#i can always shrug shit off a bit better than the kids but also me and mom are uh...

[janeyseymour]

Personal and Professional- pt 3

Part 1. Part 2.

An anon asked for this! There's a backyard barbecue being held, and you're a bit hesitant because no one has seen you as the alternative woman that you are outside of school. They also don't know about you and Melissa.

WC: ~2.3k

Janine is organizing a backyard barbecue at Barbara’s house for the Abbott crew- and you are less than thrilled to be excited. It’s not that you don’t like your work crew, because that isn’t true; you’re dating one of them. It’s that you really would rather not have everyone commenting on your body and your… tasteful markings.

“C’mon, hun,” Melissa says softly as she lays with you that night. “I think it’ll be fun to let our hair down.”

“I really would rather not,” you sigh. “No one knows about my tattoos, and no one knows about us.”

“The tattoos aren’t a big deal- I think they’ll like to see that you aren’t as buttoned up as you like to play. And they don’t have to find out about us,” she smirks. “I can keep my eyes and my hands to myself when I want to- just like I do at school.”

“You came into my room today and ate me out during prep because you were too horny to focus on grading your kids’ last assignments,” you tell her.

“It takes two to tango,” she shrugs. “It was good though, wasn’t it?”

You push her off of you. “Shut up.”

“All I’m saying is, I can control myself if that’s what you’re worried about for this barbecue,” your girlfriend tells you.

So begrudgingly, you find yourself at this barbecue for the fourth of July. The redhead and you drive separately so as not to give anything away, and you arrive there far too quickly. When you pull up to the kindergarten teacher’s house, you’re impressed. You can smell the food cooking, you hear the music playing from the backyard, and you can hear your boisterous girlfriend already laughing it up with her work wife. You head into the fenced area after taking a deep breath.

“About damn time!” Melissa teases you as she winks from the pool. “I was starting to think you weren’t gonna show!”

She’s saying this to you playfully, but she really was worried you weren’t going to pull up to the party, especially since you’re arriving an hour later than her.

“I’m here, I’m here,” you chuckle nervously as you wrap your thin cardigan around your body subconsciously.

“Well what are you waiting for?” the redhead heckles you. “Grab a drink, and come on in!”

You know she absolutely loves to see you in your bathing suit, and she’s going to drool when she sees the tattoos that dance around your hips and ribcage. She won’t be able to contain herself.

“I’m actually good right now,” you chuckle. “But I’ll grab a drink. Mel, you want anything?”

“Just another beer,” she tells you.

Everyone else looks at you like you’re crazy for only asking the redhead. “Uh… anyone else?”

And that’s how you essentially become beer girl for the day. Finally, Barb has had enough.

“For the love of all things holy, Y/N,” she throws her arms in the air. “Let loose a little and show some skin! You have to dying in all those clothes!”

“I’m really okay,” you say softly as you wipe a bit of sweat from your brow.

“Sweetheart, if this is about body insecurities,” the kindergarten teacher tells you, although her words are a bit slurred at this point. “No one is going to care what you look like in a swimsuit.”

“I bet yo’ tasty ass looks a lot better in a bikini than it does in all your buttoned up outfits that match Barbara’s energy,” Ava comments.

“I’m not always buttoned up,” you roll your eyes. “I just like to maintain some sense of professionalism when I’m with coworkers.”

“You think we give a shit about professionalism?” your boss smirks. “I go out clubbin’ every weekend and see half the Abbott parents out too. Janine and Greg were out at a hookah bar and were grinding up on each other. I’ve seen Barb and Melissa get absolutely hammered at PECSA!”

“And I am known to have a few too many aperol spritzes from time to time!” Jacob cuts in.

“Come on, baby boo, show us what youse made of!” Ava goads you.

You take a deep breath before opening your eyes again. “You really wanna see what I look like outside of school?”

Melissa’s eyes widen and her brows creep up her face. You don’t shed any clothing, not yet- but you do open your bag and pull out your different jewelry. You expertly take out the clear stud in your nose to exchange it for a hoop. Your earrings are all put in. Even though it’s just a small change, you look like an entirely different person to them- all except Melissa, who loves seeing you like this. She licks her lips subconsciously.

“Damn!” Ava grins. “We got ourselves a hot little alt girl!”

You roll your eyes at that comment. “Give me a few minutes to go change, and I’ll come in the pool.”

The hostess gives you directions as to where the bathroom is, and you thank her before heading inside to change. You do before throwing your big ripped up band t-shirt overtop of your figure. If you’re going to stun them all, you might as well go all out. You tie your hair up into one of your messier buns before making sure that your ‘slut strands’ (because that’s apparently what the baby hairs that don’t make it into the bun are called) look as though they’re supposed to be there before heading back outside.

