#he's a seriously messed up guy and a monster in his own right. He LET that monster out and let it almost destroy Izzy | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

nametakensff · 10 months

Note

Could you possibly write 🧡 for platonic S/tobin? I love the way you always allude to them in your S/teddie fics, and I’d love to see how you write them!

Hey anon, thank you for the prompt (Warm Night In)! Had a lot of fun writing this, and it ended up just over 8k!

((Set this in my S/teddie Mutual fetish AU - this would take part a few months after the S4 v/ecna bs (obviously everyone lives and H/awkins remains unscathed for the most part because I crave happiness) - pre-relationship, mutual pining on either side))

S/teve comes down with an absolute monster of a cold and R/obin is there to look after him

~~~~~~

Content:

Platonic S/tobin, S/teddie pre-relationship (M/M), cold sneezes, loud sneezes, sneezing in tissues, S/teve blowing his nose in E/ddie's bandana, fever, coughing, caretaking, mess, spray, descriptions of explicit fetish fantasies, mentions of potential contagion, R/obin is a very good sport about S/teve being terrible at covering his sneezes

CW: internalised homophobia, S/teve is insecure about his fetish

NSFW - fic is about a platonic M/F relationship but includes separate NSFW M/M content - minors DNI!

“HH-H!! HAHHRISHHHHOOOHhh! Fuck…”

Steve snuffled miserably into the soggy tissue he’d managed to catch his most recent explosion in. It looked about as sturdy as he currently felt – which was to say, not at all. He reached out from under the protective cover of his jacket, functioning as a makeshift blanket as he lay on the breakroom couch, and plucked another 3 tissues from the quickly diminishing box. Taking in a deep breath, he blew his nose with as much force as he could muster, desperate to get some relief from the built-up congestion. All attempts of keeping noise to a minimum had dwindled hours ago, along with whatever remained of his energy. He tried not to think about the customers browsing the shelves of the establishment for movies, how they could probably hear every crackling shift of mucus that he forced out into the tissues, the embarrassingly loud honk that rounded off his efforts.

It felt as though he’d spent more time in the first half of his shift stifling the never-ending barrage of sneezes between his pinching fingers than actually working. It hadn’t done anything for his headache, squeezing his temples as if in a vice – and it certainly hadn’t helped with the blockage in his sinuses. Once Robin had shown up that afternoon, she had all but forced him to go and lie down in the back, pulling him by the arm even as he smothered another miserable sneeze against his palm.

“Steve, please. If not for your own sake, do this for me. I don’t want to be responsible for letting you die on shift from some kind of freak head explosion – especially not in front of the customers. Who do you think’ll be the one scrubbing your brains off the walls?”

“Jesus, Robin. It’s not th’haahht….that ba’hhHDD!!”

Out of pure habit at that point, Steve had pinched his quivering nostrils closed, that final touch of his fingers to the sensitive skin pushing him over the edge.

“HAHH’GXKKT’SCHHH!!”

It was quieter than his unsuppressed sneezes, nobody could fight him on that. But it’d still been loud, the desperate attempt at wrangling it into submission making it angrier, more violent to his ears – and evidently, Robin’s. She’d hissed in sympathy as he let go of his nose, the wrinkle of concern between her furrowed brows growing deeper as his sinuses audibly squeaked with each post-sneeze snuffle.

“You shouldn’t do that.” She’d worried her bottom lip between her teeth. “You’ll seriously hurt yourself – blow out an eardrum or something. Steve – don’t.” She finished firmly, glaring as he had started to lift his hand up to his nose in preparation for an encore.

“But ih-hih-! It’s so loud – I –“

“It’s okay, dingus. There’s, like, one guy here right now. In the adult movie section. At 4:30pm.”

It was certainly a reassuring statement, but it wasn’t really as if Steve would have been able to hold back in the first place. The couch shook with the force of the sneeze that rocked through him – the first he had actually let out unhindered since the tickle had taken hold hours earlier. He’d practically roared with the effort of it, drenching his palms as he caught it between his steepled hands.

“HAHHH’RESSSSSHHHHIEWWWW!!!”

He’d noticed Robin jump, heard her mutter a soft “oh my god” as her soul no doubt left her body. Glancing up apologetically, he had blinked through bleary eyes at her, holding his soiled hands in place. He hoped she didn’t notice the slight shiver that ran down his spine, the goosebumps breaking out over his arms. After holding back for so long, it had felt so good to purge the tickle completely, like spreading a soothing balm over the persistent, niggling itch.

“Sorry.” He had just about resisted the urge to sniffle again, knowing it would sound gnarly.

“That’s ok – hey, look at that, I don’t need that midday coffee anymore. Totally awake!” She smiled like a dork and he couldn’t help grinning behind the protective cover of his hands.

“I’m gonna walk to the store on my lunch break and get you some things. Are you allergic to any medicines? Does your head hurt? Would you say you’re coming down with a cough – and is it a chesty kind of deal, or is it more tickly? Do you –“

“Robi’d.” Steve had cut her off, both of them visibly wincing as he struggled to pronounce her name. As if he didn’t feel disgusting enough, he could feel his nostrils twitching and flaring, another colossal sneeze working its way up and out of his sinuses just moments later.

“HAHHH’GITTSSCHHH’IEWWW!! Oh M’by god….”

Messy. So, so messy. As he’d snuffled and searched frantically for something to save him, Robin had slid a small pack of tissues across the coffee table in front of the couch.

“Guess I’ll take my break now. Try and hold out with these. Do not move. I’ll be back in 20 minutes, tops!”

With that, she’d spun on her heels and barrelled out of the door, leaving him to sit and stare at the tissues, holding his sticky hands tightly to his face as he tried to formulate the best plan of action. Before he’d even started to reach for them, Robin had stuck her head round the breakroom door one last time.

“Oh, and before I forget – Bless you!”

~~~~~~

‘Do not move’, she’d said. Steve had initially intended to clean himself up and ignore her entirely, getting back to organising the latest releases on the shelves and continuing as before. That had been his intention, but after the laborious and disgusting task of cleaning up his hands and face with tissues so flimsy they stuck to his skin almost instantly, and the blood rush that hit him so hard the moment he stood up he had swooned with it – not moving sounded like a great idea, actually. And so he hadn’t, for hours now.

He tossed the latest bundle of soaked tissues in the general direction of the trash can, using another few to dab gingerly under his damp, sensitive nostrils. Robin had been sure to pick him up some Kleenex Mansize on her trip to the pharmacy, making Steve blush when she’d mentioned they were the next best thing to getting him a tablecloth to use. He knew she’d just been joking but for various…reasons, his regrettably huge – and often, extremely messy – sneezes were a topic he didn’t like to draw attention to. They did a good enough job of doing that themself, turning more than a few heads each time they ripped through his sinuses. She’d noticed his change in demeanour immediately, because of course she had, and her voice had softened as she made some comment or other about ‘you know what they say about big sneezes’. He’d had to laugh at that – she had an amazing ability to disarm and placate him when all he wanted was to defend.

It was hard not to be defensive when it came to the topic of sneezing. He wondered if he’d ever be brave enough to explain why to Robin. He’d disclosed more to her than he had to any other person – even Nancy. And for what it was worth, that seemed to be the case for Robin, too. She may not have ended up his girlfriend, but this was better. She was his best friend, his person. He considered it a blessing that she actually couldn’t like him in that way – he was a fuck up, romantically. It only seemed to push people away when he got emotionally involved – another thing he had confessed to her one night when they were cuddled up in her bedroom, the late hour and the collective exhaustion between the pair of them elevating their meaningless rambling into much deeper, scarier territory.

She’d told him at the time that he wasn’t a fuck up, that he was fucking great and that he just had to believe her. That he had to slow down and stop treating dating like it was some kind of doomsday race, and that he would definitely find the girl for him. He’d been surprised that, although the comment was reassuring in its own way, something felt a little…off. Probably because an image of Eddie flashed across his mind in that moment, and the gravity of it was too much for him to handle. He’d tried his best to ignore it, but it had only flourished in the following weeks to the point he was thinking about the metalhead near constantly. It terrified him, truth be told. And that fear made him feel like a hypocrite above all else. How could he accept Robin with such ease but the thought of himself liking men almost had him breaking out in a cold sweat?

It really didn’t help that Eddie had the most extensive and pervasive allergies of anyone Steve had ever known. He’d figured the fits he’d been privy to at the boat house had been circumstantial. It had been dusty enough that he’d sneezed a couple of times himself, and he’d been there sparingly – for Eddie, it had been days of exposure. Of course he’d had a rough time. But, as time went on, Steve realised it wasn’t just dust. It was dust, and mould, and pollen, and certain perfumes, and feathers – the list that Steve wouldn’t admit to mentally keeping continued to grow as the days became weeks became the last couple of months. He would be engrossed in conversation, completely captivated by whatever Eddie was saying and happily so, when the older man’s expression would crumple and Steve had to pretend to be a normal person as he witnessed the most erotic allergic reactions of his life unfold mere feet away from him.

He felt he did a pretty good job, thank you very much. He even remembered to bless Eddie about half of the time, and enjoyed the bashful smile he got in response when he did. He was pretty sure he didn’t turn totally bright red each time – something he considered a huge achievement. Crossing his legs was a surefire way of concealing any visible…excitement. He was nailing it. Dealing with Eddie’s sneezes was one thing - as much as he had tried to hold back around the older man, he’d slipped up a few times and sneezed his embarrassing, splashy, intrusive sneezes in front of him. Luckily, the metalhead didn’t seem entirely repulsed – if anything, Steve noticed a twinkle in his expressive eyes, noticed a certain shift in his demeanour and body language as he focused in on him. It made him far too happy to be blessed by Eddie, but it simultaneously made him want the ground to open up and swallow him whole. This growing attraction to the older man, his – interest, going into overdrive; all of it was just too much to deal with – so he…didn’t. Basically.

And he didn’t need to be thinking about all this right now – not when his head was pounding and his eyes and nose were leaking like a faucet. And this fucking tickle…

Sitting up now, he reached frantically for another handful of tissues, holding them at the ready in an upraised hand as he panted and gasped, willing the maddening tickle to culminate and grant him some temporary reprieve. He could feel his nostrils flaring, stretching to capacity as the itch burrowed and crawled through his sinuses, leaving them damp and threatening to overflow.

“Come on…” he grumbled aloud after a particularly desperate gasp scissored out of him, causing tears of irritation to bead at the corners of his eyes but leaving him notably bereft of sneezes.

He reached up with a finger of the hand not cradling the tissues expectantly in front of him and nudged the tip of his nose from side to side. More often than not, a little manual stimulation could help a particularly stubborn sneeze along, at least if he was ticklish enough. It seemed to do its job, a few little wiggles igniting the tickle and leaving him bristling with the force of the subsequent inhale.

“HHDTT-!! HUUURRRSHHHHH’OOHhh!! HARRRUSHHHH’IEWWW!! TISSSCHHH’IEWW!! HAGT’TSCHHHHhhhh!!”

The tissues were predictably destroyed in the onslaught, damp and torn against his palm. He sat in place for a moment, leaning heavily to one side on the arm he’d frantically propped up against the couch to steady himself. That fit had been intense, each sneeze seeming to begin at his toes and rip through his entire body, muscles seizing and skin tingling. He felt pretty pathetic, shaking like a leaf and panting in the aftermath, extremely grateful that although everyone in downtown Hawkins could probably hear the excruciatingly fast progression of his illness, they couldn’t see him. He swiped at his dripping nostrils with what was left of the tissues before tossing them, plucking even more to tend to his leaking eyes, his lips dampened with heavy spray. One wary glance at the box revealed that it was almost empty. With a defeated sigh, he allowed himself to fall back against the couch, one arm slung over his closed eyes.

He hated being sick. The lack of control, the way it distracted him from focusing his energy on others, demanding he focus on himself, his weakened body that was no longer cooperating with him. The humiliation of it – the way he was such a gross, drippy mess. He felt like a germ factory, and he wasn’t wrong.

The worst part of it all, even above feeling shitty and gross and useless – was that he was inevitably going to get Robin sick. Her parents were out of town for the week, some old hippy reunion somewhere or other. Robin was fine with the peace and having the house to herself, he knew that – but they’d both decided that since he drove her to and from school and work most days and they hung out most days too, it would make sense that she just stay with him for the week.

It was fun, like they were real roommates – or maybe siblings? Both of them were Only Children so it wasn’t like they had any means of comparison, but the closeness and easiness of their bond was undeniable to themselves and everyone around them. Every day, they’d wake up, eat breakfast together, Steve would drop Robin off and they'd go about their respective school or work, reconvene for their shared evening shifts, eat dinner together, sometimes hang out with each other and sometimes not. They’d planned to veg out tonight, watch some dumb movies and relax. It was great hanging out with everyone, especially now that Eddie had been welcomed into the fold, but he needed his Robin time. Working together most of the week was great, for sure, but it was still work.

That had been the plan, but now he was wondering if he should muster up the rest of his strength at the end of the day to drop her off at her house and drive himself back home alone, sequestering himself away until this plague-like sickness fucked off for good. He knew already she wouldn’t allow it, but he was going to proffer the suggestion anyway.

He glanced at the crooked clock on the wall – just about two hours ‘til closing. Keith and the other coworker Steve had yet to meet would be working tomorrow, and he had the weekend off, for which he could not have imagined he would ever feel so grateful. Maybe he could sneeze and cough and wheeze this cold out of his system in a day if he willed it so. He felt awful that Robin had been working the front alone, especially as business ramped up to a maximum on Friday evenings. Just two more hours.

~~~~~

“…eve. Hey, Steve. Wakey wakey. Steeeve.”

It took Steve a moment to realise who he was, let alone where he was and the fact that Robin was gently shaking him awake. He groaned as his head started to throb almost immediately, as if the headache had been waiting to strike the second he woke up. His eyes opened slowly, irritated and dry, and scanned their way upwards to take in the nervous expression on Robin’s face. She was smiling, sure, but she was terrible at masking her concern. It worried him more than a little that she was even trying to hide the anxiety she would usually wear so plainly.

“…Robin?” He managed to rasp out. They both winced at the ragged sound of it.

“Jeez, Dingus. You sound like you swallowed a pile of broken glass.” Robin was still smiling, but it didn’t reach her eyes. If anything, they looked almost glossy enough that tears were imminent. Steve absolutely couldn’t stand that – the immediate need to reassure her galvanised him, the final push he needed to drag himself upwards and into a seated position. His head throbbed, and he gritted his teeth against the pain. He sensed Robin hovering, even with his eyes closed could visualise her hesitant hand outstretched toward him.

“I’m okay,” He cleared his throat somewhat productively, and tried again. “I’m okay, Robin.” Slightly better.

She flashed him another sad smile.

“You’re really not, Steve. But you don’t need to be.”

He didn’t really have a response to that – he just nodded, kneading at his temple a couple of times, willing the pain to recede. Sitting up had only made the throbbing worse, and on top of that the shifting of mucus in his sinuses had brought that ever-lingering tickle back to the surface. And god, did it tickle…

“I’ve gotten everything sorted out front. It’s a teeny tiny bit early, but I figure we’re alright to head out now. Do you – oh.”

Robin paused, taking in Steve’s tortured expression and the way his chest jumped with increasingly violent inhales. He noticed her noticing, started to blush as he lifted a hand frantically to cover his twisting facial features. He scrambled madly for the tissue box, but he wasn’t going to make it, he was going to sneeze, and-

He felt Robin press a handful of fresh tissues into his reaching palm, but he was too slow. The first sneeze burst out into his waiting palm, drenching it with spray and an unfortunate build-up of mess.

“RRRRISCCHHHHHH’IEWWWW!!”

He had just enough time to raise the tissues in his other hand to his face for the volley that followed, awkwardly cradling his soiled hand in a partial fist to shield the damage from Robin.

“HAHHHDTT’SHIEWWWWW!! HH’RRRUSHHHH’OOHH!! RRRRRSHHHH’UHHH!!”

He shuddered, the force of the powerful sneezing sapping him of almost all of his remaining energy. He gingerly wiped at his nose and tossed the sodden wad towards the trash can, composed enough now to reach for more clean tissues on his own and tend to his hands.

He glanced up and noticed Robin standing awkwardly with her arms wrapped around her lanky frame, half-watching and half-floundering, not sure where to look and chewing her bottom lip hard enough that it looked painful.

“Ugh, sorry you had to see that, Robs. I really am okay, I promise. Definitely sick. But okay.” He tossed the second wad of tissues in the trash and stood up tentatively, wobbling a little but managing not to fall on his ass. Robin had reached out then, steadied him with a soft hand to the back of his tricep. She gasped, eyes darting up to his face.

“Steve, you’re boiling hot! Like, volcanic explosion, magma-level hot!”

He sighed, knowing there was no way his verbal reassurances would get through to her at this point. He could understand how she was feeling – everyone called him a mother hen, and he knew it was true. Worrying about other people was an immutable and extremely prominent part of his personality. He’d be fussing over her just as much if he were in her shoes – would offer to carry her to the car if she was this shaky on her feet, even knowing he’d probably get an ‘Ew, gross’ and stalwart refusal to let him do so.

“’S just a mild fever. I run hot anyway, you know that.” He rounded off this blasé statement with an obnoxiously noisy sniffle.

She wrinkled her nose at him.

“Can you drive like this?” She asked, voice heavy with concern as she helped him gather up his things.

“Absolutely. Driven under much worse conditions, remember?” He was referring to driving uphill in the dark, borderline concussed, and the both of them knew it.

“That was different – desperate times, fighting an evil sludge monster. The only evil sludge monster here right now is you, Harrington.”

He snuffled again, the sound of it thick and wet, causing her to wince. Her poorly veiled disgust wasn’t making him feel much better, but he also couldn’t hold it against her. He sounded gross.

“It was different – like I said, much worse conditions. I have a cold, Robin. I’m not on my death bed or anything.” He shouldered his backpack, clearing his throat and managing to hold back what he was sure would be an obnoxiously prolonged coughing fit. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

She shrugged and followed him as he strode – or attempted to stride – out into the store. She was hovering, making sure he wouldn’t fall – it was sweet but still irritating. By the time they reached the car, she was close enough that when he spun round suddenly she nearly fell backwards in shock. He reached out to grab and steady her by the forearm, feeling guilty immediately that he’d touched her with a germy hand.

“Listen, Robin – I really don’t want you to catch this. Will you let me drive you home? I can bring you your stuff back in a couple of days.”

“Steve,” she started, her tone soft but firm. “I’m not leaving you alone right now. I don’t care if I get sick – you need someone to help you.”

“I don’t – “

“Don’t bother trying to talk me out of it. You’d just hide yourself away and get sicker and sicker, feeling sorry for yourself and ignoring anybody who reached out to you. You sound awful, Steve, I’m serious. I’m staying with you. Tough shit.”

He blinked at her. He’d expected her to refuse, but not the additional psychoanalytical beat down.

“Um. Wow, okay, sure. It’s your funeral if you catch it.” He shrugged, opening the car door.

“Thought you weren’t on your death bed.” She quipped back, settling into the passenger seat.

“Yeah, well.”

