#he joined the basketball team to stop the bullying with him AND his friends

[wheneverfeasible]

Cheerleader!Eddie AU pt. 1

POV: Eddie

When Eddie found a sobbing Chrissy in the restrooms after school, where he had been about to tag some stupid shit about one of the football players who had left him with a bruised face a previous week, he hadn’t expected it to lead to them becoming friends, her breaking up with her shithead boyfriend, or him joining the cheer squad.

Yet here he is, wearing the stupid school colors and his long hair tied up in a ponytail to match Chrissy’s, even down to the identical green scrunchie. Chrissy was lucky he loved her. Platonically, of course. They’d kissed after everything, figuring that’s that the thing between them was, but it ended up being like kissing a sibling (or so Eddie guessed, not ever having had one before), but quickly discovered that whatever middle school crush might have existed was well and truly gone.

Everything else was just right, however, and if such a thing as platonic soulmates existed, then Chrissy was well and truly his. She had to be, to get him to agree to this stupid shit.

He wasn’t an official member of the cheer squad at first, nothing more than a glorified backup, but he helped her in all the practices and learned all the moves and somehow, without realizing when, he started performing at games and pep rallies. Which didn’t help the queer rumors from spreading, even when Chrissy acted like his beard at first. Because the rumors would have been galling if they hadn’t been true.

Don’t get him wrong; he liked chicks too. But there was something to be said about seeing a pretty boy on his knees.

He played it up, taunting the other team and his own with blown kisses and suggestive hand motions with his tongue in his cheek, but he had cheerleader privilege, and Chrissy’s best friend privileges, so he actually managed to avoid anything more than pointed words and threats, which he then always turned into a kink thing to make the jocks uncomfortable.

“Oh, you’re right, Princess, I look amazing on my knees,” he cooed with a wink when King Steve himself deigned to be one of the insulting masses. Of course, all Harrington had said was that he should stop messing around and get back under the pyramid during cheer practice instead of poking fun at the basketball players on the other side of the gym.

Harrington always flushed whenever Eddie got too weird, too freaky, too queer, and it was quickly becoming one of his favorite things. Chrissy teased him about it when he’d go out of his way to harass Harrington, telling him to stop pulling the king’s pigtails, which he vehemently denied doing.

No way. Nuh uh. Not King Steve. Gag him with a spoon, or whatever they said in the movies Chrissy always made him watch.

Soon Harrington started snapping back, however, but with an amused smile on his face. More than that, he’d snapped at Hagan to leave Gareth alone when he’d come to playfully jeer at Eddie until they could head to Hellfire together. (Chrissy had actually taken DnD up too eventually, much to everyone’s surprise, though it was less surprising than her Level 7 Chaotic Neutral homebrew half-Orc male Barbarian whose tragic backstory was only known to Eddie so far, seeing as he had helped her craft Uragoth the Undaunted.)

To say that Eddie was surprised when Harrington of all people protected a freak was an understatement. And then it kept happening. Harrington always stepped in if he saw any freak or nerd being bullied, he even used logic, pointing out that Eddie was both freak and cheerleader, so going after the freaks was going after him and the cheer squad, and did any jock really want to piss off the cheerleaders?

A jock using logic? Unheard of!

Eddie was a little flattered though to think that his freaks had best friend privileges as well because of him, that he could be the shield offering them protection simply by straddling the line between the two sects at school.

Harrington never stopped snarking with Eddie, however, always calling him a freak but always with that smile that almost spoke of something…fond.

And then it was the day of the big game, the championship, and Chrissy was giggling as she tried to pretend like she was having second thoughts, even as her hands never faltered getting him ready. They, and the rest of the squad who had slowly warmed up to Eddie, had scoured the rule book to make certain he could do it, smirking amongst themselves at the surprise they had in stock.

Eddie waited at the end of the line, waited for their introduction, and then he was running in with the rest of the cheer squad, his pale and hairy legs flashing beneath the short green skirt. Gareth and the rest of the freaks screamed, sending out wolf whistles and making enough noise to draw the attention of anyone who might not have noticed yet.

Eddie only had eyes for one person though.

Harrington’s gaze was fixed solely on him as he jogged out wearing the female cheerleading uniform, a bright pink high on cheekbones and his mouth agape, and Eddie thought he had even seen the guy swallow as his eyes took in Eddie in a skirt.

The game went exactly as the cheer squad had hoped, their secret routine putting Eddie front and center, and he took great enjoyment in rolling his hips suggestively and blowing his kisses and winks as he taunted the opposing team, resulting in more than one fumble when he distracted them. The fact that Harrington seemed equally distracted seemed something else entirely.

As well as the fact that Harrington roughly fouled the player from the other team that Eddie had pointedly flirted with during their halftime routine.

Hawkins Tigers won in the end, easily, with Harrington scoring the final winning points like the king he was, pointing at Eddie right before he took the shot with a wink. Eddie rolled his eyes, almost hoping Harrington would miss in retaliation for the tease. Instead, Harrington ended the game as the buzzer sounded with his last three-pointer and the crowd went wild.

Typical.

Less typical, however, was how Harrington strode through the crowd right after, bypassing the celebrating teammates and cheerleaders and fans that had streamed onto the court, to head straight for Eddie. Eddie was given just the barest moment to wonder if he was about to be hate crimed when Harrington’s hand landed on his back, the other cupping the back of his head, and he was spun into a dip as Harrington leaned in for a kiss.

Except Harrington didn’t immediately kiss him, he hovered above his lips, his eyes looking into Eddie’s asking for permission, and really…what more could Eddie do except wrap his arms around Harrington’s neck and close the distance?

If later that night Eddie was still wearing that skirt as he and Harrington came to an understanding, well, no one needed to know.

And if the next night it was Steve wearing the cheerleading skirt…that was between him and his king.

Part 2

[malarign]

told you so

(when you go on a date with your enemy, and he advises you against it)

synopsis: Being a target of taunting from your enemy was your daily struggle, and when you seemed to get used to it, all of your worries disappeared when you met your new friend. but what if old feelings still didn’t pass?

contains: bff!Heeseung x fem!reader | genre: angst with a fluffy ending (requested), high school au, college au, friends to lovers | tw! mentions of food, bullying, swearing, arguing, crying, kissing and touching without consent, mentions and attempt of assault, please read at your own discretion! y/n being oblivious and delusional, basically he fell first and harder 🤩 | wc: 7,4k

author’s note: while writing this i didn’t have any specific Jisung in mind, this name just popped into my head 😬 also this was originally written to be a mini series but it didn't get much attention so i’m reposting it as a one shot :)) enjoy!

reblogs, likes and comments are highly appreciated!!!

original taglist: @nicholasluvbot, @simpforsunwoo, @sweetjaemss

Morning, Wednesday, 9th January 2019

You watched as Jisung and his friends emptied your school bag and all your books, notebooks, documents and other personal stuff fall on the wooden floor. All of them laughed while exchanging mean looks. Jisung came up to you, lowered his head to the level of your eyes, and smiled viciously.

“You better hurry, Y/n. I don’t think you want to be late for math class, right?” he asked sarcastically and ruffled your hair.

Trying to keep calm you watched as he wandered off to the class with the rest of the boys he hangs out with. You looked at all the things he threw on the floor and sighed. He never seemed to let you breathe peacefully and lavished you with his nasty comments. Both of you used to be great friends back in middle school, but then he got into a pretty bad environment and became your worst nightmare. Every class you had with him was hours of suffering. You often thought about old times, wondering if there was a way to prevent this.

Crouching down to pick your stuff up you heard how the sound of steps behind you echoed in an empty hallway. You turned your head around to see who was coming. You tried really hard to recognize his face, but you didn’t think you had ever seen him.

“Hi,” he said. His lips slightly parted as he watched your belongings on the floor. “Let me help you.”

He crouched next to you and helped you gather your books and notebooks as you collected smaller items. He neatly put them into your bag and helped you stand up from a not-really-comfortable position.

“Thank you, I really appreciate your help.” You smiled and once more scanned his face to be sure you’d ever seen him.

“I’m Heeseung by the way. I’m new here,” he spoke as he offered his hand to greet you.

“Oh, I was wondering why I couldn’t recognize you.” You smiled sheepishly. “My name’s Y/n.”

Noon, Friday, 17th May 2019

You and Heeseung clicked almost immediately. Both of you had similar hobbies and musical tastes. Since your favorite subjects were his problem and vice versa you helped each other with homework and exam preparations, usually in the calm setting of your local library. He didn’t have problems settling into a new environment. Quite quickly he made a group of friends, bugging you to tag along every time they went out somewhere. His talent for basketball also didn’t slip by the team's coach, who didn’t waste time to make him join training.

Heeseung never failed to bring a smile to your face with his quick-witted jokes and interesting stories about his life before he moved to your city. Being with him healed you in every possible way, making thoughts of Jisung almost completely forgotten. After seeing you spend your breaks with Heeseung made him stop approaching you for some reason. Sometimes when you were alone, because he had to get something done or had different classes made you anxious. You knew that whenever he was next to you, Jisung wouldn’t do anything bad.

The bell rang announcing a long-awaited lunch break. You packed your stuff and looked at Heeseung. You opened your mouth to ask the usual question about your table, but he spoke faster.

“Coach said he needs me for a second, I’m pretty sure it won’t take long. I’ll join you as soon as I’m done, okay?” He didn’t let you say anything and just dashed away after gently patting your shoulder.

You stood there watching as he disappeared behind a corner and let out a shaky sigh. That was the first time you were going to eat lunch alone ever since you met him in March. You even considered waiting for him, just to not have to sit there alone. Then a sudden wave of confidence rushed through your body, thinking “What can go wrong? He said it’s not gonna take long.”

You made your way to the school cafeteria, looking at every student that passed by, praying none of them would belong to Jisung.

After you took your tray with a full meal you sat down at your usual table and watched the entry, nervously waiting for a familiar, friendly silhouette. What you saw was far away from that. You saw Jisung and his friend enter the cafeteria. He noticed you right away. His face showed anger, eyes sharp and fierce. His look made you quiver slightly, unable to look anywhere else. He took his tray and sat at the table behind you. You could hear every bite he took on his apple, loud cracks piercing your ears. You started to count second, wishing Heeseung would come back quickly.

Time passed and you still were sitting alone at the table. Some students finished eating while your tray was still full of food. As much as you tried eating you couldn’t muster up the energy to raise a fork to your mouth.

“Where the hell is he? What is taking him so long? He said he’ll join me.” Your thoughts were disrupted by a fine figure of a man hovering over your form. He leaned into you, his breath brushing your ear.

“Long time no see, Y/n.” His malicious tone sent shivers down your spine, and you could feel tears ready to spill out of fear. “You thought I was done with you just because you started hanging out with that asshole?” He said as he brushed away the strand of your hair. He leaned even closer to you and whispered straight to your ear: “You know I will never back off.”

“Well, maybe you should.”

You noticed Heeseung standing in front of your table.

Jisung came up to Heeseung and asked: “Or what, asshole? What you’re gonna do?” He suddenly collared him and shook his form. His actions were stopped when a loud voice echoed in the cafeteria.

“Choi Jisung!” Heeseung’s coach screamed, his voice in a humbling manner. Jisung let go of Heeseung still maintaining eye contact with him.

“I guess I don’t have to do anything in particular.” Heeseung smiled at him snidely and watched as he made his way out of the cafeteria. He then shifted his look at you who was still slightly trembling at an unexpected and not really pleasant encounter with one of your classmates.

His eyes softened looking at your form, his heart breaking from the regret of not coming to you sooner. He hesitated whether what he should do and finally rubbed your back with his palm in a comforting move. He felt as if you loosened up under his touch. Seeing you calm down he sat down next to you and tried to shift your attention from a bad experience with Jisung.

“You should eat, Y/n. I’m sure it’ll help.” He took a glance at your tray. “I know how you love that pudding,” he spoke and placed the box right in front of you making you smile.

Afternoon, Friday, 17th May 2019

“Y/n can we talk about today?” Heeseung asked. You were laying in his bed, surrounded by notes from your biology class.

You looked at him. His eyes were serious but soft at the same time. You felt bad that you didn’t tell him about your bumpy relationship with Jisung, mostly because you thought the problem solved itself when you met him. But today’s events successfully proved you wrong.

“About what?” You played for time.

“About Jisung and what happened in the cafeteria.” He got straight to the point. He moved his chair to be right in front of you. “Why didn’t you tell me he bullies you?”

“Because he doesn’t,” you simply stated shifting your gaze back to your notes. Somehow word ‘bully’ made your ego ache. You weren’t bullied, at least that’s what you said to yourself.

“Well his action said something else,” he firmly said making you snap.

“What do you know, Heeseung? You don’t know him at all, yet you’re accusing him of bullying.”

Your response took him aback. “Y/n you were literally trembling at his touch and the sound of his voice. Fuck it, you were almost crying!”

“No, I wasn’t!”

“Y/n don’t act like I’m blind. Besides, I know you well.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” you said and rapidly got up, gathering your notes into your bag and storming out of his room. Heeseung watched your irrational actions in utter shock. Why were you so offended? Even you didn’t know why you overreacted like that. Maybe it was because of your past friendship with Jisung? Maybe you still believed he would change for the better, and you would happily be friends like you used to be? Or maybe you would be more than friends like you always dreamt?

You walked downstairs and hurriedly started to put on your shoes. Just when you were about to go out you heard your friend’s mom.

“Y/n? You’re leaving so early?” She asked. “I’m preparing your favorite, kimchi fried rice.” She smiled warmly.

“I’m so sorry, Ms. Lee, but I need to go early today.” You felt bad lying to her, she always treated you like a daughter making sure you were never hungry whenever you hung with Heeseung. “Have a great evening!” You quickly said closing the front door behind you.

Even though it was the middle of May, the weather was rather chilly. You still had your school uniform on, your short skirt not warming you up enough.

“Y/n!” You heard Heeseung’s voice behind you. Hesitating if you should stop or run straight to your house you finally stopped your tracks. Even if you ran he would easily catch up.

You turned around and soon, Heeseung stopped in front of you, breathing heavily from his jog. You let him catch a breath and didn’t say anything.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t want to make you mad.”

You thought for a while, you really wanted to stay mad at him for a while, but as hard as you tried, you just couldn’t. You lowered your gaze and replied: “It’s okay. I know you meant well. But you don’t need to worry about me.” You assured.

Your answer didn’t seem to satisfy him, but he remained silent. He opened his arms, offering a conciliatory hug, which you gladly accepted.

“I should go home now,” you announced, still in his embrace.

“Can I walk you home?” he asked, knowing your answer.

“I think I would rather go by myself today. Thanks though.” You slowly pulled out from his arms and waved your hand in goodbye.

Heeseung watched you walk for a while. He couldn’t stop thinking about everything you said. Your words clenched his heart, almost making him tear up. He knew one thing: he definitely will worry about you, and won’t let this happen ever again.

Evening, Saturday, 1st June 2019

“Y/n! Heeseung is already here!” Your mom shouted from downstairs as you did the final touches to your hairstyle.

“I’m coming!” you shouted and hurriedly took your purse. Skipping your way to the hallway you saw Heeseung with a small bouquet in his hands as he talked with your mom with a warm smile. She noticed your presence first.

“Y/n come here quickly.” She gestured for you to stand next to Heeseung. “Let’s take a photo. Make a pose.”

Both of you tried different poses for the photo, from the normal ones to your usual, funny ones. After a short photo shoot, you made your way to Heeseung’s car and drove to have fun at prom.

You arrived at school quite late, as other students were already dancing in the hall. You were about to get out of his car when he stopped you with a soft hand motion. You were slightly confused but all the concern disappeared when you saw his jog around the car to your side. He opened the door gallantly and offered his hand.

“Wow, so chivalry is really not dead, huh?” you remarked and smiled at him while getting out.

“Y/n, I’m afraid you forgot who I am.” He placed his hand on his heart with an injured look on his face.

“Lee Heeseung, I envy your future girlfriend, whoever she is,” you said and made your way toward the other students.

Heeseung watched as you go with dreamy eyes and a moony smile. He couldn’t stop thinking about how gorgeous you looked tonight ever since he laid his eyes on you at your house. And not only today, the day he met you he never thought you’ll get so close and make him fall not only for your looks but charming personality, versatile knowledge, and full of empathy heart. “Hopefully you won’t have to envy her,” he thought to himself planning on confessing his feelings for you today.

When you entered the hall, your ears were pierced by loud music and the stumping of hundreds of feet. Parties like those weren’t your cup of tea, but it being prom convinced you to try having fun along with your classmates. Besides, being aware that you’re not going to be there by yourself helped you harness your train of thought. It wasn’t the first party you attended with Heeseung, but it was definitely the biggest of them all, and most importantly it wasn’t just a house party.

“Shall we?” You heard your friend’s voice and smiled. You danced all night next to each other, jumping and showing off your moves with occasional breaks to drink something or just take a breath.

Both of you sat down on a bench and watched as your classmates were also getting pretty tired. You looked at the clock which showed 10 pm. Four hours of dancing with Heeseung passed in a blink of an eye. You were about to ask him when they plan on leaving when the DJ announced a slow song. Just when you were about to stand up and freshen up in the bathroom none other than Heeseung showed in front of you, his figure towering over yours.

“May I have this dance?” He smiled but his tone wasn’t playful, but serious. Almost too serious.

You simply nodded your head in response and let him guide you to the middle of the dance floor. He took one of your hands into his and placed the other one on your waist, pulling you a little bit closer to him, to the point you felt how his breath fell on your nose. You never were in that close proximity to him, apart from that one hug after your quarrel, but none of you felt awkward at all. The feeling of his hands on your body made you feel safe and at ease, contrary to what you experienced throughout the past few years of high school.

Heeseung looked at you with full adoration in his eyes as you struggled to dance with him, occasionally stepping on his foot.

“Sorry, I had never danced like this,” you confessed sheepishly.

“Don’t worry. Just follow my lead, Y/n,” he murmured in a low voice, sending shivers down your spine. You did as he said, focusing on making the correct steps. Heeseung pulled you even closer, making you both sway in an intimate hug. Hug too intimate for friends. You noticed how his face slowly came closer to yours, and when your foreheads almost touched suddenly both of you landed on a cold, wooden floor. You took a look around and noticed how the other pair fell on the ground, the boy frantically apologizing to you and Heeseung for pushing you. You saw how his jaw clenched and eyes sharpened.

“Well, you should be more careful,” he snapped.

“Heeseung, it’s okay.” Your voice made his face soften and shift his now calm gaze to you. He helped you get up and fix hair that loosened because of the impact. While he was busy fixing your hairclips you noticed a pair of eyes watching you like a hawk. His gaze wasn’t sharp and aggressive like in the cafeteria two weeks ago. It was rather interested and invested. He watched you calmly but your heart started its usual race at the sight of his eyes on your form.

“Are you okay?” Heeseung asked worriedly, noticing your distant gaze.

“Yes,” you answered shortly and quickly. “Yes, I’m fine.”

“Do you want to dance some more or sit down? It must’ve hurt,” he spoke, referring to your fall.

“Actually, can you drive me home?” you asked hurriedly. You didn’t want the situation in the cafeteria to happen again. And knowing Heeseung you knew it was very probable.

His expression dropped at your words, pursing his lips he nodded and lead your way to his car.

Contrary to the ride to the prom, this way was way quieter. None of you dared to speak. One because of regret and the other because of anxiousness. You looked at the trees that you passed by and how almost all windows were dark. You recognized your neighborhood and prepared to get out of his car when his voice stopped you.

“Y/n?”

You looked at him, your face painting a question, asking him to continue.

He debated for a while. “It’s this moment. Now or never,” he thought to himself.

“I had so much fun with you today, Y/n,” he simply stated, hesitation winning over his will to finally confess.

“Thank you, I also had so much fun.” You smiled and bid your goodbyes, leaving him in his car alone with his thoughts.

“Will you ever realize?”

Afternoon, Tuesday, 18th October 2022

The faint sound of keyboards’ clicking and soft whispers between students, accompanied by rustling scribbling on paper always helped you study. The whole atmosphere helped you compose yourself after long days of school and now college. Getting onto the major of your dreams wasn’t easy, but thanks to your investment in finals preparations and the help of your friends, you succeeded. Not only you studied what you’d always wanted, but you also weren’t as lonely as you were in high school. Because of similar interests, you quickly got in with them, spending breaks in each other’s company and having occasional sleepovers and other friendly hangouts. Thanks to them, accustoming to college life wasn’t as harsh and hard as you expected it to be.

Many things changed since you graduated from high school, apart from one thing - your usual friendly study dates with Heeseung were still a tradition none of you dared nor wanted to break. One would think that studying different subjects would break your friendship, but it only tightened the bond you had.

Heeseung reached for his backpack and took out a small box filled with white and red grapes. He placed it between you two so that you also could grab some. Seeing that you also took out your lunch box with walnuts and cashew nuts. You poured them into his box, knowing how he liked mixed flavors of grapes and nuts. He noticed that and immediately smiled in your direction, whispering a faint but still audible “Thank you”. You returned the smile and focused on your notes once again.

On the other hand, as much as he tried to, Heeseung couldn’t. His mind was flooded and confused about his own feelings for you, which only grew stronger as time passed. Ever since he tried confessing and getting closer to you during prom he didn’t dare to try again. The panic he saw in your eyes spoke for themselves. Fear of losing you overwhelmed his heart, he knew he wouldn’t be able to endure that. That’s why he tried ignoring all the love he had for you, usually failing miserably.

