curled around your hip moved up to your face, fingertips brushing over your wet cheeks. “Don't cry, it's okay,” he said soothingly. You inhaled deeply, trying to settle against him, but you were too nervous to relax, sitting stiff on his leg, like a fucking child on Santa's lap or something. It was weird and you felt horrible, small and insignificant, ugly and pathetic in the presence of such a handsome and successful man.

His hand cupped your face, his thumb pushing against your chin to turn your head slightly. You met his eyes, even though your vision was blurry. You blinked, unable to hold his gaze for long, overcome by a sudden wave of embarrassment.

“Look at me,” he ordered, his voice soft but the air of authority never left him. You jerked your chin up and swallowed, looking at him, your cheeks burning up even more. A smile grazed his hard face. “Good girl.”

His praise left a warm feeling in your stomach, and the longer you spent in the captivity of his dark eyes, the calmer you felt. His smile widened as he rubbed his thumb over the corner of your mouth. The motion gave you the courage to smile back, stiff and awkward, but it was still a smile.

“Tell me about your parents,” he then asked quietly, his hand leaving your face to settle on your thigh, holding you in a loose embrace on his leg. “Why can't they help you?”

You took a shuddering breath and told him that you didn't exactly part on good terms, that they hadn't wanted you to leave your hometown. You hadn't been in contact with them for months, probably years, there was usually just the occasional holiday or birthday call, sometimes not even that. You didn't have the money to make the trek across the country to meet them, and neither did they. You didn't grow up poor, but it hadn't been easy either. You were one of many children, your mother remarrying seemingly every five years, and you never had a connection to your father or any of the men she pulled into your home.

The words just tumbled out of your mouth at this point, and you had no idea how that was even possible. This man was a stranger, and yet he managed to loosen your tongue by simply holding you on his lap, listening intently, watching you closely, giving you attention you'd never had before in your life. It felt cleansing, and when you were done, your chest moved easier, the tension in your body melting slowly. His hand rubbed over your back, the other tightening around your waist as he pulled you a little bit closer.

“I see,” he said quietly. “Thank you for sharing this with me.”

A croaked laugh escaped you. You licked your lips and looked away. “Thank you for listening,” you replied in a breathy whisper, timidly looking back at him. A subtle cough sounded from behind you. You flinched and turned slightly to face the woman sitting on the couch with her arms and legs crossed. “Thank you too, for... for inviting me into your home, for... helping me,” you added, watching her with an apologetic smile. You'd honestly forgotten about her for a moment.

“We haven't done anything yet, honey,” she said, pursing her lips. “But I think we've said enough. I knew you were the right one. What do you think, papito?” she added, looking past you at the man.

His hand was back on your face, turning it towards him once more. His eyes bored into yours as he replied: “Yes, I think you found the one.” Your cheeks flushed with heat. “Are you aware what we're asking of you, sweet girl?”

“To... to be your... submissive,” you answered quietly, still not quite understanding what that meant, but maybe it was enough to just roll with it. Of course it wasn't.

“And what does that mean to you? Why would you want that?”

You bit your lip, frowning slightly. “I... I need... someone to... tell me what to do,” you whispered, lowering your eyes to stare at his lips instead. “I think... it would help me... to have someone who... guides me... because... because I can't –”

Suddenly he grabbed your chin and forced you to look at him. You gasped, your eyes wide. “Stop. You can,” he said, his voice harsh but there was a soft twinkle in his eyes. “You can do anything you put your mind to. You may need a little push into the right direction, but I will not tolerate you talking yourself down like this, okay? You hit a bump in the road, yes, but you will not wallow in it any longer, do you understand me?”

You stared at him, surprised and stunned by his words, by his dominant tone. “Yes, sir,” you breathed out, blinking slowly, your mind pausing the assault of doubts for a moment. “I'm sorry.”

He shook his head, the muscle in his jaw twitching. “No apologies. It's alright. Accept your failure and move on.” You felt tears burning in your eyes, his scrutinizing stare making you feel small all over again. “And no more tears. You have no reason to cry right now. We're offering you something that will change your life. It may not be easy at first, but I know you'll adjust. You're a fighter, I know it. You wouldn't be here if you weren't.”

Despite his demanding tone, you couldn't help it when a single tear slipped past your lashes after all. You quickly raised a hand and wiped at it, taking a shaking breath, ready to apologize again, but he just looked at you, stern but also somewhat gentle, patient. And you looked back, caught in his deep eyes, slowly feeling yourself relaxing again.

“We will give you a home, we will give you anything you want and need to find your footing again,” he continued quietly, his hand moving from your chin to curl around your head. “And you will do whatever we say. This is as much for you as it is for us. As you know, we've been looking for someone like you for a long time. It's not easy finding the right girl... but you're it, darling,” he said with a pointed look, pressing his fingertips into your hair, massaging your scalp in a very calming, almost hypnotizing fashion that made it hard not to purr under. His words only added to the sensation. “You are perfect. We can make this work, I am sure. If you're willing.”

“I am,” you croaked out quickly, leaning into his touch. “I want to. Please.”

“You will do anything we ask of you?”

His voice was low, his gaze still as intense. Behind you, you heard the woman getting up, the quiet click of her heels echoing in your ears as she approached you, putting her hands on your shoulders.

“Yes,” you breathed out, looking at him, before turning your head to look at her. You saw them exchanging a glance.

“Say it again,” she whispered, teasing her pointy nails into your clavicles. “Tell us what you want.”

“I... I want to be your submissive,” you said, shivering slightly, looking from her back to him. “I want you to tell me what to do. I will do anything you say.”

A soft smile cracked through the hard shell of his face, his gaze getting warmer, little creases visible in the corners of his eyes. While you watched him, you felt the woman's hands moving up the back of your neck until she gently tugged at your hair, turning you towards her, her face suddenly very close to yours, her lips brushing against your cheek.

“You'll be our little girl?” she asked in a low whisper, rubbing her nose against your jaw.

“Yes, ma'am,” you replied, breathing a bit harder, your mind reeling.

The man's fingers dug into the fabric of your dress when he leaned closer too, pressing his rough cheek to yours, the scratch of his beard sending deep shudders down your spine.

“Are you absolutely certain?” he asked, his voice a thrumming vibration through your head.

“Yes, sir,” you gasped out, closing your eyes for a moment, your heart thundering in your chest.

They both cradled you closer, her lips on your right cheek, his on your left. “Will you call me Mommy?” the woman breathed against your skin.

“And me Daddy?” the man echoed, rubbing his bearded chin against your jaw.

You could barely breathe, the warmth radiating through your body was overwhelming. But there were no doubts, no matter how strange their request. You felt safe in their embraces, special. A sigh full of relief slipped from your trembling lips.

“Yes,” you replied, leaning into them.

They kissed your cheeks again, their arms tight around you. As strange as it should feel, it didn't. It felt good. Exactly what you had needed. A warm embrace, someone to squeeze all the worries right out of you. You settled against them, feeling lighter than you'd ever felt before.

“Thank you,” you added quietly, your eyes fluttering open. You met his gaze first. “Daddy,” you addressed him, watching how his smile widened, crow's feet deepening, before you turned your head and looked at the woman behind you. “Mommy.” She issued a happy little squeal and hugged you closer, her lips peppering soft kisses to your cheek.

You smiled back, numb in a way that was almost content, your eyes closing again as you simply melted into them. You felt tired, happy but tired, as if you'd finally reached your destination, a place you hadn't expected at all. Where you could let go.

“My good girl,” the woman, Mommy, whispered against the shell of your ear before she dragged the tip of her tongue along it. “Let's get you into bed. It's been a long day for you, hm?”

You shivered deeply, but you didn't protest when she let go of you and you felt two strong arms lifting you up. “Let's give her some space tonight, okay?” the man, Daddy, said, surely addressing his partner. “Get her accustomed.”

She sighed. “Fine. But tomorrow, I'll take you shopping and we'll do your hair and your nails and, oh, we'll do whatever else we find on our way. I'll pamper you stupid, sweet girl,” she laughed, her hand on your face as you were being carried through the large house that was to be your new home.

“Don't overdo it,” his voice sounded in your ear. “She's not your doll. I'd prefer her looking as natural as possible, okay?”

They continued their conversation, a hushed back and forth you couldn't pay too much attention to anymore, as you felt yourself floating through space, snuggling into a warm chest, firm and hard, but soft enough to lose yourself in. Your head was heavy when it hit the soft pillow, the mattress of the bed denting around you as the two adults sat down on its edges.

“Sleep tight, darling,” Daddy whispered and leaned over you to press his lips to the corner of your mouth. You sighed, your hand twitching, wanting to grab him, hold onto him, but he was gone before you could reach him.

“Good night, Daddy,” you mumbled, feeling yourself slipping into the sweet void of sleep.

On your other side, a set of hands found your face, and you felt Mommy's lips on yours again, a soft press, a short lick, a deep sigh. “Good night, sweetheart,” she said against your mouth, her hot breath fanning over your face.

“Night, Mommy,” you muttered, barely able to get the words out.

“We'll see you tomorrow.” The low voice echoed in your empty head, and you fell asleep with a smile on your face, as you sank into the soft bed, cuddling into the covers someone pulled over you.

You felt like a little girl again (ignoring the fact that you were 23* and supposedly your own person), tugged in by your 'parents', and even though you barely knew these people, you felt safe with them, accepted and taken care of. Somehow through the fog in your head you knew that your life would take a turn now, into different times, better times, because now you had two guiding lights with you, following you into the darkness that had consumed your life, eager to pull you back out.

And you were here for it, willing to do anything they asked in return. Willing to endure anything if only it would distract you from the nagging voices in your head. And endure you did...

Chapter 1 🔷️ Chapter 2 🔷️ Chapter 3

End notes: *By the way, I just chose a random number. If you want Reader to be younger or older, please imagine her like that.

Also note that this is NOT a realistic representation of a BDSM relationship, I'm not a How-to-guide, I'm a writer juggling ideas around! This is fiction, remember?

Find below the TL;DR version of this chapter:

TL;DR: Reader drops out of college, is homeless and jobless, depressed and anxious, alone on the other side of the country with no friends and family, when a woman approaches her and takes her to a diner, asking her if she would like to be “her submissive”. Reader agrees, not really knowing what to expect, and the woman takes her to her home where she meets her partner. They ask again and she agrees, becoming their little girl, calling them Mommy and Daddy.

While you're here, I have a little side note to the tags I'm using: as a writer of original fiction, it is very hard to find any readers if I wouldn't poke my head into various fandoms, so I apologize if it irks you to see this kind of fiction under your favorite tags. But then maybe it's enough to pique your interest and you are already giving this a chance? Thank you if you do, maybe you can project your favorite blorbo(s) onto the characters present in this story.

Thank you for reading! New chapter every Saturday!

Up next: We go back to where Chapter 1 has ended and see how Mommy reacts to Daddy's plan.

MASTERLIST 🔷️ AO3 🔷️ ORIGINAL WORKS

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hivemuthur · 6 months ago

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The Game of Teaching Body - Ch. 2.

viktorxfemale!reader mature! (for now, I will mark later chapters as explicit when the time comes)

AU university, AU modern era, slow burn, frenemies to lovers, teasing, pinning, banter, eventual romance and therefore smut, Viktor is simultaneously a menace and needs a hug, TA Viktor

Ch.1. | Ch.3. | Ch.4. | Ch.5. | Ch.6. | Ch.7. | Ch.8. | Ch.9. | Ch.10. | Ch.11. | Ch.12.

word count: 4K

tag: #the game of teaching body

summary: Reader is hit by a truck which is *university*. So, a lot of studying and a lot of frustrations. And the TA is being a pain in the ass, you know how it is. Some science talk, based on the remnants of my knowledge from uni.

author’s note: Guys, you have showered me with love, so I'm showering you with writing.

Cross-posted on AO3 + POV3rd Person Version

—

Sue was so fucking right. It had only been one week of freedom, and then the workload came crashing down on you. Suddenly, every class had a welcome test attached to it, and you found yourself buried under a mountain of homework—chemical equations to solve and analyse, essays, books to read, lab practice, and lectures to attend. There wasn’t any snowball effect; it all hit at once, and by the time you and Sue returned on the first Monday of the second week, you were carrying enough work to fill two mules, and it would still have been too heavy even for them.

“Your mum is calling,” Sue’s voice pulled you out of a particularly boring passage about physical chemistry in one of your shared workbooks. You would usually put your phones on the cabinet for study time, but the vibration had startled Sue for the third time in ten minutes, so she decided to address it.

“Ugh, can you put her on speaker? I’ll deal with this quickly, and I don’t want to move,” you rolled your eyes, catching Sue’s judgmental glare. She’s your mum!

“Kochanie, finally! I’ve been trying and trying, how are you doing?” Your mum’s voice filled the room with her familiar heavy accent, though she insisted it was improving. Your dad didn’t speak a word of Polish, so Joanna had to switch to English entirely after you left.

“All good, Mum. Lots and lots and lots of studying,” you said, your voice so unamused you barely lifted your eyes from the book, though your gaze was unseeing. You had been staring at the same equation for about half an hour now.

“Have you been practising your affirmations?” Of course, you hadn’t. Silly idea.

“Yes, every day and every time someone pisses me off. How’s Dad?” You decided to deflect as soon as the opportunity presented itself.

“Dad went to Calais for a retreat, and I’m left alone for the entire week. He’s not allowed a mobile, you see,” Your mum rambled on a little longer, and you let her. You were happy to hear your parents were moving on after losing their only daughter. Even though Joanna insisted she could feel your presence in the house, in the clothes and trinkets you’d left behind, and could sense your moods through an invisible mother-daughter bond you shared. What a load of nonsense.

“Mamusia, I love you, but I have to go. I’m studying with Sue, and we’ve got a test in thirty minutes,” you added a round of loud pecks so she could hear the kisses through the phone speaker. She told you to wear red underwear and get Sue to kick you for good luck.

“Your mum sounds awesome,” Sue laughed under her breath. She tried to study but ended up listening to the entire conversation.

“Eh, she’s something. She’s pretty cool when she’s not suffocating you with love, you know?” You gave Sue a knowing smile, and she understood immediately. “Have you managed to learn anything? My brain is literally fuming.”

Sue groaned as she started packing up her notebooks to head toward the lab class. “Honestly, I don’t know. I think I’ll use my last resort—can I borrow some red knickers?” You snickered as Sue shot you a huge mocking grin.

“No, but I can kick you alright, sweet Sue,” you couldn’t help but laugh. You gathered all the papers scattered around you with both hands and shoved them into your bag. You glanced at yourself in the mirror before leaving your dorm room, and Jesus Christ, your youth had already fled. Dark circles under your eyes, a gaunt face, lips chapped—all of it painfully underlined by an ink stain on your t-shirt. Whatever, there was no time to do anything about it.

It was Viktor’s class again. You had slowly grown to dislike them, ever since he and Jayce began to switch every second day, after Jayce got a new girlfriend—beautiful Mel Medarda, a third-year theatre student whom Hale once called a close second contender to rule the planet one day. Second after you, of course.

All of Viktor’s initial friendly sass had dissolved into the mean kind, which he executed each time Heimerdinger’s students were supposed to already know something they didn’t—including you. Thankfully, most of the time, you knew. The times you didn’t, he relished it and squeezed the situation to the maximum, like a sad lemon.

“Alright, take a test from the tray on the teacher’s desk and take your usual seat. And as usual, you can have a calculator and periodic table on your workbench,” Viktor’s instructions boomed through the lab classroom as one by one, students dragged themselves through the door, each one looking more exhausted than the other. “Looking ravishing today, Y/N,” he sent a smirk your way as you passed by him without sparing him so much as a glance and a quiet ‘hi.’

“Bite me, Viktor,” you barked back at him. What the hell was he thinking?

“Gladly, but maybe after class.” Usually, the smug look on his face would get you to scoff; this time, you granted him a faint eye roll as you dragged your feet toward the workbench you shared with Sue. As Viktor strolled through the room, making sure no one had anything illegal on their tables, he snatched your phone from your desk just as you were putting it into your bag.

“No phones,” he slid it into his lab coat pocket with a wink. You whined, about to say something you’d regret, but were immediately cut off by “I said, after class,” coming from behind you as you watched his back, your eyes burning a hole in it.

You solved the test first; you were so angry. As soon as you put it back in the tray, a realisation washed over you, and what you realised was the mistake you’d made in one of the exercises. You wanted to retrieve it and fix it, but Viktor’s hand shooshed you away.

“Come on, Viktor, it was there for less than a second!”

“You put it away, it’s gone for grading. That’s the rule. Also—it’s a learning curve,” he smiled at you sweetly, and you wanted to choke him out.

“Learning curve of what? That you are being a dick?” The last part was barely a whisper, nevertheless, a whisper that was fuming with rage and could cut through steel.

“Patience. And decision-making, which is a process that you clearly haven’t mastered yet,” he said coldly, not even looking you in the eye. This time, you did scoff, and angry steps carried you back to your seat.

The class settled into a more familiar rhythm after the test, the shuffle of papers and the steady hum of Bunsen burners filling the air. Viktor moved around the room, overseeing his students’ chemistry lab exercises with the same detached air he always wore. You tried to focus, but your thoughts kept drifting back to the test—and Viktor's smug little smile as he watched your frustration unfold.

The task at hand was simple enough: a titration experiment to determine the concentration of an unknown solution. Viktor had given you all the instructions, but as you watched the beaker of sodium hydroxide mix with the diluted acid, you felt a sinking feeling in your stomach. Something about the instructions didn’t sit right with you.

You glanced over at Sue, who was carefully measuring out the chemicals. You leaned in, whispering so Viktor wouldn’t overhear.

“Sue, I think he messed up the ratios in the instructions. If we follow this, it’s gonna screw everything up. We’ll end up with a totally different result.”

Sue frowned, taking a closer look at the setup. “You sure?”

“I’m certain. The way he wrote it—if we add that much of the sodium hydroxide, the pH is going to overshoot too quickly. It'll neutralise the acid too fast, and we won’t get an accurate reading. If we’re supposed to get a neutralisation point, that change will mess with the whole titration curve.”

Sue was sceptical, but you were adamant. You felt it in your gut. "It’ll be off. Trust me."

Sue nodded reluctantly. "So, what do we do?"

You hesitated for a moment, your fingers tapping the edge of the desk as you thought. You pulled up a few formulas on Sue’s phone, glancing back at Viktor to make sure he wasn’t looking in your direction.

“If we use less sodium hydroxide, the neutralisation will occur more slowly, and we’ll get a more accurate pH reading. We’re supposed to use a much more diluted solution.”

Sue nodded, though she looked uneasy. “What the hell, let’s try it.”

You adjusted the solution as you suggested, making the necessary changes to the procedure. You proceeded with the experiment, and despite her hesitation, Sue followed your lead. The two of you worked in tandem, the smooth, natural chemistry of your lab partnership taking over. As you neared the end of the titration, it was clear you had achieved the neutralisation point correctly—without overshooting or leaving any room for error.

Meanwhile, the rest of the class was still fumbling through their measurements, the air thick with the sounds of Viktor’s quiet reprimands. You couldn’t help but glance at him every now and then, noting the small, almost imperceptible frown on his face as he inspected his students’ work.

When the clock pointed to fifteen minutes away from the class ending, Heimerdinger stepped into the lab, his eyes scanning the results with interest. He walked toward your workbench, eyes lighting up as he reviewed your calculations.

“Well, it seems we have at least one pair who didn’t follow the instructions blindly,” Heimerdinger said, his voice rich with approval. “Good work, you two. You’ve done the experiment correctly. Trusting your instincts—making adjustments based on the data rather than simply following authority—is key in science. After all, we’re here to discover, not just to repeat what’s been done.”

You allowed yourself a smile of satisfaction, while Sue breathed a little easier, glancing at you in admiration.

Viktor’s face, however, was unreadable. He stood at the back of the room, arms folded tightly across his chest, watching the interaction with narrowed eyes.

Heimerdinger didn’t seem to mind. “It’s a learning curve for all of us, even your teacher. Mistakes are inevitable. But sometimes when we challenge authority—question the procedures—that’s when we learn and grow. Science is born from curiosity and defiance. Respect is important, of course, but don’t be afraid to challenge when you feel something isn’t right.”

You raised an eyebrow at Viktor, who hadn’t said a word. His lips were pressed into a thin line, but his eyes were hard as steel. He wasn’t pleased by Heimerdinger’s praise of your independent thinking.

“That’s how science is made,” Heimerdinger continued, completely oblivious to the tension between his students and the teacher. “By asking ‘what if?’ and exploring the unknown.”

Viktor finally spoke, his voice cool and controlled. “That’s true,” he said, glancing at you. “But there's a fine line between innovation and recklessness. Don’t mistake one for the other.”

You met his gaze, your jaw tight. “I don’t think we did.”

Viktor’s eyes flickered with something unreadable, but he didn’t respond, turning on his heel and walking toward the front of the room. Sue nudged you gently, a smirk tugging at her lips. “Well, at least we didn’t screw up,” she whispered.

You smiled back, but your mind was still racing. You had challenged Viktor’s authority—hadn’t followed his instructions—and it had got you praise from the professor. This couldn’t be good. “Sue, I don’t think I’m getting my phone back,” you whined into your friend's shoulder, who giggled uncontrollably.

You waited for your group to disperse into the library or the cantina before the start of the next lecture, making sure Viktor wouldn’t be able to humiliate you in front of anyone. You took a deep breath and knocked weakly on the door of the assistant’s back office.

“Come in,” Viktor’s voice was as flat and unwelcoming as ever. You braced yourself as you turned the doorknob and stepped inside quietly. Viktor was sitting at one of the tiny desks you were cramped at with Jayce and didn’t even look up. You cleared your throat.

“Yes?” This time, he looked up. God, he looked angry. When he finally raised his eyes to meet yours, he only sighed. “I doubt I can do much for you, Y/N. Given that you know everything already.”

“That’s rich coming from a guy who broke into the lab to prove his point once. Yes, Jayce told me,” you smiled at him sweetly, referring to his second-year incident when he and Jayce breached the lab security at night and conducted an experiment they were forbidden to do by Heimerdinger himself. This got them secure spots for PhD and TA positions.

Seeing that there was absolutely nothing coming from his direction but a blank stare, you asked carefully, “Well… why did you fuck up?”

Viktor sighed again, stood up slowly, and walked toward you. “Some theatre girls got us drunk last night—Mel’s friends. And I messed up the notes. Chemistry is not my major, as you know.” A smirk started to paint his face as he observed your reaction to the mention of drinking with some girls.

Viktor decided to push you further, his smirk widening as he leaned against the desk. “It’s hard to focus when you’re surrounded by Mel’s friends, you know. A lot of distractions. I haven't quite shaken last night off me yet,” he teased, his eyes glinting with amusement.

Your heart dropped at his words. You forced yourself to keep your expression neutral, but something inside you shifted—you didn’t want to admit it, but it hurt. Viktor was deliberately drawing attention to some girls, and it stung more than you cared to acknowledge.

You scolded yourself internally. Stop it. Don’t let him get to you. But it was already too late. You could feel a pang of something—jealousy, maybe, or insecurity—but you refused to let it show.

Viktor, sensing your discomfort, didn’t let up. “By the way,” he said, his tone casual, “I took a closer look at your test. You know, given your answers, I understand how you worked out the correct proportions for the exercise. Same mistake you made on the test itself, right?”

Your stomach twisted, and your chest tightened. “So now you’re just going to relish in my defeat, aren’t you?” you shot back, your voice strained.

Viktor raised an eyebrow. “I’ve got far better things to relish in. Just making observations.”

You exhaled sharply, your anger bubbling over. “You know, because you were being such a dick, the thing I actually knew will probably lower my final grade now. Congratulations.”

Viktor’s smirk never faltered. “I wasn’t being a dick,” he said, voice smooth. “I was merely being a meticulous stiff bastard.” He leaned back, his tone laced with sarcasm. “You were quite vocal about that, if I recall. Something about me being a ‘pedantic pain in the ass’ when you were drunk.”

Your face flushed, your hand tightening into a fist at your side. That comment struck a nerve you hadn’t even realised was there. Your heart pounded. “Are you seriously so petty, Viktor, that you’re going to take revenge for some drunken slur by messing with my grade?” you snapped, your voice rising. You turned to leave, the weight of your frustration heavy on your chest.

But Viktor’s voice stopped you cold. “Wait,” he said, and for a moment, you thought he was going to apologise. Maybe even admit he’d gone too far.

You glanced over your shoulder, ready to hear some kind of redemption. But then Viktor’s tone shifted again. “You didn’t forget something, did you?”

You froze as he pulled your phone from his pocket and held it out to you, a mischievous gleam in his eye. The sight of your phone in his hand made your heart sink. You really are a bastard, you thought.

With strained composure, you took the phone from him. Your fingers brushed his, sending an unexpected jolt through you. Viktor’s gaze lingered on you a moment longer than necessary, and for the briefest second, you saw something flicker behind his usual cool façade. Something almost… uncertain.

Your stomach fluttered—No. Not now. Don’t let him do this to you.

You forced a tight smile, returning his gaze. “I can play this game too, Viktor,” you said, your voice low and controlled.

Viktor’s smirk faltered for a brief moment, and he leaned back against the desk, watching you with a hint of something deeper in his expression. His eyes softened, but he quickly masked it with another calculated look.

You turned to leave, your mind racing with frustration and another weird emotion you didn’t have the name for. Just before you reached the door, you felt a shift in the air. Viktor’s teasing had crossed a line, and somehow, the distance between you felt less like a joke and more like something real. Why does this matter so much to me?

Your heart thudded painfully in your chest. Viktor hadn’t just teased you. He’d affected you, and you hated that. As you stepped out of the office, you could feel his gaze on your back, following you, studying your body. You scolded yourself internally for looking like a wreck and made your way to join Sue in the library.

Your friend regarded you with concern as you slid into the chair at the table, books already splayed out in front of her. “Did you get your phone back?”

“Yeah, it was a fight to the death,” you mumbled, sighing heavily as you opened a massive tome of genetics for the next lecture.

“And who died?” Sue asked, placing a reassuring hand on your shoulder.

“Oh, definitely me this time.” You whined and dropped your head face-flat onto the table. “I don’t understand when this happened. Can you direct me to a point in time when Viktor woke up and chose violence?” you chuckled despite yourself.

“Um… I think it was some time after the party where that cute curly-haired guy with a poetic name clung to you the entire evening. Or—” she smirked—“you calling Viktor a meticulous stiff bastard.”

“Ambrose? I completely forgot about him,” you mused for a second. There had been an Ambrose sometime during your first weeks. He was from the theatre department too, full of big words, slightly obsessive, but overall nice. You never gave him your number, though, deciding it wasn’t meant to be.

“So you think Viktor loves me so much, jealousy rotted his guts?” you laughed a little too loudly, drawing a few irritated ‘shh!’ sounds from nearby students.

“Let’s say it’s my instinct,” Sue replied with a mischievous smile. “And remember, Y/N—trusting your instincts is key in science,” she added in a hushed, exaggerated Heimerdinger impression, causing you to suppress your laugh even further.

***

Viktor stretched in his chair. The last paper to check stared him in the eye, glaring at him almost as intensely as you had that morning. He groaned slightly at the pain in his leg as the door creaked open.

“Hi, partner,” Jayce greeted, shooting him a smile that was a mix of guilt and a plea for forgiveness. He’d left Viktor for an entire day to gallivant around campus with Mel. She had apparently needed strong arms to carry boxes of flyers advertising their winter show.

“Don’t ‘hi, partner’ me, Jayce,” Viktor huffed but smiled faintly under his nose. “How was it?”

“She’s really something, Vik. I can tell you over a beer?” Jayce offered, clearly still buzzing from his all-day hangout with his beautiful, smart, interesting, unique, elegant, new girlfriend.

“I think I’m going to call it a night. One last paper to check.” Viktor groaned slightly as he flipped your paper in front of his friend’s face. Jayce snatched it mid-air and studied it carefully for a minute.

“How come? I thought she was the only one to work around your… notes mishap?” Jayce tread carefully, noticing the frown forming on Viktor’s forehead. He knew exactly how Viktor had messed up the notes—sadly, it was partially his fault as well.

Viktor leaned back in his chair, still staring at the paper. “Yes, indeed, she was. She even tried to fix her answer when she put the test into the box,” he muttered quietly under his breath.

Jayce raised an eyebrow. “So why didn’t she?”

Viktor rolled his eyes, the motion quick and dismissive. “Because, Jayce, I don’t make exceptions for students who can't follow the rules.”

“Oh, Viktor,” Jayce sighed, shaking his head. “What did she do to get so deeply under your skin? Seriously, you're not usually like this.” Viktor was only mean and vigilant when he cared—or when he was hurt. That, Jayce knew. He just didn’t know which one it was.

Viktor shrugged nonchalantly, but there was an edge to his voice. “She’s just full of herself. Thinks she can do whatever she wants because she’s got it all figured out.”

Jayce’s lips twitched into a knowing smile. “Oh, I see. Well, if someone’s getting on your nerves that much, it usually means they’re reflecting something about you that you don’t want to see.”

Viktor stared at him blankly, the words almost not registering. Then, he let out a short, mocking laugh. “When did you start spreading the wisdom of your people around the world, Jayce?”

Jayce leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms casually. “Mel teaches me how to talk to difficult people now. You know, learning to understand them and not just shut them down immediately.”

Viktor raised an eyebrow, his tone sceptical. “Am I the difficult one here?”

Jayce’s grin widened. “Clearly. I mean, you’re willing to fuck up Y/N’s final grade over a sentiment. That’s not exactly… rational behaviour, is it?” He leaned into the desk, hoping for a moment of self-reflection from his friend.

Viktor was silent for a moment, then scoffed, trying to brush off the conversation. “It’s not like that. I’m not just doing it to be petty.”

Jayce leaned in slightly. “So, what did you tell Heimerdinger about the mishap?”

Viktor leaned forward as well, his voice dropping into a more serious tone. “I told him the truth—both of us fell asleep in the lab, working on our side project. I had to rush to class that morning. No big deal.”

Jayce nodded, processing this. “I’m sure Heimerdinger won’t bat an eyelid if you step up for Y/N, especially since she did well in class. If anything, she deserves some leniency.”

Viktor paused, looking at his friend thoughtfully. “I guess I could do that. Just… don’t think this is something I do for everyone,” he exhaled, rubbing his temple. “But I’ll talk to Heimerdinger.”

Jayce smirked, leaning back in his chair again. “There you go. Maybe Mel’s influence is working on you after all.”

Viktor shot him a look, clearly not amused. But deep down, he couldn't deny there was something about you that unsettled him—and, for some reason, it had started to bother him more than he cared to admit.

“Just keep your wisdom to yourself,” Viktor muttered. “And get out of my office. I still have work to do.”

Jayce chuckled but stood up, winking. “Hey, it’s my office as well! But yeah, I get the point.” As Jayce exited, Viktor stared at the paper before him, his mind occupied by frustration. A meticulous stiff bastard he was indeed.

#viktor arcane #viktor x reader #viktor fanfic #viktor x reader smut #viktor x f!reader #arcane #viktor smut #arcane fanfic #my writing #ao3 #ao3 fanfic #viktor x oc #viktor nation #the game of teaching body

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this-is-tiny-mia · 23 days ago

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Reply All (H.S. Fic) | Chapter 6

General Masterlist

uni!harry x fem!reader PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4 | PART 5

Summary: Y/N and Harry were childhood best friends, inseparable through every laugh, secret, and growing pain. But high school brought unspoken feelings and decisions that tore them apart, leaving both with unanswered questions. Years later, a class project challenges them to face their shared past and uncover the truths they’ve both been running from. And a wrong click unveils the past and what will be the future.

Word count: 2.7k

A/n: Hey! i'm sorry this took way too long, i was battling with some mental health issues AND THEN SOME PHYSICAL HEALTH ISSUES, but i'm happy that i'm finally back to writing. Also i think next chapter will be THE FINAL ONE

Warnings: Sickness (mild cold)

The rest of the week passed in a strange mix of anticipation and nervous energy. Every interaction with Harry felt charged with an unspoken awareness. He didn’t bring up the date again, and you didn’t either, but it lingered between you both, like a secret neither of you wanted to break.

Juliet, of course, was thrilled when you told her.

“So, you are excited?” she asked, flopping onto her bed with a grin “Maybe,” you said, fiddling with the corner of your textbook. “I mean, it’s just dinner. People eat dinner all the time. It doesn’t have to mean anything.”

Juliet snorted. “Sure, because Harry ‘I’m-so-obviously-in-love-with-you’ Styles would ask just for dinner. Come on, Y/N, don’t play coy with me. You’re excited.”

You tried to protest, but the truth was, you were excited. The butterflies were there, fluttering away as you thought about what it all could mean. It was still hard for you, even though the two of you were halfway to being full-on best friends again. But for the first time, you decided to follow that gut-wrenching feeling—the one you get when you’re falling, unsure if anyone will catch you. Yet, deep down, you knew Harry would.

🌷

On Saturday, Harry was right on time, he rarely was on time, but today, even one minute early. When you opened the door to your dorm your hands were shaking. He was standing there with a slightly nervous smile, all dressed in his fancy (and only) black shirt, and some black jeans.

Oh!

And a single daisy in his hand.

“For you,” he said, holding it out.

You couldn’t help but smile as you took it. “Thank you…” You both could hear the tiny noises Juliet was trying to stifle; you were certain she was more excited than you—or maybe not. “Don’t mind her, she’s just watching her favorite rom-com” you said smiling “I WANT HER BACK BEFORE 12!” Juliet said as you closed the door behind you chuckling

The walk to the restaurant was easy, filled with light jokes and comfortable silences. The kind of silences that didn’t need filling because they felt like home. At dinner, the conversation flowed effortlessly. It was like you’d tapped into the friendship you once had, only now there was something more simmering beneath the surface.

At one point, as he reached across the table to grab the salt shaker, your hands brushed. Neither of you pulled away immediately, and when your eyes met, the air seemed to shift.

Harry cleared his throat, breaking the moment. “So... are you having a good time?”

You nodded, your heart thumping in your chest. “Yeah, I am.”

He sighed “I still feel the need to say sorry. There’s so much I lost because of bad decisions,” he said. You opened your mouth to respond, but he continued. “Like when you aced that French class, or when you almost broke your nose in P.E. Or when fucking David was holding your hand, and a week later he was holding Steph’s. I wish I’d put more worms in his bag…”

“That was you?!” you interrupted, incredulous.

“And when you found those study cards in your science book when you weren’t doing so well. Or when you won class leader with more votes than there were people in our class. And when you weren’t prepared for the Biology presentation, and the lights went out…”

You could have listened to him talk about it all for years. Somehow, you weren’t remembering it with pain or hurt. Instead, it felt like something inside you was blooming—something that had been asleep for years.

“So, I just need to say I’m sorry for missing it all,” he said softly.

“You weren’t. You didn’t miss it—maybe I did. You were there all the time apparently”

“But it was my fault you missed it,” he replied.