~~~~~~

After all the easy-going confidence with which he’d reassured Robin he was totally fine to drive, within minutes he realised that whilst he technically could, it would not be fun. If anything, he’d felt better with the concussion. He had a permanent bundle of tissues in his right hand, even as he clutched the wheel, ready to stifle sneeze after sneeze as Robin fretted beside him and held the wheel steady enough that they wouldn’t go veering dangerously off-road. They were a week into May, the weather not even remotely cold outside, but the fever had left him chilled and shivering enough that he’d turned the heating up anyway, apologising to Robin. It wasn’t helping, however, and all the shift in temperature seemed to do was tickle his sensitive nose even more.

It was as Steve pulled to a stop at a red light that the tickle blossomed so suddenly and so intensely that he couldn’t even think to let go of the wheel and ready himself to sneeze into his tissues. His chest jumped with a wrenching gasp, nostrils flaring wide and jaw snapping open in an instant. It tickled so, so much; even as it tipped his head back and squeezed his eyes closed, he couldn’t deny that the sensation was immensely pleasurable, moreso knowing that the resultant sneeze was going to be an absolute monster. He craved that release after all those hastily suppressed sneezes, pinching his reddened nostrils shut against the force of them.

Focusing all of his energy on the sneeze and losing himself entirely, he hitched once, twice, and then –

“HAHHHDDT’TIISSSCCHHHHH’IEWWWW!!!”

It tore through him, sending him tumbling forward in his chair. As he’d expected, it felt fucking incredible – he leaned into it, savoured that tingling relief that spread through his limbs as his lungs pushed out every last bit of air through his pursed lips.

“Oh, god, Steve!”

Robin’s yelp pulled him back to the present - the embarrassing, unfortunate present in which he had just sprayed the sneeze to end all sneezes all over the steering wheel, dashboard, his own arms and hands, and practically everything else within a 4 foot radius as the massive cloud of aerosol swirled in the air around him. He felt his entire face burning – he meant to apologise, he really did, but the tickle returned with a vengeance and it was just too strong.

“TTTISSSSHHHHH’IIEWWWW!! HH’RISSSSSHH’OOohh!!”

He sneezed twice more in much the same fashion, helpless to control it. He rocked with them, eyes streaming in irritation, feeling his muscles strain with the effort and the way it almost lifted him from his seat.

“Steve!! Oh my god, that went everywhere!” He heard Robin complain, saw how out of the corner of his eye she rolled down her window frantically.

“Fuck, I’m –“ He started before a loud honking behind them cut him off. The light had turned green and the car behind them was impatiently telling them to haul ass – how embarrassing. He stepped on the gas, blushing to his ears and hoping that the other driver hadn’t been witness to that repulsive display.

He sniffled, turning a corner and, thankfully, onto a road with no other drivers. He took the chance to peer down sheepishly at the damage he’d caused. His steering wheel was almost dripping; the dashboard glittering with visible droplets of his spray; he could even see a shimmer of dampness on the back of his hands and forearms.

“Robin,” he started, scrambling with one hand for some clean tissues and scrubbing at every surface he could reach. “I am so, so sorry. That was disgusting. Did I – did I get you?”

He turned to her, plucking a handful of tissues from the box and thrusting them at her. He realised with some dismay as she accepted them that said box was now completely empty.

“I don’t know what happened – I just couldn’t control them. God.” He scrunched his eyes shut before remembering he was in the middle of driving.

“Ugh, Dingus. It’s okay. I mean, it’s pretty gross but I’ve had, like, gooey monster tentacles all over me. I can handle your mucus.”

“Fuck.” It didn’t help – he was still mortified. Robin was such a good sport – he imagined most people would have punched him square in the jaw for that performance.

“Steve, hey. You’re really sick, it’s okay.” She patted him on the arm conciliatorily.

“God. I guess I am. That shit felt like it bounced my brain off my skull.” Normally he wouldn’t talk about his sneezes, especially not how they made him feel, but he was truly shaken.

“Think you can hold it together ‘til we get to your place?” She asked, resting her hand on his arm now. The gentle touch felt reassuring.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’ll b-be-! Hh’HUH!”

“Gonna sneeze again?”

Regrettably so, he really was. Panicking, he started to gasp into another buildup.

“I dohh-h’ont-!! I don’t h’hahh!! Hahhve any-! Any Tih’hh-! TTTTISHHHHIEWWWW!!” He exploded, this time jerking to his left to avoid spraying Robin and instead baptising the window beside him. The car lurched with him – Robin squeaked and grabbed for the steering wheel, pulling it towards herself to steady them back onto the road.

“Sorry, sorry, fuck!” Steve snuffled heavily. Mess was now dripping in twin streams over his upper lip, making him feel more disgusting than ever.

“No tissues?” Robin said, letting go of the wheel and wriggling in her seat, looking all around her for a spare. She came up empty, as Steve knew she would.

“Hold on,” She started, leaning back and angling herself between their seats as she reached into the back. “Might be something back here.”

Steve started to sniffle again but held himself back, anxious it would only trigger another spraying sneeze – one that would no doubt splatter the front window with its productiveness.

“I really don’t think – “

“Bingo!” Robin announced, audibly proud of herself. When Steve turned his head to look at the item she proffered towards him, his blush returned in earnest. Eddie’s bandana-slash-handkerchief. He must have left it there the last time he’d ridden with Steve. Come to think of it, when he’d driven Dustin, Lucas and Eddie to a campaign at the Wheeler house, the metalhead had been pretty…sensitive. He’d reassured them that it was just allergies, nothing to worry about. And it really hadn’t been all that much, but even a sniffle from Eddie was enough to send all the blood in Steve’s body rushing straight to fill his cock.

Not only had Eddie sneezed, a series of sweet little stifles that had Steve’s heart beating at 100mph, he’d sniffled and rubbed at his pinkened nostrils with the very bandana Robin was now pressing into the palm of a hand she had pried free from his grip on the steering wheel. He must have forgotten about it and left it there, sitting on the floor of Steve’s car, completely unaware of how intensely erotic said item was to the former jock. Had he known it was there, would he have had the courage to return it to Eddie himself? It seemed to burn in his palm. Eddie’s adorable, desperate sneezes had been sprayed and muffled into this fabric. It was too much – on top of the fever, this deviant spiral of thought left him feeling as though his brain was seconds away from leaking out his ears.

“…Steve?” Robin asked. He jumped, eyes flickering upwards from their fixed stare on the bandana to her confused expression, then swivelling straight back to the road before he really did make them crash.

“Yeah. Uhh. It’s Eddie’s.” He said, as if that meant anything at all to Robin. He heard her laugh.

“Uh, yeah, Steve, I figured. Unless black and skulls are your thing now.” She was teasing him, and not just about his fashion choices. He wasn’t sure how, but he sensed that she was, and it went deeper than his stupidly obvious statement.

“So…are you gonna use it?” She asked a moment later, and Steve remembered the entire reason she’d given it to him in the first place. He’d been focusing so hard on keeping the blood in his head and not in his cock that he was almost functioning on autopilot. He was suddenly very aware that the mess running down his face was moments away from ending up in his mouth.

“Yeah, fuck, sorry.” Desperate to avoid her scrutinous gaze, he hurriedly brought the fabric to his face and blew into it, hard. Arousal blossomed anew, thinking about Eddie doing the same – about every sneeze the fabric had been graced with now touching his face. It was driving him crazy. He wished he was alone in this moment – if he was, he’d pull off the road, haphazardly park, then jerk himself hard and fast until he was coming into the bandana, that sexy little piece of fabric that almost functioned like an indirect kiss.

Miraculously, he was only a little hard – enough that Robin wouldn’t notice, especially since dicks were a big enough source of amused repulsion for her that she was unlikely to be looking. He imagined the illness was helping to keep him soft; he really did feel shitty, increasingly shittier with every passing minute. He rounded off with one final, honking blow before sighing deeply – a weary, exhausted exhalation of defeat. Robin rubbed his arm reassuringly.

“Almost home.”

~~~~~~

In the twenty minutes that had passed since they’d walked through Steve’s front door, he had: sneezed at least 10 times; almost brained himself on the corner of his dresser as he attempted to wriggle out of his (admittedly pretty tight) jeans; coughed hard and long enough to leave his throat burning; and almost fallen down the stairs dressed in the comfortable loungewear Robin had insisted he put on.

In short, he wasn’t doing so hot. He hoped that this fast progression from awful to even worse would end up in his favour, aligning with the hope from earlier that he could burn through this sickness over the next couple of days, as if sprinting to the finish line. He really didn’t think he could handle feeling this terrible for much longer than that. It was as if every cell in his body was committing mutiny against him.

He lowered himself onto the living room couch on shaky legs and wrapped his arms around himself. He had no idea how he could be so hot but feel so cold. Like, okay, he understood the concept of a fever, but it still didn’t make the paradoxical sensation any easier to bear. He shivered miserably.

Robin bustled into the room a moment later, carrying a soft sherpa blanket in a scrambled heap, as if she’d yanked it from its neatly folded position in the main bedroom linen closet in a rush. Steve was certain this was absolutely the case.

“Heyy, buddy,” she started, still a little on edge but evidently happy to be done with that tumultuous car journey. “You should get under this blanket. You know what – lemme just…”

Initially thrusting the bundle of fabric at Steve, she seemed to change her mind and took it upon herself to wrap the blanket round him – even tucking it closer when it threatened to slip down his shoulders. Steve felt himself blushing a little and hoped that it wouldn’t be all too obvious on top of his fever-flushed complexion. He and Robin had cuddled together on occasion, sure – they’d held hands, too, discovering the contact felt reassuring and natural – but this level of intimacy and caretaking was something he’d never experienced – from anyone, really, but especially not from her. Her usual style was more sarcastic one-liners, name-calling and gentle shoves. To be fussed over by anyone was hard for him to accept, so it felt more than a little daunting at the hands of his best friend - purely because it felt so alien. One tentative glance at Robin confirmed that she must have been feeling pretty similarly awkward herself.

“Okay. I ordered us pizza – I know soup would probably be better, yeah, I realised that after I hung up the phone, shit – but anyway, that’s dinner. I’m gonna get you some water and Tylenol – maybe tea? Do you want tea?”

He couldn’t help but smile at how endearingly unnatural she was finding this. He knew if he was in her shoes she’d be wrapped up, propped up, fed and medicated 10 minutes ago. He’d still be brimming with anxious energy but that would be the natural result of the helplessness he’d feel that he couldn’t take away her discomfort on the spot. That she was trying, really, honestly trying, made his heart swell.

“Um, no tea, Robs. I don’t even know if we have any. Could you get me a cold compress for my head, maybe?”

Her eyes widened for a moment before they rolled back into her head dramatically, and she slapped a hand to her forehead.

“Uh, yes, of course I can do that – can’t believe I haven’t already. Sorry, Steve, just a minute – “ She was already halfway out the door by the time she finished.

“Robin, you don’t need to run – I’m okay!” He called out after her, regretting it almost immediately as his throat seized and he was thrown forward with a violent fit of coughing. He attempted to muffle it into one blanketed hand, shielding his mouth with the fabric. As if he didn’t feel disgusting enough already, he felt a tickle blossoming deep in his sinuses, so quickly that almost the moment he finished hacking he was gasping deeply in preparation for the oncoming explosion.

“Hh’Ohh goddDD’TTSSSHHHIEWWW!! HXXT’SHIEWWWW!! HAH’RRRRSHHHH’UU!! Oh…”

He shuddered and gingerly pulled his nose back from the now sodden fabric, clinging to the palm of his hand under the weight of the mess. Cursing, he scrambled to pull his other hand free of the blanket, snatching a handful of tissues from the box on the coffee table that he now regrettably wished he’d had half the mind to reach for sooner. Eddie’s bandana might have been a relief at first, but it was now so thoroughly sneezed and snorted into that it lay useless and dejected in Steve’s laundry hamper.

“Bless you, Dingus!” Robin called out from somewhere in the house.

He didn’t bother calling back, not wanting to trigger a repeat performance of that entirely disgusting display. At least the sneezes had felt halfway relieving – though very productive, the results of which he frantically scrubbed from the soggy patch of blanket. After he’d done all he could, he sighed and attempted to snuggle back into the couch cushions. ‘Attempt’ being the operative word, here – the Harrington household couches were much like everything else in the joint: carefully selected to signal a certain degree of cold and detached classiness, more like a showroom than a home. The Buckley household was much more inviting. Hell, even the couch at the Munson trailer was effortlessly comfortable, even with the creaky springs that prodded you as you moved.

He wondered what Eddie was doing now – planning for a campaign? Playing guitar? Some party, somewhere? He hadn’t spoken to him for a couple of days, come to think of it. He realised suddenly that he really wanted to talk to him. More than that, he just wanted to listen. Even with this persistent headache, he wanted to sit back just like this, eyes closed in surrender, and let Eddie ramble away about whatever he pleased. It didn’t really matter what was said as long as it was him saying it. These thoughts, though initially soothing and pleasant, very quickly became a source of gnawing emotional pain that Steve refused to address a moment longer. He squeezed his eyes shut and groaned, feeling embarrassed and pathetic.

“Hey, I got that compress – you wanna – oh, you’re already leaning back, good.” Robin was at his side again, gently sweeping back his sweaty bangs and resting the cool, damp towel on his forehead. He felt the relief of it instantly, humming softly and focusing in on the sensation until the troubling thoughts of Eddie started to fade.

“That feel good?” Robin asked softly, sitting down next to him.

“Mm. Yeah. Th’nks.” He muttered, reaching a hand out of his cocoon and squeezing her wrist in appreciation.

“You wanna stay like that for a while ‘til the pizza gets here?”

“Mm’hmm.”

“Cool. Can I put something on? Anything you want. I’ll keep the volume low.”

“I don’t mind, if you don’t mind me not really paying attention.”

Robin laughed.

“As if you pay attention to anything I suggest, anyway.”

“Hey!” He smiled despite himself. “You can’t say I don’t try.”

“Oh, I can, and I will.”

She laughed again as he weakly punched her arm.

“Just stay with me, please?” He asked, a little shocked by the naked sincerity of the request as it tumbled out of him.

“Of course, Steve. Where else would I go?”

~~~~~~

After they’d finished their pizza – Steve far less than he would have liked, the normally delicious cheese seeming extra congealed and greasy – Robin had put on some artsy film that Steve tried his best to follow but was sure he’d have had a hard time with on a regular day, let alone one where he was starting to feel like jello in the form of a human. They gradually cuddled closer together, interrupted only by Steve twisting himself away from Robin each and every time he felt a sneeze coming on. It had reached the point where she’d told him to cut it out and sit still.

“You’re gonna give yourself whiplash on top of your cold. Seriously, stop.”

“But I’ll – end up sneezing on you.”

She’d sighed in defeat.

“Then do that. I’m catching this anyway.”

His cheeks burned a little at that.

“Are you sure? Wouldn’t that be like, super gross?”

“As long as you use the blanket or tissues, it won’t be all bad.”

And Steve had used both the blanket and the tissues – for a little while, anyway. He soon had his head in her lap, propped up by a cushion she’d added for his comfort. He wasn’t facing her, at least, so every germ-filled blast was aimed squarely at the table in front of them. If she felt the spray settling on her thighs or knees, she said nothing. To his utter delight, she’d started to rhythmically card a hand through his hair, making him feel for all the world like a spoiled little lapdog. Her endearing clumsiness was nowhere to be found as she expertly dragged her nails across his scalp. He’d have been asleep long ago if it wasn’t for this…t-tickle-!

“HH!! ‘GGTSCHEWWWW!! HARRRUSHHHH!! Hh, HH-!”

The third and final sneeze seemed to elude him, teasing him fiercely enough that his bleary eyes were beading with tears. He was more than grateful that Robin couldn’t watch his face as it crumpled – the way his nostrils twitched, mouth dropping open as his tongue pressed against his bottom teeth in a silent prayer, begging for the tickle to crest.

At last he was granted some reprieve, and three choppy inhales later he was barrelling forward, sneezing violently over Robin’s knees.

“hHAAHHH’GCK’TCHIEWWWWwww!!!”

He felt her other hand reach out and steady him by the shoulder as his body threatened to roll off the couch with the sheer force of it.

“Jesus, Dingus, Bless you!!”

“Ugg. Tha’gk you…” He snuffled miserably. The sneeze had felt amazing but he still felt bad about repeatedly spraying his best friend with an endless torrent of germs.

A bundle of tissues was suddenly hovering before his eyes as Robin held them out over him. He took them gratefully, muttering a small ‘thanks’ before blowing as hard as he possibly could. It was gnarly – loud, thick and rounded off with a honk not unfamiliar to the trumpet warm-ups Robin had subjected him to as she practiced in the guest room last night.

“God, Steve. Talk about man flu.” She patted his shoulder good-naturedly.

“I know. I’m sorry.” He meant it, too.

“No, you’re good. Don’t even worry about it. Just try not to die on me, okay? You’re heavy.”

“Promise.”