Your secret girlfriend’s eyes go wide as you make your way into the fenced in area. You swear you see the smallest droplet of drool escape her mouth as her eyes stay trained on you. 

“Happy?” you ask your work friends.

“We’d be happier if you took off the hot t-shirt,” the principal smirks as she sips her seltzer. 

With a roll of your eyes, you peel off the shirt, revealing all of the tattoos that you have.

“You have tattoos?” Janine is mesmerized.

You shrug as you slowly start to make your way into the pool. “Young Y/N mistakes.”

“They look amazing though! I’ve always wanted a tattoo, but I’m too scared that it’ll hurt or get infected or that I’ll-”

“You just have to find something that means something to you and brace yourself. And then it’s just simple aftercare. Not too bad at all.”

“Are we really gonna ignore the fact that our good little teacher is secretly an alternative hottie with a body?” Ava gestures to you wildly. “Like, damn girl. I knew you were fit, but I didn’t know you was gonna look like-”

“Enough,” you cut her off as you grab a float and situate yourself on it. You push yourself so that you’re close to Melissa, and she hangs off of your raft. “I don’t need my boss objectifying me.”

But she doesn’t get the hint- she never really does. And you can see the way that your girlfriend is getting more and more aggravated. Silently, you nudge her with your foot and shoot her a look, telling her to cool it.

You spend the afternoon in the pool before it’s time to start cooking some more food. Gerald comes out to take everyone’s orders, but you absolutely insist on helping to cook with him. It only seems right since they’re hosting, and you quite like to barbecue.

So you climb out of the pool. You can practically feel Ava’s eyes on you as your sun kissed skin glows. You wrap your towel around your body, and she’s immediately booing.

“Show that body, girl!” she tells you.

“I’m going to be grilling,” you roll your eyes. “I ain’t trying to barbecue myself.”

When you’ve deemed that you’re dry enough thanks to the sun still out and your closeness to the grill, you unwrap yourself from the towel. Ava cheers. Why is she always around? Her applause quickly dies though when you reach for your t-shirt and pull it over your head.

You continue to help Barbara’s husband, making small talk with him, when he asks you something that entirely throws you for a loop.

“So, you and Melissa?”

You look at him as though he has four heads. “What about it?”

“The two of you together or what?”

“What are you talking about?” you feign shock.

“I see the way she stares at you,” he shrugs. “And not the way that Ava is… there’s something there, even if you don’t know it yet.”

“I think you’re crazy,” you lie through your teeth.

“Barb thinks there’s something there too,” he tuts. “And that was before you revealed yourself to be little miss alt girl. Funnily enough, that’s exactly Melissa’s type.”

You roll your eyes. “We’re coworkers.”

“That ain’t stopping your boss from flirting with you,” he chuckles. “All I’m sayin is-”

“Is the food almost ready yet?” Melissa calls from her place in the pool. “And will you grab me another beer, hun?”

You don’t make a move, and Gerald laughs. “She ain’t callin’ me ‘hun’. That one’s all you.”

“Almost,” you call back. “And you just want another Yuengling?”

“Please!”

You grab the beverage, opening it up for her before making your way back towards the pool. She’s in the middle though, so you peel your shirt off again and make your way in to deliver it her.

“Body-ody-ody-ody-” the principal starts dancing, making quite a few splashes in the water.

“Ava!” Barbara tuts.

You roll your eyes as you climb back out of the pool and make your way back over to the grill, not wanting to hear how your boss will respond to being scolded. 

Dinner is wonderful, it’s cleaned up, and then you find yourself back in the pool as the sun starts to go down and the moon starts to rise. Gerald comes out to light up the tikis that they have around the outside, and he waves.

“Alrighty, I’m heading in for the night, but it was wonderful to see you all again.”

“Thank you, dear,” Barbara blows him a kiss.

That leaves you and the rest of the Abbott crew to spend some time in the moonlight together. Somehow, the conversation leads to you and the less professional side that you’ve now shown them.

“So, when did you get your first tattoo?” Janine asks you.

“Three days after I turned eighteen,” you laugh as you float alongside your girlfriend. “Got my nose pierced the first weekend I went to college. My mom was so pissed.”

“Why?” Barbara of all people asks. “It’s an expression.”

“She hates them,” you roll your eyes. “Told me if I got tattoos and a nose ring, she’d kick me out of the house… she never did.”

Melissa chuckles. “Sounds like-”

“Sounds like what, Melissa?” Barb cuts her off with a raised eyebrow.