“Yeah, but… I mean…” You sighed. “Who cares? This is our second chance—at us, whatever this is… at so many things we can still do. This time, the right way.”

“I’m still sorr—” He didn’t even finish the word before you pushed a piece of bread into his mouth, laughing.

“Stop saying you’re sorry! You’ve made it very clear,” you chuckled.

He pulled the bread out of his mouth, chewing some bits “Fine, no more apologizing…for now”

“You are…” you said smiling trying to find the right word “so you…” The waiter came by to refill your drinks, and you noticed Harry glance at the dessert menu. He raised an eyebrow at you, holding it up as if to say, Should we?

“You already know the answer,” you said, grinning.

“Chocolate lava cake to share?” he asked, confirming.

“Obviously.” “So you…” he said.

After dinner, he offered to walk you back to your dorm. The streets were quiet, lit only by the soft glow of streetlights. As you talked, his hand brushed against yours a few times. It felt almost deliberate, like he was testing the waters.

Finally, you stopped in front of your building.

“This was nice,” you said, turning to face him.

“Yeah, it was,” he agreed, his voice soft.

There was a moment of silence where neither of you moved. His eyes flickered down to your lips, and for a second, you thought he might lean in. But instead, he took a step back, his hands sliding into his pockets.

“Goodnight, Y/N,” he said, his voice low and warm.

“Goodnight, Harry,” you replied, feeling a strange mix of relief and disappointment.

As you climbed the stairs to your dorm, you realized you were smiling. not a small one, a big dumb one.

🌷

The days following the date were filled with an unbearable anticipation. Something between you and Harry had shifted, and though neither of you said it outright, you felt it every time you saw him. Every time his hand brushed yours, every time he laughed at something you said, every time.

And it was killing you.

You tried to focus on classes, tried to keep your mind busy, but it was no use. Something inside you had been set loose, and it wouldn’t rest. Every time you were near him, your thoughts spiraled. You wondered what it would feel like to just grab his face and kiss him, what it would feel to just take a nap with him, to stop dancing around this thing.

Harry, of course, seemed oblivious. He was careful, too careful, like he was walking on eggshells around you. It was sweet—he was sweet—but it was also driving you insane.

Juliet noticed, of course she did “You’re fidgeting,” she pointed out one evening as you sat on your bed, pretending to study.

“No, I’m not,” you shot back, though your leg was bouncing up and down furiously.

Juliet smirked, sitting cross-legged on her own bed. “You are, and you’ve been doing it all week. Let me guess—it’s Harry?”

You glared at her, but the heat in your cheeks gave you away.

“Oh my God, it is Harry!” she exclaimed, practically leaping off her bed.

“Ugh!” you groaned, throwing a pillow at her. “it’s that i can’t take the first step and he’s too careful with me and that’s the reasonable thing to do but ugh!” you said burying your face in your hands. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me! I’m supposed to be taking it slow, letting him prove himself, but all I can think about is kissing him and holding his hand and cuddling him, and hugging him. It’s like... it’s all-consuming. Pathetic”

Juliet laughed, coming to sit beside you. “Y/N, that’s not a bad thing. It just means you like him. A lot.”

“But it’s too soon,” you said, your voice muffled. “I can’t just—what if I'm wrong?”

Juliet gently pulled your hands away from your face. “Or what if it’s exactly what you both need? You’re not going to ruin anything by being honest about how you feel.”

“I need to talk to him”

🌷

As much as you were determined to talk to him, you couldn’t fight the fever and the throat pain you woke up with. You barely got any sleep, shifting restlessly in bed, trying to find a comfortable position. At 5 a.m., you gave up and got up to grab your water bottle, taking a few painful sips.

“What’s wrong?” Juliet mumbled from her side of the dorm, barely awake.

“I think I’m sick,” you rasped in a voice so hoarse it surprised even you.

“Oh no, don’t come near me—I don’t want to get sick,” she said, pulling the blanket over her head.

“That’s very thoughtful of you, Juliet. Thanks,” you replied sarcastically, collapsing back into bed and covering your face with one arm, cursing every germ in your body.

You managed to get a few more hours of sleep until 9 a.m., but waking up didn’t make things better. You hated being sick, not just because of the obvious reasons, but because it usually meant dealing with doctors, pills, and needles—all of which you despised. Most times, you convinced yourself you were strong enough to fight off any illness. Sometimes it worked. Other times, it ended with you battling a high fever while a doctor scolded you with, “Why didn’t you come in sooner?”

College had only made things worse—stress, germs everywhere—it felt like walking through a minefield.

Sitting up in bed, you glanced over at Juliet’s side of the dorm, only to find a post-it note with a pill and a couple of vitamin gummies beside it.

“I went to class. TAKE THE PILLS, I MEAN IT. I’ll see you later.”

You frowned, leaning back against the wall. There was no chance you were taking that pill. You grabbed the vitamin gummies and chewed them with some water instead. You weren’t even hungry. Feverish and all, you thought to yourself, I can do this. It’s just one of those things that lasts a day.

But it wasn’t.

At 9:10, you got your first text. You figured it was probably Juliet checking in, either to nag you about taking the pills or to let you know she’d told the teacher you were sick—your class had started at 9, after all. Or maybe it was that relentless Duolingo notification again.

You decided to ignore the first buzz, rolling over to pull the blanket tighter around you. But then came another buzz. And another. Oh, and yet another. Finally, you reached for your phone. There was no way Duolingo could be that persistent.

“Have you had breakfast?” “You still prefer chicken soup?” “How high is the fever? Do you have a thermometer?” “I’ll go buy the soup and meds. I’ll be there in 20.”

It felt like he was talking to himself, given how quickly the messages were coming through despite your lack of response. You blinked at your phone, twice, just to make sure you were really seeing his name on the screen. Did he just get out of class?

You stared at the messages for a moment, your fever-mushed- brain struggling to process what they meant. Harry’s coming here? The thought sent a jolt of something—panic, excitement, maybe both—through you. You glanced at the mirror across the room and groaned. You looked every bit as awful as you felt.

Before you could type out a reply telling him not to bother, another text came through.

“Don’t even think about telling me not to come. I’m already on my way.”

Your thumb hovered over the keyboard. How did he always seem to know exactly what you were thinking? You sighed, giving up on trying to argue with him. Instead, you typed back:

“I don’t want you to get sick too.”

His response came immediately:

“Too late. I think I already caught something anyway”Despite the pounding in your head, you couldn’t help the small laugh that escaped. Twenty minutes later, a soft knock at the door made you sit up in bed, your blanket still wrapped around you like a cocoon. You shuffled to the door and cracked it open, peeking out to see Harry standing there, balancing a steaming container of soup, a plastic bag from the pharmacy, and a water bottle under one arm.

“Delivery for the sickest girl in college,” he said with a crooked smile, his slightly messy hair and the fact that he’d clearly rushed here “Harry, you didn’t have to—”

“I know,” he interrupted gently, nudging the door open further with his foot. “But I wanted to.”

You stepped back, letting him in, too tired to argue. He set everything down on your desk and turned to face you, his brows knitting together as he took you in.

“You look... like you need to lie back down,” he said softly. You gave him a weak smile, feeling a little self-conscious under his gaze. “I look like a mess, you mean.”

He grinned, but there was a softness to it that made your chest tighten. “You look like someone who’s about to feel a lot better after some chicken soup.” You rolled your eyes, but his tone, his presence—it was comforting in a way you hadn’t expected. As he unpacked the soup and meds, you found yourself sitting on the bed, watching him, your earlier hesitations momentarily forgotten. For the first time, you felt like maybe being sick wasn’t so bad. And you didn’t even question how he found out, it had a name. Juliet.

“You didn’t take the pill Juliet left,” Harry said, glancing at the post-it and the pill next to it. “I know you’re not fond of swallowing pills, so I brought chewable Tylenol.” He rummaged through the bag full of items and pulled out a box of chewable tablets. “And there’s a bunch of different flavors of sore throat lozenges,” he added, digging further and producing even more items. “Oh, and this,” he said, pulling out a large chocolate bar.

“I don’t like that one,” you muttered.

“That’s for me,” he replied without missing a beat. “I need energy too if I’m going to take care of you.” His tone was so matter-of-fact that you were momentarily stunned. “I’ll need to go back to my dorm later for some clothes, but I’ll go while you’re napping.”

“Wait, clothes? What do you mean clothes?”

“I’m staying here tonight,” he said casually, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. “I swapped with Juliet. She didn’t want to risk getting sick, and I was looking to challenge my immune system… seemed fair enough.”

You stared at him, your fever-clouded mind struggling to process his words. “You’re… staying here?”

“Yep.” He started unpacking more items from the bag, completely unbothered by your reaction.

“Harry, you can’t just decide to—”

“I can, and I did,” he interrupted firmly, but his voice remained gentle. “You’re sick, and someone needs to make sure you eat, take your meds, and actually rest. That someone is me.”

You opened your mouth to argue but quickly closed it again. It wasn’t just the fever making you feel off-balance—it was the quiet confidence in his words, like looking after you was the most natural thing in the world.

“Did Juliet really agree to this?” you asked, narrowing your eyes.

“Of course,” he replied with a small shrug, popping a piece of chocolate into his mouth. “I told her I’d take good care of you.”

You huffed and crossed your arms, though the gesture lacked any real conviction. “Harry, I’m not a child. I don’t need a babysitter.”

He smiled then—soft and a little smug. “I know you’re not a child. But i know that you are VERY stubborn when it comes to sickness and you do need someone, and I’m volunteering. Now, take this.”

He held out two chewable Tylenol and a bottle of water, his expression patient but expectant. You sighed, knowing there was no point in arguing. Begrudgingly, you took the pill, popping it into your mouth and chewing slowly as he watched you like a hawk.

“Happy now?” you muttered, swallowing it down with a sip of water.

“Ecstatic,” he replied with a grin. “Now, eat some soup, and then you’re taking a nap.”

You rolled your eyes but couldn’t suppress the small smile tugging at your lips. As much as his determination to stay and care for you was annoying, it was also… kind of nice. Tag list: @hermionelove @mads3502 @cherryloveshs @harrystyleshotwife @familyshow-orisit @fadingcherryblossomblaze @lunaharrygurl @gem1712 @millsadoresyou @prettydelilah @sassamanda77 @maddiesalvatore1839 @wheredidmyeyesgo

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h33slvr · 15 days ago

Text

FEED PROTOCOL: INITIATE

. . . . . ۶ৎ╰──A H33SLVR ORIGINAL──╯۶ৎ. . . . .

℘ ────────── ℘ ─────────── ℘

—ᝰ.ᐟ𝙿𝚊𝚒𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐. OT7!enhypen x reader

『Ｓｙｎｏｐｓｉｓ』 They were made to be monsters. Now they have to survive the game. Seven experimental vampire subjects, Forced into a high-stakes psychological game designed by the very doctors who made them, they must rely on their fractured abilities—and each other—to survive.

—ᝰ.ᐟաɑɾղíղցՏ: Blood, Gore, Violence, Psychological Horror, Death, Injury, Medical Experiments, Body Horror, Vampire!enhypen, Captivity/Imprisonment, Trauma, PTSD, Mature Language, Cannibalistic Undertones, Implied Abuse/Torture, Power Imbalance, Moral Betrayal, Romantic/Physical Tension.

—ᝰ.»ĂÚŤĤŐŔ ŃŐŤĔ: This story will be posted on wattpad, just because it's easier for me to use that. I dont use a computer for tumblr so it would take me longer to do chapters and all that on here so im sticking to wattpad for any series I do but im gonna post about them on here and include the link to the story :)

℘ ────────── ℘ ─────────── ℘

`✦ˑ ִֶ 𓂃⊹𝙀𝙥𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙙𝙚 1 ~ THE CULL

`✦ˑ ִֶ 𓂃⊹𝙀𝙥𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙙𝙚 2 ~ THE CULL PT2

`✦ˑ ִֶ 𓂃⊹𝙀𝙥𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙙𝙚 3 ~ BLOODLOCK

`✦ˑ ִֶ 𓂃⊹𝙀𝙥𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙙𝙚 4 ~ FRACTURE

`✦ˑ ִֶ 𓂃⊹𝙀𝙥𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙙𝙚 5 ~ MEMORY VAULT

`✦ˑ ִֶ 𓂃⊹𝙀𝙥𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙙𝙚 6 ~ ECHO CHAMBER

`✦ˑ ִֶ 𓂃⊹𝙀𝙥𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙙𝙚 7 ~ THE HUNT

`✦ˑ ִֶ 𓂃⊹𝙀𝙥𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙙𝙚 8 ~ FEED TRAIL

`✦ˑ ִֶ 𓂃⊹𝙀𝙥𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙙𝙚 9 ~ FEED TRAIL PT2

`✦ˑ ִֶ 𓂃⊹𝙀𝙥𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙙𝙚 10 ~ THE RED VEIL

`✦ˑ ִֶ 𓂃⊹𝙀𝙥𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙙𝙚 11 ~ ASCENSION

`✦ˑ ִֶ 𓂃⊹𝙀𝙥𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙙𝙚 12 ~ BLACKOUT ORDER

`✦ˑ ִֶ 𓂃⊹𝙀𝙥𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙙𝙚 13 ~ RECONDITIONING LOOP

`✦ˑ ִֶ 𓂃⊹𝙀𝙥𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙙𝙚 14 ~ M.E.D.U.S.A

`✦ˑ ִֶ 𓂃⊹𝙀𝙥𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙙𝙚 15 ~ COVENANT BREACH

`✦ˑ ִֶ 𓂃⊹𝙀𝙥𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙙𝙚 16 ~ PULSE TRAIL

`✦ˑ ִֶ 𓂃⊹𝙀𝙥𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙙𝙚 17 ~ THE OFFERING

`✦ˑ ִֶ 𓂃⊹𝙀𝙥𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙙𝙚 18 ~ GENESIS CORE

`✦ˑ ִֶ 𓂃⊹𝙀𝙥𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙙𝙚 19 ~ CODE MAPPING

`✦ˑ ִֶ 𓂃⊹𝙀𝙥𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙙𝙚 20 ~ LAB FILE RECOVERY

`✦ˑ ִֶ 𓂃⊹𝙀𝙥𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙙𝙚 21 ~ TRUST TESTS

`✦ˑ ִֶ 𓂃⊹𝙀𝙥𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙙𝙚 22 ~ TRAITOR SURVEILLANCE

`✦ˑ ִֶ 𓂃⊹𝙀𝙥𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙙𝙚 23 ~ BLOOD ETHICS METER

『ƈᴬŜŤ』

[𝄃𝄃𝄂𝄂𝄀𝄁𝄃𝄂𝄂𝄃] — 이희승 — Lee Heeseung — EX-001R

[𝄃𝄃𝄂𝄂𝄀𝄁𝄃𝄂𝄂𝄃] — 박종성 — Park Jongseong — EX-099R

[𝄃𝄃𝄂𝄂𝄀𝄁𝄃𝄂𝄂𝄃] — 심재윤 — Sim Jaeyun — EX-005R

[𝄃𝄃𝄂𝄂𝄀𝄁𝄃𝄂𝄂𝄃] — 박성훈 — Park Sunghoon — EX-023R

[𝄃𝄃𝄂𝄂𝄀𝄁𝄃𝄂𝄂𝄃] — 김선우 — Kim Seonwoo — EX-007R

[𝄃𝄃𝄂𝄂𝄀𝄁𝄃𝄂𝄂𝄃] — 양정원 — Yang Jungwon — EX-004R

[𝄃𝄃𝄂𝄂𝄀𝄁𝄃𝄂𝄂𝄃] — 西村力 — Nishimura Riki — EX-010R

[𝄃𝄃𝄂𝄂𝄀𝄁𝄃𝄂𝄂𝄃] — 윤인 — Yoon Y/N — EX-008R

[FILE MISSING]

#enhypen fic #kpop idols #wattpad #enhypen jake #enha x reader #ni ki enhypen #enhypen x reader #heeseung #jungwon enhypen #riki nishimura x reader #scifi #vampire #jake sim #sunghoon enhypen #sunoo enhypen #jay park enhypen

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jungkoode · 2 months ago

Text

5 SECONDS TO FREEDOM

-˚ a story about neon-lit races & masks that slip at 200kph ˚-

"They say in street racing, everything is decided in the first five seconds. But with him? The race was lost the moment he looked at you across the starting line—and smiled like he already knew how this would end."

ೃ༄ quick links ༄ೃ

read on ao3

read on wattpad

read author intro and TWs (MUST)

ೃ༄ synopsis ༄ೃ

You've spent years building the perfect reputation on Tokyo's underground racing circuit. By day: the dutiful heiress to Hayashi Motors. By night: "Hachiroku," the untouchable street queen who's never lost a race worth mentioning.

Until him.

The Latino street racer who everyone only knows as "Jaque." Midnight purple Skyline R34. Spanish curses and a smile that spells trouble.

Racing for pink slips during midnight runs, trading insults that feel too much like foreplay, and falling into a physical arrangement was never in your plans.

And honestly? Between your fiancé waiting at home, your family's expectations, and this man who speaks filthy promises in Spanish against your skin—someone's bound to crash and burn.

Too bad the adrenaline feels too good to stop.

✧ details ✧

main ship: jimin x f!reader side ships: kenji x soojin, taeyang x maya genre: rivals to lovers, double life drama, slow burn, street racing, fuck buddies rating: explicit (18+ only) words: - chapters: -

status: upcoming

ೃ༄ chapter guide ༄ೃ

early access + snippets

➵ #01 | snippet 1

volume one: midnight runs & dangerous curves

➵ #00 | debts unpaid (prologue)

➵ #01 | corporate by day, streets by night ➵ #02 | ➵ #03 | ➵ #04 | ➵ #05 | ➵ #06 | ➵ #07 | ➵ #08 | ➵ #09 | ➵ #10 | ➵ #11 | ➵ #12 | ➵ #13 | ➵ #14 | ➵ #15 |

fragments & memories

BEFORE THE RACE ➵ garage confessions ➵ skyline whispers

DOUBLE LIVES

➵ hayashi family dinner ➵ midnight calls home ➵ engagement party ➵ the wrench ring

AFTER HOURS

➵ mountaintop surrender ➵ spanish lessons ➵ borrowed jacket ➵ engine grease kisses ➵ what happens in neutral ground ➵ mechanical failures

Key:

Regular titles: safe to read if up-to-date with main story.

[WIP]: fragments currently being written

Strikethrough: future content & concept ideas

Read order: chronological by volume, fragments can be read anytime

✧ content includes ✧

♡ explicit sexual content ♡ street racing & illegal activities ♡ complicated double lives ♡ multilingual dirty talk (Spanish/Japanese/English) ♡ infidelity/cheating (arranged relationship) ♡ class differences & cultural tensions ♡ xenophobia & racism ♡ family trauma & expectations ♡ rivals-to-lovers

ೃ༄ extras ༄ೃ

✧ playlists:

five seconds to freedom - the soundtrack

songs jimin plays while working on his skyline 🔧

✧ pinterest: aesthetic board

✧ moodboards: characters | racing scenes

✧ car specs: detailed modifications

jimin's skyline r34

y/n's toyota ae86

✧ tidbits/headcanons: #5stftidbits

✧ lyrics that remind me of 5STF: share your own with #5STFlyrics

✧ disclaimer ✧

this is purely a work of fiction. characters, cars, and racing scenes are fictional and not meant to encourage illegal activities. all intimate scenes feature consenting adults in fictional scenarios.

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glubglubgurgle · 2 months ago

Text

bruised apples

caleb's willing to wait forever for you, but why would you like someone else?

pairings: Caleb/unnamed afab MC

tags: fluff and angst, angst and romance, yearning!!!!, old days, non canon compliant, slow burn, awkward love, eventual romance, eventual smut, dry humping..., caleb third person pov

word count (C1-9): 21.4k

a/n!: cross posted on ao3! this is my first time posting a fic on tumblr...idk how to format everything prettily like everyone else TT this is also my first time writing a fic in forever and first time writing anything smutty in general. there is def some grammar issues...sorry!!! but i hope u enjoy anyways :3

CHAPTER 10 CHAPTER 11-12 CHAPTER 13-14 EPILOGUE

Chapters 1-9 below!

Chapter 1

“I think I like someone.”

Caleb was as resilient as can be. It took more than a few hits to the face to take him down, if anyone even managed to get that close to him. He endured far more physical and emotional pain than anyone his age should have experienced.

But his world came crashing down once the girl he dreamed of every night said that one sentence.

He was on his break from the DAA, and she sprung the five words during dinner, ever so casually. She poked at her food with her fork, biting her lip and avoiding eye contact. He knew she always felt uncomfortable talking about boys with him. Admittedly, he gets really defensive about her and the guys around her. All these years of protecting her, he could never be sure about anyone’s intentions.

“Please say something, you scare me when you’re quiet.” Her hand rested on his. “He’s really nice, and I don’t even think he likes me like that. I just wanted to tell you because I feel really strongly about this crush for once, and you’re important to me. I don’t wanna hide anything from you.” Her fingers gripped on his tighter as she rambled.

Caleb finally recovered from his thoughts, noticing the scowl building on his face and attempted to reverse it. He let go of his fork and put his hand atop of hers. “Pips, I’m glad you like someone. I just worry about you, but thanks for telling me.” He raised her hand with his and stared at her fingers. Nails painted like red and green apples. Thoughts of her in her room painting her nails while she missed him flood his brain. “He’d be an idiot to not like you back…” he mutters. The frown on his face twitches back into a soft smile. He let go of her hand and pinched her cheek, eliciting a shriek from her.

“Hey!” She pulled her hand back from near you and rubbed her face. She resumed eating, a small smile played on her lips, as if she felt accomplished.

“So…” Caleb drew out the o’s. “Who is he? Does he have good grades? Is he nice?” Feigning a positive interest. Truthfully, it killed him.

She, on the other hand, seemed very interested to talk about her mystery man. She took her last bite from her bowl before bringing her legs up to hug her knees. She rested her cheek on her right knee to look at him while talking, giddy. So entranced by the thoughts of her crush, she didn’t notice the way Calebs fists were clenched under the table or the way his lips would betray him and frown every now and then.

“He sits next to me in class, right now. We switched our seats around because everyone was sitting with their friend the first week.” Her cheeks turned pink thinking of him. “I never really interacted with him before…I think we were on opposite sides of the class every year before, but also there was never really any reason to.” She shrugged, eyes wandering while thinking of the past. She shook her head to get back on track and looked back at Caleb with a sort of gleam in her eye. “He’s really smart, I think he was top of the class last year. We didn’t really talk much at first, but he saw me struggling with a math question and helped me out. Ever since, we’ve been talking more and more.” She giggled.

Her smile would always put one on Caleb’s face. This one stung. A smile meant for someone else. Did he even deserve it? Does he even know how lucky he is?

“Don’t worry, I’ve done a background check on him…kind of. I know you always tell me to be careful and from what I’ve seen and heard, he’s good!” She stood up and saluted at me, “Won’t let you down, Captain Caleb!” She released her position and laughed. She picked up her dishes to take to the sink.

Surprisingly, Caleb heard the water running and dishes clanking. Normally she left her dishes for him to do.

He got up and walked toward her. Her back faced him and he had to hold back from doing anything rash. Multiple scenarios played in his mind. What if he just admitted his feelings now? What if he begged her not to like this guy? What if he made him disappear?

Instead he wrapped his arms around her, and rested his forehead on her shoulder. “I was only gone for a few weeks and you already found someone to take up your brain…” He let out a sigh against her sweater before breathing her in. She even smelled like candied apples.

She giggled, again. She turned the water off before turning around to look at him. She grabbed his face with both her hands and shook him around. Just like she always did when they were kids. “There’s the jealous and protective Caleb.”

His eyes widened at her reaction. Lax and carefree.

“You were being so supportive, I was starting to wonder if they cloned you over at the DAA and sent back a faulty one.” She snorted a little before letting his face go to turn back to the dishes. “And it’s been empty around here…but I’m not replacing you. You’re very important to me. I just really like him, but who knows if it’ll go anywhere. I think crushes are fun. And it’s my last year!” After setting her bowl on the drying rack, she turned back around and poked his cheek.

Caleb cleared his throat, and regained his posture. Crossing his arms, he looked at her with mock judgement, “Yeah, Pips. It’s your last year, shouldn’t you be studying? You better not throw away your Hunter dream for a guy.”

She rolled her eyes before pushing past him. “You didn’t even finish your food. Eat before you start to lecture me, I’m not doing your dishes.” She snarked back before dropping onto the couch.

Caleb stood in the kitchen, touching his face where she left electric currents. He knew he was screwed. How is he going to pretend to be okay with this? He knew he had to. He didn’t want to scare her off, and he just wanted her to be happy. Would this guy make her happy? As much as he made her happy? Would that guy cherish her the way he cherished her?

“When you’re done, come watch a movie with me.” She said from the couch, shaking him from his own thoughts. “I missed so many new movies because I waited to watch it with you.” She grumbled.

She was quick to say things that meant the world to Caleb, but it probably just came off casually to her. He tried to shake off the confession of her crush on someone else and cleaned up his own dishes. He was itching to spend time with you, and he didn’t want this bump in the road to get in the way. On one hand, this crush wouldn’t turn into anything serious. Like she said, they just started talking more.

But the idea of someone not liking her just doesn’t seem possible in Caleb’s brain. She was perfect according to him. Perfect for him, even. He couldn’t find the possibility of whoever that guy was to not like her back. Would he be strong enough emotionally to let her be happy with him? To stand by and watch someone else take her away?

Caleb sat at the end of the couch while she laid her head on his lap. They always watched movies like this. She always ended up falling asleep if she didn’t like the movie. And he always watched her, admiring her, before falling asleep himself. Their grandma would always come home to find them slumped against each other on the couch with the TV running.

The first movie was not to her liking at all. She fell asleep in the first ten minutes. Caleb wanted to keep asking about the mysterious guy, but he heard her soft snores and felt a damp patch on his thigh as she started to drool. He bit his lip as he stroked the top of her head.

“How could you like someone else, Pipsqueak…?” He mumbled, soft enough to not disturb her. It was destroying him. He was wondering if he could drop out and wait for her to graduate before going back to the DAA. But if he did that, how would he take control of the sky for her like he promised? He wanted to give her everything, but he also wanted to be her everything. Caleb loved her. He wished he could be selfish and take her as his own. He knew he could make her happy, he knew because he would do anything to make her happy. Would the other guy do the same?He knew he was thinking crazy. He was planning out the future at great lengths just because she had a simple crush. He couldn't help it. Caleb was terrified. His biggest fear was losing her.

Chapter 2

The two walked down the familiar path of the park near their home in silence. Although the awkward situation died down, Caleb was unable to keep away from his own thoughts. Despite the chilly autumn air prickling both of their skins, his blood ran hot with the thoughts of another guy taking up your time. He had to stop himself every now and then to remind him that they weren’t even close like that.

It was a dumb crush. He hoped endlessly.

“Caleb?” Her voice tore through his thoughts and ripping him from his worries. “It’s the fall festival and you walked past every apple stand without a glance.” She poked at his cheek and tried lifting the corner of his mouth into a smirk. “You promised me a pie. Why are you so stressed?” She got on her tippy toes and her hand moved up to his furrowed brows, trying to massage it out. “You haven’t told me anything about how the aviation academy is treating you…” She muttered, looking at him with a sort of puppy-dog eyes.

He grabbed her hand and held it for a second before letting it drop back to her side. “You’re getting nosy, Pip. I wonder who you learned that from,” a natural smirk formed on his face.

She rolled her eyes and hooked his arm with hers before continuing to walk. “Is the aviation academy cool? I want to visit next time.”

Caleb looked down at her as they walked and a pit in his stomach grew. She looked so beautiful to him, this was his world. He felt like he was going insane trying to fight the thoughts in the back of his head of someone else taking her away from him. After all he fought for. Everything about her felt like home and she was his primary motivation. How could she like someone else? He looked at her hairpin, the one he got for her from a small shop at Skyhaven, and reached out to touch it. “It’s fun learning, I miss being back home with you and Gran, though.” He softly said, meaning it wholeheartedly. “I’m glad you use this, I was worried you wouldn’t like it.” He said with a small smile.

“Of course I like it, silly.” She looked up at him from the side with a wide smile. She stopped them from walking and let go of Caleb. She reached into her bag to grab her coin pouch that was also gifted by him and put it to her face to smile even wider. “I love everything you give me! It makes me feel like a bit of you is still with me even when you’re away.”

His heart warmed. The necklace she gifted him suddenly felt warm on his chest, as if to remind him that he does and feels the same thing. “That’s good. I am always here for you.” He smirks, patting the top of her head.

She got on her tippy toes and her face got close to his, arms almost wrapping around his neck.

He stilled and everything else stopped. He looked onto her smiling face and his eyes fell to her rosy lips. So close, yet so far.

Her hands tinkered around his neck looking for the familiar chain to pull out from under his shirt. She gruffed before settling back down on her feet. “Why do you hide it, embarrassed?” She fixed the necklace atop his chest where it was visible. Once she was satisfied, she walked towards an apple stall that was run by their neighbour.

Caleb took a moment to recover. He could have kissed her right then and there. Maybe she would have reciprocated and he wouldn’t have to worry anymore. He knew it was wrong. Caleb needed her and he wanted to be someone she needed too. He rubbed the back of his neck where he could still feel her fingers and then caught up with her.

“Caleb, how many apples do we need for a pie?” She called out to him, waving her coin pouch again.

They grabbed hot ciders from a stall and found a bench to sit on under the streetlights, overlooking the festival crowd. “I told you about my crush…did you meet anyone you like?” She asked. Caleb could’ve sworn the question was laced with fear or hestiance, but he brushed it off as hopeful thinking.

He took a sip of his cider before shaking his head. “I don’t have time for that, you know me.” He set his cup down beside him. “It’s just like high school again, though…I’m just so charming.” Caleb smirked, looking at her.

She rolled her eyes before lightly pushing him, “Heartbreaker…none of them interest you? There’s no way not one of them caught your eye” She sips on her own cider looking away.

There was a pang in his chest, if it wasn’t her being worried about him, it felt like she was trying to marry him off. And it hurt him that she didn’t know that all he could think about was her. He was too busy with school, and even busier with her happiness and safety occupying his brain. “Nope.” He popped the ‘p’ and rubbed his palms on pants. “I’m too busy trying to become your personal pilot, Pip. Why would I be interested in anyone else when you’re already a handful,” he tried to joke. “Do you want me to get a girlfriend that bad?” He leaned towards her ear and muttered.

She slowly turned her body to face him and looked at him in the eyes. “Would it be bad if I said no?” She bit her lip, a nervous habit that she gained ever since Caleb said he was going to the DAA the previous year.

It was like Caleb’s lungs had the air sucked out by a vaccuum as he tried to wrap his head around what she said. From pure instinct, he reached out with his thumb to release her lip from teeth. “That’s not fair, Pipsqueak. If I said that about your crush, you’d get mad at me.” His voice was barely above a whisper.

She quickly covered her face with both of her hands before standing up, “I was just kidding. I’m gonna go find a snack.” She ran off before Caleb could process anything else.

It was always like this. She would say something that would make him feel like there was a chance that the two shared the same dreams. The dream that there would be a happy ending, together. More than just the closest friends since childhood. Caleb just thought she was also as big of a coward as him. But eventually it would work out. He hoped.

Was what she said really just a joke? If there was any true meaning behind it, even just a sliver, Caleb was willing to hold on tight to it. He grabbed the bag of apples and the two ciders before walking off to find her again.

After weaving through the crowd of families, he spotted her yellow cardigan. Next to a guy in a white muscle shirt and ripped jeans. Caleb’s fists tightened around the cups he was holding, but he managed to control it to avoid piercing the styrofoam. As he got closer, he could see her laugh at something the guy had said. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ears that were tinged with pink.

He didn’t seem to be a threat. In fact, he seemed nice. In Caleb’s eyes, though, he was an enemy. He knew it was him. Her deskmate, the one she said she liked.

“Pipsqueak, did you find anything else?” Caleb acted casual, stepping beside her while holding out her drink for her to take.

She seemed stunned to see him, as if he wasn’t just with her less than five minutes ago. She stammered a bit before grabbing the drink and shaking her head. “O-oh, I ran into my classmate so I got distracted.”

Caleb’s eyes pierced through hers and he could feel how nervous she was. Was it from what she said or was it from the guy in front of her?

“This is my childhood friend, Caleb. He’s visiting from the DAA!” She regained her composure as if the chance to brag about knowing someone at the aviation academy fueled her confidence. “And this is my deskmate, Eric.”

Eric.

Caleb wished so deeply that the man he was so worried about would remain nameless.

Eric reached his hand out to Caleb, “It’s nice to meet you, she talks about you all the time.”

Caleb smiled, surprisingly with some sincerity because of what Eric said. He grabbed his hand and was met with a firm handshake. “You too, I hope she doesn’t bother your studies with dumb stories about me.”

Eric shook his head, chuckling. “No bother here. I’m actually interested in what she has to say about you. I’m also planning on attending the DAA. I hope I can rely on you in the future.” His dark purple eyes looked at Caleb, hopefully.

Someone called Eric’s name from afar and everyone turned to find another girl waving at him.

“Oh, that’s my sister. I have to get going. Have fun! I’ll see you at school next week.” Eric waves at the two before running off.

The two of them watched her crush disappear into the crowd. It was awkward and silent for only a few moments, but it felt like years to the two of them.

Caleb was the first to break the silence. “That’s him, huh?” He couldn’t help the disappointment in his voice, but he hoped she was too flustered to notice. He looked to find her looking down at her shoes.

“It’s not like I’m in love with him,” she muttered. “Doesn’t he seem nice, though?” She finally looked at Caleb, seeking some sort of approval.

He reluctantly nods. There were multiple alarms ringing in his head, but he couldn’t deny that Eric seemed like a decent person. He will never be too sure and he would never deserve her, though. “I just want you to be happy, Pips. I’ll be here for you whether or not anything happens between you two. Just be careful and don’t let your grades slip.” He pats her head, with a slight hesitation at first.

“...You know, he kind of reminds me of you.” She beamed. “Maybe that’s why I got comfortable quickly. He helps me with my studies and he also wants to be a fighter pilot. How silly.” She starts to walk through the crowd again, shrugging.

Caleb wondered why she’d need someone like him when he was there all along.

Chapter 3

Caleb wasn’t able to sleep the night of the festival.

He tossed and turned thinking of everything that happened. And it was just one day. He was excited for this weekend, just so he could see her again. Instead of being met with open arms, he received the crushing news of there being someone else she liked. And he was apparently someone like him.

The idea that she looked for Caleb in this new person clawed at him. Why would she have to look for someone else like him instead of giving herself to him. There was no denying it anymore. He knew that deep down, she felt the same way about him. It just killed him that she drew an invisible line that she forbade herself to cross. If it wasn’t Eric, would she look for someone else? How many people would she look for Caleb in before giving up and admitting to her own feelings?

Caleb got up and sat on the edge of his bed, his head in his hands. He knew he was the only one who could really protect her from what’s out there. Eric would never know what to do for when the inevitable happens. He didn’t see or experience what happened to them as kids. She doesn’t remember it, but it haunts him every day.

