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corrodedseraphine · 1 year

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kiss me | one shot

pairing: steve harrington x fem!reader

summary: Your friend is desperately trying to find a person who will give him something more. Wanting to feel what it's like to be loved again and after many failed dates he gets the idea that it's time to go back to King Steve's famous tactics. Telling him that it's not the best idea gets you involved in a deal where you have to help him get another girl. Will helping the boy you're in love with turn out to be a good idea? Probably not. angst/fluff/smut (or an attempt to write one), steve and reader both are love-starved, friends to lovers

TW: mentions of killing, injuries after Upside Down and Vecna visions

the one shot is also avaliable on ao3

9 550 words

I got inspired while listening to "Kiss me" by Ed Sheeran

steve harrington masterlist | general masterlist

So, this is my first smut EVER. I am really sorry if it's bad and please don't hate me. I am so nervous right now 😭 but if you don't like it it's fine, you can tell me, don't be afraid to share your thoughts, maybe some tips or something.

"Hi Stephanie!" Steve's excited voice made you roll your eyes and walk off into the other end of Family Video.

"Hi Steve." the girl giggled as she approached the counter. The former captain of the Hawkins High cheerleaders was still in shape. Everyone said her athletic career had progressed at a killer speed after she went to college.

"What brings you to us this time?" he asked with a broad smile while leaning on the counter with his hands.

"I wanted to rent a flim." she said.

"Right, after all, that's just what you came here for." he laughed nervously, feeling embarrassed. When they had taken care of all the paperwork she thanked him and wanted to head for the exit, but Steve called her over. "Hey, I uh-I thought maybe you'd like to go to the movies this weekend?" he asked.

"Maybe next time." She replied and left.

"You're pathetic." Robin commented while looking at everything.

"I don't understand, she comes here almost every day, she gives the impression that she likes me, and when I ask her out she still refuses, I can't even remember which time it is!" he replied exasperatedly banging his head on the counter.

"Steve and Stephanie? That sounds disgusting. You should let it go, apparently she's not interested in you."

"There's no way I'm going to let go!" he looked in her direction. "I know what I'll do, from now on when she comes I'll ignore her or... make her jealous! It always worked in high school."

"Do I have to remind you once again that the King Steve era was the worst in your entire life? You were a very bad person Steve. I won't let you fall by the wayside like that again."

"King Steve at least didn't complain about being lonely," he rolled his eyes. When you heard him you snorted with laughter and his angry gaze landed on you. "You think it's funny?"

"You really think ignoring her or making her jealous is the only good way?" you asked, crossing your arms over your chest.

"Do you see anything else working?" he pointed with his hand toward the door.

"I'll enjoy watching your wonderful plan turn out to be one big failure." You smirked.

"Okay, lady 'I know everything about love'." He pointed a finger at you. "Since you're so confident help me! Help me get Stephanie."

"Why are you so desperate Steve? Besides, what's in it for me?" You raised your eyebrows trying to mask the surprise caused by his proposal.

"The awareness that you are a good friend?" he shrugged his shoulders ignoring the first question.

"If you succeed I want you to take all the evening shifts for me in January." made the condition.

"Deal. How are you going to do it?" he rested his hands on his hips and fixed his gaze on you.

"First of all, you certainly won't pretend that you don't care, King Steve is dead and his hopeless tactics too. You need to get over it." You said walking over to the computer. "Now we'll search the base and see what movies she has rented recently, you'll have to watch them, and next time she comes try not to make an idiot of yourself and talk to her about them. If you do well, she should finally agree to a date."

"And during the date, what would I have to do?"

"Plan a date, and take me out on Saturday, I'll see what you'll have to work on. Saturday night we'll go for it, I'll see what you'll have to work on. Of course, with me it won't be anything serious, just a little test version of your official one with Stephanie."

"Sounds... reasonable." he commented after a moment of thought.

Was the idea a bad one? Yes. Will this idea end very painfully for you? Yes. Was going on a fake date with a boy you had a crush on for a long time a good thing? Definitely not.

Your relationship with Steve was close from the very beginning when you started working with him and Robin at Scoops Ahoy. Your friendship developed very quickly, and everything between you grew even closer when you had to save the world from the Upside Down together. You were there for each other whenever you needed it. You were laughing together, crying together, being there for each other during your worst nightmares and sleepless nights. You took turns sitting by Max and Eddie's side in the hospital watching and waiting for them to wake up.

The first time the Russians got you, he was your shield. Without a second thought, he always threw himself in front of you to protect you from evil. You returned the favor when Vecna almost caught him in his grasp. When Nancy and Robin told you that music could snap someone out of a Vecna's trance you spent the whole night recording tapes for each of your friends. Terrified at the thought that anything could happen to them, you had to be sure you were prepared for any possibility at any time. From then on, you always made sure to have your walkman and tapes with you. It happened the night just after Eddie and Max were hospitalized.

Steve, bereaved in remorse that he failed to save them, became an easy target for Henry. Fortunately, as soon as you noticed that the lights were starting to blink you grabbed your little emergency kit and quickly ran to the room he was in. Seeing his eyes slowly roll back up you quickly tried to put on headphones and played music for him. Begging him to come back you watched in horror as he slowly began to float above the ground.

"They are dead." said Vecna approaching Steve, who was standing right next to the hospital bed on which Max was lying. "They are dead because of you. You did nothing to save them."

"Bullshit, they're alive! They're still fighting!" Not knowing where the sound was coming from, he started pacing around the room trying to locate him.

"Their hearts are still beating, but not for long, and that, Steve, will be your fault. And it's not over. Next will be Dustin, Robin, Nancy..." he began to list the names of everyone he cared about. He knew perfectly well that Steve was willing to die for his family. "At the very end it will be y/n. Poor thing will never forgive herself for not saving you. Devastated with a broken heart, she won't even resist me."

"Shut up!" Steve shouted. He was terrified, but didn't want to let it show. Then he felt someone put a hand on his shoulder. Feeling the sinister breathing straight at his neck he did a quick dodge and ran out of the room. Then the sounds of his favorite song reached him and his vision was swept by the image of your distraught face.

"Come back to me Steve, I beg you, come back." you were desperate. "Henry! Vecna! Come get me! Take me but leave him alone!" you started shouting hoping for a miracle. You couldn't lose him. The group would not be able to cope without its greatest protector.

"Do you see how desperate she is? She'll do anything to save you. Everything." Henry whispered in his ear again And began to move closer. When Steve realized what was happening he began to run again. He ran as fast as he ever ran in his life. He ran straight towards you.

The next thing he remembered was falling hard to the floor and you taking him in your arms. Still terrified, you checked and made sure nothing had happened to him.

Reassuring that Max and Eddie were still breathing and their hearts were beating, you returned with him to his house. You insisted that you would not leave him alone after that. To his bedroom you brought two radios into which you put the tapes. When Steve noticed that you didn't make a tape for yourself he took care of it the same day you told them about it. If something bad happened to either of you during the night all you had to do was press play. Leaving the bedside lamp on, you lay down in bed.

"Thank you." he said quietly looking up at the ceiling.

"You're welcome." you replied turning your head toward him.

"Thank you for saving me and for being here." he sighed.

"I'm your friend, Steve. I will never leave you." With your pinky finger you grabbed his making a silent promise.

"He said that Eddie and Max... that what happened to them was my fault, that the next one would be Dustin and Robin, and you. And it will all be my fault." his voice was beginning to break. The very thought that he might lose you was unbearable. And the fact that Henry could be right and it could be his fault did not allow him to breathe calmly. He had to do everything to protect the ones he loves.

"Steve he just wants to mess with your head. He wants to take an advantage of how much you care about all of us. Eddie and Max are alive, they'll be fine soon. None of us will die. We won't let that happen." you said, and your words made him look at you with his eyes full of tears. "Come here Steve." you opened your arms. He immediately took his place between them. "You can close your eyes, you can lay down to sleep." you were whispering. "That's what I'm here for, so that you don't have to be afraid at all." Your warmth, the rhythm of your beating heart and the fact you were gently stroking his hair with one hand lulled him to sleep. That night for the first time, holding him in your arms, you admitted that your feelings toward him were not purely friendly.

Several months have passed since Vecna was defeated, Max and Eddie have recovered and the Byers have returned to Hawkins. All of you tried to move on with your lives despite all the tarumatic experiences. Steve threw himself into dating again, which meant he didn't have much time to spend weekends in your company anymore. Every time he talked about his failed dates you felt like leaving the room. Jealousy was eating you up from the inside because you knew you would never get your chance. This time, however, you might have gotten something similar.

Waiting for your fake date with Steve, you sat staring out the window nervously shaking your leg. Snow covered all of Hawkins, Christmas decorations added to the town's charm, despite the fact that it still hadn't fully recovered from its downfall.

Finally, in front of your house you saw the familiar BMW. You walked outside, and Steve got out of the car at the same moment. In his hand he held a small rose.

"I know this isn't a real date, but I figured that if we're going to pretend we're on one today we need to get into character well." he explained "You can also take this as a thank you for your help" He smiled slightly.

"T-thank you." You said swallowing with difficulty. You quickly went back home to put the flower in the vase and returned to your friend. Feeling increasingly nervous the whole way, you didn't say a word.

"So, I thought we'd start here." he said when you arrived at your destination. "We both like sports, and the ice rink will probably come out to be a good place for a first date?" he asked opening the door for you. You were beginning to hate yourself for getting involved in this. Cursing yourself in your mind, you nodded your head and muttered that the idea was very good for them.

"I don't think we've fully thought it all through..." you sighed as you approached the rink.

"Why?" he looked at you. His honey-colored eyes watched your face which was getting redder and redder. Fortunately, you could blame it on the cold.

"That's a good idea, Steve, for real. But you won't practice it with me."

"What's going on?" Now his surprise turned into worry.

"I don't know how to ice skate." you admitted. "I've never tried."

"And that's supposed to be a problem?" he grinned. "You've fought monsters from another dimension and you're afraid to go onto the ice rink?"

"Shut up, Harrington." You hissed embarrassed by this situation.

"Come on, I'll teach you." He grabbed your hand.

Over time, you stopped counting your falls. At first with each one you felt like getting off the rink and going back to the car when you felt other people's eyes on you, but hearing Steve's laughter you finally relaxed a bit and started laughing at the situation too. You stood face to face with Steve and all the while he held you by both hands wanting to help you balance. When you made a little progress he took a position next to you, but still held your hand. In this way you slowly rode around. Your fingers loosely intertwined with each other were definitely consuming too much of your attention. Lost in your own thoughts, you couldn't keep up with what he was saying to you. You only heard single words. Stephanie. Date. I care. University. Sports. Basketball match. Everything merged into one big noise when, and despite the cold, the touch of his hand made you hot.

"Are you even listening to me?" he asked stopping you suddenly.

"Yes! I am sorry." you said feeling ashamed that you let your feelings take control of you so easily.

"Are you sure you're okay? You seem off." he squeezed your hand tighter wanting to let you know that he is here for you if you need it.

Nothing is okay. It's not okay because I want this date to be real, to mean as much to you as it does to me. You thought. Unfortunately, no matter how much you wanted to, you couldn't tell him. "Yes, I zooned out a little, sorry. Can you repeat that?" you replied instead.

"I thought if the first date worked out I'd invite Stephanie to Lucas' game before she goes back to college. You guys will be there too, so she'll get to know you at once if something more serious were to come out of it," he said.

"Good idea." you forced yourself to smile. If something more serious were to come out of it. This day will definitely test your limits.

After the ice rink, he took you out for pizza at your favorite restaurant. He stated that he would also like to take Stephanie here and kept asking if it was really a good idea, what he should order and which table you thought was best to reserve. With pain you answered his questions trying with all your might not to die of jealousy at the very thought of how Stephanie was going to become part of everything you shared together. When he finally exhausted this topic you started talking about something else. Then the atmosphere immediately changed. The stress and nerves disappeared as you joked together and talked about everything that didn't involve his date. Work, school, kids, what to do to make Robin finally dare to take a step towards Vicky, quite as if the distance between you had not happened for the last few months. You were close again. Again you were friends who have no secrets from each other and feel comfortable together. Sitting in front of you was Steve, who was sorely missing from your life. Who completed it like a missing piece of the puzzle.

The last part of the date was to watch a movie at his house. Since he had to watch the ones she rented anyway, he decided that the two of you could do it together. You sat on two opposite ends of the couch, and he put a bowl of popcorn between you.

"I can't believe I'm going to have to pretend I liked it." he groaned as the closing credits appeared on the screen.

"I must admit she doesn't have very good taste when it comes to this..." you sent him a disgusted look.

"It was awful. At this point I don't think he wants to watch any more, Jesus, how can anyone like something like that?" he shuddered.

"I have no idea, Steve." You laughed seeing his reaction.

"Look how much snow has fallen over this time." He changed the subject by walking up to the window. When you looked out through it indeed the layer of snow was getting bigger and bigger. All the roads were covered.

"I wonder how I will get home now." you said more to yourself.

"You can stay here. I'll drop you off in the morning as they clear the streets of snow." he replied. The suggestion made your heart beat faster.

"That won't be a problem?" you asked quietly.

"You used to sleep here almost every day, why would it suddenly be a problem now?" Right. After all, it was only your feelings that had changed toward him. To Steve, you were still just a friend.

"Okay." You sighed without taking your eyes off the falling wafers of snow. "So what are we going to do?"

"Definitely not watching this crap. If I'm going to die tonight it won't be from boredom, I'd rather freeze outside already." You laughed. Selfishly you held on to a spark of joy that he had found one flaw in the perfect Stephanie. And even if it was just her taste in movies, you were glad that something existed at all.

"We can do something about it." You said getting up from the couch. "Dress warmly Harrington. Let's go build a snowman."

"What?" he asked surprised. He couldn't remember the last time he had done something like that. Surely it was a very long time ago when his parents remembered they had a son.

"You heard me, come on!" he shouted coming out of the house. "See the one the Willsons made?" you pointed to the house across from you as he joined you.

"Yeah."

"We'll piss them off. Ours will be much bigger and cooler."

You spent the next hour and a half making big snowballs, feeling like you were carefree teenagers again. It was as if a few years of your life had not slipped away in the eternal struggle for survival. The snowman actually came out much larger than his neighbors one. Instead of the usual and boring scarf and hat, you put on him Steve's old sunglasses and an old plastic crown that he once got for the title of prom king. Around his neck you hung a gold tinsel. You mutually agreed that he was definitely the coolest snowman around. While Steve was still admiring him you moved away from him and formed a small snowball in your hands.

"Hey Harrington! Watch out!" you shouted and the snowball directly hit his shoulder.

"Do you have any idea what you just did?" he asked pretending to be offended. "You started a war!" seeing him running in your direction you started to run away. You were chasing each other all over the yard and throwing snowballs, when at one point he chased you into a dead end and you had no way to escape anymore, he jumped towards you knocking you both over a thick layer of snow on the ground. Your noses were almost touching and the amused smiles disappeared from your faces when you realized how close you were to each other. Steve, not knowing what that strange feeling in his chest was, began to look at you. Your eyes didn't take their eyes off him, your slightly wind-tangled hair that was sticking out from under your hat now spread out in the snow, your nose and cheeks reddened from the cold and running. His gaze stopped at your parted lips as you quickly tried to catch your breath, not knowing if it was through fatigue or his proximity that was causing breathing problems.

"You look... beautiful today." he said quietly, not knowing where it came from. You being in even more shock did not answer. After a moment, he grunted, stood up and then helped you. "I'm sorry." he said quietly.

"Nothing happened." you replied nervously.

"Let's go inside."

Without a word you followed him in. Inside, he gave you your clothes to change into, which you had left during the times you stayed here more often. To your surprise he didn't throw them away and still kept them in his closet. The rest of the evening passed for you in a nervous atmosphere. It was as if that moment had changed something between you. At night you didn't sleep a wink staring at the warm flame bursting from the fireplace in the Harringtons' living room, wallowing in your thoughts and heartbreak. At the same time, Steve, lying in his bed, could not fall asleep either, still rewinding in his mind the situation when you were lying in the snow. Why did he feel so strange when he was close to you? And why did he want to feel that way again?

Monday was your day off from work. You wanted to spend it similarly to Sunday, that is, feeling sorry for yourself and your stupid crush on your friend and lying on the couch staring aimlessly at the TV. You were dozing off when you were suddenly roused by the loud sound of the phone.

"Guess who just made a date with Stephanie!" Steve's excited voice rang out from the receiver.

"I don't know...Robin?" you said sarcastically sighing. You wanted to enjoy his happiness but unfortunately it was harder than you thought.

"Ha, ha. Not funny." You could imagine him rolling his eyes now. "It needs to be celebrated, can you come to my place on Saturday? Robin will too." You didn't answer the first time. You began to wonder if you'd be able to last a few hours listening to him admiring her and still pretend to be happy about it. "y/n? you there?" he asked after a while.

"Yes, Steve, I am here." you replied quietly.

"Will you come? Please, we'll be able to talk more details about the date."

"Fine." you agreed. No matter how much it hurt you, you couldn't refuse him.

Thus, after a whole week of pretending that everything was fine and you didn't at all feel like screaming every time you heard Stephanie's name, you walked straight into the lion's den.

"Hi!" he said smiling broadly as he opened the door for you. "Robin called that she couldn't come, so that means more wine for us." He shrugged his shoulders and walked toward the kitchen. You, meanwhile, took off your jacket and went to the living room to sit on the couch. The absence of your friend did not help you at all. After a while, Steve returned to the room with two glasses and way to expensive wine that belonged to his mother. It had to be admitted that Mrs. Harrington had the best taste when it came to wines. "Do you remember the movies we didn't wanted to watch back then?" he asked, placing everything on the coffee table.

"I remember, but I would rather not." you laughed, thus adopting a mask that was supposed to convince him that everything was fine.

"Huh, me too..." he began pouring wine. "But I accidentally lied that I watched them and that I liked them a lot, so I have to get through the rest to at least know about what I'm lying about." he rolled his eyes and sat down next to you on the couch.

"May the wine numb the pain." you said dramatically and took a big sip.

"May the wine numb the pain." he repeated after you, unaware that you were talking about two different kinds of pain.

You watched everything laughing out loud at every hopeless situation that was happening on the screen. The more wine, the more your comments were chaotic and stupid. At first you hated how great you felt in his company, but later you came to an agreement with yourself that you would end up with a broken heart anyway. It was inevitable. Therefore, you decided to give yourself over to the moment and let yourself enjoy the last moments of joy in his company. Two movies later, when you were halfway through the second bottle of wine Steve gave up.

"Next time I'll call Eddie for the strongest shit he has. Maybe that will allow me to get through the rest." he laughed while refilling another portion for you. Then the phone rang. Harrington somewhat wobbly walked over to answer it.

"Helllloooo?" His state amused you. "Well, Dustin, I am not DRUNK. Okay maybe a little...What do you want? Can't this wait until tomorrow? Jesus, fine! Wait a second-" he hung up the receiver. "Who normal at this hour I need some stupid radio? This kid is going to end me," he started whining to himself and slowly walked up the stairs. Hearing all sorts of cursing and sounds suggesting that he was looking for something in his closet you wanted to go help him but after a while you gave up on that idea. Instead, you took your glass and moved to the soft, fluffy carpet that lay in front of the fireplace. The quiet sound of cracking wood and the warmth of the flames that gently warmed your skin were very calming. Taking the opportunity that the wine had effectively silenced all the voices in your head and it was now completely quiet there, you closed your eyes letting yourself have that moment of relaxation. It didn't last too long because after a while Steve came back downstairs, replied to Dustun that he didn't have what he needed, hung up and joined you on the rug.

"Were you cold?" he asked.

"No, I let myself feel luxurious for a while." You laughed quietly still not opening your eyes. Little did you know that at that moment Steve couldn't take his eyes off you. A warm orange color fell over your face, your cheeks slightly reddened from alcohol or heat. Maybe from both. Then he remembered what you looked like at that moment when you were both lying in the snow. He had always found you attractive, but in that moment, for the first time in his life, the word beautiful popped into his mind as he looked at you. Surrounded by sharp white, on which was reflected the red of your face caused by the frost. Now, for contrast, a pleasant dim orange made you look equally beautiful. So beautiful that he didn't want to look away.

"Are you okay?" you asked when you opened your eyes and noticed that he was looking at you.

"Yes, sorry," he abashedly turned his head toward the fire. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Have you ever... been in love?" he asked and quickly took a sip of wine.

"Yeah, I think I was..." you replied doing the same. "I think we both were. But as they say, first love always has to break your heart."

"Despite everything... I'm grateful for it." He smiled slightly. "I gained a friend that night."

The night Nancy broke up with Steve was the one that also foreshadowed the end of your relationship with Jonathan. When he left you alone at that party to take care of Nancy, Steve found you crying in the garden. Even then you knew it was over. You spent the whole night talking about how awfully hopeless love is and drinking away your sorrows, until finally you both fell asleep in the back of his car.

"In that case, let's drink to a brutally painful first love." You raised your glass toward him and he clinked his own gently against yours.

"You once asked why I was so desperate..." he began, not knowing why he wanted to talk about it just now. He felt all his boundaries and limits disappear. "I go on dates all the time, hoping that I'll finally meet someone who really cares about me... And every time I hit a wall because every girl I see only wants King Steve. At first it didn't bother me because the sex is usually good, but there came a point when I wanted something more... " he sighed. "Unfortunately none of them were interested in more."

"You at least go on dates." When you said this sentence out loud it sounded much more pathetic than you thought.

"And you don't?" he asked puzzled. "I thought you just didn't want to talk about it."

"Unfortunately my friend, my soulmate is probably dead." You said with a slight wince, wanting to turn it all into a joke.

"When you were with Jonathan... did you feel loved?" he changed the subject.

"I think in the beginning yes... later it was all one-sided. And you?"

"Exactly the same. But those small moments, when I really thought she loved me... I'd like to feel it again. I would like to feel that someone loves me." His voice was filled with sadness and loneliness, the pain you felt in your heart at that moment caused something you would never have expected from yourself.