“Sounds like our generation,” your girlfriend states quickly. She’s thankful it’s dim, or everyone would’ve seen the panicked look on her face.

“Who carees?” Ava asks. “It’s fuckin’ hot. If I had known that you were hiding all of that under your stuffy attire, damn… I would’ve been hitting on you way more.”

“Which is why I wear what I wear at school,” you deadpan.

“I mean, really… my boyfriend and I would love to-”

“Enough,” your girlfriend practically hisses.

The entire crew looks to the redhead. “What’s got your panties in such a twist?”

“Just shut up. Stop talking about her like that,” Melissa tells your group. “Or else.”

“Or else what, Melissa?” Ava presses. 

“Or else you’re gonna have to deal with Y/N’s girlfriend,” the redhead snaps. “Who just so happens to be me.”

You press your lips together in a fine line as you look anywhere but where your friends are floating around the pool.

They all immediately start questioning both you and the second grade teacher.

“What do you mean she’s your girlfriend?” a chorus of voices ask.

Only Barbara smirks. “I knew it.”

Melissa looks to you as she pulls you and your float in tight. “That’s right. Y/N is my girl, and y’all better stop ogling her before I throw youse in with the wolves at the zoo.”

“Mel,” you roll your eyes at her threat.

“I’m serious!” she hisses as she points a finger at Ava. “I know a guy who can make it happen, and I won’t hesitate to use him if you don’t stop drooling over my girl!”

“Since when has this been a thing?” Jacob asks. “If I had known you swung that way, Mel Mel… we would’ve been at Woody’s this whole time!”

“And that is why no one knew,” she rolls her eyes. “I’m past my days at Woody’s.”

“Well what about you, Y/N?” the middle school teacher asks. “You and me? Woody’s?”

“In your dreams, Hill,” you tease. “Maybe a more low key gay bar though.”

“So, when did this come about?” Barbara asks, quite interested. “I’ve been telling Melissa to go after you since you sauntered your way in- and that was before I knew you were a little alt girl- exactly her type.”

“Caught her at the grocery store one day,” Melissa shrugs. “We went out the next Monday… been together since.”

“It’s been, what? Four months?”

“Four months, two weeks, six days,” the redhead says casually. “And enjoying every moment of it.”

“Good on you,” Barbara cheers as she holds her drink in the air.

“So stop all your flirting with my girl, or there will be hell to pay, and I’ll make it look like it was an accident,” Melissa pointedly tells the group.

Ava puts her hands in the air in surrender before pursing her lips together. “What if both of you-”

“Ava!”

[woozvc]

call you tonight

final (part XIX)

w/c - 1.6k + smau at the end

a/n - and this is it! after so long call you tonight has officially come to an end. I hope the last part of this clears up the eunwoo situation (reading your replies and theories made my day😭😭) and i hope this is an ending you can be satisfied with. thank you so much for all your love and patience on this series. it truly means a lot that you guys stuck around till the end even with my terrible posting schedule 🫶

previous / masterlist

this is it. this is the day.

the event started 20 minutes ago and till now, it's been a success. the auditorium is filled with laughter and dancing, courtesy of jihoons playlists.

you're currently standing at a corner just observing the entire place. a part of you feels at peace that this is finally over, the results will be out today and this is it. a part of you is also shit scared. the past few days have been a rollercoaster.

seungcheols words keep echoing in your head about how you're still important to him and he's changed. you really want to believe him. you really want to give him a-

“hey are you okay?”

you wake out of your trace by jihoons voice.

“yeah I'm fine”

“you seen a bit…distracted” he hands you a cup of lemonade. you take it with a small smile and shrug his comment off. no need to reply when he's right?

“how do you feel, you know, about your performance and all?” you look at him. he shakes his head

“I don't know. all of this feels unreal. I never thought I'd have to perform that too dance but here we are”

“doesn't it scare you?”

“obviously it does, but I find some comfort in it too. maybe it's the fact that a part of me believes taking this chance could end really well. maybe I'll finally let go of my past fears and just let myself be in the moment once.”

“hah.. that sounds nice.”

“yea I guess so. I think whatever happens tonight, I just hope I don't regret it. I want to take that risk”

you open your mouth to reply but you're interrupted by hoshis voice calling jihoon. he gives you a small smile and walks away.

right. regret. don't regret tonight. you decide to leave your spot in the corner when you see hansol walk in. being with a friend is better than being alone.

so jihoon is an amazing dancer. you were mesmerized, truly. his moves are fluid and his body doesn't miss a single beat. obviously hoshi is amazing too. his sharp and timed movements make him look like he was born for the stage.

the song is also amazing. jihoon later revealed it was called “bring it”. you'll definitely tell him to record it and send it to you.

the auditorium is a bit loud now. one hour till new year and the presidential results are about to be announced. you avoided seungcheol all night today. reason? you don't really know.

maybe you know mentally a part of you won't be able to handle his teasing if he wins. it's all friendly of course, but it doesn't change the fact you really, really want to win.