“What are your plans for the weekend?” you asked quietly, trying not to disturb other people around you.

Heeseung got back to his senses and thought for a second. “I have a basketball match at 6 on Saturday,” he replied, raising his one eyebrow. “You forgot?” he asked but it sounded more like a statement, not a question.

You pursed your lips together and smiled sheepishly. “Sorry.”

“No worries. Are you still planning to come?” He closed his book and turned around to face you directly.

“Of course!” you exclaimed in a whisper. “I never missed any of your matches and I’m not planning to change that. I like seeing you win,” you added, not knowing you caused his heart to flutter and a swarm of butterflies to fill his stomach.

“What if I don’t win?” he asked, unable to control a bright smile.

“I think we both don’t believe it will ever happen,” you remarked and a few people shushed you, annoyed by your too loud for a library conversation. Heeseung and you mumbled quiet apologies and returned to your books, trying to keep yourselves from laughing.

You called the study session off a little bit an hour later.

“You sure you don’t need a walk home?” he asked for a millionth time today.

“Hee, I’m sure. Besides don’t you have a training today? You better not be late again,” you scolded him and he raised his hands in a surrendering gesture.

“Okay, but text me as soon as you get home.” He pointed at you and squinted a bit.

“I will, bye!” you assured him and waved at him.

Deciding to take advantage of the last warm days, you took a longer route home. You passed by many places you used to go to while you were still a high school student. Cafes you used to study in with Heeseung whenever there were too many people in the library, a park where both of you ate lunches during hot summer days, a basketball court where he taught you how to play and gave you tips on how to make a score. It made you realize that apart from memories with Heeseung you can’t reminisce about other ones, as if you knew him your whole life. You stopped by the cafe you studied in together for the first time, and remembered how awkward you were with each other back then. You smiled at the memory of the very much begging of your friendship. Now that same cafe was filled with couples, taking photos together or of each other and sharing sweet desserts. The sight of love made you question if your future partner is going to like Heeseung. But the thought of anybody not liking him seemed impossible for you.

You continued walking when you saw a familiar figure approaching you. A figure you didn’t expect to meet.

“Hi Y/n! It’s me, Jisung!”

Evening, Tuesday, 18th October 2022

“It’s been a while, I almost didn’t recognize you,” Jisung said in a friendly tone. You also almost didn’t recognize him. He wore the complete opposite attire to his usual pair of jeans and collection of plain T-shirts, now wearing a suit with elegant shoes.

“Yeah, me too,” you spoke and a sheepish smile with a hint of disbelief crept on your face.

“How have you been? I haven’t seen you in like ages!” Jisung kept on smiling and tilting his head to the right, an old habit of his.

“Jisung what do you want?” you asked quickly, scared of his reaction.

Seeing your expression he sighed and spoke: “Y/n, listen. I’m really sorry. For everything I’ve done. I treated you badly, and I regret it with my whole heart.” He placed his hand on the left side of his chest. “What I did was wrong and I want to sincerely apologize to you. I’m so sorry.” His words seemed to be genuine and truthful to you.

“It was a long time ago, it’s okay, Jisung.” You shrugged and smiled softly.

“It’s not really okay, unless you let me redeem myself. let me take you out,” he said nonchalantly.

“Oh?”

“Do you have plans on Saturday? There’s a new restaurant that opened a while ago, what do you think?”

Thinking for a while you slowly nodded. Your movement made a strand of your hair fall from behind your ear and he was quick to fix it, making you blush.

“Great. It’s a date then. I’ll come and pick you up at 7,” he announced and said his goodbye, leaving you dumbfounded.

You felt like your chest gets tighter and your stomach fills with butterflies. You turned around to look at him once more but he was already gone. Just when you thought you finally forgot about him and your feelings for him, that somehow buried themselves in the depth of your heart, all you could think about was him once again. The way he looked at you, the way he smiled at you, the way the slightest touch of his fingers brushing fragile skin on your cheek, it all made you feel like on shaky ground.

Then it hit you. You’re going on a date. Your first ever date. You almost let a squeal leave your lips, but stopped it on time by covering them with the palm of your hand. Excitement rushed through your body and you hurriedly headed home.

When you arrived home and were done letting out all excitement and thrill of your body by jumping all over your place, you took the phone out of your bag. You noticed a few missed calls, all from Heeseung. You remembered how you promised to text him when you arrive home, and now he must’ve finished his practice.

You dialed his number and didn’t have to wait for too long for him to answer.

“Y/n? Is everything okay?” he asked worriedly.

“Yes, oh my god, Hee! Everything is great!” you couldn’t contain your happiness and wanted to share the news with him.

“Woah, woah, what’s that excitement about?” he asked and laughed at your crazy behavior.

“Hee, I’m going on a date!”

For a while your painful silence submerged the call, the only sound was soft breathing on the other side of the line.

“Heeseung? Are you okay?” you asked.

“Yes, yes, uhm, I’m okay,” he choked out.

“Well, then aren’t you gonna congratulate me?”

“Y/n, I’m very happy for you, but do I know this guy? You‘ve never told me about him.” His voice was rather cold in contrary to his words.

“You know him! It’s Jisung, from our high school.”

“What?” Heeseung couldn’t believe his ears. “Choi Jisung? The one who bullied you?”

“You’re at it again? He didn’t bully me Heeseung! He used to be my friend. Besides, why would you know what type of relationship we had?” You were mad. He never had an opportunity to truly get to know him, yet he was talking badly about him. This made your blood boil, because you knew him, and he certainly wasn’t as bad as Heeseung painted him.

You thought you truly knew Jisung. And you did to some point in your lives, now living on the deluded picture of him made by your imagination.

“Y/n, he treated you horribly! You were scared of him, don’t tell me otherwise, 'cause your reaction said otherwise.” His voice was harsh, sounding like he was scolding you.

“He changed! He apologized to me. He knows what he did was wrong!” you exclaimed, now even more mad than before.

“Y/n people like him don’t change. And even if he did, he shouldn’t be forgiven and given any more chances. Especially by you.”

“Let me decide on that. Fuck you, Heeseung,” you said and ended the call. You threw it on your bed and went to the bathroom to take a long shower, in hopes it would help you calm down.

Your words rang in Heeseung’s head for a long time. He froze, the phone still near his ear as if he was hoping you would say you didn’t mean that. But as minutes passed he realized you certainly did mean your words, and that they were meant to hurt him. He sat on the ground and slumped against a wall. Feeling his eyes sting as they brimmed with hot tears, Heeseung quickly wiped them off before completely breaking down. He stood up after a while and reached into a drawer for his car keys, ready for a night drive.

Afternoon, Saturday, 22nd October 2022

You stood in front of your wardrobe wondering how you should dress for your date with Jisung. You tried hard to think of anything that would suit the vibe and atmosphere of a fancy restaurant you’re going to, but your mind was flooded with thoughts of Heeseung. It was the longest you went without contacting each other, but your ego didn’t let you reach out to him. He should be happy for you, for his friend. After you would be happy for him if he told you he was going to have a date. Right?

After what seemed like ages of wondering about your outfit you contacted one of your classmates, Jennifer.

“Jen, do you have a second you could spare me? you asked as soon as your friend picked up the phone.

“Y/nie, my love, for you I always have time. What’s wrong?” she spoke and brought a long-lost smile to your face.

“Sorry I didn’t tell you but I remember how stressed you were with your presentation, but…” you started, feeling guilty for not telling her sooner.

“Oh my god, what is it? You’re scaring me!” she raised her voice dramatically.

“Well, I’m going on a date and I don’t know what to wear. I still have lots of time left but I’m getting a little bit nervous,” you confessed.

“Oh my! Finally, I’m so happy for you, bestie!” You heard her clapping her hands excitedly. “How about me coming over and rummaging through your clothes?”

“That would be great, but Jen you don’t have to!”

On the other side of the line, you heard the jingling sound of her car keys.

“I feel like I haven’t seen you in ages, plus you need to tell me how that happened, so don’t try to stop me now!” she said, and soon after you hung up.

While you were waiting you sat on your bed, thinking of possible scenarios of today’s date. Will it look like it does in movies? Will it end up only on this one date or will there be more?

Suddenly, the silence of your room got disturbed by the sound of a notification. You took your phone and read a reminder: “♡ Heeseung’s match 6pm ♡”. This made you bite your lips, guilty of not keeping your promise. Sure, you were mad at him, but he is still your best friend. “I never missed any of your matches and I’m not planning to change that,” you remembered your words from a few days ago. You placed your elbows on your thighs and hid your face in your hands. Just when you were about to let out your emotions you heard knocking on your front door. You opened them and they revealed a smiling Jennifer.

“Let’s get to the work, shall we?”

Thanks to Jennifer, picking your outfit was filled with laughter and her anecdotes. This helped you deal with the anxiety caused by your upcoming date, but also, more importantly, stop yourself from thinking about Heeseung. Before you knew it, the outfit was ready, along with a bag, some accessories, and shoes. You still had some time before 7 PM, so you sat in your room and chatted for a while, enjoying each other’s presence after days of different schedules.

“Okay, but most importantly, how did he ask you out?” She waited for your answer with anticipation and excitement.

“I mean we met when I was having a walk in the neighborhood and he just asked me.” You shrugged but your cheeks filled with red tint.

“Oh my god!” Jennifer exclaimed, emphasizing the last word. “I thought he will never ask you out, at this rate. But finally, my prayers were listened to!” She raised her hands in the air, while you were, to say the least, confused and dumbfounded.

“What do you mean? Who are you talking about?” you asked.

Your friend’s smile faded and she lowered her hands. “About your friend, that Heeseung guy. Is he not the one that asked you out?”

“No, why would you think that?”

“So it’s not Heeseung you’re going out with?” You shook your head and noticed how disappointment filled her eyes.

“Oh come on, Jen. You’re not happy for me anymore?”

“I am!” she defended herself. “It’s just… Both of you already seemed like a couple or like you at least like each other. You always say he’s like an angel, that you can’t imagine your life without him, so I kinda just assumed you liked him. Plus the way he looks at you speaks for itself better than your constant love confessions.”

Love?

Evening, Saturday 22nd October 2023

The gymnasium hall was filled with loud cheers coming from both bleachers. Players were practicing shots and warming up before the first match of the season. Heeseung was one of them, yet the ace known for excellent aim failed to score almost anything. He kept on looking for you in your usual place where you cheered for him along with your friends. But that one spot was empty, soon to be occupied by some unknown to him student. He tried to push the thoughts of you away, but as much as he tried the more he failed. None of the players or the coach had ever seen this part of him.

The match barely started, yet your university’s team was failing like never. Mainly because something apparently preoccupied the mind of the captain of the team. This made a coach come to a decision of seating him on a bench, for the first time during his player days.

You waited patiently on the couch, ready to go out. The clock showed half past seven, which made you worried, if he will even come. What if he got into an accident? What if something bad happened to him. You anxiously were looking at your phone, waiting for some message from Jisung. You were about to call him when your phone screen lightens up, showing his caller ID. You answered almost immediately.

“Hello?”

“Y/n! I’m so sorry for being late, but I’m already near your place so you can already come out,” he said and you could hear the sound of the engine’s drone.

“No worries, take your time,” you reassured him but noticed that the call already ended.

You locked the door behind you and made your way to the elevator.

You spotted his car from afar and waved at him. Your heart almost sprung out of your chest and felt how your throat tightens at every breath you took. You got in and greeted him shyly.

“Hi, sweetheart,” he said, and before you could realize he left a quick and harsh kiss on your lips, leaving you shocked. Jisung on the other side smiled to himself and started the car.

“I thought we could go somewhere where we could be alone before eating, what do you say?” he asked placing his hand on your inner thigh, making you, to say at least, extremely uncomfortable.

You tried taking his hand off your body, but he only gripped your wrist tightly making you hiss. “Oh, Y/n. Don’t act so innocent.” He stopped at the side of the road. Looking around you couldn’t spot a single living soul around you nor any car passing by. “But I can assure you I’ll fuck you better than him,” he said bluntly and started unbuckling his belt.

Not really knowing what to do you slapped him across his face and hurriedly got out o his car. You ran as fast as you can, with stamina better than usual, due to a high level of adrenaline in your body. You thought of the place you should go to. He knew where you lived so your place wouldn’t work. Jennifer’s apartment on the other hand was far away from where you were. The only place that was near enough was Heeseung’s apartment. Looking at the time you thought he must already be home. You turned around once more to see if he was following you. Not thinking twice you continued running, still shocked not knowing what exactly happened.

The first thing Heeseung did after arriving home from his first-ever lost match was take a cold shower. He let the icy water cascade down his body while still thinking about you. What if he did something bad to you during your date? He knew Jisung was up to no good, yet he let you go out with him. He stepped out of the cabin and hurriedly dressed himself into comfortable clothes.

Where should he search for you? he should’ve at least asked you where you were going and now he had an entire city to rummage. Not bothering to dry his hair he grabbed his keys and opened the door only to see you, completely breathless, on the edge of crying at his sight.

Night, Saturday, 22nd October 2023

You stared at your reflection in a mirror, under the bright light of Heeseung’s bathroom. None of you dared to speak, both allowing you to catch your breath, collect thoughts and speak whenever you’re ready. He just let you in and gave you his T-shirt and pair of shorts you always wore whenever you paid him an unexpected visit and wanted to get changed into something more comfortable.

Heeseung decided to prepare a quick meal for you and took your favorite snacks he stored in his kitchen, just in case. Your state worried him to the point he didn’t know what to do. He knew one thing though. Jisung wanted to hurt you, and either he succeeded or his attempt stayed as an attempt. He waited patiently for you, giving you all the time you needed, and thought of all the possible scenarios and how he could comfort you.

You finally decided to leave the bathroom and took a seat next to him on the couch. For a while, the silence filled the room with hesitation and uncertainty.

“Do you wanna talk or eat first?” he asked, trying to sound as gentle as he could.

“Eat,” you simply whispered, voice cracking on the way.

Heeseung looked up at you. You hugged your knees, eyes mentally checked out. He raised his hand to rub your shoulder but stopped himself midway, instead he just nodded and stood up to hand you your bowl. You quietly thanked him and took a bite of still hot noodles he had prepared. Silence once again submerged the room, the only audible sound was an occasional noodle slurp.

Once you finished and placed a bowl on the table sudden realisation hit you. You were assaulted. Jisung wanted to hurt you and he certainly didn’t change. And that Heeseung was right. Your eyes brimmed with tears.

Your expression told him everything he needed to know. Guilt crept over him and all h could think was if it could be prevented. If only his pride and ego didn’t blind him if only he wouldn’t let his emotions stop him. But now it was too late. You, the person he loved dearly was hurt, making him feel helpless.

Before he could think how can he comfort you, you were already in his arms. You cried your heart out on his shoulder as he just closed you in his warm and secure embrace, wanting to bring home to you, in such a crisis you were in.

“Hee, you were right!” you cried, choking on each word. “I should’ve listened to you, it’s all my fault!”

Heeseung pulled out t your words and cupped your cheeks in his palms. His eyes were full of compassion and regret, accentuated by tears that threatened to fall down his face. “No Y/n. It’s not your fault. You didn’t do anything to deserve this. I am here to listen and help you.”

His words felt like a soft Sunbeams that hit your skin after days of constant rain. You felt like your tensed body slowly relaxes at his touch and words as he spoke. Realizing how lucky you got, to have a friend like him you smiled as tears still blurred your vision. Nonetheless, you still noticed how he also smiled at you, eyes expressing nothing but pure love and will to protect you from everything.

“Plus the way he looks at you speaks for itself better than your constant love confessions,” you recalled Jennifer’s words now replaying all the memories you made with him during those almost 4 years of friendship.

How he never hesitated to help you whenever he saw you struggling.

How he never let you skip meals during exam season, sacrificing his own study time.

How he always managed to make time for you.

How he helped you live to the fullest during your high school days.

How he was the only person to truly know how to calm you down and help you relax.

How he was the only person to know your true self.

How he just stayed by your side, even though you were wrong, and hurt him with your insensitive words.

He truly does love you. How could you not see this?

What bugged you, even more, was how you didn’t realize you loved him too, maybe even more than he loves you. His compassion, passion, and kindness made him an angel you did not deserve.

“Hee, I’m so sorry.” You shook your head from disbelief at your own obliviousness and stupidity. “I’m so sorry for hurting you, for what I said a few days ago. I regret it and never intended to hurt you.”

He didn’t reply. Instead, he just smiled and invited you into his embrace once again. You gladly fell into his arms and melted in the comforting touch that helped you feel at ease. Your oasis. Your home.

Evening, Friday, 28th April 2023

The spectators were going crazy at the fierce match between the two teams. Your university’s players were currently losing by a few points but still were hoping to win regionals. While teams were discussing tactics with their coaches during a short break you were shouting words of encouragement along with other fans.

After the floor got cleaned players once again stepped on the court and started the last quarter. The ball relocated quickly between the hands of opponents when because of a small mistake of one of them it landed in your team’s captain, Heeseung’s hands. Your side of the bleachers screamed out of joy as he scored 3 points.

For a few minutes, none of the teams scored, raising the stress and emotions to the maximum. Now Heeseung’s team needed a final word to win the game and knock current front-runners off their pedestal. The tension in the air suffocated everyone, they were equally close and far from winning, because of the exhaustion of the other team.

The clock showed one minute till the end and a sudden rush of adrenaline overpowered Heeseung’s body. He had to lead his team to victory and he knew he could do it. He waited for the right moment and took the ball away from another player. He rushed to the hoop making an impressive buzzer beater leaving one side of the hall in tears of regret and the other one of joy.

The team surrounded him in a group hug, celebrating the victory and making it to the nationals, for the first time in your university’s history.

Seeing him so happy and smiley because of victory made your heart fill with glee and pride.

You saw how his teammates’ girlfriends rushed to congratulate them. That’s when Heeseung and your eyes met. He made a confused expression and you saw him say, barely audible because of the noise: “What are you waiting for?” and opened his arms.

You laughed and rushed his way to engulf him in a hug, not caring about the layer of sweat that covered his body and clothes. You pulled out, arms still wrapped around his neck, and kissed him, feeling salty drops on your lips. He melted in your touch and lifted your body while spinning around. You giggled against his lips and pulled away saying: “I’m so proud of you, love” making his cheeks and tips of ears turn bright pink. “I love you so much,” you confessed and looked deeply into his beautiful dark eyes.

“I love you more,” he said leaving a sweet kiss on your temple.

thank you for reading! back to the masterlist

[lbulldesigns]

AITAH For accusing my former best friend of trying to break up my relationship, and promptly ending our thirteen-year long friendship?

Posted 18th of May, 2021

I (18 M) need some outside opinions.

Background information. I have been best friends with Pow (18 F) since we were six, I first met her when my Godfather Benny introduced me to his best friend's newly adopted daughters. Both girls had been in the foster system for nearly a year after their parents died, and were lucky enough to get adopted out by their Godfather Van after he was able to track them down and prove to the courts and children's services that he was a safe option.

At first, I was a little intimidated by the older sister, we'll call her Daisy (she's named after a flower and I don't think she'll appreciate me using her real name) because she seemed angry at everyone but quickly put on a friendlier face when she saw how nervous I was.

When I saw Pow, I felt an instant attraction to her (not romantically, I was just interested in how pretty her blue hair was) and ended up spending our first encounter trying to get her to open up and talk to me. She was traumatized by the past year and had turned silent as a result. I felt so proud when I finally got her to smile and giggle, we became thick as thieves afterward, she was my best friend.

We shared everything together, our interest in academics, such as art, mathematics, video games, dancing, robotics, computers, and later DND.

There were some things we did separately. Pow competed in gymnastics, and I would take part in skateboarding competitions. And without fail always came to each other's thing to show our support.

Pow had some difficulties with her older brother Lo (fake name), he constantly took his frustrations out on her and everyone pretty much gave up on him ever getting a clue and stopping. So, we all tried to get Pow to stand up for herself, we figured if she stood up to her "bully" then he would learn to back off. However, Pow was a shy one and never spoke up for herself. As a result, she was hesitant around others and had difficulty making any friends outside of myself.

This became more apparent once we got to high school. We had a few classes away from each other and in these classes, I made some new friends, from there I got convinced to join the basketball team when some of my new friends told me it could help with my college perspectives. In lieu I convinced Pow to try out for the cheerleading squad, as per my new friends' advice, I made it onto the basketball team but Pow didn't make it onto the squad which I was surprised by because she's a pretty decent dancer.

Because I was on the basketball team, I wasn't able to participate in most of the same clubs as Pow and ended up moving on from these interests to focus more on my future, which is understandable because I can't spend every day playing make-believe anymore.

Pow was set in her ways however and seemed to want to continue playing make-believe and seemed determined to hate my new friends. She constantly avoided them and would rather sit alone during lunch than hang around me when they were around, she would always get a sour look on her face whenever they were around me (which was a lot of the time) and would decline invitations to hang out with them, she made no effort to get to know them properly and this hurt. But I still persisted with our friendship because, despite everything, I do care for her.

And then I met my now GF Kara (not her real name), Kara is sweet and funny, she writes me poems and little love notes with cute little love hearts and takes her academic future seriously. She has been trying to convince me that my friendship with Pow is toxic and understands why I couldn't just end the friendship but says that I wouldn't be the bad guy if I did.

