you know that feeling where you’re having a god-awful day and all you really want is a hug but you’re at work so, like, that’s not gonna happen, and you basically just have to stew in all those shitty feelings and wait out the clock? yeah, me too, that’s kind of where this came from.
Eddie had a tough day.
It had started early that morning when the girls missed their school bus – not a huge deal, honestly, he was already gonna be leaving early to go get his car looked at.
But then he got shitty news from the mechanic, and then a meeting with his agent didn’t go the way he’d wanted at all, and then Hazel ended up being a total pain in the ass after he picked her up from kindergarten, and during her relentless haranguing, she knocked one of Eddie’s favorite mugs off the counter. It shattered, obviously, and she cried about it so he’d had to deal with both of those things at once, and it was just a day.
None of it was anything he couldn’t handle – the problem was the compounding nature of it and the way he basically just had to stew in it all until the next obstacle came along and made shit even worse.
All Eddie really wanted was Steve, and how Steve being around made dealing with this stuff so much easier, even if every other circumstance was the same.
He has to share Steve, though, and today he’s sharing him with Steve’s work until four o’clock.
It’s fine.
He can wait until four.
The older two girls got off their bus at half-past three, and, seriously, someone must have put something in the water this morning because they are in rare goddamn form today. If Hazel alone was bad, all three of them together were…well, thrice that. It’s like the universe said I see your bad day and I raise you three elementary schoolers hitting their peak annoyance thresholds simultaneously.
And it’s not like Eddie can even fucking fold, either.
It’s cold and kind of windy outside, which is Eddie’s least favorite weather and he’d thought maybe the girls would want to go right inside, but no. Of course they want to dig out the chalk that got stashed away in the garage last fall, and while Eddie is stuck shivering outside breaking up dumb arguments about who’s allowed to use which colors (he figured the answer was an obvious everyone, but apparently that’s incorrect), Steve leaves a message saying he tacked on an emergency session onto the end of his day and now he’s not out until five.
Eddie doesn’t hear it until he’s back inside, obviously, but when he does it’s like someone ran a whole fucking dagger through his chest.
He’s halfway through making dinner when Steve gets home (he’d actually be done making dinner if the pot of water hadn’t boiled off while he’d dealt with yet another stupid argument), and he drops everything to meet him at the door.
It’s like Steve can tell in an instant the kind of day Eddie had.
“What happened?” he asks as he toes off his shoes.
Eddie shakes his head, “Everything…nothing…I don’t even know. Just…one of those days.”
Steve nods his understanding, and as soon as he’s got his coat hung up he’s pulling Eddie into a hug.
It ends up being kind of a bone-crushing one — that’s on Eddie, though. He’d just fucking needed it. He knows he’d needed it when Steve’s arms tighten around his shoulders and he feels that much better.
“You okay?” Steve asks without letting him go, the breath of his words hitting warm against Eddie’s neck.
“Just tired,” he answers.
Steve pulls away.
“You can take a break, Ed,” he says, and there’s something in his eyes – not concern, exactly, but more like awareness, “I’ll be up in a bit.”
Eddie just nods and heads for the stairs. As he goes, he faintly hears Steve asking, “What the hell did you guys do to Dad today?”, followed by the girls’ defensive protests.
In their room, Eddie makes it through one full rerun of Star Trek and then the first few minutes of a second before Steve joins him.
He notices that it’s quiet downstairs for the first time that evening, and he tries not to take it too personally. He’s always been comfortable in the knowledge that Steve might be better at the whole parenting thing than him (psych degrees and all that), but, shit, if he’s that much better…
“What’d you do, strangle them?” Eddie asks as Steve swaps his jeans out for a pair of faded plaid pajama pants.
“No, I told them that if I hear a single peep in the next hour I’m beheading all their stuffed animals.”
Eddie blinks.
Okay, maybe better isn’t exactly the right word.
“So they’re on verbal lockdown, basically,” Steve finishes.
“Jesus Christ, Steve,” Eddie shakes his head, “You’re kind of crazy.”
“Yeah, well, you were always gonna rub off on me one of these days — don’t.”
And Eddie couldn’t help the way he threw his head back and laughed.