The glorious head massage resumed, and finally, blessedly, Steve felt himself slipping into a heavy sleep.

~~~~~

Robin pulled Steve’s bedroom door shut with a gentle click – not that her efforts at silence would matter, given the heart-breakingly congested snores Steve was already emitting from under his duvet. She headed to the bathroom and started her nighttime routine. Looking at herself in the stupidly ornate mirror of Steve’s guestroom ensuite, she noticed she looked just as tired as she felt – maybe moreso. She knew it was too early to be catching Steve’s cold – had to be, right? The incubation period was just too short. Realistically, she just looked worn down from the strain of an entire evening of worrying about Steve – who had, no doubt in her mind, possibly the worst cold on the face of the planet.

She finished washing her face, almost forgetting to rinse it properly as her mind wandered. Was he really that sick, or was he just one of those men for whom a tiny little bug brought them to their knees in one fell swoop? It was probably the latter – though he really did look, and sound, miserably unwell. The temperature emanating from his body as he’d rested in her lap had been scorching – she’d been sweltering in the combined warmth of the pleasant May evening and Steve’s furnace-like condition. Steve hadn’t noticed, at least; if he had, he’d been kind enough to ignore the massive pit stains that dampened her t-shirt.

She’d let him sleep for a while – 45 minutes, just until her movie ended and her legs had fallen asleep – then she’d woken him up with a gentle hand to the forehead. 10 minutes later, she’d successfully helped a groggy, snotty Steve up to his bedroom. That they’d nearly tripped heading upstairs as Steve buckled forward with several wrenching sneezes was just a minor inconvenience. Once he’d gotten into bed and she’d tucked the blanket up to his chin, she’d returned with the damp washcloth – using ice water this time, draping it over his burning forehead. He was shockingly pliant, incredibly obedient – the total lack of hyper-independence and stubbornness a sure sign of how poorly he was feeling.

After brushing her teeth she padded back downstairs, locating the living room landline. She had a feeling Steve would only feel worse tomorrow, and she’d underestimated how many meds and tissues he would need. She could probably bike out to the Drugstore herself, but something about Steve’s condition made her want to be in the house with him at all times. Call it trauma, separation anxiety, whatever – it was tough seeing him hurt and weak, and in their relatively short friendship it felt like he’d had decades worth of bad luck. A lifetime of it, probably. And besides, what if his dumb ass sneezed himself down the stairs and broke his neck when she was gone? No. It was too risky.

She dialed the familiar number and waited. The nearby clock indicated it was about 1:45 AM. The middle of the night for some, but not for who she had in mind.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Eddie?”

“Hey, Birdie! What’s got you calling little old me at this frightful hour?”

She smiled despite herself. His charm was undeniable - as cheesy as it often was, it was still disarming and soothing. She was glad to have had the fortune of getting to know him under more…relaxed circumstances following their initial meeting, where she’d been convinced she’d found the only other person more prone to floundering, nervous breakdowns than herself.

“Figured you’d be awake for at least another 3 hours. Can you talk for a minute?”

“Sure, shoot. I was just fucking with my guitar anyway.”

“Kinky.”

“Watch it, Buckley.”

She grinned, knowing he’d be doing just the same on the other end of the line.

“I actually need to ask you for a favour, if that’s okay?”

“Oh?” He sounded pointedly curious, like this was the last thing he’d expected her to say. “Are you okay? Need a ride, or something?”

“No, no, I’m fine. I’m at Steve’s – remember I’ve been staying here this week?”

“Oh, yeah. Speaking of Stevie boy, how is he? Haven’t heard from him in, like, three days?”

She smirked. The two of them thought they were so fucking subtle with this shit, and as much as she wanted to let them figure it out on their own, she couldn’t help but poke the proverbial bear every now and then.

“Three days?? My god, that must be like three months in Eddie time.”

“Fuck off!” He was laughing, at least.

“That’s just the thing though, actually. It’s Steve, he’s – “

“What’s wrong? Is he hurt??”

She was so glad he couldn’t see her face right now. He was painfully, painfully transparent and it was the funniest, sweetest thing.

“He’s fine, you geek – not in any immediate danger. He’s just sick. Got the worst case of man flu probably, like, ever.”

Eddie was silent long enough that Robin wondered if their call had been disconnected.

“Eddie? You there?”

“Oh – yeah, sorry, just spacing out a little, ha ha!”

The forced laugh was…strange. But she chose to ignore it – he was probably stoned, at any rate.

“So, since he’s sick, I was wondering if tomorrow you could possibly pick up some meds and stuff for him? I really don’t want to leave him alone like this. He sneezed so hard before he nearly threw both of us down the stairs. If I leave him unattended who knows how else he might sneeze himself to an early demise?”

She ended her ramble with a small laugh, hoping to amuse Eddie and bring some levity to the situation. Instead, she was greeted with that same awkward silence, though it expired a little faster than last time.

“Oh man, that sounds – yeah, that would totally suck. Poor guy.”

It wasn’t the raucous laughter she’d been expecting at all. Eddie sounded – could it really be? Embarrassed?

“Are you okay? You sound weird.” She asked.

“I’m-! I’m fine, Birdie. Just. Pretty high.”

She’d figured as much, but somehow, she didn’t quite buy it. Whatever. Eddie was great, but she still didn’t fully understand him and his often confoundingly strange mannerisms just yet.

“Anyway. You think you can do that for me? I’d majorly appreciate it.”

“Yeah, yeah – I can totally do that. What time should I – drop stuff off?”

“Honestly, before lunch? The rate at which Steve is going through tissues is worthy of scientific observation.”

Eddie offered a reedy laugh at that – she’d expected that attempt at humour to dive like before, been ready for another awkward little pause. She would have almost preferred that to this obviously forced attempt at normal laughter. It wasn’t as if Eddie didn’t have a sense of humour, or know how to laugh like a human being, so? Man, he must be really high.

“So…I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“I’ll be there. I…probably won’t come inside. I mean, don’t want to disturb poor old Harrington, y’know?”

She blinked.

“I’m sure he wouldn’t mind?”

“Really, Robin, if I want to graduate in a month, I can’t get sick. I won’t face celebrating my 21st year still stuck in that fucking dump.”

It made sense, what he was saying. But again, she just didn’t buy that that was the sole reason for this extremely out of character avoidance of Steve.

“Sure. Well, I’ll see you, then.”

“See you tomorrow, Birdie. Sleep tight.”

She hung up on him, taking a second to stand there and letting the absurdity of his behaviour wash over her before she made her way back upstairs. She was far too tired to even attempt to analyse the inner machinations of Eddie fucking Munson right now – tired enough that even Steve’s woeful snoring couldn’t stop her from passing out the second her head hit the pillow.

#The fic is based in May so it's not technically a traditional 'Warm Night In' - hope that's ok!!#Steve accounts for 99% of the 'Warm' part lol #oh also since canonical ages are never given I think the general consensus is at this point Robin is almost about to graduate aged 18 #Steve has graduated and is 19 - Eddie is due to graduate and is 20 #s/tranger t/hings #nametakenfic #sneeze fic #sneeze kink #snz kink #snzfucker #sneeze fucker #snz fet #snzblr

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oc-aita · 11 months

Note

AITA for tearing apart a friend group?

This is a bit of a long one, so strap in. I go by a few different names, but to you can call me P (M, no clue how old I am. A few hundred years, at least?) Anyways, I created this virus that turns people into mutated monsters many years ago, and have been spreading it across numerous dimensions ever since. But I didn't just do this for no reason. It’s me and my colleagues’ jobs to keep the number of dimensions in check, and I do that with my virus.

So I go around and do my thing, and it’s gotten pretty repetitive by now. I’m bored out of my mind when who do I notice? A colony of weird-looking survivors! There’s a robot, a skeleton(?), some edgy guy, and a bossy guy with a bandana. I couldn’t pass up this opportunity, and disguised myself as a robot before “randomly stumbling across” their colony in an attempt to join them.

After some time, everyone had accepted me as one of their own. Well, everyone but the bossy guy with the bandana. To make things worse, I learned that they purposely came to this dimension to track down and destroy the source of the virus. They wanted me dead! And they didn’t even realize I was who they were looking for! I decided that I'd have to do something about this before they found out. I take my job seriously, and I'm not going to let some rag-tag group of survivors ruin my fun.

Unfortunately for me, I got a liiiitle bit too cocky when it came to undisguising myself while away from the colony. The real robot saw me, and I had to tear them in half. No witnesses and all. But it's not like I killed them, since robots can always be rebuilt, right? Anyways, bossy guy eventually confronts me on the real robot's disappearance, and I play dumb. I would have been busted then and there if the maybe-a-skeleton and the edgy guy didn't vouch for me. Bossy guy wasn't happy, but he allowed me to stay. He was already on to me, so I knew I had to act fast if I was gonna go through with my plan.

A few weeks later, I catch the edgy guy off-guard while he was on a supply run and I infect him. I scuff myself up and run back, claiming that we got jumped by some infected and I lost track of the edgy dude. Bossy guy is FURIOUS and keeps saying that I'm suspicious and that I should be dismantled or at least thrown out, but the maybe-skeleton blows up at bossy guy saying that he's both a jerk and paranoid. 90% sure skeleton trusted me since the real robot was his best friend and I gave him my 'condolences’ after he never came back. Also apparently the edgy guy was his boyfriend? Whoops.

After a back-and fourth shouting match, bossy guy packed his things and stormed off, leaving just me and skeleton. Knowing that the group weren't a threat to me anymore, I leave skeleton and get into contact with one of my colleagues and tell him what I did. But to my surprise, he said that what I did was 'completely unnecessary’ and 'really messed up.' I personally don't see it that way, since I'm just doing my job. But AITA in the end?

#aita #am i the asshole #original character #unreality tw #ask to tw #death tw #murder tw #violence tw #apocalypse #mod Aleister

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smolwritingchick · 10 months

Text

The Bangtan Gal Chapter 8- Rookie King Episode 6

Chapter Summary: BTS jam to Karaoke. Jen tries to avoid the Skull Card again but finds herself in a spicy situation. Jungkook hasn't forgotten his revenge on Jennie for ruining his white shirts when they get back to the dorm after filming.

Words: 4,000+

-----

'We are curious about BTS' favorite songs! The 7 men and woman karaoke real show time!'

'Bangtan Karaoke'

Jennie sat on the couch with Jin, V and Rapmon. Suga, who was the MC for the day, grabbed a mic.

"To the people that's joining us in Bangtan Karaoke, welcome!" He announced while everyone applauded. "It's time for us to listen to a song with a special story. Everyone are you ready? You guys ready? You ready? Then please shout!"

"WOOOOOOHHHHH"

"Guys we will start off with the song no.18, Dynamic Duo's song by J-Hope." Suga announced.

'Her Man'

'Overcoming the disappointment from a relationship, coming back as a superb solo. J-Hope's favorite song full of meanings'

'Original singer: Dynamic Duo"

'Song title: Solo'

'Song from: J-Hope'

J-Hope (The song that I'll be singing is, Dynamic Duo's solo. In the past, I had a girlfriend that I liked a lot but she left me for another man. With a really upset heart, I rode the bus. That time I owned an MP3 player and played it. After turning it on, by accident, this song started playing. This song was one of my memories. And do, my favorite song is Dynamic Duo's solo.)

"Whoo!" J-Hope yelled on the mic. "Put your hands up!"

"Put your hands up!" Jimin repeated, putting up his hands with everyone else.

Jennie stands up with the rest of the guys and starts dancing around while J-Hope starts to rap the song. Overall, it was a great start to Karaoke.

"The next player is...Golden Maknae, Jungkook!" Suga announced and handed him the mic.

'The last practiced song'

'Right before debuting, Jungkook still with the title of a trainee, the last song he received a lesson for'

'Original singer: Primary (Feat. Zion.T/Gaeko)'

'Song title: See Through'

'Song by: Jungkook'

Jungkook (The song that I've prepared is Zion.T. See Through. Before debuting, I received one last lesson. The lesson that I received was on this song. If you look at Zion.T he has a way that he sings that's quite unique. I tried singing as he did, but I couldn't do it that well. It was a song where I was scolded a lot.)

Once Jungkook starts singing, Jennie and the rest of the guys nod their heads and start moving around in their seats.

'A hurtful memory'

'During a school festival, because of the missing MR, he lost the chance to sing it. A song filled with Rapmon's heartbreaking memory'

'Original singer: Supreme Team'

'Song title: School bell is ringing'

'Song by: Rap Monster'

Rapmon (I will be singing, school bell is ringing. Actually, during a school festival, this was a song I wanted to sing that time. With that, I practiced really hard for it. On the day of the festival, I didn't have the MR of the song and I couldn't perform on stage. And so today I would want to try and sing it today.)

For his performance, Rap Monster goofily raps the song, copying the rapper.

"Yo..." Jennie broke out in a grin. "Uh huh!? UH! UH! OKAY? OKAY?" She nodded her head at the beat, hyping Rap Monster even more with Suga rapping with him.

"LOUDER!" Suga sang while jumping up and down.

"What is going on!?" Jennie threw her head back, laughing out loud as Rap Monster started messing up, and the performance began to become a funny mess.

'The beat is wrong'

'I don't care anymore. Let's just dance'

'Audition memories'

'During the audition for the company, he sang it ambitiously. But the expressions around him was darkening. After that, so was the song'

'Original singer: 2AM'

'Song title: This Song'

'Song by: Jin'

Jin (I will be singing 2AM's this song. When I auditioned for the company, Big Hit, I sang this song. Seriously, their expressions weren't really impressed. I'm not sure how I'll do this time.)

Jin begins to sing, passionately while Jennie holds her hand over her heart, watching in awe.

"Ahh...so angelic..." She sighed in happiness.

With J-Hope's occasional YEAHs and Jungkook's oohs, Jennie couldn't help but snicker as she tried to cover her mouth to muffle the laughs. Jin ends up laughing thanks to Jungkook's background singing as J-Hope and V stand up to dance around.

J-Hope releases V and makes his way over to Jennie, grabbing her hand and making her stand up.

"When did I agree to this?" She ended up giggling when he spun her around and dipped her. They begin slow dancing around the room.

Jin (I sang it with the same emotions while auditioning but I'm worse now. That's why it was quite disappointing. I will work harder to be able to sing better next time.)

"All right, next up is Miss Bangtan! Let's give it up for Smartie!" Suga yelled on the mic as the guys whooped and hollered for her.

"Yeah! Let's go Jennie!" J-Hope yelled and clapped loudly with Jimin and Jungkook.

'Introduced To A Whole New Perspective of Korean Music'

'Listening to more variety of music in Korea, Jennie came across solo artist Ailee and immediately was hooked. Ailee's voice sparked Jennie's motivation to continue perfecting her singing skills'

'Original Singer: Ailee'

'Song title: U&I'

'Song by: Jennie'

Jennie (I have TONS of favorite songs. But recently, I started to listen to more Korean songs and fell in love with Ailee's music. It was so funny, I was just shuffling through random K-pop songs and all of a sudden I heard this strong voice and I was like, "SLAY ME!". I thought it was an English song by mistake but I was so wrong. Her voice is amazing and so gifted. I hope to sing as well as her one day. She's really great. I love how smoothly her voice moves with such powerful instruments like the trumpets. I love that style of music and I hope to sing songs like that, too in the future. Songs like this really wake up the crowd and get everyone moving. Her voice has so much soul and passion. I want my voice to touch people, too.)

"HHHHHHheeeeeyyyyyyy." She starts strong when the song comes on and the guys immediately start dancing while she shimmies to the left and right when the beat drops. "Hey, hey. Yeah, yeah yeah~. Ha! Cut the beat now! Wait a minute, wait a minute, mal jalla mianhande."

Jennie (Of course I don't sound anything like her and tried to make the song my own. I do want to sing this song again in a couple of years to see how much I improve. I want to watch the before and after to see if I made progress with my singing.)

'Bangtan's muscled cutie, Jimin!'

Jimin (The song I'll sing today is Taeyang's only look at me. A really long time ago, I had a one-sided love. When I look at her, my heart would st...hahaha. My face would go be as red as a tomato when we stood 5 meters apart. Just like a censor...those were my memories of it.)

Once the song comes on, Jimin starts dancing, with some quick footwork. Jen drops her jaw when Jungkook and Jimin sing together.

"Bring up one note, can I do it again?" Jimin asked as he stopped singing.

"I'M DONE!" Jennie shook her head, throwing her arms up in the air.

'My one and only chorus to sing to keeps getting missed'

"Stop! Stop! Be quiet, please." Jimin tried to remove the mic from Jungkook but he kept on singing.

'Stopping the song in a rush'

"Whoa! How did he get 82 points if he didn't sing even half of it?" Jen laughed, pointing at the screen.

'This is not supposed to happen'

Suga made Jimin sit down as he complained. "Is this really the end of it?" Jimin questioned in disbelief.

"Can you please sit down? You only have one chance." Suga ordered.

Jimin (They didn't give me a chance to sing it again. I really wanted to sing it. I wanted to voice out the feels I have inside me. The members wouldn't give me a chance to do so. *Sigh*)

'It's such a pity, maybe next time...(will there be a next time?)'

"The song that V has prepared?" Suga asked.

"I will be singing Lee Juck's rain." He answered.

'The raining day'

'A song with a painful memory. He listened to it during the rainy day he was trying to confess his one-sided love'

'Original singer:Lee Juck'

'Song title: Rain'

'Song by: V'

V (I've prepared a song from Lee Juck called Rain. I had a one-sided love with a girl in the past. I wanted to confess to her via a phone call. But it was raining that day, because of that, she didn't pick up the call. I was really sad... on my way home on the bus, this song suddenly played. That's one of my memories.)

Once V starts singing, Jennie waves her phone around, pretending it's a lighter, while the guys goof off in the background.

"SING IT!" She shouted. "SING IT, V! TELL US YOUR STORY! YEAH BOY! WOO!"

"How come you weren't this enthusiastic for me?" Jimin called out, feeling offended. "I thought we were best friends!"

"YAH! She's my best friend. Get your own!" Jungkook pointed at him.

"Hush, Jungkook!"

"Best friend or not, clearly she likes V more than the both of you." Suga bluntly replied while Jen let out a short chuckle. Before she knew it, she was joining the guys to chant 'Kim Taehyung' before he finished the song.

"To carry up this momentum, a fun and enjoyable song should be played next, right?" Suga asked

"Ddaengbul!"

'Karaoke's classic song'

'The song middle schooler Suga sang to heat up the mood'

'Original Singer: Kangjin'

'Song title: Ddaengbul'

'Song by: Suga'

Suga (The song I'm singing today, it's called Ddaengbul. In middle school when my friends and I went to a karaoke, we sang this song. Whenever we sang this song, it always boosts up the mood. I will be singing this song, since it reminds me of the fun I had when I sang it with my friends.)

'The enjoyment is felt from the start'

Everyone starts goofily dancing while Suga sings with random expressions as they all dance around. It felt great to let loose and just act wild and weird for a change. The song was a great choice to end karaoke.

Suga (I don't think it was just hectic. It's been a long time since we've been to a karaoke together. I really think we enjoyed it a lot. I think it's fine to say we lost our minds.)

"Bangtan Karaoke with Bangtan, it was really fun. I hope you go home safely. Let's see each other again, next time!" Suga wrapped up.

"See you again, next time! Yo wassup!" V yelled.

------

'Unlucky King/Queen'

Located in a gym, the 8 members of BTS gather around and flip their cards over to see who would be the King or Queen. When Rap Monster is crowned King, he sits in the middle while Jennie sits in between V and Jungkook.

'STAGE 1'

'Woongnyu's candy'

'Woongnyu who ate garlic to become a human!'

'A sweet garlic candy from Woongnyu'

"Starting from the 1st stage, things are quite...serious," Rapmon mentioned.

"Is this a joke?" J-Hope asked in a nervous voice.

"There's such thing as garlic candy?" Jennie questioned in disbelief.

"You wanna volunteer to try it?" Suga offered.

"Yeah, sure." She shrugged

"Really!?" V yelled in a happy voice, breaking out into a grin.

"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-Heck no!" She yelled back, making the guys giggle at her comment.

Once they flip their cards over, it's revealed to be Jimin who the skull card as a chorus of yeahs surround the room.

"Eeeeuuuaaaaaaa!" Jimin yelled out of frustration

'Punishment inherent Jimin. A forceful skull present to you'

"There's not even once where I'm not caught!" Jimin yelled in despair.

Once the candy is presented, the candy goes around as the members examine it.

"This is not garlic, it's lemon candy." Rap Monster observed.

"It does smell like it a bit." Jennie pointed out. Maybe this wouldn't be such a bad punishment after all.