I would get uncomfortable whenever she brought this up, but more and more recently I began to see things from Kara's perspective, albeit guiltily. I brought up my concerns with Daisy and her GF, and they were convinced that Pow is probably a bit possessive considering their own problems with her. Pow hates Cat (the GF) and even made her cry after Cat made an offhanded comment about law enforcement that seemed to trigger her. Daisy promised to speak to Pow about everything after everything between them had cooled down, she and Daisy got into a massive blowup about making Cat cry, something that Cat was feeling seriously guilty about.

So, when, three days after Kara and I decided to become official, Pow pulled me aside during lunch and confessed that she "loved me" and didn't want to just be friends anymore. I lost it.

I actually shouted at her in the middle of the lunch crowd and shamed her in front of the whole school. I called her a "possessive psychopath" who can't let anyone be happy, she pretended to look confused and asked what I was talking about, and I reminded her I was in a relationship as in I have a girlfriend. She managed to conjure up some tears and said that she didn't know, but I wasn't falling for it. I flat out, told her that I was done with her and this "friendship" and left her standing there.

At the time I couldn't feel anything but angry, and vindicated. My friends were laughing and joking about the situation, and Kara was super cuddly with me and kept asking me if I was okay and saying that I didn't do anything that wasn't due.

But now I'm questioning myself, with the anger cooled off. All I can see is Pow's sad doe-eyed look and the sound of the rest of the school snickering at her. She didn't turn up for classes for the rest of the day, and on my way home I heard a group of girls sl** shaming her.

Zer, my one new friend that Pow actually gets along with, called me an AH, and she thought I was a better person than that, and that she was now reconsidering her friendship with me.

So, Reddit. AITAH for ending a toxic relationship?

(This is a fanfic, please read tags)

[dwobbitfromtheshire]

Stuck Between a Jock and a Metalhead

Summary: Nancy, on a whim, decides to visit Steve at Scoops Ahoy, which leads to her overhearing confessions from Steve that leads her to think about the decisions she's made. A few days later, she decides to come back. She finds him being hit on by the town freak. What's a girl to do? Oh, get stuck in a freezer with the both of them.

Chapter One - Chapter Two - Chapter Three - Chapter Four - Chapter Five - Chapter Six - Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Nancy scribbled furiously in her diary as she wrote about the last few days. She talked about Eddie and Steve. . .Steve’s family. She felt so guilty about not really noticing or paying attention to his home life. She couldn't believe that his parents couldn't find any room in their heart to love him. She also discussed the goings-on at work. She had filled several pages already. The word pansexual stared up at her from the page with several question marks behind the word, and she glanced at the picture of Barb at her desk.

Nancy couldn't help but think about what she told Eddie and Steve. She really didn't think about dating anyone before Steve came along. As she thought about it, her attraction to Jonathan grew as she looked hard at the person he was trying to be for her, someone who was willing to break the rules for her. . . For her friend Barb. She had wanted to believe that he was doing it for Barb, and he had gone to great lengths to protect his brother. It was why she was willing to ignore everything else. She also realized she was attracted to Eddie because of the way he interacted with Holly. The first time that she had interacted with Steve. . .

Nancy was walking in the hallway when she saw someone rush past Steve and Tommy H. The person, not seeing where they were going, knocked all of the books out his hands and Steve's.

"I'm sorry, I didn't see you. I'm late for class," the fluffy haired boy said.

"I think Steve deserves better than that. I mean, you could have seriously hurt him. Kiss his feet, I think that would be hilarious, don't you think, Stevie boy?" Tommy laughed.

"Knock it off, Tommy," Steve glared at him. "What's wrong with you?"

"I really am sorry," the boy said.

"It's fine. No harm done," Steve said as he helped pick up his books.

"I'm just messing with the boy, Steve," Tommy giggled as he squeezed the boy's shoulder tightly. "Just trying to keep things. . . Orderly. . .isn't that right, freshman?"

Steve scowled and peeled his fingers off the freshman, shoving Tommy.

"Stop it, Tommy, this isn't like you. Stop trying to be like those asshole basketball players. Just because we're on the team. . . ," Steve muttered and turned to the boy. "Go on to class, you did nothing wrong."

The boy scurried off while Tommy laughed at him.

"Shoving me. . .does someone want to play rough?" Tommy asked, and then he rolled his eyes.

"I didn't join the team to become a bully, Tommy," Steve said. "It was one thing when you bitch about someone behind their back. This just makes you look like an asshole."

"Don't be such a baby, Harrington. I was just joking," Tommy said. "Don't be such a coward."

"Right," Steve said and watched him walk off.

It was one thing to stand up to a bully, but it was another thing to stand up to your friend when he's acting like one. He had been so nice and understanding to the freshman. . . She had never seen it before, but she finally understood what everyone was talking about when Steve Harrington was so handsome. She could see it now. Maybe that's why she had been so shocked when he broke his camera because at first she had seen it as something a bully would do. Her attraction to people clearly weren't looks, but their actions. The more she thought about it, the more she thought about Barb.

"This isn't you, Nance."

She always knew about Barb from the beginning. She had been a lesbian, boys hadn't held her interest at all, and maybe because Nancy hadn't shown any interest at all at first, maybe she thought Nancy was like her. She wondered if Barb had been trying to protect her character or her sexuality. It was probably both. She knew about Barb's own fears of being forced into a heterosexual relationship, and it had been the reason why Barb hadn't told her parents. Barb would never know if her parents would accept her or not.

"Nancy?" Her mother's voice startled her out of her thoughts.

Nancy jolted. She hadn't even noticed that the door had opened and her mother's head had appeared in the doorway.

"Hey," Nancy said softly.

"I thought you would be in bed by now. I just came to check on you," Karen said. "Is everything okay?"

"You'd love me no matter what, right?" Nancy asked.

"Of course," Karen asked. "What's brought this on?"

"Mommy, would you still love me if I fell in love with a woman?" Nancy asked.

Karen looked at her in surprise before smiling and cupping her face.

"Of course, I would," she replied and paused. "Are you in love with a woman?"

"Well, no. I think I just realized that it doesn't really matter what someone's gender is, I think I'm open to the idea of falling in love with a woman," Nancy said. "I could definitely see myself with a woman, but right now. . .no."

"Well, you've always fought for what you wanted, and I always admired that about you," Karen said. "I'll always support you."

"What if I wanted to rob banks for a living?" Nancy asked.

"It depends on what you wanted to do with the money," Karen said, and they both laughed.

"What if dad has a problem with it?" Nancy asked.

"Then I'd shoot him," Karen said, and Nancy laughed. "Thank you for talking to me about it. I'm here if you need to talk about it some more."

"I think I'm ready for bed now," Nancy said. "I love you."

"I love you, too," Karen said and hugged her tightly.

Nancy went to sleep that night, loving her mother more than ever. She had some flaws, but loving her children unconditionally wasn't one of them. As she drifted off to sleep, she realized the fluffy haired boy who Tommy had tried to force to kiss Steve’s feet had been Eddie's friend, Gareth. She eventually fell into dreamland, where she dreamed of Eddie and Steve chasing after a gaggle of children surrounded by trees and woodland creatures. The kids ran toward Otis, Steven, and Irene. Otis and Steve were wearing their uniforms. Irene was in a lovely blue dress with her red hair all pinned up. Suddenly, it changed. Nancy was the one in the blue dress, except there was a fedora on her pinned up hair, and she was typing away on her typewriter while the kids danced around her, blowing her kisses. Steve and Eddie were dancing in each other's arms in their uniforms, kissing each other deeply with each dip. They pulled Nancy into their arms and kissed her. Of course, the dream ended with Nancy trying to stop Eddie from making their new baby his new drummer.

Nancy woke up with a smile on her face, but she wasn't sure why because the dream had been really weird. She blushed as she got ready for the day, thinking aboutthe dream. It wouldn't be like Otis, Irene, and Steve because if all three of them were together, Nancy wanted all three of them to be. . . Well, not platonic, that's for sure. She looked at the clock and saw that she had gotten up early. Nancy headed downstairs and saw Mike helping his mother make breakfast in the kitchen.

"I knew it! I knew you liked helping mom in the kitchen," Nancy said teasingly.

"Nancy!" Mike exclaimed.

"You're going to scare him away," Karen said playfully. "It's all thanks to Steve that Mike realized it's not just a woman's job."

"And thanks to dad passing on his genes to me, being a terrible cook, isn't just a man's job," Nancy grinned.

"Hey," Ted said, walking into the kitchen with Holly. "We can make coffee and toast. That's something."

Nancy giggled.

"Speaking of Steve, you've been spending a lot of time with him lately," Karen said, looking at her knowingly.

"Oh, man, are you guys getting back together?" Mike asked, scrunching up his nose.

"Stop acting like you hate Steve. We all know how much you love him," Nancy said teasingly. "And no, we're just friends."

"I suppose it wouldn't be the worst thing if you guys got back together," Mike rolled his eyes.

"Was that hard? It's okay. You can go back to being an angsty teenager," Nancy said and Mike huffed.

"Heard Steve was thinking about reopening his grandfather's salon," Ted said. "Otis was a good man. It would be nice to see that up and running again."

"Hmm, yeah. I helped him go through his grandfather's things the other day. It certainly sounds like he's a much better man than Steve’s father," Nancy said.

"Steve is lucky that he takes after Otis rather than John," Ted said.

"Steve would love to hear you say that," Nancy said.

"Is Steve’s daddy an asshole?" Holly asked and Mike snorted.

"Holly!" Karen and Nancy exclaimed.

"Yes, but also, don't say that," Ted said.

"Anyway," Nancy said, struggling not to laugh. "Steve offered to take me to work today. He doesn't have to go in until later."

"Oh, maybe you can call him, and he can be here early to have breakfast with us," Karen said.

"That would be awesome," Mike said, and then he scowled. "Whatever, I don't care."

Nancy laughed and used the kitchen phone to call him.

"Hello?"

"You've been requested by my mother and Mike to come here early to eat breakfast with us," Nancy said.

"And Holly! Holly wants Steve here too!" She shouted.

"And Holly, too," Nancy laughed.

"Alright, let me finish getting ready, and I'll be there," Steve said.

Holly was the first one to greet him as soon as he walked through the door and threw herself into his arms.

"Steve!"

"Steve, it's good to see you," Ted said, holding out his hand.

"Ted, man, it's great to see you," Steve said, shaking his hand. "Quick, say something funny!"

Ted laughed and wacked him on the head with his newspaper. Steve handed Mike a comic book after greeting Karen with a hug.

"Finished reading up on our favorite comic book hero!" Steve exclaimed and Mike beamed.

"And? What did you think?" Mike asked.

"Hm, little disappointed with the ending, but I can't wait for the next issue," Steve said.

"Yeah, me too," Mike said.

Having Steve join them for breakfast made Nancy happier than when Steve joined them in the past. Maybe it was because she was more aware of how great it was to have him around. Steve insisted on helping clean up after breakfast, and Nancy insisted on helping him. They worked in comfortable silence with them occasionally flicking water at each other while hip bumping each other, breaking the silence with their giggles. Once they were done, Steve and Nancy said their goodbyes before heading towards the door. Steve was stopped by Holly.

"Are we going to see you more, Steve?" Holly asked.

"I hope so," Steve replied.

"Definitely," Nancy said, grinning at him.

"Good, cause I missed you," Holly said.

"I missed you too," Steve said and shared a soft smile with Nancy as Holly hugged him.

They pulled away in Steve's car, singing along to Madonna. After a couple of songs, Nancy looked over at Steve.

"Thanks for driving me to work," Nancy said.

"It's not a problem, happy to do it," Steve grinned.

"You know, my parents are thinking about getting me a car for my birthday," Nancy said.

"And how do you know that?" Steve asked.

"I might have overheard a private conversation," Nancy said.

"Nancy Wheeler, you sneek!" Steve laughed.

"What? I need to practice my sleuthing skills," Nancy said, rolling her eyes. "It was a complete accident."

"Right," Steve grinned. "Oh, looks like we're here. Uh, I hope you have a good day and that those assholes don't get to you."

"Not even they could get to me today," Nancy said.

"Yeah. Are you having a good morning?" Steve grinned.

"Definitely," Nancy said.

"Oh! Eddie called earlier. He wants us to check out his band tonight. Are you interested?" Steve asked.

"Yeah, that sounds like fun. So, are things going well then?" Nancy asked.

"Yeah," Steve replied.

"I'm happy," Nancy said softly.

"Me too," Steve said.

Nancy leaned over and hugged him tightly. She breathed in his scent for a moment, breathing in the smell of his hair. She could tell that Steve was doing the same, and she smiled. She climbed out of Steve’s car and started walking towards the front door when she saw Jonathan sitting in his car staring at Steve's pulling out of the lot. He looked so sad and for a moment she felt sad for him but then it was gone. She walked into the building, putting Jonathan out of her mind.

Later that evening, Nancy ate a quick dinner with her family and then waited patiently for Steve to pick her up. She spent a lot of time trying to decide on her outfit, but she figured Eddie might want them to come as they are. She settled on a nice pair of jeans and a ruffled blue shirt. When they left, Nancy and Steve made sure to say goodbye to everyone, including Holly, who was pouting about not getting to see Eddie play.

"The Hideout is exactly what I pictured," Steve said when they walked in.

It was small with not a whole lot of customers, but Nancy thought it had character even with the rickety looking stage in the back. . .if you could even call it a stage. They saw Eddie sitting at a table with Jeff and Gareth as well as another person she didn't recognize. Nancy and Steve made a beeline for him. Eddie whooped at the sight of them, pulling both of them into a hug.

"So, glad you guys could make it," Eddie said. "You're in for a hell of a treat. Nancy, you've already met Jeff and Gareth. Steve, you haven't. This is Frank. Say hi, Frank."

"Hi, Frank," he said with a laugh.

"No, that's not what I - ugh, whatever. I'm really glad you guys are here," Eddie said.

"Glad to be here, it's a nice place," Steve said.

"Oh my God, you really mean that. Do you need your eyes checked, man?" Jeff asked.

"Probably," Steve said casually.

"Why - ," Gareth started to ask.

"You know what, let's get set up," Eddie said in amusement.

"But he - " Gareth started to say.

"Hey, I know you!" Steve exclaimed, snapping his fingers at him.

"Jesus, you remember that. I ran into you once," Gareth said.

"Yeah, well, Tommy was an asshole. Sorry about that, by the way," Steve said.

"It's fine, you dropped his sorry ass so, it makes you cool in my books," Gareth said. "You can't apologize for anyone's shitty behavior, only your own, and you were never a shitty person."

Eddie and Nancy smiled at Steve before Eddie walked off with his band. Nancy continued to smile at him.

"What?"

"Nothing," Nancy said softly.

They found a table close to the stage. Steve and Nancy settled on ordering a couple of cokes, wanting to stay clear-headed for Eddie's performance. They were both surprised when they started playing Queen, Steve’s favorite band. Nancy thought it was really sweet that Eddie was serenading Steve, especially when he was beaming at him as they played "Bohemian Rhapsody" and then "I Want To Break Free." Eddie played "Toto" by Africa, which caused Steve’s eyes to light up. The last song they played was "Love is a Battlefield." Nancy enjoyed the way Eddie played so passionately. They all did, but it felt like Eddie was pouring his entire soul into the music. Nancy's cheeks flushed, and her heart raced at the sight of him.

"Hot," Steve and Nancy said.

"Really? You think so?" Steve asked.

"I have eyes, don't I?" Nancy asked.

When Eddie hopped off the stage, they immediately pulled him into a hug and beamed with pride.

"You were all so good," Nancy said.

"Definitely, I figured you would play heavy metal," Steve said.

"Well, that is our genre, but we respect all music in this band, and Queen always rules," Eddie said.

"You were really good on the drums, Gareth," Nancy said. "Definitely better than a newborn baby."

"What the fuck kind of compliment is that?" Gareth asked.

"Oh, I dreamed last night that Eddie replaced his drummer with a newborn baby," Nancy said.

"You replaced me with a newborn baby, Munson?" Gareth asked in mock offense.

"I can't control what I do in someone else's dreams, Emerson!" Eddie exclaimed.

"Well, you could try," Gareth said sternly.

Gareth then poked him with his drum stick and wiggled his eyebrows at Eddie, who scowled.

"Let me get you a drink," Eddie said.

He pulled Steve and Nancy into a booth before ordering them more coke.

"So, you ever think of making it big?" Steve asked. "Because you totally could."

"Nah, I tried that before but I fucked it all up trying to work a job with my dad but turns out he was just conning me and the girl who was going to help me, well, she only managed to get me an audition for a record label and not the rest of the band. I'm not sure if I want to do without the boys, honestly, and now I think I just want to make music. Nothing else matters," Eddie said. "It's whatever, though. My dad's officially out of my life and even though I fucked it up with Paige, I still get to play my music."

"That sucks about your dad, man," Steve said. "He's missing out on a great son. It's his fucking loss."

"Thanks, man," Eddie said.

"Well, all of you are talented," Nancy said, touching his hand. "So, you guys play here every Tuesday?"

"Every Tuesday," Eddie replied.

"Well, I think you got two more audience members," Steve said.

"That's fucking great!" Eddie laughed and slapped the table. "Are you guys going to the fourth of July fair?"

"I hadn't really thought about it," Steve said.

"Me neither," Nancy said.

"You guys want to go with me?" Eddie asked. "You guys could meet me there. It could be fun."

"I would like that," Nancy said. "I'm pretty sure that Holly wants to go with mom and dad anyway. By the way, Holly is very disappointed they she didn't get to see her Teddy play. So, you might have to give her a private concert."

"I would love to give the princess a concert. We usually play Saturday at Gareth's in his garage," Eddie said. "Bring the little lady on by."

They talked for a long time until Nancy started to get sleepy, and she pulled Eddie into a tight hug. She couldn't wait until they saw each other again.

Chapter Nine

[ladyfromaspookyforest]

Lumax vs Milevn

One thing that I absolutely love about contrasting Lumax and Milevn is that they followed such similar paths up to a point at which they diverge. And that point of divergence is EVERYTHING.

For starters, Lucas and Mike start off as each others' love interests biggest haters. They try to shut El and Max out of the party respectively.

Next, Lucas and Mike are the only ones who treat Max and El with full respect and acceptance right off the bat. They develop a closer bond than the others, Max and El confiding in Lucas in Mike more than they do the others.

This one's obvious...

And then we get into the absolute ridiculousness of season 3. The girls break up with their boyfriends, laugh about it, the boys bemoan. It's all humor. It's the epitome of youth. Teenage drama.

Sidebar: I hated both of these ships when I first watched this show. I could not get over the ick factor I felt watching children kissing. I kept being like EVERYONE STOP! YOU'RE TOO YOUNG FOR THIS! Am I really meant to LIKE this??? IS THIS SUPPOSED TO BE ROMANTIC???

*cough* Anyway, that was my first impression. So the fact that I am a hardcore Lumax shipper now really demonstrates just how phenomenally that story was told in season four. Bringing us to the divergence.

Breaking up versus staying together. I'm not even going to talk about El lying to Mike for six months in this post. This is just about the breakup.

Breaking up Max and Lucas for real (as opposed to how she used to break up with him every so often for the fun of it) while simultaneously entering these characters into high school allowed them to evolve separately from one another and confront more adult struggles. Max distances from her friends as a consequence of trauma and Lucas distances in an attempt to fit in. The conversation between Lucas and Mike

shows how much Mike is taking for granted. Lucas's desire to belong is due to his experiences with bullying and we have canonically seen that for Lucas, this was rooted in racism. Maybe he joined the basketball team because he's just good at basketball, but I think it's worth mentioning that he joined a team with at least three other black boys on it. I'm not going to write a whole article about Lucas's struggles with racism here, but my point is that what Lucas went through with Billy probably had some lasting effects on him just like it did on Max.

So both characters struggled with finding out what they wanted and who really mattered in season 4 and ultimately, this led them back to one another.

On the other end, we have Milkdud doing the exact opposite. Lumax is physically near one another but broken up. Mildew is physically apart but still together. They struggled alone and pretended things were the same between them, not allowing themselves the opportunity to reassess.

THIS STEP WAS NECESSARY. Maybe that's just opinion, but they are not the same people in season 4 as they were in season 2, especially since a lot of the trauma of season 3 has forced them to mature quicker than they otherwise would have.

These relationships parallel one another in seasons 1/2 to demonstrate how boy-meets-girl might play out. How a crush can evolve into a friend and into a relationship. Then in season 3, they parallel to show how shallow the relationships BOTH are at this stage. How inconsequential young romance is in the grand scheme of things. And they diverge in season 4 to show us that trying to continue on as though you are still the same people in the same relationship as you were when you were kids is not going to grow your relationship into a healthy and mature one.

Personally I think Mike is gay, but IF HE'S NOT, Mike and El could have strengthened their relationship had they allowed themselves distance from one another. I didn't ship Byler yet when season 4 came out. Had Milelevator been executed differently, I fully believe I could have shipped them. Lumax is proof of that. The fact that I don't is a consequence of the INTENTIONAL differences between the ways these two relationships were written.

[callofdudes]

I would love to read your Headcanons about König’s childhood from your POV 👀

I've been thinking about this a lot, so I'll give it a go.

König's childhood headcanons!

König's childhood wasn't the most lavish. He had an older sibling who when he was eight was legal to move out. This was the start of König's social anxiety. He wasn't used to not having his sibling (male or female I'm not sure at this point). But König lost his only friend who moved out with their friends and moved across town.

