#had to repost bc it didn't show in the tags oops

[steddielations]

Steve, Nancy and Robin go back into the Upside Down to get Eddie's body. They come across a fully transformed Kas, fangs snarling, clawed slashing, wings bared. He’s vicious and angry and very territorial, hissing at them. The whole group is really freaked out.

Until Steve steps closer and says, "Ed... Eddie?"

Then this ravenous monster goes full on Bambi-eyed and scampers over to them. Robin jumps back and Nancy slowly lowers her gun, both of them watching utterly dumbstruck as ‘Eddie’ excitedly jumps around Steve's feet.

Confused, but trying to keep Eddie happy, Steve’s like, “That’s it… nice little monster puppy?”

Eddie’s tail is wagging, butt wiggling, nuzzling Steve’s hand and making a purring noise when Steve carefully ruffles his hair, “Good boy…?”

Eddie’s wings flap happily in response.

This is how they find out that not only is Eddie alive, but his vampire-half is not subtle at all. Especially when Eddie finally admits he has feelings for Steve and to his surprise, Steve already knows, mostly because Eddie’s been ‘gifting’ him all the random shiny things he finds for weeks.

[lycheepocketwitch]

𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐚 & 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 - 𝐨𝐧𝐞

pairing: cheerleader!wanda maximoff x fem!reader

summary: it's a typical high school day. people love to talk and you hate the drama, but your bad sense of timing lands you in detention. at least you had an entertaining show and two visitors to keep you company. hell, you even got to see one of the main stars after the show.

warnings: tony, vision and pepper are lowkey assholes oops (like for this whole series)

word count: 4.7k

a/n: this is like the 3rd repost bc the other posts didn't appear in the tags🙃

series masterlist | main masterlist | also on ao3

If there was one thing that remained constant throughout your high school experience so far, it was the incessant rumors about everyone and anyone that spread almost as quickly as chlamydia had when there was an outbreak among last year’s senior class. You would think that people would get tired of meaningless gossip, especially when 99% of the time, it was all bullshit. However, it seemed like students foamed at the mouth when they heard just about any new piece of information about their peers.

“I’m telling you, Maria is hooking up with someone,” you heard someone whisper.

“And why exactly do you think that?”

“She’s my lab partner and usually, she’s an absolute pain in the ass, but she’s actually been quite… tolerable lately.”

“Mr. Rollins, Mr. Sitwell, care to share what you find so funny with the rest of the class?” The teacher asked, interrupting the resident bullies, who were really just Brock Rumlow’s minions.

“It’s nothing, Mr. Heimdall,” said Jasper as he nervously pushed his glasses back up. His friend, though, was having none of it.

“We were just talking about how Maria Hill is back with her ex,” Jack said, meeting your glare with a smirk.

You weren’t Maria’s ex. You didn’t even remember talking to her other than that one time you left Yelena and Natasha’s house and you bumped into her as she was leaving. That didn’t stop the entire from speculating about your supposed relationship, especially the last people you were apparently hooking up with were seen tonguing each other at a party.

“Alright, alright,” said Mr. Heimdall, trying to regain control over the classroom full of chattering juniors. “This isn’t a gossiping period. Go back to working on your Great Gatsby worksheets unless you want additional work to complete as homework.”

A collective of groans was heard and the students quieted down, but you could still hear murmurs from those near you.

“I heard Maria is dating Romanoff though… You think Maria is cheating on her?”

“Ugh, I would never show my face again if my girlfriend was cheating on me with her ex.”

“Guys, Jack is totally lying. I bet it’s just some bullshit Rumlow fed him. I think she’s actually hooking up with Nebula now.”

“Nebula? Gamora’s weird emo sister?”

“Well, maybe she has a type. Remember how Wanda used to be emo? And those two used to be close. I bet you they were hooking up before Wanda became a cheerleader.”

“Damn. Imagine hooking up with Wanda Maximoff, then she becomes hot and dumps you for a nerd.”

“He’s rich though.”