“hey y/n ready for the results?” jeonghan nudges into you and you push him off with an annoyed whine.

“jeonghan I swear if I don't win you'll have to wipe my tears”

“I won't mind that because I'll be winning”

“this is important to you huh?”

“it's my one shot to prove I'm actually good at something, can't fuck this one up”

“you dont have to prove yourself to anyone you know?”

“this is for me. I need this to tell myself I'm better than I think. I'm done always being known as the problem kid. and who knows maybe this will get me some street cred?” he winks and walks back to his group, knowing if he kept speaking, he would say something something sad and make you feel more stressed than you already do. you'd probably scold him for being so self deprecating too. your eyes follow him walking back and

oh.

seungcheol is looking directly at you. his gaze burning deep into you. you look away quickly, taking a deep breath to calm yourself. the music in the room slowly fades out.

“okay ladies and gentlemen are we ready for the most awaited moment of today?” seungkwans voice echos through the room and so does the cheering of the students.

“honestly? I'm not shocked at the result. I'm so proud of everyone who participated and made it this far. just know all of you are amazing and we as the student council and the teachers love your dedication. so first of all here are the names of the people who made it to the finals”

he starts reading off the list. there's your name and eunwoos name. after a few students he announces jeonghans name and….thats it? what?

this is surely a mistake and the entire auditorium feels so. there's chattering and confused looks all around

“ah yes, there's only 9 participants now. choi seungcheol removed his name because of some unavoidable circumstances so we divided all his votes to all the others”

your head shoots in seungcheols direction. you look at him confused and he smiles at you. he motions you to stay where you are for now. this can't be real? he can't just remove his name?

hansol taps your shoulder and tells you to focus on the stage. you look back at the stage, realizing you completely missed seungkwans dramatic speach on how much he waited for the results etc etc.

“and so, svtct, your student council president is…..y/n!”

there's screaming in the auditorium but this place has never felt so quiet. your legs are numb and your hearing is fucked. you…won? you actually did it?

“y/n go to the stage!!” jeonghan pushes you from the crowd towards the stage. you want to say something to him. you want to apologize for winning to him but

he's smiling so wide.

his eyes are genuine. he's genuinely happy you won. “don't worry about me, my favorite cousin’s win is my win” he grabs your hand and takes you to the stage.

seungkwan helps your walk onto the stage where the teachers are standing to give you your certificate and badge. you receive it, saying a small thank you to the teachers presenting and seungkwan hands you the mic

“any words president?”

any words? what the fuck even are words? you stare at the mic then back at seungkwan. you're glad you've been friends with him for so long that even without words, understands and nods at you

“I think our president wants to save the speach for during school hours to not bore us.. well I hope my speach was dramatic enough, wonwoo I'm looking at you. there's 30 minutes till new years so till then…enjoy!” he looks at jihoon to restart the music and when it does, all the eyes on you slowly move away as seungkwan leads you to the teachers.

they all congratulate you and praise you. after a while one teacher asks

“so who's going to be your vice?”

“jeonghan” there's no hesitation in your voice. the teachers seemed shocked, a bit put off too but they don't question it. they tell you good luck and let you go back to the crowd.

you stand near the stage for a bit. letting it all sink in. all these months of work, all the effort and everything worked out. even the banter with seungcheol worked- right. seungcheol.

you run back to try and find him when eunwoo bumps into you.

“hey y/n! congratulations there's no one who deserves it more than you” he gives you a smile and pat on your shoulder.

“thanks eunwoo”

“are you guys busy” you hear seungcheol behind you and immediately turn to him.

“not busy at all man” eunwoo says and walks off, winking at seungcheol while seungcheol just looks at him disgusted.

“I never liked that guy”

“why did you remove your name”

“he's always given me a bad vibe”

“you wanted this so badly”

“and he keeps flirting with-”

“choi seungcheol answer me.”

you cut him off

“answer you? okay fine. first of all don't call me by my full name. I left presidency because frankly I hate the pressure. I never wanted to be captain anyway. I got forced into it because of my grades and extra curriculars.” he takes a pause to look around the room before continuing.