König often tried to visit but couldn't understand why he wasn't allowed to visit after his parents found out said sibling wasn't making the best of decisions and didn't approve of their spouse. This discouraged König a lot in his younger years.

After his sibling moved out König started going to public school. He was previously homeschooled but with both parents working and no one at home to teach him in his online classes he was moved out into the world.

König had no prior experience with making friends. So for third grade he was in public and most of the kids already had lots of friends. Being the third grade most of the kids had been going since kindergarten and already had their groups. (And third graders are petty)

König was pretty much alienated because he was thrown into this big environment with no prior experience. Everyone knew everyone's else's names and had friends and groups and playground rules. Everyone knee their teachers. Everyone except König.

Through third to fifth grade König was the quiet kid who sat in the corner. He was afraid to join any after school groups in fear of not making friends.

Both of his parents worked so he'd get up on his own, make his own lunch and go to school. And when he left he'd come home to an empty house. He was used to being alone. He spent time in his room with nothing but his video games and soon his parents became to involved in work to spend time with him.

This increased his anxiety even more.

When König was eleven he found out why his parents were so caught up in work. They weren't getting along and working out a divorce over the last year.

König was devasted. When the divorce came into effect his parents stopped attempting to hide their new distain for each other and families took sides.

König developed severe anxiety over this time. Spending one week with his mother and one week with his father. They would openly bash each other in front of family and his aunt's and uncles would tell him things about his other parent that hurt him. He didn't know who to trust and who to love. Going to school like this closed him off. He couldn't handle juggling his family affairs and trying to make friends.

In sixth grade König had a huge growth spurt. He was already fairly tall at 5'7 but midway through he grew to be 5'10.

All the kids made fun of him. This lengthy, tall, sixth grader. They called him mountain boy and asked him what the weather was like. He has trouble playing dodgeball because he was so much bigger than the others. The person he'd been catching feelings for also mocked him.

This drove him into a hole of emotions.

Eventually he did make a friend. In seventh grade he became friends with a fellow student. His first friend in many years. He was kind to König and by the time seventh grade came König had leveled out to be 6'1.

The kids bullied him a lot, but his new friend invited him to basketball tryouts. And König was happy. He was nervous and embarrassed despite being a very athletic kid. He loved sports and activities. And despite how nervous he was, he made the team!! He was so incredibly happy. He spent the next two years like that.

He played on the basketball team and became close with a tight nit group of students. He played against other schools and was starting to feel free again. He distracted himself from the divorce with his new friends.

And then the custody battle was settled. His mother had fought for full custody of König and had won rather easily despite her being no better than his father.

She took the money and moved them to Germany to live with relatives. König was devasted.

He had to start an entirely new life for ninth grade. A new school, a new social system, nowhere to hide.

König was incredibly insecure about his height and when school started he stuck out like a sore thumb. He started wearing a mask to try and hide. Everyone knew his name but they couldn't see his face.

And then he met you. You were kind the moment you met him. You could tell he was shy and from the way he hid you could tell he wasn't wanting to be noticed. You'd introduced yourself and just slowly started to filter into his life.

König was nice. When you saw him sitting alone you went over to sit with him. He avoided eye contact and his leg bounced rapidly, knee gently hitting the table.

"Hey, I know I introduced myself earlier but I was wondering if I could sit with you?" König doesn't say anything and keep his head down. You keep your distance but are nice to him. König takes a while to warm up to you but when he does you two become the best of friends.

And it happened over Social class.

The two of you were paired up to write a report on military history. König had only gotten into the idea of the military in the last couple years but you were invested. König brought you over to his house for the project. Everything was good until his mother and her new boyfriend started to tease him about you coming over.

König was so embarrassed that he forgot about you and ran up to his room. You grabbed your back and came after him. "Hey, it's ok. Don't listen to that."

König and you worked on your war project and König learned so much. You taught him about more than WW1 and WW2. He was enraptured and that was when he finally clicked with you.

You started hanging out with him every day at lunch and going over to each other's houses. You expressed your thoughts on signing up for the military and König also pondered the thought.

Eventually his mother went off into her own world with her boyfriend. And König couldn't handle it. Her new boyfriend always scolded him for crying and his overly sensitive emotions. She would take his side when he yelled at König until he went numb.

König was no longer open to you and pushed every sorry feeling he had down to seem tough. He got another growth spurt and by 11th grade he was 6'6.

He started working out after school when he wasn't hanging out with you. His now stepfather encouraged him to work out and push his emotions away. It hurt you. To see the kid who could break down in front of you and tell you about what was happening best himself up when he felt like he was going to cry.

He started to hate himself.

He wore black face paint and a black medical mask to hide his face, no longer happy with it. He became so self conscious and stuck he didn't know what to do.

"König you know I'm here for you, whenever you need something you can come to me."

König spends a lot of his off school time at your house and often sleeps over. he'd rather stay up late in your room eating popcorn and playing videogames than dealing with family drama.

You made him feel safe and secure. You helped him escape from the dark world and he could be himself around you.

Your parents were nice and they welcomed him over and treated him like a son. They fed him breakfast in the morning and made both your lunches in the morning when he slept over on school nights.

König stuck to his word. He told his mother he was signing up and wouldn't be attending 12th grade. His family discouraged this move and it almost threw him off until you encouraged it. If he wanted to do it you'd be all there for him. So he enlisted and after training was enrolled.

When he was sixteen He'd decided he'd had enough. He couldn't live the way he was living. One day at school the two of you were talking when König brought up enlisting. "I want to join the military." "Oh? Once you get out of school I think you'd be great at that, when do you want to join?" "Next year, when I eligible." "Oh. Well that's cool."

A year later you enrolled and were also enlisted. You were lucky enough to join the same squadron as König where he was promoted to sergeant a year later. You almost didn't remember him considering his new name and the hood covering his face. He recognized you and came up to you. And you know the rest.

I hope you like it, I threw in some of the readers POV but it was majority outside, I hope you guys don't mind. Bye!!

[anarchiii]

Notebook —TOG AU

Oneshot | warnings: fluff, bullying (happy ending) !Cairn! | Aelin x Rowan

Summary; I wrote this for the Throne of Glass August prompt ‘Notebook’.

Note: this is an AU it’s not in the books.

Masterlist

Aelin’s POV

Aelin was in the cafeteria eating her lunch when the room when silent, that was never a good sign, she didn’t have to turn her head to know where was walking up to her, Elide’s worried look saying enough.

She swallowed and put her food down, turning on the cold, metal bench to look at Cairn, Lorcan and Rowan, the last two looking not very happy to be here, what the hell did they want? Aelin didn’t care to notice that the dark-haired-scowling male’s steely eyes soften as they looked at her friend, and Rowan whitethorn seemed to refuse to look at her. A faint blush spreading across his cheeks. Everyone seemed to be acting weird today.

Before Cairn had even opened his mouth she was hissing, “what the hell do you want, Cairn? I would’ve thought you’d had enough of bullying people by now,”

He laughed in response, merely saying, “oh but Aelin, I love humiliating and bothering you!” She snorted at the whining tone in his voice, muttering under her breathe, “well, your good at the latter, great even,”.

The male growled and snatched her backpack from her before she could react, “hey! Give that back!” Aelin was out of her seat trying to grab her bag back, but to no avail.

He laughed as he kept the bag just out of her reach, she gave up and slumped back onto the bench, crossing her arms, it was then that she noticed that most of the inhabitants in the cafeteria had left, thankfully Elide stayed by her side, frowning at Cairn but slightly blushing at the unyielding gaze that Lorcan had on her.

Cairn started rummaging through her back, panic filled her chest as he grabbed her Notebook from said bag,—she used it as a diary more but that didn’t matter—“well what do we have here?” Cairn snickered as he dropped her back pack and started inspecting her book, he didn’t seem to notice or care that his lackeys or what ever they were called were not caring for his antics.

Cairn seemed to notice the panic on her face as his grin widened, it was then that he started flicking through her Notebook, oh gods, this is not happening right now, her reputation would be ruined, she’d have to move schools—no, move countries!

When his ugly fingers stopped on a particular page, she knew he had found what he was looking for, he looked over at Rowan who was wearing the same worried look Elide was wearing, speaking of, where had her friend gone? And where had Lorcan gone, she’d have to ask about that when the humiliation threatening to overtake her body had subsided.

Cairn cleared his throat before reading out loud the words written by her in her book, “today Rowan joined the Basketball team and was looking especially good in our uniform!” He said, trying to mimic her voice and excessively bat his lashes, did she really sound like that? “Oh how I wish Rowan felt the same way as I do! Three years of stolen glances and little love notes and no one had dared make a move! I really hope this doesn’t continue much longer!” Oh gods. She could gladly shrivel up and die right now but no. That would be mercy.

Aelin dared look at Rowan and found him already staring at her, his beautiful emerald eyes sparkling while that cute blush on his cheeks turned beet red, he was so cute, how dare he be so attractive when she was clearly dying of humiliation.

Cairn seemed to finally notice that Lorcan was gone and Aelin and Rowan were staring at eachother, blush prominent on both their faces, the male frowned, clearly not happy that he wasn’t getting the attention he was expecting, her eyes strayed from Rowan’s when the cafeteria doors opened and the principal strode towards Cairn, hands on her hips and clearly not pleased. Miss Georgina snatched her violated notebook from his ugly hands and gave it back to her. She nodded in thanks but stayed quiet, “Cairn L/N you are in big trouble, mister! I have tolerated your behaviour for months now only giving you and your parents warnings but this is the last straw! Violating a students privacy and personal property is where I draw the line, you can expect the go home to your parents tonight and tell them that you have been suspended for the second time and if you continue this behaviour once more you will be expelled, do you hear me,” Miss .G said. Her voice stern and hard, and that was real fear in Cairn’s eyes then, Aelin almost felt bad for him but then remembered what he had been and just did to her, hopefully that would teach him a lesson.

The principal practically dragged Cairn out of the Cafeteria and Aelin soon found herself alone with Rowan, a small smile on his face, “so,” he started, “if it wouldn’t be too much trouble to ask, do you want to go to that hot chocolate place down the street later? I know how much you like it there” how he had remembered that little fact, she did not know. But what she did know was that she would be a fool indeed to refuse his offer. She simply kissed his cheek before whispering, “I’ll see you there at five then, Buzzard, don’t disappoint me.” And walked out. The second she passed through the doors she ran into the girls bathroom and practically screamed with excitement, holy crap! She was basically going on a date with Rowan Whitethorn! Holy crap! She was going on a date with Rowan Whitethorn!

What was she going to wear? What was she going to say? Oh gods, oh gods! She needed to find Elide immediately! Aelin had barely managed to keep her cool as she had walked out of there, how was she going to survive a whole date?

Aelin started pacing but ran out of the bathroom before she had a panic attack, almost instantly, she smacked straight into the muscular chest of Rowan, her eyes widened so far you could see the white all around them, there was a sheepish smile on his face as he handed her-her backpack, she’d completely forgotten about it! “You…uh…forgot your bag.” He managed to say. But she didn’t let him say anymore as she grabbed the bag and ran past him, running straight home to go and panic over what to wear, oh gods, he would probably cancel it just because of how lame she had been just then! Stupid Aelin!

She had half the mind to shout “thank you!” Behind her as she ran, barely hearing his chuckle at the voice crack, ugh! She was so embarrassing! Aelin would or could never live this down.

The End.

Note; I literally wrote this in like twenty minutes but I really wanted to do a short (?) little prompt for @throneofglassmicrofics since I have never done one before, I hope you enjoyed! —Love Vi Xx

-Taglist

@throneofglassmicrofics

@mariaofdoranelle

@leiawritesstories

[hairstevington]

Freaky Friday (Steddie's Version)

Eddie Munson x Steve Harrington

Summary: Dustin is fed up when his two friends, Eddie and Steve, hate each other for stupid reasons. The universe decides to bring them together by having them switch bodies until they get over themselves. Link to Ao3

Chapter 2 ~ Chapter 3 ~ Chapter 4 ~ Chapter 5

Word Count: 7K, more chapters to come

Warnings: Enemies to lovers, slow(ish??) burn, canon universe (more or less) set before season 4, Dustin gets bullied at the beginning which is a bit sad but it's brief, body swap, angst, revenge, POV switching, Steddie both love Dustin so much, honestly just tons of fun lmao

A/N: A while back I made this post where I had a Steddie AU idea I never really got out of my head and then I started writing it and now I can't stop lmao. FYI this starts in third person Dustin POV but switches to Steve/Eddie midway! Please enjoy, I'll have it up on Ao3 soon probably like I do with everything else :)

Dustin had enough of this shit. 

He had been bummed that Steve graduated from Hawkins high the year before Dustin entered the ninth grade. Having Steve there would have been a buffer for Dustin, who - although he rarely admitted it - actually didn’t like being unpopular. As much as he hated being the victim of bullying, he hated the thought of changing himself even more - which is why he refused to. 

He showed up to his first day of high school in his Weird Al shirt, because he would be damned to give an inaccurate impression of himself. He knew that after graduation, he’d turn out better than all the other assholes at the school anyway. He was smarter than them, he was better than them. He could get through four years of their bullshit until he proved that. 

Although…Having Steve around would have made it a lot easier. 

But, whatever. Steve had graduated. Dustin still called him all the time, and they hung out every so often, but Dustin knew that nineteen year olds didn’t have a lot in common with fourteen year olds, at least not enough to hang out regularly. They were like brothers, more than anything, and they were in a weird spot. 

Thankfully, through some grace of God, Dustin met Eddie. 

It was bound to happen, considering Dustin had wanted to join the Hellfire Club anyway. He’s already informed the rest of the group - Mike and Lucas - so that the three of them could still play DnD together. Lucas had seemed hesitant, but that was to be expected. Things were changing. 

He missed Will. Will would have loved Hellfire, had he not been in California. 

Dustin met Eddie Munson at lunch - his first lunch in high school. The food Hawkins High served was mildly disturbing and likely lacked any nutritional value, so Dustin was grateful that his mother had kept up the tradition of packing him a lunch special for his first day. She even included chocolate pudding, since it was his favorite. 

Mike and Lucas weren’t going to be at lunch on the first day, because Lucas wanted to check out the basketball team, and Mike wanted to see if he could call El - she wasn’t starting school until the following week. This meant that Dustin was alone in the cafeteria, and he wasn���t entirely prepared to face the brutal sting of rejection, so he didn’t want to just pick a random table and try to make friends. He already had friends, they just weren’t there. 

He stopped in his tracks and scanned the room, pondering his next move. There was no way he’d sit with the jocks or the cheerleaders, and the rest of the tables were unrecognizable in terms of what cliques they represented. This was nothing like he’d seen in movies - he didn’t even really know who the popular ones were versus the unpopular ones. 

He must have been standing there for a bit too long, because suddenly he was nudged hard in the shoulder. 

“Move it, loser,” a guy twice his size said. “You’re in everybody’s way.”

“S-sorry,” Dustin apologized. He took a few steps backward, deciding to just start walking and see what happens, but then he bumped into someone else. 

“Jesus, kid,” another voice said. “You’re like a pinball.” 

Dustin looked up to see a tall, rather intimidating man with long, curly brown hair. He was dressed in denim and leather, the Hellfire logo splayed across his chest. He looked way too old to be a high school student, but way too scary to be a faculty member. 

Not scary in a dangerous way - Dustin had experienced enough real danger that most normal things didn’t faze him - but scary in a way where Dustin felt the person standing in front of him had some kind of power in the school. A reputation, at least, whether it be good or bad. 

“Welcome back, Freak,” another random student remarked at him as they walked past. Dustin watched as the enigmatic metalhead flipped the student off with zero hesitation.

Ah, so it was for sure a bad reputation. Noted. 

“So, I’m the school freak,” he said, theatrically bowing as he introduced myself. “Eddie. Eddie Munson. And you are…”

“Dustin Henderson,” he answered without a second thought.

“I was going to say -” Eddie continued, “- you are….wearing a Weird Al shirt. Bold move for your first day, Dustin Henderson.”

“How did you know it was my first day?” Dustin asked, grateful to be having some sort of civil conversation, even if he had no idea where it was going. 

“Just a hunch,” Eddie replied with a shrug. Dustin looked back at Eddie’s shirt. 

“You're in Hellfire?” he asked. Eddie grinned, then pointed at a table where a bunch of people were wearing the same shirts. 

“Hellfire is my pride and joy. We play a game called Dungeons and Dragons, have you heard of it?” Before Dustin could confirm, Eddie kept talking. “Of course you’ve heard of it, look at you. You’re one of us, I know it.” Eddie gestured for Dustin to follow him to the Hellfire table, which he gladly did. 

“Eddie, who’s this?” a member seated at the table asked when they approached. 

“This, Gareth, is Dustin, and he’s sitting with us today.” Eddie pointed at an available seat, then looped around to his own. Dustin noticed a textbook in front of Gareth and chimed in. 

“You’re taking chemistry?” he asked. Gareth nodded. “That’s cool. I love chemistry. I went to this awesome summer camp called Camp Know Where -”

“Sorry, sorry, sorry,” Eddie interrupted. “Did you just say you love chemistry? What kind of kid actually enjoys that shit? Are you a masochist? I failed that class twice.” Eddie’s rambling was entertaining, to say the least. 

“Isn’t Camp Know Where that science program where all the geniuses go?” another person at the table asked.

“Jesus Christ,” Eddie exclaimed dramatically. “Okay, Dustin Henderson. I will protect you, since you so desperately need the protection. In return, you will join Hellfire, and occasionally help me with homework because you’re obviously smarter than half the people in this school. Deal?”

“Only half?” Dustin joked - although, it wasn’t really a joke. Dustin knew for a fact he was smarter than at least 75% of the school. “Fine, I accept these terms. Can my friends Mike and Lucas join too?” Eddie rolled his eyes and sighed.

“You’re killing me,” he said. “Yeah, yeah. Bring all the Freshies in, I guess. No one will come near you if you stick with us, but you’ll avoid being stuffed in lockers at least.” That seemed like a good enough deal to Dustin, for now. “Alright, kid. Welcome to Hellfire.”

-

Dustin recounted this entire interaction with Steve the moment he’d gotten home from school. 

“Eugh, Hellfire?” Steve said over the phone, acting disgusted. “That club’s for nerds.”

“Earth to Steve, I am a nerd,” Dustin deadpanned. “And Eddie said -”

“Oh god, not Munson,” Steve groaned. “That guy’s trouble, I swear. Seriously, you should get out of this while you can.”

“And go where?” Dustin retorted, starting to get agitated. “It’s not like I can float through school like you did by joining all the sports teams. I’m gonna be made fun of either way, and you know it.” Steve was silent on the line for a bit, knowing that Dustin was right. 

“I wish I could be there to watch over you, ya know,” he said at last. 

“Yeah, I wish you could too, but I have Eddie at least.”

Eddie. Ugh. Steve hated that guy. He was always doing something weird and dramatic to try to get a reaction from people. 

“Yeah, okay. But I’ll kick his ass if he tries anything, alright?” Dustin laughed. 

“Sure you will, Buddy.” 

-

Mike and Lucas were far more terrified of Eddie than Dustin was. He knew why - Eddie had shown a bit of kindness that first day, but he wasn’t usually like that. Eddie was the kind of guy who loved attention, and he knew the best way for him to get it was through negative attention. He consistently made an ass of himself. 

Dustin enjoyed it. Mike and Lucas didn’t not enjoy it, but they still felt like he was unhinged. Maybe he was. Dustin didn’t think about it that much. 

Him and Eddie had bonded pretty quickly, especially since Dustin would hang around after lunch or club meetings to talk about homework. Eddie had a lot of questions, and he was kind of a horrible student. This was especially evident when Dustin discovered he was a third year senior, which explained why the guy looked so goddamn old. 

“Damn,” Dustin said once he found out. “You’re even older than Steve. Wait - you might know Steve actually. He graduated last year. Steve Harrington?”

Eddie Munson did an actual spit take with his soda. Dustin had only ever seen that in movies.

“No shit,” Eddie responded. “You know that asshole?”

“He’s not an asshole,” Dustin replied immediately, quick to defend his friend. “He’s awesome.”

Dustin opened his mouth to continue, but it was hard to explain why Steve was awesome when he had to leave Upside Down stuff out of it. He totally saved us from a bunch of Demodogs, and one time he got tortured for information underground by evil Russians. Dustin considered mentioning the time Steve protected the kids from Billy - that was unrelated to the secret world the group had been privy to - but, considering Hargrove’s death, it felt in bad taste to bring up now.

“So you’re trying to tell me that you’re friends with the guy?” Eddie asked suspiciously. “Why? I mean, why would he be friends with a kid so much younger than him?”

“Why are you?” Dustin retorted. Eddie chuckled. 

“Touche. But I know why I’m friends with a bunch of kids, why is he?”

“It’s complicated,” Dustin replied with a shrug. “But Steve’s pulled through for me a lot. He’s cool. You should give him a chance.”

“Give him a chance? I don’t ever see him. Are you trying to have us all hang out for a slumber party or something?” Dustin shook his head and was about to respond, but Eddie was on a roll (as usual). “Listen, Henderson. You’re cool and all, and I’m glad you joined our little clan here. But you wouldn’t want to hang out with me outside of this hellhole we call school, and I certainly wouldn’t want to hang out with Steve goddamn Harrington.”