When Jimin opens the candy, he takes a sniff and confirms that it smells like lemon candy and puts a piece in his mouth at ease.

'The devils are only waiting for him to chew the garlic'

All of a sudden, once he chews it, he starts to cringe. "The candy is quite hot." He confirmed.

J-Hope unfortunately gets a whiff of his bad breath and covers his mouth.

"Don't open your mouth, please." He laughed, while Jimin finished eating the rest of the candy.

Jimin starts coughing loudly and pulls himself together. "Thank you for giving me such delicious candy." He managed to say.

"Why are you crying, Jimin?" Jin asked

"Must be because the candy is so delicious," Suga replied.

'Chewed! Opened! Tasted! Bangtan Garlic Candy'

'STAGE 2'

'Sweep down the face'

'As much as you love the member, use your hands and sweep it down their faces'

Once they flip over the cards, it's revealed to be V with the skull card as Suga jumps up and yells "Finally! Finally! Finally!" while banging on the exercise ball behind him.

V lays on his back on the mat nervously.

"Since his name is V, I'll do it with a hand gesture, V." Suga announced but ended up catching him off guard when he ran all five of his fingers, roughly against V's face.

Jungkook goes next, running his hand quickly across his face. Once it was Jimin's turn, he evilly blew in V's face, making him sniff his foul breath. V squints up his face immediately.

'The vampire who ate a handful of garlic'

Jennie winces at the sight when Jimin slowly runs his hand against V's face. "Ahh his poor face."

V starts kicking around while the guys laugh at his pain. Then Jimin blows his garlic breath in his face one more time, making him sit up and roll away in discomfort.

'STAGE 3'

'I'm not really laughing on the inside'

'Making a smiling face with an audio frequency'

Once they flip over the cards, it's revealed to be Suga as he starts kicking and punching the workout ball in anger. When he is laid across the mat,

Once laid across the mat, connected to the equipment all over his face, Suga begins to tremble.

"Why are you trembling when it's not even turned on yet!" Jimin pointed out as Suga continued to tremble.

"Eeeeummm~" Suga mumbled in pain as he began to tremble for real once they turned it on.

"OMG! Yooo, he's shaking like crazy! Is he okay!?" Jennie covered her mouth.

"He'll be fine..." Rap Monster reassured before everyone continued laughing when Suga twitched and popped all over the place, getting electrified. "Stage 3 was boring." He declared after they unhooked Suga and his punishment was over.

"It wasn't fun at all." Jimin added.

"It looked painful, though!" Jennie said.

"IT WAS PAINFUL!" Suga shouted.

'STAGE 4'

'Firm biceps'

'Show off your real strength! Eat a jelly with a heavy fork'

"Firm biceps like these?" Jennie flexes her not so visual muscles.

"Very, very nice Jennie." Jimin pointed out. "But mine are better." He flexed his big muscles.

"Show off..." She muttered. Once she's older, she'll start working out more and compare muscles with Jimin.

Once they flip over the cards after Jimin trades the card with V, it's revealed to be V with the skull as they start acting hyped yet again. V bangs his fists on the mat while Jimin jumps up and down.

"I've made the right choice!" Jimin celebrated

When the jelly is presented, Jimin reveals the dumbbell that's connected to the fork.

"What kind of shenanigans is this!? HOW!?" Jennie said over the guys' laughter. "This is...very creative."

"It's a 10kg dumbbell! Eating a jelly with a dumbbell?" Rap Monster questioned.

This had to be the weirdest punishment ever.

"Jelly is even hard to eat with chopsticks!" J-Hope said

Once V grabs the dumbbell, he tries to pick up the jelly with the fork connected to the dumbbell but to no avail as Jennie starts giggling.

"Wait, why are you picking it like that?" Jin called out.

'In the end, frustrated Rapmon couldn't stand it'

"Look here, V. Bring it near to you and scoop it." He motioned

The guys and Jennie look on in frustration as they try to explain to V what to do but it doesn't get past him as he continues to struggle.

'V lost in his own world'

"You're joking right?" J-Hope lets out a short laugh.

'Finally the jelly touches the fork'

In the end, V finally picks up the jelly and takes a big bite.

"Finally!" Jen clapped over the guys' loud whoas and ohs.

'His expression darkens with the peculiar taste of the jelly'

"Do it like a man!" Jungkook motioned as V lifted it up and ate it. He ended up setting it down and bit into it while everyone laughed at his actions.

'The punishment totally differs from the production team's actual intention'

"He's crying." Jin laughed as V's eyes started to water.

'Suddenly thinking of his mom'

"Aw..." Jennie placed a hand on his cheek and wiped his tears. "The pain is only temporary, my friend."

'STAGE 5'

'Bangtan juice drinking'

'Every green veggies that are good for the body is in it. A healthy green juice for BTS'

"This juice could possibly be good, but the jelly just now, what was that!" V complained.

'Venting his anger from the inedible jelly from before'

"I'm curious, are you feeding us inedible things?" Suga laughed.

"I hope not!" Jennie called out.

Once they grab the cards, they flip them over to reveal Suga as he stands up and slams the card down.

"AWEEEE YEAHHHHH!" Jennie cheered. "Go Suga! Go Suga!"

"I can't help but think this is a scam." He declared. He lost count of how many times he's been caught.

"Suga, Suga, Suga, Suga~" Jennie and the rest of the members clap and sing.

"Isn't this a green tea latte?" Rap Monster asked as the beverage was presented.

Jimin sniffs it and says it looks edible. Once Suga takes a whiff of it, his face shows that something is really wrong. His face freezes as he takes a sip at the bitter taste.

"Suga is really good at holding it in." J-Hope pointed out. Once he reluctantly gulps two more times, he succeeds in the mission.

"He's a man! A true man!" Rapmon applauded.

Once Suga sets it down, Rap Monster goes to grab it but ends up spilling it.

"Wow!" Jennie said with a sigh.

'Rap Monster the master of destruction'

"As expected the king of destruction," The guys clap while Jin facepalmed

"Isn't this poison?!" Suga pointed to the mysterious liquid.

'The green marks are like radioactive pollutants'

"I'm sorry, everyone!" Rapmon grinned sheepishly

'STAGE 6'

'HOT! HOT! IT'S ON FIRE!'

'Eat a whole bowl of different peppers'

"3! 2! 1!" Rapmon announced as they all flipped their cards over.

"YEAHHHHHH!"

"NOOOOOOOO!" Jennie screamed, slamming her fists on the mat multiple times as she yelled in distress.

In the background, Suga, Jungkook, Jimin and J-Hope jump up and down, dancing all over the place.

"Jennie, Jennie, Jennie, Jennie~" They sing.

"The Bangtan Girl has been caught, yet again! Thank you!"

"I was waiting for this!"

"Finally!"

"WOOOO HOOOO!"

Raising her head up, she glared playfully at the guys celebrating her punishment. "This is not right! Of all punishments!"

"Are you ready, Jennie?" Jimin asked her with a sly grin once the bowl of peppers were presented to her.

Jennie observes the peppers and looks away. "...No..."

"Well too bad!" Jimin laughs evilly with Suga and J-Hope.

"You know...I really don't understand what I've done to deserve such punishments like this." She sighed as she picked up the first pepper.

It was a dark green Poblana pepper. She takes a bite of it and starts to chew. She could start her tongue starting to tingle from the spiciness but it was tolerable.

"Okay...we're making progress. Not bad. I can survive this." She swallowed it and picked up the next one. The Jalapeno pepper. It was dark green as she examined it.

"Eat it!" Jimin eagerly yelled.

"Don't rush me, man!" She pointed to him.

She places the whole thing in her mouth, and grimaces. Tears shimmered in her eyes as she threw her head back, trying to ignore the laughs from the guys. They were really enjoying this.

"I really can't stand you, all." She coughed a couple of times after swallowing. Her tongue was really burning now. It was really uncomfortable. Lastly, she tries to Habanero pepper. It was bright orange.

"I believe this is the hottest one." Jin declared.

"Is she going to eat it?" Suga anticipated.

Letting out a breath, Jennie pops the whole pepper in her mouth and starts chewing fast. The bitter, spicy taste evolved all around her mouth, making her yell out in discomfort. Standing up, she jumps up, fanning herself as she continues reluctantly chewing.

Tears began to stream down her colored skin as she dropped down to her knees, coughing. V rubs her back and tries to comfort her while everyone else continues to yell and cheer that she finally did it.

"Can I PLEASE have some water!?" She yelled. "I CAN'T GET ANY WATER!?" She shrieked and started coughing. "My GOD! WHY!? MOM~" She yelled in anguish as V wiped her tears with his thumb, returning the favor from his punishment.

'Miss Bangtan continues to suffer'

'STAGE 7'

'Tearful brushing'

'To make them a healthy idol, BTS's special brushing method'

"I'm ready to get this over with cause my tongue is numb, thanks to those friggin peppers." Jennie crossed her arms.

"Well, I just want to say that my tongue feels perfectly fine." Jimin teased with an eye smile.

"Hush Jimin!"

Once they flip the cards over, it's revealed to be Jimin with the skull card as he throws the card and starts walking away. Jennie holds onto Jungkook and laughs.

"Give us a statistic table! How many times have Jimin and I been caught." Suga requested

'The King of punishments has become a proper noun to Suga & Jimin'

"I'll do it like it's nothing, big!" Jimin reassured as he started brushing his teeth.

'1 minute is still far away but he freezes as soon as it entered his mouth'

'A fresh taste of wasabi toothpaste lingers in his mouth'

"Jimin's mouth smells bad?" Rapmon teased as he started blowing his breath at everyone once he was finished brushing.

"Ahhhh, put that away! It reeks!" Jennie covered her mouth. The foul stench is sickening and not a good mix.

'I'll blow you up with garlic + wasabi breath if you touch me'

'STAGE 8'

'Since you're at the gym, let's ride the treadmill?'

"Oh boy. Look like we're working out." Jennie assumed

Once they flip over the cards, it's finally revealed to be Jin for the last punishment.

"YAAAHHHHHHHHH"

'Pretty shoulders Jin is picked'

Suga picks up the exercise ball and celebrates while everyone else cheers around him. "Ah, why..." Jin complained

'The entrance of the exotic woman on the treadmill, what is her identity?'

Jin had a Chinese dress on while Jennie started laughing at him. "I really envy how nice his legs look," Jennie admitted while Jin started walking on the treadmill in the dress.

Once he starts jogging and trying to adjust the dress, Jen covers her mouth and falls to the ground, filled with laughter. "I can't!"

'I'm the Pink Princess Jin!'

------

After the show, Jungkook, Jen and Jin were back at the dorm while the rest were scattered. Either at the dance studio, getting food, or other errands. Jin was currently in the bathroom, taking a shower, while Jen made her way into the kitchen in her grey sweatpants and gray hoodie. Her hair was in a messy, curly bun on top of her head.

Taking out the tub of chocolate ice cream, she shuts the freezer door, to see Jungkook standing in the living room with a pillow in his hands. His eyes darted to her as he studied her every move.

"Uh...hey, buddy...what you got there?" She asked with a hint of nervousness.

"Oh, this?" The Golden Maknae glanced at the large, soft item in his hands "Just a pillow." He replied in an innocent tone.

"Ah...a pillow...for sleeping?" She questioned, uncertain of her fate.

"For hitting." His mouth curled into a smirk.

"Hitting...well I believe I-GOTTA JET!" She drops the tub of ice cream on the table and makes a run for it. Jungkook throws his pillow on the couch and dashes after her.

Running to her room, she tries to slam the door, but he catches it and manages to clasp his warm, strong hands with hers. She starts laughing as they both try to overpower each other.

"Leave me alone!" She begged.

"Nope!" He laughed and attempted to trip her down.

"No! No! Aye! Aye!" She finally dropped to the ground.

"Nowhere to go now." He grabbed her ankle and started to drag her back to the living room.

"Wait! Wait!" She desperately cried out, trying to grab onto anything as she dragged her hands on the carpet. "Please! What did I do!?"

"You think I didn't forget about you ruining my white shirts?"

"I said I was sorry!"

"They were my white shirts, you did it on purpose! You're not sorry!"

She manages to squirm out of his grip and tries to crawl away but groans when he smacks her back with the pillow. She turns around and tries to block her face while he continues attacking her with the pillow.

"That's it! Gimme that!" She grabbed a hold of the pillow and pulled him down to the floor.

Luckily she swipes the pillow from him and begins to whack him with his weapon while he tries to cover his face from the assault. As Jennie quickly gets up to her feet, Jungkook grabs a pillow from the couch and stands up. The two teens face off, with their hair disheveled as they stare each other down.

"This means war!" He yelled as they both attacked each other at the same time. The room was filled with laughter, the sound of the pillow attacks and occasional battle cries as the living room turned into a war zone.

"HIYA!" She smacked him right in the face with the pillow but gasped when he stood there frozen. "Oh crap, I'm so sorry, Kookie! Are you okay?" She walked up to him, reaching out to touch his cheek.

"Now I am." He quickly grabbed her before she had time to react.

"Jungkook!" She screamed when he picked her up over his shoulders. "Wait! Wait! Time out!"

"There are no timeouts when it comes to your punishment." He said with amusement and spun her around a couple of times.

Once she gets out of his grip, she manages to put him in a headlock and they stumble around until they end up bumping into a lamp. When they hear the loud sound of glass breaking, they release each other. Frozen still, they stare at each other, wide-eyed.

"WHAT DID YOU BREAK!?" The sudden booming sound of Jin's yell from the bathroom made the both of them scatter.

"Abort mission!" Jungkook yelled as they both ran to Jennie's room, with him quickly shutting the door. "Pretend we're sleep!" He quickly opened up the covers as she got in. He follows suit and they shuffle around before closing their eyes.

They were under the covers together with her head against his chest. She could feel his heart beating just as fast as hers. They really wanted to avoid Jin's lecture.

"WHO BROKE THE LAMP!?" Jin yelled while Jennie tried to muffle her laughs. Jin was really funny when he freaked out.

"Shh." Jungkook puts his index finger to his mouth, grinning in amusement, himself.

Barging into Jen's bedroom, Jin looked around, in his towel. "JEON JUNGKOOK! JENNIFER!" he grabbed the covers and pulled them away. "Wh-oh. They're sleeping. NAMJOON!" He turned around and walked into the living room. "I told you to leave the stuff alone! Why did you break the lamp!?"

"What the hell?! I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING! I JUST GOT IN THE DOOR!" Namjoon yelled back, confused.

Jen and Jungkook laughed at the situation they were in. They make a good team when it comes to stuff like this. Jen was looking forward to what was to come, next time.

#bts 8th member #bts female member #bangtan boys #bts #jungkook x oc #rookie king #jungkook fluff #jungkook fanfic #bangtan gal

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reenvisiongame · 1 year

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The Inn and Its Staff

Time for the monthly post! 👀

I’ve already mentioned most of the stuff I needed to in my last post so, by and large, things are still the same. I’m still working on the inn, though progress was a bit slower than I had intended. Summer school + Artfight made things pretty busy, BUT DON’T WORRY. I prevailed >:D

The rooms I got done/am working on are coming along beautifully so far. The picture at the top of this post is of the Inn’s lobby area! The picture just above these very words is of the main character’s room. If I had to estimate, then I think the inn is about halfway towards completion by now. Development should become speedier as both Artfight and my summer classes are ending, AND most of the base assets for the inn are completed.

A bulk of the lobby’s development time was making reusable assets, such as the wallpaper and flooring. Now that that’s done, I can just copy and paste a bunch of that over and over again. We love efficiency ✨

Next time the inn is shown off, I’m hoping it’ll be in the form of a full video. It’s the most important location, so of course it deserves one of the biggest reveals so far. As promised from my last post, though, I think now’s the perfect time to finally introduce some of the residents of this Inn.

As you’ve probably seen from many of my screenshots and videos, this lady in pink appears quite a lot. This is the Nurse and one of ReEnvision’s major characters! She runs a clinic inside the inn where she works as one of the country’s only two healthcare providers. You’d think this would be a problem, and it is, but most people ignore it because of how small of a population it is. The Nurse is caring, gentle, and friendly, as well as very sarcastic. Visit her for any of your aches and pains and she’ll fix you right up!

This funny guy is Shepherd, the dog mayor of the town of Clemence. Did I ever mention that the Inn is not only an inn, but ALSO a town hall? Because it is, and Shepherd runs the place. Innkeeper and mayor, it’s a miracle Shepherd juggles it all. Yet, he does it perfectly well with a huge smile on his face. He loves his town, and he knows that if he isn’t the mayor, who would be? Only he can do the job right!

This is Mila, the town’s bounty hunter. Technically an inn staff member, her job is to clear out any monsters in and surrounding the town, ensuring that all residents and guests leave to and from Clemence safely. She’s soft and has a tendency to act like the mom friend in any given situation. She also has a killer sweet tooth! You see, Mila is a vampire, but to avoid sucking the life out of everyone in the own, she eats cheesecakes topped with blood. A strange combo, but it’s something she can safely make. Let her cook anything, though, and uh... Hope you had homeowner’s insurance.

This is Erin, the inn’s vampire janitor, housekeeper, repairman, groundskeeper, you name it. He hates his job(s), but does them surprisingly well and takes them deathly seriously. Out of everything, he hates messes the most and if you’re a guest, then expect a very length “janitor handbook” to suddenly appear at your bedside. Break any of the rules in the handbook? Well... May Erin have mercy on your soul. Just kidding! Outside of work, he’s generally laid back and goes with the flow to most things. Whilst his wife, Mila, likes cheesecakes, Erin’s addicted to slime jelly. Everyone is disgusted by his diet.

As the game continues to develop, these 4 characters should be making more and more appearances. They’re all rather important, you know! Once ReEnvision releases, I hope you all enjoy getting to know them better :D

#ReEnvision game #Screenshot saturday #indiegame #pixel art #character introduction #gamedev #indiedev

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lake-archive · 11 months

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A Bet Gone Wrong

Fandom: Ensemble Stars

Characters: Rinne Amagi, Anja-Sophia 'Ann' Wolff (OC)

Pairing: Rinnann (Rinne/Ann) (Romantic, Established)

AO3 Link

Previous Chapter - Masterlist - Next Chapter

“Uh–oh, looks like the zombies are prowling ahead of us… Who do you think will win in this fight, me or the zombies? Place your bet, and I’ll start the fight!”

These words were unbelievable, to say the least… Did Ann just hear this? Did they hear this correctly? This guy wants to fight zombies? With his bare fists? Actually wait, why are they surprised? This was Rinne Amagi they were talking to… The Rinne Amagi. And that guy was known for a lot of things, including reckless fights and bets. This was one of those, except this time he would be betting life, wouldn’t he? It was concerning and yet… Ann was not really surprised nor sure if they should bail him out of this one.

Then again, not like he would let them as the next thing they saw was him charging right at them. “Oh who am I kiddn’? Ya bet on your man, don’t ya!? Charge!” He yelled before tackling one of the zombies, right into the mass.

They did not see much shortly after a few punches and kicks flew around, some rotten skin and bones being thrown through the air thanks to the impact. Oh they swore that some blood and other unsightly things spilled, one even hitting their face.

And yet it was too much of a mess to make out, also due to the dark hallway. So when they wiped their face clean with one of their fingers they could not see what it was, only that it was rather stinky. So they had to rely on sound alone, all of the punches and screams echoing in their ears.

“Hah! Take this ya bas— Ey! Don’t tug on that! Little shi— Did ya just puke on that!? I’m gonna— Ow ow ow! Don’t tug my hair! It’ll rip out! Aaa! Little shits! Ya asked for i– EEEP!”

Needless to say, it had not surprised Ann that Rinne was screaming for his life. Could they stand on the sidelines to witness this? Well, maybe, but if they did not assist in some way he would be—

“Outta the wa— URGH!” Yet as these thoughts hit them they were interrupted fairly quickly and they were forced to jump aside. Next they saw the outline of the tall male next to them, right thrown into a wall. For a second they believed that they had to get ready to have this smell right in their nose and fend off those monsters but… Much to their surprise… The zombies took a sharp turn after having eyed Rinne who had been just plastered onto the wall for a few more moments. All while Ann held their own breath, in hope they would be mistaken for an already dead body… Somehow. Then again, hopefully those zombies do not think at all so they were hoping this would work.

And maybe it did, because they spotted the crowd of zombies heading for the upper floor, ignoring the pair at that very moment, even Rinne who they should clearly detect as alive thanks to his twitching and groaning. But they just ignored him… Much for their luck, which left them with a sigh in relief.

“Maybe they mistook him for one of them…” They mumbled before their gaze wandered back to Rinne, seeing him finally get off the wall and scoff.

“Tch, sure know how to put up a fight. Where did those fuckers run o—”

However, they would not let him finish and instead grab him by his wrist, interrupting with: “No fight! Run!”