As much as a good person Eric could be, he could never provide what Caleb has and will. He knew that.

He looked at his wall. Multiple frames of the two of them. The smile she wore calmed his heart. The memories of him being able to hold her kept him sane. The very essence of her made him feel alive.

And at the end of the day, he couldn’t lose her. He was willing to bear the pain of seeing her try to do what she thinks she wants. He knew that if he tried to stop her, he could lose what they had at that moment. He didn’t want to be the reason she’s uncomfortable, upset, or crying. He wanted to be strong for her. And for her, no matter how long, he would wait.

He hoped to whatever deity there is, that he would be strong enough.

Still unable to sleep, Caleb walked down the hallway into the kitchen. Passing by her room, where the door was slightly ajar, he halted. She was sleeping soundly on her bed. The moonlight from the window shining lightly on her features.

Caleb understood his weakness. And it was her.

Walking inside, he softly sat on the edge of her bed and put his hand atop of hers for a moment before holding it. Unexpectedly, the motion blinked her awake.

“Caleb…?” She mumbled, her hand slipping out of his to rub her eyes.

“Shh, Pips. I didn’t mean to wake you.” He whispered, flustered at his carelessness. “You can go back to sleep.

“Did you have a nightmare?” She softly asked, squinting at him, attempting to blink the sleepiness away. The corner of her mouth lifted slightly. “You’re just like me…come here. I’ll do what you did when we were kids.” She scooted to the side of her bed and opened her arms to him while patting the now-empty side.

Caleb chuckled. Inside, he felt extremely hot and flustered. But this was truly home and he wasn’t able to resist.

She used to be the one waking him up on a stormy night, and Caleb always welcomed his bed to her. Falling asleep in each other’s arms was no stranger. He was always happy to be able to provide this comfort for her.

He slipped into her arms and she giggled. “It’s been a while…it hasn’t rained in Linkon for a while. But now you’re the one crawling to me.” She turned to her side and let her arm drape over his chest while he moved his own arm for her to use as a pillow.

“Yeah,” was all Caleb could mutter.

She went back to sleep in an instant. She began lightly snoring and her breath was warm against his bicep.

It was pure bliss and he wished he could take a snapshot of this moment and live in it forever. He would’ve admired the sight the whole night if it wasn’t for the extreme feeling of comfort weighing his eyelids down. And he fell asleep with her around him.

“I can’t believe you’re already leaving tonight. You just got here…” A frown was evident through her voice as she rested her forehead on the wall of the hallway.

The two had just woken up early in the morning. It should be just like any other day of them sleeping in the same bed, since they’ve done it for years. But Caleb felt like it was different since his feelings were pushed to the outermost part of his heart out of defense. For her, on the other hand, he assumed she built more bricks on the invisible line to keep her from crossing it and this really was just another day. Awful luck for him.

He reached over to her with both hands on shoulders to turn towards him. “I’ll call you every day, like I always do.” He unstuck the hair on her forehead and wiped a stray tear from her cheek with his thumb. “Should I just drop out?” He smirked at her.

She jutted her bottom lip out to pout harder, somehow possible. She shook her head before leaning in and wrapping her arms around him and burying her face in his chest. Muffled yet audible, “No…I’m just not used to being gone. I don’t know if I ever will be.” Caleb felt wet spots through his thin shirt, where her eyes were. “Gran’s usually out or sleeping early. I don’t wake up to you cooking and no one’s waiting for me outside the school gates.”

She cried for the same worries when he first left for Skyhaven. Now her worries came true, and Caleb thought that it must’ve been harder for her because of that. He thought that maybe that’s why she was so desperate to find someone else. It was hard to blame her, he never could. But at the same time, he just wanted to be selfish for once.

He grabbed her hands from behind him and unwrapped her from him, so he could talk to her face to face. She looked up at him with already-swollen eyes and the same pout, making his heart ache even more. He held her face with both his hands, gently like he was holding the world. And in his head, he was. “You know I’m always here for you. I’m just one call away. I’ll drop everything for you and I’ll always do my best to visit on weekends. It should be a little easier since I’ve settled in.” He wiped another tear from her face. “Don’t mope too much and spend time with your friends, though. You should enjoy your last year before the Hunter’s Academy.” He gave her a soft smile. “Now go take a shower, you’re all sweaty and crying.” He tried to lighten the mood, pushing her towards the bathroom. “I’ll set up the kitchen to make our pie.”

With that, she finally smiled. She stopped at the doorframe of the bathroom before turning back around to hug him again and muttering a small thanks. And then she was back in the bathroom and he heard the water running.

A bit taken aback, Caleb was just relieved that she was worried as much as he was. And missed him as much as he missed her. It really solidified the bond they had and it helped reinforce that no one could really break it. Although the worry was still there, he knew he could bear it longer and wait for her.

The kitchen counters were soon covered in flour and mixing bowls and the two of them baked to their heart's content. Another snapshot Caleb wished he could live in forever. Carefree quality time with the love of his life. The flour on both of their faces was caused by each other’s foolery. The smell of the autumn air, warm apples, and baking crust filled their home.

“I wish we could just stay like this.” She laughed, sitting on the counter as Caleb checked on their pie in the oven. “I love fall. It feels so worry-free when we do things like this.” Her feet swung as she took in the scent of the scenery.

“Me too, Pips.” He smiled, closing the oven. Another set of reassurance calmed his worrywart heart. “Once we both graduate and when I’m back in Linkon, we can do this every day.” He turned to her and dabbed more flour on the tip of her nose.

She snorted the flour out before bursting in laughter.

“That is, of course, if you’re not too busy saving the world as the best Hunter in it.” He smirked at her, gathering all their dishes.

She got back down from the counter to help him clean. “It also depends on you being too busy up in the air saving birds and stuff.” She teased.

“Hm, saving birds will always be fun in the future,” he played along. “But I’ll never be too busy to spend time with you.” He patted her head with his flour covered hand, earning a playful glare from her.

She then retaliated by ruffling his hair with her own floury hands. “Same here.” She then said, with a genuine smile.

Leaving that night was hard for Caleb.

She insisted on going with him to the train station.

“You’ve survived three whole weeks without me, Pip. You’ll be okay.” Caleb pinched her damp cheeks. “You’re crying more than you did when I first left.” He tried to tease her with a smile, but it hurt him to see her so sad.

Her eyes got redder as she rubbed them with the back of her hoodie sleeve. His hoodie actually, but she seemed to have stolen it from his closet while he was gone. It was enormous on her, but she looked comfortable. “I don’t know…I kind of got used to our routine of calling at night and stuff. But since you came back, I just remembered how much I missed how it was when you were here.”

“I’ll really try to come back next weekend. Only if you promise to do all your work and get good grades. You know the Hunter’s Association doesn’t just accept anyone.” He tried to be a good motivator, but if he was being honest, he was willing to turn in his leave of absence letter to his own academy and plan his gap year for her. “Give me a pinky promise.” He held his pinky out like they always did.

She swam her hand out of the long sleeves of her sweater and interlocked it with his, before locking the promise with their thumbs. “I’ll be studious and strong until you come back again.” She mocked bravery and nodded.

“Atta girl,” Caleb said. “Go back now. Let me watch you leave.” He turned her around and kept her facing the exit. “If you turn back, it’ll make it harder, so don’t.” He pushed her slightly, but surprisingly she didn’t budge.

Instead she turned back around and wrapped her arms around his neck before reaching up to leave a peck on his cheek. All before she turned and ran away.

The spot on his cheek was on fire and so was his chest. His resolve began to crumble on the spot. The strength he once believed he had was slipping away through the cracks of his fingers like sand.

Chapter 4

He was unable to return that weekend.

Nor the weekend after.

Although he was doing good in all of his classes, teamwork was prioritized in the academy. And that meant weekends dedicated to team assignments and training. As much fun that he had with his classmates and new friends, it couldn’t outweigh the pain of leaving her

It was unbearable for Caleb. The broken promises lingered in the air whenever they called at night. The look on her face whenever she saw him through the screen, as if she was going to crack at any moment. The first weekend was hard because when he told her that Friday that he couldn’t go home, she hung up immediately and wouldn’t pick up his calls until Sunday. She sent him one-word responses to his texts and kept saying she was busy when he tried to call.

It took a bit for her to be less upset. It was a bittersweet thing to think about in Caleb’s mind. He was, in a way, happy. That his presence meant so much to her. But he did not like how upset he made her feel.

It was inevitable, though. He knew she expected this and so did he. Aviation academy, although it was his dream, he knew it would take him away from her like this. And even if it wasn’t the academy he was going to, it would be the one she would go to the following year. His main dream of being by her side would be thrown off by his and her dream job.

As the days went by, she became less upset and even back to normal at one point. She always asked about his day and then she’d go on for a long time about hers. He looked forward to it every night, he hoped that she felt the same way.

The workload of the academy became even more vigorous as the weeks went by. The more they transitioned from paperwork and hypotheticals into field work and practicals, the more time was taken away from him.

“You look awfully chipper today, Pipsqueak. Anything happened today?” Caleb looked at her through his laptop screen, smiling at her phone. They always did their homework together on video call to make it easy for her to ask him for help. Caleb didn’t know why he didn’t suggest it earlier, but it was better than her asking Eric for help in AND out of class. Although her staring at her phone was unusual. She was normally very attentive to her work, but that night, she was overly invested on her phone rather than her studies. Caleb knew the answer, but he hoped she would prove his hypothesis wrong.

“You remember Eric? We’ve been hanging out more! We even exchanged contacts, he’s pretty funny.” She must have noticed a face on Caleb from the way she cleared her throat before setting her phone down. “But I should get back to work.” She nodded.

He couldn’t control his face, but he tried to avoid scowling at least. “I’m glad you’re happy, Pips. I hope it goes well for you.” He said through gritted teeth, hoping he sounded genuine. “But if I hear that your grades are slipping, I’m making you move schools.” He looked back down at his work. He was actually already done with it, but he just wanted to seem busy so she wouldn’t hang up.

“Can I ask you something?” She said, making his eyes dart back to his screen. He saw her fidgeting with her pen.

“Of course, Pips.” He was scared. This was one of the lines that was on the anxiety-inducing list, along with ‘we need to talk’ and ‘I will never love you more than just a friend’ but it wasn’t number one. His mind raced through the multiple things she could ask about: his love life, quantum mechanics, why he was so obsessed with her, why he loved her, why he won’t let go of her, kitchen recipes. The list went on in his head.

“How do you know if you REALLY like someone?” She mumbles so quietly, the mic almost didn’t pick it up. “And like how do you know if someone likes you?”

Caleb dropped his pencil and tried to find an answer to give her that didn’t give him away. “Uhh, I’d assume that if you looked forward to seeing them everyday. If you wanted to prioritize their happiness over yours and you’d do anything for them.” He rubbed his chin trying to think of more answers, “Maybe if you smiled every time you thought of them.”

“It sounds like you have experience…” She muttered, wide-eyed towards him.

He stammered, “W-well, I’m just assuming. I did say I was assuming, right? I read books. Haven’t you read books? I’ve seen your bookshelf. Shouldn’t you know better than me?” He hoped he sounded convincing. He heard a snicker behind him to find his roommate Gideon laughing. Caleb glared at him and Gideon went back to pretending to be asleep. Thankfully, when he looked back at the screen, she was looking down at whatever and didn’t notice.

“Well, yeah. I think I know. I just wanted to hear from a guy.” She mumbled. It was silent for a moment before she groaned and ruffled her own hair out of frustration. “I don’t even know if he likes me!” She hid her face in her hands.

“Can you see the rest of your life with him?” Caleb blurted out. He couldn’t help it. He knew he would be better for her because he knows he’ll be there for her until the end. He would do anything to make sure of it. He knows she can see him in the future too.

“Oh my god, Caleb. We just started being friends like two months ago!” She groaned even louder and dropped her down to the desk. All he saw then was the top of her head.

Caleb softly chuckled to himself. He knew his answer after a few moments of knowing her. He knew he wanted to protect her again and again until the end of time. Love at first sight, he thought. “I’m just asking, Pips. You sound so serious about him.” Caleb found it in him to tease her. “Are you gonna do anything about it?” He was confident earlier. After the last question, he got scared again. What if she wasn’t the ‘love at first type’ girl and she instead enjoyed a slow friendship to lovers pipeline. Shouldn’t he still be able to be the latter? But Eric could fit the latter too.

She got up and shook her head before tilting her head and thinking harder. “I don’t think so…maybe talk to him more and even hang out? We had lunch together…but in the cafeteria so it’s not that crazy.” She turned to the camera, her eyes boring into his through the screen. “What would make you like a girl?”

He pretended to think. In his head he knew the answer: likes his cooking, is afraid of thunder, dreams of being a Hunter, loves apples and apple designs, sucks at physics, sleeps in until noon, loves horror movies but can’t sleep after…the list went a long way but the answer was simple. Be her. “She’d have to be someone I can be myself with and be comfortable with.” He was proud of his vague answer. It was still about her. Home.

“You’re so basic, you’re no help.” She snorted before starting her work again. “I’ll just let the tides take us to where we have to be then. If it’s meant to be, then so be it.” She giggled.

With this, Caleb silently prayed to the tides she spoke of. In his head he prayed that they would take them to a point where they are the true ending. That the stars point to him as her one true love.

They hung up soon after. She was tired from her homework and they both had class the next day. When Caleb shut his laptop shut, his roommate Gideon propped himself up on his elbow. “You’re incredibly obvious. How does she not see it?” His eyes followed Caleb’s as he sat down on his own bed.

“I thought you went to sleep.” Caleb rolled his eyes, slipping under his sheets after turning off the desk lamp.

“You kept bouncing your leg, I couldn’t sleep. And anyways, that call was the most interesting one yet. I was sure you were going to confess tonight.” Gideon laughed. He layed back down and looked up at the ceiling. “I was confused why you turned down every single girl in our class the first week. Once we settled in here, I realized you’re madly in love.”

“Yep…” Caleb sighed. There’s always a stack of love letters by his door and presents at times. He didn’t know how they had the time to do so, considering the academy’s heavy workload. It was the same during high school. At least then, someone was able to reap the rewards of his attractiveness. She would always eat the snacks given to him. Now it was Gideon, but he couldn’t keep up with it either. “How come everyone else but her sees it?”

“Judging from how I see it, I don’t think she really cares for how hot someone is? And didn’t you two grow up with each other? Maybe she’s looking for someone new…? Not to ruin your life or anything…” He suggested, trying not to push his buttons. Gideon knows how angry Caleb could get.

Someone once complimented a photo of her on his phone and said some depraved words along with it. If Gideon didn’t clock the fire behind Caleb’s eyes, the crude guy would’ve lost an arm.

“New…” Caleb mulled over the idea before shaking his head. “You know the guy she has a crush on…she said he reminds her of me.” It was his turn to prop himself up to face Gideon across the room. “And in a way, he reminded me of me too.” Tall, brown haired, pilot centric. The similarities were incredulous.

“Dude.” Gideon sat up. “She’s looking for your replacement. Maybe she thinks that after being away for so long, you’ll find someone else. And she’s trying to beat you to it.”

Caleb flipped over on his bed to groan into his pillow. He doesn’t think Gideon’s completely right, but he could tell that she was worried about him getting a girlfriend. She said it herself. But the replacement part sounds correct. She can’t bring herself to love him, and she’s looking for other people like him. He didn’t know why he opened up to Gideon. Reassurance, he thought. Yet all he received was reassurance for the wrong parts. He wanted to hear, ‘She DOES like you!’ not ‘She’s REPLACING you!’

The weekend he could go home finally arrived. A month after he promised he would. To make up for it, Caleb wanted to surprise her. His professor was out sick that Friday and he was able to leave early on Thursday. He wanted to wait for her at the school gate, like how he did before.

He propped himself against the stone fence, looking up at the trees that still had some of their red and orange leaves. He looked around the area and was reminded of when they were at school together. Even though it was only earlier in the year, it felt like ages ago.

She usually took forever packing up since she loved to chat with her friends after class. He would stand at the same spot waiting for her. Back then, he would sometimes hide to avoid his own classmates. Mainly the girls in his class. Her classmates weren’t as bold as his. They would look at him and whisper to their friends, but besides that, he had nothing to worry about.

That present day was no different. As people poured out of the property, he had some stares here and there, but no one bothered him. He raked through the crowds looking for her.

The ring of her laughter reached his ears and filled him with even more warmth that the sun could never give him. He saw her walk down the steps, and even though she was walking beside Eric, all he could think of was how glad he was to see her again.

The sun shone at her perfectly. Her eyes sparkled as she smiled in the daytime. He felt like he was falling in love again, but it was hard to know that he couldn’t just run up to her and kiss her in front of everyone. To let everyone know that she was his. Because she wasn’t.

He wanted to hold her face in between his hands and stare at her for hours on end in the sunlight. And memorize every curves on her face and the colors in her eyes. He wanted to be the reason she laughed and smiled.

As she got closer, she saw him.

Caleb stood confidently and in awe at the same time. He missed her.

And by the looks of it, so did she. The moment they locked eyes, hers began to look shinier with tears. She started running towards him without a notice to her friends or even Eric.

“Hey Pipsqu-” Caleb said with a big smile on his face before she interrupted him by throwing herself around him.

“You’re such an asshole,” she muttered into his neck as she hugged him.

His arms wrapped around her waist to support her up and he smiled into her hair, “I know, I’m sorry…I’ll take whatever punishment you have for me.” His heart felt full, having her this close to him.

Time stopped for him. It was like everyone else disappeared when he saw her. The sun shone brighter and the air became cooler and breezier. He was truly home.

She stepped down and looked up at him, still teary-eyed. He wiped her tears with his thumb and chuckled at her. “Miss me much?” He teased her.

She nodded, pouting. “I got good grades just for you to not even show up in person to congratulate me.” She lightly punched his arm. A perplexed face covered her sad one. She reached out again to squeeze his arm. “When did this happen…?”

He rolled his eyes, hoping his face didn’t look as warm as it felt. “I’ve always been rock solid.”

She shook her head, punching his bicep even more. “Stop flexing.”

He wondered if he even was flexing but he wasn’t. Did the academy have him working that much? Caleb went to the gym everyday like he always did. Yet, the academy did add a few more routines that he didn’t do before. “I’m not…”

“What? What are they feeding you over there?” She was engulfed in his new muscles. She started poking other places like his shoulders and even his abdomen. She was shocked, it seemed like. And he felt embarrassed by how much she was touching him.

He grabbed both her wrists and held her hands in his. “Hey, I just got back and you’re already giving me a physical examination?”

She shrugged, “I have to make sure you’re real. But speaking of that punishment for leaving your dear friend alone for so long…” She looked towards her group of friends, the one with Eric in who waved at him. They were waiting on the other end of the gate for her. “You’re gonna have to eat dinner alone, to suffer like I suffered.” She nodded, proud of coming up with the wording of her penalty.

His heart dropped and he pouted at her. “Really?”

She covered his eyes, “Don’t look at me with those! This is your fault for dropping by unannounced. My friends want to eat at the new BBQ place that just opened up. I’d say come with us, but they were really strict about the number since they’ve been packed the whole time.”

He was extremely sad to say the least. “Go home and make me a dessert. Make sure to pour your whole apologetic heart into it. Maybe I’ll forgive you then. Also, Gram won’t be home. It’s mahjong night.” She dropped her hands from his eyes, before covering her own after seeing it again. “Ugh, your puppy dog eyes are insane, Caleb. No wonder you always got your way. Not this time! I’ll see you at home.” She ran off the other direction before hustling her friends to get walking.

He was left alone by the gate. Watching her walk off with her friends and the guy she likes.

But at least he had a few minutes of pure bliss. And he hoped to make it up to her when she got home. He quickly gathered himself and went shopping for his heartfelt apology.

Grandma got home before she did. Caleb and her had a small chat about how the academy was treating him. And she let him in on how much she complained about him not being home, which made Caleb chuckle at the thought of seeing her annoy grandma about him. She had to go to sleep soon after since she had an extreme night of mahjong, according to her.

Caleb was in the kitchen finishing her cinnamon rolls. He was indecisive with what to bake her but there was a lot of cinnamon stocked up for the fall vibes. He kept glancing at his phone, to see if she messaged him back. She must have been too enthralled with her conversations to look at her own phone.

He tried to focus on the fact that she was having fun with ALL of her friends, and not at the idea that maybe she was sitting next to him at the restaurant. Where was Eric sitting really? Next to her? In front of her?

It was eating at him, but he didn’t want to spend his break time with her worrying about anything. He just wanted to enjoy his time with her.

He didn’t put his work into the oven yet because he wanted her to enjoy it fresh. He waited for her to text him back so he could pop them in. Yet, an hour passed by and then another with no answer.

He wanted to wait for her longer, but it was worrying him too much. Instead, he searched for any new restaurants that opened up on his phone to find out where she went. He found one that matched what she said and he instantly threw on his jacket.

Caleb walked to the door and opened it to find her and Eric. And it looked like they were both leaning into each to kiss before being interrupted by the living room light and him.

Chapter 5

“I should go inside now, bye Eric.” She said, flustered. She glances between Caleb and Eric.

Eric looked like he was a deer in the headlights, wide-eyed and embarrassed. “Yeah, okay. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He gave an awkward wave and acknowledged Caleb at the door.

Caleb who was red in the face. Eyes were darkened and his fists were clenched. His grip on the doorknob was deadly, and it was most likely molded by his fingers.

As Eric walked off quickly, Caleb finally closed the door. He didn’t slam it, but there was force to it. As if he really wanted to.

The mantra Caleb held onto was falling apart. The strength he thought he had emptied to the floor all in one go, rather than leaking out of him. What he thought was just a stupid crush was evolving right in front of him. Every day that he wasn’t with her, he was losing her to another. If he stayed with her, would he be the one to inch closer to her? Would she be so desperate to find warmth in someone else’s arms?

He stared at the door, stuck in his thoughts. Until her voice cut through the silence. “I’m going to take a shower…I smell like smoke from the restaurant.” She muttered. He could hear the awkwardness and panic.

Caleb couldn’t get a word out and let her walk off.

It wasn’t just a stupid crush. She liked him, and it was a no-brainer to him that he would return her feelings. He wanted to be grateful that he stopped them, but who or what was going to stop them next time? Was he going to drag her to Skyhaven with him just to keep her away from Eric? The dorms at the DAA didn’t allow visitors to stay overnight during weekdays.

Multiple options popped up in his head at record speed, all of which were futile. There was no stopping her from doing what she wanted to without ruining their own relationship. The only option was to hold himself back and endure this newfound relationship of hers day after day. He didn’t want to pray for the downfall of her relationship either, because that meant seeing her cry. But at the same time, he would rather let another guy make her cry. At least then, it would let Caleb be the shoulder to cry on.

He was disgusted by himself. The desperation became so evident. He wanted to be with her, wholeheartedly. And since he can’t have her, his deepest desire was that no one else can have her. He knew it was wrong.

So instead of acting on anything, he put his cinnamon rolls into the oven.

Instead of going out to kill the guy or blow up his house so they’d have to move…he decided to bake. Caleb knew the only reasonable route was to follow her route: let the tides take them to wherever. He’ll secretly pray it won’t work out. Every time she comes to him about something he did, he’ll push her to end things with him and focus on herself. He knew it was still a bad plan and wouldn’t be considered socially acceptable, but it was better than murder.

He looked at his reflection through the oven door. He looked crazy. A scowl looked like it’s lived on it for decades and his eyebrows were practically knitted together. He mirrored his inner emotions. Disgusted and upset. Disgusted by his lack of control and his lack of support for the one he loved. He rubbed his face in his hands, attempting to smooth everything out.

The DAA made them do breathing exercises in order to avoid panic when problems arise during flight. He thought he would never have to use them since he was practically fearless in the air. Instead, he’s used it to calm himself down from the multiple potentials of losing his world.

“Caleb?” He heard her behind him.

He didn’t know where he pulled the strength from, but in a flash, he was able to put on a normal face around her. A soft smile was always easier once he saw her face. Despite everything, his heart still beat for her. No matter how broken it might have been at that moment.

She was in her pajamas, her hair dripping on her shoulders, dampening the fabric. She extended a towel towards him, “Can you dry my hair like old times…?” She bit her lip, looking at the floor.

He took a few steps towards her, perplexed. “What’s wrong?” He brushed his thumb on her lip like usual to free it from her teeth. “If it’s because I ruined your moment…”

She looked up at him, panicked, “N-no! I just…I want you to dry my hair.” She shoved the towel into his hands before storming off to the floor of the living room of the couch and turning the TV on.

Caleb wished he could read minds. He was completely lost as to why she’s acting like this. The last time she asked him to dry her hair was when she didn’t receive any Valentine’s in her freshman year. He never told her, but he was to blame for that. He was in charge of the Valentine gram table that year (he volunteered) and he kept all the ones meant for her. He then returned it to the senders and basically threatened them to stay away from her.

The smell of baking cinnamon was permeating the air, he hoped it would calm down the tension. He’s glad it’s the dessert he chose. He learned from his mental health class that cinnamon was often used to lift spirits and improve moods. Yet he wondered if the mood was too heavy.

He walked over to the couch and sat behind her. She was looking for something to watch and paid no attention to him. He began drying her hair, moving from instinct. He covered the ends of her hair to scrunch out the water before moving towards her scalp. She leaned into his touch before letting out a sigh and it made his stomach coil. What was once such an innocent act became so intimate for him. And he wondered if this change was only for him.

She handed him one of her scalp oils to massage onto her. “My head hurts…can you put this on for me?”She finally settled on an old show that she’s seen multiple times.

Caleb didn’t really know much about her current hair care, but he just followed her instructions. He got pretty good at massaging whatever was needed between her and grandma. It’s just been a while since either of them have asked them to. As he mindlessly massaged her scalp, he tried to ignore the sighs of relief coming out of her and the small shivers.

It was quiet, minus the TV. Neither of them said a word. The timer from the oven then went off and he wiped his hands on her towel before getting up. He took his creation out of the oven before setting it on the countertop to add the finishing icings and letting it cool. “Just wait a few minutes before you can grab one, Pip.” He said.

Caleb then went back onto the couch at the same spot. She didn’t move and he didn’t want to make her. He started braiding her hair like before, trying different types that she made him learn before. Raking his fingers through her hair to start over before trying another one. The tension was too heavy, the air was awkward yet cinnamon scented. He wanted her all for himself and it was killing him.

“I’m kind of glad you found us…” She finally said, dropping her forehead to touch her knees. Her hair falling out of Caleb’s hands.

“Huh…” was all Caleb could say. “What do you mean, Pip?”

“I don’t know, I don’t think I wanted him to kiss me.” She sounded muffled, but the desperation to understand made Caleb hear her crystal clear. “I didn’t feel anything when we were close to each other.”

“I thought you liked him.” He said, unsure. He wasn’t trying to talk her out of how she felt, he just wanted to understand. Was he overreacting this whole time? Was he planning murder for nothing?

She suddenly stood up and faced him, looking down at him. “Can you just…sit there? Don’t move. Don’t say anything. Please.” She softly pleaded with him.

Caleb was frozen but he mustered a small nod.

She knelt down with one knee on the couch in-between his legs. And slowly leaned towards him, making full eye contact with him as she did so. Her breathing was uneasy and the warmth from face was radiating onto him.

Caleb couldn’t tell whose heartbeat he could hear. Both of theirs were so in-sync, it sounded deafening in the heavy air. His hands twitched at his sides. He didn’t have an idea of what she was doing. But he wanted to be greedy and close the distance himself. Yet, he stayed still for her.

She moved even closer to his face, the breaths mingling with each other. Her eyes moved from his to his lips, interchaging. Her breath hitched at the sight. His eyes bored into hers with desperation. And hers mimicked his. Before inching closer, she covered his mouth with her hand while the other clutched at her chest above her heart. She cursed under her breath before pulling away.

“I’m going to bed.” She quickly said before turning the TV off and quickly walking to her bedroom.

He heard her shut the door and it jarred him back to thought. His heart was hammering out of his chest.

He didn’t know how long he sat there, staring into space. Replaying the scene in his head over and over again.

The cinnamon rolls forgotten on the countertop.

Chapter 6

It rained that night, funnily enough for the two of them. The weather forecast had no prediction of any rainfall for the whole week, and the skies showed no signs of it either. It was as if that night wanted to mirror the emotions happening in the household between them.

Caleb was completely in the dark as to why she did what she did. There were multiple answers, but after being wrong so many times, he didn’t want to bring his hopes up or down. His head played back the scene over and over again that night. It felt like she mirrored the same desperation he had, for once. Like she wanted to go further.

He laid on his bed, staring at the ceiling. Occasionally his hands rubbed his face out of frustration. Caleb didn’t know how to move forward acting like she didn’t do what she did. They care about each other, but wasn’t she pushing him too far? There was only so much he could take. Physically, he could take a bullet, a grenade, an entire thing to protect her. But emotionally, she was his biggest weakness.

His thoughts were so loud, he didn’t notice the thunder that started rolling in the skies. The only thing that cut through his thoughts like usual was her voice.

At first, Caleb thought he was hallucinating her.

“Caleb…” Her voice calls out, muffled by the door. “Please…”

He rushed towards the door and when he opened it, she ran past him into his bed, under his navy blue covers.

Caleb realized it was because of the thunder. Except she was never this scared before. She normally came over with her headphones and laid next to him for extra comfort. This time, she was rattled and hiding.

He was about to get in bed when he remembered he developed a habit of sleeping shirtless. The weather in Skyhaven was more humid than Linkon, and it was just more comfortable for him to sleep without a shirt. He would also have nightmares when he missed home, and almost always woke up in a sweat. He quickly grabbed one from his closet to slip it on before laying next to her, atop of his covers.

His hand reached out to soothe her by patting her back, but everything was still fresh to his mind and his hand hesitated. He even kept his distance from her on the bed, afraid of scaring her away. As if she was a stray cat on the street, he waited for her to approach him before making a move.

Another loud boom in the sky and she let out a soft shriek before scooting closer to him, shaking.

His arm instinctively wrapped around her, protectively. “Hey…it’s okay. I’m here, Pipsqueak…” He said, resting his chin on the top of her head before pulling her closer to him. He softly chuckled, feeling her nuzzling deeper into his chest through the blanket. “I thought you said you weren’t afraid of thunder anymore. What else are you hiding from me…?” He meant to sound playful, but he meant it and he wanted to know. He needed to know what was in her brain.

She didn’t respond for a while. Her shivering soothed down the longer he rubbed circles on her back and shoulder, the longer she was in his arms. The thunder continued to rumble, mercilessly. “When I’m alone, it’s easier to deal with.” She said, pulling the cover down a little from her face to make sure her words were heard. Her warm breath hit his neck and he hoped she didn’t notice his shiver. “I don’t know why, but…when you’re here, I feel so vulnerable. Like I need you all of a sudden. As if I was just faking it while you were gone.” She covered her face again.

She NEEDED him. Caleb thought it was one of the most beautiful things she could ever say to him. He always wanted to be someone that she could rely on. He needed her to need him. That was his main purpose on this planet, he believed. As long as she needed him, he could keep going. The reason why her finding someone else scared him so much was because she wouldn’t need him anymore if she had someone else. Caleb found himself holding her even tighter, nuzzling his cheek on top of her covered head.

“Is that so bad…” He desperately wondered out loud. “What’s wrong with needing me?”

“Because you’re going your own path, Caleb. I can’t keep you locked up in this house, can I?” She said into his chest, probably hoping that he couldn’t hear her.

He did, though. And something about her saying that made his heart swell. He felt like he wasn’t alone with how he thought anymore. That although he had the craziest thoughts about her, he didn’t have to feel as guilty as having them because she thought them too. She just didn’t have as much trust in him. She’s deluded with the idea that something will come in-between them, when everything he does is for her. But at the same time, he believed the same thing. And even a whole part of him still believes that something CAN still take her away from him.

“You can be as greedy as you want to be,” was all Caleb could say. He waited for a response and felt her breathing at a rhythmic pace, asleep. He let out a sigh. Wishing he could keep talking to her, but at the same time was glad nonetheless. Happy that she was in his arms again. The light at the end of the tunnel flickering again, giving him hope. And soon, he fell asleep with her.

Caleb stirred awake from the vibration of his phone on the nightstand. His arms still wrapped around her. The alarm signified that she had to wake up for school. He kept the alarm on, even when he was at Skyhaven so he knew when to text her to have a good day. He found the curve of her shoulder before trying to softly shake her awake. “You have to get ready for class, Pipsqueak.” He quietly said.

Her face was out from under the sheets whilst the rest of her was wrapped up like a burrito.

Caleb couldn’t help but stare at her, slightly pulling away so he could get a better view. The sunrise casted a soft glow on her face if he moved at the right angle. And he was able to admire her even better. Her pink lips, slightly chapped from sleep. A drool stain on the corner of her mouth, and her dark circles were evident from a rough time sleeping. The word ‘beautiful’ echoed in his brain, over and over again.

The warmth and brightness of the sun was finally able to wake her up slowly. “Can I skip today…?” She mumbled, turning over, burying her face in the pillow.

He wanted to say no to her. It was always so hard for him to do so. Caleb knew that making her go to school would be the responsible thing. “Grandma wouldn’t allow that.” He said, avoiding blame.

“I’m 18 now, they don’t call guardians about absences when you’re 18.” She responded, matter-of-factly, lifting her head from the pillow so she was clear. “Besides, she’s going to the mountains today to visit her friend for the weekend.”

Caleb thought for a moment. A plan brewed in his head to get answers, a selfish plan. He wanted her to admit whatever she was doing the night before. He couldn’t get it out of her during the storm, but he felt confident this could have been the moment. But he wanted her to be more clear headed. “Wash up while I think about it. I’m going to make breakfast.” He poked her side, knowing she’d be ticklish, to wake her up.

She yelped and grumbled before unraveling herself from his sheets. “Fine.”

He noticed that she wouldn’t look at him. She avoided every means of eye contact, and he was doing the exact opposite. She was talking like normal, but he could see right through her. The tension from the previous night lingered. And whether it was regret or something else from what she did, it stuck with her.

Caleb felt lighter. She didn’t like Eric. She felt something for Caleb, but he couldn’t understand why she kept building a wall between them. He couldn’t fathom how oblivious she was that he was doing everything to mine his way past the wall. He wanted to bulldoze it, but he waited for her to make an opening first.

Her words of her needing him rung in his head, bringing a small smile to his face. He propped himself with one hand, and the other hand covered his mouth. Hiding the growing smile from no one, but he was just in shock. “I need you.” It replayed in his head a dozen times and he felt giddy. If a doctor could see everything playing in his brain, he would have been institutionalized. His heart swelled with her words. He needed to be needed by her. She was his life source and he wanted to be her pillar. If she moved on and found someone else to rely on, he’d crumble. And as strong as she may be, he didn’t doubt her skills or her smarts, he still wanted to be stronger and smarter so she could lean on him regardless. As wrong as it may have been, he wanted to be better because if he wasn’t, she wouldn’t need him.