There was a definitive finality to his statement that let Dustin know there was no point in arguing. But it did leave him wondering what exactly had happened to cause them to dislike each other so much.

-

Dustin blew through his first few weeks of school like this. He’d visit Steve and mention Eddie, and Steve would complain about how Eddie was a bad influence and would probably get arrested before graduation, if he ever did graduate. Any time Dustin brought up Steve in Hellfire, Eddie would groan and complain about the forced conformity and bullshit societal infrastructure at the high school that separated the good from the bad and blah blah blah. Dustin probably had that speech damn near memorized. Eddie seemed to hate the jocks, and for decent enough reason - the jocks hated him. And Dustin knew that Steve was kind of a dick in high school, but he’d changed now. 

So, yeah. He’d had enough. He just thought that if maybe he could get the two of them in the same room, they’d start to understand why Dustin liked each of them so much. They were both good guys who were protective of him, and he wanted them to get along, dammit!

Steve always went to the basketball games to support Lucas and the rest of the team, which was nice. On nights where the games coincided with Hellfire, Steve would drive Dustin home after. 

On one of these nights, Dustin hatched a bit of a plan. Usually, Hellfire got out before the game was over, so Dustin would meet Steve outside of the gym. This time, Dustin intentionally stayed late to help Eddie clean up and talk his ear off about his upcoming biology report. Eddie seemed to be in decent enough spirits, fresh off another successful campaign, and Steve was in a good mood because he now had a job again with Robin. It gave him money to take women out on dates, which he did often. 

As Dustin chatted with Eddie, there was a pounding on the door. 

“Hey, Dipshit!” Steve called from the other side. “Are you in there? Did Munson kill you or something?” Dustin grimaced as he gaged Eddie’s reaction to the comment, but thankfully Eddie seemed amused more than anything. 

“Sure did,” Eddie shouted back with a grin. “Bite me, Harrington.” Dustin rolled his eyes. 

“I’m fine, Steve!” he yelled. “Come in!” 

“You’re inviting him into my sacred space?” Eddie asked with feigned offense. 

“Your sacred space?” Dustin mocked. “You mean the drama club room? Based on the shit I’ve heard, it’s the least sacred spot on school property.” Eddie was laughing as Steve opened the door and came in. 

“You guys making fun of me?” he asked, his chest puffed out in his silly Steve way. Dustin didn’t find Steve or Eddie that intimidating, because he saw right through their tough guy act. They were both goofballs. 

“Always,” Eddie replied, returning to his cleaning tasks. “So, you’re Dustin’s ride home huh? How’d you guys become friends in the first place?” Steve hesitated, facing the same issue Dustin had when he’d been asked the same thing. Thankfully, he’d had more time to prepare since then. 

“Steve used to date Mike’s sister,” Dustin stated plainly. Steve opened his mouth to object to the sharing of that information, but then Dustin added - “And then I annoyed him into being my friend.” 

“That’s not really -” Steve grimaced, then realized that was the best version of the story either of them could provide. “Yeah, okay. The kid really worms his way into your heart.”

“I know, right?” Eddie replied absentmindedly. Dustin was thrilled to see them agree on something. It was a moment where he hoped they’d realize they could actually get along. “I remember when you dated Nancy Wheeler. I’m surprised it didn’t work out, since you were so perfect for each other.”

Okay, so maybe they wouldn’t get along. The way Eddie had said the word perfect almost seemed like an insult. To Eddie, it was. Dustin noticed Steve tensing and felt the need to mediate. 

“Anyway,” he said, searching for something, anything, to redirect the conversation. He wasn’t sure when he was gonna get them in the same room again, so he couldn’t just leave. “How was the game, Steve?” Eddie rolled his eyes when Steve lit up again. 

“We lost,” he answered. Dustin noticed Eddie hiding a smirk under one of his ringed hands. “It’s a shame they keep Lucas on the bench, although he’s a Freshman so it makes sense I guess. I mean, that’s how it always has been.” 

“You mean to tell me,” Eddie interjected. Oh boy. “- that a high school sports team values a players popularity over their talent?” He scoffed. “Probably why you got so much airtime, right Harrington?”

Oh Jesus Christ this is bad. This is going badly. Steve was clearly offended by that comment, and rightfully so. 

“Eddie, can you just - be nice?” Dustin pleaded. 

“Since when am I nice?” Eddie shot back, picking the last of his papers up and stuffing them in his bag. 

“You’re nice to me,” Dustin pointed out. 

“Yeah, because I like you,” Eddie replied, “-and as I’ve said to you multiple times, I don’t like him.” Eddie gestured vaguely in Steve’s direction. 

“What did I ever even do to you, Munson?” Steve questioned, finally deciding to stand up for himself. “Seriously man, you’re being a dick.” 

“I know what you think of me,” Eddie answered plainly. “I’m just calling it like I see it.” 

“Okay, well this has been sufficiently awkward and horrible,” Dustin sighed, finally giving up. “I was wrong, you two are hopeless. Eddie, Steve’s right. You’re being a dick.” That accusation actually did seem to have an effect on Eddie, even though he tried not to let it show. “Steve, let’s go home.”

On the walk to the car, Steve had already seemed to brush the whole interaction off. 

“I told you that guy’s no good,” he said. “Thanks for defending me, by the way.” 

“I promise he’s not usually like that,” Dustin assured him. But, come to think of it, that kind of was how Eddie usually spoke to people, especially the popular kids. But Dustin was in Hellfire, he was one of them, as Eddie said, and he treated the freaks far differently and with more respect. 

His two cool older guy friends were bound to hate each other, he realized. No getting around it, no point in trying to change it.

_______________________________________

Eddie had gone to Family Video countless times over the years, because what else were people supposed to do in Hawkins, Indiana? It was cheaper and involved less people than going to the movies, and it was something to entertain him while he was home. 

Imagine his surprise when he walked into the store one day and saw none other than Steve Harrington behind the counter. 

The green vest Steve was forced to wear was a lot more masculine than the get-up he’d worn at Scoops Ahoy over the Summer. Eddie had the pleasure of seeing him a few times at the mall in his little short shorts and stupid hat, and it was an image he sorely missed. Seeing King Steve pathetically dressed and striking out with women post-graduation? Delicious. 

He’d only let himself visit once, although he may have done it again had the mall not burned down. But alas, Steve’s sailor outfit days were short-lived, and now he was back to being the same old boring jock he always had been - just now, he didn’t even play sports. 

Eddie may have been in his third go-around of senior year, but at least he wasn’t pretending he was someone he wasn’t. He embraced his freak nature, and had grown comfortable in it. Life hadn’t been kind enough to him to give him the option of the niceties people like Steve took advantage of. 

“Hey, man,” Steve greeted him as he entered the door. He was so nonchalant about it, like he didn’t even care about Eddie’s presence. Eddie didn’t care too much about Steve being there, except he did. There was a fire in Eddie's dislike for Steve that seemed one sided. Steve being almost indifferent made Eddie hate him even more. “Let me know if I can help you find anything.” Eddie ignored Steve’s surprisingly sincere customer service and went directly to the row of movies he always went to. He scanned the selection - it looked about the same as it had the last ten times he’d reviewed it - then picked one of his favorites and brought it to the counter. 

Steve didn’t say anything more than that as he went through the rental process. It was all over in less than two minutes, and Eddie was mildly disappointed in the lack of drama. If Steve wasn’t an asshole, then what? Was Eddie the asshole all along?

Yeah. Yeah, he absolutely was.

He was on his way out when he stopped, then spun on his heels to face Steve at the counter again. 

“Listen, man,” he began. Steve looked up from the pile of VHS tapes he was sorting, seemingly unbothered by any of this. “I’m sorry about, uh - about the other night.”

“Thanks,” Steve responded with a nod. Eddie could never really just leave things alone, though. 

“Dustin was right,” he continued. 

“The little shit usually is.” Steve had returned his gaze to the movies in front of him. 

“Yeah,” Eddie chuckled, a bit too forcefully in an attempt to ease the tension. “I’ll see you around, then.”

“See ya,” Steve responded. Eddie pouted, not satisfied with how that went, and he wasn’t sure why. But whatever. He was gonna go home, get high, and watch the movie. A good night was ahead. 

He paused at the door when the phone rang, pretending to get distracted by a cardboard cutout near the window. 

“Family Video,” Steve said on the phone. “Woah, shit. Dustin, calm down. Where are you?” This got Eddie’s attention, and he raced back to the counter. “Okay, I’ll figure something out.” 

“What’s up with Henderson?” Eddie asked, his concern growing. 

“I guess some guys are picking on him. He called from the side of the road on a pay phone near the power plant.”

“Jesus, what did they do to him? Is he okay?”

“He’s great, that’s why he called,” Steve shot back sarcastically. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “I don’t know if I can just leave my shift since I just started this job like three days ago. Shit.”

“I’ll go,” Eddie offered. “The plant is right by my place anyway. Don’t sweat it.” Steve eyed Eddie suspiciously, then nodded.

“Okay, I guess. Just - can you call here once you know he’s safe?”

“Sure thing, Harrington.” It was a brief, genuine moment between the two of them, both desperate to protect the tiny child they each adored so much. 

And with that, Eddie bolted out of Family Video, to his van, and towards the plant. 

Dustin had apparently been chased down and recaptured after he called Steve, because Eddie found him tied to a pole a bit further down the street. 

“Eddie!” he yelled once they locked eyes. “Get me out of this shit!” 

Dustin was doing his damndest to break free from the binds, but it was no use. Eddie took his pocket knife out from where he always kept them tucked in his jeans and got to work, successfully freeing the little twerp once he stopped squirming. 

“Who did this? Where are they?” Eddie felt the heat rising in his chest, up his neck, and to his cheeks. “How’d they even get a hold of you? Why are you all the way over here? What -”

“Jesus, Eddie,” Dustin interrupted him. “It doesn’t matter. I just wanna go home.”

Eddie looked Dustin up and down and noticed a bruise forming on his jaw. 

“Come on, my trailer is right there,” Eddie said, pointing in the vague direction of Forest Hills. “Let’s get you cleaned up first.” 

_______________________________________

Steve tried to wait idly by while he entrusted a guy like Eddie to go rescue Dustin. He tried to do the responsible thing for once and stay at his stupid job so he could keep said job. He tried not to think about how Eddie could have been behind this whole thing, for all he knew. Some sick twisted mind game. He tried not to think about any of that. 

He lasted two minutes before he called Robin and begged her to fill in. She accepted after a few minutes of persuasion - after all, Steve didn’t ask her for things very often, and he always drove her around, so she kinda owed him. It took her about fifteen agonizing minutes to get there, and just as she walked in the door, the phone rang. 

“Family video,” he greeted, hoping a familiar voice would be on the other end. 

“Steve, it’s me,” Dustin’s voice called through the phone. “I’m at Eddie’s. I’m okay.”

“Where does he live?” Steve asked, still hellbent on leaving. 

“At the trailer park. You don’t have to -”

Steve dropped the phone and ran out the door, not even bothering to hang it back up on the receiver. He headed to Forest Hills, and was thankfully able to locate Eddie’s trailer pretty quickly due to the beat-up red van parked in front of it. He stumbled out of his own car as soon as it stopped, nearly forgetting to take his keys from the ignition. Maybe it was silly for him to worry about Dustin so much, but after what they’d been through together, Steve had learned to treat everything as life or death. 

The door pushed open from the stress of his knock alone, so he let himself in. 

Eddie’s place was small, messy, and smelled of smoke. But, it was clear the place was a home. Steve’s house was a hundred times bigger and somehow contained less. 

“Dustin?” Steve called as he walked deeper into the living room. “Eddie?”

“Bathroom!” Steve followed the voice down the hall to where Eddie was tending to a bruise forming on Dustin’s jaw. 

“Who did this? Where are they?” Eddie chuckled, and Steve almost lashed out because of it, but then Eddie explained. 

“That’s exactly what I said when I found him, Harrington.” Steve took note of the care that Eddie was actually putting into his first aid. It was surprisingly gentle. “Good luck getting him to rat the bastards out.”

“I told you, it doesn’t matter,” Dustin groaned. 

“Whoever it was, we can take ‘em,” Steve insisted. He noticed Eddie smirk at the inclusion of them both taking the bullies down.

“You idiots!” Dustin snapped, standing up from where he was sitting on the lip of the bathtub. “Don’t you get it? I don’t want you to ‘take ‘em.’ It was embarrassing enough to have them pick on me, I don’t need you guys to go down there and humiliate me even more.”

“We’re just trying to protect you, man,” Eddie replied. 

“I don’t need protection!” Dustin shouted, causing Eddie and Steve to back up. “My bike isn’t far. I’m going home. Eddie, thanks for cutting me down. Steve, thanks for leaving work when I asked you to. You’re both really good friends, and I appreciate it. I just want to go home.” 

It broke Steve’s heart to know that Dustin was getting picked on. He just wanted to help, but he understood the whole pride thing. Steve had fought many uphill battles in the past in the name of saving face. Ironically, his face was usually what took the brunt of the consequences. 

“You sure you’re gonna be -” Eddie began to ask the question before Steve was able to, but stopped himself when Dustin shot a glare at them both. “Right, okay. Can you just call when you get home okay?”

“Me too,” Steve added. 

“Okay, mom and dad,” Dustin replied, rolling his eyes. “Or, Steve could stay here ten minutes and then I’d only have to make one call. Unless you guys will murder each other by then.”

“Jury’s out,” Eddie muttered. Steve felt like it was a joke, but also Eddie gave off psycho killer vibes, so anything was possible. “Sure, Harrington. You can stay here until he gets home.”

Steve wanted to think of a witty comeback, but his head was empty. He could stay, and then he figured he should get back to work. 

“Fine,” he agreed. “But the moment you walk through your door, got it?”

“Yes, dad,” Dustin deadpanned. 

“I thought I was dad,” Eddie cut in. 

“You think I’m mom?” 

“Ten minutes, no murders,” Dustin reminded them before heading out the door. There was a beat of silence before Steve and Eddie turned to each other once again. 

“So, we’re definitely gonna go to that plant and kick some ass, right?” Eddie asked, his tone completely devoid of its usual teasing. Steve smirked. 

“Finally, we’re on the same page,” he replied. 

Ten minutes later, Dustin called as promised. Seconds after the call disconnected, Steve and Eddie made a beeline for the front door. 

-

It was getting dark, even though it was a bit too early for the sun to set. Clouds were forming in the sky, a bleak omen of the impending storm that neither Eddie nor Steve had prepared for. 

They walked to the plant in silence, because what was there to be said? They were going to tolerate each other to defeat the common enemy. 

A group of misfits were in fact still camped out under one of the towers. They were all smoking and laughing and spouting nonsensical vitriol about the student body - kids like Dustin, as well as the women of the school. If Eddie and Steve weren’t heated already, the few comments they’d overheard sent them over the edge. 

“Hey!” Steve shouted, cutting one of the guys off. Five pairs of eyes flickered over to the pair, who’d realized once they were in the situation that they were vastly outnumbered. 

“Steve Harrington?” One of the boys questioned. “What are you doing over here?”

“And with Munson?” Another added. “I never thought I’d see the two of you together.”

“Neither did I,” Steve and Eddie said in unison. They glanced at each other, awkwardly acknowledging that they’d said the same thing at the same time, then hastily moved on. 

“Is this about the boy?” The leader of the group was probably a Junior, and shorter than both Eddie and Steve, but he had enough audacity to make up for it. 

“Found him tied to a pole,” Eddie reminded them through gritted teeth. This was news to Steve, who’s blood boiled at the thought. A few years prior, Tommy and Carol used to do shit like that. Maybe not to that extent, but it was all the same. 

“Why do you care so much about that dumbass anyway?” The leader (was his name Chad?) asked. 

“He’s totally harmless,” Steve said.

“Us on the other hand…” Eddie interjected. 

“Oh yeah,” Steve agreed. “I’ve been known to throw a punch, and Eddie over here  is actually insane, I’m pretty sure.”

“Aw, thanks man,” Eddie grinned devilishly, smacking Steve on the back. “Our point being, you stay away from Henderson and we won’t break anything, okay?”

Thunder cracked in the distance, followed by a flash of lightning. 

“Yeah, okay,” Chad mocked. “We’re not scared of you.” Eddie and Steve looked at each other, shrugged, then both trudged forward. Eddie took Chad while Steve went for the one who appeared to be second in command. They each pushed them against the metal pillars, gripping them by the collar of their shirts, and drawing their other hand back into a fist. 

“How about now?” Eddie asked with darkness in his eyes. 

“Let’s get out of here,” one of the others in the group said, and within moments the other three bullies scampered away into the night. 

“Some loyal friends you got there,” Eddie teased. Steve was getting agitated at how many stupid quips Eddie had. Was he supposed to be all quippy too? Was that the secret to winning one of these goddamn things?

Thunder rumbled again, this time much louder than before. Rain started to fall hard against their skin, distracting them enough for the two pathetic bullies to slip from their gasps and follow their friends out of sight. 

“Shit,” Steve groaned, realizing that they’d just made a fool of themselves. “Not only did we not hurt them, but they’re definitely going to tell people about it, and then -”

“Is that seriously what you’re worried about right now?” Eddie interrupted, the rage in him still burning. “Your reputation? Claaassic Steve Harrington, always thinking about himself.”

“That’s not what I was saying, asshole,” Steve responded. “Dustin’s going to find out, and then -”

“So what if he does?” Eddie asked. Steve was sick and tired of being interrupted. “If they mess with him again, then -”

“Could you let me finish a goddamn sentence? Holy shit,” Steve exclaimed, thoroughly irritated. The rain was falling steadily now, the drops heavy as they hit him. His hair was already starting to feel weighed down to his scalp. Perfect. Just perfect. “Dustin told us not to do anything, and then we did, okay? So what do you think that little shrimp’s gonna do when he finds out, huh?”

“He’ll handle it, Harrington,” Eddie shot back. “He’s a big boy.”

“Oh, come on!” Steve groaned. “Don’t give me that bullshit when ten minutes ago you dropped everything to rescue him like he was some lost puppy.”

“Because he was tied to a pole!” Eddie responded. 

“That would have been helpful to know before we headed out here, by the way.” Steve put his hands on his hips and planted his feet in the mud. It was way too late to worry about his appearance, now. 

“Oh, Jesus H. Christ,” Eddie sighed, taking a step towards Steve. “You’re just as awful as I thought you were.”

“Oh, really?” Steve said, taking another step forward to meet Eddie. “Back atcha.”

“Fuck off.”

“Fuck off.”

There was another loud crack of thunder as both of them shoved the other at the same time, causing them both to stumble backwards until they each hit one of the metal pillars extending down from the plant. 

A flash of light. A quick, searing pain. Then, they each dropped to their knees and fell into the mud. 

-

It felt like a sudden hangover, and a bad one. Eddie opened his eyes and cringed at the feeling of mud under his fingernails and up his arms. 

For a moment, he’d forgotten how he ended up on the ground. It felt like he was somewhere different, and he wasn’t sure why. He sat up, extremely disoriented, and then focused on a similar crumpled heap across from him. It took a second for Eddie to make out Steve’s features in the dark, but then his head angled upwards, their eyes met, and everything got a whole lot more complicated. 

“Steve…” Eddie began, speaking slowly. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. “Why the hell do you look like me, man?”

The man across from him had the same features Eddie had come to know in his own reflection - the same style, same hair, same everything, but no - that didn’t make any sense. 

“I was going to ask you the same thing,” the man replied. The man, who answered to Steve, but couldn’t possibly be. No, Eddie was dreaming. He’d done some hallucinogenic and forgot and now he was tripping. That had to be the case. 

They both stood up, mirroring each other, and for a moment Eddie thought that maybe that’s all this was. Some trick of the light. Maybe, there was a mirror at the power plant for some reason, and he was just staring at himself. Sure, the other guy responded to him, but he couldn’t think about that.

He waved at himself, but the guy across from him didn’t wave back. There went the mirror theory. 

It was still raining, but it had lightened up quite a bit. The two men took a few tentative steps towards each other, their eyes adjusting. 

“So, this is…I mean, we are…” Eddie fumbled over words that didn’t make sense. 

“What kind of weird cult shit did you do to me?” Steve accused, his voice rising. “Did you drug me? Sacrifice me to the devil or something?”

“Dude, are you fucking serious right now?” Eddie groaned, throwing his head back. “I didn’t do shit.”

“Then what happened?” Steve snapped. “How did we - Like, you’re seeing this too, right?”

“Yeah, I’m seeing it.” Eddie finally took a moment to look down, noticing a vastly different wardrobe than the one he remembered putting on. 

Including a green vest. 

“Holy shit,” Steve said. It was weird hearing his voice with Steve’s words. 

The idea of saying it out loud - dude, we switched bodies - seemed too batshit insane to consider. So, naturally, Eddie did what he knew best. 

“No. Nope. Not happening.” he shook his head and took off towards his trailer. 

“Hey. Hey!” Eddie’s own voice echoed behind him, followed by footsteps that got louder and louder as Eddie desperately tried to get away. He didn’t even look back until he was safely in his trailer again, the feeling of home making him feel slightly more at ease. “Dude, we gotta figure this out.” Steve followed him in, of course. 

“Why? Why do we have to? Why can’t I just shower and go to sleep and hopefully wake up from this nightmare?”