“Even worse. There’s no way she’s looking back your way then. I don’t blame her for turning into a player and trying to seduce every single girl at school.”

This time, you couldn’t stop yourself from facing the group of snickering teenagers and flip them off. Of course, Mr. Heimdall chose this moment to pay attention to the class, catching you in the action. He sighed and gave you detention before asking you to stay after class.

“Couldn’t you have until after school to do that?” he asked you once everyone filed out of the classroom after the bell signalled the end of the day. “Or at least when I’m not looking?”

You smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of your neck. Mr. Heimdall was your favorite teacher and he always had a soft spot for you. “It won’t happen again,” you promised.

“I’m holding it to you. Now, about that internship,” he chuckled at the way your eyes immediately brightened. “I talked to my friend, and Frigga said that she was impressed by your portfolio and your resume. You have an interview scheduled in 2 weeks.”

“Oh my god! Thank you so much, Mr. Heimdall!” you squealed in excitement. The tall English teacher gave you a warm, fatherly smile as he packed up his things to leave.

“It’s your work that got you the interview. I was just the messenger,” he shrugged. “But Frigga is very particular about her interns. She doesn’t just accept anyone to work at her museum. So, you need to be on your best behaviour. You don’t want to be stuck in detention and be unable to complete your internship, now do you?” You gave him a mock salute and nodded. “Alright kid, go on then. Dr. Lawson is the one supervising detention and you know how much she hates tardiness.”

You gave your teacher one last thank you before leaving. You were nearly skipping your way to your locker to grab a few things before heading to Dr. Lawson’s classroom in the STEM wing of the school for detention. Right when you thought nothing could bring down your mood after receiving such great news, you came face to face with Tony Stark’s little group of friends, and Pepper and some of her cheerleader friends standing near your locker.

“So, rumor has it, you’re the reason Hill isn’t as cranky during our robotics club meetings,” Tony sneered while Pepper pulled him back and chastised his behavior. Although, her weak grip on his arm and the slight curl of her lip betrayed any kind of sincerity in her actions.

“Have you ever thought that maybe she’s in a sour mood because she has to be around your arrogant ass all the time?” you challenged him with the raise of a brow and turned to the rest of his group. “You know, our classrooms aren’t all that big. It gets pretty hard to breathe with your big heads taking up so much space.”

“Listen here—” Vision was always the more even-tempered of the Stark brothers, but any attack on his loved ones would rile him up in a matter of seconds.

“What? You think I’m scared of you because your name’s on the building? It just proves to me that you’ll never achieve anything without daddy’s money.” You took one step closer to the group, eyeing both Stark brothers and the rest of their group, not missing the way Tony’s best friend, Rhodey huffed and puffed while Bruce just stood there awkwardly as if he wanted to be anywhere but here.

Your little stare-off was cut short by the clearing of the throat from one of Pepper’s cheerleader friends, Thena. You actually weren’t sure if they were really friends or if they only tolerated each other because Pepper was the captain and Thena wanted to stay on the squad.

“As fun as this little squabble is,” the tall blonde said, twirling one hand in your direction, “I only agreed to wait because Pepper said she had to grab something from her locker. So, either you hurry up to get to my car or you find another ride home.”

Without waiting for a response, Thena turned away from the group and threw a wink in your direction. You watched her walk away, trying to suppress a smile. You were sure she was going to tell Makkari all about your encounter with the Starks and your friend would inevitably tease you about it.

“Whatever, have fun in detention, Casanova,” Vision muttered before pulling his ex-girlfriend closer to him who pushed away with a scowl. Right as they all started to leave, you briefly made eye contact with Wanda, but you promptly turned your attention back to your locker to retrieve the notebooks you were looking for and headed to detention.

Obviously, you were late and Dr. Lawson wasn’t pleased about it, but she was also busy with grading tests, so she let it slide this time. Looking out from the window in the chemistry lab, you saw the group from earlier all try to get in the car. Thena was leaning against the driver’s door while typing away on her phone, completely uninterested in the scene Pepper and Tony were causing. The three other guys were trying to calm the couple down while Wanda just stood to the side with her arms across her chest.