”i realized I was only doing this because it was expected of me. so I left it. I rejoined the track and badminton team. that's what was important to me before and I'm going to continue it now” he says and looks at you. a small smile playing on his lips.

you're speechless. you always knew seungcheol never really liked captaincy but you didn't know till what extent. you feel bad. you feel bad for the all “why aren't you working” and “why did they make you captain” comments you said to him.

“I'm sorry seungcheol”

“for what”

“for everything”

he smiles. you realize that you're seeing his dimples after so long. he's never smiled that much in front of you before. he looks pretty.

“10 seconds guys!” yells seungkwan into the microphone. seungcheol softly takes your hand and says

“y/n, I know you haven't forgiven me”

10

“but I have to say”

8

“I've been thinking a lot”

6

“you're too important to me”

4

“I think I like you, more than friends.”

2

“can you give me a chance?”

“happy new year!” jeonghan comes and hugs you.

you have no idea how this is going to end. you're scared, terrified of this feeling but you won't let this go. you keep your grip on seungcheols hand. slowly the student council joins the hug and the rest of your friends follow. you look around. you're surrounded by people who love you, people who care for you. what could possibly go wrong?

“yeah…I'll take the risk.”

2months later :

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[cutielando]

Can I have oneshots for Theodore nott and reader when he finds out that their daughter is constantly bullied at school?

PROTECTIVE

my masterlist

Pairing: Theodore Nott x Wife!Reader x Daughter

School can be tough. That was a given. Especially if you end up being a Slytherin.

Theodore knew that better than anyone. Being a Slytherin himself, also being friends with the infamous Draco Malfoy always attracted some unwanted attention.

Most of the other students knew not to mess with him, but there was still the occasional bully who didn't give a shit and picked on him anyhow.

Because of that, he never wanted his kids to experience the kind of pain he went through when he was younger. He did everything in his power to make sure your children were safe and happy at school.

Oh, how wrong he was.

He didn't notice the signs early on, but you did.

Y/D/N was more distant than usual, spending an awful lot of her time in her room when she was home for the holidays and summer break, her letters always failed to mention any of her school friends and the atmosphere there, she was sadder and lost the spark that she always used to have in her eyes.

Thinking it could be something serious, you decided to talk to your husband about it.

"Tesoro?' you asked him one night as you entered your shared bedroom and saw his under the covers, reading a new book he had purchased the previous day.

"Yes, amore?" he put the book aside as you sat next to him, giving you his full attention.

"Can we talk about something?" you were nervous, you didn't even know how to approach this subject with Theo.

"Of course we can, amore. What's bothering you?" he took your hand in his, drawing soothing circles on the back of your palm.

"I'm worried about Y/D/N" you confessed.

His eyebrows were scrunched, not understanding where you were coming from.

"Why? Did something happen?"

"I don't know. She's just...different. She hasn't been herself in a while, she's always in her room, she barely eats or talks to us, her letters seem downright robotic and she's just not the same girl we know her as anymore. I'm worried something might be happening over at the school" you explained.

You felt Theo's hand that was holding yours tense up, stopping the movements.

You looked up and saw that his jaw was clenched, he was fuming and looking at a fixated point on the wall of your bedroom.

"Do you think someone might be making fun of her? Bullying her?" his voice was low and tense, making you sigh and shrug your shoulders.

"I don't know, but I think maybe we should talk to her. You should talk to her, you know she'll open up to you a lot faster than me" Theo nodded at that, numerous thoughts running through his mind.

Y/D/N had always been a daddy's girl ever since she was little and you were okay with that. Your younger son was a mama's boy, so it evened the scales a little bit.

You knew that Y/D/N would open up to your husband and you hoped that the problem wasn't as bad as you felt it was.

"I'll talk to her"

Come the next day at breakfast, Theo turned to your daughter as soon as you and your son left the kitchen to go to the living room.

"Y/D/N, love, I wanted to talk to you about something" he started and put his hand over hers.

"What is it?" she was avoiding eye contact with her father, which happened very rarely when they would talk.

Theo put a hand under her chin, slowly lifting up her face so she could look at him.

Her eyes had lost their sparkle, now void of any emotion and tired.

"What is bothering you, vita mia?" Theo asked, brushing his finger over her cheek.

You didn't mean to eavesdrop, wanting to let the pair talk in private. You instead focused all of your attention on your son, who was more than content to have his beloved mother's attention on him.

"Nothing, dad" Y/D/N tried to shrug Theo off, but he was having none of that.

"Stella, don't push me away. Your mother and I are very worried about you. You haven't been yourself for a while and it's concerning us. What is wrong, vita mia?"

Just one look into her father's eyes and she was sobbing, letting herself fall into his arms and clinging to him.

Your heart broke when you heard your little girl sob, taking everything in you not to run in there and scoop her up in your arms to reassure her that everything would be okay.