“Wha— C’mon Ann! I got unfinished business with—”

“Can you not be dying!?”

“Babe babe, I’ll be fine. Now—”

“No buts! Run!” They insisted, suddenly dragging him off while walking as quickly as their feet would allow, dragging the redhead along.

“Wha– Ey! What’s that for!? I can take ‘em!”

Well… They would leave him alive probably but were they taking any risk? No way! “No complaining, running! ‘sides, you not wanting the money I owe ya?”

“Money you o— Ya bet on the zombies!? Seriously!?”

“Well—”

“I’m both happy and hurt. How could you betray me like that?”

And the rest of the way they would just argue about this stupid bet Rinne came up with before trying to fight a hoard of brainless undead.

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deadxlv · 10 months

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Far Away Soul, White Cold Star 💫

“Soul Searching taken Seriously..” Chapter: 4

The sound of the thunder and the feeling of burns was all that rang in Hijìn's head, his eyes focused on the goal ahead. It was if the world was quiet until the rumbling began again.. and again.. and again. He ran like a wild elk from the predator chasing it, attempting to zigzag while running as fast as he could without stumbling for a second. On the outside, beyond his trapped enclosed mind of rage, the world around him was falling apart; The sand beneath him sunk into endless ravines beneath their every step, funnels of wind fueled by the undead would form off in the distance echoing out their strength, and lastly the hailstorm of giant lightning bolts attempting to strike them down.

With a strike up at the heavens with all his strength, Hijìn launched another bolt back asunder, causing the sky to catch ablaze with arcs of electricity shooting everywhere. A sudden tight grip on his shoulder Kÿr would hold on for dear life thinking to himself 'The Fuck is this guy think he's doing I've only seen these once before and it erased- Shut Up! I don't want to die, but where can I go?! Down?! Are you serious?! Damn it Damn it Damn it!'. He looked ahead to see the massive crevice revealing itself before them, not slowing down, Hijìn's aura began to glow around him, and his blind eye went clear again. Taking one step cracking the ground beneath his very step he charged up and vaulted as high as he can across.

The cat realizing how high they have gotten began to panic, thrashing around not wanting to get struck so close to the source of the Rajòz (lightning). Throwing him off balance a bit they drifted to the side, but almost reaching the ground Kÿr leaped off and out of nowhere a bolt struck Hijìn. A massive explosion in the air as sparks flew in all directions, most likely reacting to his own strength, but it was overwhelming as two more struck him midair. Agonizing screams could only be heard as the hailing finally subsided, the smoke clearing leaving him scarred from the heat and electricity he fell tumbling to the ground. Kÿr landed on his small stubby feet turned around sliding after hitting the ground only to see the Boy's scarred body fall towards him. Holding his arms out he caught him, although he's half the size of the Boy, Kÿr packs a punch only he knows the limits to, but in this condition, he fell to his knees and let the boy rest.

Kÿr Pov:

Rajòz fell from the skies everywhere and was blinding, yet Kÿr didn't budge solely looking down at his friend who lay there, skin scarred from the immense heat and exhausted since the fight prior. Passing a hand up the boy's head he watched unsure of what to do or where to go, unlike his friend time was speeding up for him in his head. Seeing only in his overthinking mind that there is a chance his friend... His only friend.. Could die. Sitting down on his feet the cat curled his tail up by his side and waited, only passing his hands over the boy to try and soothe his pain. "Why do you have to try and be someone your not.. Even if that weird monster came for us, we would've been fine.. Ya'know? Hheh-" Kÿr passed a hand across his right eye for a second before punching the sandstone beneath them cracking it.

"Damn it.. Damn it! Fate you heartless bitch.. You and your pride.. Hijaàn.. I want you to stay.. Be pals- could.. Explore the world to- w.. W-we we're so close to finding that.. thing you told me abou-" he began to choke up, aggressively grabbing his head and ruffling his hair digging his nails into his scalp. "I-if only I w-Wasn't Such a Pussy! I-i" a few tears rolled down his cheek and onto the dry ground. Very energy of the undead pulsating through the very ground beneath them almost like the rhythm of a heartbeat, its deep-rooted senses messing with the small felines head as all he could hear are the quiet whispers speaking down onto his failures. Kÿr not being able to contain himself anymore, curled up by Hijìn's side and quietly cried, using his jacket as a blanket to hide from the world. "If..if..only..Ma..and..Pa..we're..here....then...it'd all be..okay."

The storm raged on as Rajòz strike everything around leaving nothing left but the burnt sandstone, ravaging screams echoing from the soul-like tornadoes falling down from the sky from the energy flowing outwards past the horizon, and sand filtering out as the world grew to a hellscape of deep ravines and ditches there in the center of this artificial hell laid Hijìn. The boy who seemed a beast yet human-like and his recent and only friend Kÿr, like a dog unlike his appearance, stayed by his side wanting it all to go away...

#action adventure #male protagonist #oc story #original story #forgonelands #forgonelandsoc #furry friends

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21ducky · 1 year

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Aight, someone asked about Bass (Underrhythm! Sans) and I haven't actually been thinking about him for a bit lol. So uh, it got my mind back on my favorite boi and now he's changed ig. Mainly because I made a character sheet with some fun little ideas that don't do much other than "build" his character so uh, here's some picks of the huge as heck sheet.

The Hoodie: No zipper, music staff set in Bass Clef, the notes will never be the same between posts or panels, and it's a dark-ish shade of green. | The Shorts: Same color scheme as Classic, right leg has a crescendo facing down while the left has a decrescendo facing up.

His Headband: It's light green, has 'Music 4eva' written twice on it, and it matches with Bass's brother's headband.

In the Silent Route (Genocide) he'll fight you if you ask him to... and he'll be pretty hard to beat because unlike the other monsters, his attacks don't follow the rhythm of his theme (which is nonexistent) Luckily, he's an optional fight and won't affect your route.

He's actually quite chill about the genocide, in fact, he'll actually encourage the player no matter what route they take. In the end, they aren't very different, after all, they both just want something new.

He drinks (lukewarm) water and tea, no ketchup or mustard.

He'll pull pranks, but won't kill you... maybe he'll hurt you a bit but he won't kill you :) (Saying he's a pacifist would be an absolute lie though)

As stated up there, he can't just make his eyelights disappear. They just shrink, he could if he wanted to but he finds just making them smaller works a lot better.

Most Sanses mouths move in their canon, but in this guy's canon it's a permanent smile. And when I say permanent, I mean it. He literally can't frown. Because of this he uses his eye sockets for expressions, he like to send mixed signals just to mess with people (as a tribute to Bass 1.0 as I call him, or in other words, his original personality.)

That's it, that's the sheet (kinda) Bass is Bass, so let me just add this- He's responsible, lazy but not lazy, he cares about others and their AUs but he doesn't care about his own, somewhat of a hypocrite, a little goofy, doesn't tend to take many things seriously, and prefers music from the 80's and 90's. I'll post more about his AU at some point, unless y'all (nobody) want to hear about the other AUs me and Sam have made. Underrhythm: Me of course :)

Edit: Eeeeeew, I was cringy about half a year ago or smth

#underrhythm #ut au #undertale au #not the best quality #chromebooks

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luxwritings · 2 years

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Heyy, I hope you’re doing well!

I really liked your “monster trio reacting to making you cry” and I would like to request a similar scenario with the bucci gang. (If that’s too many people then just Abbacchio, narancia, Bruno and mista) thankss 🥰

I gotchu eventhough this reply is a year and a half late

Abbacchio, Narancia, Bruno, and Mista reaction to making you cry

Reader: g/n

Abbacchio

One of those guys that really wouldn’t mean to make it on purpose, but because of his semi-harsh tone theres one time where it does it hard enough for it to make you cry. His voice is deep and rough, and paired with his little attitude he can give sometimes, shit can hurt.

So when you and the rest of the bucci gang are sitting together, and you ask a question where.. the answer mightve been obvious.. Abbacchio’s tone and voice made him come off as rude and annoyed as he answered your question in front of everyone else. Thankfully, no one really batted an eye since they’re used to him being that way sometimes, but as his significant other you are used to getting a soft treatment.

You began to overthink this, and you excuse yourself from where him and the rest of the bucci gang is sitting to be alone for a while. Abbacchio however, can read you like an open book, and knows right away something is wrong. The second you stand up to leave, he is right behind you.

“Why do you want to be alone, mi amore? Whos bothering you? Mista?” he asks, while you two reach privacy

You smile a bit, “You are”

He gives you a confused look, and silently waits for you to continue

“I dont know..” Your voice begins to crack as you try to communicate the pain, “Maybe I misread your tone, but earlier, when I asked kinda a dumb question, you responded a bit rudely”

As he listens, your tears flow and you cant help but to feel a bit pathetic.

But, you feel that familiar hand on your head that stops you in your tracks of crying for a second. You look up, and Abbacchio is lightly petting your hair. He opens his mouth to speak and says, “Don’t cry. I know I can be an asshole sometimes, I’ll be more careful, okay? I’m sorry I didn’t realize…”

You smile in response, and he continues in his serious voice, “No more tears, I’ll make it all better, I promise.”

“Yes,” you pout jokingly, “Make it all better.. pat my head more.”

He chuckles in response, “No but seriously, I’m sorry mi amore”

Narancia

I would just have to say that Narancia making you cry must be done physically because lord I can barely imagine him saying something hurtful to his s/o even on accident

Its a normal afternoon, and you and Narancia are doing you and Narancia things, also known as being overly energetic at random times in the day. What does today bring? Wrestling match.

Its usually very playful with him, and many of the rest of the bucci gang is around doing their own thing as Narancia is struggling to pin you on the floor and count to three. However, you dont go down without a fight, so there is a LOT of resistance on your end. This definitely causes issues.

In the mess of limbs and fighting noises, Narancia’s fist clashes with your lip in attempt to move his hand to pin your wrist. Your hand flies to your mouth and you back out a bit, stunned. The tears in your eyes begin to brood, but you tried to keep it in.

“Owww Narancia!!” But, your voice cracks, and somehow some tears escape your eyes. The embarrassment pushed you to the edge to let the crying release, especially since you and Narancia weren’t alone.

“What happened??” Mista shouts from the other room from all the commotion.

“N-Nothing!” and Narancia begins to slightly freak out, and his eyes automatically turn back to you in panic. “Y/n! I’m sorry!! Don’t cry!!”

But your hand is still over your lip, and youre sure theres blood thats began to come out. Narancia reaches over and gently removes your hand, wishing to look at where he hit you.

And surely, there is a bit of blood he sees. He gasps at the sight, “Does it hurt?!”

You cock your head a bit, “Yeah, a little.”, ending with a sniffle from your continued crying-runny-nose.

Though, he continues to look extremely concerned, and its quite cute, but you dont want him to overly worry. “That means you got a foul and you lose, though”, you grin widely

If theres one thing about Narancia, its that your smile is absolutely contagious to him, just as much as his is to you. So as you can imagine, he grins, really big, “Well, thats okay, you can punch me and we’ll be even.” he says, gloatingly.

You shake your head, reaching to wrap your arms around him, as he reciprocates. You tumble over holding each other laying down, room filled with laughter.

Bruno

It genuinely feels impossible to think of a scenario where Bruno could make you cry

But the thing about Bruno is like, he can get pretty invested in his gang, rightfully so. I mean, he is a father of 5.

Bruno really doesn’t like to get you included in all of the gangs details, like as in violence, missions, etc. His main priority is protecting you from harmful things, and he believes that having you included in his work is one of them. That also means that.. theres days with no message from Bruno. Theres nights on end where you are lonely because he isn’t there, hes working.

On one certain night, you decide to dial his cell and call him from home. Your hands shook, pressing each number, as you were already crying at the sight of your empty living space you came home to once again.

The phone rings, and stops. “Bruno.”

“Yes?”

“You are never here, and you’re always vague about whats going on and what you’re doing.”

He’s silent, so you continue. “I feel neglected.” you sniffle, “For the last few days, I’ve been falling asleep alone and I don’t even get informed on why you’re even gone because of your gang.”

You hear a small sigh on the phone, “I know. I need 20 minutes, I must finish something and I’ll be home. I’m sorry.”

“Okay.” you say in response, quite sadly still.

“Y/N. I know you are crying. I don’t want you to cry, but I understand why you are.”

“I get your work, it’s just, I miss you. I’m not mad or anything.”

Another moment of silence passes, where Bruno momentarily thinks for the best solution to keep you satisfied. “How about I shift all of my responsibilities on Giorno for the next few weeks and we can spend time together, okay?

“Okay!” you say, more excitedly this time. Its obvious your mood has lifted up, extremely thankful for Bruno. “Oh.. and.. when you come home, can we watch TV?”

“Of course my darling”

Overall pretty easy to be soothed by Bruno, especially since his demeanor is just calming and he never tries to have malicious intentions with you, so theres a lot of trust there.

Mista

I feel like he’d probably say some stupid shit during an argument that would push you to the edge of making you cry. I’m not tryna be angsty here but… that just makes sense to me. So I’ll twist my idea a bit (if yall are interested in a separate more angsty piece that regards mista and y/n arguing however ..)

You and Mista do bicker a lot, and its usually very jokingly in a way that you guys just like to fake argue and be silly. However, on moody days, things can get out of hand, and out of hand fast.

Mista didnt realize that you werent up to any sort of jokes like that today, so when he makes a comment on something you were insecure about today through a punchline, it does not tickle your funny bone. (had to slide in a white phrase)

Mista overall is quite sensitive in the sense that hes very aware of things that can hurt you. But man, the moment you gave him that death stare in response to his joke, he knows he fucked up… But, before he can open his mouth to speak, the waterworks begin. You did have a moody day, after all.

“H-hey…”, He approaches you closer, taken aback by a reaction he certainly did not expect. “I didn’t really mean it, okay?! I was just joking.”

“But you know I’m not feeling well!”

“I didn’t know! I’m sorry for making you cry babe..”

Your voice softens as you whine his name, and his tone reflects yours, “Dont cry.. okay?”

You slightly nod, looking up at him. As your eyes meet, he suddenly pulls you into a bone-crushing hug, rocking your bodies together back and forth.

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girlindelusionn · 2 years

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oh my god HELLO i just logged back into tumblr and i screamed when i saw the two chapters you posted 😭 THEY ARE SERIOUSLY everything i could’ve dreamt of and more holy shit u are now my fave person in the world. also yes dw i did mean lover by taylor PLS. u have seriously made me the happiest person on the planet and i will be reading all 10k+ words. ily never stop writing

HI LOVE IM SO GLAD YOU'RE LIKING THIS 😭 you're officially my fave person in the world too, ily and thank u for such sweet words!!

here's chapter three <3

i want them all, robin x you (part 3!)

"We could let our friends crash in the living room

This is our place, we make the call"

part 2! part 4!

You leave the living room to go find more ice and smile like an idiot when you see her cleaning a couple of cups on the sink. Seeing her exist so naturally in your own house still made you unreasonably happy.

She was always beautiful, but tonight it was almost too much. Happiness did that for her. And, against all odds, she had been wrong all those times before. People, or a few of them, weren't that bad. Having friends was not a time bomb, a catastrofe waiting to happen, an eternal countdown. It was pretty cool. And it made her happy. So happy.

This year had been absolutely insane. It was exhausting to even think about it. But along the chaos, hatred and tragedy you two had grown closer to people you'd never in the world would’ve thought. I mean, fucking Steve Harrington was in your house right now! And you were okay with it! You were more than okay. You –and don't you ever tell him– kinda liked him..? Sophomore you is probably calling you a traitor in every language possible, how could you like that idiot?

Honestly, it had been just as surprising as it sounds. It’s not like you planned it.

But Robin and you desperately needed jobs during the summer –cause again, the running away thing– and the mall had recently opened so that was the most obvious choice. Besides, it meant spending all that time together without thinking excuses for your parents, and for two hormonal teenagers who had started dating just a couple months before, it was the best news in the world. Until you found out who was the third person that was gonna be working there. No joke, you almost quit on the spot. Not Steve! Literally anyone but Steve. And you knew Robin felt the same, even though she assured you pretty much every day that Tammy Thompson was not someone she thought about anymore.

But he was pretty chill now that he was out of Hawkins High. Which only proved your theory, school was a monster. He was great with kids, (he had a lot of kid friends, that was kinda weird) he knew how to handle customers (unless it was pretty girls) and he would always cover your shift if you needed to. He was also falling for your girlfriend, which wasn’t great but it was a bit amusing. Overall, he was a good guy.

But you liking Steve was only the beginning of the crazy things that happened during the summer. First there was the code, then the fucking elevator, then the russians (how could you forget the russians?) and then the magic kid and the giant monster.

So it was safe to say, summer had been wild.

Autumn had flown by after all that mess, and senior year had been good so far. Nobody tells you how exciting school can be when you have someone to secretly make out with in the bathroom. Your relationship was as good as it's ever been, keeping secrets was basically second nature for both of you. As sad as that might sound.

Good thing is, your mom and dad had decided to take a vacation for the holidays. Three. Entire. Weeks. Of an empty house and a possibility for you two of, inside these four walls, having a normal life. She had packed a bag and told her parents you were going to yet another break up and were in the urgent need of a “girls week”. Sometimes, like two percent of the time, being gay ruled.

You had spent these weeks cooking, reading, singing and wearing down every vinyl on your collection. Doing all those things you normally wouldn't. And it has been the best time of your life. Every time it got clearer and clearer that Robin was who you wanted to spend your life with. Even if that was something you would never confess to her right now. Even if legally that couldn’t even happen.

“You’re staring” she says. You just snort and hug her from behind. Struggling to get to her shoulder.

“Who gave you the right to be this tall, huh? Who do you think you are?” she laughs at your tease, pretending she can't hear what you're saying from so far above. With that she earns a light punch to her side.

“Ow!”

“You deserved it” you say with a smile that gets quickly attacked by her kiss. Surprised, you look at her with your eyebrows up. “What was that?”

“Oh, it's just something called kissing…” she jokes “I can give lessons anytime soon if you want. Ow!” another punch to the side.

“I mean– we have guests in the house”

“So what? They’re over there and it wouldn’t be so bad either if they found out, right?” your face shows confusion but you keep your smile. “Why are you looking at me that way? If you don’t want them to find out, I won’t tell them or do anything in front of them. At least not on purpose, but you know how hard it is for me to actually shut up! I mean the other day Steve heard me say goodbye to you over the phone and I had to tell him my grandma calls me babygirl and–- “

You kiss her again just to shut her up. A very recurrent situation in your relationship.

“I don’t care, Rob. But I thought you did…” you hug her a little tighter and you feel her relax in your arms.

“I mean, it’s not like I want the entire school to know about it… But maybe just Steve?”

“You wanna tell Steve?” you ask once again just to make sure she’s really okay with it.

“Yeah”

“Alright, then we’ll tell him.” you smile and she follows right after “We wait until Nancy and Jonathan are gone?” she nods and you let her continue with the dishes. The music sounds muffled from here, but you can hear laughter above it.

“So, just for the sake of the tradition…” you ask, sitting above the counter, next to her. “Where are you thinking of running away this year?”

She smiles to herself and thinks for a minute before answering, gaze never leaving the cups.