"I love you, Steve." you said without thinking. Only when his eyes met yours did you realize what you had done. "As a friend-" you continued panicked but had no time to finish because he silenced you with a kiss. The first four words that left your lips acted on him like a charm he couldn't resist. It hit him straight in the heart making some invisible force draw him to you. At first in shock you didn't know what to do. Your brain told you to move away from him until it wasn't too late, but your heart started beating so fast and loud that it effectively deafened the bastard. You quickly put the glass down on the floor and reciprocated the kiss.

"I love you too..." he breathed out feeling still enchanted. "We both love each other, even if as friends, it's still love right?" You couldn't keep up with his train of thoughts, so you didn't answer anything waiting for him to elaborate. "We both want to feel loved again... Maybe we can help each other with that? Just tonight, this one night before everything goes back to normal, let's help each other feel loved." he was desperate. He had a feeling that if your lips were not on his again in the next few minutes he would explode.

"Yes." you whispered. In that moment, you didn't care about anything. Your wildest dreams could come true tonight, and no matter how devastated you might be afterwards, you accepted the risk. It was worth it.

When your lips found each other again Steve pulled you on top of him you put your arms on his chest. You could feel his heart beating as fast and as strong as yours.

"I love you, Steve." you said as you moved your lips to his neck, kissing each of his moles.

"I love you, y/n" he moaned in your ear.

His large hands slid under your shirt, he gently squeezed your waist pressing you even closer. Through his too-fitting jeans you felt how hard he was. And it was all because of you. Not Stephanie. Not anyone else. Only and only you. Even if the setting of the whole situation was fiction, you let it fool you. That night, you were a fool who rushed headlong toward your doom without a thought. Not wanting your overthinking to destroy the moment, you decided to lose yourself in it even more. With a quick movement you took off his polo and threw it to the other end of the room. In front of you appeared numerous scars, reminders of the last years of the nightmare you lived in. You looked at each one in turn, touching them gently with your fingers and then leaving small kisses on them. Steve watched in shock and somewhat mesmerized as, despite the nasty imperfections, your eyes were still filled with adoration. He didn't know how you did it, but he could feel love in every brush of your fingertips. He felt what he was missing so much. He wanted to return the favor, which is why, after a while, your t-shirt joined his lying on the floor. You straightened up giving him access to your neck which he immediately began kissing like possessed. When you quietly whispered his name, he felt as if you had cast another spell on him, much stronger. He quickly found your lips again, and your hands sank into his hair. Once again he returned to your neck this time seeking further and not stopping. When his lips passed your collarbone line his hands began slipping the straps from your bra placing kisses along the cup. Unable to stand any longer you got rid of it completely, leaving nothing left on your top.

"Beautiful." he mouthed enthralled by the view and, like you, began to familiarize himself with every visible scar on your body. At one point he pressed you tightly against him and turned you so that you were now the one underneath him. Your heart was beating like crazy against his bare chest. His lips wandered over your body leaving behind whispers of single words of admiration and little I love yous. He felt like he was made to keep your body warm. As his honey eyes met yours, both of you could see in them desperation and desire mixed with the huge amount of tenderness you shamelessly poured out on each other.

Feeling him rubbing against you, you began to unbuckle the waistband of his pants and with his little help you got rid of them including his boxers. Still, you didn't dare touch him there yet, still waiting for his next move, which was to get rid of yours. Now he was lying down next to you, and without waiting a moment longer you found his lips. His hand from your cheek traveled all over your body stopping at the softly soaked material of your panties.

"Steve..." you said between kisses. "Please." You lifted your hips to make it easier for him to remove the last layer that separated you. As his hand returned to that spot making circles you pressed your hand to your lips to stop the sounds of pleasure.

"Baby..." he said slowing down. "Let me hear you. I want to hear you." Then he slipped one finger inside you, and with his thumb he continued to massage the point above your entrance. "I love you, I love the sounds you make, the way you say my name, let me hear that you love me, that you love what I do with you." In that moment, he felt as if he was losing his mind. What was happening between the two of you was something new. Steve had felt many things in his life, almost everything from hate to love to lust to truth, but that was nothing compared to what he felt now lying with you on the rug in front of the fireplace. The warmth not only surrounded your bodies, because your souls and hearts were also on fire. When his name resounded again with your voice he added another finger speeding up as his lips found your nipple.

"I love you, Steve." you said a moment before a wave of pure pleasure swept through you. You tightened your thighs around his hand but a moment later released it with a shuddering breath. Opening your eyes slowly still feeling drugged you felt you needed more. You knew that this was your only chance to be this close to him, so you had to take as much of it as possible. Without waiting a moment longer you pulled him towards you so that he was over you again.

"This is perfect, honey. So damn perfect." he himself had trouble catching his breath. He quickly reached for his pants, took the wallet out of his pocket and the condom out of it. Once he had dealt with everything, he focused all his attention on you again. Slowly running his hand along the length of your arm grabbed yours and kissed the top of it. Later he intertwined your fingers and slowly placed both of them over your head.

"Can I-" he asked looking straight into your eyes. And you just nodded your head affirmatively not letting him to finish the sentence. "Say it again, please." His voice faltered as he began to slowly filling you with himself.

"I love you, Steve. I love you so much." A single tear escaped your eye, which he quickly kissed away.

The goal was achieved. That night for the first time you both felt loved like you had never felt before. That's why when it was all over Steve pulled you close and hugged you tightly you didn't move from your spot fearing that you would spoil another beautiful moment between you.

"Can we pretend for a few more hours? Please?" he asked when his breathing calmed down.

"I love you, Steve." you repeated once again giving him confirmation that you agree.

"I love you too." He replied and without bothering too much about getting dressed again you simply went to his room to fall asleep cuddled up together. At that moment Steve Harrington was your safety and you were his. Thinking back to a few months ago when you lay in that bed and realized your feelings for your friend, you tried to catch the last moments of peace and warmth you felt when your bodies were entwined. Steve, still enchanted by everything you had discovered together today, with a slight smile, were laying stroking your skin. Thoughts popped into his head saying that this feels like falling in love, but being convinced that it was just the effect of fatigue, wine and all of the the emotions you had passed on to each other instead of saying something he kissed you on the forehead and fell asleep.

During Christmas you did not see each other, and when it was time to return to work neither of you brought up the subject of that night. Both of you tried to pretend that what happened between you didn't matter and everything was as it was. Steve tried to ignore the shivers that ran through him when by chance your hands met when you reached for the videotapes. You tried not to show that in your head you constantly heard every I love you that he said to you that day. You tried to hide the pain you felt at the thought that none of it was real, and Steve had to restrain himself from admitting how empty he felt now in his bed without feeling your presence there anymore.

The day after Christmas his desired date with Stephanie took place but he didn't say a word about how it was. You, not wanting to strike a blow for yourself, didn't ask either, afraid that you might hear that he had finally found the one he was looking for so much.

"Okay dingus, time to tell what's going on." said Robin when she found him in the back room.

"What do you mean?" asked Steve biting into his sandwich.

"For weeks you didn't shut up about her now you won't even say a word about your date?" she sat down in front of him. "What happened?"

"Nothing..." he muttered.

"What do you mean nothing?"

"Nothing! I did everything just as y/n and I planned, but everything looked wrong... At the ice rink she was always three steps ahead, completely as if I wasn't there, later I wanted to take her to dinner at our restaurant but she refused claiming she had to stick to her diet so all we ate all evening was a freaking salad!" he leaned his head against the wall. "Later we went to my place, I let her choose the movie and it was a tragic decision, I thought I was going to die it was so boring! I even suggested that we should skip the movies and go outside to make a snowman and she laughed at me not to act like a 12-year-old, Jesus! I am an idiot."

"Steve, you may be an idiot but maybe not because of this." She smirked.

"Why?"

"It was a good date, just with the wrong person. You did the exact same thing with y/n and for a week you didn't stop talking to me about how much fun you had."

"Robin, are you trying to set us up again?" He knew very well that his friend was right, he knew very well that on the "test date" with you he had a much better time than on the official one with Stephanie.

"I'm just saying!" she raised her hands in a gesture that said she was giving up.

"Let's wait until Friday, if nothing happens at the party I'll give up on her." He sighed.

The New Year's Eve party at Steve's house was initially supposed to be quite modest. Quickly, however, the crowd began to grow when friends brought their friends and those friends brought others.

"What are those gloomy faces?" you asked as you and Robin approached the guys sitting on the couch. Eddie, Argyle and Jonathan were smoking a joint, and Steve sat next to them with a drink in his hand.

"Stevie is sad because this year he's going to be a loser like us and won't have his New Year's kiss." Eddie cooed teasingly.

"Shut up Eddie! You know damn well that's not what this is about." An irritated Steve got up from the couch.

"Then what is it about?" you asked.

"She's avoiding me! She only spoke to me once, saying hello!" Just as you thought once again it was about Stephanie.

Feeling the familiar sting in your heart, you decided that you would not let it ruin your mood today. Putting down your drink, you asked who wanted to dance, Eddie and Jonathan declined, but Argyle eagerly moved toward you, and together with him and Robin you went out into the middle and began to move to the rhythm and fool around. In part, you managed to forget about the situation you were in, however, you couldn't help but stare at your friend who was definitely not enjoying himself. When your gazes met, you sent a slight smile in his direction, but he immediately looked away, and you slowly lost the desire to have fun. When you wanted to get off the dance floor Argyle firmly put his arms around your waist, lifted you up and began to spin you around laughing. Hearing your squeal Steve turned his head toward you. Laughing you asked your long-haired friend to let you go. This sight unlocked a whole new feeling in Harrington. Jealousy. He had never seen any other boy in such close proximity to you since you became friends. Now he felt like standing up and snatching you from his arms. What was happening to him? Confused and angry, he decided he needed to get some air. He went out to the now where the icy air greeted him. Now that the loud music was muffled he felt like he was left alone with his thoughts. And feelings he couldn't understand. Maybe Robin was right? Maybe he was focusing on a wrong person? He began to analyze all the moments when you were alone. Every I love you that left your lips that memorable night by the fireplace sounded sincere, went straight to his heart, and he knew he would do a lot to hear it again and feel that way. Then he remembered what Vecna had said during his vision. Devastated with a broken heart, she won't even resist me. Did you really love him this way?

He didn't have time to come to any further conclusions because everyone started to go outside as midnight was approaching. When you noticed him against the wall alone still looking sad you took another step in breaking your heart. What would be the next pin poked into it?

"You won." you said walking up to him.

"What do you mean?" he asked confused.

"My plan didn't work, I'm taking all your evening shifts in January, now come on." You grabbed his hand pulling him into the middle of the crowd. You looked around making sure you were perfectly in Stephanie's sight. "Now we will try your plan. It's time to resurrect King Steve, we'll make her jealous." you said moving closer to him, and everyone around started a loud countdown.

Ten.

Nine.

Eight.

"She's looking at us." You said looking back one last time. Steve still didn't know what was going on so he stood still holding your hand.

Seven.

Six.

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

"Kiss me, Steve. Kiss me like you wanna be loved!" you tried to shout out to the others. As soon as your words reached him without hesitation cupped your face. He didn't realize how much he missed your taste until your lips reunited. Reciprocating the kiss, you threw your arms around his neck. Feeling this, he felt like crying from the excess of emotions he was facing at that moment. He kissed you like he wanted to be loved and you returned the kiss giving him the feeling that he really was, once again you made him feel loved like he had never felt before in his life. This beautiful moment ended as quickly as the explosion of a firework. You moved away from him And when you saw Stephanie walking towards him without a word you walked away getting lost in the crowd.

"Steve!" the girl shouted coming closer. Distracted by how quickly you disappeared he began to look around. But there was no sign of you anywhere. "Steve?"

"Yeah?" he finally looked at her.

"Why don't we go inside together and talk about our second date?" she put her hand on his shoulder.

"But-" He wanted to say he didn't have time now. He wanted to say that he had to go, yet she was quicker.

"Come on, Steve. Come on." She grabbed his hand and dragged him into the house straight to his room. Taking off her jacket she threw it on the bed. And then she walked over to him. "How about a little preview of what awaits you at our next meeting?" she combed her hand through his hair and tilted his head so that she had easy access to his neck which she began to kiss.

"Woah, hey! What are you doing?" he felt panicked, now he was sure this was not what he wanted. He was sure Stephanie wouldn't be able to make him feel the way she did with you. What's more, he couldn't believe that the hopeless trick of making you feel "jealous" worked. He knew she wasn't jealous of him. Seeing him kiss another girl made her feel jealous of how quickly he found a replacement.

"Show me if all these rumors about King Steve are true." She grabbed him by the waistband of his pants trying to undo it, but he moved away rapidly. King Steve. King Steve was dead, and despite what you said today, no one is going to resurrect him. Another girl was not interested in just Steve. For her, all that mattered was what the former version of him could offer her. That is, definitely nothing serious.

"I think you should go now, Stephanie." he said with a sigh.

"You're a fucking loser, Harrington." she said and walked out slamming the door behind her.

"I know." Steve whispered to himself. "I know."

Throughout the night Steve didn't sleep at all. For the rest of the party he tried to find you but you disappeared without a word. Noticing Stephanie walking towards him then, you concluded that you had to withdraw, and not feeling like partying any more, you returned home. Not knowing where you were or what had happened to you until the very end, he locked himself in the room and did not come out of it giving himself far too much time to think.

Hearing the rest of the crew starting to wake up as well, he went downstairs to the kitchen. From the very beginning it was established that you would all stay the night. Witnessing your absence among this group was another stab to him. Ignoring all the words directed in his direction, he began preparing cereal.

"Does anyone know what happened to y/n?" asked Nancy also reaching for the bowl. Hearing your name he froze.

"She ran away right after her New Year's kiss with Harrington." said Eddie.

"Dude, it couldn't have been that bad!" grinned Argyle causing the rest to laugh. Then a lound bang reached them.

"Shut the fuck up!" Steve yelled, slamming his fist on the countertop. "I didn't know! I didn't fucking know!" Everyone looked at each other in shock then at him. They had been through a lot together but this was probably the first time Steve had raised his voice at any of his friends.

"Steve...what didn't you know?" asked Robin slowly walking up to him. Sensing that he was a mess she didn't want to trigger him even more but no one had any idea what he was talking about.

"She was in love with me, this whole time, for a long time. And I didn't see it, didn't see that everything I needed was right under my nose! Even that damn monster knew about it, he told me during the vision, and I still didn't figure anything out!" he kept shouting waving his arms and walking around the room, overtired and irritated he felt himself on the verge of a breakdown.

"Who's in love with you?" asked Eddie trying to keep up.

"Y/n" walked over to the fireplace and sat across from him remembering every detail of one of the most beautiful nights of his life. "When she said she loved me she was telling the truth, and I foolishly thought she was just faking it so convincingly, god what have I done," he said more quietly hiding his face in his hands. No one expected that the first day of 1987 would turn out to be the day they witnessed Steve Harrington crying over a girl, not her crying over him. "She told me she loved me right fucking here and I didn't believe her, I thought she was just pretending, that it was just a temporary, one-time thing, god I'm such an idiot," he felt miserable. Realizing that everything he wanted he had so close to him, and lost it through his own stupidity was like sticking a knife in his cage and twisting it in slow motion.

"Steve, maybe there is still a chance..." Robin sat down next to him hugging him.

"Just a few hours ago she kissed you, so surely her feelings didn't just disappear." Eddie added wanting to comfort his friend in some way.

"Maybe she needed some time alone with herself? Maybe that's why she went?" asked Jonathan.

"My dudes, time for a word of wisdom, wipe away your tears my boy!" Argyle slowly rose from his seat and stood in the middle. "One of the senses I acquired with the magic purple palm tells me that we are dealing here with a very fragile thing called love." his tone was solemn, everyone waited for the next part with slight amusement on their faces. Argyle, in his colorful mismatched clothes, did not resemble the wise men described in the books one bit. "It's not easy to gain, but very easy to lose, which doesn't change the fact that it's definitely worth fighting for." He smiled broadly and reached out his hand toward Steve, whom he helped rise from the floor. "Sitting here and crying won't get you anywhere, fortunately you have great friends who will clean up the chaos while you get in the carriage and go straight to the palace of the one of your heart's choice."

"Thanks man..." said Steve wiping away tears. Feeling and seeing their support involuntarily one corner of his mouth lifted.

"But uh- Steve?" interjected Robin. "As your best friend I have to say this so don't get angry. Before you go... take the damn shower." Hearing her last words some couldn't stand it and burst into laughter.

When Steve disappeared behind the bathroom door the rest lazily took to cleaning up. The shower brought him a kind of relief, still repeating in his mind that everything was going to be fine he got dressed and went downstairs where everyone threw words of encouragement at him as well and then literally pushed him out the door saying that they would wait for him to come back here with you.

You didn't live too far away so a few minutes later he was standing outside your door ringing the bell. All the windows were blacked out, and for a moment he wondered if anyone was home at all, but fortunately after a while your mother opened it letting him in. She knew that Steve was your friend so she saw no obstacle in letting him go straight to your room without telling you that you had a visitor. You were lying on your bed staring at the snow falling outside the window. When you heard a quiet knock on the door you just shouted that it was open. Thinking it was your mother, you didn't even turn around when you heard the quiet click of the door closing. The mattress next to you bent under someone's weight so only then did you turned to look.

"Steve?" you asked surprised and raised yourself on your elbows.

"I love you." he said looking you straight in the eyes. Now you stared at him dazedly wondering if you were sure you were awake that morning. "I think I've always loved you. I thought about it all night, about every possible moment we spent together, and even then I definitely felt something more for you, but almost the end of the world we lived through made me push those feelings aside, and that was a big mistake, because I know you love me too. And we could have found out about it much earlier than my blindness. Like a moron I went on dates that were King Steve style. The truth is that none of them were interesting. I know now that I was subconsciously comparing them all to you." Trying to keep up with his words, you sat on the bed without looking away from him. "That night, at my place, when we watched those damn movies and drank too much wine... It was the best night of my life. And I want you to know that every I love you that I said then was honest. I thought at the time that my heart spoke for me and I know that you were honest too, I know because I felt it with my whole self. I felt it in your voice, in your touch, even in your presence there and I know that if you had pretended I would never have felt that way. It's all one big chaos for me y/n I feel so damn lost, but one thing I'm sure of...I love you and I want to walk through this chaos holding your hand. I want to hold you as close as I can, so I beg you for a chance. For you to forgive me all these months and let me make it all up to you."

His words hit you with such force that you felt like you were about to fall off the bed. Stunned, you watched the emotions on his face change with each passing second. Fear. Anxiety. Hope. Desperation. He was desperate to get some kind of answer from you, he deserved an answer so you quickly snapped and opened your mouth to say something but to no effect. The silence frightened him more and more with each passing moment, but he still waited patiently wiping his sweaty palms in his pants.

"I... I love you Steve." That was the only thing you managed to squeak out. It was enough for him. He didn't need anything more to quickly approach you and kiss you. Once again, a kiss was your form of conveying emotion when words were lacking. Relief. Happiness. Love.

"I know." I gasped out into your mouth. "I know you love me."

"I know you love me too. I can feel it." You smiled and this time it was you who kissed first.

taglist: @i-me-mine @phantypurple

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aropride · 1 year

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i wish i could be the oupy dog next to u :(

weshould cuddle for 140757434 hours i think. eepystyle gay love style <3

#ask #tommy tag #oupy and kity can be best firends and lovers even

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livingloved007 · 11 months

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The Tenacious Five…..

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fernymind · 6 months

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My favorite weekend 2024

#betterlife #lovemusic #lifestyle #beach #dogblr #mazatlan #lovers #firends #glasses #weekend

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ccsainzleclerc5516 · 6 months

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This Is Where You Stand With Me

Pairing: Charles Leclerc x reader

Warnings: none

A/N: pls read this for better understanding thanksss!!

Sooo once upon a time, a few months ago actually, I started writing a Charles fanfic - never finished it - I had a reeeally good story in mind, wrote around 20 chapters and then I just got bored of it, BUT! I wrote some really good pieces that I'd be sorry no one ever read so I thought I'd post them. Actually I've already posted one part of the story that comes waay later than the ones I'm gonna post now, but anyway it's the one called Lovers .

Basically, it's a story about a girl (you) who broke up with her boyfriend of five years. She was very unhappy in the relationship because her boyfriend didn't treat her right all those years and then after she gathered her strength and broke up with him, she decided to live a little and go visit her best friend Sophie in Monaco. Sophie has been in a relationship with Carlos for a while, and his teammate Charles is in a relationship with a girl (Ava) who isn't with him for the right reasons and doesn't really care about him. due to a combination of circumstances, you stayed in Monaco to live in Sophie's apartment and started running social networks for Ferrari, filming behind the scenes and similar things. From the very beginning, you and Charles have a love-hate relationship. He keeps sending you mixed signals and you never know where you're standing with him.

Ok, hope you'll like it, let me know if you'd even like to read more parts! Bye!

This is the part where you, Carlos, Sophie, Kika, Pierre, Charles and Lando are on the yacht. Sophie introduces you to all of them here for the first time and you're very nervous about it so you drink a bit too much..

Y/N's POV

Carlos, Sophie and I were the first ones to arrive. Their firends, Pierre and his girlfirend Kika, Charles and his girlfriend Ava, and I guess the only single friend Lando, arrived shortly after us. For me, the biggest introvert on the planet, this was quite a large number of people to meet at once and I did feel very anxious.

Luckily there was a vast amount of drinks on the yacht so I found mine tranquilizers - cranberry vodka and sangria. As soon as the alcohol started coursing through my system, I soon opened up a topic to talk about with everyone. Well, almost everyone. Charles and his girlfriend Ava seemed to have some disagreements so they weren't really in the best mood. She looked like she didn't really wanna be here and he was annoyed that she didn't wanna be here at least that's what I heard when I was going to the toilet because they were alone inside and arguing.