"I hate them, dad" Y/D/N whispered once her sobs had calmed down a little.

"Who do you hate, stella?" he was trying to keep his anger in check, his blood boiling at the thought of anyone hurting his princess.

"Everyone at school. They all make fun of me for being a Slytherin and they bully me because their parents hate you and now they say they're supposed to hate me too. I'm just so tired of always being the one getting hurt over there" the young girl finally confessed, her words breaking Theo's heart.

He pulled away from the hug, instead opting to take her face in his hands.

"Y/D/N, listen to me. Nobody, and I mean nobody, is allowed to make you feel bad or think any less about yourself. You are perfect, mi stella. You hung my moon and stars from the day you were born and both your mother and I know that you're destined for great things and a bright future. Never listen to what anyone else has to say about you when you know the truth about yourself. Do you understand?" the girl nodded, giving her father a small smile.

"I love you, dad" she said before kissing his cheek, hugging his body once again.

"I love you more, vita mia"

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[jikagu]

SLUT ME OUT

pairing: toji fushiguro x fem!reader

summary: you were always his little fangirl in school, bawling about how cute and sexy he was. who knew that would lead you against the doorframe of his own house panting for air?

notes: degradation, size difference, urjdjnssks short drabble

also i want to talk to you guys more sm omg if u want leave an emoji next to an ask if ur anon so i can remember u!! <33

"since when did you have a kid?" you questioned him, swirling your cocktail in your drink. the reunion you guys had went to got a bit overbearing so you went to go sit on the porch with each other.

"december 22nd, last year." he frowned, looking at you. "you?"

"um, may 19th, also last year." there was an awkward silence that pursued after, but it left you wondering who the mother was? toji used to sleep around, you weren't sure if he still did it. it'd be better not to ask though, you weren't sure how he'd react or if he was the same.

"..dude, i used to fangirl over you, like big time." you snicker, looking toji up and down. he was still a hunk of muscles, no wonder. probably still fangirl now, but it was a conversation starter.

"oh, yeah, really?" he smirked cockily, opening his mouth and then closing it. it was like he wanted to say something, but he dismissed it rather quick.

"did you not notice the notes in your locker? you didn't even know your own best friends handwriting?" you were both surprised at this as a loud laugh erupted from the two of you.

"that—that was you?" poor guy looked dumbfounded. sure, he had a shit ton of fangirls but he always hung by you. hell, you did his homework.

"yeah, that's crazy how you didn't know." you muttered, looking up and locking eye contact with each other.

"still like me now?" he grinned, having a darkened look on his eyes that looked like it could pierce through you.

"ew, no." you lied, looking at the oh so tight shirt the man had on.

"shame." he shrugged, never taking his eyes off of you.

"i got in trouble a lot for just being friends with you." you confess, continuing. "i had girls pull my hair, kick me, write on my desk.. and—a lot of other things." when you looked back up, toji just looked empathetic.

"why didn't you tell me?" he bit his lip, knowing he could of helped you out when you needed him. you were always there for him, but never the opposite.

"i did." you cross your arms, feeling yourself get sentimental by the past. "you yelled at me one time for making up 'lies.'" you sighed, but you put a smile on your face.

"but hey, at least i don't do drugs in a random mans car." you were moreover mocking the girl that used to make you feel shit, but you kinda feel bad for her. you have to reach some low to sell your body, do drugs, and get charged with several accounts of child abuse. you can't be bothered though.

"damn."

"want me to make it up to you?" toji tilted his head sideways, awaiting your answer.

"huh?"

—

"oh fuck toji—don't leave any marks!" you whine as toji ignores you, leaving those hated purple hickies on your neck.

he pushes you against the doorframe, impatient to get you to his room before you jolted quickly.

"toji, toji! what about your son?" you huff a moan while toji chuckled.

"don't worry bout' it sweetheart, he's asleep. if you're quiet, you won't wake him up." this was a dangerous game to be playing, but maybe you were clouded by lust to think properly.

both of you guys rushed to his room as he started taking off your shirt and bra just eyeing your breasts.

"like what you see?" you mock, snickering.

"sure as hell do." he started to take off your baggy pants, then just staring at your body.

"shit, girl." he kissed you roughly, fondling your boobs while gently pushing you against his bed. he took off your panties as he pushed a finger into you already. his fingers were huge that it caused a guttural moan, lost in ecstasy.

he was so much bigger than you and your fingers. he already hit spots you never could. that was until he added in the second finger somehow.

"o—h fuck toji! it won't fit!" you groaned, bucking your hips until he chuckled lowly.