After celebrating and battling his inner thoughts for a few more minutes, he got up to head to the kitchen to prepare breakfast.

It was a few minutes before she came out of the bathroom and plopped herself on a chair by the dining table. She was glued to her phone, eyebrows knitted, biting her lip.

He walked over with a plate of food for her. “What did I say about doing that?” He reached over to her to unlatch her lip, but she ever so slightly moved away from him. A miniscule but noticeable movement that made Caleb’s hand hover near her face before reeling it back.

“Sorry, I’m just kind of…” She dropped her phone on the table before grabbing a fork to eat. After taking a bite, she talked with her mouth full, “Can I please skip school, I don’t want to sit next to Eric today.”

Caleb gave in in an instant. Abandoning his plans of getting more answers from her. If staying home kept her away from the guy that tried kissing her the last night, he was agreeing to it. He sat across from her and gave her a reluctant yes. If wasn’t as attentive as he was, he would have missed the small twitch of her mouth, the corner turning upward for a split second.

They sat in silence, eating. Slightly uncomfortable as the tension lingered, but at the same time, slightly comfortable from being with each other at home.

The two of them finished eating quietly. He was still unused to the way she volunteered herself to clean up the table afterwards. After years of unfulfilled promises of doing the dishes the following night, she began doing it without even being asked. It was bittersweet but more bitter on Caleb’s tongue. He was gone for so long, she began being independent in certain aspects.

“Are we going to talk about last night?” Caleb finally mustered up the courage to ask from the table while her back was turned towards him. The sound of scrubbing plates halted.

“Do we have to?” She said, setting the plate down onto the sink. “Can’t you just let it happen?”

He hated hearing the pain in her voice, but he didn’t want to just ignore everything. “That’s not fair.” He stood up and strided towards her. Grabbing her arm and turning her to face him, her gaze stuck on the floor. “What were you testing…? Why won’t you tell me? Why won’t you let me in?” He knew his eyes were pouring desperation and longed to meet hers. His hand moved to her chin to tilt her head upwards to meet gazes. “Please?”

“It’ll change everything, Caleb. I can’t do it.” She pleaded with him.

“Change can be good, if you can just tell me. We can make whatever it is work.” His other hand let go of hers to wrap her face with his hands. “Won’t you trust me?”

They stood in the kitchen looking into each other’s eyes for what felt like an eternity. Both eyes mirrored the same desperation and pleading and uncertainty. She was the first to break it. She grabbed both of his hands to bring them down. “I’m not ready…can you just…can you wait for me?” Her eyes fell back to the floor, her hands fiddling with his trembling fingers.

Caleb thought that if there was a contest on who was more desperate, he was sure he’d win. But at this moment, she won by a mile. He pursed his lips and managed an understanding smile, not quite reaching his eyes but she wasn’t looking at him regardless. “I’ll always wait for you, Pipsqueak. I just hate feeling like I can’t help you.” He brought his hand back up to pat her head. “I hate seeing you like this and being unable to do anything.”

They could’ve stayed there for a bit longer until Caleb’s phone rang through the silence.

“Hello?” He answered without checking the Caller ID.

“Caleb, I know you’re in Linkon, but our project…the one due Monday. One of the parts fell apart during testing today. We need you back, as soon as possible.” It was Gideon, probably sounding the most desperate from the three. “I’d handle this myself, but to be honest, I don’t know how to. And you know how much we need this.”

Caleb pinched the bridge of his nose. “Why can’t we do it tomorrow?”

“We only have the testing site reserved for today. I tried moving it to Sunday…knowing where you are, but it’s fully booked with everyone else. Not a single room is open this weekend. I’ll pay for your cab here, just get here soon. Please, I’m not taking any other answer. Let me know what time to send the cab there.” And with that, Gideon hung up.

Caleb let out a curse under his breath, covering his face with his hands to hide his frustration.

“Y-you have to leave?” She said, her voice breaking.

His hands fell from his face to see her tearing up. He wondered if his heart shattering at the sight was audible. “Yeah…I’m sorry, Pipsqueak. Really I-” He tried defending himself but she pushed past him and ran to her room, slamming the door.

He texted Gideon a string of curses before giving a ready time of an hour. Caleb finished the dishes and left multiple notes on the fridge: a how-to-reheat-cinnamon-rolls, an apology note with a drawing of an apple on an airplane, and an ‘IOU amusement park trip’ coupon. He then grabbed his wallet from his room to pull out one of the many ‘forgiveness’ coupons she gave him when they were kids and slipped it under her door before taking a shower.

Once he was clean and packed up, he stopped by her door and knocked on it. “Can you at least see me out, Pipsqueak? I don’t want to leave like this.” He begged. Caleb waited for a few minutes before accepting defeat and walking away. He combed through his hair with his fingers, fully frustrated at the events that rolled out after wanting to spend as much time with her as he could.

As he walked through the front yard to head to the cab, he heard the door open behind him and saw her running up to him, crying. She wrapped her arms around his waist, making him stumble backward. Her cheek was pressed up against his chest, surely hearing his pounding heart. “I’m sorry for being such a coward, Caleb.”

He never understood how his confident voice seemed to get lost every time she was involved as she was. All he could do was stare at the top of her head and press his hand on her back.

They stayed like that for a minute before the cab honked their horn, and let go of him just as quickly, running back inside while wiping her tears with her arms.

A soft smile played on his lips as the realization of being closer to his dreams settled in his heart.

Chapter 7

“Why were you so hostile over the phone, did something happen?” Gideon pried while Caleb was tinkering angrily at the piece of metal that ruined his weekend. “You know it’s only Friday, you can still go back…if you finish that part.” Gideon looked over to Caleb ignoring him. “Or invite her here. I can stay with our pal, Patrick, and she can take my bed.”

“Really?” Caleb decidedly stopped ignoring him and looked towards Gideon. “Should I?”

Gideon’s hand tightened around the wrench he was holding, seemingly holding back from throwing it at him. “If you had a tail, it’d be wagging like a helicopter blade right now,” he said, rolling his eyes. “Yeah, really. Don’t even think about texting her yet until we finish here.”

Caleb could barely keep in his excitement as he worked on fixing his ticket to a better weekend. His leg happily bouncing on the work stool he sat on, he even found himself humming to a song.

“Now will you tell me what happened that warranted for me to learn three new curse words?” Gideon prodded.

“You’re so nosy.” Caleb snorted. “She said she didn’t like the guy anymore…kind of. In a way, she basically said she didn’t like him.” He kept the story short because he didn’t want to get too excited. And he didn’t want to overshare in fear of it turning out to be wrong or bringing his hopes too high. He was still in a headrush from the line “I need you.” And he wasn’t sure if he’d ever recover.

Gideon gave him an impressed look but didn’t ask for more. A reason why Caleb liked Gideon was because he was an observant guy. Nosy was a better word, but he would also know the right time and place to be nosy.

They continued to work silently and efficiently. Three hours passed by before their project was back to working.

Caleb practically flew out of the testing sites to grab his phone to call her. After three rings, she picked up.

“Caleb?” She answered, confused.

The confidence drained out of Caleb. He was just with her that morning and they even slept in the same bed the previous night, but when he heard her voice again, he felt like a middle school boy talking to his crush for the first time. “H-hey.”

“Hi…” She replied, with the same shyness and a hint of confusion. “Did you…need something?”

“Do you want to come visit me? Here in Skyhaven?” He asked, full of hope. The last time she was at Skyhaven was for the tours before school started, and that was with Grandma.

“Next weekend? I don’t think I can.” She replied, a little sad.

“No, right now…I can talk to Grandma and then send you a cab.” He excitedly said. “Bring some clothes, my roommate will sleep at a friend’s so you can sleep over in my dorm.”

“Just us two?” She asked, her question lined with disbelief.

“We’ve shared a bedroom before, Pipsqueak. Why are you so surprised?” Caleb cocked his head to the side with confusion, until the realization settled in. “Oh, I guess it’s kind of different…” Since they were usually in the home they shared with Grandma, and this time they would be truthfully alone. An awkward situation for a pair that had obvious feelings for each other. “If you want, I can also sleep in a different room, and you can have the dorm to yourself. I just want to spend time with you.” Caleb recovered, hoping she wouldn’t decline.

“I don’t want you to go somewhere else…I was just flustered a little. Don’t worry about it. I’d love to come.” She said after a few seconds. “I’ll let Gran know, too. I’m gonna get ready then. See you soon, Caleb.”

“See you, Pipsqueak.” He could barely squeeze out. Something about the way she said his name left him speechless. She rarely used his name if it wasn’t to greet him or to call him. The excitement filled him to the brim and he ran back to his dorm to clean.

He wasn’t a messy person, but Gideon wasn’t a super neat person. And he wasn’t going to let her sleep on some other guy’s sheets, even if it was just Gideon’s.

“Do I get to meet her?” Gideon asked while Caleb was wiping every surface and vacuuming every inch of the floor.

“If you throw your sheets in the wash, I’ll think about it.” Caleb responded.

“Did you tell her that you told everyone you have a girlfriend back home that’s basically just her?” Gideon reminded him.

Caleb stopped in his tracks. Another wave of realization. When he first got to the DAA, he was bombarded by affection from many of his classmates. Although he was used to this attention from high school, it was a lot harder to work with at the academy. He was a lot busier and they were a lot more persistent. Rejecting them was getting more tedious for him since many of them asked for an explanation. When he first went back home to visit, he snagged one of her many hairties from her desk, the frilliest one, and wore it around campus. He read from a college forum that many boyfriends used this method to deter other people from flirting with him. Unfortunately for Caleb, word got around that he came back to the academy with a new status. Many of them asked about his girlfriend and he found it a lot easier to talk about the girl back home than rejecting girls left and right. He ended up going along with the story of having a girlfriend in Linkon and it significantly kept him unbothered.

Caleb cursed under his breath. “Surely no one will…”

“They will.” Gideon finished his thought. “Not everyone goes home for the weekend, why do you think I’m here? Someone will definitely stop you and ask about her.” He compiled his sheets and began walking out of the room. “I’ll be back to grab my stuff…Don’t explode trying to think of a solution.”

Caleb sat on a chair trying to figure out what to do. There was no way she wouldn’t be weirded out by him for doing this, but at the same time, she could be a very understanding person. Whichever her reaction would be, the only choice he really had was to come clean. He internally cursed at himself. The entire time he pretended she was his girlfriend to everyone at the academy didn’t feel like a lie to him. Mainly because he WAS rejecting everyone for her. The title was the only lie.

His phone buzzed on the table to find a message from her: “be there in 10 mins…i think. can u pick me up from the entrance?”

He was filled with multiple emotions. Excitement of spending the weekend with her, like planned. Anxiety and guilt with having to tell her what he’s been doing. And extreme anxiety and longing from being completely in love with her.

He took a moment to recuperate his thoughts before finishing his cleaning. He even changed the sheets on Gideon’s bed and set his bag by the door for easy access. After a few more finishing touches to the place, he grabbed his keys and headed out.

He jogged to the front of the academy, excited. Somehow the trees in Skyhaven became greener despite it being autumn, nearing winter. The air became less humid, and the atmosphere seemed brighter to him. His anxious feeling lingered, but the previous disappointment of leaving her was forgotten and the giddiness of spending the weekend together took over.

As he got closer to the gates, he saw the cab stop and her step out. She was dressed in a long flowy beige skirt with an olive green oversized cardigan. Her long hair spilled over her shoulder as she got out of the car, and the sun hit her perfectly. Caleb thought that even if she was in her pajamas, his mouth would still salivate at the sight. Something about her being on the same ground that he’s been trapped in for the past few weeks and the next few years made him feel elated. He was also in a pit of sorrow a couple of hours ago on the cab back to the academy. The image of her crying when she realized he had to leave was etched into his brain and it clawed him from the inside out. But at that moment, it was so easily erased with the new face he saw of her making eye contact with him at the gates of the school.

“Caleb!” She waved at him with a wide grin. She shut the car door and walked towards his direction.

He slowed down his speed as he got closer and scooped her up into his arms when they made contact. A bubbly laugh left her and tickled his ear and he spun her. He held her for a few seconds before dropping her back to her feet. He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear before holding her face lovingly. “Hey.”

Her face was slow;y turning a pink hue. “Hi…you’re acting like we weren’t just together in the morning.” She attempted to pry his hands away from her face.

He pulled her into another hug, “I know. I just thought I wasn’t going to see you again for another month, let me enjoy this.” He rested his chin on her head and felt her arms wrap around his waist. “I was also hoping that me being this affectionate will help lessen the anger that might come from what I am about to tell you in a few seconds.”

She stiffened under his arms. She tried to push him off, but he kept her pressed against his chest. His heart racing from the contact and from freaking out about his confession.

“Remember the hairtie you lost.” He started. He peeled her off his chest and looked at her confused face before walking her to a bench under a tree and sitting her down. He then knelt in front of her before continuing his story. “I stole it to wear around campus so people would think I had a girlfriend and they would stop bothering me.” He fled through his words hoping she wouldn’t focus on details. “Except they were more curious than I thought and kept asking about my ‘girlfriend’ so I just pretended it was…” He looked down at the floor as he finished. “You.”

“Huh? Me? And you stole my scrunchie?” She held her chin with her hand, contemplating the details.

Caleb pulled his DAA jacket sleeve up to reveal the hair tie on his wrist. “I heard it keeps girls away from you…” He sheepishly explained.

She gave him a grumpy face, which was then replaced with a puzzled look. “Why me…? Couldn’t you just have a fake girl in mind.”

He shrugged. He could have just outright said how deeply in love he was with her and he was just manifesting the situation that she would be his girlfriend. Or maybe that he was taking notes from all the dramas she watched back then where they would fake-date and then end up actually dating in the end. There were multiple things he thought he could have said. “You were the only girl I could think of. And you were all I could really talk about…” He ended up saying.

Her breath hitched slightly and her face turned red before looking away from him. “You’re saying weird things…” She chewed on her lip.

Caleb got up and grabbed her face again, his thumb tapping on her lip like usual. “Are you mad?”

She took a second to think, her cheeks warm on Caleb’s hands. She grabbed his wrists and pulled them down and held it in front of her before shaking her head. “I don’t think so…A little about my scrunchie,” She looked at him and softly smiled at him, “I don’t really mind your plan.”

Her smile made him want to lift her up in the air and give her a big confessional greedy kiss. He held himself back instead and returned the smile. “Great because we are definitely going to be stopped by multiple people at the dorms. So get ready.” He held his hand out to her. “We have to play the part. Let’s drop your stuff off and then I’ll take you to a bakery nearby.”

She hesitated slightly before standing up. Her hand taking his, intertwining her fingers with his. He thought they fit together like puzzle pieces, perfectly. Caleb was slightly worried that his hand would sweat profusely from the nervousness he was feeling.

A sort of sadness settled in his heart. That he was holding her hand so intimately under false pretenses. They held hands before, but it was never with interlocked fingers. She was the one who told him that only couples would hold hands that way. And he was always waiting for that transition in their relationship.

“Are you going to show me around later?” She asked. It was a bit of a silent walk as Caleb sulked about faking holding hands.

“Weren’t you with me on the DAA tour, Pipsqueak?” He cocked his eyebrow at her.

She rolled her eyes at him and pinched his arm. “Yeah, but now I want the tour from the hotshot freshman that’s stayed here for weeks on end instead of coming home.” She pouted at him.

“Yeah, yeah. This hotshot will give you a more personal tour.” He laughed, the sound reverberating through his chest. He felt warm and comfortable with her.

They walked through the paths of the academy, hand in hand. The previous night and morning’s quarrels seem to be forgotten. Not in Caleb’s mind, completely. Only repressed for him to over analyze again at some point. But at that moment, he was worry-free.

“I’m glad you’re here, Pipsqueak,” he softly said to her.

She let go of his hand and wrapped her arms around his arm. “Me too, Caleb.”

As they reached a more crowded part of campus, murmurs could be heard. Whispers of rumors and exclamations floated all around them. As more people looked, the tighter her grip on him became. “You’re really popular…” She mumbled.

“I think you’re the star of the show, this time.” Caleb had some sort of pride inflating inside of his chest. Even if it was pretend at that moment, he was able to claim the prettiest woman in his eyes as his to everyone around him. He was proud of everyone looking at her that she was clung to his arm. He tried fighting the smile that threatened to erupt from his face out of fear of her detecting how much he enjoyed what was happening.

“They’re all looking at us.” She glanced desperately up towards him.

He confidently smiled back. “They’re curious as to who managed to steal the cold-hearted wannabe pilot’s heart, Pip. I was brutally rejecting everyone.” He lied. Although he didn’t really care for anyone who paid him any attention, he never wanted to be an asshole either.

He was met with another eyeroll. “As if. You couldn’t even hurt a fly.”

Caleb laughed at her internally. She was oblivious. Caleb recalled the intricate plans he had the day before to get rid of Eric. There was also the time he locked her in the attic to fight some bullies in their neighborhood. He was glad that she could only see the nice side of him.

A classmate of his walked up to them, “Woah, Caleb! Is this the girlfriend you were talking about?” His attention towards her, “Some of us thought he was lying to get out of going to parties. He said you were a clingy one. I guess he was telling the truth after all!” He laughed.

Caleb choked out an awkward laugh. “Clingy girlfriends are a brag, you know.” He looked towards her, fearing that she would feel awkward and put on the spot.

Her grip on him tightened and she looked up at him with puppy eyes, mimicking the ones he gave her when he whined. “Have I been taking your time away from your friends?”

The classmate was the one to answer, “Oh, don’t mind us! Since you’re real, we’ll just sulk in jealousy instead. We were worried he was just brushing us off. Hope you guys have a good day!” He ran off to tell the rest of his classmates.

“Hm, what else do you say about me?” She dropped his arm to enter another pondering pose.

Caleb scoffed, “Besides being my girlfriend, everything I say about you is very truthful.” He wasn’t lying, he would just prefer not to repeat all the lovey-dovey things he’s said about her. Someone once asked what she looked like and he went on a whole ramble about how her eyes sparkled.

A familiar face was walking nearby, the one that made nasty comments about the photo of her on Caleb’s phone. Caleb’s jaw tightened as his arm snaked around her waist and guided her to keep walking.

“What’s wrong?” She shivered from his new hold.

“I don’t like some people, just keep walking. We’re almost to the dorm.” His grip on her was stiff, but he tried to be gentle. “Don’t walk around campus alone at any time, okay? Skyhaven isn’t as safe as Linkon.”

“You’re kind of scary sometimes. Maybe you would hurt a fly if they were mean first, huh?” She noted. “But alright, I wasn’t planning on leaving your side anyways.”

The ice grip on his heart melted in seconds as she said that, a blush creeping up his neck onto his ears.

They finally made it to the dorm and saw Gideon outside the door. “Ugh, finally. I forgot my key and you took forever to get back.” He got up from the floor and his eyes lit up seeing the girl on Caleb’s arm. “Woah! It’s you! Nice to meet you!” He extended his hand out for a handshake. “Caleb quite literally never shuts up about you. I think you’ve seen me in the background of some of your guys’ calls. I’m Gideon, his roommate.”

She giggled and took his hand. “Hi! Caleb’s mentioned you too. I hope he hasn’t said anything too bad about me. He talks badly about you all the time.” She joked.

Gideon punched Caleb playfully. “Ass.”

Caleb took his key out to open the door and let the two of them in.

“Thank you again for letting me sleep here.” She said to Gideon.

“After what happened this morning, I don’t think he was going to let me sleep in here anyways. Better put it to good use if it’s not me. I’m gonna head out now. Maybe we can all have dinner together before whenever you leave!” Gideon said packing some more essentials before grabbing his bag and leaving.

“Your roommate’s cute.” She said, plopping onto his bed.

Caleb’s whole body stiffened.

“In a kind of dumb way, he seems funny though.” She laughed, signifying a lack of attraction.

And then he relaxed. “Don’t call my roommate cute, that’s gross. And you’re supposed to be my girlfriend when you’re here, Pip. What if someone heard you?” He looked at her with an accusatory glare.

Her mouth fell open and then closed, as if she took back what she was going to say. Her face dropped a bit.

“What’s wrong?” Caleb asked, walking towards her before kneeling beside the bed to rest his hand atop of hers. “Did I say something wrong?”

She sat up and looked at their hands touching. “I’m all for being your…’girlfriend,’” she made air quotes as she said it, slipping away from his hand. “But…how is it so easy for you to joke about it? Is it that funny?” She bit her lip, looking at him with desperation in her eyes.

“I…” Caleb was at a loss for words. It wasn’t easy for him at all, but he wanted to play it off as something playful so she wouldn’t feel too uncomfortable. “If I showed you how hard it was, I’d scare you away.” He knew that if he showed his feelings for her first, he wouldn’t know if she would be ready yet and he'd spook her.

There was a moment of silence between the two. The tension from the previous night seeped back, and the previously airy and open space became hard to breathe in. She took his face into her hands. “Are you suffering as much as I am, Caleb?” Her head tilted, questioning him. “Am I really the reason why you won’t date anyone here?” Her thumb caressed his cheek and her fingers lightly touched his warm red ears.

His face felt like it was on fire and was electrified where she held him. He pursed his lips, suddenly terrified. He nodded slightly, fearing that his voice would crack if he tried to answer.

She slowly leaned forward, inching further and further to close the distance. It wasn’t like the night before. Her eyes were filled with desperation once again, but none of the hesitation was present. And was instead replaced with yearning and fire. “Do you…like me, Caleb?” Her breath was hot against his lips.

Another weak nod was all he could muster. He wanted to close the gap so badly, his arms were taut with holding himself back. But he waited for her to make the move.

“Can I…” She looked at his lips and then back at his eyes.

That counted for him. That was her first move, and he finally crashed his lips onto hers.

Chapter 8

Caleb felt like his heart exploded the moment his lips met with hers. Once he saw her eyes flutter close, he took it as a sign of her erasing the invisible line she created between them. Their lips moved against each other, awkwardly at first, but neither of them seemed to care. There was raw passion and desire in their touches, but Caleb had evident hunger for her the way he swallowed every breath and sigh she let out. He thought her lips were soft and warm, and wanted to explore even further.

He pulled away slightly, his eyes glazed with desperate intent. “Can you…open your mouth a little more, please.” He pushed himself up from the ground and set his knee on the bed, straddling her partially. The position made her push herself up further into the bed. Her eyes looked for his and she nodded before Caleb dived in again. His tongue pushing past hers and exploring her, trying to remember and map every inch. Caleb fully got on top of her and pulled away to rest his forehead on hers. Both were out of breath as he said, “If this is a dream, please don’t wake me up.” In complete disbelief of their position, his eyes were blown out as he looked down at her. The same expression painted her face, as she reached up at him to trace his features with her fingers. Caleb caught her hand and nuzzled his nose into it, “I would have waited for centuries for you…I just think I would have exploded doing so.”

Her eyes started to water and she pushed his shoulder to switch positions. It was his turn to lay flat on the bed, with her on top of him. She straddled him and cupped his face again. “I’m terrified of losing you, Caleb. I thought it would have been better if we just stayed how we did…but it was hard to imagine if you…did this with anyone else.” She slipped off her oversized cardigan, revealing only a thin tank top underneath, with nothing else. The sight alone made Caleb feel dizzy.

Yet, Caleb found the strength to sit up, closing the distance between the two of them again. He guided her arms to wrap around his neck. The soft caress of his fingers on her arms made her shiver and he kissed her again, with more fervor, tilting his head to get a better angle. He wanted her to stop worrying and be in the moment with him. He had the exact same worries and he knew how deep the pit was in his chest all those years. Yet, at this moment, it felt like it was full again. Caleb put a hand on the small of her back, pushing her even closer to him before he pulled away from her but kept their noses touching. “I could never be with anyone that wasn’t you…you’re the one who tried replacing me, Pipsqueak. I thought I was gonna kill someone…” He captured her lips again as tears fell from her eyes. In between kisses, he said, “Was I not…enough…for you?” He moved from her lips, to her cheeks, catching every tear that spilled from her eyes.

“I thought it would help me move on and let you be happy with anyone you met here.” She mumbled, burying her head in the nook of his neck. “I thought he was enough like you, but I knew it’d never be enough.” Her arms tightened around him. “What if we don’t work out?”

His chest tightened as he peeled her off of him in order to look her in the eyes. “I’d do anything for you, you know that, right? Are you scared I won’t be good enough or are you scared you don’t like me enough…?”

She shook her head, pouting. “What if you meet some-”

He stopped her with another kiss. “I could never love anyone else…please trust me.” He begged. Peppering kisses down her jaw and neck. He knew he was risking it by saying the word “love.” But he wanted to be open to her. He wanted to assure her that she was the only thing on his mind and in his future.

Her face turned red and her eyes had fire behind them. Half-lidded, she grabbed his face again and surged forward for a deep, fiery kiss. As if his words lit something inside of her. She pushed him down and situated herself more comfortably on top of him.

The movements on top of Caleb made his pants tighten. His face turned redder from her actions, and everything felt hot. He wanted to lift her away from his lap so she couldn’t feel what was stirring in his pants, but she grabbed his hands and guided it to move under her skirt. His fingers caressing her bare calves, hiking up her long skirt further and further until his hands rested on her warm thighs. His eyes shot open as he realized the only fabrics separating the two of them was their underwear and his pants. Her fingers played with the waistband of his pants, and he thought he was going to pass out

She rolled her hips onto the growing heat of his pants, and he pathetically whined into her mouth. It took everything in him to stop her hips from moving even more. “Pips, please.” Caleb thought he could have finished in his pants the moment he saw the desperation and want in her face. When he stopped her, a look of hurt replaced it.

“You don’t want…” She started to say, worried.

He threw his head back and covered his eyes with his elbow. “I do, gods, I want you so bad.” His hips jerked upward, accidentally or by instinct he thought. Another whine left his lips and a soft moan left hers, making his pants even hotter and tighter. “I just don’t want our first time to be like this,” he managed a chuckle through his tight throat. “I haven’t even taken you out on a date yet. And you haven’t even said you’d be mine…” He dropped his hand and sat back up. She squirmed in his lap, looking for friction and he held his breath before saying more, gripping on her hips to keep her from moving. “So…will you? Be mine?” He looked at her, his eyes piercing into her glazed eyes until he could see her regain clarity from the same head rush he was experiencing.

She leaned her forehead to rest onto his, her hips restless and relentless against his hands. “Only if you’re mine and only mine, Caleb.” A small moan escaped her lips and Caleb took no time to swallow it with a kiss. She pulled back after a bit to say, “Plan the date then, Caleb. I’ve been waiting for so long, it’s getting harder to hold back.” Pleading into another kiss, her hips moving stronger against the growth in his pants.

He couldn’t tell who was at fault at the growing dampness of his pants, if it was her or his own doing. Or a combination of the two of them. It made him light headed as he gave in, moving against her own hips. His arms wrapped around her waist, pushing him to move stronger against him. Caleb whined into another kiss, exploring further and deeper into her mouth. Their tongues fought against who got to explore who, but she moved even stronger against his warmth, making him gasp against her. “I…” He tried to tell her that he wasn’t going to last any longer. The sounds coming out of her, her lips against his, and her body against his body was driving him insane. Even though there were as many layers as there was against them, it still felt better than when Caleb released the pressure himself. It felt like heaven to him already, if he imagined how it was to be inside of her, he would have definitely made a mess on the spot.

“Caleb, can you…” She moaned against his lips, breathing heavily. Her fingers trailed down his face, neck, chest, stomach. Down in between her legs, playing with the button on his jeans. “Take these off, I just…I just want to feel closer to you.” She pulled back and moved herself to sit on his thighs. “We won’t go all the way, I promise. Just please, let me feel you a little more. I need you.”

The three words ignited something inside Caleb. He lifted her with an arm underneath her bottom, flipping her back swiftly onto the bed, earning a yelp from her. He pushed her skirt fully upwards to expose her underwear and airing the obvious dampness and excitement. His eyes were half-lidded, staring down at her. Any sign of fear or hesitation melted away from the three words, and they were replaced with extreme yearning and desire. Caleb unbuttoned his pants and swiftly peeled them off, without breaking eye contact, leaving him in his boxers. He quickly laid back on top of her, slotting himself in-between her legs. The two moaned into each other’s mouths, as he grinded into her with even more strength. His pace quickened as her moans and whines got even louder. The bed creaking louder underneath them. “I never thought…I’d be able to have you like this.” He moaned into her neck.

“Me neither…oh god.” She brought her hand up to her mouth to stifle her own sounds, but Caleb quickly grabbed her wrist and pinned it beside her head.

“Don’t…please. If I don’t hear you, I’m going to think this really is just a dream. Please.” He begged into her neck, leaving marks as she squirmed underneath him. “I’m so close.” He let go of her wrist, moving it down to hook under her waist to lift her up at an angle, so she would be more exposed to him. His right arm keeps his weight from crushing her.

She nodded, “Me too, Caleb. Please don’t stop.” She grabbed his face and pulled it away from her neck to pull him towards another kiss. A messy and uncoordinated kiss, matching the same uncoordinated thrusts that Caleb was putting out as he slowly lost more and more control. Their uneven breaths and moans entangled with each other as they shared the same air while chasing the same high.

He felt her shiver and tense up underneath him as she came undone, and he spilled into his own garments, tears pricking his eyes as he was hit with multiple shockwaves of his orgasm and he cried. He tried to keep up his own weight to avoid crushing her, as he rested his head in the crook of her neck, hiccuping into it. He didn’t know why he cried at first, until the fog of sex slightly cleared, leaving him in a state of immense jubilation. He didn’t know it was possible for him to cry tears of happiness until that moment where he cried from the pure ecstasy he felt. He stayed hiding his face, because he felt embarrassed that the first time they participated in a sexual act, he ended up crying.

She softly twitched underneath him, recovering from her own high. She pushed him softly off of her, “Caleb, are you crying?” A hint of worry was in her breathless voice, as she sat up to look at him, still twitching every now and then.

Caleb lied on his back, covering his eyes with his elbow once again, as tears fell from his eyes. “Don’t laugh…” he said in between hiccups. He reached out to one of her hands, intertwining their fingers together before putting it to his lips, kissing her knuckles. “I’ve never done anything like this before and being able to experience something like this with you…is overwhelming me…in a good way. I just can’t seem to stop.”

She giggled softly, making Caleb peek at her to pout. “I said, don’t laugh.” He sniffled into her hand before she unraveled their fingers and leaned over to kiss his cheek.

“Seeing you like this…makes me feel more confident that it wasn’t as one-sided as I thought.” She smiled before kissing his lips, a small meaningful peck. Her hands wiping the tears from his cheeks. “I almost thought you were crying because you regretted it.”

“Your trust in me seriously needs some work, Pip.” He calmly said, holding her hand that rested on his cheek. “You’re insane if you seriously thought that.” His hand moved up to the back of her neck, pulling her down for another kiss.

Then the door burst open with Gideon walking in, looking down at his phone. “Hey sorry, I left my–” He stopped as he looked up to see the two of them on his bed. Although she may have looked somewhat normal despite her blown up pupils and messy hair, Caleb was lying down in his boxers. A rather evident crime scene. “Guys. On my bed?!” He scoffed, close to yelling. “As happy as I am that Caleb grew a pair. He has his own bed like six feet away.” He turned around with his hands on his head, in disbelief. “You know what…keep that mattress. Keep the sheets. I’m going to beg Patrick to let me move in.” He turned back around and left through the open doorway, slamming the door shut.

“We can deal with that later.” Caleb said, continuing what he was doing before Gideon interrupted them. And she leaned down, giggling into another kiss. As embarrassing as it was, he couldn’t care less because he was able to finally call her, his.

Chapter 9

After a shower and a change of clothes, Caleb decided to switch beds with Gideon. He gave him a video call while she was in the shower to apologize. He wanted her to wash up first, but the mess in his boxers was a lot more unmanageable.

“You’re lucky Patrick won’t let me move in here…” Gideon grumbled. It was his turn to be upset at Caleb after that morning’s cold shoulder. A slight glint in Gideon’s eyes showed extreme interest in the current situation. “So…I’m assuming things are great.” And then as if remembering the reason for the call, he gruffed and rolled his eyes. “I mean, it better be if it was worth violating my bed.”

Caleb sat on his desk, propping his phone up to talk to Gideon hands-free. He took a quick glance at the room’s bathroom to check if the water was still running. He then looked back towards the phone and smiled. “Dude.” The events that happened just a few minutes before replayed in his mind and he buried his face in his hands, hiding the smile that was growing from ear-to-ear.

“Dude.” Gideon replied. The one-word exchange held a thousand words for the two.

Caleb dragged his hands down to make his eyes visible. “Am I dreaming?” He asked, slightly muffled.

“I’ll go over and beat the crap out of you, right now, and that’ll let you know if you are. I’m still upset, I’m hanging up…but I’m happy for you. Be safe. And stay OFF of my bed.” A genuine smile before annoyance flashed through his face before hanging up.

Caleb got up to lay on his bed to stare at the ceiling, giddy with the scenes replaying in his head. Every sound and word being manually ingrained into every crevice of his brain. It was making it hard for him to imagine having to go weeks without her, and it was also making him hard again. It was a lot easier to control before. Fueled by fear of being caught, he somehow managed to hide any hints of arousal around her. Now that he’s experienced bliss, it’s as if it has a mind of its own now. It was as if she held the key to every emotion, and she finally opened his heart to feel everything clearly. A weight was physically lifted off his shoulder and he just splayed out on the bed and let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding in.

She stepped out of the bathroom a few moments after and he propped himself up with his elbow to look at her. She was dressed in a simple attire of baggy jeans and a cropped tank top that hugged every curve on her upper body. Caleb felt like someone knocked the air out of his lungs as he studied her.

She stopped in her tracks on her way towards him as he saw her reation. Cocking her head to the side and crossing her arms, “You’re acting like you’ve never seen me wear this before…you bought this for me, too.” She tuts at him before walking over and throwing a small towel at him. “Dry my hair.” She basically commanded him, sitting on the floor beside the bed.

He HAD seen her wear the outfit multiple times, and he was the one who chose the color since she insisted on getting the top despite it being too short in his opinion. Yet, there was an aura to her that screamed ‘I like Caleb!’ The change of their relationship made her glow a million times more than before, and he wondered if he needed to start wearing his aviator glasses around her now. “You took the space out of ‘girl’ and ‘friend’, and now I’m forever shocked by your presence, Pips. If it’s a crime to find your girlfriend breathtaking, then lock me up, officer.” He teased her.

She groaned before turning her head to look back at him, “You’re so chee-”

He cut her off by leaning forward and running his fingers through the back of her head and pushing her towards him for another kiss. She softly moaned into it and automatically opened her mouth to him, making Caleb smirk against her lips before pulling away. She looked surprised and dazed when he did so, before giving him a pout. “I thought you wanted me to dry your hair. Turn around.” He said, feigning innocence.

She looked like she was about to say something before turning around, grumbling.

He took the towel from his lap and started scrunching her wet hair with it. He felt water droplets on her neck so he took a corner to wipe them off, his pinky caressing the tip of her ear, causing her to shiver. Whether he did it on accident or on purpose was all up to Caleb.