The evening went on with us all sitting in the lounge area, talking and drinking. I was truly having so much fun and I got along the most with Lando. He's so sweet and caring and funny, I was enjoying his company. Eventually Ava left. She was able to leave since we didn't set sail but stayed in the marina. Charles was fuming that she left. When Carlos asked him why she left he said she made arrangements with her friends earlier, he didn't want to talk about it much. Charles went on the upper lounge area and Lando went after him so he wasn't alone and I stayed with Carlos, Sophie, Pierre and Kika in the lounge area on the main deck.

"I love you." I hear Carlos quietly says to Soph while looking at her lips. She was in a half-lying position in his arms. I was scrolling through my phone across from them but I couldn't help but look at them out of the corner of my eye.

"I love you." Sophie smiles and gently kisses him. My eyes got watery at the sight of them. My heart hurt a little and for a second I wished I had what they have. I wasn't envious of them, not at all, I was actually very happy for them and for the first "I love you". But for a second the excitement about the single life passed me and looking at the couples I felt a little lonely.

I get up from the couch and head towards the back of the yacht were was the entrance to the inner part of the yacht. I lean my elbows on the fence and look down at the sea.

Did I make a good decision?

Should i have given us another chance?

Will i regret giving up on us?

Suddenly questions that I constantly avoid facing start to roll around in my head.

No! Of course I made a good decision, he doesn't deserve another chance and I'm not gonna regret anything!

I attribute those thoughts to the excessive amount of alcohol I've consumed since we got here.

Y/n, you were miserable with him, pull yourself together please, you are stronger than these thoughts. I say to myself, but one tear escapes from my eye. And then another one. And one after that.

"Shit.." I breathe out putting my palms over my eyes.

"What happened, Y/n?" A voice asks and it startles me.

"Oh, you scared me." I say looking at Charles standing beside me, but quickly look away wiping the tears from my cheeks.

"Why are you crying?" Charles asks looking at me.

"Too many drinks led me to a moment of weakness. That's all." I say not really wanting to talk to him about my emotional state.

"And what is the reason behind that moment of weakness?" He asks.

"I don't feel like talking about it, but I was wondering how long have you and Ava been together?" I suddenly blurt out turning to look at him. My mind is racing. I was curious about their fight because the way he looked at her, he seemed like he's really in love, but her, not so much according to my estimate.

"A year and a half now. Why do you ask?"

"Sweet. And why did you fight today?" I ask shamelessly and he rises his eyebrows at my question.

"Not that it's any of your business, but-" Just as he was about to say something a strong pain shoots through my stomach. Rocking of the yacht from the waves together with cranberry vodka and sangria equals nausea.

"Oh no.. I-I think I'm gonna throw up.." And just in that moment as I lean over the fence it starts shooting right out of me.

I was hoping that somehow I would be able to control myself and not throw up in front of him, but it was stronger than me. And honestly if I were sober, I would be ten times more embarrassed than I am now.

"Oh come on." He sighs and to my surprise he moves my hair out of my face holding it back. "Please don't fall over, I'm not jumping in for you."

"Oh my God, I'm gonna die.."

"Out of embarrassment? Yeah, I would too if I were you." Charles mocks me, but still holds my hair.

"Oh give me a break, I'm going through a breakup!" I manage to say bitterly because of his lack of understanding for me. As if he should understand me. he doesn't know anything about me except my name, and I don't know anything about him either except that his name is Charles and that he has a girlfriend with whom he had a not so pretty fight today.

"Did he leave you because you were a drunk?" He continues with his provocation.

"Ha ha, not that it's any of your business, but I broke up with him." I'm being sassy like I didn't just throw up in front of a rich and hot F1 driver, but in that moment that fact doesn't phase me one bit.

"Okay, if you say so." He laughs. "Come here, sit on this couch please." I can't help but notice his hand tightly being wrapped around my waist as he leads me to the couch. "Not that I care, but I'm so bored that I'll listen to why you broke up with your boyfriend."

"Well, now I'm not gonna tell you." I cross my arms acting childish making him laugh again. I roll my eyes and chuckle a little myself.

"Y/n? Where are you?" Right in that moment Sophie shows up breaking the sweet moment between the two of us.

"Your friend is running wild over here, she wanted to throw herself off the yacht because her boyfriend left her." Charles says getting up from the couch and my mouth falls open.

"What?!" Sophie's eyes go wide. "Throw yourself because of him? Are you out of your fucking mind?" She asks in complete shock.

Before saying anything to Sophie to calm her down I follow Charles with my eyes as he leaves laughing.

"He's lying of course, I got sick from the alcohol and threw up."

"Why is he suddenly being all smiley like that? Until a little while ago he was furious because of Ava?"

"I don't know, he obviously has issues." I shrug with my shoulders wanting to laugh but manage to control myself.

I'm usually very good at reading people at first glance. Whoever doesn't make a good impression on me in the beginning, whoever doesn't sit well with me, almost always turns out to not have the best personality. Unfortunately, it rarely happens that someone pleasantly surprises me if I don't like them at first. I could say that my intuition is very good and accurate and I really should listen to it more often.

But with Charles that wasn't the case. I couldn't read him at all. He's kinda mysterious, he seems a bit cocky and conceited, but gentle and caring at moments. At least that's what I think I got from today.

He's interesting though.

Part 2 here

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justmymindandstuff · 7 months

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Right in front of you - Bucky Barnes x Reader (AU)

Summary: Natasha's new boyfriend doesn't like the fact that she and her ex Bucky are still good friends. So Natasha lies and drags you into a fake relationship with your best friend. What could possibly go wrong?

words: 16.189

warngins: drinking, make- out, a bit angst?, talk about suicide (briefly, not explicitly), swearing / language// ( I think thats all, correct me if I am wrong)

A/N: fake dating trope, Miscommunication, fluff, best friends to lovers// Avengers as a chaotic group of friends// AU// English is not my first language// no beta// Gif not mine// AO3.

Relationships: Bucky x Y/N // Natasha x Bucky (previously; mention)// Natasha x Bruce (previously; mention)// Natasha x Y/N (platonic) // Tony Stark x Y/N (platonic)

I had this in my drafts since 2022, but totally forget about it. Last weekend I rewatch tfatws (Yes, the whole season I have no self-control) and god sebastian stand is one of the most handsome man alive. I revised this draft and added about 10K words. This wasn't originally planned. Sooo anyways have fun with this :) Love to all of you ❤️.

You sit on Natasha´s comfortable couch and take a sip of your coffee. Your best friend called you in the morning and asks for this catch up and said she had a level 9 Problem. So you have been sitting here for almost 2 hours. You and Nat hand already exchanged all the important news form the last few weeks, but Natasha hadn´t yet said whats her level 9 problem is. "So why did you want to talk with me so badly Nat? We have talked about everything now." you say.

Natasha sights."I messed up."

"What happend?" you ask now worried.

"It is about Rick."

Her new boyfriend. He´s a pretty nice guy, from what Nat said. But you haven´t meet him yet. Natasha dates him for 3 month now.

"What did you do?" you asks. Since are when you have to pull every word out of her nose? Nat hesitates for a moment and takes a sip from her coffee.

"Okay. Please listen to me. I know I messed up but I have a plan. And for this plan I need your help."

"I will listen."

"So, Rick and I, we talked about our friends last week and you know we had already talked about our exes. And now he knows that I am still firends with Bucky. But Rick doesn´t think it is cool that I am still friends with him." she stopps and you look confused. You don´t see a Level 9 Problem with this. Natascha and Bucky were together for a few months and that was almost 3 years ago. So why is it a problem?"Y/N I am so sorry. It was a dump idear but it was the frist thing that comes to my mind. And I was pressed for time."

"Natasha! What did you do?" you ask again, now a bit annoyed.

"I told Rick you and Bucky are together."

"You did what?" you ask shocked and a little angry. Is she serious?

"I am so sorry. But besides Bucky, you are the only single in our group. And after that Rick was fine with Bucky as my friend."

"Natasha! What a stupid idear. And what´s your plan now? We all meet Rick this weekend."

"I know, I know. I already texted Bucky, but he is still at work, he says he will call me later."

"And what do you want me to do?"

"Lie for me? Please Y/N." she looks desperately at you. As if you could refuse her something when she looked at you like that. You shigh and in her look you can see that she knows she won.

"Fine. If Bucky is okay with it, I will pretend to be his girlfriend. But Nat, for how long do you think we can lie to him?"

"Not for long, just a few weeks. And than you and Bucky can pretend that you have broken up and remain friends. So Rick can see that Bucky can be just friends with his ex- girlfriends and everything will be fine." She smiles and you sigh again. What could go wrong? Except from everything.

"Fine! But I don´t like this plan."

"I know. And I am sorry."

"Its okay."

You enter your apartment and close the door behind you. You are not sure if Natashas plan will work. But you are her friend, so you will help her, no matter what. Your phone rings, you fummel it out of your Pocket. Bucky. You answer the call.

"Hey Bucks what up?"

Bucky came as Natashas Boyfriend in your friendgroup, but after a few weeks he was friends with all of you, and after he and Nat broke up, they reminds friends and Bucky stays with your group. You are glade he did, you really like him. In the last years, he became your best friend. He even integrated Steve and Peggy into your circle of friends.

"Hey Y/N. How are you? Have you talked with Nat?"

"I´m fine. Yes I have. What do you think about her plan?"

"It´s stupid." he laughs. "But I said I will go with it, if its okay with you."

"I said I will help her."

"Good. Just wanted to make sure you are okay with it."

"If it helps her, of course I'll do it."

"You are a good friend. Then we will see us on Friday. Do you want me to pick you up?"

"Why?" you asks.

"Because we have to preatend we are a coupel." he says as if it were logical. And as if that were normal.

"Right." you start laughing. "It will never work."

"No probally not. But lets give our best to not mess it up for Nat."

"We can try. So you pick me up at 8?"

"I will be at your place."

"Thank you Bucky. See you at Friday."

"See you Friday Doll."

You hate this nickname, but he never listened to you when you said he should stop calling you that. After two years you gave up.

Friday is coming sooner than you thought. You've been stressed all week about your work, next week you have to present your new project, but you're still missing some figures from the last quarter, of course the department is lagging behind. So you had to work overtime. On the way home, your mother called you. Your grandma had another argument with her neighbors. Probably something about the garden fence. You couldn't care less. The argument has been going on for years, but your grandma is just stubborn. And she's driving your mother crazy. It took you hours to calm her down and when you finally hang up it's almost seven o'clock. And you haven't eaten anything since your lunch salad. Damn. You're going to your favorite bar tonight, but you can't go out on an empty stomach. You can't tolerate alcohol anyway, and on an empty stomach the evening would probably end over the toilet bowl before midnight. You open your fridge and sigh. Of course you forgot to go grocery shopping. You reach for your phone and dial Bucky’s number.

"Hello Doll." he answers in a good mood. "Everythin alright?

"Yes. Can you come a bit earlier and bring something to eat on the way? I forgot to shop grocerys and haven't eaten anything properly yet."

"Sure I'll do it. We don't want to repeat St. Patrick." he laughs. You grimace at the memory of the evening in which you dumped the contents of your stomach into the Hudson. "Not funny Bucks."

"Maybe not for you. I had a lot of fun making sure you didn't take an involuntary swim and end up as a corpse in the water." you hear him laugh through the phone and roll your eyes. You would like to respond with an embarrassing story from Bucky, but the man can drink like no one else. Sometimes you think he's immune to alcohol. “Is chinese okay?”

"Yes perfect. Please bring.."

"Spring rolls. Yes, I know, doll."

“Lifesaver I Venmo you the money.”

"Absolutely no way!"

"Bucky." you start, you hate it when he invites you out, but Bucky throws his money around like it's nothing. Because it's probably nothing for him. Bucky makes a lot of money with his firm.

"Don't argue. I'm your boyfriend, remember." he laughs. Oh yeah, Natasha's stupid plan.

"I actually forgot." you laugh now.

"My heart just broke." You roll your eyes, but then laugh. As if any woman could ever break James Barnes' heart.

"I'm on my way now, I'll be there quarter past." Your gaze goes to the clock. You've got half an hour, damn it.

"Okay, I still have to get ready. I will be quick."

"See you soon."

"See you soon." You hang up, quickly put your cell phone on the charging cable and sprint into the shower. You also have to wash your hair, you're really not on schedule this week. Bucky only needs 20 minutes, so you open the door for him still in a towel and with your hair half-dried. At least your Make Up is already done.

"What a sight." he laughs and lets his gaze slide over your barely covered body. You feel yourself blushing, even if there's no reason for it. Bucky has already seen you in your underwear, so the towel covers more.

"Charming." You say and let him into your apartment. He throws his keys and wallet into the small bowl next to your door and puts the take away bag on the kitchen counter.

"You know me. Go get ready, we don´t have much time. Since when have you been so late?"

You love punctuality. You think it's rude and disrespectful to make people wait for you, but this week seems to be cursed. You go back to the bedroom to get dressed.

"I've been behind time all week. Work is totally exhausting me. I have to present next week but of course nothing works out the way I want it to." You call loudly from your bedroom so Bucky can hear you as you rummage through your clothes. Of course you had also forgotten to check with Wanda and Natascha what exactly the dress code was for the evening. "Do you know what Nat or Wanda wear?"

"Of course not?"

"Crap."

"You look good in anything, so just wear somthing." he calls from the living room.

"Liar"

"Never Doll."

You pull your black dress out of your closet. It's just the right length to not be slutty. Quickly, but carefully so you not smear your make-up, you slip into the dress. You let your hair fall loosely over your shoulder, but quickly blow-dry it so that you don't look like you've plugged into a socket. You take a quick look at yourself in the mirror, yes, that would work. "How cold is it ?"

"It's summer, so not at all."

"So no tights?"

"No, no tights. Another question I've never asked myself before."

"You're a man, pants and shirt and you're dressed for any occasion." you come out of your bedroom. Bucky is sitting in your kitchen, he has put the food on a plate and has put cutlery out for you and a glass of water next to it. "You are my hero." You say, plopping down in the seat across from him.

"I know." You look at the clock, you actually have to leave in five minutes so as not to be late. You're narrowing your eyes, damn it.

"Now take a deep breath, relax and eat. Then we'll be a little late, it's not the end of the world. Besides, it's not just us, Vision, Wanda, Tony and Rick are there. Nat won´t be alone."

"Steve isn't coming?"

"Nope, Peggy isn't feeling well." You start eating.

"Still not?" you ask worriedly Peggy hasn't been feeling well for a few weeks, hopefully it's nothing more serious. When you spoke to her on the phone last week she sounded tired and exhausted. Bucky grabs one of your spring rolls and dips it in the sauce, a mischievous smile appearing on his face. "What is?" you ask confused.

"I'm not actually allowed to tell you this." You're immediately curious and lean a little further forward in your chair.

"Tell me."

"But swear you won't tell anyone."

"I swear."

"She is pregnant." Your mouth falls open, you expected everything but not this.

“I didn’t know they were trying.” Steve and Peggy have been together since high school, but neither of them have talked about having children until now.

"They didn't, it was an accident but they wanted to keep it." Steve and Peggy as parents? Funnily enough, you can imagine it. "Steve has been through an emotional rollercoaster in the last few weeks, you can't imagine it Y/N." Bucky laughs.

"And he didn't say anything to anyone?"

"No, only I know and now you. So quiet."

"I promise not to say a word."

"Good. Different topic." Suddenly he becomes serious and Bucky's look almost makes your food stick in your throat. "Nat's plan."

"What about it?"

"We should discuss boundaries."

“Boundaries?” you ask confused. What does he mean now? You actually thought you would go to the bar, introduce yourself as boyfriend and girlfriend and sit next to each other. Why do you need boundaries?

"Well, we want Rick to believe us and I think we should kiss for that. Of course only if it's okay with you." It would be a lie if you never imagined kissing Bucky. After all, he's terribly good-looking, charming, friendly, a perfect gentleman. And even if you're embarrassed and would never admit it one night or two when you were alone, Bucky as a fantasy has served you well. But he is also your best friend, your savior in times of need and your best friend's ex. Fantasy is one thing, but in reality?

"Kissing is okay with me." you say. "It just might get weird."

"Why weird?"

"I don't usually kiss my best friends. You're like a brother to me." A shadow crosses Bucky's blue eyes, but he's smiling.

"If you find the thought of kissing me disgusting..."

"I did not say that!" you say quickly. No woman on this planet would associate the idea of kissing James Bucky Barnes with the word disgusting. You are sure of that! "I just think it's weird. The others are there too." you blush at the thought of kissing Bucky in front of all your friends. What have you gotten yourself into? And all because of Nat.

“Do you want to practice?” he asks and a mischievous grin appears on his face.

"I know how to kiss."

"I'm sure you're very good at kissing. I'm just saying so our first kiss isn't in front of everyone else." That sounds like such a stupid idea that it makes oddly enough sense.

"Then let's practice." You say, putting your fork down.

"Are you ready?" he points to your plate. There's still a little food left, but you're full and it should protect you from an alcohol escapade.

"Yes." Bucky takes your plate and cutlery, stands up and puts everything in the sink. Then he leans against your kitchen counter. You sigh and stand up too. You could say you're doing all this just for Natasha, but somehow the thought of kissing Bucky makes you nervous, but in a pleasant way. You walk over to him and stop right in front of Bucky. He's a bit taller than you, so you lean your head back slightly to look him in the eyes.

"Y/N. If you don't want that, we can just cancel it. Nat would understand." He says, looking you in the eyes.

"Nonsense. It's not that bad."

"Thanks."

"Thats not what I meant."

"I know, I'm just messing with you." he grins at you. Then his gaze goes from your eyes to your lips and back to your eyes. Bucky lifts his hand and places it carefully on your cheek. Then he leans forward. His lips touch yours and you freeze for a second. But then you move your lips against his, your hand automatically laying on his chest. Bucky’s hand moves from your cheek to your neck and he pulls you closer to him. The next moment his tongue slides into your mouth and you press yourself closer to his muscular body. But then you flinch. What are you doing here? You open your eyes and see it straight into Bucky’s. His gaze sweeps over your face as if he’s searching for something. "Too much?"

"No. I was just surprised." you feel your heart thundering in your chest. You feel strange, but not bad. And it wasn't as uncomfortable or weird as you thought. It was nice.

"And weird?"

"Not for me."

"For me either. You are a good kisser."

You hit him on the chest "Jerk."

Bucky laughs. "Come on now. We're late." he then says. You quickly grab your coat, throw your cell phone and wallet into your bag and slip on your high heels. "But I won't carry you home later if your feet hurt." Bucky says as he packs up his things again.

"You're taking me home?"

"Of course. I'm the perfect boyfriend." You roll your eyes. Why does he actually enjoy this lie so much?

"Come now perfect boyfriend." You say, pushing him out of your apartment and closing the door behind you.

Even though you hurry, you're almost 30 minutes late when you get to the front door of the bar. From outside you see your friends already sitting at one of the tables. "Ready for our big show?" Bucky asks you.

"It's a good thing I was at the Theater Club."

"I did not know that." he says surprised.

"Why sould you?" Bucky shrugs. Then he opens the door and gestures for you to go ahead. "Gentleman."

"Always." You enter and as you walk through the half-full bar to the table where your friends are already sitting, Bucky place his hand on the small of your back. When you get to the table you can’t help but smile. You hadn't seen Wanda for at least 2 weeks, Vision even longer than that and apart from a phone call last weekend, you've barely had any contact with Tony. It's unusual for your friend group, but at the moment you're all kind of busy doing something. That's how it is when you grow up.

"Hey guys." you say happily. "I'm so sorry we're late."

"That was 100% my fault." Bucky says.

"Our two lovebirds." Tony says and winks. You ignore him and turn to the only strange face at the table.

"And you must be Rick?"

"Yes, hello, Nice to meet you." he holds out his hand to you.

“I’m Y/N.” You say, shaking his hand. "That's my boyfriend." That sounds strange.

"James." Bucky shakes Rick's hand too, but you can tell by the way his muscles tense that he's shaking it unnecessarily hard, despite his smile. Wanda slides to the side so you and Bucky can sit on the bench next to her. Vision looks between you and Bucky, confused.

"Did I miss som...."

“Rick, I want something to drink, then we can bring something for Bucky and Y/N too.” Natasha says quickly and practically pushes Rick off the bench. You hear the panic in her voice.

“Bring something for me too.” says Tony, downing his half-full beer in just a few sips and then fumbling his credit card with grand gestures out of his pocket to give it to Natasha. Yeah, not strange at all or anything. Rick goes to the bar and before Natascha follows him she gives Wanda a quick, slightly angry look.

"Sorry." she whispers, Natasha disappears after Rick. "I totally forgot to tell you." She then says to Vision. "Bucky and Y/N act like they're together. Because Rick doesn't like the idea of Nat and Bucky being together."

"What?" Vision looks between all of you, confused.

Tony starts laughing. "If you say it out loud it sounds even stupider."

"No shit Sherlock." you say.

"Bucky and Natasha used to date?" Oh poor Vision, sometimes you forget that he hasn't known you that long and that sometimes Wanda doesn't think about all the details. Not because she means anything bad, but because she is simply forgetful.

"Long before your time." Tony says in response to Vision's question

"Three years ago, but only briefly."Bucky says now.

"Then what's Rick's problem?"

"We do not know." you say. "But that's Natascha's thing, she asked us to do it and we're playing along."

“Red flag nonetheless.” says Wanda. Tony nods.

"Please! This is Natasha's first relationship since Bruce. We're meeting Rick for the first time today so please guys be nice. And stop your prejudices and red flags. We don't really know him." You're briefly afraid that the mood will change because you mentioned Bruce, but Tony just rolls his eyes and then agrees with you

"You're right. And we're always nice."

"That's a lie." Wanda says and you join in her laughter. A moment later, Nat and Rick come back to the table. A mojito is placed in front of you and you grin at your best friend.

"Thanks."

"Thank Tony, that was on his card."