“Honestly… nowhere.”

You gasp, jokingly. “Who are you and what have you done to my girlfriend?”

She laughs a bit, but she’s serious when she says:

“What have you done to me? You made Hawkins a livable place!”

That thought, the fact that she didn’t care about where she was physically as long as she had you, made you melt with love. She was the sweetest person and you loved her so much it hurt. So, naturally, before leaving the kitchen with the ice in hand you have to steal one more kiss from her. You had planned a simple, quick kiss, but your girlfriend decided to grab your face and deepened it. You had cero (0) complaints, of course, but when you hear Jonathan’s steps in the hallway you barely have time to pull away.

“Guys? Steve just landed on the sacred stair and he might have to go back all the way to the start!” he explains as he enters the kitchen. You both hope he wont realize the faint traices of sexual tension left on the air. Or how you two are a liiitle closer than usual “Hurry up!”

You grab the ice and follow him out of the kitchen, not before shooting Robin a grin.

The other two were still in the living room playing some kind of game Dustin had invented. It made absolutely no sense, but Steve had promised to learn the rules and play with him. Robin had landed in some kind of pit so she had lost fifteen turns. Jonathan was a little ahead of you, but he had terrible luck with the dice. You were doing pretty good, but had drawn a curse card at the beginning of the game, which made it impossible for you to advance more than five steps at a time. And Nancy and Steve were currently fighting for the win. Nancy, who had landed on the “silence cave” and could not talk for the next two turns, was four steps behind him, but now Steve had landed on the “Sacred Stair”.

“So now if you get anything but a three you're doomed?” you ask, incredulously, as soon as you sit back on the table.

Nancy nods, Jonathan checks the handwritten manual for the fifth time, and you can’t help but laugh at Steve’s worried face.

“C’mon, Steve. You can do this.” he cheers himself up. You hear Robin scream “WAIT FOR ME” from the kitchen. A couple seconds later she's back at her spot next to you.

“Give me a three, a three, a three…” he throws the little dice a little too hard, it rolls and rolls and falls under the table. “NOBODY MOVE” All of you four find it hilarious how seriously he was taking this game.

“ITS A FIVE” informs your girlfriend with a smile on her face.

“NO WAY”

“YOU LOST!” joyfully screams Nancy, who was also taking this more seriously than she should.

“WHERE IS IT?”

“Now you have to go back to the book of secrets, babe” laughs her boyfriend.

“ITS A FUCKING FIVE. OH, C'MON!” he laments “After all the time that I spent trying to get the fives for the Philosopher Monster!”

And for a second everyone is happy –except for Steve, obviously– and for the first time in your life you are certain you have found your people.

The rest of the night practically flies by and when you all notice it’s ten thirty. Jonathan and Nancy had promised to be home by eleven, to celebrate with their families, so they say goodbye and thank you for the invitation. Nancy doesn’t lose the opportunity to make fun of Steve one more time before leaving.

“Let’s do this again sometime!” says Jonathan, kind as always.

“Yes! Can’t wait to beat you again, Steve!”

“Oh, shut up”

After a little more bickering the couple is gone and Steve stands by the door awkwardly. You know the problem, he didn’t have any family to spend the night with and he was also too embarrassed to tell you both, which was ridiculous.

“Well… I should get going too…”

“Steve, dingus, you can stay over '' clarifies Robin. His face lights up a bit, but he’s still a bit unsure.

“You’re sure?” he asks you, the owner of the house.

“Of course, Harrington.” You smile and he gives you a hug that catches you off guard. He even takes advantage of the height difference too and lifts you a little off the ground. You laugh and hit him on the back of the head, jokingly. “Put me down, idiot!” he does so and thanks you once more “Now, when you had the genius idea of knocking the board off the table–“

“Nancy’s fault!”

“… you also knocked the little carrots, I want them out of my floor by the time I’m done with dishes. Robin you’re in swapping duty, or the spilled soda it's gonna end up sticking to the floor”

“Yes, ma’am!” They both say. Posing as soldiers, with hands on their foreheads. You roll your eyes, and make your way to the kitchen.

After a while of tedious cleaning, —those damn carrots had flown everywhere— you take downstairs the couple of mattresses you kept for visitors and make a big bed in the middle of the living room. Steve’s early Christmas gift for Robin and you, a Queen record, was playing softly in the background and the clock on the wall marked fifteen minutes till midnight.

Steve’s in the bathroom but Robin and you are already in bed. She’s nervous, you can tell. She’s slightly trembling and fidgeting with her hands. It isn’t really the first time you both do this, but it’s as terrifying as the last time:

You two walk the distance between your math class and Mr Hauser’s classroom as you damn this fucking school for being so closed minded. All you wanna do right now is hold her shaking hand.

“We don't have to do this, you know?”

“But I want to.” She reminds you. You’re unsure “I really do. I'm just a bit nervous.”

“Are you sure this is gonna be fine? Maybe we could start with someone safer?” you offer when you face the door. Robin shakes her head no.

“Trust me, there’s no one safer than Mr Hauser.” you’re still not a hundred percent convinced, but she looks sure of her words and you would trust her with your life, so you knock on the door.

You both enter after you hear his “come in!”. He looks surprised to see you.

“Robin! Y/N! How nice to see you both” he greets.

“Hi” says Robin, who’s getting more and more nervous every second that passes.

“Hi, Mr Hauser.”

You occupy the first two seats as you chat about your winter break. Well, you and Mr Hauser, Robin is weirdly quiet because of the nerves. You try to help by holding her hand under the table.

“All the way to California?” the teacher is telling you about the winter break he spent visiting his family “That must have been nice"

“Yes! Great weather. And I even managed to find a copy of–”

“SO WE'RE DATING” says Robin out of the blue. You look at her astonished. “Y/N and I, we’re kinda– not kinda, we’re dating.” she explains. Her face is the same shade of red as her converse.

“Oh…” he says with a confused smile. You hold your breath, you know how much Mr Hauser means to her and not having his support would be devastating for Robin. “That’s great! I’m happy for you both"

You continue with the conversation, Robin actually participating this time. You even get to tell him all about your traveling plans. You also find out Mr Hauser was already aware of Operation Croissant, apparently Robin told him all about it, and he confesses he pretty much knew there was something going on between you two.

You’re having a really good time, but after a while you need to go. Today you had a geography test and you needed every second possible to study so you say goodbye to her and the teacher and make your way to the library. As soon as you leave Robin turns back to see Mr Hauser, who’s looking at her with a grin, waiting for her to talk.

“I know that you feel like I'm rushing into this, and it's probably a bad idea to make all these plans when we’re so young and delusional but—” she starts to ramble.

“Robin…"

“No, no, I know what you’re gonna say. ‘That’s just me being really in love for the first time’ but honestly it feels like i'm never gonna love anybody but her. Which I know sounds ridiculous cause we’re only seventeen and we have all our lives ahead of us an–”

“I was going to say that you look genuinely happy for the first time, Robin.” he explains with a small smile.

“Oh…” she breathes “I am. I really am.”

“Then there’s nothing more to say.”

So the whole telling Mr Hauser had gone well, and chances were telling Steve would go just as good. But it still felt awfully scary.

“STEVE, CAN YOU HURRY UP, DUDE?” Robin yells at him. She just wants to let it out.

“IM IN THE BATHROOM” he complains.

“AND WHAT’S TAKING YOU SO LON—?”

“WE DON’T WANT DETAILS. I REPEAT, WE DO NOT WANT DETAILS” you look at her with an ‘are you insane?’ look. Robin shrugs and you sight. “Rob, it’s gonna be okay, dummy. It’s just Steve.”

She looks at you and you know she’s really trying to believe you, but it's just not that simple.

“I know, I know. It 's just… too much, sometimes.” She shows her trembling hands and this time you do kiss her, taking advantage of the fact Steve’s still in the bathroom. Starting to realize this might be the last time hiding kisses. At least from him.

That sounded wonderful. So wonderful you kiss her even fondly. She accepts it, running her hand through your hair.

“WHAT?”

Oh, fuck.

You drift apart from your girlfriend, who is still too shocked to even speak. She has the same guilty smile as you do. Like two kids caught red handed.

“…WHEN? W— WHAT?”

You might have broken Steve.

“YOU TWO ARE…” he starts to guess.

“Dating, yeah.” You explain. But that doesn’t erase his frown and confused gaze.

“For how long?” He says after a few seconds of silence.

You turn to Robin with a knowing look. “…a while”

“FOR HOW LONG Y/LN?” He’s not mad, just surprised. How could he have missed this completely?

“Nine months.” you reply.

“WHAT? SO YOU WERE ALREADY DATING WHEN I MET YOU?”

“Technically–” finally speaks Robin “ …yes. But only for a few weeks.”

“Wait, and all that time I…”

“Wanted to bang my girlfriend?” You complete his sentence “Yes, that was funny. But I don’t blame you, though, look at her.”

“Oh, shut up” complains Robin, rolling her eyes at you. You respond by sticking your tongue out. She tries to hide her smile, but, as always, fails miserably.

You’re about to make fun of her yet again, but remember Steve’s still sitting in front of you. He’s wearing one of your giant t-shirts, those he's been trying to steal for the longest time, you make a mental note to make sure he actually gives it back before leaving tomorrow morning. He’s still processing, you think, but just to make sure Robin asks:

“Are you… Are you okay with it?” there’s worry in her voice and that makes him snap out of his thoughts.

“Of course!” he assures and you feel her breathe again. It physically hurts to see her that anxious. She didn’t deserve a single bad thing. Ever. “I mean it’s a lot. And I feel like an idiot for not noticing–”

“Oh, that’s old news, Steve.” Robin chuckles, he doesn't find it as funny.

“Well I was gonna talk about how you two are actually a match made in heaven and how I'm so happy for you guys, but whatever...”

“Dear God, you’re such a drama queen.”

“Come over here, you dingus.”

You three hug and when you drift apart Robin’s smile could light up the room. You have never seen her smiling so big. It takes you every bit of self control to not kiss her right there on the spot.

Then you remember. You can! You can kiss her right here right now! In front of someone!

So you do.

“Gross!” Jokes Steve. Earning not one but two punches, one in each shoulder.

#wlw #stranger things #robin buckley #robin buckley x you #dating robin buckley #robin buckley x female reader #lgbt #steve harrington #nancy wheeler #jonathan byers #nancy and jonathan

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troubatrain · 3 years

Text

want you to want me - m. tkachuk

a/n: i’m awful at intros but this fic is my whole ass child. i started it months ago and i picked it up back and then i just couldn’t stop writing. now we’re at a whopping 10k words and i’m really happy with the way this one came out. i hope you guys like it as much as i loved writing it.

big thanks to @hookingminor @igor-shestyorkin & @tkafuckit for reading this as i wrote it and gassing me up ily all sm

warnings: smut

You were Matthew’s dream girl, and you didn’t have a fucking clue. You were leaning against the cold metal bleachers of your former high school, chatting with whatever teacher probably wanted to hear all about that shiny NWSL contract you signed right out of college with the Chicago Red Stars. It was well deserved, a few national titles in college put you in the position in the first place, and Matthew respected the hell out of you. You wouldn’t know, by the way he never seems like he actually wants to speak to you and the few snide remarks about your sport in general. That started forever ago, when Matthew royally fucked up any chance he had with you later in life because he was a competitive asshole.

It started when you were twelve, and middle school was nothing short of a mess. Matthew was growing into his own, adding a near foot to his height over one summer while his father and coaches doted on the fact that he was getting bigger. Getting bigger meant getting better, and for a few years winning was the most important thing in the world. But, becoming a hormonal preteen came with something else, feelings about the girl who sat three rows behind him in almost all of his classes.

Then third period gym class came around, and Matthew was a competitive monster. The kind of kid who took that way too seriously, and you accidentally became public enemy number one. You were the only person in his class who could even come close to beating him at anything, because you were just as much of an athlete as he was. Soccer had become your craft, and much like Matthew, you declared you’d go pro one day. So, Matthew did what any other insecure twelve year old boy would, he teased you relentlessly. It was awful, but by the time Matthew had gone off to play for the National team you had forgotten about his bullshit.

Apparently, you’d done something in a past life to warrant dealing with Matthew for longer than you ever anticipated. Jamie was your little sister, and Taryn’s best friend. Best friend was probably understatement, the pair were inseparable on and off the field. They trained together, they played on the same teams and that meant way too much time with the rest of the Tkachuk’s. You learned quickly, that the rest of their family was wonderful and Matthew seemed to be too thick headed to fall in line.

You tolerated Matthew, brushing his silly remarks off just like you did when you were younger. The thing was, Matthew didn’t want you to just tolerate him, but he didn’t know how to get you to stop hating him. You make your way over to Matthew who’d been standing next to his brother since the start of your sister’s game.

“Hi Brady,” You greet, tapping Brady on the shoulder who pulled you into a bone crushing hug. That annoyed Matthew the most, the way you seemed to love his siblings and despise him. In your defense, nobody was more supportive of your professional career than Brady, who’d made a promise to catch a game the second he could, “Hi Matthew.”

You were waiting for something from Matthew, an acknowledgement for finally achieving a dream of yours. You’d gotten the congratulations from the rest of his family, a massive celebration because Keith thought you deserved it. Matthew probably didn’t think you did. You could practically hear his smug little voice about how much his recently inked contract was compared to yours, because you’d heard it since you were kids. He used to rip on your athletic abilities every chance he could, something about how it didn’t matter how hard you could kick a ball you couldn’t hold a hockey stick so he was just better.

“You’re here!” You hear the chipper voice of your little sister approach, Jamie’s sweaty postgame arms wrapped around your waist. You’d been in Chicago, signing some paperwork and looking into finding a place to stay when you had to go for camp. You promised you’d make it back in time, and your flight landed less than five hours ago but you made it.

Matthew bit the inside of his cheek to keep his smile to himself, watching his own sister push past him to see you. Taryn loved you, because sometimes she just needed a big sister and her brothers were in another country most

of the time. It was the part that killed him the most, seeing you with his family. You fit right in, a fierce athlete with drive that rivaled his own. Brady side-eyed his own brother, watching him instead of the scene unfolding in front of him. He was frustrated with his own brother for not just telling you the truth, that he teased you because he was an idiot who didn’t know how to handle having a crush on you.

But Brady was going to do it himself if his brother didn’t.

***

Matt, you don’t have a girlfriend right?

Matthew knew damn well he should not have answered his sister’s question, but when he realized her best friend had been sitting right next to her in the kitchen, his curiosity got the best of him. So he did, telling his sister he was single and sparing her details of any of the girls he’d gone on dates with the past year. That was his life is Calgary, a constant revolving door so no one would see what was underneath layers of sarcasm and angst. But every summer, he’d come home and wonder when he’d start to build a life for himself, and if he’d ever find that person to do it with. That was when his brain would start to wander, fantasies of a future that always seemed to involve you. He loved to imagine it, the years that you’d both spend supporting the other’s dream. Matthew would do anything to make sure you achieved yours, and he thought you’d do the same. Then you’d both settle down, the big house with the white picket fence and a shiny ring on your finger Matthew put there himself and years of arguing about what sport your future children would play - he’d even consider letting you have just one.

Unfortunately, none of that could be real until he figured out how to get you to hate him less. Taryn apparently had the same idea, and had been scheming with your sister for months. The two girls were looking at Matthew with devilish grins on their faces, like whatever they came up with would totally work.

“Y/N doesn’t have a boyfriend,” Your sister hums, sipping the smoothie they forced Matthew to drive them to go get, “It’s sad actually-”

“We think you should date,” Taryn explains, Matthew’s eyes went wide. His sister didn’t know the whole story, or just how far back this stupid fued went. Taryn always loved you, so Matthew just kept his remarks to himself.

“I know you know Y/N doesn’t like me very much,” Matthew explains, “So tell me how that’s going to work.”

“Apologize to her, if she can forgive me for anything she’ll forgive you,” Jamie sighs, thinking of all the times you’d shown her mercy when she didn’t deserve it.

“You’ve got to be sorry,” Brady interrupts, mouth full of food while he goes to go look for more in the fridge. He turns around, Matthew’s eyes giving him daggers, “What? You were a dick to her for years, you’ve got to fix that first.”

It didn’t take much convincing after that, Taryn had already planned out what Matthew should say to you. Matthew wasn’t going to repeat those words, because he knew exactly what he’d say to you if he ever got the chance. He was trying to fix his past, because the way he acted towards you was the one thing he regrets.

So with the help of your little sister and the Find my Friends app, Matthew was pulling up to a soccer field he’d been to plenty of times. He used to run through the park nearby, catching a glimpse of your practices when you were in high school and Matthew was an afterthought. He hops out of his car, smiling when he could see you running drills alone. You were dribbling the ball, counting to yourself while you were weaving through cones you set up.

“I’ve never been good at those,” Matthew calls out, walking over to you while you stopped and caught your breath, “I kick the cones with my skate every single time.”

“Maybe you’re not as good as you think you are,” You tease, grabbing your water and guzzling it down, “What are you doing here?”

“I, uh, I came to apologize?” Matthew admits, knowing his face was probably bright red. He was nervous, the good kind like he got before a big game, “I was just an insecure kid then, and you didn’t deserve what I did just because I was afraid you’d beat in something.”

Matthew left out the part where he felt like he was still that kid all the time. All of those insecurities about himself seemed to be picked up by every reporter in Canada when he was there. You bit your lip, pretending like you were trying to debate whether or not you should forgive Matthew at all. In reality, you would have forgiven him ages ago if he’d just apologized sooner. It was so long ago, and sometimes you thought Matthew’s constant taunting made you better. He was pleading, baby blue eyes staring at you sadly while he waited for your answer. He looked like he didn’t think he deserved to be forgiven, shoulders slumped while he tried to read your body language. It was something you noticed about Matthew forever ago, he could have everything in the world but when he looked at you he seemed almost sad.

“I mean I could forgive you, but only if you beat me,” You cross your arms, raising an eyebrow at Matthew, “If I win, I don’t have to and if you win all is forgiven.”

“Really? Isn’t that why we were in this situation to begin with?” Matthew points out, crossing his arms at you.

“I thought you weren’t that kid anymore,” You remind of his own words, testing him to see if he’d put his money where his mouth was. Matthew smirks, chuckling to himself, “C’mon Tkachuk let’s see what you got.”

Matthew shook his head, laughing and lining up next to you. You both counted to three, sprinting down the field at full force. Matthew knew his height was the only thing working to his advantage while he tried to keep up with you. You were nearing your finish line, and Matthew didn’t think he was going to win. You were going to forgive him regardless, but Matthew didn’t know that. His arms stretched out, grabbing your waist and pulling you into his chest. Matthew turned his body around, stepping over the line before you did.

“God, you’re such a fucking cheater Matthew,” You hit his chest, Matthew’s hands still firmly placed on your hips.

“I didn’t want to lose,” Matthew admits, all of his smug attitude diminishing immediately, “Just want you to forgive me.”

“I’ll forgive you if you never pull that shit on me again,” You poke his chest, slipping out of his grip and running to your stuff before he could notice how nervous he was making you.

No. Absolutely not. You told yourself while you checked your phone, rolling your eyes at the warning text from Jamie that Matthew was on his way, you couldn’t have anything but indifference to Matthew Tkachuk. It got harder everytime you saw him, the past few years had been nothing short of kind to him, he was growing from a dumb immature boy to a man more and more every summer. You turn around, peeking at Matthew who was sitting down and catching his breath, a winning smile on his face, the same kind he had the very first time he schooled everyone at floor hockey in middle school.