“Because I don’t think we’re gonna wake up,” Steve said with a shrug. “And because if you shower right now you’re gonna see my dick, and so I think we should, like, talk first.” Eddie barked out a bitter laugh.

“Don’t flatter yourself, Harrington. Would you feel better if I bought you dinner first?” He continued to walk down the hall to his bathroom, where first aid supplies were still strewn about, and that’s when he caught himself in the mirror.

Sure enough, Steve Harrington stared back at him. He looked a little worse for wear with his hair wet and disheveled and streaks of mud on his face, but no amount of dirt could change the pretty boy Steve was and always would be. He nearly spat at the image. Eddie’s familiar figure joined him in the bathroom, where they stood shoulder to shoulder and stared at themselves for an absurd amount of time. It was the closest they’d ever been to each other for more than a few fleeting seconds, but they were too stunned to do anything about their proximity. 

“Okay, so…” Steve said, watching Eddie’s mouth move as he said it.

“I’m you,” Eddie responded, finishing the thought. 

“And I’m you,” Steve finished. Their eyes stayed focused on their reflections for a while longer. How long exactly, it was tough to say. 

“So, what the fuck do we do now, then?” Eddie asked, finally breaking his gaze to look at Steve - er, himself, he guessed. 

What did they do now? That was certainly the question. 

____________________________

Steve had gotten used to weird shit happening to him, but this was a whole new world of weird. 

“I guess…” Steve searched for a plan, but he had no semblance of one. His head was completely empty. Probably because I’m using Eddie’s head, he thought to himself. “I should call Robin and tell her I’m not coming back to work.”

“You mean I should call Robin, since I am you now apparently.” Steve scoffed.

“You’re not me, alright? You just look like me, for some reason,” he argued. “Maybe we should call Dustin.”

“Yeah, because he’s soooo happy with us right now,” Eddie responded. “What do we say when he asks us what happened? We did the thing he told us not to do, and now we’re facing the consequences.”

“Consequences?” Steve repeated. “No, no. On any other day, in any other town, we would have done what we did and nothing would have happened. This isn’t a consequence, this is just my goddamn luck.”

“You’re acting like this is just any regular day for you,” Eddie complained. “Do you body swap with your enemies often?” Steve shot him a glare. The actual answer of, no but I’ve had a bunch of other weird shit happen, was on the tip of his tongue. If only Eddie knew what was really going on in Hawkins. Steve thought Eddie probably had his head up his own ass too much to notice, anyway. “Fine. I’ll call Robin.”

“Don’t say anything I wouldn’t, okay?” Steve warned, suddenly terrified at the power Eddie had to do some damage if he wanted to. 

“Don’t worry, I know exactly what to say.” Eddie went to his phone and dialed the number to the video store. “Hi, Robin. It’s me, your coworker, Steeeeve Harrington.” 

Great start. Jesus. 

“Dude,” Steve whined, nudging Eddie’s shoulder. “I don’t sound like that.”

“Yeah, I’m still at Eddie’s,” he continued on the phone. “Dustin’s okay. Can you finish my shift?” Huh. After the playfully performative introduction, Eddie seemed to actually act normal on the phone. “Great, thanks a bunch.” Just when Steve thought they were in the clear, Eddie tagged on a final line. “See ya later, Sweetheart,” followed by a bunch of kissing noises. 

Steve wrestled the phone from ‘Steve’ and slammed it against the receiver. 

“What the hell was that?”

“That -” Eddie said with a grin, “- was fun.” Steve’s eyes narrowed as anger began coursing through his veins. Anger, mixed with fear. Fear of this guy he hated, who now had full control of his life. 

“If you mess with my life, Munson, I swear to god -”

“What?” Eddie cut him off, barely fazed. “What are you gonna do? Get me back? Harrington, I’ve got nothing to lose. I’m already the school freak, nobody gives a shit what I do.” 

He had a fair point. Steve scrambled to think of a way, any way, he could get under Eddie’s skin the way Eddie was under his. 

“You have Hellfire,” he blurted out. Steve knew from Dustin just how much Eddie loved that stupid club. Based on Eddie’s reaction, Steve had made the right call. “I could tank it,” he continued. “Give up your title as dungeon manager or whatever.”

“Dungeon Master,” Eddie corrected him through gritted teeth. “You wouldn’t.”

“Oh, I would,” Steve insisted. “If you mess with me, I’ll mess right back.”

They stared at each other, knowing that each of them were serious. 

“Fine,” Eddie agreed. “I will play nice.” He stuck his hand out in front of him for Steve to shake. Steve hesitantly did so, not sure if he believed a word out of Eddie’s mouth. 

He was right to be mistrusting. Eddie had the fingers of his other hand crossed behind his back.

_____________________________________

[moon-alight]

cheerleader reader x basketball nicho would be so cute and 2000s 😭🤭

Hello! That is so cute! I took a while to get an idea for this but I got there in the end. I hope you like it! <3 (I just realized I suck at synopsises so. . . deal with that LOL)

Leave a comment or repost if you like it! It gives me motivation to go on!

Masterlist

Good Luck Kiss - &Team Nicholas

Synopsis: 2 years you have been a cheerleader. 2 years of supporting the local basketball team and 2 years of friendship with 8 very nice girls. It was nice being popular, having attention on you and being able to be a part of the squad.

Meanwhile Nicholas had spent the last three years in the school's basketball team. He is popular, the star player, charming, intelligent and every girl's dream boy. He has dated a fair amount of girls in the past years but now he has his eyes on you.

Warnings: fluff, little bit of angst, strangers to friends to whatever it is they become, two clingy teenagers, bullying, swear words, EJ, Jo and Yuma make a cameo.

Word Count: 4099 (I went way overboard but I had fun with this so whatever)

The time ticks by slowly. You look up at the clock in the classroom, waiting desperately for the bell to ring so you can leave this dreadful place and make your way down to the Gymnasium to practice cheers for the upcoming basketball game this Friday.

Professor Kwon is a very boring individual. You're sure he has given the same lessons over and over so he now knows exactly what to say and how to say it. The man is old, you give it to him, but it's not an excuse to teach this way. You had learned nothing from him so far.

The bell finally rings, students pack their things in record-time and leave the classroom in a rush. You do too, making sure not to leave anything behind and text your friend Minji that you're going down to the Gymnasium now.

Looking down at your phone, you're unaware of the boy in front of you until you accidentally bump into him. You're about to tumble to the ground when two hands grab your shoulders to balance you.

"I'm so sorry--"

"Are you okay?" Looking up, you're met with two concerned dark eyes. You gulp, realizing the boy you had just ran into is the one and only Wang Yixiang or Nicholas how he likes to call himself.

For a moment you're frozen. This boy is popular, everyone knows and adores him for a reason. He is the star-player of the basketball team, a year older than you, and basically perfect. You take a breath and nod at him.

"I'm good, thank you." You reply, trying to keep your nervous heart from leaping out of your chest. Nicholas smiles down at you.

"You sure?"

"I am." You reply a bit more confidently. Nicholas takes his hands off of your shoulder, he squints his eyes at you and looks you up and down.

"I know you." He says.

"That would be highly unlikely." You reply, trying your best to ignore the stares you're getting. Nicholas seems unbothered by the many people eying you too, he must be used to it.

"No, I do." He thinks for a moment before he snaps his fingers. "You're in the cheerleading squad." He knows?! "I saw you last game, two buns in your hair and pompons in both your hands.

"That's me." You reply, shyly. He actually knew you?

"I'm Nicholas." He holds his hand out for you to shake. You supress the urge to say 'I know' and simply shake it.

"y/n." You reply. "I have practice now, so--"

"Oh, yeah, of course. Have fun, y/n." You nod and walk past him. The moment you're sure you're out of his view, you start running and don't stop until you're in the Gymnasium.

"Minji! Minji!" You yell and run towards the girl you had been friends with since you both joined the cheer squad. "You never guess what happened!"

"You talked to the Wang Nicholas." She giggles at your dumbfounded expression. "Lia saw you two and decided to tell anyone." You blush a little at the thought, luckily no one can see you.

"Come on, girls. Practice!" Lia, head-cheerleader, says. You drop your bag and run over.

***

"I'm telling you, Yuma, I'm not crazy." You say when you sit next to him during lunch the next day. You have known Yuma since you were kids.

"Not crazy, obsessed." Yuma replies, annoyedly. He had to hear you rant about Nicholas for the past twenty minutes while you're watching him play basketball. "Look, I know every girl has a crush on that guy but what does he have that I don't have?"

"He's tall, has skills in everything but especially basketball, he is charming and cute but handsome at the same time, he's really sweet and--"

"Okay! Enough! I am that too!"

"You?" You ask him. "Tall?"

"Ok, everything except that." Yuma replies, defeatedly.

"You're also not the kindest to new people." You point out.

"I mean, why would I? I'm not some charity."

"You hate sport and would rather hang lazily on the couch than move." You tell him.

"I like to dance." Yuma defends himself. "I'm handsome and charming."

"Says who?" You ask but see his glare so you decide wisely to stop teasing him. "Fine, you get that." Yuma smiles in victory.

"Why don't you go talk to him if you like him so much?" Yuma asks, pointing at the boy who just scored in the net again.

"He's older, I don't think he really wants a younger nerd to talk to him."

"A nerd?" Yuma asks. "Y/n, you fail almost all classes."

"Shut up." You snap. Yuma smirks.

"Fine, then I'll go." He stands up, your eyes widen.

"Yuma? Where are you-- YUMA!" Too late. . . he's gone already. Yuma confidently walks up to the basketball team and tries to get between them to talk to Nicholas. You pull the hood of your hoodie over your head and keep your head low so you won't be recognized. You wait but suddenly hear someone yell. You look over.

"Get lost, rat!" One of the basketball players, Chan, snaps at Yuma. When the boy doesn't bother to move, Chan continues. "Get the fuck out of my view or I'll make you, you little pathetic fat chipmunk!" He punches Yuma.

That's it!

You stand up and stalk over quickly, standing in between him and Yuma. Your eyes are dark and hold the most dangerous glare. If looks could kill . . . Chan would be six feet under.

"Get out my way, you little--"

"You little what, Chan?" You ask back, standing your ground with your arms crossed over your chest. "You better watch out with what you're saying or I will personally make sure you will never have children, ever." You threaten, moving to the side a little. "Say sorry to my friend, now."

"What?" Chan asks and scoffs.

"Go one, apologize."

"You're both pathetic!"

"Chan!" Nicholas' stern voice sounds. "Apologize to the boy, now." Somehow this makes enough difference for the asshole to turn to Yuma and mumble a soft apology before walking away. You shake your head and sigh, turning to Yuma.

"Are you okay?" You ask, softly. Your voice much different from the way you had just threatened Chan.

"I don't need your help, y/n." Yuma breathes out and looks down. "But, thank you anyway, I'm fine." You smile at him and huff.

"You're welcome. Let's get you checked up." You put your arm around Yuma's shoulder and walk together inside to visit the school nurse.

***

Yuma was fine except for the bruise that is slowly forming on his right cheek throughout the day. You feel bad for him but are secretly glad it didn't get worse than that. You have an hour before practice starts so you walk outside to study a little with fresh air.

You sit down on your jacket which you had laid down on one of the grass patches outside and take out your books. Some papers fall out which remind you of the homework you're supposed to make. You quickly take out a pen and start answering the history questions. Someone sits down on the grass next to you.

"You're a great friend." You recognize the voice and look up to see Nicholas stare off into the distance. "It was great how you stood up for that little boy." You had thought it was Minji but this is better.

"I would always stick up for my friends, unfortunately men only listen to other men and don't take women seriously." You reply, looking back down to continue answering the questions.

"Chan is the only one who would bully someone else. I wanted to kick him off the team last year but his father owns a part of the school, coincidentally that part is the Gymnasium so. . . I couldn't." You hum, frowning at your questions. "It's not often I'm ignored."

"Get used to it, the world is full of surprises." You answer. Nicholas laughs at your half-hearted joke. You unconsciously smile too, his laugh is addictive and very cute. You hadn't had the chance to hear it yet.

"Need help with your homework?" You look at him. "I thought you looked a bit lost."

"I do." You admit. "I don't even remember what I ate for breakfast, let alone what happened centuries before I was born." Nicholas looks down at your paper and smirks.

"The second world war wasn't centuries before you were born." He comments. "I bet your grandparents could tell you stories about it."

"My grandparents are dead." Silence. Maybe it was a mood-killer, bringing up your dead grandparents, but you didn't care too much.

"I'm sorry."

"What are you apologizing for? Did you kill them?" Nicholas tries his best not to laugh at your accusation.

"No."

"Then don't apologize."

"I wanted to show you my condolences."

"I don't need pity."

"I wasn't--" He closes his eyes for a moment and sighs. He reopens them and shakes his head. "You have practice later, right?"

"I do." You reply.

"Practicing for the game this Friday?" He asks, knowingly.

"Yes." You look up from your papers and smile at him. "Lia wants everyone to do perfect which stresses everyone out. It feels like we're playing the game, not you."

"I know a lot about being stressed." Nicholas admits.

"You're captain, right?" He shakes his head.

"God no." He looks down. "Co-captain."

"Then who--?"

"EJ." He replies. "He strained his ankle two weeks ago and still can't properly walk on it. I will have to be captain this Friday and it freaks me out."

"I bet you'll do great." You tell him. He looks at you, you nod.

"Nicho!" You both look up to see EJ, Nicholas' best friend and apparently captain of the basketball team, stand in front of you. He wears a beige cardigan and glasses. He looks rather nerdy. "Practice starts in five."

"On it." He stands up and looks down at you with a soft smile. "See you later, Giggles."

"Giggles?" You ask back, confused.

"It's your new nickname, get used to it." You shake your head but smile as you watch him walk away. EJ follows him slowly. You see a clear limp in the boy's walk. Poor EJ.

***

You are currently listening to some music while waiting for Yuma to show up so you can have a talk with him. It takes much longer for him to arrive than what you're used to. You hum along to the new hit 'toxic' (this is my attempt at making this 2000s lol). Your phone buzzes, signalling that you have a new message.

From Yum: I did it! Meet me in the Gymnasium now!

You frown but get up regardless. You walk through the school and throw the doors to the Gymnasium open. The basketball team is currently practicing with a very frustrated EJ yelling instructions towards them. You see some girls swooning over some of the boys and ultimately Yuma who waves you over. You sit down next to him.

"What are we doing here? I thought we were gonna get ice cream?"

"I did this for you, bestie." Oh no. Yuma only uses that nickname when he either wants something from you or apologizes for something.

"And what exactly did you do?"

"I found a reason for you to be here and have more conversations with your crush--"

"He's not my crush." You reply.

"I didn't name any names yet you knew who I was talking about, that's suspicious." He squints his eyes at you while you roll yours.

"Seriously, what are we doing here?" You ask again, feeling a bit uncomfortable. Yuma sighs and points at one of the players.

"See him? The tallest one?"

"Yeah?" You ask back, unsure to where this is going.

"He's the youngest in the team, his name is Jo and he's in my class. I started a conversation with him during science and he invited me to watch practice. He'll come with us afterwards to get ice cream. Maybe you can invite Nicholas."

"Sneaky." You admit it, it's a good plan. Yuma smirks at you and continues to watch practice.

"5 minutes everybody!" EJ screams and hands water bottles to everyone.

"You're doing great, Jo." Yuma tells his new friend as he sits down in front of them. "This is y/n by the way, I told you about her."

"Hi." The boy replies. He seems shy.

"Nice to meet you." You reply, smiling kindly. The two boys begin to talk, you only pay half attention to what they're saying.

"Look at you, stalking me." Nicholas jokes, sitting down next to you.

"You came to me last time, remember?" You ask back.

"Touché." You look at Yuma who nudges you to ask him. You sigh and decide to just go for it.

"Yuma, Jo and I are getting ice cream after practice. . ." Nicholas hums to let you know he's listening before gulping down his water. "Would you like to come?" He closes the now empty bottle and thinks about it for a moment.

"Sure."

You are taken aback. You hadn't expected him to actually agree to you. You smile and nod. Internally you're thanking Yuma for this one.

"I have to go back practicing, wait 30 minutes and we're done." You nod and watch him return to the field. Jo follows him and you turn to Yuma.

"Did that just. . ."

"Mhm, he said yes." Yuma replies, sounding just as shocked as you feel. "I'm amazing." He mumbles.

"I can't believe he actually said yes."

"I'm the new Cupido." Yuma mumbles again.

"I mean, he literally said 'wait for me'."

"I should start a business. A Cupido business."

"Now you're going too far." You tell Yuma who accepts this and returns to concentrate on the practice.

***

After 20 minutes more practice and 10 minutes of showering and getting dressed again, the four of you walk in the park only 4 minutes away from the school. Yuma and Jo walk in front of you and Nicholas. They are talking about Star Wars and stuff like that.

"How did you ever become friends with those weirdos?" Nicholas asks, an amused smile plays on his perfectly shaped lips.

"Yuma and I know each other since kindergarten." You reply. "Our parents knew each other so we would hang out a lot. We always stayed together, even with different hobbies, classes and ages."

"I admire your determination to keep that friendship."

"How about you and EJ?" You ask back. "I believe I have seen you two together more times than I can count." Nicholas chuckles.

"We have been friends since childhood as well but we're the same age which makes all of this much easier." Nicholas admits. "We both joined the basketball team together. He didn't want to be captain but I managed to convince him."

"What flavours do you two want?" Yuma asks, standing in front of the ice-cream stand.

"Vanilla." Both you and Nicholas say at the same time. You look at each other and laugh. Yuma rolls his eyes.

"Basic bitches." He mumbles.

"I think it's cute." Jo replies. Yuma shakes his head.

"No, it really isn't." When all of you have your ice creams, you sit down on a bench. The song 'Bring me to Life' from Evanescence starts playing. You recognize it as your ringtone, you look at who's calling and decide to decline Minji for now.

"You like Evanescence?" Nicholas asks, smiling down at you.

"You do too?" You ask back.

"Oh yeah, it's great."

"Maybe you two should switch phone numbers so you can keep contact." Yuma suggests for you. He winks at you, you shake your head smiling.

"Good idea." Nicholas takes out his Nokia (again me attempting to make this more 2000s) and repeats his phone number so you can save it. You send a text so he has yours too.

***

You're currently practicing for tomorrow's Basketball game. All the girls are on edge because EJ and Nicholas had walked in 10 minutes ago to watch, something they never did. You couldn't help but feel like it was because of you.

Lia, who is known to have a massive crush on the basketball star, is a lot more strict today than ever before. You're glad when you can take a small break from her yelling. You walk over to the benches and look through your bag for your water bottle but can't seem to find it.

A water bottle is suddenly held up in front of you, you look up and see Nicholas smile down at you. You mumble a quick 'thank you' and take it, gulping down some of it.

"Lia seems worse than EJ." Nicholas comments, EJ lets out an offended 'hey'. You chuckle.

"She usually isn't like this." You reply to him, closing the bottle and handing it back to him. "She's just on edge." Nicholas opens the bottle and drinks from it himself. Your brain kind of shuts down at the sight.

"Because of the game tomorrow or because of us?" EJ asks, squinting his eyes at the beautiful girl behind you, giving instructions to some other cheerleaders.

"You." You breathe out. "You two are the problem."

"Well, I apologize." Nicholas says, you chuckle.

"y/n!" Lia says strictly. "Break's over."

"Wish me luck." You mumble to the two boys. Nicholas snickers at your words as you return to the middle of the Gymnasium.

You must admit it, cheerleading isn't as tough as basketball but it's still very energy-wasting. You're exhausted when practice is over. You plop down on the bench and lay down. Minji laughs at you.

"See you tomorrow, girly. You better be well-rested. You know how Lia is on games like those." She comments, picking her bag up from the floor.

"You would think that after two years, it would be easier." You say. "But it's harder." Lia chuckles and waves at you before walking out.

"If it matters, probably not, but you did great." Nicholas tells you. He smiles at your exhausted form.

"It matters." You reply.

"So, I see you tomorrow?" Nicholas asks, moving his head to the side like a cute puppy. You're absolutely melting but try not to show this.

"See you tomorrow." You agree and yawn. He chuckles and follows EJ outside. He's adorable.

***

Everyone is hyped. The game starts in less than an hour which means the entire school is on edge. You know this is an important game, it will determine whether your school goes to the finals or not.

You had gotten enough instructions from Lia who wanted everything to be perfect. The entire basketball team is practicing hard while you try to avoid everyone. You don't think you can take another comment from Lia or another person wishing you 'luck'.

You sit down on a small wall in front of the stairs inside. The hallways are pretty empty, most people have gone home until the game begins but you were asked to stay by Lia herself. Suddenly a very hasty Nicholas walks past you without recognizing your presence. He walks inside the janitors closet. You frown.

"Nicholas!" You hear someone scream. Jo walks into the hallway and runs over to you. "y/n, have you seen Nicholas? He walked away."

"What happened?" You ask, worriedly.

"He had a panic attack and ran out. I think being Captain weighs on him a lot." You look towards the janitor closet and hum.

"I'll go talk to him, you go back and make sure everyone stays seated. Win some more time if you need." Jo nods and runs back towards the Gymnasium. 30 more minutes before the game begins which means people already enter to come watch. Luckily no one passes this hallway.

You get up and walk over towards the janitor closet. You lift your hand and knock three times. No answer. You try again, knocking three times. Lia appears by your side.