"You make me poor."

"You're a billionaire heir." Bucky interjects and takes the beer from Natasha.

"Really?" Rick asks as he sits back down in his seat.

"Ever heard of Stark Industries?"

"The weapons company?" Tony rolls his eyes.

"Former weapons company." and you can tell from his look that Rick has already been written off by him. You kick him under the table. "Be nice." You whisper, gladly that Rick is talking to Vison. Tony rolls his eyes, but then clinks his new beer with everyone, including Rick. You all catch up on what's going on. Your conversation briefly turns to Peggy and her mysterious illness.

"She works in a kindergarten, where you're always catching something." you say quickly. Bucky grins sideways at you. You're already excited to see how your friends will react to Steve and Peggy's baby news. Rick is just talking about his work when you suddenly feel Bucky's hand on your thigh and you flinch.

He leans in slightly and whispers in your ear. "Relax, you're ruining our show." You smile and act like he said something funny, and when he kisses your cheek you don't flinch.

“Y/N, when is your presentation?” Wanda asks, after she is done talking about her and Visons weekendtrip to Jersey.

"Tuesday and Wednesday I'll probably get fired."

"So bad?" Nat asks worriedly.

"No, not quite that bad, but it sucks."

"You're welcome to start at my company on Thursday." says Tony. "I still need a new assistant."

"The worst three years of my life." Natasha says and then lowers her voice to sound more like Tony. "Romanoff cancel my meeting tomorrow I have a hangover. Romanoff I don't want to eat with Musk. Romanoff where is my watch?" everyone except Tony laughs.

"Pepper never complained."

"You were in love with her the whole time, of course you were nicer."

"Exactly." Natasha supports your point.

"You worked for Tony?" Rick asks confused. "I thought you were a lawyer."

"Yes, before I even went to university. And I'm not really a lawyer yet. I'm still at university. Speaking of which, Y/N, you won't believe who called the office." Nat works alongside university in a renowned law firm. Bucky got her the job.

"Who?" you ask confused.

"Your granny."

"No!" Embarrassed, you hide your head between your arms on the table. Bucky laughs next to you and strokes your hair, his warm hand touching the skin on your shoulder and strangely, you get goosebumps at the feather-light touch. You quickly sit up again and his hand goes over your back and rests on your thigh again. "What did she want?" you ask, reaching for your second mojito.

"Sue her neighbor again."

"God I really need to call her tomorrow."

"I already explained to her that that doesn't work." Nat says.

"I'm sorry she's annoying you so much."

"Oh, it's not that annoying. Plus, she sends me Christmas cookies every year, so I'm happy to put up with a little complaining."

The evening continues and at some point it's Bucky and you's turn to get new drinks for everyone. As you walk through the crowded bar you notice the alcohol in your veins. When you get to the bar, you lean against the counter, Bucky puts an arm around you. It's not unusual for him to touch you or hug you, but today he's somehow more affectionate than usual. Not that you mind. You don't know that about him at all, not even with his girlfriends that he has every now and then for a few weeks.

"You're putting on a good show." You say after he orders another round of cocktails and tequila for you. After this you better drink some water.

"Do you think he believes us?"

"Why shouldn't he?"

"I don't know, he looks at me strangely all the time."

"You're also his girlfriend's ex."

"That was three years ago." he rolls his eyes.

"I know, but toxic masculinity. And the way you shook his hand wasn't exactly nice either."

Bucky grins. "I couldn't help it." then he rolls his eyes. "He's looking at us."

"Seriously?" you want to turn around to look, but Bucky quickly puts his hand on your cheek, forcing you to look at him.

"Not so obvious." You giggle at your own stupidity.

"Is he still watching?"

"Yes. Ready for a show?" Before you can ask what he means, he leans forward and his lips are already on yours. You're briefly surprised, but then you return the kiss. His hand moves to your back, resting just a little above your ass as he presses you against him. Maybe it's the alcohol, or the fact that you want to put on a good show for Nat, or the fact that Bucky is really good at kissing, but this time it's you who slip your tongue into his mouth. Bucky grins and your tongues start a little battle that he wins. Your arms fold behind his neck and you press your body closer to him. You feel your heart beating a little faster, probably because of the alcohol and because you're making out in the middle of a crowded bar. You've never done that before. Bucky pushes himself towards you, so you have to back away slightly and now your back is pressed against the bar, but it's not uncomfortable. His hand moves a little lower and is now actually on your butt. His body is completely pressed against yours and your nails are carefully scratching his neck. Your lips move perfectly against each other. He's really damn good at kissing. You break away from each other, breathless. Bucky rests his forehead against yours. "That was hot." You laugh briefly.

“Is he still looking?” Bucky turns his head slightly to the side and his gaze goes over to your table.

"No."

"Good." Nevertheless, neither of you makes any effort to put distance between you. Your shoes put you almost at eye level with him. Bucky grins and then kisses you again, your lips only touching for a brief moment, but this kiss somehow feels much more intimate than your previous make-out session. A smile creeps onto your lips without you being able to prevent it. Definitely due to the alcohol. The bartender brings you your drinks and the tequila shots with lemon and salt on a tablet. Bucky takes the drinks and you take the shots, then you go back to your table.

"And I thought you'd disappear home." Tony greets you with a grin.

"You are just jealous." you say.

"He's not jealous, he's horny. How long has Pepper been with her parents in Florida? 1 week or was it 2?" Bucky says. Tony grimaces.

“18 days,” he then answers.

"Ohh you're counting the days you little puppy."

"Shut up Romanoff and drink more." Tony reaches for the shot glasses and puts one in front of everyone. You clink glasses, lick the salt from your hands and then drink the tequilla. You quickly bite into the lemon and are happy that the tequilla taste is gone.

"The toilets are where?" Rick asks, Natasha had probably told him that you were here often.

"At the bar on the right and down the stairs." Vision replies. Rick nods, stands up and heads in that direction.

Your friends' eyes are immediately on you.

“What was that?” asks Wanda.

“Even I almost believed you.”

“Why do you look so good while making out?” says Tony. Bucky kicks him under the table. "That was a compliment."

“We wanted to be convincing.” you answer, blushing and taking a sip from your mojito. The fact that Bucky's hand is on your bare thigh again and his fingers are drawing small circles doesn't really help to remove the blush from your cheeks.

"You were convincing."

"A little too convincing." Tony wiggles his eyebrows. "

"Where is your fantasy goes now hm?." says Vision. Nat and you grimace.

"I dont want to know it."

"Like I'm some disgusting stalker or something. Your new boyfriend was staring like a creep."

"That's not true." Wanda defends Rick, but you can tell by the look in her eyes that she agrees with Tony.

"He's just worried about Bucky. Because we used to be together. And you're not really nice to him either."

"I hardly spoke to him."

"Exactly. And what was that about James?"

"That's my name?"

"No one calls you that."

"I've known the guy for less than two hours and you came to me and said he thinks I'm shit. Do you really think I'm acting out here like I am best friends with him." The two bitch at each other. You reach for Bucky’s hand to calm him down a bit.

"I didn't say he thinks you're shit. Just our friendship."

Bucky presses his lips together and tilts his head slightly. "That's a bad move on his part."

"He's just insecure."

"It's not my problem if he has complexes." then Bucky bites his lip and you know he almost said something mean.

"It's enough." Vision chimes in. "We're here to get to know him. And so far he's quite nice. A good guy Nat." he says in his diplomatic voice. Does he also talk to his students like that?

"Thank you Vis. Also for being so open with him." her gaze goes back to Bucky.

"I've said enough."

"He comes back. Laughs and acts like I said something funny."

"Everything you say is hilarious Tony."

“I love you too Y/N.”

The evening continues with endless conversations and bad jokes. It doesn't even take 10 minutes and Bucky and Nat have forgotten their little bickering. You drink another shot with the others, but when Tony orders the third round you are out and prefer to continue drinking your cocktail. Bucky doesn't leave your side the whole evening, every now and then he presses a kiss on your lips or cheek and when you lean against his shoulder he immediately puts his arm around you and strokes your shoulder with his fingertips. Why is he so good at playing this fake relationship? But actually it doesn't matter. It feels good somehow. You miss it sometimes, the light touches, brief glances and secret whispers. But after your last relationship ended in heartbreak a little over a year ago, you're staying away from men. Wanda and Vision are the first to say goodbye and after a while Tony also starts to yawn now and then. Nat and Rick have separated themselves from you a bit and are making out in the corner, which makes Bucky roll his eyes.

"I'm leaving before those two eat each other over there." says Tony. You giggle silly. Unfortunately, you completely forgot that you actually wanted to drink water and the alcohol went to your head.

"We should going home too." Bucky then says.

"Hey. Nat, Rick." The two break away from their kiss and look at you. "We are heading home now." says Tony.

"Alright. It was nice to see you." says Natasha. “Y/N can I call you tomorrow morning?”

"Yeah, just call when you're ready."

"It was nice meeting you guys." says Rick.

"Yes, I thought so too, hopefully we see you soon again." you answer.

"Yeah, it was nice." Tony also says and nods at him. Bucky doesn’t say anything but helps you get up. Tony leads the way through the crowded bar towards the exit and Bucky walks behind you, his hand is on your back again as he carefully pushes you after Tony. You notice how your feet are starting to hurt in your shoes and you're glad to be home soon. A look at your phone tells you that it's almost 2 A.M. Oops. You didn't want to stay that long. Outside you breathe in the warm night air.

“Taxi or walk?” Bucky asks you, he has his arm around you again and you lean against him.

"Taxi please my feet are hurting. Tony will you drive with us?"

"You live the other way, dear." laughs Tony.

"That's right. But you know, I only can the subway network, not cars."

"We can drive to my place, that's in the same direction." Bucky suggests.

"Uhh, so you take her home with you. Your relationship goes pretty quickly."

"Shut up ass." Bucky says and hits Tony lightly, but he just laughs.

"Let's be honest. You looking good together."

"But we're not together. Just best friends" You said, laughing at Tony's statement.

"Well bro, that must have hurt."

"Dude. Leave it." you don't see his look, but from Tony's reaction you can tell that Bucky is looking at him more angrily than amused. Tony nods and starts typing on his phone, a few minutes later a taxi pulls up. You get in and Bucky says his address, the driver nods and drives off. It's late or early, depending on how you look at it. But New York never sleeps, so there is still traffic on the streets. Although less than during the day. You shift a little in the seat until you're comfortable and listen to Tony and Bucky's conversation. The ride doesn't take long, and when the taxi stops in front of Bucky's building, you rummage through your bag for your wallet.

"I'll cover it." Bucky says, but this time you remain stubborn.

"No." you take the bill out of your pocket and give it to the driver. Then you say goodbye to Tony, and when Bucky raises his hand for a farewell handshake, you notice that he had his hand on your thigh the whole ride again. Why didn't you notice this before? Did you really drink that much? You shake your head and climb out of the taxi. He probably got so used to it all evening that he didn't even notice. The taxi continues to take Tony home. Bucky takes his key out of his pocket and you go inside. The elevator ride to Bucky's floor is silent, but not unpleasant. A few minutes later you are standing in his apartment. You slip off your shoes and flex your feet.

"You see, you didn't have to carry me home." you say.

"Lucky me." Bucky grins at you and then helps you out of your jacket, his fingers running over your shoulders. "Are you tired?" He asks as he hangs up your jacket for you. You throw your bag under the wardrobe.

"A little bit." you answer. Bucky also takes off his jacket and shoes. Then he comes to you and you lean against him. He takes you in his arms and strokes your hair. You breathe in his familiar scent. "Do you think we convinced him?" you ask quietly.

"I guess. What else could we have done?" Bucky laughs briefly. You shrug your shoulders.

"You were really clingy today." Bucky pushes you away a little to look you in the eyes.

"Too much?"

"No." you say quickly. "No, not at all. I thought it was kind of nice. Just unusual."

"Unusual?"

"Well, I don't know you like this at all."

Bucky shrugs and smiles. "But nice?"

"Yes. I sometimes miss the closeness you have when you're in a relationship. Do you know what I mean?"

"Yes, I know what you mean. I thought it was nice too. You kiss well." You start to laugh and want to pull away from the hug, but Bucky holds you by your waist.

"Don´t." he whispers. Suddenly you become aware of the closeness between the two of you. But you're always close? Why do you suddenly have this tingling sensation under your skin? You feel the alcohol in your veins. You smell the alcohol on his breath. And the next moment his lips are on yours again. You don't know which of you kissed whom. You do not care. This kiss is different, there is no one here that you have to act for. There is no one here for you to practice for. His lips on yours are soft, warm and comfortable. Buck’s hand cups your cheek and his thumb gently strokes your cheek. You put your arms around his neck and press yourself against him. His tongue carefully pushes into your mouth. Alcohol, adrenaline and desire rush through your veins. The kiss quickly intensifies, your tongues battle with each other, Bucky wins. His hand moves from your hip back to your ass and when he grabs it you moan. You never realized how much you missed being touched like that. You break away from each other, breathless. You look into his blue eyes, you don't know what you're looking for, but all you see is desire.

"Doll." his voice sounds rough and dark.

"Bucks." You say and he swallows. You don't want to think, you just want him. So you lean forward again, capturing his lips with yours. Your tongue finds his. Bucky moans softly into the kiss and you swear you've never heard such a hot sound in your life. Your whole body burns with desire for him. The next time you break apart, you don't hesitate. You take his hand and pull him towards his bedroom. You know his apartment as well as yours. You know that behind the door a large bedroom and a neatly made soft bed await you. And that's exactly where you want to go. The bedroom door hasn't fully closed behind you when Bucky quickly threw you onto the bed. You giggle as the mattress bounces slightly, but the next moment Bucky is on top of you and his lips are on yours. You scratch his neck lightly with your nails and he moans softly again. His lips move to your neck and he places kisses there. Immediately you have goosebumps all over you, you tilt your head to the side to give it more space and pray that it doesn't leave any red marks. But you actually don't care. His hand slides under your dress. You push your body towards him.

"Take it off." He says breathlessly in your ear and then kisses your earlobe. You sit up slightly and allow your dress to be pulled over your head. You're lying in front of him in just your underwear, but it doesn't make you uncomfortable. Maybe because you drank too much, maybe because Bucky is your Bucky. "You know you're beautiful." He says, running his hands over your body. You notice the blush rising to your cheeks, but at the same time you want him to keep touching you. You want to feel his hands all over your body. You don't answer him but just kiss him again. This time your hands go under his shirt. You feel the muscles of his back under your fingers. You push the t-shirt higher. Bucky removes his lips from yours and pulls the t-shirt over his head. You have to swallow at the sight of his defined body. You know he's ripped. You've seen him without a shirt countless times, but still. God this man is handsome. Your hands move up his torso, caressing his neck and cheeks. Then you smile and pull him back down to you. His lips automatically find yours for an intense kiss. You feel his body against yours, his weight on top of you and as you wrap your legs around his body you feel his hardness against your core through his jeans and you moan again. This is much better than your imagination. But that's not a fantasy. This is reality. His hands are wandering over your breasts in a very real way. Bucky's hands. Your best friend's hands. Through the lust and the alcohol, a thought suddenly arises. This is your best friend! Your Bucky. You're crossing a line and when that happens you can't go back. Fantasy is one thing but reality is another. You feel panic rising in you and your body tense up. You want to push him away and say stop, but you don't have to. Bucky pulled away from you and looked into your eyes. His eyes are worried over your face.

"Y/N? Are you okay?" he asks worriedly now. You shake your head, your throat is dry and you´re searching for the right words, but your brain is still stuck in a lust-drenched rigidity. Bucky sits up completely, pulling away from you and rubbing his face with both hands. Then he takes a deep breath. You finally manage to speak.

"I'm sorry."

"You don't have to apologize for anything."

"We can't Bucky. Oh shit." you pull your legs up to your body, trying to hide your half-naked body from him. Suddenly you feel uncomfortable. You feel tears welling up in your eyes. You're totally confused. Your head can't keep up with your feelings.

"Take it easy. Take a deep breath." His vocie is soft, but worried. You do as he says and then look back at him. You feel guilty and confused. Bucky gets up from the bed, turns to his closet and takes out one of his t-shirts. “Would you like to get dressed?” You nod. He hands you the t-shirt and you pull it over your head. The familiar smell of his detergent and the soft fabric on your skin calm you and you can finally think clearly again.

"I'm sorry." Bucky suddenly says now and you're confused again.

"What?"

"I'm sorry for harassing you. You're drunk and I took advantage of it. I thought you wanted it too."

"I wanted it! Bucky. No! Don't think like that. You didn't take advantage of me. I could say the same thing, you're drunk too." You are silent for a moment.

"Are you all right?" he asks, you can't quite interpret his look, he looks kind of sad, but that doesn't really fit.

"Yes, you?"

"Yes." he tries a smile, but it's a little crooked.

"It might be better if we go to sleep." you suggest. The situation makes you terribly uncomfortable. God, what have you done?

"Yeah, probably. Should I sleep on the couch?"

"Why? Do you want to sleep on the couch?" you've slept next to each other a thousand times. At some point you even developed the habit of cuddling a little before going to sleep.

"No. I just thought in case you needed some distance."

"I never need distance from you. If you want, you can sleep in the bed. Or I can sleep on the couch if you want." It's a strange atmosphere between the two of you, you both want to please the other without either of you really knowing what you want. Bucky sighs, slips out of his jeans and then puts on a fresh t-shirt. Meanwhile, you lie down under the blanket and are careful not to watch him change. Bucky slides into bed next to you.

"Sleep well, doll."

"Sleep well Bucks." Bucky presses the remote control on the nightstand and the light goes off. You lie in the dark and stare at the ceiling. Your thoughts revolve around the whole evening. About your kisses, about the touches. You felt good. You were happy. And it was nice. But that's how you always feel when you're with Bucky. Why is it so different this time? Because you kissed? But that was just for Natasha. That meant nothing. You almost slept with each other. But that's only because you've been making out all evening. Of course, this doesn't leave you unscathed. And you're drunk. You suppress a sigh and close your eyes. Tomorrow everything will be the same as before. Everything will be exactly the same as always! You fall asleep with this thought.

When you wake up, the bed next to you is empty. You turn onto your stomach, bury your face in the pillows and take a deep breath. You don't really feel rested, and one look at the alarm clock on the bedside table tells you why. It's not even 10 A.M. Why is Bucky already awake? You sit up and listen into the apartment, maybe he's taking a shower or something. But instead of the sound of water, you hear quiet voices. Bucky is talking to someone. Steve! You get out of bed faster than you thought you would.

"Bucky, do you really think this is a good idea?" You can hear the two of them talking muffled through the closed door.

"We help Natasha."

"Of course. You're so helpful and not at all selfish." Steve sounds sarcastic. But maybe you're just imagining it, after all you can only hear him faintly through the door. You quickly slip on one of Bucky’s sweaters. It is long enough to reach over your butt so you don't end up only in your underwear in front of Steve and then come out of the bedroom.

"Morning." You say as you step into the kitchen.

"Good morning Doll."

“Good morning Y/N.”

"Morning Steve, what are you doing here?"

"I brought coffee over. My run goes through Buckys street. I didn't know you were here otherwise I would have brought you one too."

"It's fine. Not like Bucks doesn't have a portafilter machine." You turn to the coffee machine and press the button so that the grinder starts grinding the beans.

“You are allowed to touch the holy coffee machine?”

"This is not a coffee machine, this...

"Is an Italian portafilter machine. We know." You and Steve interrupt Bucky at the same time. Bucky sighs but has to suppress a laugh.

"By the way, Tony filmed your smooch yesterday." Steve taps on his phone and the next moment you see you and Bucky making out at the bar. You feel yourself blushing.

"How childish."

"I think we look hot." Bucky says, pushing you by your hip to the sideand, taking the portafilter from your hand to clamp it into the machine and fill it with the freshly ground coffee. You roll your eyes.

"What's Rick like?" Steve then asks to change the subject. Bucky groans and rolls his eyes.

"Annoying."

"Nonsense. He's okay, I think."

"You think?"

"It was one evening and Nat likes him." the next moment your cell phone rings, Natasha. "Creepy." you accept the video call and in the next moment her face appears on your screen. "Good morning Nat." You say, leaning against the kitchen counter while Bucky finishes making your coffee and then fills your cup with oat milk. You know he always buys them especially for you and that makes you smile. God he's just the best.

"Good morning Y/N. I just got home."

"I am not that far yet." you turn the screen once so Nat can see Steve and Bucky, both of them giving her a quick wave. Then you turn the screen over again.

"How surprising." she says without meaning it. " But good I wanted to thank both of you. You really put on a good show yesterday."

“Sure thing, Nat.”

"It wasn't that bad." you kick at Bucky, but he pulls his leg away so you only hit the air.

"You can tell Rick in two weeks that we broke up." you then say back towards the phone.

"About that. He suggested we meet again on Wednesday for dinner. Like a double date." You roll your eyes.

"Nat!"

"I know, but I didn't know how to say no without lying. I don't want to lie to him."

"You should have thought about that beforehand." Steve says now. You give him a dirty look, it's none of his business.

“So Wednesday is fine?” You swipe away from the phone call to look at your calendar, but so far there's nothing scheduled for Wednesday other than work. "For me, yes." Bucky also looks at his cell phone calendar and then nods. "For Bucky too."

"Okay perfect. We were going to this new Italian place around the corner from me."

“That super fancy restaurant?” you ask.

"Yes, exactly." You sigh. Super fancy also means super expensive. A visit there would probably use up your entire going out budget for the month.

"Okay. See you Wednesday then." you say anyway. "Until Wednesday. And thank you again. I really owe you one. Love you."

"Love you. Bye Nat."

"Bye." Bucky and Steve call and than you end the call.

"I invite you, of course." Can Bucky read your mind? You blush slightly, but then nod.

"Thanks."