As if sensing you watching her, she tilted her head up and met your gaze. You were sure that had the others not been so focused on Tony and Pepper (save Thena), Wanda would’ve never risked staring your way. It was like an unspoken rule you two had. It hadn’t always been like this, but after she became a cheerleader by the end of freshman year, something just changed between you two. She acted like you didn’t exist and being the normal human you were, you did the same. You couldn’t remember the last time you had an actual conversation at school.

A small scrunched up piece of paper landed on your desk, preventing you from reminiscing about your lost friendship any longer. You found a grinning Makkari standing in front of Druig. You craned your neck in search of Dr. Lawson who would’ve surely reprimanded them for disrupting detention, but she was nowhere in sight.

"Dr. Lawson went to get something in her office," Makkari informed you as if reading your mind.

“Now, please tell me you won your little fight with the Starks,” Druig pleaded, pulling out chairs for both him and his girlfriend.

“First of all, I didn’t fight anyone,” you said, narrowing your eyes at the couple. “Second of all, I think Thena might a faster texter than you,” you told Makkari while gesturing finger guns, then pulling both your index fingers and your hands closer to you, and the texting sign before pointing to her.

"She’s just a concise texter," Makkari responded, shaking her head. "I’m definitely faster than her."

“Stop trying to change the subject, what was your fight about?” Druig nudged your arm, a mischievous expression on his face.

“I already told you, it wasn’t a fight,” you repeated, staring back down the window to the group still on the side of the street. “But if you’re looking for a fight, there’s one happening down there,” you gestured out the window.

Makkari and Druig quickly mirrored your position to watch the scene below. Tony was seemingly trying to comfort Pepper while their friends watched them on the side and Thena took refuge inside her car.

“They were probably fighting about not having enough space in Thena’s car. The girl drives a freakin’ sedan, and they’re out here trying to fit six passengers in there,'' you guessed, but then switched your attention back to the World History assignment on your desk.

"The guys don’t usually carpool with the girls," Makkari noted with a frown, but then snorted in realization. "Thena definitely didn’t remind Pepper that she doesn’t have enough space in her car. How long have they been out there?"

“How ever much time it’s been since school ended,” you shrugged before writing down an answer on your worksheet.

“And has Wanda been stealing glances your way this whole time?” At Druig’s question, your eyes snap back up then down and sure enough, green eyes stared back at you, accompanied by a slight furrow of the brow. But just as quickly as she’d been caught, she turned her head back to face her friends.

“Be honest with me, Lothario, you are aware that Wanda Maximoff totally has the hots for you right? I know you keep saying that you’re not the reason Wanda and Vision broke up at the end of the summer, but come on. You two used to be joined at the hip before sophomore year. And now ever since they broke up, it’s like the eyefucking has only intensified!” Druig argued, leaning against the ceiling-to-floor window.

You rolled your eyes and shook your head. “Can you not call me that?”

“Got it, would you prefer lady-killer?”

"Druig, stop." Makkari lightly hit his arm and just as you lifted your hand to your chin to thank her, she added, "She’s clearly Romeo. Can you not feel the star-crossed lovers energy? You know, the popular cheerleader and the withdrawn artsy kid."

Your smile dropped as you just stared at them, unamused. You observed the giggling couple for a few moments before you interrupted them, “I don’t know why you insist on calling me that we all know those rumors are bullshit.”

Dr. Lawson chose that exact moment to walk in. Neither one of you said anything until the chemistry teacher just sighed. “I’m gonna pretend I didn’t hear or see anything,” she said but motioned for Druig and Makkari to leave, which they did while expressing quick apologies.

Just as you were about to go back to actually doing homework, your phone lit up with a notification. Seeing that Dr. Lawson was back to being focused on her own work, you discretely responded.

red: see u later? yellow: 👍

─── ᗢ ───── 💔 ───── ᗢ ───

After closing your bedroom door behind you, you shrugged off your backpack and your brown work jacket.