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I need to know what happens with Atsushi🥹
atsushi is waiting for you patiently when you slip back into your bedroom—perched at the edge of your bed, his legs and socked-feet stretched out in front of him, his jacket folded nearly over one arm atop his lap.
your face feels hot, and your heart is racing, but not for any of the nice reasons that they were before the lamp on your bedside table brought the extent of atsumu's heinous interference to light (literally.)
you can't help but feel painfully embarrassed by the situation. guilty that you hadn't just been able to brush it off more casually to save face. terrified that this thing you were so excited about just a few hours earlier is all going to end before it's even had the chance to start.
atsushi looks over at you as you shut your door, and once the latch catches and clicks shut, you tuck your hands behind you demurely as you lean back against it. it's quiet for a moment upon your return, and you struggle to meet his gaze.
"i'm sorry about that," you finally say, dropping your chin and risking a remorseful glance at him through your lashes.
atsushi laughs a little, mostly breath, as he ruffles his dark hair. "you don't need to apologize."
"i do," you insist, pushing yourself off gently from the door and approaching him slowly. "you practically walked into a crime scene here."
he peers up at you from his seat on your bed, close enough to him now that he has to lift his chin to meet your gaze. it's unfair how handsome atsushi is. unfair how precisely your type he is. unfair how badly atsumu has ruined this for you—as evidenced by the dozens of his eyes that peer at you from around your bedroom.
atsushi smiles. sincere and reassuring. "it wasn't that bad."
"it was," you press again in refutation, inching closer and closer until your knees hit the mattress. atsushi wordlessly sets his coat aside and grasps your hips, and you swing one leg over his lap to perch yourself upon it. you feel you have little left to lose at this point—what with your dignity just as shredded as the tattered poster left half-hanging over your bed—and your hands slip up atsushi's chest until you reach to circle your arms around his neck. you're close like this. can feel how warm he is. can almost taste his lips again, to the point it makes you feel a bit insane. your eyes flicker pointedly down to where his folded coat has been set aside near the foot of your mattress, and then slowly make their way back to meet his. "are you leaving?"
"ah," atsushi's breath hitches a little, stumbling slightly over his words. his adam's apple bobs when he swallows. "i wasn't sure if... i wasn't sure you'd want me to stay."
"i do," you whisper as you dip down, using your arms around his neck to pull him closer and kiss him again—just as sweet and palpably exciting as your kisses earlier had been.
his hands at your waist tighten their grip, his lips parting eagerly against your own to deepen it. you drop your weight down a bit more firmly into his lap, lowering yourself properly onto him instead of holding yourself up slightly on your knees, and his hands slip to the small of your back and then begin to trail even further down.
he pulls away after a moment, both of your breaths laboured.
"what about your roommate?" he asks, though it seems to physicallly pain him. his cheeks are flushed such a sweet shade of pink it nearly makes you scream.
and for the first time since you'd arrived back to your home, something finally goes your way. somewhere outside your bedroom door, you hear the jingle of keys—followed shortly by the distinct sound of your front door opening and closing as atsumu exits the apartment, more than likely leaving for the night.
you turn back to atsushi and smile slyly, leaning in until your lips are hovering over his own. "i don't think you have to worry about him."
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i think the yellowjackets writers going from "yah van's probably dying sometime season 1" to making her a regular, casting her adult self and giving her a life that feels so real to her is my favourite thing ever. like they didn't just say okay fine she's making it out of the woods - they actually took this opportunity for such genuine representation that we NEVER get. (seriously any recommendations for media that feature middle aged butch ppl living their best and irrefutably queer lives are so welcomed cause i don't have a single one)
i am so thankful to liv for bringing van to life in a way that took ending that life out of the question. i am thankful to jasmin for calling the writers and yelling at them when she thought they'd killed off van in the 1x07 script. and i am thankful to the writers for actually committing to the character they created. like yes. van is struggling and traumatised but she's also running a business doing a job she loves, she's mentoring the queer kids in town, she IS the friendly neighbourhood lesbian. i think this might be all i've ever wanted to see and i'm so overwhelmed now that i'm being shown
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