"Not for that, Doll." You don't actually earn less, but a lot of it goes towards renting your apartment. Natascha lives in one of her parents' apartments, so she doesn't pay rent and her parents also cover her tuition fees. Bucky earns more than you anyway and none of you can come close to Tony. It's not embarrassing that you don't have as much money as your friends, it's just annoying sometimes. You take a sip of your coffee. Buckys machine really is a thousand times better than that old thing in your kitchen.

"So guys. I have to go again. Peggy is waiting at home." Steve pushes his chair back and stands up. "It was nice to see you Y/N. Next time we'll be there again so we can chat longer."

"It was nice to see you too Steve. Love to Peggy."

"I will tell her." He says goodbye to Bucky with their signature handshake and then disappears from the apartment. You're alone with Bucky, you're sober and you suddenly remember your make out session in his bed you had yesterday. Damned. How embarrassing.

"I'm going to take a shower and then be on my way, don't want to bother you any more."

"You don't bother me, Doll. Ever." Bucky says. You try a smile, put down your almost full cup and escape to the bathroom. Maybe you can walk away from this awkward conversation. You're never embarrassed in front of Bucky, he's your best friend. You go through the ups and downs of your life with him, but yesterday. That was different and you don't want to think about it. Damn you were about to fuck him. You briefly go into the bedroom and open the wardrobe. You spend the night here so often that you have your own clothes here, you quickly get some fresh clothes and then disappear to the bathroom. As the hot water flows over your body, you take a deep breath. You try to sort out your thoughts. Everything was good between you right now. It wasn't strange. Everything as always. Or was it just because Steve was there? Should you address the situation yesterday? Or just stay silent and pretend everything is fine? Your mind wanders back to last night, to the feeling of his hands on your body. You quickly shake your head. You really can't use that now. You finish your shower, dry yourself off and change into your fresh clothes. You wrap your hair in a towel and as you step out of the bathroom, Bucky is standing directly in front of you. He was waiting for you.

“I know you Y/N and I know you want to run away, but we need to talk about yesterday.” You swallow. Damned! Were you drunk enough to pretend you didn't remember? No, unfortunately not. "Kitchen. There's breakfast." He says, nodding his head in that direction. You look at the front door, maybe you should just run. You realize how ridiculous this idea is and you admit defeat. You slowly follow him into the kitchen and sit at the table where Bucky has prepared breakfast. You grab a roll and Bucky gives you a fresh coffee. Then he sits down opposite to you. "So yesterday..." he begins, his voice sounds emotionless. You know that voice, that's his working voice. And you know he has a speech prepared. But you don't want to hear it. Everything in you is now reluctant to hear these prepared words. So you interrupt him.

"I think we should just forget about it. We were drunk, made out all night, so it's clear that we're kind of horny." He furrows his eyebrows, you can see that he doesn't like that you interrupted him, but he nods.

"If you want it that way." Now you're confused. You don't like the sentence, something is strange. But you can't quite put your finger on it.

"What do you want?"

Bucky opens his mouth, but he doesn't say anything. He takes a deep breath, looks at his plate and when he looks up again he smiles at you. But you know him too well. That's not his normal smile. It seems forced.

"Let's forget it." he then replies. Even though it was your idea, somewhere deep inside you are hurt. You quickly push the feeling away. You just want it to be like it used to be. It should be like yesterday morning. Before you made out.

"Good." you agree. The rest of breakfast passes in silence. Then you and Bucky clean up the kitchen. Your goodbye is kind of stiff and as you head home you still feel like something isn't right. You would like to call Natasha. She is your best friend. Normally you would call her now and talk to her about every second of last night. But Bucky is her ex-boyfriend. Yes, it was a long time ago. Yes, they're both obviously over it. Still, something inside you is resisting. You don't call her.

You don't hear from Bucky all weekend. That's not normal. But you don't call him either. Did you really ruin your friendship? God, what have you done? You just wanted to help Natasha. You spend the whole Sunday thinking about whether you should call her or not. But you don't. You know that Sundays are completely reserved for her studying and you don't want to disturb her. You're also embarrassed by the situation. Did you handle it wrong? Should you have listened to Bucky's speech? What is he really thinking? For the first time in almost three years, you feel like you don’t know what Bucky is really thinking. You don't feel like doing anything this Sunday. Bored, you lie on your sofa and stare at the switched off television. You tried to watch something, but it didn't interest you. You aren´t hungry all day, so you don´t eat anything ecept an slice of bread. Are you so old that a hangover lasts two days? Well actually you didn't drink enough to even have a hangover. You didn't even have a headache yesterday. You keep reaching for your phone, thinking about calling Bucky. But you don´t. You miss him. It feels like you had an argument. But you don't have. Or? Why can't you just call him? Because you're afraid it's weird. But it's weird already. God. What have you done? On Sunday evening, a few tears roll down your cheek before you fall asleep.

Monday morning comes too quickly and when your alarm goes off you briefly consider if you should call in sick. But that doesn't work. You still have way too much to do. So you get up, get dressed and head to work. You're just slumping into your office chair when your phone beeps. Bucky wrote you a message. Your stomach tightens. What's that supposed to mean? This is your best friend! Pull yourself together. You pick up your phone and open the message. "Call later? Work until 5." "Gladly." You answer, but you don't know what you want to say to him. What does he want? Since when has he been asking for phone calls? Usually he just calls. God you need to talk to someone. But you're so embarrassed by the whole situation. You've long since ruled out talking to Natasha about it. Wanda? No, she wouldn't really have any good advice for you. Wanda has fallen in love with every guy she has kissed so far. She loves the dream of true love. And with Vision she lives out this dream. Peggy? No, she's more Bucky's friend than yours. You sigh as you realize your last option. Tony. You need more friends. Nevertheless, you reach for your cell phone and call him.

"What gives me the honor?" he answers it after a short moment.

“Do you have anything planned during your lunch break?”

"My whole life is a lunch break." You already regret calling him and sigh. Tony must have heard you because his voice suddenly becomes serious. "What's up?"

"I have something to discuss."

"And why not with Nat?"

"Not an option."

"You're making me really curious. So lunch break. I'll pick you up at your office."

"Thanks Tony."

"See you later." After the phone call, you try to concentrate on your work but things are going slowly. You're happy when Tony writes you a message and says he's standing in front of the building. You quickly grab your things and your jacket, say goodbye to your colleagues for your break and go to the elevator. Tony knows well not to come inside your office. People treat you differently once they know you're friends with him. You noticed that clearly at your last job. As you leave the building, Tony is standing in front of you with a to-go box from his favorite Italian restaurant. You walk a little way to the nearby park, sit down at a fountain and start eating.

"So why did you want to talk so badly?" he asks curiously.

"It's because of Bucky."

"What about Bucky?"

"We kissed."

"I know. I filmed it."

"No. I mean after. In his apartment. In his bedroom. Half naked." Tony starts laughing.

“You guys fucked?”

"No! Almost, then we stopped and it's been weird ever since."

"Have you talked about it?"

"Just briefly. He had prepared a speech but I didn't let him finish and then we said let's forget it, everything is as usual. But I haven't heard from him since then, until this morning. He wants to call later."

Tony sighs and thinks a moment. “Did you stop or did he?”

"I. Why?"

"Then it's quite clear. Y/N. If a beautiful woman like you pushed me off the edge of the bed, I would also have a bruised ego."

“You think this is an ego thing?”

"I am very sure." You are relieved. So you haven't lost your friendship with him after all. "He'll probably only need a few days and then everything will be as before. Don't worry so much."

"Easier said than done. You know I'm an overthinker."

"And a people pleaser."

"Thanks." You say, rolling your eyes. Tony winks at you.

"How was it?"

"What?"

"Your almost fuck of course."

"Tony!" You say, slapping his arm.

"What? You wanted my advice and I just want my fair reward."

“Oh, your advice now comes with conditions?”

"Always have."

"And you wonder why no one asks you for advice. Oh yes, that was because of your character." Tony looks at you in shock for a moment and then starts laughing out loud.

"Good one. I'm proud." You rolled your eyes again. "So do I get the spicy details now or not?"

"No."

"It was worth a try." he then laughs.

"I hope everything goes well on the phone call." you then say and chew on your noodles.

"I'm sure. Otherwise, sit down together at the weekend and discuss everything calmly. Making out isn't the end of the world."

"Well we have to have everything sorted out by Wednesday at the latest."

"What's on Wednesday?"

"A fake double date with Nat and Rick."

Tony rolls his eyes. "I can't stand the guy."

"You just don't like him because he's not Bruce."

"That's not true!" Tony's look turns sad and you know he's thinking about his old lab partner. But he was so much more than that. Tony's best friend, Natasha's first love. You shake your head. You don't want to think about what happened to him, neither of you saw it coming. From one day to the next he was gone, and everything was different. You regret saying his name. Tony takes a deep breath.

"This is far too serious for me." You reach for his hand and try an encouraging smile. Tears gather in Tony's eyes, but he quickly blinks them away. "I miss him."

"I miss him too." You say. Tony takes a few deep breaths and then manages to smile again. He removes his hand from yours and claps his hands.

"You have to go back to the office." he then changes the subject.

"Are you sure?" Now you don't want to leave him alone.

"Yeah. I'll be fine. But I want an update tonight, your drama is much better than mine." You roll your eyes slightly, but you're glad that his low mood has been averted.

"You will get it." you say, getting up and throwing the empty food box into the nearest trash.

"Don't worry so much. Everything will be fine. Trust me, I'm a genius."

"But that doesn't mean you can see the future."

"Right, I can't do that yet. But I'm a man, just like James. Give him a little time until he realizes that his ego is getting in his way and everything is as usual." You want to believe him. And why should he be wrong?

"Thanks Tony. That really helped me."

"You´re welcome." He says, smiling genuinely at you. You hug each other goodbye and you head back to the office. After the conversation you can concentrate much better, you even manage to prepare everything for your project presentation. And that without overtime. You come home on time and put on comfortable clothes. You've just sat down on the couch with a cup of coffee when your cell phone rings. Bucky. You quickly answer your cell phone. "Hello."

"Hello." and then you both remain silent. Tears come to your eyes, maybe everything won't be okay after all. You hear Bucky take a deep breath. "I'm sorry. This is weird. It's weird between us." he speaks faster than you are used to from him.

"Yes, it is."

"I didn't want it like that. Never. And I know that in my bedroom was shit and that we didn't talk properly was shit too. I fucked up."

"No. When someone screwed up than it is me. I didn't let you finish on Saturday and left as soon as I could. I know it's only Monday but I miss you Bucks. It's so unusual for me not to talk to you for so long."

"It's unusual for me too. I miss you too." A ring at the front door makes you jump. "Will you open the door for me?" You quickly jump up from the sofa and open the door for him. You're so relieved to see him that you fall straight into his arms. You know that the last time you saw each other was only two days ago and that this dependence on your best friend is neither normal nor healthy, but you don't care about that at this moment. You're just happy to be able to hold him in your arms again. This time it doesn't feel strange, it feels right. You let him into your apartment and he throws keys and wallet into the small bowl on the dresser next to your door. Everything as usually. Then he puts his jacket aside and you sit together on your sofa.

"You wanted to say more to Saturday right?" you finally manage to gather enough courage to face the situation.

"Yeah, I thought about something before Steve came."

“Do you still want to say it now?” Bucky looks at you for a while, he seems to be thinking. Then he begins to speak.

"I wanted to say that I don't want our friendship to be affected by this little make out session. That nothing is as important to me as our friendship." he stops, takes a deep breath and looks around the room. But then his eyes find yours again, his look is serious. "But that's a lie." A hot burning sensation forms in your stomach. What? Before you can say anything, before you can even understand what he said, he's already talking again. "It's a lie Y/N. I've known this for a while. I don't know how many times I've talked to Steve about it. It's probably getting on his nerves terribly. But whatever, that's not the topic right now. I I really wanted to come here and tell you that everything is as usual but I can't. I don't want to. I don't want to keep lying. Shit. Kissing you, holding you in my arms, being allowed to touch you in front of everyone, This is all I've ever wanted. You're all I've ever wanted. I only had this for one evening but I can't go back. I'm driving myself crazy to think that none of this was real on your part. I love you. I love you for so long. I know you don't feel that way but I can't carry on like this. I'm sorry." You sit on your sofa and stare at him in shock. Did he really just say that? Your thoughts start racing. Everything has changed since the weekend and yet everything is somehow the same. You think about how you feel being around Bucky. Nobody makes you feel so comfortable. With him you can be completely you. You enjoy the closeness you have with him. Every hug. Every time you watch a movie together and cuddle. Every time you fall asleep in his arms. You can talk to him about anything. You can talk about the same thing a thousand times and he wouldn't complain. When you're with him you don't have to pretend. He saw you at your lowest points and helped you out. You saw him at his lowest points and built him back up. You always thought he was your soulmate, but platonic. Maybe your relationship isn't as platonic as you thought. You didn't see him for 2 days, thought you had lost him and felt like your whole world had collapsed. Have you ever felt that way about one of your friends? No of course not. You almost laughed at your own stupidity. How could you not realize that you love him? You lean in and place your lips on his. The feeling is so strange and at the same time so familiar. Bucky kisses you for a moment and then pulls away.

"Don't please. Don't do this because you think you have to." he swallows a few times, tears glistening in his eyes.

"I love you." You say. Now it's him who looks at you in shock.

"As your best friend?" he then asks uncertainly. Uncertain. Also a word that you wouldn't have associated with Bucky until today.

"No. I thought so. I thought you were my best friend. But that's not true. You're so much more. I love you Bucky and I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't realize it sooner. I'm sorry we had to go through that drama. I'm sorry it took a fucking fake relationship for me to understand that I love you." you laugh and at the same time tears stream down your cheeks. How could you be so stupid? Now it's Bucky who leans in and kisses you. You wrap your arms around him, close your eyes and enjoy the kiss. He starts to laugh in the kiss and you laugh too.

"We're really stupid." He says, stroking your cheek.

"Yes." you take his hand and intertwine your fingers with his. Your whole body is flooded with happiness. “So no more fake relationships?”

"No. No more fake." he kisses you again and then pulls you onto his lap in one quick movement. You put your arms around his neck and hug him.

"I love you." you repeat, how could you ever not say it to him?

"I love you."

Bucky stays with you, but you don´t get any further than the couch. You're too busy making out and laughing at your own stupidity.

"Steve will be happy, now I won't bother him anymore."

"I should probably apologize to him." You say while scratching his neck. Bucky is laying across your couch with his head in your lap. You've been like this thousands of times, but this time it's different. It's much better.

"I could have said something sooner."

"Why didn `t you?"

"I was afraid of losing you. I felt like a schoolboy falling in love for the first time. At first I thought it was just a phase, but it became more and more. When we kissed in the kitchen on Friday, I almost lock you up here and never let you out again." You start laughing and roll your eyes.

"Charming."

"Always." Your phone rings and you both jump. To be honest, you've forgotten that the world outside your apartment still exists. Bucky turns his head to the side to see who is calling you. "Why is Tony calling you so late?" He sits up and looks at you from the side, there is something in his gaze that you don't yet know. Jealousy.

"Why is my friendship with Tony suddenly a problem?" you ask confused, you've never seen him jealous before.

"It´s not " he says quickly. "I was just wondering why he was calling you so late."

"Are you jealous?"

"Yes." he says openly. "I know I shouldn't, but I am."

"You've never been jealous before."

"I was jealous of every man near you. I just didn't let you see it." he confesses to you.

“Then why now?” you ask, you're not mad at him because he's jealous. It flatters you a little to be honest.

"Because you're mine now." he says smiling. You grinned at him, leaned in and kissed him. Your cell phone stops ringing.

"I went on a lunch break today and asked him for advice because of you. I was afraid I would have destroyed our friendship. But he said you only had a scratch ego because I didn´t sleep with you and everything will be back to normal in a few days."

"He was wrong."

"Yes he was. He wants an update from our phone call." You have to laugh at the thought of how everything has changed in just a few hours, everything has become so much better.

"Then call him back." grins Bucky. You pick up your phone from the table and press call back. The next moment Tony's face appears on your phone screen.

“And was I right or was I right?” he asks into the phone without greeting. "Has Mr. Ego recovered?" Before you can answer, Bucky slides into the Screen.

"Mr. Ego?" Tony winces.

"Dude. You know I hate jump scares." You start laughing again. “What are you doing at Y/N’s house so late?” Why does he have to be so nosy? You and Bucky exchange a quick look. And you know you think the same thing. Why lie? Why keep something that feels so beautiful and so right secret?

"I'm spending time with my girlfriend." Bucky replies.

"GIRLFRIEND?" Tony screams into the phone and you hold the phone away. You didn't expect such a sudden outburst of emotions from him.

"Yep." you say. Tony starts laughing uproariously.

"I didn't expect that."

"Always good for a surprise."

"I'm happy for you and I said you look good together. "

"Thanks Tony."

"Then I won't bother you any further."

"We haven't told anyone else yet." You say quickly before Tony tells everyone the news.

"I'm quiet, don't worry, lovebirds."

Tuesday morning you would like to call in sick again, but this time for a different reason. Bucky kisses your cheeks as light as a feather, his beard tickles slightly and his hands stroke your hips under your t-shirt. Or more likely under one of his old t-shirts that you wear to sleep. "I have to get up and take a shower. Otherwise I'll be late." you laugh but kiss him again. You don't want to get up. You would much rather spend the whole day here in bed with him.

"Then be late."

"Then I'll be fired."

"Doesn't matter." his lips find your neck and he kisses you. You bite your lip to keep from moaning. You gather all your self-control and push him away from you.

"I have to work." He grimaces, sighs, and then rolls off of you.

"You're right as always." You quickly climb out of the soft bed before you change your mind and head towards the bathroom. You definitely need a shower after last night. A look at the clock tells you that you have still enough time. Thank god.

"Are you coming?" you call into the bedroom.

"What?"

"Showering." You hear him jump out of bed and the next moment he's in the bathroom with you. His lips on yours again. You start to laugh, but when his hands go under your sleep shorts you moan.

You stand in front of your closet and tilt your head to the side. Then you look back at the picture Natasha sent you of her outfit and back into your closet. You don't quite have the right outfit, so you'll be a little underdressed. You get dressed, do your make-up and your hair. Just as you're done, the doorbell rings. A happy smile spreads across your face and your heart flutters. Bucky. You quickly open the door.

"You look great." You say, he is wearing a dark shirt and pants. But he's rolled up his sleeves and you have to swallow when you look at his muscular underarms. When did you become a horny teenager?

"That's my text Doll." He says and kisses you. "Here for you." he pulls out a bouquet of flowers from behind his back. You beam at him.

"Thanks. That wouldn't have been necessary."

"It's our first real date. Unfortunately we have to spend it with Rick, but still." You hit him on the upper arm. He and Tony could really open a we-hate-rick club. And that even though they don´t really know him. He kisses your cheek. You take the flowers and look for a vase in the kitchen. You fill it with water and place the flowers on the table in the living room so that they get enough light. Then you turn in a circle in front of Bucky so he can see you from all sides.

"And are you going out with me like that?" He grabs your hips and pulls you close.

"I would love to stay here with you like this." You start laughing, biting your bottom lip and looking at him with wide eyes.

"And then?"

"Stop it." he pushes you away from him, laughing. "But something is missing." he then says seriously again. You turn to the mirror and examine your outfit and make-up. Does he not like it? Maybe other shoes? Or another make-up? "I can hear you thinking." you turn back to Bucky, he is standing in front of you with a mischievous grin. "That's missing." He pulls out of his trouser pocket a silver chain set with small sparkling stones.

"Oh Bucks. No. I can't accept that." you say. You don't want him to give you anything. He's already taking you to an overly expensive restaurant today.

"Yes you can." He comes behind you and pushes your hair to the side to put the necklace on you. His hands then stroke your bare shoulders and he presses a kiss to your shoulder blade.

"It is too much."

"It's not. Otherwise, consider it a gift for your promotion." You start laughing.

“I didn’t get promoted.” Your presentation went really well yesterday and your boss put you in charge of the project. Normally you are only responsible for the preparation and then have to hand everything over. This is a great opportunity for you. Of course Bucky was the first person you called afterwards.

“You get more money?”

"Correct."

"And more responsibility?"

"Yes."

"Sounds like a promotion to me."

"But my job title remains the same."

"Formalities." You sigh but smile at him. You are so full of happiness that you can't believe it yourself.

"Thanks Bucky. For the flowers, for the necklace. For you. Just thank you."

"You don't have to thank Y/N. You make me so happy."

"You make me happy." You kiss him and fold your arms behind his neck. Bucky smiles against your lips. Then he breaks away from you.

"Come on now, Doll. Otherwise we'll be late."

"You're right." You say, turning around and reaching for your bag. Bucky slaps your ass lightly in the next moment. You gasp in mock outrage. "Stop it." He clicks his tongue and grins.

"Don't pretend you didn´t like it." You roll your eyes, laugh, and then head for the door. How grown up. You meet Nat and Rick in front of the restaurant, so Bucky came to you with his car, he parked right in front of your apartment and of course he has a parking ticket stuck to the windshield. He takes it off as he walks around the car to open the door for you. You collapse into the comfortable leather seat and Bucky throws the ticket to the others.

"At some point they'll take away your driver's license."

"Nonsense. I pay my traffic tickets diligently." You roll your eyes and he starts the engine. "And even if I do, you can drive me around."

"I don't have a driver's license." You've lived in New York your whole life. So why get a driving license?

"I know." he merges into the traffic and you arrive at the restaurant on time. You reach for the door handle, but Bucky lightly pecks your side. "Wait." He gets out, comes around the car and opens the door for you.

"Gentleman."

"Always. I'm just the perfect boyfriend." He really is. You started to worry if things would be different between you now, but they aren't. He's still your Bucky except he's also your boyfriend. Bucky hands the key to the valet-parking and you look down the street to see where Nat and Rick are. You feel yourself getting nervous. You haven't told Nat about your relationship with Bucky. You've only been together for three days. Still, something like that is actually something you tell her straight away. But he is still her ex-boyfriend. It seems forbidden to you. Your best friend's ex-boyfriend is normally absolutely taboo. You're sure she won't be mad but still. It makes you nervous. Bucky places a hand on your back. "What is it?"