“If you’re not gonna wear that, can I wear it? I’m kinda freezing in my cheer uniform.” The voice made you jump and quickly flicked on the lights.

“Jesus, Wanda!” you exhaled and clutched your chest. The intruder had absolutely no remorse though, judging by her bright expression. You opened your closet and pulled out one of the hoodies you knew she liked wearing. She was likely going to return it to you in about a week’s time once it no longer smelled like you, instead smelling like the perfume she had started wearing the summer of freshman year. “Are you trying to kill me?”

“Obviously not, if you die, who’s going to cuddle with me while watching movies?” Her pout was wiped away as soon as you presented her with her favorite hoodie. Snuggling into the soft garment, she smiled shyly at you. “Hi,” she said softly.

“Hi,” you responded, matching her tone. You pushed away a loose strand of hair behind her ear before placing your hands on her waist, pulling her closer to you while she wrapped her arms around your neck. Your eyes trailed down at her lips, back up at her eyes and then back down only to see her teeth now catching her bottom lip. Slowly, you leaned forward to press your lips against hers, a smile spreading on both of your faces. She giggled and hid her face in the crook of your neck.

“I missed you so much,” Wanda murmured against your skin.

“You saw me like two hours ago.”

“You know what I mean.”

You fought the urge to tell her that things didn’t have to be this way. You were the one who had agreed to this secret arrangement, and you would never pressure her into doing something she wasn’t ready to do. Besides, fighting with your favorite person was a dumb way to spend your limited time together. So, you joined her on your bed, making her grin in the process. The moment you laid down on your back, she shifted her body to lay on top of you, her head resting on your chest while her left hand rested on your stomach. You began to stroke her hair, enjoying how soft her hair felt between your fingers.

“Remember that internship I told you about?”

“At the Odinsons’ museum?”

You hummed, “I have an interview soon.”

Wanda quickly pushed herself up and beamed at you. “Oh my gosh! That’s great news! I’m so proud of you, baby.” She started to pepper your face with kisses, making you laugh.

“It’s just an interview, it doesn’t mean I actually got the internship.”

“Still,” she insisted. “When is it?”

“In 2 weeks.”

“After homecoming?”

You nodded, your mood slightly dimming. You couldn’t care less about homecoming. You didn’t even understand the point of having a dance every year after a sports game. At least this year, it would be after a basketball game, which meant you wouldn’t have to freeze on a cold October evening while watching a bunch of sweaty footballers tackle each other. Instead, you would get to watch some of the most attractive girls at your school swiftly pass the ball between them to make a basket.

Alright, so you were a little (very) biased, but it wasn’t like it really mattered when your focus wasn’t on the players most of the time. No, your attention was solely on a certain brunette cheerleader encouraging either team that played that year. Even before she was a cheerleader, Wanda had been the only person that made homecoming games tolerable for you.

Even though Yelena liked to claim that she had been the one who succeeded in dragging you to the football game by bribing you with food, she was wrong. It was really the thought of having an excuse to see Wanda for more than a split second as you “accidentally” made eye contact with her in the cafeteria that pushed you to go.

This year, you still couldn’t openly show any affection towards Wanda, per your agreement, but at least you didn’t have to try so hard to pretend you didn’t find her utterly adorable during pep rallies. You had already planned to spend the weekend with her since your parents were going to be away visiting family, and you also had an extra homecoming surprise for her.

Just because you didn’t quite get homecoming didn’t mean you wouldn’t try for Wanda, especially when you knew how much she loved homecoming. Ever since you were kids, she talked about how one day she wanted to be homecoming queen and she would want to dance with her lover under the bright lights. She would talk about how she wanted a romantic proposal, but it didn’t actually matter how the person asked her as long as it was someone she loved and who loved her back.