Maybe you could be friends.

***

Matthew liked having you as a friend, mostly because as of right now that was all he was going to get. You definitely didn’t trust him, which was valid considering Matthew had been a dick to you for years, but he was working on it. He had to, that uncontrollable feeling that he cared about you was getting harder to shove back down with every year that passed.

“You’re friends now, you don’t need to stare at her like a creep anymore,” Brady scoffs, watching his brother gawk at you from afar. Matthew couldn’t help it, you just had a glow about you, you always did, but somehow in the summer you were golden. Tonight you looked even better, maybe it’s because you smiled at him when he walked instead of scowling like you usually did.

“He’s in love with you,” Steph giggles, sipping her drink and giving Matthew a side eye, “He’s been staring at you all night.”

“He apologized to me,” You confess, holding in that little secret about Matthew’s visit to the field even from your best friend. You had the same friends, the same group of people who’d been pushing the two of you to work it out for years. It wasn’t that you didn’t want them to know that they no longer had to worry about one of you blowing up because the other was there, you just wanted everyone to let it go too. Matthew deserved a little forgiveness, you could only imagine the pressure he felt on himself back then, and while he didn’t totally deserve your protection - you were going to give it to him, “Don’t-”

“Oh wonder why, I know it’s because he looooves you,” Steph teases, “Did you forgive him?”

“Yeah I mean we’re both older and I’d like to think he’s wiser, and besides our parents are way too close,” You knew this was going to be your excuse for a while. It was better for everyone that you forgave him, Jamie and Taryn spent more time together than you’d spend with anyone and you're just as close with the rest of their family. It wasn’t untrue that it was in fact for the best, but that didn’t mean Matthew’s stupid dimples didn’t persuade you before you could think about anyone else, “Can we stop talking about this?”

Matthew’s eyes didn’t leave you once that night, especially after the way Steph downed tequila shots and convinced you to join her. You deserved to celebrate, you’d accomplished something Matthew knew was your biggest dream because it was the same as his. He was proud of you, not that he’d gotten a chance to show it.

“If you’re going to go pro Y/N, you’ve got to start keeping up,” Brady chirps, watching you stumble over your own feet to walk over to him and Matthew. Matthew had seen this once before, a level of drunkenness where you turned into bambi but that was so long ago he never thought he’d see it again.

“I’ll go pro in beating your ass Brady,” You snap back, shooting daggers over Brady who was already cracking up, “Hi Matthew.”

“Hi,” Matthew’s voice was small, a weird sound considering he was usually the loudest in the room. Brady scoffs, walking away from the two of you before he snaps at how hopelessly in love his brother was. You turn your head in confusion, your mind far too hazy to realize why Brady was so annoyed in the first place, causing Matthew to chuckle, “Want to play? Might be best if we’re on the same team.”

Matthew’s thumb shot over to the beer pong set up on the other side of the room, a mischievous smirk on face, “I mean if it’s for the best.”

Matthew’s arm wrapped around your shoulders holding you close to his chest while you both played pong was definitely not for the best, and it wasn’t helping that stupid crush you had on him. You could feel Steph’s stare from the corner of the room, and you look at her to mouth a don’t at her. It was nice having Matthew on your team, finally a moment where instead of arguing with each other about who’s elbow was clearly over the table - you got to do the same thing to Brady.

“Brady you’re cheating,” You call out, Matthew’s head thrown back in laughter at your seriousness.

“You heard her Brady, elbows over the table,” Matthew breathes out, his body still rumbling with laughter at his little brother’s expense.

“Oh look at you two, you’re just gonna raise some winners one day aren’t you?” Brady chirps back, both happy to see you getting along and annoyed once he realizes that means he was going to get roasted by both of you now. You felt heat rush to your cheeks, tucking your face into Matthew’s arm in hopes no one saw the way you shrunk at that stupid joke.

“We’re winners right now,” Matthew calls out, his last ball landing in the cup and sealing the game for the two of you. Matthew would raise winners with you, it was something he thought about from time to time, but those thoughts were never going to see the light of day, “Alright drunky I think it’s time to get you home.”

“You can stay, I’ll just catch a ride with someone,” You waive Matthew off, who shook his head no at you before you even started speaking.

“One, my dad would kick my ass if he knew I left you,” Matthew starts with, holding up one finger with another on the way, “Two, we’re friends now and I’d like to make sure you don’t die before you see a pro game.”

Matthew had seen you this drunk before, but what he didn’t know was that getting you home would be more difficult than he thought. You started in the direction of your house, but apparently you were a runner and a speedy one at that. Now you were barely two blocks away from Matthew’s parents place and if he could at least get you there he’d be able to call it a night - which wasn’t fucking easy.

“Alright I’ve had enough,” Matthew huffs, jogging to catch up with you and scooping you into his arms. You were hanging over his shoulder, Matthew making his way down the street with the house in his sightline. You could have cared less, laughing your ass off while Matthew walked up the stairs and finally placed you back down on your feet, “Be quiet, go up to my room and get some clothes and go sleep in the guest room.”

You weren’t quiet, not at all and Matthew was amazed not one of his parents came down to see what all the chaos was about. After Matthew had to walk you up the stairs, running back down for some water and hoping you weren’t a disaster by the time he got back - he found you in his bed. You were curled up right in the middle, an old London Knights shirt on your body, Matthew’s favorite. Matthew grabs his comforter, throwing it over your body. He sighs, leaning against his door frame and smiling to himself at how comfortable you looked, flicking off the light and retreating to the guest room.

Matthew hated the guest room. He hated how hard the mattress was and after a few hours of no sleep and tossing and turning - he gave up. Matthew hoped no one else was up, but not to his surprise his mother was already in the kitchen, and judging by the look on her face, she knew who was upstairs.

“Care to explain?” Chantal smirks, raising her eyebrows at her son. Matthew’s face got red, his landing on the back of his neck to cover the blush.

“She fell asleep before I could even get her to the guest room,” Matthew shrugs, hoping his mom wouldn’t push it any further, “I, uh, apologized the other day.”

“Good,” Chantal hums, a knowing look on her face. She didn’t like to push Matthew, her one kid who seemed to be a little rougher around the edges than the others, but that silly feud never sat right with her, “Here, bring her a coffee, I’m sure she needs it.”

Matthew nods, grabbing the mug his mother was holding out and starting to make his way up the stairs. He heard the tell her you made it from his mother and shook his head. He knew what she was thinking, especially with the way Chantal seemed to talk about you. His mother thought you were nothing short of perfect, and Matthew would be a liar if he didn’t think the same thing.

“Did I fall asleep here?” You’d woken up confused, your question only answered by the jerseys hanging on the walls, you were in Matthew’s room. You rub your eyes, the door creaking open way too loudly for how dead you felt.

“Only after you almost fell down the stairs and ran three blocks in the wrong direction,” Matthew chuckles, sitting on the edge of the bed and handing you the mug, “You know you’re fast right?”

“Yeah,” You muse, smirking to yourself and taking a sip of coffee, “I’m sorry I did that to you, and stole your bed - I can go.”

Matthew stopped you, telling to finish your coffee and relax and he’d drive you home after. You fell into a comfortable conversation, something Matthew never thought would happen.

And watching you walk up to your steps in his shirt still wasn’t something he thought he’d see, but it was better than he imagined.

***

“Hey it’s Jamie, can’t get to the phone right now…”

You groan, tossing your phone onto your bed and continuing your pace around the room. It was well after midnight, and your sister had been out all night, and past her curfew. Usually you’d cover for her, definitely taking the prize home for the cool older sister who picks her siblings and their friends up from parties. That’s what had you so worried. Sure, Jamie was a teenager and she snuck in a few little white lies with your parents just like you’d done, but Jamie always told you the truth. She’d check in with you more than her parents, letting you know that she’s going to be out late but she’s safe and if she needed anything she knew who to call. You texted sometime around ten, just checking in since it was Saturday and you were sure she had a more riveting social life than yourself. No answer. Then eleven rolled around and you didn’t hear anything, so naturally you double texted and now it’s twelve thirty and you still haven’t heard anything. You cross your arms, looking at your phone as if you could will an answer into existence. You grab it, dialing a number you weren’t even sure would work.

“Hello?” Matthew’s voice appeared on the other side of the line, clear confusion in his voice. You let out a sigh of relief, hoping Matthew would have the answer you wanted to hear so desperately.

“Is my sister at your house?” You ask, biting your lip and throwing on a pair of sweats so you could pick her up and murder her for scaring you like that. You were sure it was innocent, Jamie slept over at Taryn’s all the time, staying up way too late watching movies or when Jamie would hide going to a party from your much stricter parents.

Matthew tells you to give him a minute, and you can hear him walking through the house. By the time you heard a door open and a small fuck under his breath, your stomach dropped, “She was supposed to be home by midnight.”

“Alright, thanks anyways,” You sigh, “Do you know where they might have gone? It’s just, Jamie hasn’t answered me in hours and she usually does even if she’s out past curfew and I’m just-”

“I’ll be at your house in ten,” Matthew says, his keys alright in his hand and his foot halfway out the door. He was more mad than worried, sure his sister was out a party past curfew. Matthew was her biggest brother, and he was far more protective over her than Brady ever could be. He hated when she did this, and Matthew was pissed. You waited on your steps, Matthew car coming into view while you sprung up and practically sprinted into his car.

“You look mad,” You observe, as if it wasn’t completely obvious. You knew why, trying countless times to remind Taryn that her brother loves her and that’s why he’s like that. You thought he could go a little easier on her, but you wouldn’t dare get in the middle of that.

“I am mad,” Matthew grits out, knuckles white on his steering wheel while he drives slowly down the street. You just drove, in hopes you’d find what was obviously a house party and hopes your sisters were inside. You squint, hoping your eyes weren’t fooling you.

“Wait, pull over I think I see my neighbor,” You yell, Matthew’s foot flying on the break and you hop out. You were right, the bright orange tuft of hair you saw was like a miracle, “Hey Henry have you seen my sister?”

“Oh yeah I think she’s still inside,” Henry points to the house behind him, music blasting and a party in full swing, “I think she’s with Taryn.”

Matthew hops out of the car, grabbing your hand and pulling you into the house with him. Matthew’s fingers were laced with yours with every step he took, weaving through the crowd in hopes you’d see them. It took three bedrooms and a laundry room until you finally saw Taryn standing in the doorway. Her eyes went wide, and you pushed past them both to see Jamie with her head in the toilet. She was fine, well she was definitely in deep shit, but it wasn’t the worst thing to stumble upon. You throw her hair up, your attention moving to Matthew yelling at his sister in the hallway.

“Why didn’t you call someone,” Matthew yells, trying so damn hard to not completely snap on his baby sister. Taryn yells that her phone had died and then Jamie got sick and she didn’t know what to do. Of course they didn’t. You were probably more sympathetic, and you knew just how pissed off Matthew could get. You get up, pushing Taryn back into the bathroom and telling her to watch your sister.

“Calm down before you talk to her, please,” You plead, grabbing Matthew’s shoulders, “Besides, I sort of need some help right now.”

There it was. The very moment Matthew realized all along you could’ve been helping him. Your hands were wrapped around his biceps, a finger gently rubbing the skin right under the sleeve of his shirt. Every bit of anger disappeared from his body, a calm feeling replacing it. He knew you were right, and he’d be thankful for it later. Matthew knew he had to do the right thing by you, and he nodded, willing to follow any directions you gave him.

Matthew carried Jamie out of the house, getting both of your sisters in the car and finally heading back to your house. You knew he was still pissed off, a present frown on his face so you just took the chance. Just like he’d done before for you, you grabbed one of his hands from his steering wheel, lacing your fingers together. You caught the smile on his face, your thumb rubbing over his hand while his shoulders seemed to just relax. Once

Matthew finally helped you get Jamie inside, a night of laying on her floor to make sure she was okay ahead of you stood in the doorway with Matthew across from you.

“Thank you, I know we’re working on this friendship thing but you really didn’t have to do that,” You were eternally grateful, wrapping your arms around Matthew’s waist and tucking your head into his chest.

“You’d do the same thing for Taryn,” Matthew hums, knowing full well he definitely owed you for being Taryn’s replacement sibling with him and Brady in Canada for most of the year, “Get some rest okay?”

“Wait,” You stop Matthew, grabbing his hand one more time, “Don’t kill your sister, please she’s just a kid-”

“You’re way too easy on them,” Matthew chuckles, shaking his head at you. He knew Taryn was probably scared, and after he calmed a bit he understood where you were coming from. That didn’t mean he wasn’t going to tell her that if she ever pulls that shit again - he was going to rat her out to their parents.

And when Matthew finally got back in the car, he could see his sister’s grin in the backseat, “Don’t say it.”

She held your hand, are you sure you’re not going to malfunction now?

***

Maybe you were spiraling.

You’d been waiting for this moment your entire life, now you had a few more weeks until camp started and you were afraid. You knew you were good enough, you had to be. But what if you weren’t? You could feel the anxiety settling in, a feeling you hadn’t felt since Matthew told you soccer wasn’t a real sport in fourth grace. It’d been eating at you for weeks, deteriorating any confidence you had left in yourself. So you started pushing yourself even harder. The harder you worked the less like you were to fuck it all up. Your muscles were sore, your body was tired and it was just all becoming too much.

And Matthew noticed.

You were pushing yourself too hard, even the time you were supposed to relax with your families before your seasons started was being spent training. He understood it, the term first round exit lived rent free in his head every single time his skate hit the ice over the summer, but that didn’t make it okay. You looked tired, sluggish while you moved because you were running twice a day and training in between. And he was pissed everyone seemed to be fine with it. You should start working harder then Matthew. If it bothers you so much maybe you could join her. It wasn’t that he was jealous of your work ethic, he was worried. Matthew’s eyes followed you as you ran past his house again. The third time in one day, he’d finally decided he had enough.

Matthew took the walk to your house, charming the pants off your mother for her to tell him you were upstairs because you just got back in. He knocks twice, hearing a come in from the other side.

“What are you doing here?” You question, rolling one of your ankles that just seemed to be getting more swollen every time you started to practice. Matthew noticed it, your hands freezing one you caught his gaze.

“You’re overworking yourself,” Matthew stands his ground, he knew you could have told him to fuck off because no one hates advice they didn’t ask for quite like him, “Don’t tell me I’m wrong.”

“That’s rich coming from the kid who’s played with more broken bones than anyone I know,” You remind him of a few mistakes Matthew’s made playing through injuries he really shouldn’t, “I’m not fucking frail.”

“That’s not what this is about,” Matthew scoffs, it never once crossed his mind that he thought he was tough enough to play through injuries but you weren’t, “It’s about taking a break so you don’t get hurt.”

“I’m fine,” You huff, getting up and trying your best to hide the pain in your ankle when you stood on it. You fell forward, Matthew catching you in his arms and putting you back down the edge of your bed.

“Tell me what’s wrong?” Matthew asks with soft eyes, he bent down to take your ankle in his hand and inspect it the best he could. It was swelling, probably from the amount of pressure you’d been putting on your body with no breaks.

“What if I never score a goal?” You whisper, teary eyes finally meeting Matthew’s. His brows shot up, alarmed at how one of the best athletes he’s ever seen could feel the same way he felt right before his first NHL game. Matthew sits down next to you, hand on your thigh while you let out a cry, “What if I’m just a bust? Like I get there and nothing works and I suck.”

“You’ll score eventually,” Matthew scoffs, understanding how ridiculous you sounded but just how you felt at the same time, “Everyone does.”

“You scored like four games into your fucking career Matt,” You remind him, Matthew smiling a bit that you knew that to begin with. It would have been impossible not to know, or pretend like you didn’t keep a few tabs on his career. Matthew Tkachuk was a legend in the making, and whether or not you could feel butterflies in your stomach every time he dropped the gloves was a secret you’d take to the grave.

“I got suspended my first season too,” Matthew jokes, a teary eyed laugh escaping your lips, “I’d put down money you score in your first game.”

“Well good thing you have money to lose,” You sigh dramatically, the fear of fucking up still on your mind.

“You’ll find your groove, all legends do,” Matthew promises, throwing his arm around your shoulders. You snuggled into his side, a realization that he was becoming a comforting presence in your life with each passing day, “And if you don’t, you can always hide out in Canada with me.”

“Matty!” The same silly nickname Matthew introduced himself to you on your very first day of kindergarten slipped through your lips without realizing it. Matthew hadn’t been called that in ages, but it was welcome from you. You push his chest, “That’s not making me feel any better.”

“What if I told you the only reason I was so mean to you was because I was intimidated by how talented you were?” Matthew confesses, scratching your head with his fingers, “If I win a cup one day I think I owe you one.”

Matthew didn’t mention that in his wildest fantasies of raising that cup over his head, you were there. He’d owe you one and he hoped it was because you were there for him until he got there. Matthew saw it the same way every time, you’d tell him to go see his parents first but he’d fly right past them to get to you - the person who accidentally pushed him to be his best. He had plenty of daydreams about you winning too, remembering times you used to brag you’d go to the Olympics one day, and he hoped you were right. He wanted to see you succeed, more than anything, and he thought it would work.

“Legally you have to let me drink out of it,” You muse, shutting your eyes and letting yourself just rest against Matthew.

“It has to be Bud Light,” Matthew teases while watching you fake a gag. You grab his outstretched hand, letting him pull you up. His hands rested on the side of your face, eyes flickering to your lips for just a second. He wanted to kiss you, but he knew he had to wait. Wait for you to be ready. Wait for you to settle down. Or even just wait until he thought he had a real shot at forever.

Forever with you.

***

Matthew was kind of pissed off.

The press didn’t bother him, none of that mattered and at the end of the day Matthew was able to sleep at night knowing he was a good teammate and a decent person most of the time. This one got him though, some writer criticizing the A on his jersey, and how someone who plays like he does didn’t deserve a letter.

A letter he earned.

You could tell something was off, the way Matthew had been running alongside you was aggressive to say the least. He insisted he came with you, something about forcing you to take breaks. He was being your friend, even though your sisters seemed to disagree. Taryn’s words were replaying in your head, Matt doesn’t even care if I get hurt. That didn’t mean anything, those two had no idea what love was and Matthew caring about you a little bit didn’t mean he loved you. Besides, the way he was acting right now told a completely different story.

“Are you mad at me?” You finally slow down, sitting on a rock that was next to the hiking trail you were on.

“No?” Matthew stops dead in his tracks, his heart sinking to the pit of his stomach that he fucked this up too, “I’m fine, don’t worry about it.”

“No, tell me what’s wrong,” You push, crossing your arms and narrowing your eyes at Matthew. You could tell he was pressed about something, his neck covered in a red flush the same way it used to.

“Some stupid article about my letter, don’t worry about it,” Matthew grits, repeating his words again. His defense was up, even after you confessed to him that you were scared of not being enough.