"Is he in there?" She whispers, you nod. "Nicholas?" You smile, happy she comes to help. "Hey, whatever happened, nobody would blame you." Nothing. "Nicholas?" She looks at the time. "You try, I'll go back and keep people calm." She walks back hastily. 25 more minutes.

"Nicholas?" You ask softly. The door opens immediately, a hand pulls you inside before the door closes behind you again. You gasp at the actions. Nicholas leans against the door with his back, his breathing quick.

"I can't do it. I'm not a leader." He tells you. You shake your head. Walking closer as he keeps rambling about how he can't. You cup his cheeks in your hands, shutting him up. "I can't." He whispers.

"Then who will?" You ask softly. Nicholas frowns at you. "If you won't lead them, who will? You're not going to give that responsibility to Chan who would fuck you over in two minutes. You won't give it to Jo because he's young and wouldn't be able to handle the pressure so, who will?"

"I--" He stops himself. Nicholas thinks about your words carefully, he looks down.

"I'm not saying you have to take all responsibility, you don't have to do this alone. A leader works with the team, Nicholas. Your members are there to help you. Leaders don't lead from the front but push from the back."

"How come you know?" He asks, voice shakily.

"Do you think Lia calls all the shots by herself? You think she is some wonder woman who can keep eight girls in check? No. She has us." You reply. "Sure she leads and makes us stronger but the thing is, a leader dynamic doesn't work without its members."

Nicholas nods softly, visibly calming down a little.

"You're not alone out there this evening, Nicholas." You tell him. "There's twelve other boys out there ready to help you with winning."

"You're right, I'm being a bit silly." You chuckle.

"Aren't we all sometimes?" You ask, smiling. You're about to take your hands off his cheeks but he grabs them with his own and holds them against him.

"Want to give me some luck?" He asks, smiling down at you with the confidence he usually has.

"Sure, how?"

"A good-luck kiss." He suggests. You stare at him, his smirk tells you he knows exactly how fast your heart is beating and how pink your cheeks become.

"A. . ." You clear your throat. "A good-luck kiss?" You ask.

"Mhm." Nicholas hums, leaning down with a grin on his face. "A good luck kiss." He confirms. You lean forward and give him a very quick peck on his lips. You try to walk past him so you can leave but his arms wrap around you.

"Nicholas!" You squeal, laughing at his antics.

"That was mean." He pouts, holding you against him, his two strong arms secured around your waist. You can't get away, you smile.

"I gave you what you wanted." You say, teasingly.

"That wasn't a kiss!" He says, disappointedly. "I want a real kiss! A movie kiss! A kiss so I can remember the shape and taste of your--"

You interrupt him by pressing you lips against his. Your arms wrap around his neck as he pulls you impossibly closer against him. You feel your heart leap in your chest, your lips move against his slowly.

Somehow, his thumb rubs circles over your waist while your hands play with the hair in the nape of his neck. You feel lucky yourself, his strong hold on you gives you butterflies as if he's afraid you'd disappear if he doesn't. The feeling of his lips is soft, like cushions and the taste is rather sweet, just like you expected.

It's flawless.

You pull away from each other. Your heart beats so loud, you're afraid he will hear it. You stare at him and see him pant just like you're doing.

"That was a real kiss." Nicholas tells you, smiling.

"Don't you have a game to play?" You ask, smirking at him. His eyes widen and he turns around to open the door. He grabs your hand and pulls you through the hallway towards the already-full Gymnasium. You two enter, he stops and looks around, worry in his eyes.

"You're gonna do great." You say, smiling. "I'm right there to support you, it's kind of my job." Nicholas smiles too. You lean up and kiss his cheek. "Go win the game." He smiles brightly and runs over to his team. Cute.

[fizzing-imagines]

Hellfire After Hours | Billy Hargrove x Plus Size! Alt! Reader

Notes: I've tried uploading this 20 times now until I realized that tumblr won't let me post until I delete the entire smut scene. So here y'all have the censored version (u can dm me for the smut scene lol). Please note that reader is female in this and don't be hard on me, this is my first time writing smut. Big thank you to @billyssillywilly for helping me out. Enjoy!

Bad End: Here

Good End: Here

Warnings: Bullying, Swearing and sexual innuendos

Word Count: 2.5k-ish

Billy wasn't supposed to look twice when you passed by him. You hung out with the freaks, blasted Black Sabbath when pulling into the parking lot, wore dark makeup and ripped clothes. In addition, you had a few extra pounds to you. There was nothing he should be attracted to, but yet he was. He couldn't stop imagining your blood red lips wrapped around his dick, and grabbing your plushy hips while slamming into you. He wanted nothing more than to rip your clothes even further while making you tell him what you do with your freak-friend Gareth Emerson every other day after school. And he hated you for it. He despised you more than anyone else in the school for something that was entirely his fault. And he has tried everything to get you down. Billy has called you a cow, fatso, lard-ass, you name it, he said it to you. But last time, when he called you a quarter pounder, all you said was "At least I get pounded." and it made his dick twitch. And he hated Gareth for getting what he wanted so desperately, but what he hated more was that Gareth not only didn't care what he had to say but also that you protected him. That freak wasn't even your boyfriend, for fuck sake.

Billy Hargrove hated you like nothing else in Hawkins High.

"He's starring again.", Gareth mumbled to you at lunch. The two of you were seated at your table, waiting for your other friends to join. "Who?", you asked with a half-full mouth of mac and cheese. "Hargrove.", your friend-with-benefits replied. All you did was shrug your shoulders and put another fork full of your food in your mouth. "Let him. What is he gonna do, tell me to eat less food?" The last three words were spoken in a mocking tone. Gareth chuckled at your words and looked back at his food, but not before sneaking a glance at your boobs that were practically squeezing out of your Coroded Coffin tube top. You didn't comment since you couldn't blame him. One thing you were confident in is your looks - and you knew that Billy has been thirsting after you. Did you hate him? Yes, absolutely, but knowing that he secretly wanted to bang you was hilarious and such a treat. Speaking of the devil:

"Hey fattie.", Billy called over before standing next to you. "You ain't gonna loose weight if you keep eating junk like a pig." All you did was giggle at his words before replying: "Are you sure you want me to loose weight? My tits would be so much smaller, and I know how much you love starring at them." Billy was flabbergasted for a good second before scoffing and turning heel to walk away, but not before calling you a cow. "You know, I think you'll eventually regret talking to him like that.", Gareth said before eating a fork full of salad. "Oh really? What is the big manbaby gonna do?" You laughed and continued eating.

Just like your friends, you were in the Hellfire Club. Eddie had another campaign, a really good one, but your sorcerer died in a kamikaze attack to save Gareth the Great just an hour into the game. It frustrated you that you had to sit there for two more hours without doing anything, even though you loved listening to how Eddie led his campaign. The party and the campaign were finished after three hours total, leaving you as the next dungeon master for the following two sessions. As always, you volunteered to clean up after everyone so you left last. What you didn't expect was the basketball team to finish at the same time today. They were always done long before Hellfire finished up, so you saw them loading their cars as you walked out of the school. You threw your D&D books in your trunk while hearing the remaining cars driving away. Just as you thought you were alone while slamming your trunk shut, someone stood next to you. "What do you want?", you asked in a condescending tone while putting your school bag into the passenger seat. "You got a real big mouth, you know that?" He fumbled a cigarette out while talking - and he looked pissed. "You know, for someone who will always be a single imbecile. You should be nice, at least if you have to be fat." You scoffed at his words while leaning against your car. Any other day than today you would've made a passing comment, get behind the wheel and drive away. But now, after having your character be killed at the beginning of the campaign, being yelled at by your gym teacher and now Billy saying this you've had it. "You know, you're gonna be one of those husbands who yells at his wife to make him a sandwich and get divorced three times." He glared at you, even though he provoked you. "And your kids won't talk to you. They'll let you rot away in a nursing home while you wonder why nobody loves you." He got closer and looked down on you, probably hoping to intimidate you. It didn't work. "You'll never get the pleasure of a wife who will make you lunch for work and homemade cookies for desert. There is nothing but sadness, Billy." He blew the smoke from his cigarette in your face and pit it out on the roof of your car. "What are you gonna do, huh? Punch me? Do it. Fucking do it, you pussy." You didn't care anymore, the words were spit from your mouth, right at his face. You were fed up with him and his bullshit. But Billy, who cares too much, grabbed you by your jaw and pushed your back against your own car. Admittedly, you were a bit scared now but in some sick way...it made you horny. He looked beyond pissed, a storm was brewing in his eyes, his jaw clenched and nostrils widened. And you couldn't think of anything more attractive. "I hate you, so much.", he hissed out. "How can you not be miserable, looking the way you do." It wasn't a question towards you. More so, he asked himself how you can be happy while he had to suffer by himself. Billy felt how a lump formed in his throat, but he knew he couldn't cry. Not in public, and especially not in front of you.

What you didn't know was that Neil shoved Billy into his bookshelf this morning. He shoved him so hard that the bookshelf almost fell on top of him and his back was bruised. But he couldn't cry - he had to get Max and him to school. All day, it kept building up. His team lost in gym class, he failed math and had to explain that to Neil now, he got detention and now you read him like a book. Everything build up, and it became too much. He needed a way to let it out. That way was you.

"Dude, it's okay to cry.", you told him with a raised eyebrow. "Just do that shit in your car. I'm not your therapist." Billy let you push him off of you easily, giving you the chance to get in your car and drive off.

After that incident, Billy left you alone for two weeks. Even when his friends wanted to tease you, he just told them that you're not worth it and walked away. Gareth, knowing you enough, noticed it at the beginning of week two. "What's with Hargrove?", he asked you while giving you his desert cookie. With a grin, you took it from him while saying: "What's supposed to be with him?" Gareth looked past your head to see Billy eating at the popular kids table without starting a conversation. Only a short glance at you sometimes. "Keeps looking at you, but hasn't said anything in, what, a week?" You smirked at Gareth, winked at him and asked: "Jealous?", which was followed by your other friends at the table, aka Corroded Coffin, making gagging noises. "No seriously, what is it with him?", Gareth kept pushing. You haven't told any of them what had happened with Billy, you didn't want to tell nor have them know. But now that Gareth noticed, they won't stop asking until you told them what had happened. So you told them, whispered everything you could remember to them just quietly enough for nobody to overhear, conveniently leaving out the part where his anger turned you on. Jeff sat open-mouthed without saying a word, Gareth and his best friend started talking about how much of an asshole he is while Eddie sat and watched the other react. "It's not a big deal, seriously.", you reassured them while unpacking your cookie. "His ego is bruised, so what? Big deal." The four guys shared a look while you took a bite of your cookie. What were they on about now? "What?", you asked with a mouth full of food. "Nothing, jeez.", Gareth said before starting to eat his own food again. Eddie changed the topic to D&D after a while, saying he was excited to finish your own campaign later today.

The rest of the day went by fast, but not only for you. Billy couldn't get you out of his mind ever since he pinned you against your car. He was angry at first, not wanting to admit his attraction to you and still asking himself, why you? Then his anger directed itself at your friend, fucking Gareth Emerson, who got anything he wanted from you. At the same time fear got the best of him, because what if Gareth got to you first? What if he took what he thought was his, even though you didn't even pay attention to him when he didn't try to provoke you. And he was convinced that he only wanted to fuck you, but when he thought of you being with Gareth, kissing him, holding his hand or going to some stupid prom with him it made him furious. He didn't want that to happen. So then he got sad, because any chance he might have had with you was out of the window. Who would date someone that called them fat on a regular basis? And since when did he want to date anybody? Nothing made sense to him anymore, so he decided to get to his senses after your D&D session. He patiently waited in front of the theatre room, where your club held it's sessions and listened to you leading the campaign through the door. Your voice was filled with nothing but happiness and excitement as you spoke, and your laugh sounded heavenly to him. His heart started beating faster as he heard the party celebrate their victory and pack up their things. Once again, you volunteered to clean up their leftover cans, snacks and put the figurines away. All four other party members let out a disapproving scoff as they saw Billy leaning against the wall next to the door but he just ignored them and glared at Gareth before going in.

Your back was turned as you sorted the little figurines to each member of Hellfire. You made all of them put their initials on the bottom of each figure that belonged to them after switching figurines up regularly. Eddie started calling you mom after that in a joking manner, even though you were a year younger than him. Not even the door shutting concerned you since you thought it were the boys leaving. Only when you heard a familiar voice say "Quite the view." you turned around to see Billy standing in the room. "What do you want?", you asked him in an annoyed tone. Hellfire Club was the only place where he left you alone, and you wanted to keep it that way. "Look, I'm not here to fight, okay? Just wanna talk." He came closer to you and placed a hand on each side of the table next to you, cornering you once more. "You can do that while respecting my personal space.", you said to him while pressing your back into the table. "You'd run off if I did.", he said. "Listen, (Y/N), I have something to tell you." You can't remember a scenario where he called you by your first name. "The times I was mean to you-" You interrupted him. "You bullied me. Or tried to." Billy just nodded once before continuing "Yeah, bullied you, I guess." What a good start, he thought. "I was...trying to get you to hate me-" You interrupted him once more. "I kind of do, actually." He sighted at your interruption. "Let me finish, please.", he said while trying to hold back his annoyed tone. You simply nodded and let him continue. "I was trying to get you to hate me, because I didn't want to admit to the fact that I like you." He waited for you reaction, but all you did was grin and giggle. "Oh, I know you like me Billy.", you said. "You made it very obvious." There was silence between you two before you spoke again. "I'll let you get in my pants if you promise to be a good boy afterwards." Billy grinned at you, lifted you up the table and started kissing you.

The next hour was a blur. All you could remember was how good you felt, that you moaned his name over and over again and begged him for more. "You okay?", Billy asked you while picking up his and your clothes. "Can't feel my legs..", you mumbled in a tired tone. He chuckled, helped you to sit up on the table and got you dressed. "Let me drive you home.", he said while pulling your shirt over your head. "Are your parents home or anyone I need to make an excuse for?" He lifted your legs up to get your thong back on you. "No, they're in Austin for some business conference. Big sister moved to Tampa years ago, just me and my pet frog." Billy helped you get up from the table, you stood on shaky legs as you looked around the room. "Need to sort the figurines again.", you mumbled as you walked over to the table like a baby deer. "Let me help you, sweetheart." Billy picked up the figurines and dice that were scattered on the ground. "There's the boys initials on the bottom, just put them in piles." You were too distracted with not collapsing due to your legs giving out that you didn't noticed how Billy snagged one of Gareths figurines.

After cleaning up, Billy drove you home. He got you into your room, helped you remove your makeup and get changed into your pyjamas. "Didn't you say that you liked me?", you asked as he tucked you in. "I did, yeah.", he replied with a smile. "Wanna stay the night?" Billy looked down on you. He saw you without your dark makeup for the first time, and you were still so beautiful to him. "If I can take you out after school.", he said while taking off his clothes. You thought about it for a bit before agreeing and he slipped into bed next to you. "Sleep well, sweetheart.", Billy whispered. He turned off your nightlight, gave you a kiss on your forehead and wrapped his arms around your body before both of you drifted off to sleep.

It's been a month since that incident. Billy held his promise and started taking you out every other day, didn't make comments in school anymore and told everyone who tried to to fuck off. First, you stopped having sex with Gareth after week one, then Eddie eventually caught you and Billy making out after school so you had to tell them that you have been seeing him behind their back. And it took them a while to cope with it, especially because this was Billy Hargrove dating a freak, but they accepted it when they saw that you were even happier than before. Billy officially asked you to be his girlfriend a few days ago, much to your friends dismay. "(Y/N), look at this.", Gareth said while looking at something in his locker next to you. His D&D figurine, the one of his character, was laying in his locker. "Told you it would turn up again.", you said to him with a grin. You never told any of the boys what happened that night on the table, and you assumed Billy stole the figure for whatever reason. "Maybe one of the theatre kids found it.", you added while going back to your locker. "Yeah, but it's been, what, three weeks? A month?", your friend continued. "Just be happy it's back." You picked out the books for your next class and put them in your bag, then fished out a plastic bag filled with cookies you and your father made last night. Billy has walked past your locker between every 4th and 5th period since he asked you to be his girlfriend, so you just waited for him to pass by. "See you later.", Gareth said to you while shutting his locker and walking off to his next class. "See ya.", you said while fixing your hair in the mirror you had in your locker. "Hey, sweetheart.", a familiar voice behind you said. The reflection of Billy was in your mirror, to what you turned around with a smile. "Hey there.", you said with a smile. The two of you shared a kiss before you handed him the bag. "I made this for you.", you proudly told him, still smiling. Billy took the ziplock bag from your hands, looked at the content inside it and smiled. "Thought I'd never have the pleasure of homemade cookies.", he said in a teasing tone.

"Well, you earned that pleasure."

[nonclassyparty]

september 26th, 2014 (j.yh)

summary: excerpts of your youth through jeong yunho’s eyes

notes; part of the ‘when sorry seems to be the hardest word’ drabble series. there is no updating schedule for it, they will be posted at random times. the drabbles aren’t released in chronological order but they will be organized chronologically in the masterlist.

tw: bullying

“good morning, yunho!” he hears your voice from behind him, way too chirpy for a wednesday morning.

yunho only manages to catch a glimpse of you running after him, until you’re both walking side by side. you’re breathing heavily, the straps of your backpack falling off of one shoulder so you re-adjust them.

“hey.” he responds back tiredly, eyes still barely open.

you and yunho attended the same high school now. 

despite knowing each other since you were kids with being neighbours and what not, you went to a different middle school than him and now, you were both together. you were even placed in the same class.

it didn’t really mean much to yunho, if he was honest. if anything it was a burden.

his mom always pestered him how he should take care of you because you were a couple of months younger and ‘seemed fragile’ or something and it was annoying. yunho could barely take care of himself.

“did you do the homework mr. park gave us?” you ask, cheeks slightly red from the morning cold. 

yunho stops in his tracks as a tired groan leaves him.

“the fucking homework.” he whines, he didn’t do the homework of course but in yunho’s defense -  high school really was much harder than middle school.

he already made it to the basketball team and the classes were harder, not to mention how the students from the year above were already scaring him with their horror stories of some teachers.

he forgot about the fucking homework.

your giggle interrupts his self-pity party as you stop by him and open your backpack, pulling out a notebook which you hand to him.

“here.” you say with ease and yunho takes the notebook in confusion, “you can copy mine.”

“oh,” he glances at the notebook awkwardly before giving you a small smile, “thanks, y/n.”

“no problem.” you shrug and you both continue down the street.

once you enter the courtyard, you both part ways. yunho doesn’t really pay attention to where you’re headed but he assumes that it’s the classroom. meanwhile, he joins his new friends under the oak tree so he can copy down the answers from your notebook while sitting on the bench.

he notices that your handwriting is kind of ugly but the homework itself is meticulous and diligently done.

the three boys that he has somewhat gotten close to over the past couple of weeks also copy down the answers.

yunho wouldn’t exactly call them his friends just yet, nobody still had any real friends in freshman year but they were good enough to him.

when he enters the classroom five minutes before the first class is about to start, you are already sitting in your assigned seat by the window. yunho thinks how lucky you are, he would’ve wanted to sit by the window. the radiators are there as well so it’s the warmest spot.

instead, he’s stuck in the middle row at the far back because he’s taller than most of his classmates.

he walks over to you, gently placing the notebook on the desk in front of you.

“here, thanks again.” he says quietly and you just give him another smile as you take out your purple pencil case.

“any time, yunho.”

when yunho walks back to his seat, jongdae, the boy who sits with him, turns to him.

“do you know her?” jongdae asks, motioning to you and yunho looks at him confused before nodding.

“yeah, she lives close by to my place.” ‘close by’ isn’t the right word. you’re across the street, the closest house to his own but it feels somewhat weird to say you’re neighbours because it could possibly imply that you two were close.

and by the way jongdae is looking at him - yunho concludes that wouldn’t be a good thing.

“probably shouldn’t get too caught up with her.” his seatmate says with pursued lips before jutting his chin out in your direction again, “look at her shoes.”

yunho stares at him for a second longer before his eyes fall to your white sneakers.

he doesn’t really see what’s wrong with them. they’re just sneakers, a little bit scuffed up but not torn or anything. obviously old and looking like they were worn.

yunho never paid attention to what other people wore unless it was out of slight envy because he wanted a certain hoodie or backpack that somebody else had.

his mom bought him new sneakers just before he started high school because that’s what she always did. she bought him new shoes before every school year.

he didn’t get the big deal so he just turned to look at jongdae in silence again.

“she’ll become an easy target.” jongdae explains. “her pencil case is old and her bag has patches. she’s obviously poor.”

that was sort of true. it was a known fact in yunho’s neighbourhood that your family wasn’t that well off. your dad was a construction worker and your mom cleaned houses.

your house was the smallest and also oldest one on the street.

but your parents were good people who made an honest living, that’s what yunho’s mom always said when she handed him jars of jam she made with yunho’s grandmother over the weekend or if she had fresh vegetables plucked out from their big garden behind the house so yunho could take them across the street and give them to you.

he didn’t understand why not having money would immediately make you not as good as everyone else. especially as a high schooler. did any of his classmates actually have money of their own? wasn’t it their parents’ money? 

but yunho always thought jongdae was cool.

he gave yunho gum and said yunho’s sweatshirt was nice. he was handsome and also on the basketball team and he was friends with everybody. jongdae definitely seemed like the type of person high school would be a blast to. 