Freshman year, nobody knew her (nor you), so you had planned a small homecoming proposal at her house, but it didn’t mean much since you were asking her as a friend. (That was what you told her anyway). Last year, Vision had asked her. You had heard all about the dozens of roses he had showered her with along with the digital announcement board in the hallway from the main entrance being used as his proposal sign. Although you didn’t see it, you were sure Wanda loved it. This year, she and Vision were no longer together, but he was still trying to win her back and he would undoubtedly attempt to do so with another extravagant homecoming proposal.

“Are you going this year?” she asked, propping herself up on her elbow.

“Maybe? I don’t really have anyone to go with, but Yelena is probably gonna force me to go again.”

“You could ask Maria Hill,” Wanda said in what you assumed was supposed to be a joking manner, but the girl was absolutely terrible at hiding the green-eyed monster residing inside her heart.

“I don’t want to fight tonight,” you said as she suddenly gained interest in fiddling with the sleeves of your hoodie.

“I don’t,” she affirmed as she sat back up, cross-legged. “I just don’t get why you let people say those things about you,” she said, sitting back up cross-legged.

“What am I supposed to do?” you ask, exasperated.

“Tell them it’s not true!”

“I have always denied any rumor about me dating or hooking up with someone. It’s not my fault that people are too dumb and would rather live in delusion than believe me.” You pushed yourself up to sit up and face her.

Most of the time, you didn’t mind the whispers in the hallway. They were dumb and had nothing better to do than to make up things about people they didn’t know. And the first time, you were even a little flattered that people thought you had managed to grab Carol Danvers’ attention. In hindsight, the only reason people thought you were dating the basketball team’s captain was probably because you two used to be the only ones out of the closet back then.

What you initially believed to just be a one-time thing became the reason you now had the reputation of being some sort of heartbreaker, making Sappho proud. That was when you started to harbor contempt for what your classmates liked to say about you. It started to make you wary of how you interacted with anyone and everyone, paranoid that people would misconstrue a polite smile as a flirtatious smirk.

Stil, no matter how careful you were, people still found ways to link you to just about any girl at school. After Carol, you were apparently hooking up with Valkyrie, the resident stoner, but that rumor died pretty quickly after Carol and Valkyrie were seen making out at a party. Then, Maria Hill had the unfortunate consequence of being attached to your name after defending you from people talking about you in the locker rooms. (Months later, when you saw her at Yelena and Natasha’s house, she assured you that she didn’t mind since those people were assholes who didn’t shit anyway.) People also thought you were seeing Nebula and you had absolutely no idea where that came from. At least with Yelena, you knew people thought you were dating because she only hung out with you the moment she transferred schools. And lastly, Natasha… well, if you weren’t seeing Yelena, then people would settle with linking you to her older sister who often gave you lifts back home after school whenever your art club meetings ended at the same time as her dance club practices.

So yeah, as great as all those girls were, you didn’t enjoy being the subject of your classmates’ gossip chain, but rarely did you do anything about it. It was just easier for you to ignore them than to fight them. You were already halfway done with high school and then, you would never see the vast majority of them ever again.

Wanda remained silent with her eyes glued to the floor. “I’m sorry,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “I know you don’t like people constantly talking about you.”

“I’m sorry for lashing out,” you said, reaching out to tilt her chin back up so you could see those green eyes you loved so much.

Wanda shuffled to get close enough to rest her forehead against yours. “I wish I could block out those people’s voices and ignore them like you do. You make it look so easy,” she admitted with a sad smile.

“You’ll get there some day,” you told her before placing a gentle kiss on her forehead. You knew she wasn’t talking about the rumors anymore. Well, not solely that anyway. There was a reason you two had kept your relationship secret. Wanda wasn’t ready to come out to everyone yet. She knew her family would still love her and most of the school would be accepting of her, but she also knew people would talk about her. She also didn’t know how the cheer squad would react, and despite how unpleasant they could be sometimes, she genuinely liked being part of the squad.

You told her you were okay with keeping things between you two. And you truly were. There were just days that were harder than others. Days where you wished you could just hold her hand in the hallway. Days where she wished she could tell her classmates to fuck off and stop bothering you. But those days weren’t possible. Not yet.