“Get the fuck out of here with the tough guy act Matthew,” You challenge him, poking him right in the chest, “If we’re going to be friends you need to cut that shit out.”

“You really want to hear it?” Matthew barks back, fully yelling at you, “I’m tired of people thinking I don’t deserve things because I threw a few bad hits. Do you know how it feels to have everyone think you’re shitty? No you don’t, because you’re so fucking perfect that my own parents like you more than me.”

You stood there, silent while you tried to figure out how to tell him that simply wasn’t true. His entire body was shaking, the anger coursing through his veins like you’d seen many times before that. Matthew looked like he did the first time you hit a homerun in gym class, except this time it was because that same pressure never got released. You couldn’t come close to understanding the way he probably felt. You didn’t have the comparables in your own family, the constant reminders of Brady’s points tally compared to his, let alone the career his father had.

“Matty,” You whisper, grabbing his hand and running your fingers over the scars on his knuckles, “Why is this bothering you so much?”

You were sure this wasn’t the first time someone’s said he was a pest, and it sure as hell wasn’t going to be the last. Matthew sighed, the better part of his brain screaming at him to stop before he lost you too.

“I’ve felt like this forever,” Matthew whispers, eyes fixated on your hand in his, “From the moment I started getting bigger, there’s just been this pressure to play a certain way and act a certain way. I was a fucking kid, and while all of my friends got to go wherever they wanted all I ever did was practice. Then I finally get to where I wanted and I’m still getting shit on.”

“Except no one thinks you don’t deserve to be where you are,” You whisper, quiet words as if you were going to startle him, “And I know it doesn’t make up for things people say, but the people who love you think you deserve it.”

Matthew nods, pulling you into his arms and holding you close. Your arms wrapped around his waist, his words mumbled against your forehead, “I needed that.”

“I know,” You nod, smiling wide up at him, “And we need to practice more because you’re too slow, soooo catch me if you can!”

You slipped out of his arms, running away with a giggle and a smile. Matthew stopped for a second, his Neanderthal brain checking out your ass while you jogged away and his more logical one trying to process what just happened.

But what mattered most was that whatever you did worked and that meant something to Matthew.

***

Just admit you think he’s hot.

You wanted to kill your sister for making this weekend harder than it had to be. You were doing a good job at just friends with Matthew until Jamie was curled up in your bed while you packed for a lake trip with your friends. She pushed it for hours, rambling on about Matthew is actually your type and Taryn swears he’d be a good boyfriend if someone just understood him. The problem was, you were starting to see her point. Matthew had a glow up a few years ago, like one summer he’d gotten home and you were infatuated with him. It used to annoy you, because he’d been such an ass to you that you hated how attractive he was. Then things changed, and now looking at him was just frustrating you. You were terrified about the way he made you feel, like everything would be okay with one look of those blue eyes and a smirk. You felt like he had your back, a vast change from how you used to feel and it was just getting hard to hide it anymore.

Especially when Matthew looked like he did right now. He was holding himself up on the dock, shoulders broad and glistening in the moonlight above you. All your friends were inside, moving their party away from the water as the night lingered on. You wanted to run your fingers through his wet curls, the temptation was almost too much.

“I’ll be in Chicago a few times you know,” Matthew hums, enjoying the time alone he was getting with you. Anytime without Brady teasing him about what the Tkachuk’s had been referring to as the hand holding incident. He didn’t want them to think he didn’t want you, because he did, but he just needed to move at his own pace.

“You want to come see me play?” You ask, leaning back on the palms of your hands. You were surprised by the kind of man Matthew had become, it was a completely different person that he used to be. He cared so much about his loved ones, and you were starting to feel like maybe you had a place there.

“Actually thinking you could come see me play,” Matthew teases, sarcasm dripping from his words. You lifted your foot up, kicking some of the water below you to splash him, but he’d caught your ankle before you could. He stopped for a moment, running a thumb over your skin, “This looks better.”

“Don’t make you admit you were right,” You whine, Matthew swiftly pulling you into the water with him. You yelp, the water way too cold for any normal person, “It’s freezing.”

“C’mere then,” Matthew grabs your waist, pulling your body against his. His hands were splayed across your back, heat radiating off of them. One of your hands was on his shoulder, your other on his chest. You could feel his heart beating quickly, his eyes locked on yours, “Middle school Matthew would be so jealous of me right now.”

“Why’s that?” You hum, running your fingers along Matthew to play connect the dots with the beauty marks on his skin.

“Because he had the biggest crush on you,” Matthew confesses, his grip on you a little tighter, as if he was afraid you’d slip right through his fingers again, “But he was too thick headed to do anything about it.”

“What about grown up Matthew?” You ask, biting your lip. Matthew was practically holding you both up in the water, pressed so close together you could hear the hitch in his breath at your question, “Is he too thick headed to do something too?”

You wrapped your legs around Matthew’s waist, pressing your lips to his and tugging on the curls at the base of his neck. He pushed you up against the dock, helping you back up and pulling himself up next to you. You grabbed the back of his neck, latching your lips back on his. His hand was on your back, fingers toying with the back of your bathing suit, “Think we can get upstairs without anyone noticing?”

Matthew was cool most of the time. He never faltered under the pressure from his career, most of the time, and he definitely didn’t fold when it came to a pretty girl. You had him in the palm of your hand, every part of his brain malfunctioning in response to your words. You bit your lip, wondering if you’d read this entire situation. Matthew rubs a thumb along your lip, “When are you going to realize I’d do whatever you asked me to?”

The two of you snuck up the stairs, giggles and stolen kisses left in your wake. You open the door, Matthew’s hands still toying your bathing suit top, “Just take it off already Matty.”

“Don’t have to ask me twice,” Matthew breathes, his lips pressed against your neck while the garment falls to the floor, “So fucking beautiful.”

You back hit the mattress, Matthew’s hands running up your body slowly. Slow wasn’t in Matthew’s vocabulary, but he was taking his time just in case he never got this opportunity again. His fingers hooked under your bathing suit bottoms, sliding the wet fabric down your legs. You looked so beautiful, spread out just for Matthew like he’d dreamed about numerous times. His lips moved down to your breasts, teeth grazing against your skin while his tongue swirled against your nipple. You let out a breathy moan, Matthew’s ego boosting from the sound. You plucked at his curls while his mouth moved down to where you were craving him most, a gentle kiss to your clit, “Matty, please.”

“I didn’t peg you for the type to beg,” Matthew hums, pressing feather light kisses around your core. He stopped, gripping your thighs and looking up at you, “You sure about this?”

“Yes, please,” You whine, pussy dripping from Matthew’s hot breath fanning over it. Matthew chuckles darkly, fingers digging into your thighs when he flicked his tongue over your clit. You moan, completely unbothered by the blaring music a floor below you. Matthew didn’t seem to be bothered either, his tongue teasing your entrance while his nose rubbed against your clit, living for the way you were whimpering above him, “Matty-”

“Close baby?” Matthew groans, slipping a finger inside of you and curling it. You back arched, his name falling through your lips was enough to answer his question. Your legs shook, pleasure washing over your body from Matthew and all of it just felt so right. Matthew’s lips were latched to your skin until he finally met your eyes again. He smiles softly, nudging his nose with yours while you caught your breath, “So good for me.”

“Should’ve known you were that good with your mouth with the way you run it,” You tease smiling against his lips.

“Not with you, not anymore,” Matthew promises, soft blue eyes looking into yours, he meant it. He didn’t know how else to make it clearer, he wanted you. You kissed him slowly, hands trailing down his abs and stopping where his shorts hit his waist. Matthew kicks off his swim trunks, cock springing free. You grab the back of his neck, pulling your lips to his and rolling over top of him and straddling his waist. It was criminal how good you looked on top of him, “Gonna ride me babe?”

You nod, lining his dick up your core and lowering yourself on top of him. You let out a whine, Matthew’s smug smile on full display once he realized it was because of how big he was, “We don’t have to if my dick’s too big.”

“Oh shut up,” You roll your hips, watching the way Matthew’s head fell back, smirking because he really thought he had control here. Matthew’s hands gripped your waist, moving your hips faster. His finger flicked over your clit, causing you to lunge forward on top of him. Matthew flipped you over, wrapping a leg around his waist so he could hit your g-spot. Your hands gripped his shoulders, nails leaving scratches Matthew was going to wear pride later. You were seeing stars, noises leaving your throat you’d never even heard yourself make, “Fuck, Matty, I’m gonna cum again.”

“Look at me,” Matthew grabs your chin, pressing his forehead against yours and watching while your eyes roll back with pleasure. Your pussy clenched around him, his own cum spilling into you from the sensation, a loud groan following. Matthew pressed a kiss to your forehead, his cock still buried inside of you, “I wasn’t bullshitting you, I mean every word Y/N.”

“Matthew,” You whisper, running a finger along his back, “The distance…”

You didn’t mention everything, the way that if this was real it meant it would end up ripping you both apart. You were set to live in a different city, Matthew all the way in another country. The way your dreams included a spot on the U.S. National team, and the idea that wanting to be with Matthew would hold you back was terrifying. The way his dreams probably meant staying in Calgary forever, a C on his jersey and a cup over his head. It wasn’t going to be easy, you weren’t ever going to be the doting girlfriend he probably needed. There would be years of travel schedules and games that overlapped, and a part of you thought that maybe Matthew wouldn’t be able to do it. You’d get a year in and he’d find someone who would be there more and finally you’d end it.

“We can make it work, baby I want you, I always have and I probably always will,” Matthew starts, baring his soul to another person for the first time in his goddamn life, “I want to support your dreams and have you be there for mine. I’m all in here, I don’t know how else to tell you.”

“Can I have some time?” You plead, holding onto Matthew’s shoulders because you knew he could leave and tell you to never speak to him again. Matthew sighs, understanding the way you were shitting yourself about starting your own professional career, remembering the way rookie Matthew would have died before he considered settling down that first year, “Please don’t leave me-”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Matthew promises, rolling over and letting your rest on his chest, “I’ll wait for you.”

You smile, snuggling closer to him. Matthew didn’t sleep a minute that night, running every single scenario that could possibly happen with the two of you. Matthew was sure it would work out, it had to, because if it didn’t he wasn’t sure he’d be able to recover.

So now all he could was wait.

***

You know this is creepy right?

Matthew stares at Sam, punching his teammate in the arm lightly and telling him to shut up. He had a night off in Chicago, and after four straight hours of staring at your contact in his phone, Matthew finally just bought the tickets. He’d been good at keeping his distance, you needed space and he respected you enough to try and give it to you. He wasn’t doing so hot, Matthew consuming more soccer games than hockey games at this point. It started with your first game, because how was he supposed to just pretend like it wasn’t happening? You scored too, and it took everything in his power not to call you to tell you that not only was he right, he was insanely proud of you.

And he’d been hearing it from everyone. Your sister thought it was bullshit, Taryn and Jamie almost had Matthew on a flight to Chicago ready to show up like a terrible Lifetime movie. Brady thought it was hilarious the way Matthew was simping like this for one girl. Now, his teammates were on him, wondering why on Earth their friend who historically ran through women faster than he did mouthguards could be this hung up on someone he had a crush on in middle school.

“What number is she?” Sam asks, sipping the beer he forced Matthew to buy after making him go along with this.

“Nineteen,” Matthew smiles, pointing down at you on the field. You looked so happy, warming up with one of your teammates and a bright smile on your face. It seemed like a good fit, your team and your new city, and it made Matthew’s heart grow four sizes.

“Did she choose your number?” Sam jokes and Matthew mumbles something under his breath, “What?”

“It was her number first,” Matthew admits, not wanting to ever confess to another soul that you crossed his mind when he kept that camp number. Sam howled next to him, leaning over his seat and cracking up at his teammate.

You looked out in the crowd about halfway through the game, rubbing your eyes to make sure you weren’t seeing things. That tuft of curls was hard to miss, not to mention you knew just how big Matthew was. He was far too into the game to realize you caught him, up in arms about a call against your team that was valid but he’d argue it wasn’t. You asked for space, and it was getting harder to stick to your guns. Especially when he was making it so clear that he wanted this.

And whether or not you went to his game the next night, was a secret you’d take to the grave.

***

You were so close you could have tasted it.

While the final seconds of your season came to a close, all you could do was hold your head in your hands and hope no one caught the tears. A semi-final loss was devastating, but a semi-final loss where there wasn’t anything you could have done differently was even worse. Every athlete had off nights, a point Keith pushed right before you left to start your season, and he was right. Unfortunately, that was this game. Your biggest fear had come true and there was nothing you could do about it now. The game was over and you weren’t moving on.

And Matthew watched it.

Matthew promised you space, and he swore he’d give you the time you needed to settle down. But, this was something he couldn’t ignore. He could tell you were off, your entire rookie season was almost perfect and watching the way you folded during this game was gut wrenching. Matthew knew better than anyone, losing sucked. So he took the chance, grabbing his phone and shooting you a text he’d been waiting to send.

Doors open in Calgary.

and I’m so fucking proud of you.

It was the very last text you saw before you went to bed that night, tossing and turning for a few hours thinking about that loss. You couldn’t stop, every bone in your body was aching and you didn’t know what to do. So you bought a flight, packed your shit and was walking down the hallway to Matthew’s apartment without a second thought. You’d left him on read, calling Brady in the middle of the night and asking for his address, who gave it to you reluctantly with a reminder that if you needed to see him this badly you should rethink the needing time thing.

Matthew let out a groan when he had a bang at his door at three in the morning. Noah definitely was trying to walk into the wrong apartment again, and Matthew was grouchy when he whipped his door open. Except it wasn’t Noah after he’d had too many. It was you, teary eyed with your shit in a suitcase and a broken heart.

“I can’t stop thinking about it,” You admit, whispering something you never thought you’d say to anyone, “I just didn’t do enough-”

Matthew didn’t say a word, pulling you into a bone crushing hug and holding you as tightly as he could. You didn’t need to hear it from him, about how things were out of your control and you did your best. You didn’t want that right now, you wanted him, “Baby…”

“Everything hurts,” You whimper, finally just letting it all out. You were bruised and battered from the season, the physical pain alone was enough to upset you, let alone the loss you just took. Matthew carded his fingers through your hair, letting you soak his bare chest with your tears because he wouldn’t have it any other way. You came back to him. You came back to him when things got too tough because you trusted him to bring you some peace, and he was happy about it.

You passed out sometime after that, your tears finally running dry and the exchaustion taking over your body. Matthew woke up early the next day, grateful for the optional morning skate so he could stay with you for just a little bit longer. The sun was just starting to peek through the curtains in his room, a calm snowy morning in Calgary so the city was just a bit quieter.

Matthew settled on breakfast, working away in his kitchen with the only thing he knew how to make. Tell her you made it, his mom’s words from just a few months prior in his head while he cooked. You padded out his bedroom, one of Matthew’s god awful beer shirts hanging from your frame while you wrapped your arms around his waist and pressed a kiss into his back, “It’s cold here.”

“You’ll get used to it,” Matthew hums, internally pumping his fist when he felt your lips form a smile against his skin. You turned your head, pressing your cheek against his against and letting out a laugh, “What’s so funny?”

“You framed my jersey?” You ask, your eye catching a jersey that was way too familiar. It was hung up beside Matthew’s from his first all star game, both number nineteens staring back at you.

“Why wouldn’t I? You’re my favorite player,” Matthew hums, a blush covering his cheeks, “I’m so proud of you.”

“You keep saying that,” Matthew finally turns around, pressing a quick peck to your lips.

“I’ll keep saying it long after we both retire,” Matthew speaks, words clear and sure because he’s had plenty of time to practice this one, “I’ll say it when you win a World Cup gold, I’ll say it when we have kids, I’ll say when you play at the Olympics. I’m going to say it over and over again.”

“But…” You trail off, all of those same demons you’d been fighting when it came to your whatever this was with Matthew, “What I’m not around enough for you?”

Matthew knew what you were thinking about, he’d thought about it plenty too. There were countless sleepless nights where all he did was wonder if you’d find someone in Chicago who could support you better than he could. He’d do his best, he swore he would, but in order for you to be happy, your passion came first. There was always going to be times when he couldn’t be there and it killed him.

“You’re more than enough,” Matthew promises, his lips ghosting over yours, “I want you to seize every opportunity in the world, I just want to be there to tell you that I love you and use the goat emoji on Instagram when you do.”

You let out a laugh, Matthew’s smile wide enough to see his dimples you loved so much, “I think I want to stay a little while.”

“I think you should,” Matthew agrees, capturing your lips in his, “Besides I’m playing tonight and I think I need to show off now.”

“You’re a cocky asshole.”

“But now I’m your cocky asshole.”

***

One year Later

You had a good reason to be late.

You swore Matthew couldn’t possibly be mad at you for this one. You’d missed your flight to Calgary, a few days post a second loss in the semi finals that you’d been taking much better this time around. Mainly because Matthew wasn’t there, but his stupid smile and words of encouragement where there on facetime hours later. That wasn’t the reason you were late, the reason you were late was because you’d received the most insane news of your life and it was an important phone or that flight. You’d caught the next one, legs shaking not to just call him and share the news, but you needed to tell him in person.

You’d finally gotten by the doors to the locker room entrance, out of breath from spriting there from your cab. There was Matthew, tapping his phone and staring at the clock on his phone with furrowed eyebrows. He was still in his suit, tie pulled a little looser, a nervous habit you realized he had some time ago, “Matty-”

“Don’t call me that just because you know you’re late,” Matthew huffs, already ready for the pout that would have followed so he’d forget all about the fact that you promised you’d make it on time. He holds his hand out, waiting for the handshake he made up in the car on the way to the first game you went to after he finally locked it down. You laugh, slapping your hand against his and letting him pull you closer for a kiss.

“They want me on the National Team,” You mumble against his lips, the words spilling out of your mouth when you pull away with an excited smile. Matthew stood there stunned, while you shuffled your feet in the little dance you did when you were really happy. He grabs your cheeks, pressing kisses to your lips again and again.

“We’re celebrating after this, holy shit,” Matthew cheers, still stunned by your news, “I love you so much.”

“I love you too, now go score a few goals so we have even more to celebrate,” You kiss him one more time, pushing him before the door before he was late.

“Anything I do seems unimportant now!” Matthew calls out, a light laugh to his voice as he watched you walk away to go sit in the stands.

And that’s how Matthew thought it should be.

#matthew tkachuk #matthew tkachuk imagine #my writing #nhl imagine #nhl imagines

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