His phone started ringing on his desk and she quickly got up.

“Can you go check who it is? Grab the hairbrush while you’re up over there.” Caleb said to her, lying back down.

“It’s Gideon.” She said, grabbing his phone and the brush before going back to him. Instead of sitting back on the floor, she climbed on top of him and laid her head on his chest, handing him the two objects.

He grabbed his phone while letting the hairbrush fall to his side, and his other arm held her still against his chest while he answered, putting him on speaker. “Hey, you’re on speaker.”

“I forgot to tell you that the shooting club’s event is at the range tonight. They’re holding a competition for the most points shot, and I heard prizes include a romantic dinner.” Gideon chuckled. “They also include that one video game I really want, if someone wanted to make it up to me that I found them doing sinful things on my bed…but whatever.” Caleb could almost hear him roll his eyes.

He looked down to find her eyes and saw them staring at his phone, lit up. “Can I join? Can I shoot too?” She asked, grabbing the phone from him.

“Oh right, I heard you wanted to be a Hunter. Yeah, you just need to pay the off-campus fee, but you can enter the competition too. Try and win me the game, and I’ll consider letting Caleb go home on the weekends.” Gideon said. “You know I’m his partner for everything, if I slack off…a certain someone will have to stay on campus longer to work on our assignments twice as hard.”

She rolled off of Caleb and lied beside him, gasping. “You’re mean!”

“You did stuff on my bed! I don’t wanna hear it, missy! I’ll see you both later!” He hung up.

She threw the phone onto his chest and flipped onto her belly. “That’s so embarrassing! He’s never letting it go!” She screamed, muffled by the pillow.

Caleb laughed at her before getting on his side to play with her hair. Grabbing the hairbrush to run through it, he asked, “You still want to go to the shooting range later?” He ran the brush through her hair. He wqs hoping he could take her out to somewhere romantic, right at that moment, but winning a more expensive date sounded fun for him too. Seeing her eyes light up was also a big motivation for him. Although he thought she was more excited about shooting guns than going out with him. “Are you trying to get experience shooting before the academy?”

She pushed herself up from the pillow before facing her body towards him, taking the hairbrush from him and setting it down. “Can we? It sounds cool…I never fired one before. Except for that toy gun you got me a couple years ago. Remember how we were shooting apples and soda cans.” She reached out to pinch his cheek. “I was always so much better than you.” She giggled, scooting over to him to wrap her arms around his chest and nuzzling into it.

Caleb scoffed, “Yeah sure, you were the perfect shot. Let’s see how you handle recoil later.” He rolled his eyes, patting her head. He hoped she couldn’t hear his heart at that moment. The idea that they could do this mundane couple move was making him ecstatic. “The event’s in two hours, do you still want to go to the cafe?”

She shook her head, “I want to stay like this for a bit.”

“Alright, Pipsqueak. Whatever you want.” He placed a kiss on the top of her head as he held her tighter against him. “Are you gonna nap?” His voice lowers. His hand rubbing circles on her back while the other plays with her hair.

She moves back slightly to rest her chin on his chest to be able to look up at him. The adjustment made him move a bit back so he could look at her also. A comfortable silence took over as they stared into each other’s eyes.

Caleb took the hand that was playing with her hair to brush away the hair on her forehead. Then he planted a soft kiss onto it, lingering for a moment. When he pulled away, her eyes fluttered open to look at him again. “How long were you going to make me wait for you?”

She pursed her lips and then shimmied her hands free from around him before cupping his cheeks. “How long would you have waited?” Her eyes falling from his and landing on his lips.

“Forever.” He scooted back so he could take his hand and place it under her chin to force her to make eye contact with him again. “I thought I was going to kill someone when you told me you liked someone.” She winced at her decisions previously, biting her lip. Caleb tuts. “You need to fix this habit of yours, Pip.” His thumb pulls down her bottom lip free from her teeth before swooping into a kiss. He held her tight against him, afraid that she’d float away somehow. Her hands moved from his face to around his neck, her right hand running through his hair, sending a shiver down his spine.

“I’m glad you guys made it!” Gideon ran over to them through the sea of other club members.

The two of them walked into the shooting range hand in hand. Caleb made her wear his DAA hoodie since he knew the shooting club was mainly men. And as much as he wanted her to be free to do whatever she wanted, he didn’t trust himself to NOT knock someone out if they looked at her incorrectly. She provided no resistance, regardless.

The shooting club held shooting events every other week. Caleb and Gideon weren’t official members due to time constraints of their general meetings, but it was open to the public. Gun safety and training was part of the DAA curriculum, so it was good for the two to join in. To Caleb’s knowledge, this would be her first time shooting a real gun, though. They used to shoot wooden pellet guns before, as well as air rifles, but never real ones.

“Just register over there. Quick! They’re gonna start soon.” Gideon ushered them to the counter.

“You ready to shoot a real gun, Pipsqueak?” Caleb guided her with a hand on the small of her back through the crowd. “Keep in mind what I taught you on how to hold it.”

She nodded, giddy. “I can’t wait, let’s go!” She grabbed his wrist and made him walk faster.

As soon as they paid and got set up, Caleb went first so she could watch him. The contest consisted of five shots in total. The bullseye was ten points and each ring after, one point less. Much like the rules of archery. Caleb wasn’t an amazing shooter, by any means. But he was an above-average shot. Despite having the same experience as her, he was able to learn quickly on how to be precise and steady. This landed him with two bullseye shots and others close to it. One shot was a bit far off since he heard her laugh loudly behind him from what he assumed was a joke made by Gideon. He couldn’t tell if he was just entranced by her happiness or jealous that someone else made her laugh. Regardless, he lost his focus. This landed him with forty-one points.

He went back to her and she gave him a quick hug to lean into his ear so she could yell through ear protection, “That was hot, Caleb! My turn! My turn!”

His face felt hot and he laughed, pushing past her so he could watch her turn. The range was reset for her and she lined herself up, planting her feet on the floor. Her stance reminded him of when they were kids and she was shooting soda cans in the backyard, and he couldn’t help but smile. He saw her take a deep breath before pulling the trigger as she exhaled. Bullseye.

His eyes widened as he looked up at the screen that showed where the bullet landed, and it was dead center. He looked over at Gideon who had the same expression, mouth agape. Caleb knew she was a good shot, but he didn’t know how well wooden pellets could translate to actual machinery. In her case, it might have been perfect.

Another shot. Bullseye. And then another. Bullseye.

He didn’t realize it, but a few more people gathered around her, watching. “Is that your girlfriend?” An acquaintance of his shouted next to him.

His chest swelled with pride. After all those weeks of lying to everyone, he could finally respond with a truthful yes. “She’s great, huh?” He added.

She must’ve noticed more people watching since the last two shots were further off, but still close enough to be able to land her a higher score than Caleb. A final total of forty-six. A round of applause erupted from the people watching, impressed by the outsider scoring higher than some club members.

She set the gun down and fast-walked back over to Caleb, slightly embarrassed. “Did you see me? Wasn’t that crazy?” She jumped up and down, holding his hands. Her hands slightly shaking from the adrenaline and reaction from the recoil.

The two and Gideon made their way out of the shooting range into the common area so they could talk easier.

“That was insane! Are you sure that was your first time?” Gideon asked, giving her a high-five. “I could never outshoot this hotshot. And you did it in one night!”

She shook her head. “Toys and air rifles…but never a handgun like that. Are my fingers supposed to hurt a little?” She rubbed her hands a bit before Caleb took over and massaged it for her.

“Yeah, it would have been worse if you didn’t hold it properly. You did amazing, Pipsqueak. You really are on your way to being the world’s best Hunter, huh?” He smiled at her, proudly.

He thought he’d be more upset about doing worse than her, he knows he has a bit of an issue where he always wanted to be better than her so he could protect her. But at that moment, he was surprised and happy to see her so excited. It also put him in a better headspace knowing that if she really had to, she could protect herself.

They had to wait until the rest of the contestants finished shooting to figure out the results of the winners, and once they did, it was no surprise that the two of them made it on the prize winning chart. They were able to claim their free date and the apology gift for Gideon.

#lads caleb #love and deepspace #lads caleb fic #lads caleb smut #caleb smut #lads fic #eventual smut #caleb angst #caleb fluff #caleb x you #caleb x mc #lnds caleb #caleb fic #caleb love and deepspace

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avonne-writes · 1 year ago

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High School AU - Timeline

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Year 9 Of High School

The boys meet on their first day of high school in Milwaukee

Gale's growing out his hair to rebel against his dad

Bucky's eager to find new friends because Brady is the only one he knows

They're seated next to each other in one of their classes and become friends

They both think the other is cute and develop crushes on each other quickly

Bucky tells Brady and his mom everything about his crush

Gale doesn’t dare believe that Bucky likes him, he thinks they're just friends

Daydreams

But the way things develop during Christmas and New Year's Eve get his hopes up

Bucky makes a resolution to ask him out

They go on their first date in January

You don’t need wings to fly (drabble about their third date)

dive for dreams - chapter 1

Happiness, you’re a cat - part 1

Their relationship develops, but Gale keeps his family issues a secret, sometimes even lying

They fight about it and break up

But, upon his mom's (Georgia's) encouragement, Bucky approaches Gale again and they make up. Gale tells Bucky about his parents

Gale sleeps over at the Egans' place for the first time

Early relationship headcanons

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Year 10 Of High School

Someone catches them kissing in September (drabble - Truth or dare) and spreads the rumour around school

Since Bucky already wanted to come out anyway, he’s not worried or anything, and convinces Gale that it's fine

Bucky kisses Gale in the middle of the hallway

Bryan ("RAF prick" in the show) and his friends try to bully both of them but mostly Gale since he’s not on any popular sports team

Bucky and Curt track them down and get into a fistfight

Bucky gets suspended for a few days

dive for dreams - chapter 2

Gale gets mad at Bucky for drawing attention to them, but the bullying stops not too long after that fight

The boys get braver with the PDA over the course of the year

They also start exploring sexual intimacy gradually - Hands-on Biology

Nsfw headcanons

Self-care

Around May or so, Georgia does a motorcycle course and meets Neil (Harding)

Bucky and Gale have their first time at the end of May/beginning of June

dive for dreams - chapter 3

They keep exploring new things about intimacy during the summer, taking advantage of having the house to themselves a bit more often because Georgia goes out with Neil

morning after drabble

Georgia introduces Neil to the boys. It takes some time but they warm up to him eventually

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Year 11 Of High School

The school year starts really well, it's a very happy period for them. Gale stays over every Saturday night, sometimes other nights too.

Gale has a platonic crush on a teacher

Lunch Break

Sweet Tooth

The first time Gale mentions he doesn’t want to have kids - You melt my heart

Gale spends Christmas Day and Boxing Day with Bucky and his family, including extended family

Words of Wisdom

Towards the end of spring, Gale’s dad relapses again and ends up in alcohol rehab. It really messes with Gale's emotions.

Gale starts going to the school psychologist, but his mental health gets worse. He develops the habit of going out alone in the evening and spends a lot of time in random parks, public libraries and the pool, when he's not with Bucky.

dive for dreams - chapter 4

Gale's dad comes out of rehab and promises to stay sober. The summer goes relatively well, Gale feels momentarily better

Gale bonds with Neil and asks him to teach him how to ride a motorbike

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Year 12 Of High School

Around October, Gale’s dad relapses again and physically abuses Gale

Broken Things (Gale almost commits suicide)

Bucky tries to help him cover up his bruises with his mom's makeup - drabble by @swifty-fox

Georgia and Neil talk to Gale, then also to his mom and get everyone to agree to Gale moving in with Bucky and Georgia

Gale has an emotional moment with his mom when they move his things

Georgia figures out a way to get Gale a therapist outside of school

Silence (Bucky and Gale talk about death)

Untitled angsty drabble

Gale and Bucky get into arguments sometimes because Gale needs more space due to his vulnerable situation, but Bucky's triggered fear of abandonment wants to keep him close at all times. The fact that high school is coming to an end soon exacerbates it.

Gale and Georgia have an argument

dive for dreams - chapter 5

Gale's 18th birthday (drabble)

Gale starts getting better. He gets his motorcycle driver's license in secret, conspiring with Neil. He also starts working part-time to save up.

He offers Georgia to pay for his own food but he ends up with another long conversation where Georgia tries to make him understand that she does this for him out of love and doesn’t want him to feel like he owes her.

Conversely, Bucky starts getting worse as the end of the school year approaches. He’s scared that he’s going to lose Gale because they will be going to college. He gets really clingy and irrational.

Leaving

What touches linger by @hogans-heroes

Mid-spring, Gale borrows a bike from Neil and takes Bucky on a surprise date. They end up sitting in the grass somewhere and have a serious talk about the future. Gale tells Bucky that he needs to do something about his attachment issues. Bucky agrees, feeling bad, but reassured about their college plans.

Pre-prom drabble

They go to prom together:

Prom night drabble

They spend the summer hanging out with their friends

They get into different colleges but in the same city.

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First Year of College

Gale cuts his hair. To him, it's not just a sign of change but a symbol of his freedom from his father's dark shadow

He and Bucky move in together into a small apartment

Gale switches to calling Bucky John because it carries more emotion and connection to him

Although they’ve been living together since the previous fall, this is different, and only now do they learn a lot of things about each other. Like how bad Gale is at decoration, what triggers him and what bothers Bucky

There’s a lot of friction between them during their first semester, and they get close to breaking up, but eventually, they start communicating the right way and address their biggest problems

Basically, their relationship needs to shift into a mature adult relationship. It takes some time but they succeed (see - college transition headcanons + sexual issues headcanons)

dive for dreams - chapter 6

Gale blossoms at university

He and Bucky enter a steady and happy phase in their lives.

Gale wearing Bucky's soccer jersey

Later Life

Bucky faces the source of his fear of abandonment - his father. He goes through a lot of personal development (some headcanons + another post)

Happiness, you’re a cat - part 2 (when they’re 21)

Bucky asks Gale to marry him after their 3rd year of college - my world, my true

They get married about a year later. (wedding headcanons)

Honeymoon headcanons

They move to the Boston area.

Gale studies Physics and does part of his doctorate course abroad. He and Bucky call almost every day, but Bucky still misses him a lot. (some headcanons about this, + more headcanons)

Later, Bucky claims that their reunion at the end of the programme was almost as happy as their wedding day.

Gale dedicates his PhD thesis to Bucky.

Georgia and Neil get married and she takes his name.

Headcanons about the boys' jobs after university

Birthday headcanons

Anniversary headcanons

When they're 30, Gale has something of a mid-life crisis because Bucky realizes that having kids is more important to him than he originally thought.

During the above situation, their relationship gets really tense and strained, and they fight a lot. Gale antagonizes Bucky. (argument headcanons, more headcanons about their fight)

However, they do figure it out eventually, and they build a happy future together. (Abby, Matty. More posts about their family under the tag #hs au: kids)

Gale's NASA ID situation

A few thoughts about their last moments together. Update: detailed headcanons about the end of their journey.

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A/N:

Thank you if you got this far! 🩷 This timeline post will be continuously updated as new stories and drabbles are posted. It will be linked in my masterpost.

TLDR - Chronological Reading Order:

Daydreams

You don’t need wings to fly

dive for dreams - chapter 1

Happiness, you’re a cat - part 1

First sleepover

Truth or dare

dive for dreams - chapter 2

Hands-on Biology

Self-care

dive for dreams - chapter 3

morning after drabble

Lunch Break

Sweet Tooth

You melt my heart

Words of Wisdom

dive for dreams - chapter 4

Broken Things

swifty-fox's drabble

Silence

Untitled angsty drabble

dive for dreams - chapter 5

Gale's 18th birthday drabble

Leaving

What touches linger by hogans-heroes

pre-prom drabble

prom night drabble

dive for dreams - chapter 6

Short college morning drabble

Happiness, you’re a cat - part 2

my world, my true

Thank you so much for reading this AU! You can find more headcanons on my blog under #hs au 😊

Moodboards and gifs 💕

Gifset by @carnevol

Moodboard by @hogans-heroes

Moodboard by @bucking-mustangs-with-wings

Fanart by @swifty-fox

#mota #buck x bucky #clegan #gale cleven #john egan #hs au #hs au timeline #will be updated after each new fic #🥰🥰#i hope this is helpful!#this took me such a long time 🙈

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gotham25052 · 8 months ago

Text

Dark Waters Part 1

Part 1 summary: Anna moved to Gotham to disappear, but an encounter with the Joker takes away her anonymity and throws her life into disarray.

Contents: Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10

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Notes: I'll be posting new chapters each week. [Edit 12/8 - going to have to go for a 2-week posting schedule instead of every week] I've had so much fun writing, hoping that maybe a few others out there will enjoy reading!

Overall fic warnings: Explicit violence and explicit sexual content.

Chapter warnings: Some violence, heavy themes including contemplation of death, major invasion of personal space

She immediately dropped the tray upon hearing the gunshot - it reverberated in the large ballroom, which had excellent acoustics. She was on the far side of the room, away from the activity, yet she had a good view of the group as they walked in.

Her heart seemed to stop, seeing the man in the lead. It wasn't hard to tell who he was, with the white face paint, black eyes, and jarring red lips. It was the Joker, the face she had seen in the newspapers and televised clips, striking fear into the heart of Gotham with his antics and erratic crime spree.

This was a world that was far removed from her everyday routine of work and survival. The gray hues of her sparse apartment in lower Gotham, the days and nights spent carrying dishes, washing, cooking - the debt she owed weighing her down and keeping her on the edges of life in the city. The physical toll of working constantly in a fast-paced kitchen gave her a kind of alertness that wasn't based on rest but instead on pure adrenaline and necessity, giving her the ability to perform well but also an unrelenting fatigue that plagued her.

She wondered why of all days, today she had been assigned to serving the guests instead of working the line in the kitchen. Since Bruce Wayne, the host of the event, was known as quite a ladies man, she had wondered if perhaps the catering manager wanted more women to be serving at this high-class event. Her simple ponytail and sparse makeup helped her dissolve into the background, but her striking, somewhat unsettling blue eyes may have influenced the manager's decision to add her to the service staff.

But in this moment, she forgot everything. Watching this man was utterly terrifying and also strangely captivating. She couldn't take her eyes off him. It was as if a streak of violent color was splashed onto her horizon. She hadn't noticed his bizarrely red lips in the grainy security footage that ran in news clips, but now when he was on full display, he seemed like a lightning bolt in red traveling across the white ballroom floor. She wasn't alone - the stunned crowd were all seemingly mesmerized by his shocking appearance and the turn the evening had taken. But as he drew near to each group, they looked away, afraid to make eye contact with this man and his goons. She watched until she could no longer see what was happening from her vantage point. The crowd seemed excited and she heard murmurs of 'Batman' - had he shown up to fight the Joker?

She could hear a shot and breaking glass, and then a deadly silence fell around her. The crowd seemed to be pressed down by renewed fear. Was the Joker still here? Was Batman gone? Her mind was reeling in confusion, her thoughts slowed by panic.

Despite herself, she couldn't help looking over to see what was happening. The tall figure in the purple jacket soon reappeared, his goons surrounding him, taunting the crowd. He had appeared frustrated before, but now he looked perfectly composed and at ease. He strode through the ballroom where most people now cowered to the floor, but others seemed stunned and unable to move from their original positions. He was almost to the elevator when he stopped abruptly and turned his head - toward her. Was this possible? Somehow he caught her gaze from far away, and now he was looking straight at her. It was as if he had somehow felt her eyes and seen her thoughts. And now he was turning to walk to her precise location. She thought she must be in some kind of nightmare - it didn't make sense, why would he be striding toward her instead of leaving the building? The police would be on their way.

And still, she couldn't break eye contact. She was like the prey frozen in front of the predator - somehow she was fascinated seeing her inevitable demise walking toward her.

She was nobody, why was he focusing on her?

His strides were unrelenting, breaking the space between them into smaller pieces until he stook right in front of her, far too quickly. He loomed large above her petite frame, looking so much taller up-close. She had the odd sensation that he was a protective figure, simply because her head was level with his shoulders - as if he were an older brother or a father. But looking up at him, she was shocked out of her temporary illusion. It was clear he was the Joker, the gaudy paint brighter and messier the closer he came. Her eyes met his again and for a moment she was lost - flecks of green and brown seemed to be dancing there, shifting all the time, like a fire was kindling in the darkness. She quickly snapped out of her trance and backed up to the wall to make a feeble attempt at escaping, her fear causing her to collapse to the floor when she could no longer move backward. She was like a prisoner on execution day, losing her ability to stand and walk to the gallows. She could hear others around her backing away, relieved that they weren't the ones singled out.

He simply came in closer, pulled her back to a standing position with one hand, and pressed his body up to hers, easily pinning her to the wall. One thing was certain, no one was going to make a daring attempt to rescue her. She was a non-VIP, a young woman in a cheap catering uniform - she would be a low priority for Batman and the police, even if they did manage to arrive. Her mind was still teetering on the horror of upcoming death and utter confusion as to why he had come to her. As someone who blended into the background, perhaps her one strength was her invisibility, and that was lost now. Time seemed to stop for her. She could feel the buttons on his vest, the rough texture of his jacket. She could smell him, feel him breathing calmly. As someone who lived a solitary life in the city, she was overwhelmed by this strange sudden intimacy, her senses overloaded. She tried to comprehend the fact that she likely only had moments left to live.

He wordlessly took his knife from his pocket and had it shining beside her lips in the next moment. But he turned away, his attention taken by his henchmen signaling that the police were closing in on the building. In that split second, something changed for her. She didn't want to be carved up in front of a crowd, and if he was going to kill her, she preferred for him to just do it and be done. She accepted her fate, and a strange calm enveloped her. She held up her free hand and gently guided his with the knife to her throat, away from her face. Something in the misery of her life, her deep fatigue, and her strange fascination with this wild animal in front of her led her to accept the end. He felt her body relax and turned back toward her, tilting his head slightly as if he was watching some unusual natural phenomenon.

She was surprised that he allowed her to move his hand downward until it rested on her neck. He seemed almost curious to see what would happen. He still hadn't said a word to her, nor her to him, but he looked into her eyes again and she felt that he could see the bleakness of her past and her struggle to survive in Gotham - as if he knew every thought. But somehow he could see this and yet no warmth, no empathy clouded his eyes. She could still see the uninterrupted flames there in his gaze. He seemed to take it all in with one unfeeling blink. A slight smile flickered on the edges of his bubbled cheeks.

He broke the silence. "Did you know, we are the only ones here?" Before she could think of any way to respond or even process his strange statement, he had loosened his grip slightly and with one hand, pulled a vial out of his pocket. He reached backwards to grab a napkin from a nearby table and soaked it with the vial's contents. It smelled terrible, like alcohol and gasoline mixed. Her terror came back with a rush as she realized this had something to do with her. She had prepared herself for death; she wasn't prepared for the unknown that could happen now. She squirmed between his body and the wall, but he easily resecured her so she could barely move. He placed the soaking cloth up to carefully cover her mouth and nose. Despite his men rushing around him, preparing to escape, he looked into her eyes, observing the fear behind them like a scientist watching an experiment, his expression blank. She was afraid of what would happen if she breathed, afraid of losing control.

She kept her gaze fixed on his eyes, still fascinated despite the lack of comfort there.

"Just breath," he said with some exasperation, exhaling forcefully on the word "breath." On his command her body gave up and finally took a desperate breath, and she immediately felt herself fading away. Her eyes went black even though she knew that they were still open, and as she lost consciousness, she felt the side of his face brush roughly against hers and heard him begin to whisper something in her ear.

"You…" But now she was gone, sliding into pure nothingness, her body collapsing to the floor as he took a calculated step back.

"Pour it out, let's go, let's go" the Joker called out loudly, his voice echoing off of the ballroom ceiling. A second wave of his men had entered the room, carrying what looked like gas cans, roughly painted in purple. They strode around the room, splashing the gasoline everywhere, adding an extra sheen to the shining marble floors. The scene was one of chaos as many partygoers struggled to find exits while others stood motionless, caught up in the unexpected shock of the events they saw unfolding around them.

"I'll take this one," the Joker said, loudly and gleefully, as he threw the unconscious woman roughly over his shoulder, her feet held in front and her head and arms swinging on his back as he took large strides toward the elevators. His companions had secured a way out for him in a stolen car that their allies in the police force would ignore. He paused for a brief moment and lunged out with his free hand to pull a sparkling ruby necklace off of a woman's neck as he passed by. "And may I have this, please?" he said with feigned politeness. She winced in pain from having the necklace snapped off her neck and cowered down to the floor, stunned. He swiftly pocketed it and picked up his shotgun.

"I bid you adieu," he said mockingly to those still watching the chaotic scene as he stepped onto the elevator. One of his companions lit a match and threw it onto the gasoline-slick floor.

His goons rushed around him to escape the building into their surrounding cars, while the Joker walked further on into a nearby alley. He unburdened himself of his human cargo and dropped her to the ground. He turned around, glancing at the building, now ablaze. He adjusted the position of her head slightly and quickly slipped the necklace into her uniform pocket. 'Take care' he said with a joyless grin as he ran to the car that had paused to pick him up nearby. The driver, one of his long-time companions, assumed the woman was probably dead, but his boss talking to unresponsive bodies was nothing new. He heard the boss humming as they peeled away and skidded through the streets of Gotham, to the part of the city where the Joker reigned supreme and no one would dare to interfere with him. The boundaries of that 'safe' zone for criminal activity were constantly expanding.

She woke up in a sea of black, not knowing where she was or what had happened. The first thing she could make out was the blurry orange glow above her. She blinked and slowly came back to herself. The glow came into focus and she heard the cracking flames - one of the upper floors of the building in front of her was burning vibrantly. Firefighters and police were running frantically on the road in front of the alley she found herself tucked away in. She was out of sight but perfectly positioned to watch the flames. Her body felt numb, like her arms and legs had yet to wake up, and she didn't want to enter the chaos of the bystanders and officials around the building's perimeter. She lay there motionless, the flames flickering on the sparkling surface of her eyes. She remembered the stories she had listened to as a child, about Sodom and Gomorrah.

"Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah —from the Lord out of the heavens…" She had shivered in fear as a child, thinking of the flaming rocks hurtling down to burn an entire city. In contrast, now the flickering flames seemed to spread warmth from her eyes to the rest of her body, as she slowly came back into consciousness. There was something almost beautiful about the way they hugged the stark edges of the building and licked the corners of the windows.

She jarred suddenly, realizing that the burning building in front of her was where she had been working, and everything came back to her. All the people in that room, had they escaped before this inferno? She felt like she couldn't breath as the details of the night returned - the group of men entering the room, the shots, the streak of red framed by white and black on his face - she remembered his face, so close to hers with its garish colors, the knife shining in front of her lips. Her strange decision to die quickly and his even more bizarre actions afterward. She remembered the horrible smell when he put the napkin to her face and the crushing pressure of his body.

She struggled to remember, had he put his face alongside hers, and whispered something in her ear, as her consciousness faded? Then it came to her, as if she was hearing it again, clearly enunciated and hissed into her ear, "You are the water, I am the ink." The strange words were somehow chilling, even though they made no sense to her, and she thought it was most likely that she had imagined it - maybe she had imagined everything? She instinctively put her hand up to the side of her face where she had felt his skin brush against hers. She brought her hand down, and in the intermittent light of the emergency vehicles and flashlight beams, she saw white and red makeup smears on her fingers. Her breath quickened in panic.

She forced her body to move and stood up unsteadily, her voice barely audible. "I think I need help. Something happened, please, can I talk to someone?" She pushed herself forward into the crowd of gathered onlookers and emergency personnel. She tried to direct her pleas to the officers she saw rushing by, pushing herself to say the words more audibly, "I think I need help." She was holding her hand with the makeup as if it was hurt - as if the colors had rendered it useless. An officer finally noticed her wondering confused in the crowd and seemed surprised when he saw her. He looked at her hand and touched her face. Pulling it back, he muttered, "It's just makeup." He motioned for an ambulance worker who was coming toward them to go back. "I don't know what you're up to, miss. Go home. We have lives to save here." He dismissed her pleading eyes and went back to directing the rescue operation and managing the crowds rushing up to watch the dancing flames.

She walked unsteadily to the train station, still holding her hand - she was far from her area of town, and she struggled to remember how to get home from here. Blue line, to L6, switch to the green line, 56th and Brooks. She mechanically switched trains and tapped her token on the gates, somewhat surprised she was able to complete the commute. She was relieved that it was early Sunday morning. This was the quietest time for Gotham's roads and transport. This was the one reprieve that went with her job - often she had to work through the early morning hours at late-night parties for Gotham's elite on Saturdays, but this quiet journey back to her apartment was a slight benefit that offset the exhaustion she felt every day after work. She made it up the stairs to her apartment and unlocked the door. She could often overhear fights and smell cigarette smoke in the hallways outside, but in the morning, it was sometimes calm like this. She just wanted to collapse into bed. The shadow of whatever drug she had inhaled hung in the back of her head, giving her a throbbing headache that was getting worse by the minute.

Her memories of the night seemed to be fading away, replaced by exhaustion and familiarity with her surroundings. The glimmers of luxury in the ballroom, the sudden ring of shots, that face… All seemed to be far away, in upper Gotham, where important people made important decisions. She wandered into the bathroom, thinking she should try to at least change her dirty clothes before climbing into bed. She stopped dead in front of the sink. In the mirror, she saw it, the white and black smear across the side of her face and a fat red streak from her cheek to her ear. She screamed and stumbled backward, her head striking the tile wall as she fell to the floor.

It was late in the day before she woke up. Despite the traumatic events she had been through, sleep had restored her somewhat. She realized that her work would begin in only a couple of hours, so she had to prepare to return to upper Gotham for another catered event. She decided to shower and eat something, replacing the rollercoaster of the night before with the regularity of her daily routine. It was a comforting thought, but also daunting. How would she work through the night cooking and washing dishes at the usual demanding pace with all that she had been through?

Luckily, she did have an alternate uniform to wear. She began to undress, but then felt that something was in her pocket. She didn't remember having anything in her pockets - what was this? She reached in, feeling the cold metal against her skin. She pulled out the ruby necklace, sparkling with a hundred shades of red, the gold links on the chain glittering in the fading sunlight from the window. It looked utterly foreign to this apartment, and in her hands - she had never held anything like it in her life. She had no memory of putting this necklace in her pocket, and noticed that the clasp on either end had been torn apart. She thought back through the events of the evening and her breath caught in her throat. Someone must have put it in her pocket, and it must have been the Joker's goons or the Joker himself. She sank down to the floor, disturbed and also finding herself in a new dilemma - should she take the necklace to the police? She saw how little they paid attention to her words the night before, and she worried that they would think she had stolen it herself. They might find it hard to believe she had innocently found it in her pocket. She would have to decide some other time - she needed to go to work now. She placed it awkwardly in a small bag in the closet, getting it out of sight to help clear her mind.

She couldn't return to normalcy. Every day she came back to her drab apartment with the faded carpet and wondered what to do with the broken necklace. She sometimes took it from the bag in her closet, turning the beautiful jewel so that it radiated like the sun, even in the cheap fluorescent lighting. Even though it reminded her of what had happened, seeing something so dazzling felt like a breath of fresh air in her suffocating life. She glanced at the pile of bills on the counter. She had to carefully calculate and juggle them, to pay some and leave others, so that she could keep the wheel turning and not lose her apartment.

Seeing the bills reminded her of the reason she was in this impossible situation. She remembered the court case with bitterness - the state had stepped in to help her dissolve her marriage and escape from the radical Christian sect her family had brought her up in, but in the end the legal costs all came back to her. She left her small town to seek solace in the anonymity of Gotham, but with nothing, and a pile of legal bills to settle. It was a miracle she had an apartment and a job at all. Even though she had read nearly every book in the small local library of her hometown, her closed upbringing left her with no formal education, not even a high school degree, making it nearly impossible to find work.

She sighed and collapsed onto the bed, thankful for at least the small comfort her home provided. She fell into a restless sleep.

Today was one of her easier days - she got to go in early and work at the catering company's restaurant instead of staffing a late night event. She purposely took the train and bus so that she could walk by the water on her commute. She loved to see the waves splashing onto the rock seawall, and it was one of the few things that gave her some comfort in her lonely world. When she had a rare chance, she would stop here day or night to watch the ceaseless movement of the waves. The night had a special charm, when the city lights glinted off the water and she was almost hypnotized imagining the unseeable depths of the dark waves. But today it was early evening, and she needed to move on to be at work on time. She caught the bus as usual. The still heat in the city seemed oppressive, making everyone sweat on the unairconditioned bus. She managed to crack a window that stubbornly allowed in a languid breeze from outside. She looked up at the power lines - they were covered with blackbirds. There were so many, they seemed to be weighing down the wire so that it might finally succumb and break under their weight. An ominous feeling crept over her, like the birds were some kind of evil omen…

"Benton street! Benton street!" the bus driver yelled, and she realized she was about to miss her stop. She pulled the wire hurriedly and the bus screeched to a halt. The driver grunted in frustration as she left, closing the door and speeding away the second she was on the street.

She trudged on to the restaurant, now visible and cheerful with its lights inviting guests in to dine. She entered through the back door in the alleyway. She stored her things in the locker and quickly tied on her apron.

"Hey Annie," she heard, and noticed the kitchen staff were all gathered around a small television screen perched high on the kitchen wall. "The Joker's taken over the channel 9 news." Everyone watched with rapt attention, as they could see the Joker's goons herding staff away from the anchor desk, leaving the chief anchor there alone. Someone was moving the camera closer to the desk to zoom in. And then there he was, the Joker, appearing from behind the camera and pulling a chair up to the side of the counter opposite the stunned reporter.

"Well hello there, Mike," he said, seating himself as if he was being welcomed onto the show for an interview. The anchor sat stunned and silent.

"I came here today because I have some concerns about lower Gotham," he began. "I think the city needs to leave well enough alone. The mayor and police chief in their cozy offices in upper Gotham, they don't know what's going on down here. They try to enforce their idea of order with extra patrols and I think it's just not good for ordinary citizens, like you," he said with emphasis, bringing his hand up to point at the camera lens and looking straight into it like a deranged politician.

His tone changed, lighter and casual now, turning back to the anchor.

"You know, Mike, I've been studying the city and learning so many interesting things lately. Gotham has a population of nearly 10 million people, and most of them live in lower Gotham. And did you know, he paused and turned again to face the camera, his voice hanging in the air icily, "Did you know, there are over 16 thousand people named Anna in Gotham city? Isn't that… crazy?"

She collapsed into a nearby chair, putting her head into her hands, as everyone in the room turned to look at her.

"That's weird, why would he say that?" someone commented. Everyone seemed to dismiss it, but she remained sitting for some time, the weight of his words crushing the little sense of normalcy she had tried to weave around herself since the events in the ballroom. What did this mean? Was he trying to threaten her? Why? Why would he even spend one moment targeting her? Her mind spun in confusion and a headache began to throb between her temples.

"Uh, Annie, we need some help in the kitchen," a voice shouted. She hastily got up and walked to the sink, helping with the washing, dishes piled high in front of her.