"I didn't tell Nat." He knows exactly what you mean, his eyebrows furrowing.

"Because you're unsure if it'll hold?"

"No!" you say quickly. "No, not at all. It's just you're her ex." Bucky rolls his eyes.

“Hardly worth mentioning.”

"I know, I know. Still, I have no idea why I tink like that. I want to tell her. But I haven't had the chance yet. And now I can´t because Rick is with us. I'll tell her tomorrow."

"Take all the time you need, Doll." he kisses your cheek and smiles. Then you see Natasha and Rick come around the next corner. Your best friend looks stunningly beautiful as always. But her face looks a little tense. She doesn't hold Rick's hand either. The two walk stiffly next to each other. "Looks like a crisis." A mean grin appears on Bucky's face. You hit him lightly in the stomach with your elbow. "Ouch."

"That didn't hurt."

"It could have ."

“But it didn’t.” you suppress a grin.

"I'm sorry you had to wait." Natasha greets you and pulls you into a tight hug. Then she hugs Bucky too while you greet Rick with a smile and a handshake. Bucky just nods at him.

"No problem, we just arrived." you say. You go inside the restaurant and, thanks to your reservation, you are taken straight to a table. Bucky pulls the chair back for you and you grin at him as he sits down next to you. He immediately grabs your hand and you interlace your fingers together. Natasha and Rick sit across from you and the waitress brings the menus. You notice that there are no prices on your menu and you're kind of glad that you don't know how much this costs.

"How was your presentation?" Nat asks.

"Good. Really good. I can lead the project until the end." you answer her, feeling a little proud of yourself.

"That's great Y/N. I'm so happy for you."

"Thanks." Natasha smiles at you, suddenly her eyes go to your neck. Did Bucky leave a hickey? No he didn't. You checked as you put on your dress. The necklace. Nat knows all your jewelry so she knows it's new. But she doesn't say anything. You continue to talk. It's much quieter in the restaurant than in the bar on the weekend, so you get to know Rick a little better. With each of his answers, Bucky seems to likes him less and you also find it a little difficult to find similarities between him and Nat. He has other hobbies, isn't interested in environmental protection like Natasha is, and he is showing off a little too much for your taste. But Natasha must like him, not you. You notice a tense atmosphere between Nat and Rick, but maybe you're just imagining it. Before dessert you excuse yourself to the toilet.

"I'm coming with you." says Natasha. Bucky gives you both a pleading look. You press a kiss to his cheek.

"Be nice." you whisper silently.

"A new necklace?" Natasha asks when you reach the toilets.

"Yes from Bucks."

"He gives you jewelry?" she asks, surprised and confused.

"Yes, because my presentation went so well." She doesn't believe you. Of course not. You don't believe yourself. You desperately want to tell her, but now is neither the right time nor the right place. You both quickly go to the toilets. "What about you and Rick?" you ask as you wash your hands. Nat rolls his eyes.

"So obvious?"

"Yes."

"We argue a bit. But that's normal." She tells herself, you notice that immediately.

"Yes, it is." you still agree with her. You wish her that she can finally be happy again. And arguments in a relationship are normal!

"What do you think of him?"

"He's nice. I've spoken to him a bit more now than I did at the weekend."

“Just nice?”

"Well, yes. Very nice. But it is only important what you think." You go back to your table, from far away you see Bucky and Rick having a staring contest. Bucky doesn't even blink.

"Bucky hates him." Natasha says and sights.

"He doesn't know him."

"And he doesn't try to get to know him." You don't know what to say because she's right so you just sigh. You come back to the table and you immediately reach for Bucky’s hand again. He smiles, but doesn't take his eyes off Rick. How grown up. You feel Natasha kick Bucky under the table. He doesn't flinch, but he looks over at her and smiles.

"Who wants dessert?" he asks without making a face and waves the waiter over. Natasha's eyes cast daggers at him. You bite your cheek to suppress a laugh.

You complete the last half hour of the dinner and as you sit in Bucky's passenger seat you breathe a sigh of relief. Dinner was tiring. Rick is exhausting.

"I'll be honest, I hate him." Bucky says and puts on his turn signal. You sigh.

"He won't become my favorite person." you half agree with him. The car starts moving and you press the button to roll down the window. The warm car air mixes with the even warmer city air and you blow a strand of hair from your forehead. Bucky looks at you and smiles.

"You're beautiful."

"Look at the street." You say, but his compliment gives butterflies in your stomach and makes you blush.

"To me or do you want to go home?" he asks.

"To you." you answer him. "Or do you want an evening alone?"

"I don't know if I'll ever want an evening to myself again when the alternative is an evening with you."

The next afternoon you stand nervously outside Natasha's lecture hall. It's her last one for the day, you know that. You got off work early today, went to university and bought bad coffee for you and Nat at the street stand. You definitely have to tell her today. The necklace made her suspicious, you know that and you want to tell her. Why should you be afraid of her reaction? You know yourself that it is irrational. The doors open and a bunch of students stream outside. You recognize Natasha's red head of hair straight away and start waving. When she sees you she is surprised. You didn't tell her you were coming to pick her up. She comes to you and you hug.

"Hey Y/N. What are you doing here?" she asks as you hand her the coffee, which is probably cold by now.

"Picking you up." You leave the building. Natasha is skeptical, you can tell by her look.

"What's bothering you?" you ask as you make your way towards her apartment.

"What makes you think something is bothering me?" you ask.

"You were a bit strange at dinner and now you're picking me up from university?" You sigh. Why does she know you so well?

"Something happened." Natasha looks at you worried. "On Friday." you don't really know how to start. You can't find the right words. You sigh. There's no point in talking around it. "On Friday night when I was at Bucky's we kissed and almost slept with eachother." Natasha furrows her eyebrows and then starts to laugh.

"God Y/N, you look like you just told me that my grandma died. It's all good. Did you think I was mad? Not because of that. Bucky and I broke up years ago." You're relieved to hear that, but you haven't said everything yet. "If you want to sleep with him then go for it. From what I remember he's really good." Nat puts an arm around your shoulder and grins at you from the side.

"I know." She stumbles in her movement.

"Y/N. Tell me the whole story! Now." she demands. Now you don't know if she's mad or not. Her face reveals nothing. You sigh and tear off the patch.

"We talked about it briefly on Saturday and I said I wanted to forget it. Bucky was weird and we didn't talk at all on Sunday. I wanted to call you but I know you're studying on Sunday and I was so embarrassed and scared that you're mad because he's your ex.."

"If you call him my ex-boyfriend again I'll scream. I'm over it, he's over it. We're friends!" She interrupts and you bite your lip.

"I'm sorry. I wanted to tell you."

"You're always apologizing for something. But you haven't said for what yet."

"Yeah, I know. I... I.... Oh fuck it. Bucky came over on Monday and confessed to me that he loves me and then I realized that I love him too and now we're together. A real couple. A real relationship." you talk so fast that you're gasping for air by the time you finish. Nat just looks at you for a moment. Fear rises within you. Is she angry after all?

"Yes. Oh my God. How could I be so blind. Of course."

"What ?" you are completely confused. Natasha pulls you into a tight hug. She doesn't care that you're standing in the middle of the sidewalk and people are bumping into you and cursing at you.

"I was thinking. How could I not notice. You're both my best friends and I didn't realize you were into each other. I feel stupid."

"Well, I didn't notice it myself." You say, shrugging your shoulders. "I just thought Bucky and I were really good friends." Natasha starts laughing and you join in. "You are not mad?"

"No. Not at all. I'm happy for you. And for him. Really."

"Thanks Nat. I was really scared." Nat tilts his head slightly and sighs.

"I'm always your best friend. No matter what happens." You smile at her. "Come on, we'll be at my place in a moment and then I want to hear every little detail about this love confession. It must have been really good." You laugh briefly and then let her drag you along to her apartment.

Natascha's message comes on Friday afternoon as you are leaving your office and looking forward to a relaxing weekend. You're planning on going to your grandma's with Bucky tomorrow morning. Also because, unlike you, he has a car and you don't have to take the train. And of course because you want to introduce him to your grandma as your new boyfriend. Your mother would be there too. Natasha's message changes your plans. At least when it comes to leaving early. "Girls' night. Today I have vodka and ice cream. Nothing else." You furrow your eyebrows and know that something must have happened. Voda and ice cream is Nat's recipe for broken hearts. You quickly answer her that you will be with her in 2 hours. Then you dial Bucky's number.

"Hey doll."

"Hey Bucks. I have to cancel our DVD night."

"What happened?" he asks, slightly worried.

"Nat demanded a girls' night .An ice cream with vodka problem."

" Sounds serious."

"I don't know yet. Is that okay with you?"

"Of course, totally fine. We've seen each other every evening this week, now it´s Nat's turn. Should I pick you up tomorrow morning and we'll drive straight to your grandma's?"

"Sounds perfect. Thanks Bucky, you're the best."

"I know. Have a nice evening. I love you."

"I love you." The words come so easily from your lips that you wonder how you couldn't have realized that you love him. God you are so stupid. You hang up and head home. There you put on some comfortable clothes, pack a few things and head straight back to Natashas apartment. When you arrive, Peggy opens the door for you. You look at her surprised and pleased.

"You live." you grin and throw your arms around her neck. She laughs and presses herself against you.

"I missed you too."

"Are you feeling better?" you ask and have to suppress a grin because you know exactly why she was “sick” for so long.

"Yes, much better. Thanks." You put your bag down and walk through the long hallway to Nat's living room. She has already pushed the couch aside and laid out blankets and pillows in front of the huge television. Wanda sits on the floor next to Natasha. You greet them both with a hug and then collapse next to them.

"I ordered you a spinach pizza." Peggy says as she sits down next to you.

"Thanks. What happened Nat?" Your best friend wrinkles her nose. She has no make-up on and her eyes are bloodshot. She had cried.

"Rick and I broke up." You and Wanda exchange a quick look after Nats words. Then you turn to her.

"Oh what a shame."

"I'm sorry for that."

"You fit together so well."

"Fucking liars! None of you liked him and Peggy didn't even know him." she starts laughing and then crying. And then both at the same time. You quickly hug her and Wanda and Peggy also wrap her arms around her so it becomes a group hug. Natasha cries for a while and then takes a long sip from her vodka bottle. The smell alone makes you sick. Nat takes a few deep breaths. "Now it's proven Bruce was my last love." she says sadly.

"No! Nat. He was your first love but definitely not your last." you contradict her.

"Yes, exactly." agrees Peggy.

"But then why didn't it work again?"

"Because Rick was an ass?" Wanda suggests. "

"He just wasn't right for you."

"But at some point the right one comes along." Peggy adds.

Natasha looks at all of you and then smiles. "Thanks." She says and then wipes away her tears. "Enough crying about Rick."

"Exactly men are not worth our tears." you say. Nat laughs briefly.

"It doesn't sound honest coming from you. You're in love head over heels."

"Nat!"

Wanda looks at you in surprise, but you know from Peggy's grin that she already knows. Steve is such a gossip girl.

"You have a boyfriend? Since when and who?" Wanda asks.

"Since Monday." you answer, smiling. "Bucky." "

I knew you were too convincing. Best friends never make out like that." she exclaims. You start laughing.

"We're drinking now." Natasha decides and holds up the vodka bottle. Wanda reaches past her for a few glasses and juice. Unlike Nat, none of you like straight vodka. Natasha shares her bottle of vodka with you and when she hands the cup to Peggy you swallow. Oh no. .

"I can't." says Peggy.

"Why not? It's girls' night."

Peggy takes a deep breath. "I'm pregnant."

"WHAT?" shouts Wanda.

"Oh my God."

"How surprising." You say, looking to the side because you can't suppress a grin.

"Are we happy?" Natasha asks uncertainly.

"Yes, we are happy. We are very happy." Peggy replies, laughing. This time it's her who gets a group hug. "And Y/N don't pretend. Bucky has known since day one and I'm sure you've known since day two. You suck at lying." Peggy says after you break away from the hug and lightly pushes you on the shoulder.

"He kept quiet until last week. I swear."

“So just juice for Peggy,” says Natasha and makes her another glass. "We'll toast anyway. To the first love and the last love." You toast and drink. To first love and last love. A nice toast actually.

You sprint out of your office. You're way too late and you hate yourself for it. But you couldn't leave earlier, your project is going well but a few things had to be finished today. You are responsible, so you take personal care. As you walk through the streets you rummage through your pocket for your cell phone. You actually wanted to go home after work, but then you would be even later for the dinner with your friends. You meet in 10 minutes and you are still 30 minutes away from the restaurant. You call Bucky.

"I just left the office." You say breathlessly as he answer the call.

"I thought so, I'm already on my way to the others. Should I come pick you up?"

"No, no. Then you will drive past the restaurant, I'm just a little late. But I'll hurry up."

"Take it easy, Doll. Take a deep breath. Being late isn't the end of the world."

"But it's rude." "

I bet you you'll get there before Tony and because he and Pepper invited us out you'll be on time."

"It doesn´t work like that." you laugh, but your steps slow down a little.

"It works exactly the way we want it to. Now breathe in and out deeply." You do what he says. "Better?"

"Much better. Why are you so perfect?" Bucky laughs quietly.

"I've waited for us for so long. I'm doing my best now." Your heart flutters at his words.

"You're perfect. The perfect boyfriend. I love you."

"I love you too. I'll see you soon, Doll."

"See you soon." Unfortunately, when you arrive at the restaurant, Pepper and Tony are already there. You are the last and the only one still wearing your work clothes. "I'm so sorry guys. I was stuck at work."

"It's okay Y/N. Don't stress. It's nice that you make it." Pepper smiles at you. She only came back two days ago. That's why you're eating together this Thursday. And this time you are complete again since a long time. You hug Pepper.

"Good to see you." You say and greet the others before you sit down next to Bucky and press a kiss on his lips.

"Hey Bucks." you say.

"Hey, Doll. See, I say being late isn't a bad thing."

"Why do you act like you're together when Rick and Nat have broken up?" Vision asks confused and looks between you and Bucky.

"Oh shit, I forgot to tell you." Wanda says, slapping her hand on her forehead. You all start laughing. Yes, maybe everything is different now, but somehow the same.

74 notes · View notes

sol-consort · 1 month

Note

Do you see Wrex and shepard together? Because I low-key think they have like sexual chemistry

OH BOY DO I!

It starts as enemies to firends to lovers, but then quickly spirals into forbidden love territory once he acquires the throne.

Remember that first meeting scene in ME1?

When the Citadel C-sec were too intimidated by Wrex to even dare and hold him down? The krogan assumes all humans tend to cower in front of someone his size.

How Shepard literally marches in there, calls him by his first name, then offers to shake his hand so casually? Full of confidence and poise? Not afraid to meet his eyes.

Yeah, that scene? Every single pixel is flooded with sexual and romantic tension.

Both Paragon and Renegade Shepard have the best chemistry with Wrex full stop.

The scene after it where Wrex deliberately disobeys Paragon Shep command to spare this guy's life, shooting him in the head because "he had a contract" Testing the limit to what this human allows him to get away with, pushing boundaries.

How Shep immediately snaps at him, addressing him down as a commander still despite him disrespecting your authority.

Showing him that this isn't the way things work around here, you won't tolerate this act from him a second time. He already used his one chance, and he better be on his best behaviour going forward.

Genuinely catching Wrex off-guard, he never expected the humans to have barks, let alone the power to follow it with bite. A part of him is even a little ashamed of his action, but he'd rather die than apologise to a human he just met, so he just gives a vague promise not to do it again.

Which might seem small, but to a contractual killer krogan who never trusted a single soul ever since he left his planet young, it's so much more.

The first building blocks to the long bridge of trust being established between them was set by Wrex.

And if you finish his target alone without bringing him along, what does Wrex do? He pays you. He hands you what he views as your rightful share for aiding with his job.

It's established early on that Wrex has honour, he has pride and more self-awareness that anyone would ever expect of him. He keeps his temper in control, is more cunning and logical than people expect of a "krogan"

How he doesn't hesitate to leave a situation when something feels off, his intuition and gut feeling had saved his life countless times.

You keep trying to have small talks with him whenever you come down to the dock of your ship, and he just doesn't understand why.

What are your intentions? Is it just curiosity from him being the first Korgan you see? Or are you just digging for information out of mistrust, doubting his abilities as a capable mercenary.

He always hated the employers who kept peering over his shoulders, poking their nose into things that do not concer them.

The job you assigned him will get done, stop bothering him.

In fact, that's why he shares the story about his previous employers. The various times he was ruthless just to get a job done, even when he had to face a friend in combat. Painting himself as a hardened soul.

...so why are you looking at him like that?

See? He has no heart, in fact, despite the three pumping in his chest. So are you convinced yet?

Yes, he is the epitome of the big, strong scary Korgan. The same one all the other species warned you so much about.

Instead of being impressed, intimidated, or both. You look at him with concern, as if he's a bird with broken wings that fell into your palm.

You inquire about his homeplanet.

The usual bitterness that threaten to come out in a pile upwards his throat each time he retells this story...is less severe this time around. It's easier to get out, to go more into details around you.

You never interrupt him, you let him talk. Thoughtfully listening, only speaking when it's your turn.

He doesn't know what to say.

By the end, you...apologise.

For someone to finally acknowledge the wrongs that have been done against his own kind, the injustice the krogans continue to suffer to this day.

A salarian would've gone into a long tangent about why it was a necessary evil, an asari would've offered faux pity before reminding him of the shiny statue in the citadel as if that makes up for the billions of krogan stillborns every year. A turian would've acted as this was a righteous punishment, that krogans should never be trusted until they prove they're capable of civility.

But you, human...Shepard, apologised.

Next time you stop by, he doesn't know why he even brings up the family crest. The rotten armour has been buzzing at the back of his mind like an annoying fly.

Wrex just blurted it out, his tongue loose around you for some reason, something he noticed but was still in denial about–either way, you make a promise to retrieve it.

He snorts.

Okay, he'll believe it when he sees it, Shep.

...

Standing there in front of the platinum wall locker, Wrex claws tremble as he opens the door. The urge to dislodge the thing from its hinges gnaws at the back of his mind, but he resists it. He knows better than to risk damaging the container of what's supposed to be a centuries old piece of armour.

He can't fucking believe his eyes.

It's there, in his hand. As ugly and vile smelling as he imagined.

And you by his side, you pawny little human who invaded this base like a storm, what a deadly force you are.

For the first time in decades, Wrex is hopeful again. Shepard reignited the flame of determination that always were inside him, the same snuffed out so cruelly by his father that forsaken day.

He followed you to Virmire, fully ready to risk his life for your cause. Not out of some obligation or contractual work, but because he believed in it, he believed in you, commander.

So why can't you extend him the same courtesy? Why must you oppose him when a cure is practically at the tip of his fingers?

It pains him as he raises the gun, the same sting he felt the day he drove the knife into his father's chest, the same despair wrangling his heart the day he put a bullet through his only friend's skull.

You expressed your sympathy for the tragedy of his people, didn't you? Or was it just a game of pretend to gain his trust?

So why can't you understand!

You of all people! He thought you would understand better than anyone.

But he doesn't pull the trigger.

You raise your gun, both of you know it won't do shit against him. A krogan shell can endure many bullets before any real damage is done, your squishy skin however? Yeah, not so much so.

No. The gun was akin to a flare instead. Gives a good reason for your crew to come running to your aid, for the salarian special unit to herald a shower of bullets upon him under the guise of "defending the human soldiers"

It will spell his doom in a much more painful way than the simple bullet he planned to plant directly into your heart ever could've.

The singular delicate human heart, how small it must be inside your chest. Yet this one fragile organ infected his three sturdy hearts with its determination.

How you risked your one heart for him that day you helped him retrieve his family crest.

Wrex...

is tried.

Beyond anything, he is so tried and sick of constantly fighting all the time.

He lowers his gun.

Yet the soldiers around you don't lower theirs until you do.

He tries not to let it get under his skin.

He fails.

Swallowing his pride, Wrex recollects the remains of his dignity. He must be in control of his emotions, never show too much fury, otherwise the world will weaponise it against him, claiming this is exactly why krogans don't deserve to join the rest of the galaxy yet.

They can choke on his dick.

There are just so many other scenes! I can go on forever.

The biggest one of them all, Grunt and how his whole mission could be interpreted as the best romance subplot between Wrex and Shepard.

Shep finds a Krogan teen who's going through puberty and what's your next course of action? Take him to his homeplanet and visit your ex the Krogan you may or may not have had a situationship with, the one you inspired to change his entire life, to go make a difference in the world.

Shep is Wrex's biggest muse, a nymph from the woods that flipped his world upside down. More deadly and dangerous than all the other warriors he has ever seen, as determined and inspiring as the greatest leaders. The krogan equivalent of a warrior angel.

And what does he do when this Valkyrie whom he thought had died walks back into his life so casually?

He is absolutely rejoiced. Couldn't give less of a shit about Cerberus or anything. Shepard is still Shepard, and you're here, alive, well, in front of him. As gorgeous as the day he lost you.

Not only that, but you came with a child. And you're asking him for guidance and help on raising him? Shepard, you shouldn't toy with a man's heart this much. Otherwise, he'll get the wrong impression.

Wrex practically treats Grunt as his own son and adopts him by the end of the mission. Not only that, but there is a big chance the "mating request" sent in for Shepard afterwards was actually Wrex's.

You get to play family for a day. Your son is just as powerful as you are. Wrex gets a glimpse of what it would've been like to raise him by your side, the life he could've had with Shepard.

But he cannot, he has obligations, ones he actually likes this time around. The krogans need a leader, the planet needs restoration. It's time to take responsibility for the state of his homeworld and not just chalk it up to "how krogans always were" Because that's simply not true.