“oh.” is the only thing yunho says.

he has no idea what jongdae meant by ‘easy target’. easy target for who?

all of his classmates were nice enough for now, granted it was only three weeks of the gruesome four years to come but he didn’t think any of his classmates were bullies. they didn’t seem like the type to do anything to purposely harm anyone.

“i’m sure she’s a nice girl but i’m just looking out for you man.” jongdae continues, “don’t want anyone to be messing with you because they’ll definitely be messing with her.”

yunho wonders if jongdae would be the type to mess with you for a couple of laughs. he can’t tell just yet because jongdae really did seem like a nice guy. normal. not malicious at all. he even had dimples.

“right.” yunho responds back, his brows furrowing in thought as he turns to face the blackboard.

he feels like he should say more. maybe defend you a little bit. maybe tell jongdae that he didn’t have a problem copying your homework so why was it a problem to be seen talking to you.

but yunho, as he often does, just keeps quiet.

what would even be the point of saying anything when he really thinks about it. you were all kids. kids can’t do any real harm besides being little teenage assholes. and on top of that, you were in school! it’s safe here. surely, nothing bad will happen to you. 

it was only high school after all.

[stranger-rants]

The Duffers seem to think that being a nerd makes you oppressed somehow. To the point, it looks like that's The Thing that makes you oppressed. I mean Lucas' being black and facing racism is portrayed as an afterthought. The situation that played out in S4 seemed like more of nerds versus jocks situation but in Lucas' case, there are more layers to that situation. First of all, he is a black kid, not just an 'oppressed' nerd. Like, people say that the duffers aimed for realism in portraying Will's 'unrequited' crush but where is the realism exactly? If realism is their strong part and if they truly aimed at portraying minority characters facing oppression of some sort, they would have actually given Lucas' character (and Will's) better portrayals of how they face racism and homophobia respectively.

It doesn't take a genius to think that Lucas would want to stop being a target of bullying not just bc he's a nerd, but bc he already gets targeted due to his race. Also him joining a basketball club would make it easier for him to get a scholarship for college aside from stopping his bullying. It is already hard to get one especially if you're a black boy in 80's. Heck, he made a friendship with another fellow black kid in the town; Patrick. And they didn't even do anything about that either. Imagine they bonded over their situation, and if Lucas talked about wanting to stop his bullying bc he's already targeted bc of his race (the writers literally made the bullies call him Midnight in S1... c'mon now), and he wants to go to the college to get further education and that's why he also wanted to try his chance at the basketball club aside from stopping his bullying.

See? That's what's 'realism'. If the duffers truly aimed at portraying such nuanced situations, we would have seen that. But Lucas is made out to be a 'villain' once again, and is pitted against the fan fav character Eddie, so you automatically are pushed to disagree with Lucas already as he's treated as some sort of a traitor for doing the things he likes. We are meant to ignore his real struggles and the oppression he faces and why it makes sense for him to stop his bullying specifically.

And Mike and Dustin not even getting Lucas' point is irritating. Are we really supposed to believe these are real friends? Their comments like ''have it ever occurred to you that we do not want to be popular?'' to Lucas.... yeah dude ofc you wouldn't want to be 'popular' or want to seem 'normal'. You are a white boy with a privileged family background while your friend is literally a black kid in 80's. Lucas's book touched on this topic which I really liked, but the show almost completely misses the point and it is frustrating.

The way they position Lucas is weird.

When Billy pushed him, that was really his first interaction with Billy. Yeah, Billy chased down the boys with his car, but again... this positions the boys as the bullied and Billy the Bully. Why? ... because they are 'nerds.' So when Lucas gets pushed against the wall, what is he supposed to think?

Then when a lynch mob descends on Hawkins, it is again to punish the 'nerds' for being 'different.' But. Lucas is the one to get cornered and almost killed for it... What is he supposed to think and feel? That he is being targeted because he's a nerd? His friends don't get nearly the same treatment.

Lucas is repeatedly targeted in this show, as well as repeatedly villainized for going against the whims of his friends and for what? If this show is celebrating those who are 'different,' why does it alienate Lucas so much and then punish him for feeling alienated by his very friends... who are white.

I firmly believe Lucas joining the team wasn't just about him wanting to be popular. I think his friends have been pushing him away. I think Lucas needed to be around people who understood him, because clearly his friends don't. Then he's the bad guy for wanting acceptance and validation?

Even in 'nerd' spaces, there is hierarchy. There is privilege. There is racism. Then when black or queer or female nerds are largely outnumbered by white cisgender straight males in nerdy spaces, that inequality is taken as proof that they don't belong which is how Lucas must feel.

All of this despite the fact that a lot of "nerd culture" has been built up by people of color, women, and queer people. I have heard good things about the book, but again it is written by a black author. That makes all the difference. The Duffers as white nerds can't be trusted with these narratives.

They make all these false equivalences between being bullied for liking nerdy things with racism and homophobia and systematic abuse and it's that which makes their writing weaker. It's no surprise The Wheelers are beloved by them while characters like Lucas continually get sidelined.

[apomaro-mellow]

Ep 3

The Caricature Car

Lucas let out a shudder as they exited a door and came to the outside of the car. "Can we take a moment to look around before falling headfirst into something? That was the grossest thing I've ever experienced."

"I tripped", Steve rolled his eyes. "And it wasn't that bad."

"Not that bad?!", Lucas' eyes bugged out.

"Didn't realize you had such an aversion to jello", Eddie grinned.

"That was not jello, that was aspic. Which is just one of the many crimes your people have to eventually answer for", Lucas said while walking the bridge between the cars.

"Who's people do you think he means?", Steve asked.

Eddie patted his shoulder. "I'm gonna wager he's bemoaning the cuisine that many suburban white moms seem to favor. The fact you didn't flinch at beef suspended in gelatin tells a lot about you."

Lucas got to the next door first. "Just watch your step next time."

He opened the door and immediately walked through a scanner. Lucas groaned at his luck while Steve let out a big and smug 'Ha!'.

"What sort of contraption be this?", Chadwick walked in next, but moved around the scanner, as did Steve and Eddie.

All four of them watched in awe as a giant printer sounded and a paper flew from the output. It fluttered until it landed right in front of Lucas. A life size drawing of him with exaggerated features.

"Hey, it's like one of those things you get at an amusement park", Steve snapped his fingers in recognition.

"Honestly not the worst thing to walk into", Eddie put his hands in his pockets as he leaned in to take a closer look at the drawing.

"What are you looking at, freak?", the drawing said, making Eddie jump back, nearly into Steve's chest.

"What the...?", Lucas took a step back.

The drawing stepped off the paper and Chadwick drew his sword. "Stand back, villain!"

"What's he supposed to be? The Tin Man?", Caricature-Lucas said with a sneer.

"Wow, it's like looking at twins", Steve said sarcastically.

"You're taking this so well, it's almost attractive", Eddie said.

Steve would've replied with something he hoped to be clever, but he was caught on Eddie's words.

"Okay, granted, this is probably just as weird as everything else we've seen, but it's still majorly MESSED UP!", Lucas shouted.

Chadwick began to panic. "What evil! I can't tell which is which!"

"Oh give me a break", Lucas groaned and started to walk. The door to the other side wasn't far. It was visible in the distance. Caricature-Lucas followed.

"Why am I going along with these two? A has been and a wannabe?"

Eddie leaned over to Steve. "Am I the has been or the wannabe?"

"Is either good?", Steve asked, tolerating the drawing because surely they'd be able to leave it once they left the car. Then again, Chadwick was able to come with them.

"Steve and Eddie are my friends", Lucas said. "And you don't look anything like me!"

"You're friends with them? I thought the whole reason we joined the team was so we'd stop being bullied. Isn't that why we're doing the basketball camp?", Caricature-Lucas pressed. His paper limbs make crinkly sounds as he walked.

"He's doing the camp because he wants to get better at his game, right Lucas?", Steve said coming up beside him.

"Yeah, I do...But what if getting better means I turn into that?", he asked while gesturing to his paper self.

"I'm what you wanna be", Caricature-Lucas stood in front of him, blocking his way. "Jason was crazy in the end, but you looked up to him. He has everything you want."

"Not everything. And I didn't want to be anything like him."

"Good as basketball, popular, he was able to get the whole town to rally behind him. If you stood up in a crowd and tried that, I don't even think your friends would get behind you."

"Hey, back off", Steve said, pushing the drawing. It felt exactly like shoving paper, ineffective.

Caricature-Lucas continued. "I bet if Jason had shot you that night-"

Eddie roared and took Chadwick's knife, slicing through Caricature-Lucas. Steve took one of the halves and started ripping it into even tinier pieces.

"Fuck that guy", Eddie spit on the lifeless shreds. Then he turned to Chadwick with a low bow. "My apologies for taking your blade without permission.

"None taken, Sir Eddie. I only wish my own hand had been much quicker. How dare he question Sir Lucas' honor and worth?"

"You guys...just ripped me to pieces", Lucas said, looking at what had been himself, all over the ground.

"Lucas, that wasn't you", Steve said. "It was literally a caricature."

"Yeah and a bad one", Eddie added. "Your ears aren't that big. Now if it was my talented hand, I would bring the attention to your strong brow and perfect row of teeth, but that's just me. We can't all be skilled artists."

"Skilled artist my ass, I've seen your doodles", Steve said, stepping over the shreds, towards the door.

"You wound me, good sir!", Eddie exclaimed.

Lucas watched as his number dropped and let out a sigh like a weight had been lifted up from him. He followed behind the two and Chadwick brought up the rear.

Steve’s number: 159

Eddie’s number: 257

Lucas’ number: 25

Next Episode: The Introductions Car

Tag Team

@affablevixen

[miaisagirllover]

My Pro Lucas Agenda

so this post by @robin-buck1ey got me thinking about how ignored lucas is in the stranger things fandom

As you can see in the image, Mike and will have about 100k followers. Dustin has around 40k, but Lucas only has 6k??? So I decided to look at his tag and see what peole are posting under it and a lot of it is either about lumax or general cross-tagging. And all of this made me wonder why Lucas is ignored by the fandom. He’s as much as a main character as the rest of the party. And I think it’s because Lucas’ rationality could be confused for rudeness. Lets look at some examples of times people have ragged on Lucas for just having sense.

Season 1- Finding El in the Wood

We all know ehat happens in Season 1. Will goes missing and the party find El in the woods. This is honestly a little bit sketchy but the only person who sees this is Lucas. Some people might see him calling El a weirdo as him being rude,but honestly he was in the right. Imagine your friend goes missing and then you find this random girl in the woods who has powers. She tells you that your friend is alive, only to see his dead body being found in a lake a few days later. I think I would be freaked out too. Not to mention El messing with the compasses when all Lucas wanted to do was find Will.

Season 4- Basketball or DnD?

In Season 4, Lucas, Mike and Dustin have joined a new DnD party called the Hellfire Club, run by Eddie “The Freak” Munson. But Lucas has also joined the basketball team. He was able to balance the 2 well until the championship game, which was on the same day as Hellfire’s final game. Instead of moving the DnD game so that Lucas can play in the championship (which is arguably more important) he refuses to do so for no good reason. The worst thing is that they used Erica, Lucas’ sister, as his substitute, meaning that she couldn’t go to his game. Kinda twisted if you ask me.

It’s not just Eddie who were in the wrong for this. Mike and Dustin are Lucas’ friend so you think they would side with him. But no, they agreed with Eddie ,sarcastically telling Lucas to ask his coach to postpone the championship game for the Hellfire game. They also assumed Lucas was playing basketball to get popular, but it was a lot deeper than that.

Everyone in the party has been builled for different reasons, but Lucas probably got the worst of it due to him being black. Hawkins is a small conservative town so there was a good chance it was also tolerant of racism. Lucas wanting to get in with the popular crowd wasn’t for the sake of being popular,it was so he could stop being bullied.

Thank you for listening to my rant

[will80sbyers]

im going to be honest, my main issue with Eddie stems from his action regarding Lucas bc I think the way he perceived the situation there was not right or black and white as he claimed. I definitely think Lucas' trying to stop his bullying by joining the basketball club made sense, because after all he's a black kid and we can count that as a likely reason why he wanted to stop his bullying. I agree that the basketball club was asshole, but that doesn't mean Lucas should have been prevented from playing basketball or pursuing another interest of his. That's just ridiculous IMHO and eddie was wrong in that.

I also do not like this 'white and black' way of looking at things bc first of all, it again made Lucas look like some sort of a villain just because he went against Eddie's wished and tried to pursue his another interest (basketball) and he was made out to be a traitor, and I seriously do not like that... especially considering Lucas's situation and how that comes off as, it is not a good narrative or good way of looking at things imho.

what action? how is all of this Eddie's fault exactly????

that is the storyline that the Duffers decided to give to Lucas!

Eddie didn't say Lucas was a traitor he said he was "taken by the dark side" and that he wanted Mike and Dustin to find a substitute for him for that game, he didn't say he would exclude Lucas from future games and didn't say Lucas should not go to the game, to him the basketball team is a bunch of assholes because they acted like that but he didn't talk bad about Lucas, he was his friend too, but Eddie wants to give priority to his d&d club that is his passion... now could he have been less aggressive about finding the substitute? absolutely, but that's his character, you can dislike it but it doesn't mean he's a bad person

he was a normal kid trying to do what he liked and trying to evade the push to conformity that Hawkins has on people, we know people bullied Dustin and Mike at the start of the year and Dustin said Eddie was the only one that was nice to them, we saw him interact very little with the kids and still Dustin loved the guy and Mike did too... so what I can deduce from that is that Eddie is more nice than not and that's only reinforced to me by how he talks to Chrissy making her feel safe and understood when they make the deal and also how he interacts with the others, like Steve etc... he is a normal kid that messes up sometimes but he's mostly good like all the other characters are

[utterrandomnesswithlulu]

Midnight Binge: Stranger Things 4 Pt. 1

WARNING: Wondering why you can’t find Stranger Things S1-3? Simply put, I haven’t done them yet (as of July 15th). I’m starting off with S4 because this season is the freshest in everyone’s minds. No worries though! I will do S1-3 soon. With that being said, YOU ARE ENTERING A SPOILER ZONE! If you haven’t watched Stranger Things in its entirety, STOP READING NOW! I will discuss previous seasons for context, theories, BTS tidbits, and more.

Trigger Warning: This season is much darker and more mature than in previous seasons. Due to HOW the villain goes after his victims, there is a TRIGGER WARNING. In this article, there might be brief discussions of drug use/abuse, eating disorders, physical/mental abuse, and more.

Continue into the Upside Down at your own risk.

WELCOME (BACK) TO HAWKINS

Stranger Things 4 picks up 6–8 months after the events at the Starcourt Mall. However, the group has been separated, Joyce, Jonathan, Jane/El/Eleven, and Will have moved to California, where Eleven struggles with not only the loss of Hopper but also the loss of her abilities and is now the punching bag for bullies in her new school. Joyce has a new job as a telemarketer and tries to figure out the meaning behind a porcelain Russian doll she received; Jonathan has a new friend called Argyle as he tries to figure out how to tell Nancy that he isn’t getting into the same college as she, and Will seems to struggle with something internal, a love interest perhaps?

In Hawkins other issues have arisen, Mike and Dustin are a part of a D&D group called the Hellfire Club (Lucas has also joined this group, but struggles with making time between his two extracurricular activities) that is looked after by Eddie Munson, while Lucas, who is tired of being bullied, has joined the basketball team (mostly as a benchwarmer) and is trying to reconnect with Max (they broke up) as she grapples with her life being overturned and losing her brother, Billy. She frequently seeks guidance from the school counselor, Ms. Kelly. We are also introduced to a cheerleader, Chrissy Cunningham, who is haunted by disturbing visions of a ticking grandfather clock, reaches her breaking point, and seeks help from Eddie by attempting to buy drugs from him. Unfortunately, it’s too late for her as she is possessed by some kind of humanoid, tentacle creature and is killed by it in front of Eddie.

Remember that porcelain Russian doll Joyce received? She reached out to Murray (who still lives in Hawkins) to figure out the significance of the doll. With great care, Joyce breaks open the doll and finds a note within it. This reveals that Hopper is indeed still alive and imprisoned in Russia.

Before I cover the next segment, there is an opening scene for the first episode. This is a flashback to 1979 with Dr. Martin Brenner and shows him and his team of scientists experimenting on a group of children with supernatural abilities. For reasons not shown, something happens that leads to all the children minus Eleven being killed in a horrific manner.

With Hopper confirmed alive, Joyce and Murray head to Alaska to negotiate his release. Mike has traveled to California to visit Eleven, and witnesses that everything that she told him in her letters was a lie. Eleven, who has had enough of Angela’s (her main bully) brutality, retaliates by hitting her in the face with a rollerskate.

After Chrissy’s gruesome death, Max tells Dustin that she saw Eddie run away from his trailer the night she died. Dustin is firm in his belief that something Upside Down is related to Chrissy’s death, and doesn’t want to believe the police that Eddie is responsible. With Robin and Steve, they find Eddie and explain everything to him, and Dustin names the creature Vecna.

Nancy, who is a reporter for her high school newspaper, investigates Chrissy’s death with a fellow reporter, Fred Benson. Eddie’s uncle, Wayne Munson, tells Nancy about similar murders that happened to a family in the 1950s. He tells her he believes the killer is Victor Creel, who has been institutionalized since his family’s death. During this time, Fred is taken by Vecna’s curse.

Dr. Sam Owens makes an appearance as Lt. Col. Jack Sullivan visits to find out where Eleven (who he believes is responsible for the deaths in Hawkins) is.

Eleven has been arrested for assault, but Owens intervenes and explains what is happening in Hawkins, and gives her a choice. Return with him where she can get the opportunity to have her powers return (a project that he’s been working on) or continue to live in California with her family. Eleven agrees to go with him and Mike, Will, and Jonathan find themselves under the protection of agents that follow Owens.

Nancy and Robin find out more about what happened to the Creel family. Victor Creel, who had been indicted for the murder of his wife and daughter, blamed a demon for his family’s death. They believe this demon to be Vecna.

Jason Carver, the team captain, and boyfriend of Chrissy, goes on a manhunt with the basketball team to find Chrissy’s murderer, Eddie. He pulls Lucas into this, but he ends up abandoning the basketball team to warn his friends.

Max, Steve, Robin, Dustin, and Nancy break into the high school to access the school counselor records as Max recalls seeing Chrissy leave Ms. Kelly’s office. They steal Chrissy and Fred’s records and begin connecting the dots that, like Max, they all suffer from PTSD. Max hears Vecna and the grandfather clock ticking.

Joyce and Murray have been traveling to Alaska to deliver the ransom payment to Antonov’s contact, Yuri. However, they’re betrayed by Yuri, who has intentions of turning in Antonov, Hopper, Joyce, and Murray to the Russians for more money.

Will, Mike, and Jonathon, who have been planning their escape to reunite with Eleven, find themselves under attack by Lt. Col. Sullivan’s men. With the help of Argyle, they are able to escape with an injured Agent Harmon(who unfortunately dies later from his wounds).

Nancy and Robin get into the institution where Creel resides by posing as psychology students and are able to get a five-minute interview. Creel recounts the murders. Virginia and Alice Creel are killed in the same way as Chrissy and Fred, but Victor has been institutionalized since 1959. They wonder why there was an almost thirty-year gap between kills.

Max, who is running out of time, writes letters to all her loved ones, including Billy. She visits Billy’s grave to read the letter to him and is possessed by Vecna. Max finds herself on some kind of altar inside his mind. Meanwhile, Lucas, Dustin, and Steve learn that music can help break the spell from Nancy and Robin. Max’s favorite song is Running Up That Hill by Kate Bush. They can find the cassette tape and play her the song, allowing Max to return to them.

Owens and Eleven arrive at an abandoned ICBM silo in Nevada, where she finds out that Brenner is not only alive but is one of the minds behind The NINA Project. The isolation tank (NINA) is specialized to allow Eleven to explore repressed memories. When trying to escape, she finds that she still has her powers, and this convinces her to continue forward with the experiment.

Agent Harmon, who has died, gave Mike, Will, Jonathan, and Argyle a clue to find Eleven. A pen containing the number that connects them to the NINA Project. They enlist Suzie, Dustin’s girlfriend, to help them find the NINA Project.

Eleven, through NINA, can relive memories and finds that she has befriended a “Friendly Orderly” who warns her about Brenner and his lies. Eleven is ostracized and bullied by the other subjects, which leads her to believe she was responsible for the incident in the rainbow room.

Hopper finds out that the Russians have a Demogorgon and tells the others that they have no chance of surviving against it. He comes up with a plan to steal liquor and a lighter from a guard after expressing that the Demogorgon’s only weakness is fire. Joyce, Yuri, and Murray (who have disguised themselves to break into the prison) are given a tour of the prison and a special look at the Demogorgon killing pit.

Jason, who has been on a relentless mission to find Eddie, begins turning minds against what he believes is a Satanic Cult or also known as the Hellfire Club. Steve, Dustin, Robin,andNancy, who have found Eddie (after escaping from Jason’s group) realize that Dustin’s compass is acting oddly. Dustin, having seen this happen before, tells the rest that there is a gate nearby to the Upside Down. Dubbed Watergate, they trace it back to Lover’s Lake, where Steve investigates, only to be yanked through it by bat-like creatures later called Demobats. Nancy, Robin, and Eddie follow him through the Watergate on a rescue mission.