My original ink drop video, sorry about the auto-focus. :)

Additional notes: This is fanfic, so of course I don't own any characters from The Dark Knight (Joker, Batman, etc.). The main female character is original. The plot quickly departs from that of the movie.

#heath ledger!joker #joker fanfiction #Heath Ledger Joker #joker x oc #joker/original female character #The Dark Knight #ledger!joker #joker #the joker #dc joker #heath joker #the dark knight joker #dark knight #ledger joker #fanfic #joker x original character #ledger joker x oc #the joker x oc #joker fanfic

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lightlessons · 7 months ago

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How to Read 108: A Chapter-by-Chapter Death Note Analysis

Hello everyone!! Welcome to my revived Death Note blog. I recently had the opportunity to rewatch the anime (twice) and fell back into my old obsession, so I thought I’d re-read the manga with a more critical eye and share some of my own thoughts as I go for anyone craving more meta and analysis from one of my favorite pieces of media ever.

Mainly I will concentrate myself on analyzing dialogue, narration techniques and characterization, since that’s what I mainly take note of when I consume anything, but I will also try my hand at doing some research on contextual information and artistic choices, dividing my analysis chapter by chapter. Something to keep in mind is that this analysis is fully made for people who have completed the manga in its entirety and will be riddled with spoilers for further chapters. Sometimes I will break down a chapter analysis into two parts, like in the present case.

Without further ado, let’s go!

Chapter 1: Boredom. Lilith’s Breakdown. Part 1

Key takeaways:

Themes and Parallels: Ryuk and Light

The main antagonistic forces in the story.

Themes and Parallels: Ryuk and Light

We begin our story and the very first thing we are presented with is a parallel between two worlds: The Realm of the Shinigami and our own Human world. Through the juxtaposed dialogues of our initial characters, this exposition directly links their character motivation and narrative arcs. They have a common problem: Their worlds are rotting, and every day seems like and endless, tired routine for them both.

It’s interesting to note the artistic choices to depict this sense of forlornness. We have to keep in mind that Death Note is a Shonen and aimed at young boys from ages 12 to 18, so what better scenario to mirror a dour fictional realm than a packed middle of the day class where all kids wear the same uniform and very few, in any, seem to have any interest on what’s going on in front of them. If you look very closely to all the students in this picture, none of them are actually looking towards whoever is giving this lecture, in the same way that Shinigami are not interested in doing their task.

Light and Ryuk are both non-conformists in their respective realities. Creatures who stand out from the crowd and who, by their acute awareness of what’s wrong in their world, feel boredom more deeply and painfully than the rest. Ryuk is not a shining being of intelligence like Light is, but we will see throughout the story that he’s a pretty self-aware and insightful Shinigami, when compared to every other that we meet.

Ryuk as a choric narrator

In classical Japanese Noh Theater, there is a figure called the jiutai (地謡), sitting at the outskirts of the main plot happening on center stage, they serve as the chorus that helps narrate parts of the story, reveal inner thoughts and emotions of characters, and offer reflections of the unfolding events, much like the classical Chorus in a Greek Tragedy. They, however, do not affect the narrative and serve more as a mediating connection between play and audience.

Although Ryuk’s role is certainly not confined to a mere commentator, seeing as he is the one who instigates the main narrative (and eventually ends it), Ryuk’s status of not only a God, but an apathetic one who is barely physically or emotionally affected by the events of the story, gives him a role above and separate from any of the other characters’.

Clad in skin-tight dark bodysuit meant to highlight his monstruous, lifeless appearance, gothic accessories consisting on spikes, chains and skulls, black, tattered wings and feather accents, Ryuk immediately gives the appearance of a preternatural, terrible bird of death. However, the face paint-like make-up, unmovable grin and feathers reminiscent of a medieval suit also give the impression of a clown or a jester, which Obata, Death Note’s artist, will expertly use to his advantage depending on the role Ryuk will take on at each present moment.

This is Ryuk’s dual nature in the narrative: he is there as an ironic chorus, laughing at every tragedy and obstacle the characters and the world faces, providing comic relief, and breaking the tension in a rather grim and suspenseful story, but he is also there as the Grim Reaper, a constant reminder of the destiny that looms over every character, and specially our main character, for as he first states it:

Ryuk may not have chosen Light, and Light is anything but a man without agency, and yet the series often makes you question how much of Light’s fate was set in stone since the start (We will analyze this tension between chance and destiny through the story) Ryuk, the dark figure literally hovering over Light during his whole time as Kira, emotionally detached from the human drama around him, will often be used to remind us of the irony of this whole story, as well as of the inevitability of death every human has to face.

Which brings me to my next point.

The Antagonistic Forces: L and Light.

There are few instances in Death Note where an extradiegetic narrator appears in the story, so let’s examine this first moment. Immediately after the opening scene in the Shinigami world, when Ryuk makes the first disruption that sets forward the story’s events, the following narrative is introduced as an all-out battle between two chosen people.

Now, with our understanding of what befalls one half of this pair, we will examine how well this premise holds as the story unfolds. For now, however, the narrative presents itself as a man-versus-man conflict between the 選ばれし者 (The Two Chosen Ones), and yet again we are compelled to question the role of fate's hand in shaping their paths.

We could interpret 選ばれし者 in two ways: one tells me that Light and L are two extraordinary individuals whose abilities led them through a certain path since the moment Ryuk dropped the Death Note. However, the use of the word “chosen” invites deeper questions. Chosen by whom? Was their all-out battle an inevitable consequence of their existence—fated from the start? Does a cosmic force guide the events of this world, or were they chosen specifically for this conflict? Alternatively, does the concept of a “Chosen One” imply that they would have remained special, even if the notebook had never entered their lives?

I did some research both online and with Japanese-speaking friends and the consensus seems to be that the phrase carries a dual interpretation to it, suggesting both fate and merit when used in literature. At the same time, the archaic grammar し in 選ばれし gives the phrase a poetic or elevated tone, which strongly suggests a higher, almost divine selection to a first-time reader.

That external narration, and this first panel are all the hints we have about the other half of the "two chosen people" in this first chapter. A man working from the shadows gathering information from the world’s largest international police organization, his identity hidden even from us as readers by obscuring his eyes, exhibiting a weird-ass floor computer set-up for some reason. He’s lean, he’s black-haired. He’s mysterious. As a first impression, you’d probably expect a cool Byronic type of anti-hero. Brooding yet charming, dark and isolated yet wretchedly attractive, with a troubled past, but good intentions at heart. Well! In the following chapters we will see how both L and Light continue to fulfill or challenge our expectations and examine how well L fits the shoes of our protagonist’s antagonist force.

Next up! Chapter 1: Boredom. Lilith’s Breakdown. Part 2

3. Establishing the protagonist:

Light and expectations

Light’s resignation

Light’s cognitive dissonance

Thanks for reading! I would love to hear your own thoughts.

#death note #death note meta #ryuk #l lawliet #death note manga #my meta

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madelynraemunson · 2 years ago

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CALL ME WHAT YOU WANT 𓆩♡𓆪

(Book 1 of the Hellfire Gentlemen's Club)

(strip club owner!eddie x fem!exotic dancer!hargrove! reader)

𝐌𝐎𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐍 𝐀𝐔 18+ MINORS DNI

006: The Eddie Special

Rent is paid, food is on the table, and Max finally has a YMCA membership! All because of you. But just when you think you've got your two lives under control, Robin and Vicky show up to Hellfire for date night — and see you dancing center stage.

* = somewhat smut

** = smut

↳ chapters: 001, 002*, 003** , 004**, 005 , 006 , 007* , 008**, 009, 010, 011, 012* , 013**, 014**, 015, 016**, 017, 018, 019, 020*

word count: 5.2k words

warnings — eddie being an asshole again but also very sweet, mutual pining, angst, yearning, profanities, power imbalance, double standards, smoking, alcohol, sexual harassment, health issues/disparities, trauma, pedophilia, incest, name-calling

“A compromise would surely help the situation.”

♡

“Hey, stranger.”

Robin flashes you a “good morning” smile as you’re washing the dishes. Scooting to the side, you continue to scrub as she leans against the sink with her back, munching away at her breakfast sandwich that Vicky had prepped for her the night before.

“Morning,” you grin in return.

“Funny,” she says. “We live under the same roof now but our friendship still feels long distance.”

“Sorry… ” you frown. “Work’s just been a lot.”

So is living a double life. To shake off the guilt that constantly gnawed at you, you dry your hands and proceed to make yourself some coffee. When you scan the fridge, the only creamer you can get your hands on is...

Hazelnut. Just your luck.

There’s a tinge in your chest as you dunk it into your mug. You stir aggressively. Robin notices how tense you are and walks over to you.

“Don’t be so hard on yourself, my guy,” she says as she pats you on the back. “Healthcare is tough. I dated a travel nurse once and that poor woman had back problems for days.”

“Such a physically and emotionally taxing job,” Vicky adds as she emerges from their room. “I don’t know how you do it, Hargrove.”

“Good morning, baby.”

“Good morning, sweetheart.”

Smooch.

You chuckle to yourself as you sip your Eddie-coded coffee.

“Yeah. I don't know how I do it either…”

The wooden stairs creek and crack as a pair of Vans stomp against them. Max is awake. This morning is an exciting one. After many, many overtime shifts at Hellfire, you've accumulated enough tip money to pay for Max's membership for 12 months. On top of that, rent had already been paid so you had a hefty cushion leftover for leisurely expenses.

You can hardly contain yourself. Seeing the surprised look on your sister's face is sure to be the highlight of your morning.

Max stares at you in shock when she sees you in the kitchen.

“Whoa,” she says. “She’s awake.”

You only ever see Max in passing when she comes home from the skate park. And that's right when you leave for work. From what she tells you she hasn't made many friends, but her main priorities right now are her hobbies and preparing herself for college classes in the Fall. Sometimes Max will tag along with Robin and Vicky to run errands, but you can tell she misses spending time with, and seeing, her sister.

“Shocker, right?” you sigh. “Thought I'd catch you before you head out.”

With your hands behind your back, you stride over to Max to give her her well-earned gift.

“What’s this?” she wonders.

“Your ticket to the Y,” you explain. “A band and a quarter, should last you a year.”

"Whoa!" Vicky exclaims.

"Holy shit! Look at that!" Robin cheers.

Max's eyes widen as she takes the money from you. “ $1200?! What bank did you have to rob to get $1200?”

“No bank,” you shake your head as Max counts all of the Benjamins. “Just the pockets of old, retired folk.”

You grin from ear to ear as you watch Max get bombarded with hugs that she is reluctant to accept, but does regardless. Vicky and Robin hoot and holler and squeal and cheer, reaffirming to Max that she deserves it the most.

“You’re really giving the elderly a run for their money,” Max says as the celebration comes to an end.

You watch in amusement as Vicky and Robin take turns counting Max's money.

“Yeah well it’s the least they can do for me,” you sigh. “My body feels like it’s aged 10 years.”

Max excuses herself from your roommates and throws herself onto you this time. You do your best not to cry. You've really missed her hugs.

“Thank you,” she says. “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”

Seeing how happy your sister is makes all your struggles worth it. Anything for Maxine.

———— 🔥 ————

“I don’t know who you think I am, but I don’t really give a damn right now.”

The past couple of weeks at Hellfire have been nothing short of awkward.

Eddie only really comes to you when he needs something, which — now that you've taken off those rose-tinted glasses — pretty much fits the bill of who he is as a person.

But he still lingers. For example, when you and Chrissy go on breaks together, there is always something for Eddie to do in close proximity. Table needs wiping? Eddie is there. Aisle needs sweeping? Mike, go help in the back. When you're dancing on customers, Eddie comes out from doing paperwork in his den to greet the regulars. And whenever you would turn to look at what Eddie’s doing, his gaze is already fixed on you and what you’re doing.

Like cat and mouse. But of course, he does it with all his dancers. Right?

A part of you wants to confront Eddie and his behavior, but before you even can he's out the back door to go on a "smoke break" with Argyle after closing, which usually is a short jump to him leaving. So you try to act unbothered by it by staying just a while longer with Henry… just in case he does come back.

But Henry puts you to work when you stay. He typically has you make sure all doors are locked, all chairs are stacked, and that any stray garbage is thrown away. You two play music while you work alongside one another, talking shit about customers and about how every day is starting to look the same.

You’re aware of how you openly contradict yourself, saying the days all bleed into one another and how you miss your bed. Yet you’re still at Hellfire. Way past closing time. Henry for sure has caught on to your odd behavior, but he doesn’t seem to mind because he enjoys your company.

It’s like clockwork now, this ritual-slash-routine.

Today is different for some reason.

"Hey!" Eddie calls out. “Shy Girl!”

You’re alone eating in an isolated part of VECNA’S LAIR when Boss Man makes his way over to you.

You’re frozen in your spot as he approaches you…willingly. Although you could care a lot less about his presence, the gesture still causes you to sit up a little straighter and blot-dry any remnants of your food with your napkin.

Eddie sets down new laminated prints of his menu in front of you. Plop.

"New item on the menu,” he gloats, very amused with himself. “Waffle fries. What do you think?"

Annoyed, you huff.

"Sure."

Two weeks of barely uttering a sentence to one another. Two weeks of avoiding eye contact and possibly one ‘excuse me’. Two weeks of being a background character in Eddie’s life and his icy shoulder making sure you knew it.

Now you’re more than an extra today. Because today Eddie decides you’re something of value, and that just for today your input actually matters. It's pathetic. It all makes Steve and Nancy look like best friends.

Your eyes travel to his firm hands. His silver rings. You hate to admit that you miss how they felt against your skin, especially since your skin seemingly isn't the only one he grazes. I do this with all my dancers. Your hands ball into fists. How can someone be so okay with using someone the way Eddie did with you?

"So we'll do regular waffle fries and the crinkle cuts will be our sweet potato fries from now on,” he explains.

“Mhm.”

“And eventually,” Eddie booms dramatically. “We’ll introduce the concept of different types of fries. Cajun fries, cheese fries, chili cheese fries. Then we'll introduce new cuts like curly fries... wedges..."

Not a word from you.

"Then we’ll do animal style fries like how you Californians do it at In-N-Out. I’ll call it ‘The Eddie Special’. It’ll be amazing!”

"You call the shots, Eddie."

Like he always does.

Eddie finally gets the message. You watch as his shoulders droop as he surrenders.

"Are you okay?" he dares to ask perplexedly.

"Never better!" you exclaim.

You grab your finished meal and dart past him, not even bothering to pardon yourself when your shoulders brush his slightly. You hear Eddie exhale, super displeased as the taps he makes on the table with his fingers render themselves fast and impatient.

“You don’t wanna stay and chat?” your superior demands sharply.

“I have to clock back in,” you answer coldly. “Sorry.”

“K then,” Eddie quietly mutters, returning the energy.

You try to look busy, so you pull out your phone and pretend to check something. Luckily, a text message from Robin pops up for you to reply to.

ROBIN BUCKLEY ☀️🤍

Date night with Vicky tonight. Breakfast/lunch/dinner waiting for you in the fridge when you get home 😁

You smile.

You da bestest 🩷 thank u

Buzz.

ROBIN BUCKLEY ☀️🤍 loved “You da bestest 🩷 thank u”

“Hey, Hargrove?” Eddie calls out to you.

His voice sounds a lot softer and apologetic. With the optimism that your tactic worked, you spin around to face Eddie with eager eyes. Maybe today is the day things go back to normal again.

“Hm?”

“No going on your phone when you’re clocked in, k?”

A blow to the chest. Bitter and agitated, you shove your phone into the back pocket of your booty shorts. Yes sir, you mutter to yourself mentally.

After thanking you, Eddie struts to the kitchen, using his own phone to pull up Dio on Spotify. He and Argyle like to head-bang and fuck around in the kitchen when they’re together. Messing around is only okay if Eddie does it, you assume.

To make matters worse, Eddie then proceeds to use his stupid phone to send someone a text. You scoff at the irony. Fucking prick.

Another trigger of yours? Power imbalance and double standards.

Attempting to be drama-free, you ironically make your way over to Steve and Jonathan, who are posted up at POTIONS.

“Hey Shy Girl,” Jonathan nods.

"Hey Johnny," you greet him.

You turn to the literal love of your life.

“Sup, Steve.”

"Hey, Hargrove," Steve nods. "How'd you do on tips last night?"

"Stellar," you answer. "Fucking love Fridays."

You and Steve are still casually hooking up. But just as you predicted, things aren’t quite the same. The problem this week is that Steve is struggling to finish, and you start to feel discouraged and insecure when he softens up inside of you.

Steve always used to finish. Now when you look up at him his gaze is fixed on something else, his strokes are less enthusiastic, and he mistaked one of your kinks for someone else’s once. But you pretend not to notice. A part of you even feels like you deserve it.

Steve is struggling with the eye contact today. You kick at the floor, trying to find a way to make your presence relevant in this corner of Hellfire. Knowing very well what you’re doing, Steve holds up a French fry from his red picnic tray as a supportive gesture.

"Would you like some?"

You beam at him and open your mouth so he can feed you. Steve obliges.

“Thanks boo,” you say to him as you chew.

He blushes. “Welcome.”

“You guys are cute,” Jonathan smiles as he wipes his hands with a hand towel. “I gotta run to the restroom, you mind watching the bar for a bit, Hargrove?”

“Not at all,” you oblige. “I’ll be here. Eating Steve’s fries.”

“Great,” Jonathan says, excusing himself. Then he halts. “Oh! If you open the register, Eddie has something for you underneath. Code is 0-1-1.”

Eddie has something…for you?

You turn to Steve and he just shrugs. As if it weren’t already obvious, you and Eddie weren’t exactly on friendly terms. What could that man possibly have for you?

It’s a termination notice, you can feel it. Bracing yourself for the absolute worst, you punch the code in.

0 - 1 - 1.

CHA-CHING! The register pops open. You lift the till that housed the cash and coins to unveil a pile of cash joined together by a small paper clip. There is a tiny note that was written onto a ripped piece of paper.

You pick it up. This couldn’t be for you, you think. But the sloppy handwriting with a partially bleeding pen says otherwise.

‘Hargrove: $600 — YMCA MONEY’

----- ❤️‍🩹 -----

“She the devil, she a bad lil bitch, she a rebel.”

Tonight you’re doing private dances with customers and also doing tip rail. But you wish you were just doing tip rail 'cause tonight’s clients were ballsy.

One patron said you look like his daughter. But it’s okay because ‘she’s married and out of the house’. Another said you look like one of his students. But it's totally okay because he teaches at the community college, therefore almost every pupil there is ‘at least 18’. It still doesn’t make it any better. All you could think about is your 18 year old baby sister — someone’s daughter and someone’s someone — someone who will also be walking the halls of Hawkins Community College later this month.

This customer, however, takes the cake. After guiding his hand away multiple times during the lap dance, he always manages to find the straps of your bra again. Upon strike three, you lose all patience.

“Yo, can you not do that?” you hiss, your inner Cali dude coming out to play. “I moved your hand away many times.”

The man is almost appalled. “It’s a strip club, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, but I strip on my terms.”

"I paid for your services," he spat. "So I'm sure I get to do what I want, hoe."

“Don’t call me that!”

“I'll call you what I want,” the customer insists. “It’s what you are anyways if you’re in this job right?”

He takes out another dollar and tucks it into one of your cups. You could only stare in shock. The audacity of this guy.

“Here,” he says degradingly. “Looks like you really need it. Now let me see those tits. Please.”

Anger consumes you. Whatever amount of the Neutral Wolf you had left in you has now melted away. The Big Bad Wolf is taking over now. You give the man a shove, hoisting yourself off his disgusting body.

"What the FUCK is your deal, bruh?" you bark, a piece of Billy coming out of you more than you intended. "You want a piece of me that badly, don't you?"

Your words cause a scene in the surrounding area. Not even phased by it, the patron decides to push you further.

“Easy, easy,” he rolls his eyes. “If it’s that much of an issue I’ll just take my money back.”

He yanks the dollar back from out of your bra. His knuckles just grazed your tits.

“What kinda strip club is this anyways? Theme is janky as fuck. The STRIPPERS don’t even strip. They’re RUDE, and they’re butt ugly. The owner should be ashamed. Oh and by the looks of it, you don’t have much tits to work with after all.”

“Pull up your shirt,” you quip. “I think I found ‘em.”

This poor man. He didn't know you're a Hargrove.

And soon you’re throwing shit. His money. Your shoes. Every curse word in the dictionary, both traditional and urban with the exception of a few. You’re seeing all red now, and you’re pretty sure if no one stopped you, you’d have ripped the guy’s head off.

“If I don’t have tits, why you trying to get at me?” you roar. “You like little boys or something, bitch?!”

“HENRY!” Eddie shouts.

You turn in the direction of Eddie’s voice. He had been watching. Through your furious, free-falling tears, you can see in his dark eyes, closed fists, and flared nostrils that he is angry as well.

“On it, boss!” Henry shouts as he scampers on over. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing, asshole?”

The friendly bouncer swoops you off to the side and asserts himself between you both. Lucky for the guy, no dislocated limbs were in the cards today. All it took was another person with a penis to get this fool to back down. He tries to reason with Henry but it’s far too late. Henry’s already pushing him towards the door.

“I’ll be coming BACK to have my way with you,” the beast growls and spits. “Fucking SKANK!”

“I HOPE THE FUCK YOU DO, MOTHERFUCKER!” you challenge him. "I'll be right here waiting!”

A calloused hand lands on your lower back. Thinking it’s another customer, you turn aggressively, fist winded up. As quickly as you lunge, a large palm catches it mid-air.

It’s Eddie.

Worry washes over your boss’s face when you two lock eyes for the first time. After what seemed like an eternity. He looks at you with the utmost concern. You almost see a tear glistening in his eye. A portion of his hair falls over his face in attempts to conceal it.

"Are you okay?" Eddie asks again, genuinely.

You nod, gulping.

You aren't okay, that's the thing. Not when Eddie looks like that. And not when he's looking at you, like that. Suddenly, Hellfire melts away and you're back in his van, fighting back every urge to fall into him and his musky, pine aroma infused with nicotine, weed, and beer. Just like home. Eddie feels like home.

Papers beat rock. Slowly, Eddie lowers your fist with the palm he had draped over you. The pulsing music and blinding strobe lights trickle back into your system.

"It's okay if you aren't..." Eddie starts. “You know... alright.”

"Eddie," you stop him. "Please. I'm alright."

“That was a lot.”

“But it's nothing new to me.”

He studies you. Doesn’t speak for a while.

“It's true!” you insist, attempting to diffuse Eddie's concern. “It kinda reminded me of the frat parties in San Diego I used to go to. You know what I’m saying?”

You try to laugh. But Eddie doesn’t. Henry and some dancers come to check up on you, especially Chrissy, to ask if you're okay. They even try to start a petition to jump the guy. You repeat the very thing you've been saying since it happened — yes, you are okay — and thank them for their concern. Then it's back to you and Eddie the moment they all disperse.

"Want a break?" he offers.

You shake your head. Dancing it off would help more, actually. And besides, if his offer is just another attempt to get you alone in his car and fire you up only to extinguish it all again in one sitting, you'll pass.

"Wanna go on stage now then? Get a break from individual dances?"

You smile and nod. "I'd love that."

The night can only get better from here. Eddie offers you his hand and helps to hoist you onto the stage. The DJ announces your name, and you’re back in business, putting on your million dollar smile and batting your seductive, little lashes.

Your song comes on and you start to shake your ass. Lost in the trance of the song, you become one with the pole, climbing it and gliding along it, twirling from it, and hovering with it, twerking and spreading your legs whenever you saw fit. The audience revels in it.

It all feels so good. Yes you are being provocative, everybody and your brother's worst nightmare -- but you're the one in control. No one can ever take your body autonomy away from you. Never again. Not anymore.

You do a death drop to the floor and quickly ease into your splits. The crowd goes wild as you roll your hips to the song, allowing yourself to get showered by the dollar bills that were raining down on you like a storm.

To thank everyone for their overwhelming support, you spin yourself around to face the crowd. But your heart nearly stops.

“Oh my god,” you gasp aloud.

Nothing could ever prepare you for what... or who rather... you see in front of you.

“Oh…my god,” Robin repeats, face sheet-white like a ghost.

Vicky is right beside her with the same shock on her face. Of course, your roommates have acknowledged this place before, so it wouldn't be a surprise that they eventually made this place their date night.

Your mind short-fuses and all you can do is crawl away backwards. Luckily, no one in the crowd seems to suspect how thrown off you just became. Your body quickly calls on another dancer as your mind races. And soon Emmy is taking your spot at the tip rail.

You look over at Eddie, who was in the corner leaning against the wall, but now he is standing upright and confused. Throwing on your cloak, you thank everyone for coming out and run out to the back alley.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit," you mutter to yourself, as your heels click against the cold floor. Your cover is blown. What do you do now? "That's what you get for working local, Hargrove."

You find an area in the alley to rest and hit your dab pen ferociously. As you pace back and forth, you start to develop your exit plan. Nothing new, you develop these plans all the time.

Eventually Robin and Vicky find you. Clumsily spilling out the back door comes Thing 1 and Thing 2, assessing your body language and emotional well-being before finding the right words to say. It’s uncomfortable for everybody.

“Well this is quite the nursing home,” Robin remarks.

“Babe!”

“What?!” Robin exclaims. “I’m trying to lighten the mood.”

“Yeah but that can kinda come off as witty and sarcastic.”

“Well I don’t mean for it to.”

“Just because you don’t mean for it to, doesn’t mean it won’t come across that way.”

“Well knowing Hargrove I would hope she knows it’s not meant to come across that way.”

“GUYS!” your overstimulated self shouts.

All is quiet on midwestern front. Vicky and Robin switch between looking at you and back down at the ground while you resume your stress-filled nic break.

Finally, you speak after exhaling.

“So how’s everyone’s niiight?”

Robin gets straight to the point. “Why didn’t you tell us you work here?”

“I was protecting Max.”

“From what?” Robin wonders. “Ass and boobies? Extensions and falsies and freakishly high, high heels?”

“Doesn’t sound like nightmare fuel to us,” Vicky shrugs.

“It is when you consider the women Billy’s brought home.”

“What does Billy have to do with any of this?” asks Vicky.

“A lot, actually,” you answer.

You shove your pen back into your cloak pocket.

“Look,” you say. “I really needed the money. And I needed it fast. With my server and dancing background, I figured being a stripper was the best way to make it. And I was right. It’s quick money, but it’s sure as hell not easy. It’s draining for the most part, but—”

You stomp at the ground in frustration.

“My sister is fed and she can go to the Y and go to school and she’s away from Billy anditsallthatI’veeverwantedokay? That’s why I did it.”

“Okay, but I don’t see the point in coming up with this elaborate story that you work nights at a nursing home,” Vicky squints in thought. “Come on Hargrove, we are the least judgmental house in the boonies. I mean look at us.”

“Art Hoe Lesbians in a red state,” Robin points out. “I’m sure exotic dancer is a very mild offense.”

They did have a point. And it's not like Max is the type to slut-shame either. But you wanted Max to live as normal of a life as possible. Having a stripper sister also didn’t seem like the best conversation starter in Hawkins.

"I guess I'm just used to living a lie," you admit exhaustedly. "And running away... I also know Max would be worried sick for me."

"You only live lies if you tell 'em," Robin points out. "But as long as you're here with us, you're free to be your true and authentic self."

"Your job right now is to provide," Vicky adds. "And you're doing a wonderful job."

You beam. "Yeah?"

They both nod, yes. Sometimes you forgot what a support system is like. It always used to be everyone for themselves.

"Thanks guys."

"You're welcome," Vicky grins. "For now we'll keep our lips locked. We did not see anything."

"But you are going to have to tell Max eventually," Robin scorns.

"I know," you sigh. "I appreciate the stall."

The three of you hug. That's another thing you've been needing these past few weeks. A warm, authentic hug.

"Nice ass by the way," Robin compliments you.

"And tits," Vicky adds.

"Thanks."

———- ❤️ ———-

“I’ll kindly take you up on that Eddie Special, please,” you mumble.

Eddie had last-called everyone 15 minutes ago, but deep down you hope he had enough room in his heart for you. It’s been a dumpster fire of a shift.

Sure enough Eddie caves, judging by the way he starts up the fryer again after having shut it down right before you got to him.

He grins warmly. “Coming right up.”

As the fryer starts to bubble, Eddie loads in the last of the crinkle cuts. He waits close by with crossed arms.

Eddie’s first to break the silence.

“You seemed to know those customers,” he comments, referring to Vicky and Robin. “Judging by how fast you ran from them. In pumps too.”

“They’re my roommates,” you reply. “My best friend and her partner. They didn’t know I work here.”

He raises the eyebrow at ‘best friend’. “Even they didn’t know you work here?”

“I don’t know what they’d do with this information,” you utter defensively. “I guess it’s just hard for me to trust people.”

“Is it really, Miss Flight Risk?”

He’s referring to moving in with a girl you met online. You shoot him a look. The “I-didn’t-really-have-any-other-choice” look. He quickly digresses.

“I’m kidding,” he surrenders. “Okay? I understand that there are some things you gotta keep secret.” Eddie wriggles the basket full of fries around in the fryer. “…Even from your loved ones.”

Something tells you he speaks from experience. You shrug it off, ensuring he’d elaborate if he wanted to eventually.

Meanwhile you just decide to hit him with some small talk.

"How’s Chef Lucas been doing back here?"

"Fine and dandy," Eddie breathes. "For the most part. He burnt some things a couple of days ago, but that's part of being an apprentice, right?"

"Totally,” you nod. “Mistakes are bound to happen."

"Ohhh yeah," Eddie mutters, almost to himself. "Lots and lots…of mistakes."

"Trial and error, if you will,” you pitch in.

"Yup,” he draws on. “Seeing what works and what doesn’t. Testing the waters..."

Your eyes meet again. Briefly at least.

Eddie struggles to hold his gaze and instead resorts to clumsily playing around with a cloth nearby while whistling a tune. You can feel it getting awkward again so you find a way to keep the conversation going.

“Thank you for being there,” you attempt. “And helping out with my sister’s membership. You didn’t have to.”

“But I wanted to,” Eddie insists. His back is towards you so you can't read his expression. “You’ve been working very hard.”

“That’s why you don’t have to,” you say as-a-matter-of-factly. “It’s already paid off.”

Eddie chuckles. “Okay, then use it to buy yourself something nice. You deserve it.”

A hoot sounds from the opposite end of the hall. It’s Henry making his way over with some keys.

“Alright Babyboy, I’m out,” he announces. “I can lock up if you’d like? Not like I have anything to do.”

“I can take it from here,” Eddie insists. “Sweet dreams, Mr. Creel.”

Henry makes his way over, narrowing his eyes.

“Thought you normally go see Wayne after this.”

“I do,” Eddie replies. “But he had company earlier and I’m sure he already put himself to bed by now. I’ll stop by for breakfast.”

Henry’s eyes shift between you and Eddie. There’s a small smirk but he tries to conceal it. You’re staying late again, huh?

“Your words not mine,” Henry says. “Goodnight you two.”

You both bid Henry goodbye and he sees himself out. Eddie proceeds his periodic check-ins with your taters.

"You've uh, been appointing Henry a lot," you point out.

"Hell yeah, like clockwork," Eddie shrugs. "This industry is predator central. Just hate when dickheads think they can disrespect my girls. I don’t play that way.”

My girls.

“Not his first time doing shit like that,” Eddie adds, referring to the customer. “I regret giving him another chance. I should just get Henry or Jim to print a picture of his face and plaster it all over the walls. DON'T LET THIS ASSHOLE IN.”

You laugh. Eddie laughs at your laugh and then goes to melt the cheese for your dish.

“Yeah,” you say. “You give a man another chance and all he does disappoint you.”

Eddie sighs and nods timidly. “Yeah… Men ain’t shit huh?”

It falls silent for a bit. Eddie slowly stirs the melted cheese concoction he had going on in his pot while eyeing the time. You fiddle around with your cloak out of habit. Eddie speaks first again.

“You know what Shy Girl, I’m gonna do it,” he says. “Gonna broadcast his face and I’ll have you sign off on it.”

“Really?” you say.

“Of course,” Eddie shrugs. “You know how I am. I don’t play when it comes to you.”

The rasp in his voice sounds like melted butter. For a fraction of a second, you start to wonder what you were even mad about earlier.

You really missed talking and bantering with Eddie. Aside from whatever the hell was going on between you both, his companionship was not something you felt was fake.

Eddie begins mixing some sauces, and when he's done he hands you what you assume is your tips that you forgot to collect. You know, when you bolted off the stage.

"Already tipped everyone else out," he explains. "Rest is yours to keep."

You thank him and count all your bills. Now you have $600 of reallocated YMCA money and tips from tonight to pay off your bills and splurge.

You haven't had this much money since your waitressing job. You are forever grateful.

“Is there...anything I owe you Eddie?” you question. “Like at all? You’ve done a lot for me lately.”

“Ehhh you’re in the clear, I guess,” Eddie sheepishly smirks. “Lucky for you I’m a sucker for flattery.”

The fries are now cooked to a golden crisp and Eddie adds the components needed for The Eddie Special. He spends a decent amount of time to perfect the presentation before sitting down in front of you. In true Eddie fashion, he takes a bite of his own creation.

"HOT," he comments, trying to blow on the fry that's already in his mouth. "Hot, hot, hot. Fresh out the fryer."

Judging by his face, however, he approves. You can’t help but giggle over and over again. He gestures for you to try some.

It’s love at first bite.

"Mhm," you coo. "Thank you, Eddie."

"You're welcome," Eddie says. He grabs a washcloth to clean up the area. “Now… when you’re finished, how about I treat you to a real dinner?”

-------

author’s note: school has been taking over my life but i’m so glad i got to crank out this chapter for you guys 🖤 i’m excited to see how y’all are gonna react to shy girl’s orientation dinner…. 👀

tag list: @changemunson , @the-fairy-anon , @ali-r3n , @corrodedcoffincumslut , @bebe07011 , @mmunson86 , @eddiesguitarskills , @chelebelletx , @imonhereforareasonsadly , @eddies-trailer-babe @hideoutside , @motherfckerrr , @jxpsi , @munson-magic , @lindseyj23 , @sidthedollface2 , @manda-panda-monium , @elvendria , @micheledawn1975 , @hereforshmut , @siriuslysmoking , @nymphetkoo , @m-chmcl-rmnc , @holabeans00

#Spotify #eddie munson #joseph quinn #stranger things #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson fanfiction #joe quinn #stranger things 5 #Eddie #Eddie x reader #reader x Eddie #stranger things fanfiction #stranger things fanfic #hellfire club

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natkittytt · 6 days ago

Text

carpe diem ᝰ.ᐟ

"normally, it wouldn’t matter what classes they got, because normally they would be going to school with the same classmates they had been with since pre-k. this year, however, the two gifted friends were given the opportunity of a lifetime."

next chapter | table of contents

chapter details ᝰ.ᐟ

word count: 4008 content: introduction, introduce main character's best friend, start new prepratory school, start new classes, meet members of dead poet's society

ᝰ.ᐟ

if she had ran any faster, she would have tripped over her own feet. the sound of her combat boots sounded against the pavement with every step.

thank god it hasn’t rained recently she thought to herself. she would have been covered in mud if it had. soon she reached her destination. she climbed up the steps that led to the door, skipping every other one. she pounded on the door then stood back to wait anxiously.

the door flung open almost immediately. standing there was a girl, face beaming.