The women remember it, their art, history, and beautiful complex culture. The men have gone senile with the war, Wrex needs to beat some sense into them. He'll drag all the clans with him to a better life whether they like it or not

And part of him...well. He knows you're the one he wants most, but is he the one you really want? Everyone in your crew is already drooling over you, Wrex is more dignified than to be just another obnoxious suiter chasing after you.

Not to mention, it's part of his job to get married to a krogan so the clans get another leader. You're a human, it will never work out. You have your own life, your own obligations and mission to save the galaxy.

It makes his dream to restore his planet pale in comparison, but Wrex isn't so fragile in his security that he'd get intimidated by that. If anything, it makes him yearn for you even more, admire you whole, impressed by your every achievements that outweigh his, rather than trying to dampen your blinding brightness.

Maybe, in the–hopefully near–future, your children and his can play together on this very same land. But instead of rubble, it will be grassy fields, you and Wrex taking a stroll in the gardens nearby while watching over both of your kids.

And for a moment, Wrex can close his eyes and pretend the ring pressing gainst his skin as he holds your hand, is a one that he gave you.

Would it be Wrex Shepard or would you prefer the Urdnot lastname?

Don't tell him.

He'd rather dream.

He earned it, after all that he sacrificed and everything gave in order to restore the glory to his people, he earned the right to dream.

#☆character study #☆Wrex #☆shepard #wrex x shepard #wrex x reader #urdnot wrex #commander shepard #mass effect #☆ship analysis

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ideas-4-stories · 8 months

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Cross Guild fic idea: Compilation of them holding hands. Like Mihawk and Buggy are just walking along the beach when Mihawk wordlessly reaches out and takes Buggy’s hand. During a meeting with a possible new business dealing, Crocodile takes Buggy’s hand and makes it clear to those they are dealing with that they better not disrespect Crocodile’s clown. Buggy rounds things out by taking both Mihawk and Crocodile’s hands in his own and telling Shanks that he is theirs and they are his when the red head comes barging in hoping to “rescue” Buggy from the two former warlords.

It’s subconsciously, when Mihawk grabs Buggy’s hand. If there’s any Buggy Follower around, you know they would fangirling & fanboying, so much. I wonder if Buggy said anything about it, or did he just blush and didn’t saying because he didn’t want it to stop.

You know those peeps either flirted with Buggy or something else… you know that meeting when either very fast, very slow… or it became messy with blood. Or not, who knows. Good for Crocodile, acknowledging Buggy’s wits and intelligence, even the clown has some stupid moments, but don’t most people have their stupid moments?

Not Shanks trying to be the “Knight in Shining Armor” that he thinks he is (the idea that Shanks sees himself as that, like Prince Charming in a way. Is always a lovely headcanon for me, because it’s funny in more ways than it should be) The man gets there, feeling worried about his ex-best friend (his partner in crime from childhood, his brother, etc…), and Buggy is holding two former warlords hands in front of him. Truthfully if I was Shanks, I would want to dig a hole and stay there because that’s embrassing.

Good on Buggy for standing up for his lovers to an dumbass of an ex-best firend. I imaotion that Benn and the rest of Shanks’s crew is watching this go down alongside many people of Buggy’s crew. They are going to need a lot of popcorn, I feel bad for Benn because he’s going to be the one that has to deal with Shanks’s emotional state when he gets so fucking drunk.

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hockeylovincountrygirl16 · 7 months

Text

Life lately

Warnings: swearing

AshleyKate19

Liked by: matthewtkachuck Jackhughes lhughes_06 and 400,000 more

Cap: Life lately and flash back to when my baby was still little 🥺 oh and soft launch

Comments

Matthewtkchuck your a drama queen

^Ashleykate says you who's the one who wants to be babied when thier hung over sick or injured

^^matthewtkchuck uhhh that's you

Jackhughes who's tieing your skates you can do it yourself

^AshleyKate he dosent let me...

^^jackhughes HE WHOS HE

Lhughes_06 who's legs are those

^AshleyKate 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

Bradytkachuk let me think 🤔

^ matthewtkchuck you can think oh lord save us

^^Bradytkachuk fuck you

Tyrantkuchuk spill pls

User3 the fact matthew and ashley are fighting in the comments is just hilarious

Liked by:AshleyKate

User23 the fact she has matthews number in her user name just screams puck bunny

^ Ashleykaye19 uhhhh my brothers are they hughes' and I grew up on the rink I definitely know more than you and I've been matthews best firend for years

Matthewtkchuck

Liked by:

Ashleykate19,Bradytkachuk,flapanthers and 4,000 more

Cap: Life lately and soft launch

Comments

Bradytkachuk hmm what a coincidence

^shut up

AshleyKate19 roomies for life

^Fuck yeah

Flapanthers chucky are you settling down

^ AshleyKate19 that's scary

^^Matthewtkchuck ashley screw off and yes I am

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nyxowl16 · 6 months

Text

I'm making s stsg fic rec list where they r happy, mostly bc I need it.

Starting with my absolute favs:

patience is a virtue i don't have by TheMightyChipmunk:

Teen and Up (it's not rated on ao3 tho)

Modern/ no cruses au. Bartender Geto and rich boy Gojo(he's actually rlly smart, this man 2 PhDs and 3rd one on the way) team up tank the blind dates Gojo's asshole parents set up for him after he comes out.

let destiny untwirl (i want you in my world) by themoonisdead

Teen And Up

A classic florist X tattoo artist. This one is just so good, heres the blurb:

Then, naturally, he sees him.

The absolute dreamboat of a man looks like he could be Satoru’s Christmas gift. He must have gotten lost in the mail and that’s why he’s a few days late, but Satoru won’t hold it against him. Built like that, Satoru’s certain this man is worth the wait and then some.

He’s pretty. Tatted up, piercings, long hair—the works. Pretty. His work is good, the ink is beautiful.

Satoru could do better.

or: satoru is gonna love this man (and suguru is gonna love him back)

or the one where Satoru tries his hardest to have a moment with his florist crush only for his adopted son to cockblock him every step of the way.

These last two have a tiny bit of angst but are absolutely worth it

Cherry Bomb by LyricalPary: Modern/ no cruses au. 4-5 yr age gap bw Gojo and Geto. childhood best firends to lovers

50k of pure joy. There is a bit of angst but the characterization for these two is on point.

A wonderous thing by anon : This is an AOB, mpreg fic, featuring omega Gojo and Alpha Geto.

I don't usually read mpreg, but this one is just the sweetest thing ever. Lots of stsg family fluff, and I'm a sucker for Megumi being protective over Satoru.

I have more recs if u guys want it...just ask me 🫣

#stsg #jjk #jujutsu kaisen #geto suguru #gojo satoru #ao3 fanfic #jjk fanfic #fanfic rec lest #gego #satoru x suguru #satosugu

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caxde · 2 years

Text

tangerine | 𝐞𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐱 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

summary you are a teacher on Hawkins High, all of your friends have moved on and found succes, however, Eddie has had the best luck, achiving the tittle of Rockstar, and missing you more than he's aware of. (8.2k)

warnings fem!reader, fluff, hurt/comfort, friends! in love, mutual pining, yearning etc, slowburn exes-ish to firends to lovers, idiots in love!!!, eventual smut so minor dni (fingering, p in v), english is not my first language so I apologise if there’s some mistakes, not proof read!

“G’ mornin Ozz” You mutter as the big brown mutt starts to lick your face, while his tail moves from side to side. He sets its two paws on top of your bed and you lie down quickly enough so his body touches yours instead of the mattress. “M’kay, gimme a minute.” You groan as you slowly sit up, scratching the sleep away from your eyes. As you begin to stretch your body and hear it all pop, you can see as your little companion does the same, asking for pets after he is done. You smile at him as you pet his head absentmindedly.

You dress yourself lazily, a pair of washed up light blue jeans that have some paint stain on them and an old distressed shirt covered by one of those old jumpers that you seem to have had since forever.

Ozz looked at you excitedly, sitting down next to the door, waiting for you to go on your morning walk, and enjoy the time that working takes away from him.

It felt funny, walking these streets again, unbothered now, without having to worry or panic about anything. A quiet life, a still life, one that lets you sleep peacefully at night. The only thing that worried you lately was whether you preferred your senior class to read Jane Austin’s Pride and Prejudice or something more recent, perhaps The Never Ending Story. You debated on it while Ozz kept you company in the early morning, the cold clinging to your face, waking you up at once.

All of your friends were doing absurdly well.

You can’t help but think as you head back home and get ready to head to your job.

Nancy still sends you emails for you to read, filled with her beautiful writing detailing how crazy being a Pulitzer winning journalist is, you smile and treasure them dearly. Robin usually sends you her manuscripts before anyone else, and has begged you to illustrate her new one, and your sketchbook was filled with ideas that you needed to get back to her. Steve finally had decided to study history, and was now teaching it at The Chicago University, everytime he comes back to Hawkins he calls you up so you can chat and grab a beer.

But Eddie, he was the luckiest one. And you cried often when you heard that he achieved another milestone, and would try to contact him, not really being able to, usually leaving each other long voicemails.

However, you kept a picture of the two of you on your desk, the one you took before he disappeared, before everything happened to him and you were able to call him yours.

Anyhow, you need to focus on what you were doing, having arrived at the doors of your classroom now.

In what felt like a thousand miles away, Eddie layed covered in sweat and buzzing with post-show energy, his ears ringing from the amount of cheers and screams he just got away from. His legs still shaking, not believing that this was now his life, and eager to be able to share it with everyone he cared about.

And even if he didn’t speak it aloud, you were on the top of that list.

“I counted fifteen.” Gareth said as he reached him, running out of breath. He looked at him confused, and tried his hardest to put his hair away, trying to cool down.

“What?” He said, his eyes squinting at him.

“Bras. They were throwing bras, Eddie!” He laughed as he saw how the eyes of his friend opened as he emphasized with big hand movements.

“You are a bigger dork now than in highschool.” He teased as he punched him in his arm.

“Good gig, yeah?” Jeff smiled as he joined them backstage. Eddie clapped him on the back, still processing the fact that they had just played in the actual Merriweather Post Pavilion, they had actually standed where Led Zeppelin had once been, and he smiled quietly to himself, eager to pick up the phone and tell you all about it. He was in Columbia, and had hopes to actually find you awake for once.

“We’re a long way from The Hideout.” Ben comes out, hanging Eddie a cigarette as he searches for a lighter that he provides back.

“Fuck yeah we are” Gareth screams excitedly, and they can’t help but to smile and celebrate as they start getting comfortable.

They know about Eddie’s ritual of leaving you a voicemail after every gig. And they politely leave the room so he can have space to actually call you.

He fidgets with his rings as he starts hearing the phone beeping, eager to hear your pre-recorded message. But for once, he is surprised by your half asleep voice.

“Hello?...” Your voice sounds as if you’d have been dozing off, cracking at the lack of interaction.

“Oh my god you’re actually awake.” He says surprised with a big smile that you can imagine as soon as you realize who it is.

“Edds?” He melts a bit as your voice softens.

“Hi darling.”

“Hi.” His face illuminated as his cheeks started to burn. He has missed your voice, he has even missed being able to hear your silences. “Where are you?”

“Columbia.” He whispers, as his voice relaxes, feeling how his whole body is met with the familiarity that you provide.

“You’re close.” He can tell that you’re still on your bed.

“Yeah, did I wake you up?” He sounds worried for once, and he hears your soft giggle that turns into a sleepless moan. His heart skips a beat.

“Not really. Was half asleep, Ozz just got off the bed.”

“He’s keeping you company?”

“Mmh.” A short moment of silence that let him stare at the ceiling, his head resting on the back of his chair. “He misses you.”

“He does?” He teases, and you laugh softly at the question.

“Yeah. Of course he does.” You can hear him laugh now, the question in his mind is evident enough that he doesn’t even need to ask it before you answer. “I miss you too dickhead.” His smile is bigger than before as that makes you both laugh.

“Do too.”

“Of course you do, I’m the life of the party. You must be bored without me, you know, you just have all the parties, and concerts, and interviews and meeting everyone you’ve wanted.” He laughs as you continue to give him ridiculous examples.

“It’s true, y’know. I kinnda miss doing a small show like, back in The Hideout.” He confesses and you chuckle a bit.

“Then just do it, Edds. Y’know, it’s your band, you can choose, right?” He shuts up, knowing that you are incredibly right, and then again, he would have to talk with so many people to even make that a possibility. But he doesn’t want to waste time complaining, he just wants to hear your voice, even better, he didn’t know how much he needed your laugh until he heard it again.

“I might. You’d come?”

“Of course, just like I used to.” You both smile at the memory, feeling nostalgic for the times you were only a short car ride away from each other. “Front row and center.”

“Oh darling, you’d be backstage and close by.” He waits a moment as he can feel you getting comfortable, the rustling of your bedsheets confirming that you’re falling asleep. “Do you wanna hang up?”

“No, I like the idea of falling asleep with you.” You confess half asleep. His cheeks burn as his smile grows wider.

It was always funny when this happened. And you were now developing a new sense for when it was about to. They would see the photo, turn away from your desk to meet with their friends and then they would start whispering with each other while looking at you every once in a while. At this point you just had to laugh.

And it always ends the same way. They wait until the end of the class, cleaning up or pretending to do so, and then approach you slowly. So when you clocked two of your senior students whispering amongst them you smiled softly. And waited patiently for the questions.

“Miss?” You heard as you were pulled away from your own world.

“Hi Taylor, what can I do for you?” You asked with your usual up-tone voice.

“Um, this is gonna be a weird ask but…” She started to avoid your eyes, as she searched for her friend to continue.

“We um, we noticed the photo on your desk, and well we just…” You laughed, a soft calm noise that made her shoulders drop. Tension being released.

“Yeah, that’s Munson.” You smile. Their eyes open once it hits them that they were right. “He used to go here, y’know?” They nod softly, and look at each other for reassurance.

“Is it true, what they say?” Taylor asks once again and your eyebrow raises at the question, unknown of what she was referencing.

“What do they say?”

“That they’ll play in The Hideout?”

“Oh.” Your cheeks seem to betray you as they grow pink. You nod at the girls as you stand up from the chair. You circle the table to face them again, reclining yourself on it. “Yeah, well, they used to, I dunno if they’ll play here anytime soon, might have to call Eds and ask.” Their smiles soften as they can see how your eyes brighten at the mention of Eddie.

“Really? You’d call him?” A squeak emanated from an excited Taylor, and you laughed with them as your head looked at the ground.

“Yeah, he calls me everytime he finishes a gig.” You smile big as you look back at them. “You enjoy his music?”

“Oh yeah, we love Corroded Coffin, but they always do shows so far away…” Taylor whispers in a soft voice. You can’t wait to tell him about it and embarrass him.

“Maybe they’ll come around. Who knows.” You smile as you clap your hands. “Now if you excuse me ladies, I need to get some things done and you need to go to maths so…”

They excuse themselves as they giggle to each other, exiting the room you smile quietly to yourself. If only you had told them about Ozz, they might have fainted, you think to yourself.

Hot tea mug by your side, you were determined to tackle the test from this week, actually getting through them and actually correct them. In time, for once.

But the desk still felt messy, and you needed to clean it all again so you could actually get work done, so you spent the next thirty minutes throwing away a couple of empty chocolate bar wrappers, and some other bits and little trash away, dreading the end of this, as it meant you had no excuse but to actually get it all done.

However, as you moved your chair so you could sit down, you were blessed with the ringing of your living room phone. thank god, you said to yourself. The caller ID had Eddie’s number, so you picked it up with a smile on your face.

“Hey Edds” Your cheerful voice seemed to sing his name.

“Actually, it’s Gareth.” The boy's voice surprised you, as you were confused for a bit.

“Oh. Hey Gareth, what’s up?”

“Don’t need to sound that disappointed,”His voice teased as it dropped a little bit. “Eddie’s recording so he couldn’t call you.”

“Oh, okay, well, tell him hello anyway.”

“Yeah I will.” You nod at that. A second of weird silence between the both of you.

“So, how come you called?” You decide to go ahead and ask, you had never been fond of small talk anyway.

“Oh yeah, right.” You heard his lips press against each other as he paused. “So, we’re coming back to The Hideout. In a week, we announced last night, anyway, Eddie wanted to know if we could crash at your house, y’know, my folks sold the house and Wayne’s trailer isn’t that big anyway.” He reasoned with you, trying to convince you, even if he knew you’d say yes regardless.

“Of course, just call me when you know you’ll come and I’ll fix you up some space.”

“Sweet, great. I’ll tell Eddie to call you regardless.”

You see how Ozz stands up all of a sudden, his head tilted and ears raised, whining as he looks at the door, he sounds as if he is crying with excitement, so your eyes are locked on him as he eyes you fastly, asking for your help.

“Yeah, see you soon Gareth.”

“Yeah, bye.” He mumbles as you hear the line go dead.

“What’s up Ozz?” You ask him, as his head dips down, looking back at the door, tapping it with its paw.

You move closer to him, and his head shakes in anticipation, as his paws tip-taps the floor excitedly as your hand gets closer to the handel, he practically leaps through the door as soon as you open it, and as your eyes follow him, a grin on your face as you see his tail wagging crazily, as you follow his direction you see him, and your heart drops for a second too long.

Guitar on his shoulder, and large bag on his side, he stood there. Hair as long and frizzy as ever, and the same smile that he always saved for you, Eddie was there, eyes as bright as you remember, looking up at you before dipping down and focusing his attention on the dog.

“Hi Ozzy!” His voice higher than usual, sitting down on the floor as the dog licks his face away as he giggles petting him ferociously, letting him get on top of him as he resigns and lets the dog love him back.

“Eddie.” You whisper, still trying to process it all. Your hands covering your surprised opened mouth as your feet move you down the steps that leave your house.

“Hey sweetheart.” His eyes illuminate as he looks up at you, a sincere smile curing his lips.

“Gareth said-” Your words had trouble coming out, still finding it hard to believe that he was indeed there, and that you weren’t dreaming.

“I know. I uh… Told him to call you so I’d know if you were home… wanted to surprise you.” He explains, as he stands up, clapping his hands clean as he takes a step towards you, Ozz coming back to you, his tail still wagging.

“How did you- Why- I don’t…”

“I missed you.” He gleams as his words come out of his mouth. “Just that.” He finishes, standing in front of you, close enough that your feet would touch if you took a step further. “Well, and Ozzy.” he added, tilting his head slightly as his smile brightened.

“I still think Bowie suits him best.”

“You didn’t like Mr.Crowley.” He reminds you as he points his finger, the tip of it touching the corner of your mouth.

“It felt like he had to be the teacher.” You laugh as your head looks at the ground, nervous from his touch, your heart stops for a moment when you hear his voice chuckling.

“Well, glad you took care of my dog.”

“Mmmh, mine now.”

He smiles fondly at you, before closing the distance and hugging you closely. Your bodies finally met, your arms tangled behind his neck, his hands hanging behind your waist, his arms pulling you closer. An unconscious smile appears on your lips as you smell him again, his hair tickling your nose, sandalwood, cigarette smoke and something you can’t quite tell. His thumb stroking the small part of your skin that gets exposed when your arms rise up to hold him. He leaves a small kiss on the crown of your head, resting his head there for a second too long.

“Edds, I’m leaving!” You screamed as you grabbed your old jacket from the hanger by the door.

“M’kay.” He yawned as he peered down the staircase, sleep still present in his eyes.

“Guest mattress comfy?” You tease him lightly as you can see his eyes hiding behind his palms, his hair twisted and knotted from having just woken up. You didn’t dare look down, his chest is exposed, his legs covered by old gym wear that he had packed.

“M’no” He mumbled as his eyes finally opened enough to look at you, his voice cracking as he spoke his first words of the day, deep and short, not having any energy to do or say anything else.

“Oh, poor Edds.” you teased him a bit more, showing him your tongue as you handed him a mug full of coffee. “There’s more on the pot.”

“Thanks.” He whispered before taking a sip, head shaking as he tried to wake up.

“Ozz will beg you to walk him, his leash is hanging by the coats.”

“Got it.” He nodded at the brown dog, his tail already wagging. “When’re you coming back?”

“Uh… Should be here around five, why?”

“Dunno, might go and say hi to Wayne.” You nodded, feeling a bit dumb to not have thought that maybe he preferred to be with his actual family, rather than with you. His eyes opened as he seemed to clock that thought passing behind your eyes. “I mean, he did pick me up from the airport yesterday, and everything but… Dunno, wanted to stay with you.” He quickly reassured you, a lazy smile on his face made you release the air that you had been holding.

He walked with you to the front door, closing it behind you after he had whispered a sleepy goodbye to you.

He spent the majority of his morning doing absolutely nothing. Letting himself enjoy the non-rush he now had. The small holiday he had given to himself. Of course, he couldn’t help himself from looking around, but really, it’s not his fault. He always had that habit of looking at other people's things. He liked to imagine what you looked like while you were correcting or grading papers, and he giggled when he saw your little tower of -according to the post-it - mandatory read i don’t enjoy, though his smile deepened when he saw the one next to it books i’ll make mandatory even if it ends me. Suddenly, he was back in high school, and you were sat on his lunch table, as his party babbled away about the campaign, while you laid your head on his shoulder, your eyes focused deep with the words of Jane Austen, Sylvia Plath, Isabell Allende it didn’t matter, he always remembered you like that, curled up with a book between your hands.

He always liked when you had let him lay on your thighs, and hearing you read outloud, while one of your fingers traced around his face, not really thinking about it.

He missed stupid small moments like that.

But then again, nothing had made his heart skip a beat as fast as when he saw the copy he had let you borrow of The Hobbit, on that tower, the pages were now a different shade, and they still had all of his notes he had written on the pages margins.

He thought about you, and those silly intimate moments while he played on his guitar later that morning. Ozzy curled up beside him, while he tried to remember the melody of that Led Zeppelin’s song you had always loved. Especially when he sang it to you, he seemed to recall.

But as these moments of calmness or rather, stillness go, it was interrupted, by your phone this time.

Eddie debated on whether or not to pick it up, but he decided he might as well.

“Um, hello?”