"damn baby, if that won't fit then how will my cock fit inside of you? you're so damn tight—" grunts came from him as he curled his fingers right in your g-spot as you closed your eyes so hard you saw stars.

you felt an orgasm coming, and so early too? how embarrassing. you rolled your hips more and more aggressively to reach your high as you felt it coming, right then and there—

"baby, did'ya squirt on me?" a low voice questioned as you could barely make it out. you were babbling on your words, drool leaking from your mouth.

"fuck, doll. guess you came that hard from my fingers huh?" he mocked, pulling his fingers out and licking them slowly.

"taste like candy, you know?" his chest heaved in and out, a grin plastered on his face. your face flushed beet red, whining as he pulled his fingers out.

"haa—oh my go—d. i need you inside me already." you sit up, tugging on his sweatpants. you were so desperate just to be filled again, you needed toji so so so bad.

"be patient, doll." he said caressing your face, lowering you back down on the bed—taking off his pants as you requested.

he aligned his cock with your pussy, the wet slick and cum dripping out of you acting as lubricant.

"tell me if it hurts baby." he coos, pushing in slowly. as he pushed in you felt yourself stretching around his cock, almost sculpting himself inside of you.

guttural moans escaped from your mouth, almost echoing in the room. you were surprised his kid didn't wake up.

"fuck!" he grunted, still pushing his cock inside. he was so huge inside of you, you've never had anyone this big and it was very obvious.

"you feel so good," you moaned, stuttering the entire time. toji leaned and kissed you, pushing his tongue inside of your mouth, intertwining them.

he waited a bit before he started thrusting inside of you, you held onto the blanket beside you, whines filling the room along with skin slapping. you closed your eyes tightly as toji ravaged your body, sucking on your tit whilst fondling the other.

your breath remained unsteady as you felt so sensitive from earlier, already feeling your stomach curl.

"fuck, fuck, cummin!'" you yelped, moving your hands towards toji's back, scratching at his tight clothed shirt. he grunted before both of you guys came at the same time.

—

you woke up to the embrace of toji, his arm wrapped around you completely as his snores got louder. i mean, it didn't really bother you, now did it?

[axailslink]

Drop him in a heartbeat

Riri Williams x poc FEM reader

Summary: You and Riri are occasionally fucking but what if Riri wants you to be more than that?

Warning: ⚠️I know I write for the girlies and the gays but this character does have a male lover too but y'all ain't gone see much of that Riri and the reader just talk about it.

"Dude told me he was gone put a baby in me!" You and Riri have always had some crazy conversations and this definitely is the craziest one yet. "Hold on hold on so he was hitting it from the back and he said what!?" You laugh as you sit up on her lap shifting your tiny shorts "he said- actually and I quote "baby you feel so good I don't want to pull out" like what? Bitch that means you tryna impregnate me" Riri shakes her head "so I pushed him off me he wasn't about to put no kids in me I told him dick ain't never THAT serious to me I got a girl if I want something in me" Riri cocks her and you nod confirming your last spoken words "you told him about me?" "Fuck yeah he's my boy and all but trust and believe don't nobody come above my girl he the side piece he knows that and you know that." Riri doesn't even try to hide the smile that finds its way to her face "so... If I wanted you to drop him for me would you..?" It's your turn to cock your head but she's quick to back up her question "Hold on let me explain just think about it I'm smarter, finer, and I know your body better." You hum "so what? This your way of saying you want to do more than just fuck?" Riri shrugs "I mean yeah I've been trying to date you for a while now. So would you? Drop him?" You smile down at Riri "if you're willing to commit to dating me and dealing with all my bullshit and my jealousy and my sex drive I'll drop him in a heartbeat for you. No questions asked." Riri can't help but stare at you trying to see some smile or glance that indicates you're just messing around with her and that your words aren't serious but there are no signs.

"Do it" you shrug grab your phone and call him up "we got to stop fucking around" you can hear the many words coming out of his mouth but it doesn't matter because Riri is watching you waiting for you to completely be hers. "Wait nawl it ain't got nothing to do with that even though that whole "I don't want to pull out" shit was weird-" you feel Riri's body vibrate for moment beneath you she's laughing you shush her and return your attention to the call. "Honestly man it's as simple as I'm tired of what you giving I don't just want sex I got someone who's willing to give me more than that and also won't freak me out during sex too that's still mad weird." He asks who and you look at Riri as she's focusing on you "don't worry about that just know it ain't you" you hang up and toss your phone beside Riri's head. "So you all mine now?" You shrug "like I said in a heartbeat but you know what this means right?" Riri sits up holding herself up with one arm while the other stays glued on your ass "what?" "You got to deal with it all you ready for my jealousy? What about my needs? Not just sexually but I love princess treatment too and I'm mad annoying" Riri nods "yeah and that's what I've wanted I know what I signed up for. What you tryna give the run down like you some gangster? Girl you forgot who you were talking to or something?" You laugh and roll your eyes "okay miss Riri Williams you are doing a bit much Riri laughs and leans up to peck your lips.