Suddenly, you heard the front door of your house open and the telltale sounds of your parents coming home. The thuds of boots being kicked off, the rattling of keys being tossed in the key tray on the entryway dresser, a “honey, we’re home” being yelled.

You groaned, but pulled away from Wanda so she could go grab her belongings. You hugged her one last time and kissed her goodbye like you had grown used to doing.

“We’re still on for Friday?” She asked, as if you would suddenly bail on her.

“Of course,” you said and pecked her cheek.

“See you on Friday, sunshine.” Wanda grinned and carefully climbed out your window that looked out on your garage. She crawled towards the edge of the garage roof and grabbed onto one of the thicker branches from the tree planted next to the garage. Once she made it safely on the ground, she waved at you and pulled her bike from the bush. You waved back, watching her figure disappear as she biked down the street back to her house.

─── ᗢ ───── 💔 ───── ᗢ ───

Back at school the next day, it was as if last night had never happened. You walked from the bus stop to school, your steps matching the beat of the music you were listening to.

“Hey, loser!” You heard a faint voice yelling, mixing in with the song playing from your earbuds. Pulling out one earbud, you heard the voice again coming from behind you, but clearer.

“Good morning to you too, Lena,” you greeted your best friend with a quick side hug. The blonde girl was having none of it though. She groaned and pulled you in for a proper hug, arms wrapped tightly around you and your backpack, head on your shoulder and everything, effectively blocking traffic right in front of the staircase leading to the main doors of the school. You gave apologetic smiles to those around while you shuffled to the side of the stairs.

From the corner of your eye, you caught some of the cheerleaders coming out of Gamora’s SUV, along with her boyfriend, Peter Quill, and her grumbling younger sister, Nebula.

“Did you hear, Pepper and co. were stuck at school for like an hour because she invited Tony to carpool with them but he also brought his friends with him. So, they were like 15 trying to fit in Thena’s car. She had a breakdown and everything on the side of the street,” Yelena said when she saw who you were looking at.

“Yelena Belova,” you gasped dramatically. “Don’t tell me you’re into gossiping now?” The cheerleaders walked towards you, but the only one you cared about was the brunette with the red backpack wearing the same hoodie you had given her yesterday.

“I can’t help it when it comes to them,” she replied, venom lacing her words.

“They’re not all bad,” you argued right as you caught Wanda’s eye. A shy smile on her face, she looked back down at the ground, tucking her hands in the pockets of her (your) hoodie.

“Right, because the one person you were actually friends with in that group didn’t ditch you the moment they welcomed her in their little clan.”

“Lena,” you warned. Sure, you had been somewhat bitter after you and Wanda had your falling out, but you could never speak badly about her. Not even when you met Yelena and told her about your tricky past with Wanda. Even though you didn’t quite understand what happened to your friendship, you couldn’t bring yourself to badmouth the girl you once called your best friend. Yelena didn’t understand how you could just move on without closure, but she respected it anyway.

“Fine, fine, fine,” she surrendered with her hands up in the air right as the cheerleaders walked past the two of you, not paying you any mind. Just as they walked by you, a waft of the perfume they all wore invaded your nostrils, making you grimace.

“VS Bombshell must be the cheerleaders’ version of the football guys’ AXE body spray,” you remarked once you thought the girls were out of earshot. It turned out that a whole staircase wasn’t far enough since they all turned around in search of the offender. If it weren’t for Yelena’s loud cackling and you smacking her as an attempt to shut her up or at least quiet her down, you probably would’ve gotten away with it. Instead, you had to deal with nearly half a dozen cheerleaders’ deathly glare, including Wanda’s.

“Come on,” Yelena said, slinging one arm around your shoulders. “I’ll protect you from the scary little cheerleaders.”

“My knight in shining armor,” you cooed and snorted, but leaned into the blonde girl.

The cheerleaders were likely going to make their displeasure over your little comment known, probably by spreading another fake rumor about you to make sure you wouldn’t make the same mistake again. For now though, you just enjoyed the comfort of your best friend as you tried to get through another uneventful day of high school.

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