“what took you so long, hazel?” the girl in the doorway pestered, but her smile revealed that she wasn’t mad in the slightest.

“piss off,” hazel glared at her friend as she pushed her way inside, “i practically sprinted here.”

hazel took off her shoes, placing them nicely at the door. she walked into her friend’s house to the kitchen.

“hello hazel!” an older woman’s voice sounded from the kitchen, “its nice to see you. samantha has been so antsy all day waiting for you.”

hazel turned to glare at her friend. “oh have you, sam?”

samantha’s smile quickly turned into a fit of uncontrollable laughter as the pair sat down at the kitchen counter.

“want some cookies?” the older woman didn’t wait for an answer as she set down a tray of cookies.

samantha’s mother left the kitchen to tend to some other chores and the pair sat in comfortable silence eating the cookies.

“are you excited? nervous?” sam asked

“a little bit of both.”

the silence returned as the two anxiously sat waiting for the other to propose what they both were so desperate to talk about.

hazel, of course, was the one to speak up, “did you open your letter yet or did you wait for me like you promised?”

samantha put an unopened letter on the table as a response before saying, “don’t worry i’m a good girl.”

hazel glared at samantha, who grinned back. hazel pulled an identical envelope out of her bag and placed it on the table. she looked over at her friend for confirmation, and sam nodded her head. the pair began to nervously tear into their envelopes, taking a look at the paper inside.

the papers at hand were school schedules. the two had been waiting all week to get them. normally, it wouldn’t matter what classes they got, because normally they would be going to school with the same classmates they had been with since pre-k.

this year, however, the two gifted friends were given the opportunity of a lifetime. welton, an all boys school, was test-running the idea of females going to prep schools.

the two girls nervously opened up the paper in the envelopes. hazel stared down at her own.

7:30 - 8:10 ; breakfast in dining hall 8:20 - 8:45 ; foundations of art : mz ahman 8:50 - 9:30 ; english literature : professor keating (morning break) 9:50 - 10:30 ; digital electronics : mr irving (morning break) 11:00 - 11:40 ; physics : mr. allard 11:45 - 12:25 ; calculus : professor redmare 12:30 - 1:10 ; lunch in dining hall (afternoon break) 3:30 - 3:55 ; music theory : mr raven 4:00 - 4:40 ; art history : mz preir 4:45 - 5:25 ; latin : professor lilius (evening break) 6:40 - 7:20 ; dinner in dining hall (night break) 10:30 ; students return to dorms

“oh god,” samantha groaned, “i have philosophy first period”

hazel grinned at her friends predicament. the pair swapped papers to compare schedules. samantha’s was as follows:

7:30 - 8:10 ; breakfast in dining hall 8:20 - 8:45 ; philosophy : professor belou 8:50 - 9:30 ; english literature : professor keating (morning break) 10:35 - 10:55 ; recreational class : coach hugh 11:00 - 11:40 ; geography : mr. whitehall 11:45 - 12:25 ; calculus : professor redmare 12:30 - 1:10 ; lunch in dining hall (afternoon break) 3:30 - 3:55 ; photography : professor woodwren 4:00 - 4:40 ; biology : mr. allard 4:45 - 5:25 ; latin : professor lilus (evening break) 6:40 - 7:20 ; dinner in dining hall (night break) 10:30 ; students return to dorms

“we have english, calculus, latin, and the first 20 minutes of morning free time together,” hazel observed.

“that’s it?” sam sounded livid.

“oh sam, you’ll live without me.”

ᝰ.ᐟ

hazel picked at the dead skin on her lip. unconsciously; it was a bad habit of hers. by the time she caught on that she was doing it, it was too late and her lip was bleeding. the young girl wiped the blood away and tried to focus on the landscape outside. this proved little success. her mind was racing with thoughts and worries.

“we’re about five minutes, hazel,” her father said, “get your things ready.”

hazel blinked a few times to wake herself up from her trance. she closed the sketchbook that was sprawled open on her lap, and placed it in her leather satchel with her other belongings. she let out a big breath that had been stuck in her chest for what seemed like the entire car ride.

after what her dad insisted was only five minutes, they arrived at the large building. to hazel, it looked exactly like hogwarts. her eyes were glued to the top of the large building, lost in a trance, and she hadn’t heard her dad call her name the first time.

“hazel,” he said sternly.

“yeah?” hazel shook herself out of her trance, “sorry i didn’t hear you”

her dad sighed, “help me with your bags, would you?”

hazel apologized and hurried over to where her father stood with her baggage.

ᝰ.ᐟ

“i would like to welcome each and every one of you to our ceremony today.” the old man speaking at the podium seemed a century old.

maybe he is hazel wondered. they had been informed in the many letters that this man, mr. allard, was the headmaster at this prestigious school. one look and anyone could tell that he wasn’t the nice type.

“he looks older than this school,” samantha whispered to hazel, earning a smirk from them both.

“i wouldn't be shocked if he is,” hazel whispered back. she sat back comfortably in her seat, listening to the wrinkly old man go on with his speech.

“this year is a very special year for welton academy. for the first time, welton is accepting females into our schooling program. there are four girls making history here this year. two young ladies in their 6th year, and two older young women in their 11th year.” he paused to look around at the audience before continuing, “boys, I expect you all to be on your best behavior this year. there will be no funny business tolerated.”

samantha leaned over, “well there goes our chance at getting boyfriends.”

hazel glared at her friend, but she found they both had smiles on their faces.

ᝰ.ᐟ

“there’s three hours of my life i’ll never get back” samantha groaned.

what can one person talk about for that long hazel thought to herself. hazel had zoned out for pretty much the entire thing.

the audience all stood up and began to flow out of the auditorium. one by one, each family shook hands with the headmaster and some of the more important professors. hazel and her father got outside and found room for the two of them to say their goodbyes.

“hazel i expect you to be on your absolute best behavior at all times,” her father reprimanded, “there will be no funny business, do you understand?”

“yes sir.”

“i don’t want to have to come up here to speak to you on any matters,” hazel nodded as he continued, “study hard, sleep and eat well. i’ll miss you.”

hazel was pulled into a brief hug and her father waved goodbye. she watched as he walked off to his car, not looking back once. the young girl stood lost in thought for a few minutes before she turned to find her best friend.

when her eyes spotted sam, she began to push through the crowd to get to her. she bumped into a few people, muttering unheard apologies each time.

finally, hazel reached sam. samantha was still talking to her mother and father, so hazel just stood awkwardly behind her friend until she finished saying her goodbyes.

“and you dear,” samantha’s mom was now looking at hazel, “don’t let samantha get into any trouble.”

“mom-”

“oh hush,” she scolded, “i’m sure you and sam will have the time of your lives here. enjoy yourselves and don’t miss me too much!”

hazel smiled. samantha’s mom was like the mom she never had. “thank you. i’ll try not to miss you but the lack of delicious cookies may be too much to handle.”

samantha’s mom laughed and hugged hazel.

“wow hugging hazel before you even hug your own daughter”

“oh hush,” she said, pulling her own daughter in for a hug.

sam’s father hugged both girls as well before the couple headed off to the car.

samantha looked over at hazel and the pair walked up to their room.

ᝰ.ᐟ

samantha flung herself down on her bed, “oh my god that took an eternity.”

hazel glanced over at her. sam looked like she could fall asleep at that very moment. hazel took a few minutes to put away the remainder of her belongings.

“alright time to sleep until tomorrow,” sam groaned and rolled over on her side and pulled an extra pillow into her arms.

hazel hummed in response, a sudden wave of tiredness falling over herself as well.

ᝰ.ᐟ

when she awoke, sam was still out in a deep sleep. hazel looked at the clock on her nightstand. the time read 6:47.

groaning, hazel rolled out of bed. she stood over samantha and shook her shoulder, attempting to wake up the sleeping girl.

“no thank you,” samantha mumbled, half asleep. she rolled over to her other side.

“i’m going to get ready, wake up.”

hazel picked out an outfit and grabbed her bag of bathroom essentials. she walked out of their room and down the hall where the bathrooms were.

since there were only four girls attending welton this year, hazel found she was the only one in the bathroom. she went into a stall and quickly changed. when she came out, she found a tired sam walking down the hall.

she looks like a zombie hazel thought.

“goodmorning, sunshine,” she beamed at the girl. sam only grumbled as a response.

the pair got ready in silence and by the time they were back in their dorm it was twenty after seven. breakfast was served at seven thirty, so the pair decided to make their way down to the dining hall.

ᝰ.ᐟ

“this food actually tastes like food,” sam remarked with a mouth full of food. hazel glared back with a smirk on her face.

“well we don’t go to public school anymore,” hazel shoveled another forkful into her mouth, “they probably have to serve us edible food since we pay to go here.”

sam put her hand over her mouth as she laughed. hazel shook her head as a response.

the two ate in a peaceful silence until it was time to make their way to first period. samantha was in philosophy, hazel in art.

for both of them, it was the most boring 35 minutes of their lives.

ᝰ.ᐟ

hazel walked out of foundations of art, trying to recall a single thing she learned in the last half an hour.

she passed by the classroom that samantha was in for philosophy. she peeked inside, but the classroom was empty.

guess i’m walking to english myself she thought.

when she got to english, there were already a lot of people in the classroom. sam was sitting to the far left, and there were boys already sitting around her. she turned around in her seat and made a face at hazel that said help me.

hazel glared at her and walked to an empty seat in the front. no way in hell she would normally pick a seat in the front, but there were no other options.

the boys were all talking, like boys do. someone from the back of the classroom threw a crumpled up piece of paper at a boy in the front. he turned around to yell back until the teacher walked into the room from his study.

the teacher, professor keating, was whistling some tune while he walked past the students to the back of the classroom. he walked out of the door in the back of the classroom.

the boys in the classroom exchanged confused faces. hazel looked back at samantha who shrugged her shoulders. keating peered back into the classroom.

“well, come on.” a few scattered giggles could be heard from around the room, but one by one each of them stood up and followed their teacher into the hallway.

they ended up in a hallway lined with trophies. there were pictures of old soccer teams, track and field state champs, and basketball players from years past.

the students gathered in a huddle around their english teacher. hazel and samantha stood next to each other, further to the back.

“o captain, my captain,” mr. keating suddenly said, “who knows what that comes from?”

without realizing it herself, hazel perks up. she knows exactly what that comes from.

“young lady don’t think i don’t see your gears grinding back there.” mr. keating was staring right at hazel.

“it’s from a walt whitman poem written about abraham lincoln”

“spot on young lady,” keating pointed his finger at the young girl, “now in this class you can either call me mr. keating, or if you’re slightly more daring, o captain my captain.”

a few quiet disbursed laughs sounded before keating continued, “now let me dispel a few rumors so they don’t fester into facts. i, too, attended hell-ton, and i survived. and no, at that time i was not the mental giant you see before you. i was the intellectual equivalent of a ninety-eight pound weakling. i would go to the beach and people would kick copies of byron in my face.”

again, smirks and stifled giggles immersed from a few of the boys. even samantha found herself grinning at keatings playful manner.

“now,” the professor looked down at his roster, “mr. min. rather unfortunate name. where are you?”

more soft laughs as a boy in the front of the group slowly raised his hand.

keating took no notice to the other boys before he continued, “mr. min, will you open your book to page five-forty-two, read the first stanza of the poem you find there.”

“to the virgins to make much of time?” he ready in a questioning voice. min’s voice was lower in octave even though he had asked in a quizzical manner. soft laughter from the boys could be heard again.

“yes.” keating smiled, “somewhat appropriate, isn’t it?”

more stifled laughing was heard before min continued, “gather ye rosebuds while ye may / old time is still a flying / and this same flower that smiles today / tomorrow will be dying.”

“thank you mr. min.” keating paced before the group, “gather ye rosebuds while ye may. the latin term for that sentiment is carpe diem. now who knows what that means?”

a taller boy in the front row raised his hand, “carpe diem. that’s seize the day.”

“very good mr.?”

“kim.”

“kim. another unusual name.” kim smiled as response and keating continued, “seize the day. gather ye rosebuds while ye may.”

he paused for a beat, “why does the writer use these lines?”

“because, he’s in a hurry” a voice sounded from the very back of the group, causing sam and hazel to turn around and see who spoke.

“no, ding!” keating made the sound of a game-show button, “thanks for playing anyways”

boys from around the group smirked and gave looks at the boy in the back.

“because we are food for worms, lads.” he paused another beat, “because believe it or not, each and every one of us in this room is one day going to stop breathing, turn cold, and die.”

well that turned dark quick hazel swallowed and shifted her weight.

“i would like you to step forward over here.” keating turned around, pointing to the trophy cases behind him, “look at some of the faces from the past. you’ve walked past them many times, but i don’t think you’ve really looked at them.”

the group shuffled forward looking at the items displayed in the trophy cases.

“they’re not that different from you, are they?” the professor said, “same haircuts, full of hormones, just like you. invincible, just like you feel. the world is their oyster. they believe they are destine for great things, just like many of you. their eyes, full of hope, just like you. did they wait until it was too late to make of their lives? because you see gentlemen, and ladies, these boys are now fertilizing daffodils.”

keating paused to look at the somewhat-horrid expressions of the class, “if you listen real close, you can hear them whisper their legacy to you.”

the group leaned in close enough that their breath could be seen on the glass.

keating then whispered in a ghost like voice, “carpe diem. seize the day.”

ᝰ.ᐟ

samantha and hazel walked out of class together.

“that was the weirdest lesson i’ve ever had” samantha made a face at hazel.

“it was weird, alright. but remember that chem class we had where mr. p lit the table on fire?”

the pair giggled and walked into their dorm. both girls put away the books they had received from their morning classes away.

hazel turned to look at samantha. “tea and biscuits from the dining hall?”

“coffee for me, but you don’t have to ask twice” samantha smiled and the friends exited the room walking towards the dining hall.

ᝰ.ᐟ

“and he already asked us what the meaning of life is! like, i get it, that’s what that class is about, but i didn’t think we’d be getting to that on the first day for christ’s sake”

hazel giggled back at her friend, “at least you know what happened. i can’t recall a single thing my art teacher even said. i zoned out”

“you zoned out? girl please, that’s my thing.” the two giggled.

hazel took a glance at her watch, “shit. i gotta go or i’ll be late for electronics”

“ok nerd”

“shut up” hazel picked up her bag and headed to her class. when she walked into class, there weren’t many seats open. the desks in the room were set up like lab tables, each table having two seats at it. there were no tables completely empty.

my fault for not being early she walked over to a table and sat next to the boy who translated the latin earlier that day.

what was his name again?

she didn’t even answer her thought before the boy answered it for her. “hi. i’m kim namjoon. we have english together?” he stook out his hand.

hazel nodded, “yeah. i’m hazel.” she shook hands with the boy and he smiled.

before either of them could say anything else, the teacher walked in and began the class.

ᝰ.ᐟ

“do you have a free period next?” namjoon asked when the class was dismissed.

“yeah for thirty minutes then i have physics”

the boy’s eyes widened “me too! do you wanna come hang out with my friends? a few of them also have breaks with classes next.”

“yeah, sure!” hazel smiled, happy to have some people to hang with while sam was in gym.

the pair walked to the exit, where the boy from english stood, waiting for them.

“i believe you also know yoongi from english?” namjoon asked. hazel nodded and exchanged a smile and wave with yoongi.

the three walked to a room where two more boys were sitting and laughing. they both stopped what they were talking about to look at hazel. hazel smiled at the pair before her eyes quickly darted to the ground.

“i’m pretty sure everyone here is in english with us yeah?” namjoon asked, getting a head nod from the one of the boys sitting there.

“guys, this is hazel” the boys waved and smiled at the girl.

“nice to meet you hazel. i’m kim taehyung” taehyung was a very handsome and well put together boy. he had smooth brown hair that draped over his forehead.

“nice to meet you as well taehyung.” she shook his hand. he had a firm handshake.

“this is jungkook” taehyung gestured over to his friend. jungkook looked up from what he was doing to smile at hazel but quickly returned to the task at hand.

“are you friends with the other girl our age?” taehyung said, looking back at hazel.

“yeah. the two of us have been friends since birth pretty much.” hazel answered as she sat down at the table with the boys.

the four boys talked with hazel over the next half hour. they spoke of the horrors of hell-ton, about themselves, and quizzed hazel on various things such as what public school was like.

hazel took mental notes about the boys. yoongi and namjoon were both pursuing engineering just like her. taehyung and jungkook were looking to be some type of doctor. although the boys wanted jobs in maths and science, anyone could tell that all of them had a soft spot for the arts.

jungkook was in hazel’s first period art class. of course she han’t noticed. the boy was about as introverted as it gets. jungkook had been a new student last year, but it seems like a year at welton still hadn’t broken him out of his shell.

namjoon excelled in almost every class it turns out, not just latin like he proved earlier in the day. he and yoongi were coming up with plans to make a portable radio. hazel thought the idea was nice, but she doubted the ability to make it happen. in terms of physical appearance, namjoon had dark hair and glasses. he was, as hazel put it, the blueprint for a highschool nerd. that remark had put the group into a good burst of laughter.

yoongi was jack of all trades, master of none. he could help anyone get an ‘a’ on a test, but in terms of being perfect, he was far from it in every class. the good news was, he didn’t seem too bothered by it. yoongi was by far the kindest of the group, and he used it to his advantage when needing things from his friends.

taehyung was, in hazel’s opinion, the prettiest boy of the group. he seemed like the unspoken leader, and he spoke with great eloquence. hazel scolded herself for thinking he was attractive, but then again, everyone here was more attractive than her public school.

ᝰ.ᐟ

when their thirty minutes of free time came to an end, the group walked to their next classes.

“the three of us are in physics, but i know damn well neither of you two are in that class” namjoon remarked.

taehyung smiled. “absolutely not. jungkook and i have european history”

“sam is in that class,” hazel perked up

“well i’ll have to introduce myself then” taehyung said with a smile. the two branched off into their class.

when that period was over, the group found themselves back together in calculus.

samantha had done her own bonding with the boys, hazel had found. sam had three of the boys’ friends in her gym class; hoseok, jimin, and seokjin.

the group whispered and passed letters to each other throughout calculus, not paying attention one bit.

“so would you two ladies like to join us for lunch?” taehyung proposed at the dismissal of class.

“absolutely” hazel answered for the two of them. the group made their way down to lunch and sat down at a table. sam found herself between hoseok and jimin , while hazel found herself between taehyung and namjoon.

ᝰ.ᐟ

a/n: totally posting this story and reforged at the same time to test whether short chapters or long chapters do better hehehe

next chapter | table of contents

#taehyung fanfiction #v fanfiction #taehyung x reader #v x reader #taehyung fic #v fic #taehyung x you #v x you #angst #bts fanfiction #kim taehyung #taehyung #bts angst #crossover #dead poets society #dps #carpe diem

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elliefics3 · 26 days ago

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1: We Ditched School For This?

A/N... WELCOME TO THE FICCCC!!! Very excited for this first chapter. Some things before you start reading. Yes I'm aware people don't like americanized marauders but i fear thats all i know and i promise this is much better without me trying to fake knowing english slang and mannerism. Another thing- I do not know what the ship with james is going to be right now or if im even going to make this a set ship but if were feeling passionate about jily, jegulus, or jegulily lmk😝😝😝

Word Count: 1.4K

“What in god's name are you doing?” James grunts as he watches Sirius mix the soggy school pizza with mustard and ranch. He leans across the table closer to Remus, who looks like he is seconds away from throwing up his sandwich, and swallowing half of it in one bite.

“Sirius- Jesus- get that away from me or I'll projectile vomit on you.” Remus pinches his nose leaning as far back onto Peter as he can manage.

Before Sirius gets the chance to retort to the comments a loud alarm begins to blare through the lunch room. The four boys stand to join the rest of the Hogwarts students on the football field while the fire fighters arrive.

“Let’s get out of here.” Sirius announces as they exit the possibly burning school.

“And do what exactly…?” Remus gives him a skeptical look knowing that nothing good ever comes from Sirius’ ideas.

“Moony, it doesn't matter what we do. I mean, this alarm is just a gift in disguise… I know you were dreading that physics test during 6th period, so why not just take advantage of it.” James argues in defense of the idea.

James had been willing the universe to get him out of school that day and he knew this was meant for him. He usually wasn’t one to try and ditch class but he was unwillingly in a theater class this semester and today was his performance with Lily and Regulus.

While he didn’t mind working with Lily, since they were both Juniors and had mostly mutual friends since elementary school, it was Regulus– Sirius’ little brother that was James’ problem. He hated that Regulus hated him, and working with him was impossible; nothing was cracking him from the coldness he had for James. Which also meant that whenever James wanted to practice his scene in their weird love triangle scene with them that their teacher had assigned, Regulus refused to practice, and now he was going to fail.

“Why are we here???” Peter asks as the group walks up the steps to the Museum of Natural History.

“Yeah this place has always given me the creeps, especially after that field trip in 6th grade…” James says remembering the worst field trip he had ever been on, being in this same museum.

“Obviously to learn about history Pete… also the tour guide that works everyday at 12 is my fake guy, I promised him I’d take a tour for a discount on my card” Sirius says, adjusting his jacket, looking for the Animals of the Ancient Americas exhibit where his friend is sitting on his phone doing nothing in the deserted room.

As the group's footsteps get closer the 20-something guy looks up from his phone and practically bolts to the entering group. “You came!”

“I mean I told you I would” Sirius chokes down a snort at his enthusiasm “Uh- Dan these are my friends James, Remus, and Peter, guys this is Dan” They all nod at Dan while he smiles and begins to back further into the exhibit room.

“You all are going to love this I promise.” Dan says again, overly excited, as he begins to lead the group through the different artifacts and preserved animals.

When they hit the stuffed bears James’ phone begins to blow up. When he pulls it out of his jacket pocket to see who’s turning his phone into a jack hammer, he sees 20… now 21 texts from Lily.

“Shit” He whispers to himself as he lingers behind the group.

‘JAMES FLEAMONT POTTER

where the FUCK are you.

and why are you leaving me to deal with Mr. Fox and Regulus ALONE

you better have polio or I will get your ass for this

we just got lectured at for 15 minutes because of you’

He now feels guilty for leaving his scene partners, even though this was exactly what he wanted in the first place.

‘Sorry Lils I'll make it up to you I promise.’

He looks back up to the group in front of him and types out another message

‘Do you happen to need a fake ID?’

After another 20 minutes of staring at snakeskin and old dirt that archaeologists found some weird spiders in, the four boys are released from the hot room and leave the museum.

“That genuinely might be the weirdest thing we’ve ever had to sit through because of you.” Remus says bluntly, tired, and regretting his decision to leave school.

“Yeah, sorry Pads you know I’m usually on board with your side quests but damn that guy was weird… I mean seriously he knew way too much about lizard scales, it was freaky.” James agrees with Remus.

“And they didn’t even have the actual spiders!” Peter whines as they all pile onto the crowded subway “I mean that was the only part I actually wanted to see, I’ve read about them and how some of them were radi-”

“Ugh no- I forgot my jacket in there” James cuts Peter off seconds after the train leaves and starts to make his way to the door, Sirius follows him.

“James there’s not another train for an hour once you get back here, we can just come get it tomorrow.” Sirius attempts to stop him from getting up to the door but isn't successful.

“Sirius I’ll be fine I’ll just take the F line home or something, just go home now I don’t want to get your parents mad for no reason” As the subway doors crack open James is out in a second making sure Sirius has no way to follow him back to the museum.

This might not be James’ best idea but he has already messed up so much today there's no reason for him to also be missing his favorite red zip-up on top of everything else. So he tracks his way back to the museum just before they close, to grab it from the exhibit.

Dan is nowhere to be seen when James re-enters the Ancient Animals room, but his jacket is. It’s still draped over the barrier pole he was leaning on when Lily was texting him earlier. He snatches his jacket and throws it on, but pauses at the display he was standing face-to-face with.

I don’t remember a thing about these.. What even- “OW what the fuck?” James’ hand snaps up instinctively slapping his collarbone when he feels a sharp pinch and a little burning. He lifts his hand from where he had slapped to see the crushed blue and red carcass of a spider in his palm. “Oh hell no that's nasty.” He muttered, immediately dropping the spider to the ground, and finding his way to the bathroom by the entrance.

Once his hands were fully rid of the spider residue, James pulled off his jacket again and moved his shirt to see if the spider had actually done anything or if he was just being dramatic. Looking at his shoulder in the reflection was a little disorienting, but once he got a solid look at the spot the spider had been, there was no way he was being dramatic.

While it didn’t hurt much, the spot had two visible fang marks. All of the skin around it was bruising, and the blood in his veins directly surrounding the bite were a weird shade of purpley-blue.

Since the pain that was barely there was manageable, James decided not to be dramatic.

I mean it was just a little spider bite, he thought and took the subway home.

It was getting late and the F line wasn’t the safest of places to be after 10pm, but it definitely beat walking— so James cut his losses and got onto the cart with the most people that didn’t look like they wanted to shiv him and run.

He slumped down next to the doors and an elderly woman. The second James sat down, he tried to relax, and no matter what he tried— he was unable to. Maybe it was the spider bite. Maybe it was the guilt for ditching Lily this morning. Or maybe, he was just exhausted and pissed about forgetting his sweatshirt. But whatever it was, it definitely didn’t feel normal. James had felt anxious before, and this wasn’t nerves. He didn’t feel sick exactly, but this was yet again something he wanted to ignore so he could just get home and sleep.

#marauders fanfiction #spiderman au #james potter #james potter spiderman #sirius black #remus lupin #marauders #peter pettigrew #lily evans #regulus black

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underthenightskydreamsneverdie · 1 year ago

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Carnal

Summary: Mattheo Riddle meets an unforgettable, mysterious Hufflepuff and spends the school year fighting his feelings.

Warnings: None, just so much sweetness and typical Mattheo behavior.

Pairing: Mattheo Riddle X f!OC

Word count: 1, 817

A/N: I'm so excited to post this story that I've been imagining for months. I really hope you guys like my OC, whose name shall not be revealed until the end. Oh, also for this series let’s pretend they start Hogwarts at 12 years old, making them both 15-16 in this chapter.

Divider Credit to @enchanthings

Check out my Mattheo and f!OC mood boards here!

From the day she stopped Mattheo and his Slytherin friends from picking on a first year, he should have hated her. He wanted to. He needed to. But he couldn’t. The way she had protected the young girl, stepped in front of their jinxes, shaken off the pain like it was nothing, and still not said a cruel word in return as she expertly blocked their spells, had sparked a curiosity about her that he had been fighting ever since.

Maybe that’s just what Hufflepuffs do, he thought to himself as he snuck a peek at her across the great hall a few days later. No, his gut told him a different story, that’s just what she does.

Life went on, as it always does, but for Mattheo it was different. His eyes searched every room for her, even as he scolded himself for hoping to find her. Why the hell do you care about this girl, she’s just a stupid muggleborn. Nothing special. His stomach clenched and he broke out in a cold sweat, body physically rejecting the thought. Alright, alright, I get it.

He didn’t even know her name, had never bothered to remember it, but desperation to know her grew in him like an infection with only one cure. Before long he was ditching his friends to snag a seat near her in classes, waiting around in hallways to walk behind her, listening intently to every conversation for her name. His efforts were rewarded, at least partially, when professor McGonagall directed a question to a “Miss Waters”. His breath caught as her head whipped up and she hesitantly, but correctly, answered.

Waters. Mattheo sighed softly as her back straightened with pride for a few seconds and she pushed her long ponytail over her shoulder. The pale blonde strands were like moonbeams against her black robe and it took everything in him to resist the urge to reach out to touch them. Oh for fucks sake. Get yourself together, Mattheo. You’ve got her last name, now let it go.

He tried. He truly did. He spent the next few months forcing himself to ignore her, rolling his eyes every time her sweet voice filled the room, chastising himself whenever his thoughts drifted to her. And it worked. Well enough. Well enough that he could pretend he wasn’t dying to be near her. Well enough that he convinced himself dreaming about a classmate, a very pretty classmate, was a perfectly normal thing for a teenage boy. Well enough that he was no longer scouring his mind to come up with her first name. But the end of the school year was rapidly approaching and he knew if he didn’t discover her name, get to know even that tiny detail about her, she would haunt him all summer long.

The last morning of the year Mattheo woke before dawn. Laying in the dark he contemplated his options, knowing it was now or never. I’ve only got a few hours left, he thought with a yawn, how am I going to get her alone today of all days? It’s always so chaotic, students running about saying goodbyes, the slow shuffle to the train - the train! That’s it, I’ll find her on the train. He clapped his hands together before he realized what he was doing, fighting back his chuckles as startled groans sounded around the room, the other boys unhappy they were so rudely awakened. He got out of bed, heading for the bathroom before one of the other boys could get there first, a small smile on his face.

Having decided he should get to the train platform early so he wouldn’t miss her, Mattheo skipped breakfast, hanging around the Slytherin table saying goodbyes to the few other students he knew, bag over his shoulder, ready to leave this place behind. He searched the Hufflepuff table but didn’t see her. She must still be packing like all the other girls. Almost an hour before everyone else he left the castle.

He ran, as fast as he could, to the train, collapsing as he reached the top step to the platform. His heart pounded in his ears, he was sure he was having a heart attack. Suddenly the very voice he was longing to hear rang through the air, a sweet “are you alright?”. Oh gods, I’m dying. He attempted to stand, leaning against the stone wall, groaning. I’m actually dying and to make it worse I’m hallucinating her voice.

“I said, are you alright, Mattheo?” Her voice again, I really am losing it. A hand gripped his chin, gently lifting it upwards. His eyes followed slowly, his vision blurred with tears as he squinted into the sunlight. “Mattheo?” His eyes opened wide as he looked into clear blue eyes staring back at him. Oh gods, it really is her. He forced his head back down, his lips grazing her palm before she slipped her hand away. He needed a moment. His heart was pounding again, but for a different reason now. It was the first time he had ever seen her out of uniform and he was certain his mind was playing tricks on him. Was she really wearing- did I really just see that?

He lifted his head slowly this time, eyes drinking in every inch of her. Her black vans stood almost toe to toe with his dirty old converse. There were little white flowers on her shoes, what are those called again? I really should know this- The thought vanished in his mind as his eyes moved further up. Are those snakes on her tights?! Holy shit, they are! He groaned again, hoping she would assume the pained sound was related to his run. He tried not to shift around too much as his pants grew tight, body reacting to the sight of her. His eyes widened as they reached the hem of her pleated, red plaid mini skirt, the little chains hanging over her hips almost making him lose control. He had to bite back a growl as his eyes traveled over her torso, the little flashes of pale skin visible through her ripped shirt making his knees weak. He was hopeless to control the low, desire choked laugh that escaped him as he read the words printed on her chest. Witchy Woman. He would gladly drop to his knees and let her perform all kinds of magic over him, half convinced she already had. She wore more makeup than usual, her eyes seductively lined, gods those eyes, as she looked down at him. But her pale pink lips remained bare, begging to be kissed until they were raw and red, a wish his own body was demanding he make come true. Who knew this quiet Hufflepuff would turn out to be my punk princess. What a day.

Rising to full height, ignoring the obvious bulge in his pants, he nodded, knowing full well nothing but rude remarks about her looks and ways to satisfy his desire would come from his mouth right now. He watched her turn back to the wall, only now noticing she didn’t have any bags with her. He was so confused by this he didn’t even try to get a peek under her skirt as she hoisted herself up.

“How come you’re here so early?” He leaned against the wall next to her, looking up at her. “Why haven’t you got any bags?”

“Haven’t got very far to go.” She shrugged, blonde hair falling around her shoulders as she looked down at him.

He was unsatisfied with her answer, but let it go, turning his head to look down at Hogsmead. Nothing about this was going the way he had imagined, but he was determined to at least get one straight answer. “What’s your name?”

She didn’t answer, instead looking up as though sensing something he hadn’t. Smiling, she turned and jumped off the backside of the wall.

“Hey!” Mattheo called after her, moving to the railing of the stairs he had just climbed to look for her. A soft “oh” left him as he came face to face with her. She smiled, spinning the stem of a small white flower between her fingers, a second one tucked behind her ear. Her hair threatened to overtake the delicate flower and without thinking he reached out, brushing the shell of her ear, tucking her soft hair back into place. Gods she’s beautiful. She reached for his hand, placing the flower on his palm.

“Daisy.”

He smiled down at the tiny flower, in awe of its delicate beauty. “Daisy.” How fitting. When he looked up she was gone, winding her way down the staircase, heading for the village. Mattheo ripped his eyes away from her as the brakes of the train squeaked to life just feet away from him, his hand instinctively closing around the fragile flower. He smiled as the red and black steam engine slowed. How had she known it was coming before I did?

Dropping the small flower into the pocket of his shirt to keep safe, he turned back to catch a final glimpse of her. He spotted her climbing over the large boulders near the embankment of the river on the east side of the village, surprised when she threw her hand into the air and waved at him with excellent accuracy. Did she just guess I was watching her? Can she even see me from down there? Chuckling as she moved out of view, he boarded the train, leaning his head against the open window of a compartment.

He pulled the flower out of his pocket, bringing it to his face. There’s something special about you, Daisy Waters. Gently, he dragged the flower across his lips, closing his eyes. Something very special indeed.

His eyes still closed he sat back in his seat, one hand rifling through his bag for his journal, pausing suddenly. Over the noise of the train and the carriages beginning their journey towards the school, The wind carried a sound Mattheo never expected to hear. Is that a wolf? The heartbreaking sound of the howl pierced his heart, he knew a lonely creature when he heard one. Before he knew what he was doing he cupped his hands around his lips and howled back, one lone wolf to another. The wolf answered him, and for the second time that day, during the few brief moments as they howled together, Mattheo felt as though he belonged.

He sat still for a long time, listening closely for the wolf to call again, but even when it didn’t, he smiled. The wolf was free and wild, something he longed to have in common, something he was determined to make true for himself one day. He pulled his journal out, tucked the little daisy between its pages, smiling as he thought about his Daisy.

#mattheo riddle #mattheo x oc #mattheo riddle series #mattheo riddle x oc #mattheo riddle fic #mattheo riddle fanfic #mattheo fic #mattheo fanfic #mattheo series #carnal #carnal series #carnal fic series #RDNI

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asushin-mermaid-au-ask-blog · 10 months ago

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So I said I had a crazy Evangelion fic idea, so here it is. This is a mock up of a 12 episode first season of a NGE is a Saturday morning cartoon in the style of Sailor Moon or Power Rangers au. Each ‘episode’ would be a short chapter in the overall fic and hopefully I’ll be inspired to write 12 more ‘episodes’ some later. What do you guys thinks? Too weird and tacky? I’d honestly love some feedback.