“Eddie? Thank god, can you check something for me?” Your voice came through the speaker, agitated and ever so slightly out of breath.

“Uh, yeah sure. You okay?”

“Yeah, yeah fine. Can you just look if I left my wallet and a little container on the kitchen counter?” You begged, as you rushed through your words.

“Yeah hold on.” You could hear his steps as he went to check it. When he saw the two objects you described he grabbed them and slowly walked over to the phone, resting his weight against the wall, lazily.

“Yeah, they’re here.”

“Fuu-dge.” You caught yourself before cursing, which only made him laugh.

“Fudge?”

“I can’t curse while I’m working.” You remind him, sounding frustrated now.

“Oh, right. Forgot.”

“Well, okay. I’ll just eat when I get home then.” You muttered as you exhaled air, your words reaching his ears a little muffled because of that.

“Can’t they give you a plate or something?” He tried to reason with you, realizing that the container held your lunch.

“Nah, that will only give Lora a headache.” You scoffed.

“Well, I could-”

“Forget it Edds, I’ll see you in a few hours, I need to go.” You hanged up, and an idea popped into his head, as a smile appeared on his lips.

It had been a brief walk, thirty minutes flew by as he walked by the streets he used to dream about escaping, smiling proudly at the fact that he did. Though now, standing behind the green door that led to your classroom, he had become that shy Eddie that he was when he studied in those halls.

And he had become enamored by how you stood, smiling as you spoke through your lesson.

However, you hadn’t seen him, and where still yapping about the assignment, having divided your senior group into small teams so they could start working, when all of a sudden, you saw how their eyes shifted away from you, straight to the door, usually you would dismiss that, knowing that with five minutes left for lunch break, they usually daydreamed about what they would eat, or what they would do, but normally, they look at the window to do that, but what really made your head look into that direction was the gasps that were emanating from your students, and the excited looks they were sharing. Once you looked over, and saw a smiling Eddie holding the plastic bag high, your eyes opened in shock, as you had definitely lost your train of thought.

“I… I’m sorry class… Can you give me a minute?” You said through your teeth, your eyes squinting as you tried not to lose your cool, knowing that if Principal Higgins saw him there you would never hear the last of it. So you walked -almost ran- to the door, closing it fast behind you. “Edds… What are you doing here?”

“I brought you your lunch!” He exclaimed happily, his eyes looking down at you, as his lips curved upwards, the plastic bag swinging from his hand.

“And that’s really sweet but you shouldn’t have.”

“Well, when you don’t eat you get dizzy, and then you get nauseous, and finally, you’re… bitchy… So, take your lunch and eat.” He explains to you, as he points every reason with his fingers, tapping them on your chest.

“Idiot.” You muttered as you flushed, enough for him to notice, even when you try to look at the ground in an attempt to hide it.

“Yeah, well, you call me that a lot.” He chuckled as he finished. “Besides, you’ve only got five minutes left.”

“Three now.”

“Yeah, so I can wait for you and keep you company.” He wasn’t teasing, you could tell he was being sincere.

“Shit, look-”

“Language.” Now he was teasing, a smile appearing in both of your faces.

“Fuck off…” You giggled as you looked at the ground for a bit, messing with your hair as you looked back at him. “‘Kay, come in, but… They’ll have- they’re gonna freak out.”

You were right, as soon as he set foot into your classroom a choir of excited squeals and “oh my god” could be heard, and you tried not to laugh, but it was bound to happen. He was as recognizable as ever, even with his hair tied up in a lazy pointali that was now coming undone, and a light faded out shirt, his tattoos and posture betrayed him.

“Uh, hi.” He muttered as soon as he could, shy once again at the undivided attention that he had gathered.

“So, class… Can we keep this a secret?” You tried to bargain, as they tried hard not to lose it, the majority of them covering their mouths or rubbing their eyes.

“What the fuck?” You could hear one of your older students say as he couldn’t stay still on his chair.

“I think she doesn’t like that kind of language in the class… um…”

“Trevor!”

“Trevor, yeah, I’m Eddie.” He said cheerfully, as they all nodded, your face hidden behind your hand, forehead resting on the palm of it. You hided a giggle while he sat down on your chair.

“You’re an idiot.” You said as you were finally alone in your classroom. Sitting down, faceing him, his mouth half open as he was starting to eat a sandwich he had made for him.

“Yeah, you call me that a lot.” He agreed, playing with the teasing that you had started, even if he knew, deep down, that you were glad he did that, the colours on your cheek betraying you once again.

“Well… You are.” You smile down, as you reach into your bag. A little container with Joyce’s leftovers in it, and your stomach grumbled as you saw them. “Thank you.” You whispered, a shy look in your eyes as they made brief contact with him. He nodded as he took a bite.

“Don’t mention it.” He would never say it aloud, but he would do anything you’d ask him to. Even if that meant sitting in silence, in an empty classroom that smells of dust and cheap deodorant. He couldn’t help his lips from smiling at you, enjoying the calmness of it all. Seeing you smile at nothing, enjoying the fact that he could see your hair get tangled as your head shakes every time you had a good bite of food on your mouth.

“Idiot…” You muttered again.

“You’ve already called me that, sweetheart.” He remarks, winking at you.

You giggle as you take out your hand from the small bag, the small fruit on your hand, moving it as if it was a trophy you had just won.

“A tangerine?” You teased him, though, truth be told, the tension between the two of you could be felt from across the hall, and it made it all look as if you couldn’t help but smile, and joke and fantasie about what you would like to do to say thank you.

“Yeah, well… You’ve got a sweet tooth…” He was the one blushing now, having lost himself for a second too long on your lips. His hand touched yours as he grabbed the small fruit from your soft hands, peeling it from you. “You don’t need to stink up your hands.”

“Oh, I stink?” You joked.

“Oh yeah, no wonder it has to smell of deodorant in here.”

You shook your head as you laughed with him, your eyes focusing on his dimples. You really had missed him.

If you were being sincere with yourself, you had expected loud noise, maybe a broken glass or two, however, the stillness and comfort of the moment was a pleasant surprise.

There was nothing special about it, not really. Gareth laid on the floor, staring at the ceiling while he tapped away with his fingers, tum-tuming away at everyhting he came in contact with, legs, floor or table, didn’t matter. Ben had his head resting on it, his back on the leg of the wooden table that you got second hand in a yard sale, his fingers moving as he was playing bass. Jeff sat by himself, on Joyce’s old recliner playing softly on his beat up guitar. However, Eddie was next to you, his arm laid on your shoulders, pulling you closer, making you bury your head on his chest, while he played with your hair, not really thinking about it, he just did it because it felt natural. It felt like what was supposed to be done, it felt like old times, when you would fall asleep next to him and nothing mattered. Though, to be fair, you weren’t exempt from guilt. Your arm was across his chest, hugging him in return, and snuggling him as your head moved closer to him, his chin resting on the top of your head now, your fingers tracing a nonsense pattern across his skin.

It was bliss. It was peaceful.

So obviously, someone had to talk.

“I’m nervous for tomorrow.” Eddie whispered, his fingers tangling in your hair even further. A soft laughter filled the room as everyone heard him.

“You’ve literally just played Merriweather. You’ve stood where Led stood… The Hideout’s nothing.” You muttered, eyes looking up at him, as he smiled down at you, your cheeks flushing as you made eye contact.

“Yeah, but we didn’t know anyone…” Gareth said as he stood up.

“And everyone will be there.” Jeff finished, with a giggle from everyone.

“You’ll be there?” Eddie asked, a soft whisper on you ear, making your skin tingle where his breath graced your skin.

“Front and center.” You murmured back, your head nodding as you look at him. His eyes lighting up.

“No, backstage and close by.” He assured you. His lips kissing your forehead, forgetting for a second that you’re not alone. That you’re not together.

“You know, I like that you two-” Ben started, stopping as soon as he realized that everybody was looking at him, Gareth shaking his head no. “What?”

“They’re not…” Gareth tried to say, to explain something that neither of you were sure to know how to actually explain.

“I think it’s time for me to go to bed.” You smile apologetically, as you push Eddie’s arm away from you, standing up, not hearing anything that they were saying any longer.

Logically, you knew you had no right to be upset. Nothing that they had said was a lie, but maybe what hurt more was that everything was true, and rather you like it or not, you were in love once again with him, how could you not. It was inevitable. You had said goodbye when he left, you had stayed in contact, and he appeared out of the blue in front of your house.

He had taken care of you without you asking him to. He had been there for you countless times. Fuck, he had even let you take care of the dog.

It all went through your head at speed light, so you paced around your bedroom, walls closing in on you. You were silently crying now, tears falling down.

“Stop crying. Stop crying. Stop crying.” You kept saying to yourself, in an attempt to calm you down, as you sat down on the mattress.

The way your house had been constructed, somehow made that the street lights didn’t shine through your window at night, so when you stared at it, only darkness could be seen. That and Eddie standing on your doorway, his head looking at the ground, hand anxiously covering his mouth. As soon as he realised that you caught him he turned around, trying to leave.

“Don’t…” Your voice broke as you spoke. You turned your head to look at him, hand wiping away a tear. “Stay?”

“Yeah.” He didn’t hesitate, not even for a second, before you even blinked he was already sitting beside you. “Why are you…?”

“It’s silly.”

“Don’t think so.”

“We’ve never talked about it.” You almost spat out the words, as if they were burning. “So we don’t have to now…” You try to soften your tone with a smile, but it doesn’t seem to work.

“You’re crying.” He stated, his eyebrows raising in concern, as he climbed the bed, carefully approaching you. “So you obviously need to talk about it.”

“I don’t.” Your voice was getting irritated now, frustrated might be a better way to describe it.

“Well, then you’re lying.” His voice had become dry, though hesitant or nostalgic seemed like good words to describe it too.

“Then I guess I’m a liar.” You mocked his tone, getting angry now.

Not really knowing why.

Not really caring for it.

He let you in silence, even when you seemed mad at him, he knew what and when you needed what you needed. So he stayed beside you, worried that he had done something so unforgivable that had made you stop trusting him. His leg grew restless, anxiously waiting for you to say something, anything, if he opened his mouth in this instance he’d beg you to do so, he’d crawl and fall to his knees if that meant that you’d say something.

And you desperately wanted to. You wanted to tell him everything, you wanted to scream, and shout and tell him that the only thing you want, or need is for him to stay close to you.

“If you don’t want me here…” He muttered, under his breath.

You pursed your lips, hurt that he might think something as ridiculous as that. You nodded slowly, turning your head at him, finally looking at his eyes. His were darkened by the lack of light on the room, however his eyes still shone when he made contact with yours, even if your eyes were red and puffy from having cried.

“It’s not that…” You add as you shake your head from side to side.

“Then why are you crying?”

“Because they’re right. Because we’re nothing. Because you and everyone else left, and I stayed here, and… I missed you, every morning I woke up and you weren’t there, I’d roll to the other side of the bed and it would just be empty and cold… I- Eddie…” Your voice kept breaking as you started to talk.

“You told me to leave…” Faint words escaping him.

“Of course I told you to leave, you had to leave. You had an amazing opportunity and you needed to take it, I couldn’t be the reason for you- You would’ve resented me for the rest of your life- You…” You were shaking again, everything coming out of you, rapidly.

“I could never- I would never I… I left, yes, but that doesn’t mean I ever stopped caring for you or–” His hand grabbed yours, in an attempt to ground you, to stop you from spiriling, and despite your intention, it worked, he had your full attention once again.

“Or what?”

“Love you.” He stated. His eyes looking for yours, truth in them.

“What do you mean Eddie?” You were exhausted now. Confused by his words, and having trouble understanding everything he said.

“I mean, that even if I left, I never stopped thinking about you, caring for you, or loving you. How could I?” A soft laugh escaped your lips when you registreed what he was actually saying, bitting the inside of your cheek as you looked him back, your fingers intertwined now.

“You’ve never said anything.”

“I know…”

“I thought I was bothering you.”

“You could never do that. Never.”

After that, everything happened kind of fast, even if every touch seemed to last a lifetime. His hands searched for your waist, pulling you in, falling on the mattress, both of your bodies laying down as he pulled you near. What started as a close hug, was escalating fast.

First, his head rested so close on your pillow, that your breath was mixing into his, so much so you could feel him smiling even if you had your eyes closed. Enjoying the way his fingers traced patterns onto your skin, and losing your breath for just a second when his nose kissed yours, when he moved it upwards, you knew that his lips were smiling, slightly open. You couldn’t help yourself. So it was no surprise when you kissed him.

A shy kiss, a i missed you kiss, a i can’t believe you’re here kiss, a please don’t leave kiss. What was surprising is the way his body pressed onto yours, how his weight shifted so he could be even closer, how his mouth opened to find your tongue, how it felt the exact same it had years ago, and still, your heart was rapidly beating with excitement, of having him like that once again.

Your thumb had set itself on his jaw, stroking it softly, focused on the small bumps that his skin had, beard growing under it. However, your other hand was pushing his wild hair behind his ear, a softness on your touch that you didn’t quite know you had.

Meanwhile, Eddie had one of his hands on your waist, your skin exposed since your shirt was stuck under your body, the other one was busily tangled in your hair, on the back of your neck.

You needed no words, just looking at each other was enough.

He touched you as soon as your pants hit the floor. Hearing you moan, with your head tilted back, exposing your neck only drove him crazier, making the pressure he felt in his boxers only get worse, in the best way possible. He kissed you everywhere. But he always had a thing for your neck, and how he had always loved to bite it as you where twisting under his touch, your own hand grabbing his, pushing his fingers even deeper into you, making him giggle as he did what you wanted him to do, before shutting you up with another wet neddy kiss. He only stopped kissing you and your body when he wanted to look at your face. Your cheeks, as pink as ever, you’re breathing fast and you’re skin flushed. When you opened your eyes, you nodded, and he did too.

He took your top away.

You struggled to take his shirt off, while he unbuckled his jeans.

To say that his skin was burning to your touch would be an understatement. He groaned and smiled everytime one of your nails ran through his back, you were sure he would have scratches tomorrow morning, but it didn’t matter. He hadn’t cared about the hickeys he was leaving on your skin. He kissed it all over again, leaving wet spots over it, and he loved how your body tingles every time his lips touched a new spot.

Your hand travelled to the hem of his underwear, pushing it down slowly, smiling when you feel him doing the same, his eyes looking at you with permission, his body on top of yours, you smiled kindly, your free hand gracing his cheek, you nodded, as he left a short kiss on your lips, before pushing in to you. As you moaned feeling him in, he was going slow, adjusting your body to him, as your legs wrapped around him, and your hands grabbed his back, you both looked into each others eyes, moonlight shining across your faces, enough light to know that you both were incredibly enamoured by each other. He started going faster, as he started to moan once your nails were once again buried in his skin, his hands touching every inch of your body he could. It is not that it felt good, great or divine, it’s that it felt right, it felt as if he was your home. Like being connected on a physical level only made justice to the way you felt, like you never wanted it to stop, like you could die happily in his arms. Pressed against the mattress, only hearing the noises you were both making, trying to the best of your ability to keep the noise between the two of you, begging not to be heard by anyone downstairs. You knew you were close, and so was him. It was even more evident when he stopped to catch his breath, pulling out of you, and needing his touch you stood up, meeting his face, kissing him senseless, as his fingers got lost on the small of your back, feeling his cock raising even more, your pussy dripping down, aching to be filled with him again. He looked at you once again, his hands now squeezing your ass, you nodded as you turned around. You were now laying your face on the mattress, your tits pressed against it, as you raised your ass as high as you could, and moaning hard and fast as you felt him slip into your pussy with ease. Fingers burning deep into your waist, pushing you hard and fast, a fast rhythm that he kept, and you were moving just as hard. It felt like true bliss.

When you felt him come, your legs had been shaking for a while already, it was all aching with pleasure, with need.

However, he didn’t just plummet to the bed, he kissed your back, your shoulder, and everything he felt he could as he pulled you close to him. Cuddling you from behind, your legs tangled as you both felt at ease, at peace. Feeling how tired you were, your eyes shutting down as you can quite believe what had just happened.

During the night, if and when you woke up, and opened your eyes, you were met with his calm expression next to yours. When you moved away he pulled you in closer, and if you groaned in your sleep he would kiss your skin, wherever his lips could find. It hadn’t been the sex, but this, this made you feel safe and at home.

It looked exactly as you’d remembered.

Low lights, cigarette smoke, and spilled beer made it seemed as if time had not moved. Even though Eddie seemed to think differently. He was incredibly nervous, fidgeting with his rings behind the stage door, the screams that emanate from the other side making him even more nervous, because if he was honest with himself, he was used to play for an empty Hideout, not a sold out, filled to the brim, people pressed against each other streaming his name.

He was glad you were there.

He had even been more happy to wake up beside you. And laugh about last night, and talk it out, while you both got ready.

As anxious as he was, he only needed to look over at you to calm down.

He did now, and he smiled when he saw you chatting away with Steve, who decided to pop in for the occasion.

“So… Did a mosquito bite you?” He told you, as he teased pressing a finger to one of Eddie’s hickeys on your chest.

“Fuck off Harrington.” You laughed back, as you readjusted your top, in an attempt to cover it.

“I missed you insulting me.” He said, his voice cheerful and playful. Taking a sip from his bottle. “Can’t quite believe that Munson’s made it.”

“So have you.” You tell him, smiling up at him, as he tries to dismiss you with a vague movement with his head. “Oh come on, prestiged Uni professor Harrington!” You teased him now, punching his arm.

“You’re embellishing it.” He pointed out, clanking your bottles as he took another sip, one that you followed, laughing with someone you missed so dearly.

“Well, I’m the one teaching the language. So… thank you.” You giggled at him covering his face with his hand, embarrassment and glee on his gesture.

“Yeah well… He’s really made it though.” He said, shifting his body to look over at him, and you followed him once again.

“Yeah… He deserves it more than anyone.” You added, making it a bit obvious that your feelings were rising again. Your heart missed a beat when he looked over at you and smiled.

“And you…”

“Save it Steve.” You didn’t need to look at him to know the questioning look he had on his face.

“But you…”

“Yes. I still do.”

“Does he?”

“I think so.”

After that you stayed in silence as beers clanged, amps were connected and guitars were tried. Waiting for it all to start.

But Eddie needs a moment with you. And once again, not a word escapes from his lips, he just walks over to you, black button shirt opened, his chest exposed making you short of breath for a second. His eyes look down for a second, grabbing your hand, looking carefully at the way your hands seem to fit perfectly together, caressing the back of yours with his thumb, he looks back at you, nodding to a place where there’s no one. And when you squint your eyes he starts heading that way.

Steve’s left speechless as he sees the two of you, and he’s convinced at this moment, he has never seen such pure connection between two people.

However, Eddie doesn’t speak when it’s only the both of you. He just lets air come out of his mouth, shivering a bit as he does so. Both of his hands grabbing yours, resting his forehead against yours. Enjoying the calmness of the moment. The stillness. The comfortableness of it all.

You nuzzled your nose against his, feeling how your lips curl upwards as you do so, even more when you hear him laughing softly. He takes a step closer, closing the gap between the both of you with an even softer kiss that he left on your lips.

“Everything will go great.” Your faint voice made him scoot closer, his ear next to your mouth, instinctively, you wrap your arms behind his neck, he wraps his on the small of your back.

“Could we just…” You had never heard him with such a soft tone of voice.

“We can’t. You’ve gotta go play.” You teased as you stepped back, getting lost once again on his chocolate like eyes.

“I don’t wanna be far away from you again.” He muttered, barely above a whisper. “Will you come with me? Please?”

“Moon…” You whispered, your thumb gracing his cheek, he let his face rest on the palm of your hand. Head tilted down to look better at you, his eyes lost into yours as he bites his lower lip. He had always loved that ridiculous pet name. “Well talk about it, okay?” You smiled as you left a kiss on his bare chest. “Now, go out there and play.”

He did just that. Not before stealing a few more kisses, and not before taking you all in. Your teachers clothes had long been forgotten, and you looked truly angelic as you rested against the wall, a somehow sheer top layed on top of your chest, with long worn out jeans that seemed to be a minute away from breaking, with Eddie’s old leather jacket. He couldn’t take his eyes away from you until the roar from the public made him snap into place.

He looked truly divine. The lights from stage made him glow, his movements seemed effortless, and his voice had never sounded that clear.

He was following the setlist, everything was going exactly to plan, expect, in one of those pauses in between songs, where he would normally talk to the audience and make them laugh and connect with the band, he was just staring at you, unaware that his hands had started to play the old melody that you had always hummed when you were together. As soon as you heard it, memories, feelings and tears came out. Steve’s hand on your shoulder as he watched closely.

“He’s mad about you.” He told you, knowing that he won’t get a response, he lets you rest his weight on his body as you cry, excited to hear him sing your song.

“I um- hi.” He told the audience that cheered in return. “We don’t really play songs that are not ours anymore, but that’s like, all we did when we used to come here and…” A quick glance on your direction before he could continue, as you nodded, excited for him. “Well, there’s this someone, who… She’s incredibly special and this is her favourite one so, you’ll have to hear it.

Tangerine by Led Zeppelin could be heard, and you had never smiled as big as you were now.

Whispering the lyrics in between tears as you looked closely at him. He vaguely and not discreetly at all pointed and looked at you as he sang “Tangerine, Tangerine, living reflection from a dream/I was her love, she was my queen, and now a thousand years between.”

As the final notes could be heard, and in the heat of the moment, Eddie sneaked backstage, to steal a short kiss, both of your lips smiling as you touched. Foreheads pressed against each other as you both had your eyes closed. He didn’t need to say anything else, the question and the answer was already clear.

That moment was enough. But just in case you kissed him again, your hands grabbing either side of his face, happy tears falling down on both of your eyes. A declaration being shared.

It said of course I’ll stay. of course I’ll come with you. I’m never leaving again. I’ll never leave you again.

And you never did.

if you liked it, and i really hope you did, reblog and/or leave your opinion, i swear it makes a differance <33

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