Under read more because it’s very long.

Episode One: Is it Destiny?: Shinji Becomes A Pilot - Shinji Ikari an apathetic teenager aces NERV’s aptitude test after being pressured to take it by his guardian Misato Katsuragi. Alongside classmate Rei Ayanami he becomes a pilot for the experimental giant robot known as an Evangelion. Shinji is sure that this is a huge mistake, but when an angel attacks and Rei is injured he’ll have to fight whether he thinks he’s ready or not.

Episode Two: A Duel Of Love: Asuka Arrives In Japan - Asuka Langley Soryu, Shinji’s childhood friend who he hasn’t seen for nine years has also aced the aptitude test. She arrives in Japan with a score to settle and the only way to do it is face off against Shinji in a simulated angel attack. If only Shinji could figure out why she’s mad at him.

Episode Three: To Be A Role Model: Hikari’s New Club - Class president Hikari Horaki is horrified at the fact that Shinji, Asuka and Rei aren’t acting like proper role models now that they’re pilots, so she ropes them into to joining her club: The Tokyo 3 Middle School Good Works Club. Now they need to figure out how to get out of it.

Episode Four: A Man’s Fight: Shinji And The Upperclassman - When an upperclassmen insults Shinji for not being manly enough he doesn’t really care even if Kensuke and Toji do, but when that same upperclassman becomes trapped outside during an angel attack Shinji is able to win his respect anyway.

Episode Five: A Bookworm’s Love: Rei’s Struggle - Tokyo 3’s library has been destroyed by an angel, now bookworm Rei Ayanami needs to find something to do while it’s being rebuilt and she doesn’t have any books. Shinji and Asuka both try to lend a hand with limited success.

Episode Six: The Girl Who Could Do Anything: Asuka vs The Ace - Asuka boasts that she can play every single sport better than almost anyone else during gym class. However, she’s going to have to prove it when an injured volleyball player asks her to stand in for them. Shinji will do whatever he can to help.

Episode Seven: The Sporty Senpai: Noriko Comes To Town (Part One) - When Shinji, Asuka and Rei all get hurt in an angel attack Commander Fuyutsuki is talked into letting the JSSDF’s own ace pilot Noriko Takaya try to whip them into better physical shape. However for indoors types like Shinji and Rei this is it’s own kind of hell.

Episode Eight: The Sporty Senpai: Noriko Comes To Town (Part Two) - Shinji and Noriko are forced to team up for a complicated attack plan. Asuka’s jealousy is the least of his problems though since Noriko is just a hell of a lot more skilled in her mech than Shinji is in Unit 1. Shinji manages to use his own skill set to assist Noriko and win a little respect from himself.

Episode Nine: Make Your Move: Asuka and Shinji’s First Date - Asuka is still jealous of Shinji and the now departed Noriko, so after some prodding from Misato they spend the day hanging out around town. Of course an argument ensues and there’s only way way for them to solve it: another duel this time at the arcade.

Episode Ten: Mother’s Day From Hell: Shinji’s Dream - It’s Mother’s Day, Shinji and Asuka’s least favorite day of the year. After falling asleep inside Unit 1 Shinji has a dream that his mother is Commander of NERV and he’s a popular kid. However in this world Misato hates him and Asuka has no interest in being his rival. Shinji wakes up and decides the real world is better than the dream one.

Episode Eleven: Is She Shinji’s Clone?: Enter Mayumi Yamagishi (Part One): Everyone is amazed when a girl transfers into class who not only looks like Shinji but acts like him too. After some prodding from Kensuke and Toji Shinji manages to befriend the new girl and they hit it off quickly. However Rei keeps her distance and offers Shinji a warning about getting too close to Mayumi.

Episode Twelve: Is She Shinji’s Clone?: Enter Mayumi Yamagishi (Part Two) Asuka’s jealously is again the least of Shinji’s worries when it turns out that Mayumi has an angel inside her heart. The angel takes control of her and manages to pilot Rei’s Eva in a fight against Shinji. Shinji is going to have figure out how to defeat the Eva without hurting Mayumi is doing that even possible? It is when Asuka helps him do it.

#Evangelion #Shinji Ikari #Asuka Langley Soryu #NGE #Rei Ayanami #It also as expected from me includes some #asushin

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eddiemunsonsmum · 10 months ago

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Aftermath | Chapter 10 | Eddie Munson

Eddie Munson x Female OC | E.M x Karmen Jones

Chapter Summary: Eddie has spent a lot of lonely recovery time stewing on the fact that his new 'friends' seemed to have abandoned him. He's feeling stupid for hoping that they would invite him into their group instead. So what happens when one of those friends finally comes to visit him and offers an explanation?

Story Summary: Eddie wakes up in the Upside Down after 'dying' in Dustin's arms. He wakes up again in the hospital and is reunited with his loved ones. This story covers Eddie's time in the hospital and overall physical recovery after the Upside Down.

This fic is part of the She Feels Like Home series. It sits between Boxing Day and Drop Out but can be read as a standalone.

Chapter Tags: Angst, Hurt/Comfort , Fluff, Mentions of being eaten alive, ASL, (American Sign Language), ASD !Eddie, Autistic Eddie, Non-verbal Eddie, Abandonment Issues, RSD, Misunderstandings, Friendships, Healing, Getting Better, Season 4 Spoilers.

Words: 6.7k

Home time.

Finally.

But not for Eddie Munson. Instead it was Steve Harrigton that was covering ugly scars with house clothes. Today, a starchy polo that had previously been hidden in the back of his closet.

Not one he ever would have chosen for himself. Instead, one that Robin had technically stolen from the Harrington household when she had technically broken in at his request.

He hadn’t had a key to give her when he’d asked her to please bring him some new clothes.God only knew where his parents had hidden the spare key… If they’d even left one out for him at all.

The Harrington house had been in the middle of renovations before everything went to Hell. He knew there was no way his parents trusted the men from the Construction Company they hired to not make a copy and let themselves in off the clock if they happened to come across it.

They were always so worried about the lower class and their nefarious motives. It was ironic really, considering one of the most nefarious people Steve knew in real life was his own Father.

His parent’s had always been of the impression that anyone less wealthy than them was waiting for a handout or their chance to rob them.

He was glad that they hadn’t caught Robin going through his things. She wasn’t exactly their favorite person already simply based on their bigoted idea that she was from a different social class. He would hate to give them reason to believe their prejudiced mindsets had some validity to them.

Steve felt like he should probably be sad that his parents hadn’t visited him in the hospital. His Mother had called after she was notified of ‘the accident’. After Owens had been to visit him and explained the situation. But that was all from them. They knew he was alive and he supposed that was what mattered.

He wondered if they would come to his funeral if he hadn’t lived through it all. Maybe they would have just called and got the answer they needed to what was a simple yes or no question to them.

‘No,he didn’t make it. I’m so sorry.’

‘No problem. Thanks for letting us know.’

As if he was a package that had been misdelivered or a grocery item that was out of stock.

He tried not to think about it. He didn’t want to be sad. They’d just saved the world after all and he had plenty of visitors during his long and frankly unnecessary stay.

He hadn’t even been going to bring attention to his wounds the day they’d brought Eddie in. Didn’t think he needed it despite Nancy and Robin insisting that the grazes on his back were pretty bad and that the bat bites might get infected if they weren’t treated properly.

He had been ready to walk out without a word. But the quiet sobbing of Dustin in the waiting room changed his mind. He would never admit to the little Butthead quite how deeply he cared about him.

He also would never admit to the kid that he didn’t think Eddie was going to make it. So he needed to quietly make sure that Dustin didn’t lose both of them in one fell swoop.

After the adrenaline finally wore off for good he had started to feel the pain of being nibbled on in earnest.

Nancy and Robin had been right in the end and his wounds did get infected. So while he was rolling around in agony, a cold sweat on his forehead; he tried his best to be grateful that they had insisted he get checked out.

It was easier to be grateful when the narcotics kicked in and he could float around in the clouds. His mind was too muddled to think about anything other than the fact he was no longer in pain.

Unfortunately that reprieve hadn’t lasted long. They had taken that away from him on day three. His body was stronger than Eddie’s and he hadn’t been attacked as badly.

It only took a few days of healing for him to be doing quite well. He could move around on his own pretty ably.

He was itching to go home by the end of the week.

The issue with that?

It would fuck up Eddie’s cover-story.

Steve needed to be a little more injured for the car accident bullshit to make sense.

The nurses were just as confused as him when Owens had announced that their doctor had ordered he stay for an extra week or two due to the nature of his injuries and how serious they were. It was obvious to everyone that he was relatively fine by that point.

Sam had held up his hand and waved the medical staff off with a simple

‘Confidential.’

Steve had been surprised that they actually listened and stopped asking questions. He figured someone had been made an example of in the past because no one had another thing to say about it. The nurses even continued taking his vitals twice a day without complaint or comment on the fact that they physically proved he was fine.

He and Robin had also theorized over his stay that maybe all the staff he interacted with actually worked for the lab and there wasn’t a single regular Hawkins Memorial Hospital staff member on their floor. Considering he, Max and Eddie were all taken to the same ward.

It wasn’t out of the question. But he was pretty sure they were all just scared of being fired.

A fear of his own that had recently come to fruition.

Steve had resigned himself to playing the part for the sake of not breaking his NDA and getting to keep the Hush-Money that the government offered him for being cooperative.

He needed it. Apparently. Because according to the one phone call he had with his Mom. His Father was cutting him off after the owner of Family Video had called his house in a rage, asking why Steve had abandoned the store on their busiest day of the week.

It didn’t matter that it was later revealed that Steve had been in an accident. He couldn’t explain to his parents why he had abandoned the store in the first place and apparently Owens hadn’t bothered to come up with a cover for that part.

He was hoping now that he was finally free, to head over to the video store and explain to Keith the version of events that he had spent his time in the hospital working on.

He had been the one to abandon the store. Alone. Robin was already gone when Steve had learnt about the murder and left his post. He had assumed it was Eddie that was murdered when he’d seen the trailer on the news and he and Eddie were totally friends…

God he hoped Robin hadn’t gotten to Keith first. He’d asked her to stay away after she’d told him that they’d both been fired. He was going to fix it for them. He really hoped she’d listened and not gone in there and tried to explain it herself, contradicting all the lies he was about to tell.

He really hoped he could at the very least convince Family Video that Robin had done nothing wrong. That he could tell a captivating story that persuaded them to hire her back. Convince them that before Steve had left, she had a family emergency that had forced her to leave first. That she had asked Steve to work the rest of the shirt alone as well as her next few in her place.That he had absolutely agreed but forgot about his promise in the wake of learning his very best friend Eddie Munson was being charged with murder.

He also very much hoped that Keith had never heard him talk shit about Eddie in the past.

Steve hated to admit that there was a high possibility. That the prejudice and bigoted mindset he had been raised with had taken a lot longer to completely shed than he’d liked to acknowledge. That even after he’d begun to move on from that mindframe there were certain people that he had put into little boxes in highschool and not taken out to reexamine when he should have.

Eddie was one of those people and there was a 65% chance that Keith knew that already. That he’d already fucked his own cover story months before he would need it by being needlessly cruel about Dustin’s new friend Town Freak, Eddie Munson.

Maybe even if Keith knew he was lying, the dude would take pity on them. Maybe if he went in there all wet eyed and floppy haired with his best vocal quiver, he would be just pathetic enough to entice the man and he would hire them both back.

But he doubted it.

Even if he did, there was no way in hell he and Robin would be allowed to work together anymore and that was pretty much the only bearable part of the job.

So Family Video was where he was headed. His confidential discharge papers with most of the information redacted were tucked neatly into his satchel as he exited his hospital room for the last time

But he had a stop to make first before he took the bus across town to plead his pitiful case to his former employer.

A doorway down the hall caught his eye. A doorway that he knew to currently belong to the room of his oldest and most cherished best friend, Eddie Munson.

As he headed towards it he was surprised to see a woman exiting. Figuring in the few seconds he had to look at her that she was a nurse before realizing she was not dressed as such.

She was wearing a black polo shirt similar to his own although hers appeared to be of necessity rather than choice. There was a business logo on the back.

She also wore what appeared to be steel-cap boots with blue jeans.

Maybe she was a maintenance worker.

She had long brunette curls pulled into a ponytail that swayed from side to side; masking the full name of the company she worked for. She walked across the hallway in front of him, heading towards the elevators. Steve stopped outside the door she’d just left. Trying to read the logo on her shirt and only making out the word ‘Construction’. He watched her walk away for a long moment before he realized he was staring and shaking himself out of it.

About time this place did some renovations.

He thought to himself as he turned towards Eddie’s room, spying his friend reclining on his side in the bed and watching as he jumped out of his skin when Steve’s knuckles wrapped on the doorframe.

“Knock knock.” He called as an afterthought.

Eddie stared at him with shocked eyes that were magnified slightly by the glasses on his face. He closed his book, one hand obscuring the cover as he looked Steve up and down in a way that seemed like he was assessing if the other man was real or not.

Dustin had told Steve recently when he’d asked after Eddie that the man wasn’t speaking right now. Steve wasn’t really sure what that meant and Dustin hadn’t been much help. Explaining in an overtechnical way that made him feel like an idiot and not want to ask questions. But what he took from it was that Eddie could speak, he just didn’t want to or as Dustin had said:

‘His mouth wants to but his brain doesn’t.’

That was a few days ago though so Steve wasn’t really sure what to expect when he appeared for the first time in front of the guy who he’d nearly, accidentally, left for dead in another dimension.

He had been straight up avoiding the visit and it was probably obvious to everyone. He hadn’t been too injured to walk around and he frequently left his room to visit Max when she was there or buy food from the cafeteria. He’d run into Wayne a couple of times. Not speaking to the other man since he wasn’t sure he even knew who he was. He’d only known who Wayne was after all because he’d seen him coming and going from Eddie’s room and Nancy had mentioned that she saw Eddie’s Uncle staying with him.

But despite being able to move around he hadn’t yet visited his very best, oldest and most cherished friend, Eddie…

Because well…

Were they friends?

Steve remembered with shame the way he had referred to the other man as ‘Eddie the Freak’ when on the phone with Dustin the day Chrissy died.

He looked back on the way he had acted at Family Video on that faithful Saturday morning with regret in his stomach at the thought that he actually voiced the idea that they call the cops. That he could have thought for even a second that Eddie was guilty.

He had pre-judged the other man in a way that he was honest to God embarrassed about after spending a couple of days with him. Even in the mess of being accused of a murder he didn’t commit and having the whole town on a man-hunt for him, Eddie had barely stopped smiling.

Whether it was a brave face for the kids or his own personal brand of coping with the horrors. Eddie Munson had laughed and joked his way through his ordeal.

It was refreshing, honestly. To not be constantly surrounded by Negative Nanc- uh.. People.. That always assumed the worst was about to happen.

Steve surmised that the mask Eddie wore probably was a brave face for the children considering how he noticed Eddie’s facade slipping more and more when he was alone with the other adults as opposed to in front of the younger tribe.

Either way, it was admirable. How he had gone out of his way to make sure the kids didn’t suffer more than they were already going to.

Eddie had laughed like a maniac and headbanged to the radio as Steve tore through the trailer park in their stolen vehicle. He had played with Dustin like they were kids while they were making their weapons. But when they had been alone in the boat and then later in the Upside Down, he had seen the terrified glint in the other man’s eyes. He had seen the jovial shield fall and the real Eddie come out in short bursts of anger and exaggerated, exasperated sighs.

He wasn’t laughing anymore now though. According to Dustin, he had let the mask fall completely.

Steve knew even when it was in place that the man was scared but he had put that aside for Dustin and the others.

Him, even.

Eddie had jumped into the fucking lake and swam into another Goddamn dimension to chase after Steve who he’d barely known and to be honest, only known at his worst before they were thrust together during that situation.

He wouldn’t have dove into the lake after Eddie. Hell, he wouldn’t have even lifted a finger to help find the dude if he wasn’t the only one that could drive.

If Nancy or Jonathan had been there to take the lead, he probably would have just stayed at work and gone home after until the kids could prove to him that the things that had happened were Upside Down related.

Eddie was a good dude with a heart of gold. If their conversation in the woods had been any indication of Eddie’s feelings towards him, the other man had realized in kind that perhaps he had misjudged Steve as well.

Eddie had said he wouldn’t have jumped into the lake to save his ass. But he did. Even if at the time it had just been because he knew the others, Dustin included, would be distraught to lose Steve... He still did it. Which was more than Steve could say he would have done for Eddie.

So, they were friends now.

Steve assured himself as Eddie pulled his pillows closer to himself to hide the corner of the novel he had sheepishly pushed under them and nodded for Steve to enter the room.

“Hey man.” He greeted, as casually as he was able while he made his way inside. “Who was that?” He asked after the woman that had just left, to try and break the ice. He jutted his thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the door and found himself unsurprised when Eddie didn’t answer.

Steve nodded to himself, slipping into the visitor chair that was usually occupied by Wayne. It sat him lower than Eddie’s bed. He hoped that worked for him. That knowing Eddie was able to physically look down upon him would help dispel any unease or frustration the other man had about Steve’s absence since ‘the accident’. He hoped that he appeared less intimidating from down there. He looked up at the other man with an expression that he hoped was friendly and maybe a little pathetic to boot.

He may not have a good grasp on how someone like Eddie was raised compared to himself but if he only knew one thing about the people he used to consider to be in a different social class to himself, it was that they liked it when he looked pathetic.

Eddie did look down at him but it was with wary eyes and a sense of sadness instead of the sharp glare he had been expecting. The brunette slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position. The awkward angle of the visitor chair made it far too hard to keep lying on his side if he was going to have a ‘conversation’.

Steve watched quietly as the other man moved. Eyes roaming over his face as his muscles strained to right himself shakily.

He was paler than Steve remembered. Although he hadn’t really spent too much time studying Eddie’s face during the events of late March. He seemed noticeably pale like Steve would clock it even if he had never met him before.

The dark circles around his eyes were obvious even behind the glasses and the raw scars visible on his cheeks and neck gave Steve a lot of answers to questions he didn’t need to ask.

Eddie definitely still needed to be here and he felt guilty for bitching about lying around and being brought 3 meals a day for the sake of the other man’s recovery. When one look at him told him that it had been hell.

He was still bruised in some places while Steve’s own bruising had long since healed. Although now that he was really looking, he wondered how many of those bruises were new. Brought about by rough care on fresh, tender skin.

He couldn’t see much of Eddie’s chest. His body was covered by the papery sort of hospital gown that he hadn’t been wearing since his first week.

He couldn’t tell if Eddie was too sick and sore to wear his normal clothes or if he wasn’t allowed to. Either way the hospital had more comfortable options than the sort of thin material that adorned Eddie’s body.

Steve had been complaining about the thick fabric gowns that didn’t have the back cut out.

Just one more thing for him to feel guilty about.

Eddie sat cross legged on the stiff mattress. Looking down at Steve and shifting under his gaze. The grimace-like smile on his face hadn’t shifted since he sat down made Eddie question the motives of ‘The King’s’ sudden appearance.

“So uh…” Steve began. Clearing his throat with a fist by his lips before he folded his hands in his lap. “Dustin said you don’t… Feel like talking right now?” He said as conversationally as he could manage. Pausing in the middle of his sentence to choose his words carefully and yet still managing to add an inflection on the end as if he was asking a question and expecting Eddie to answer.

Eddie shrugged softly, clenching his jaw at the action as his shoulder twinged in protest. He looked away from Steve, not able to take the strained eye contact any longer and instead focusing on a discolored spot on the arm of the chair.

“How’ve you been?” Steve asked suddenly despite the gnawing feeling in his gut telling him to leave it alone and change the subject. Despite knowing the other man wouldn’t answer even if he could.

He had every right to be angry. To tell Steve to shove it and never speak to any of them again.

Eddie wasn’t able to hide the roll of his eyes at the question. An indignant huff left his lips as he shook his head slightly in astonishment.

It had been weeks and he’d not heard from any of them.

Wayne had told Eddie when he first awoke that the person driving the car didn’t need any surgery and would be out of the hospital within a few days. So Eddie hadn’t found it that hard to justify the fact that Steve was probably out in the world trying to get his life back on track after everything that happened.

Finding out from Dustin that Steve had been forced to stay for longer to help their cover stories… It had been a low blow.

Not only had he only been a few rooms away the entire time Eddie had been suffering. But apparently Robin, Nancy and the rest of the younger crew had been visiting him the entire time to stave off his boredom.

Other than Dustin, not one of them had stopped in to visit Eddie.

The Kid had been hesitant to let that information slip. Obviously aware that it would hurt Eddie’s feelings.

He had brushed it off at the time. Acting like it didn’t hurt. But Eddie had been through something spectacularly life altering and he was lucky enough to have people that related to it. So when suddenly the only other people in the entire world that understood his plight weren't interested in being his friend, it kind of sucked.

A lot.

Like, a lot more than he could have ever anticipated.

It wasn’t like he could talk about the extra hurt with anyone either.

Literally or figuratively.

How exactly would that sound without the extra context of monsters, other dimensions and trauma bonding?

Hello Family, I know I didn’t contact either of you for the entire time I was on the run and I kind of let you think I was dead or at the very least, a cheater and a murderer to boot… BUT I made a bunch of new friends!! We had so much fun while you guys were suffering because you chose to love me but now I’m sad because even though you both spend every waking minute of your free time here with me… My new friends I barely know won’t visit me. :(

Wayne might actually think it was a funny turn of events. Especially if he worded it like that. But he could only imagine the look of betrayal on Karmen's face...

No, he’d rather be back with the bats.

Anyway, he supposed he should have expected this. None of the gang had really been interested in being his friend prior to the ordeal.

Robin was nice. They were in Band together and she had always been kind, even chosen to be his partner on a project in the past. But she had her own friends and hadn’t seemed interested in talking to him outside of that.

He understood.

He didn’t know what he had been thinking… Traipsing around in another world with these people and feeling for the first time in a long while that perhaps he was a part of something again. That beyond Wayne, Joey and Karmen, maybe there were good people out there that cared for him and would want to be his friends.

Real friends. His age. The kind of friends that he hung out with outside of DnD and on weekends. Friends that he could talk to about anything, not just the otherworldly horrors they had all experienced together.

He had a hunch that being the Town Pryer probably wouldn’t be so bad if he had some peers on his side to bat for him.

Bat…

He sighed internally. Dustin was the only one out of all of them that would always be willing to bat for him.

To go to bat-tle on his behalf.

I should have laughed at the kid’s joke.

Steve sat in silence as Eddie frowned at his own memories. Unsure if he had intentionally not answered the question or if he had been trying to decide how to respond and gotten lost somewhere in the past.

It was a bit of both but Steve would never know that as he opened his mouth to speak again and Eddie chose that moment to snap out of it. Huffing dramatically and crossing his arms over his chest in a juvenile way he was honestly embarrassed about but couldn’t help when he was feeling things like this.

He was frustrated. Exasperated. Resentful. But above all, hurt. Not necessarily by Steve specifically but his own silly brain for letting him believe for a hot second that he would just be welcomed into the group with open arms because they shared a spooky experience.

He may as well have let himself believe he was best friends with the gate attendant of the Haunted House carnival ride.

They had about as much in common as him and Steve.

“Sick scars Man.” Steve offered suddenly, pulling Eddie from his thoughts again and making him wonder exactly how long he had been silent for. “Very…” Steve paused, thinking. “Metal.” He said, remembering back to how Eddie had complimented him in The Upside Down.

Eddie looked to him tiredly, nodding once as an acknowledgement and a thank you before looking away again. He did appreciate the compliment. Also the fact that Steve had gone out of his way to use language that Eddie vibed with.

There’s no way Harrington would organically use ‘metal’ as an adjective.

He was trying.

“Chicks dig scars.” Steve continued, pushing it too far and making Eddie feel like he was being pandered to instead of understood. His eyes hit the ceiling once more and any sense of confidence Steve had begun to feel at the way Eddie reacted to his correct use of ‘metal’ faded away as he deflated in his seat. “I mean… I don’t know what I mean.” He admitted softly. Throwing his hands up as Eddie’s shoulders seemed to soften slightly at the confession. “I guess, I mean, I don’t know, don’t be like, worried about them or anything. I’ve never seen a woman balk at scars you know? If anything it’ll only help your game.” He joked as Eddie furrowed his brows.

Steve for sure wasn’t listening when they had been walking in the forest and he had mentioned wanting to get back to his girl after everything.

To be fair, he had worded it ambiguously. Partially because he wasn’t really saying it to have a conversation, it was just something he needed to voice aloud. But also partially due to the reaction of his actual friends in the Hellfire Club when he tried to tell them about her. It had scarred him and he didn’t feel like arguing with Harrington in the middle of the Upside Down about the fact that his girlfriend did exist.

He supposed he could have shown him her picture. But he doubted the one in his wallet would have been salvageable after diving into the lake. Not that he ever wanted anyone else to see Karmen in that light anyway. That polaroid was just for him. Although… He could have covered the indecent bits with his thumb.

“Especially when you become a rockstar.” Steve added, leaning forward as if he was divulging a secret. “If Dustin’s retelling of events is accurate, I hear you’re pretty damn good with a guitar.”

Eddie didn’t take the bait. He wanted to. So badly. It helped that he couldn’t verbally reply. Out there somewhere, in an alternate reality was a verbal Eddie that was rubbing it in Steve Harrington’s face that he was quite possibly, the best guitar player in all of Indiana.

But not today. Not this Eddie. This Eddie was silent and staring at his own feet under the covers in an effort to seem uncaring. Pretend like he wasn’t hurt and didn’t need or want an explanation from Steve on why he wasn't good enough to be a part of their little gang.

Steve’s shoulder slumped when Eddie didn’t reply. He didn’t really know what else to say to try and entice the other man into engaging with him.

Maybe he should just tell the truth? He considered as he studied Eddie’s sunken features. The man had been through the wringer. Steve and his friends may have saved Eddie’s life but what did that really matter if they’d only brought him back to silently suffer in a world he’d never see the same way again.

What was the point in dragging him out of The Upside Down if he was going to spend the rest of his life alone or at least lonely and full of traumas he could never talk about.

It would have been kinder to let him bleed out.

“Listen…” Steve began, not really sure how to continue while Eddie seemed to be physically closing himself off from conversation.

His arms were wrapped around himself and he was refusing to make eye contact. The icy glare Steve had expected when he first entered the room had arrived but it was directed at the mattress, not him.

That was a start.

“I um… I should have visited sooner.” Steve admitted softly, completely catching Eddie off guard. “I wanted to!” He continued eagerly, encouraged by the way Eddie’s face changed so suddenly from anger to curiosity. He still wasn’t looking but Steve was honestly glad for it because what he was about to say was going to feel humiliating even without eye contact. “It’s just that um…” He trailed off. A long sigh leaving his lips as Eddie all but twitched his ears expectantly like a dog that thought he’d heard his favorite word.

He stared at his feet, determined not to give Steve the satisfaction of having his attention as he waited with baited breath to hear the excuse he could practically feel sitting between them like a giant elephant with a neon sign that demanded him to look at it.

“It’s just that…” Steve started again, trailing off once more and causing Eddie’s inner monologue to become one long, frustrated screech. His eye twitching slightly as he ripped his vision from his own feet and finally looked at Steve in a way that screamed:

SPIT IT OUT!!

The other man took the hint, unnerved by the sharpness of Eddie’s gaze as he shrunk under it. His hands wringing together in his lap as he spoke.

“It’s just that I didn’t know if you– wanted to be my friend?” He confessed sheepishly, the end of his question a cluttered mumble of words that blended into one another but Eddie got the gist. His mouth falling open brazenly in surprise.

Oh…

He thought simply. Staring at the other man as his expression became unreadable and he sat with the new information for a moment.

He hadn’t considered that.

That maybe Steve “The King” Harrington would be just as confused about where they stood after their escapades in The Upside Down.

That Eddie was… right?

That High School popularity and pecking order didn’t actually extend to the real world and it took leaving High School to fully realize that.

That this wasn’t High School.

That social class didn’t dictate who people were allowed to associate with…

That Steve was not better than him.

That maybe, Eddie wanting to be friends with Steve didn’t mean that by default Steve was the one that got to decide if they were friends or not.

That maybe, the ball had been in Eddie’s court all along.

Shit…

Steve swallowed nervously, his hands graduating from wringing together to rubbing the fabric of his polo between his thumbs and fingers as he looked away from Eddie with pursed lips and wished the floor would open up and swallow him whole.

Eddie still wasn’t saying anything.

This was a mistake.

He’d misjudged the situation. Of course Eddie hadn’t been wondering the entire time why Steve hadn’t shown his face. Of course he wasn’t angry that Steve hadn’t been around and was instead annoyed that he’d shown up at all and ruined his peace.

Of course Eddie had a bunch of friends already and didn’t need Steve encroaching on that just because they’d spent a few days together in a traumatic situation.

His friendship with Robin had skewed his sense of reality and how these things normally work. He was lucky she had chosen to stick around with him after Scoops and didn’t go back to her regular life.

People didn’t really just become super close friends with someone out of nothing despite not having much in common.

The kids were already friends before their lives were turned upside down. He and Nancy had been dating. He already knew and mostly got along with the kids from that. Jonathan already knew the kids just by being Will’s brother but then he started dating Nancy and basically took his place… But they were all running in the same circles and had enough in common with at least one other person in the group to keep them all spending time together.

Robin was the exception and while he was glad every day that she was still his friend, it wasn’t usual.

Hell he didn’t really have any friends besides Robin anymore did he? If friends could be made that easily one would think he would have more of them.

He had thought Eddie hated him up until he’d called him a ‘good dude’ in the forest.

He wasn’t sure why he’d thought being perceived as a good dude was the same thing as wanting to… What? Hang out on the weekends? Talk shit about life, love and bro things he couldn’t force out of his mouth in front of the girls or the kids?

“Sorry.” Steve said suddenly. Staring at the ground. His hands clasped together tightly in between his knees.

Eddie looked up at that. Staring for a few seconds as he tried to work out what he was sorry for. He squinted in confusion as he watched Steve sit up straight and place his hands on his knees like he was about to push himself up.

No!

Eddie exclaimed internally. Realizing in that moment how it must have looked when he just went silent and spent God only knows how long in his head instead of answering the question.

Stop! Don’t go!

He tried to convey, leaning towards the edge of the bed and reaching as far towards Steve as his body would allow. Gesturing with a flat hand for him to stop and holding the other man in place without actually touching him.

Once he was sure Steve wasn’t going to move, the other man staring up at him all doe eyed with creases in his brow; Eddie took his hand away. He reached for the book on his nightstand, flipping it open and sliding glossy pages roughly through his fingers as he looked for what he wanted.

He found it, sighing in relief and holding out the open book out for Steve to take.

Eddie had decided what he was going to do with the ball and he was handing it to Steve to put in the laundry basket thingy because he knew he would never make the shot. Besides, they worked better as a team.

Steve took the book hesitantly, confused by what it even was as he pulled it into his lap and studied the pictures on the page.

He looked back up at Eddie, ready to ask what he was looking at before realizing he was making a gesture with his hands. His index fingers hooked together before he let go and rehooked them, giving each hand a turn on top.

Steve’s brows raised in understanding as he looked back down at the page on his knees. Unconsciously pointing to the picture that matched the sign Eddie had made.

“Friend.” Steve read. The corners of his lips beginning to quirk. “Looks like your fingers are giving each other a hug.” He smiled, reading the description and looking back up to Eddie who dropped his hands to his lap, shoulders losing tension at the smile on Steve’s face. He nodded simply, smiling back but unsure where to go from there.

Steve had thrown the ball through the basket but Eddie didn’t really know how to play basketball. He was much better at words and metaphors.

“So, will you be my friend?” Steve asked earnestly, needing the confirmation that he was understanding and accidentally sounding a lot more like a five year old than he had intended as Eddie cocked his head at the question.

It took a second for his brain to catch up to his ears but when it did, the absurdity of the situation hit him all at once and he found himself laughing aloud.

A good, hearty laugh that startled even himself as he slapped a hand over his mouth in response. He stared wide eyed at Steve who was equally wide eyed and mouthed. Eddie had let forth a quick bark of laughter here and there but he hadn’t laughed like that since before.

Actually, since they were tearing through the Trailer Park in Marueen’s house.

It felt good to laugh. But was entirely inappropriate for the situation at hand.

“Did you just laugh at me?” Steve asked in disbelief as Eddie shook his head vehemently, ignoring the searing pain in his neck from the repeated motion. “You did!” Steve argued, his tone lighthearted as he shook his head in mock exasperation. The giant grin on his face giving away that he wasn’t actually mad. “I ask you to be my friend and you laugh at me?” He asked incredulously, placing Eddie’s book back on the nightstand and leaning back in his chair. “Honestly.” He huffed for dramatic flair.

A silence fell between them and Steve continued to shake his head playfully. A sniff from Eddie making his head snap up in horror, thinking he had upset him. Before realizing the bastard wasn’t crying.

He was still laughing.

His eyes were closed, hand clamped over his mouth so tight his fingers were digging into his injured cheek. His shoulders shook as he tried hard to stifle it. Opening his teary eyes and locking them with Steve’s deadpan expression tipped him over the edge as he gave up on being quiet.

He let his hand fall away as another hearty laugh left his lips at the ridiculousness of it all. Doubling over as the wounds on his chest stung and his belly burned from not being able to take a proper breath.

Of all the things he’d expected to happen to him in ‘86, he would have confidently put ‘Steve Harrington asking him verbatim to be his friend’ below witnessing a murder, being wanted for said murder, discovering monsters exist and finally, almost being eaten alive by said monsters.

Maybe Steve wanting to be his friend was a little more believable than him finding a girlfriend that loved and cared for him but that happened in ‘85 so really, it didn’t count.

“Do you want to be my friend or not you Bastard?” Steve asked through a chuckle. Eddie’s laughter was the only infectious thing in this place that could make him smile.

Eddie nodded definitively. His own grin that stretched his cheek scars a little too tightly played on his lips as he looked over at Steve and nodded once more to be extra certain he had seen.

Yeah Harrington, I really do.

“Great.” Steve responded simply, happy to finally have one of his long standing anxieties melt away with a positive outcome. “Henderson is going to have a field day with this.” ~~ More Notes: I just want to point out that while I do mention a couple of times later in the series that Eddie doesn’t have any friends or he/Karmen actually says he doesn’t have any friends, that it has never been true. It’s not about whether he physically has friends or not but his perception that he doesn’t. He basically has strong imposter syndrome and struggles to feel like one of the gang despite them ensuring him that he is. He doesn’t reach out to them when he should and they kind of take it as him distancing himself on purpose when in reality he’s got that RSD bad and I hope I conveyed well here that Steve does too. Both during this story and in the future they’re both as scared of being rejected as each other but Steve has other friends he believes love him whereas Eddie puts all of the gang (bar Dustin) in the same box and doesn’t trust any of them not to hurt him, especially when he’s at his worst mentally and struggling to even trust that Wayne loves him.

Part 11

Read the rest of the series here :)

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