"I think I'm doing just enough but uhm if ole boy calls you be prepared for my jealousy." You roll your eyes and as if you've summoned him your phone rings and you laugh as Riri grabs it but you're quick to snatch it back she cocks a brow and laughs "don't be trying to hide it I done seen the nudes already I got those before he did." You shake your head as you ignore the call "girl shut up I'm regretting dropping him he wasn't much of a talker you talk too much." Riri rolls her eyes "well guess what? You gotta get used to this cause you are locked in you can't go no where." You smile "I mean am I really? Because if I want to go all I have to do is turn on the fan and your lil ass will be fighting with God it'll blow you away like a leaf." Riri laughs "okay I'll give you that you can have that joke just remember that joke later on when you're upset that I won't let you reach your orgasm." You purse your lips "now it ain't ever that serious" she shrugs "yes it is because why did you have to get personal?" You shrug and shove her shoulder playfully pushing her back on the bed "why'd you have to get all butt hurt?" Riri smiles up at you "damn would you drop me in a heartbeat for someone else?" You blink for a moment but you don't answer her question because how the fuck were you supposed to react to that?

A/n: Riri is always barking up the wrong damn tree but I mean come on it's pretty in character in my mind. She attracts people that are obviously not good for her.

@verachii @atssukoo @rxcently @mocha-aya @shuriszn @lolas-bunny @louderfortheback @lucillele @shuri-lover @quintessencewrites @zestgodtj @yamsthoughts @sokkasbae255 @saintwrld @tuesdaylovesu @rxcently @yvxmpire @lunax0654 @homie0sapien @karimwillia @adeola-the-explorer @garbagesleepschedule @bratydoll @gubrii @vampphase @ctrl-liah @trixielwt @6-noir @annoyingtidalwavequeen @atssukoo @inmyheadimobsessed @letitias-fav

[factorialsotherfandoms]

I am apparently just really really soft on the inherent eroticism of caring for even baby and silly wounds. Also this is established Fit/Pac and ex-fuckbuddies-now-bffs Fit&Philza, with Fit being very supportive of Pac getting himself more sexy men The actual ship forming most of this fic is Pac/Philza.

Err I guess... Pre-Pac/Philza, with pre-Fit/Pac/Philza, established Fit/Pac and ex-Fit/Philza? For the slash ships. For those wanting to know before poking. Set after the eggs are back! (But still no Mike...)

"So, all you need to do is ask him to help you with weapons practice," Fit slowly explains. "He's a bit of a dumbass, but he loves helping people."

Pac nods, "okay, got it."

"And don't worry about Richarlyson - I'm taking all the kids to the gym for a 'yoga session' that might end up a pillow fight."

"I trust you," Pac replies.

"Yeah that still confuses me," Fit shrugs, his face quirking a bit.

Pac hops up onto his toes, leaning forward and kissing Fit's bald head. It earns a laugh and banishes the frown at least.

"I get it, I get it; your place or mine tonight?" Fit squeezes his hands in return - Pac knows he loves him, now, just that Fit sometimes struggles with the more obvious affections. It's enough, though, its more than enough to be trusted to spend the night together.

Night's a long way off, but Pac knows its Fit's way of reassuring him he supports his endeavor and doesn't mind at all.

"I was thinking... The other place? You know?"

Fit nods, "alright. So. We head up the wall, you approach Philza, I'll drop some hints and steal the kids - then it's all on you."

"You make it sound worse than it is," Pac giggles, nerves winning for a moment.

"Go get that ass, Pac, you deserve it."

Fit's already warped away before Pac can process the words, let alone recover from the blush and the stuttering.

---

By the time Pac gets atop the wall, Philza is sat waiting on the trampoline, a slightly confused look on his face. Fit and the children are already gone, and Pac mentally curses his roommate for the lack of support he's been left with.

"Hi Phil," he waves a little awkwardly instead.

"Hey Pac," the confusion is morphed into a smile. "Fit said you have something to ask me?"

"Yes, um," Pac tries desperately to remember what Fit said, how to get close to Philza in a way they're both comfortable with. Ask for help with weapons, was it? "You are good with sword, right?"

"I get by - Etoiles is better," Philza shrugs - and oh, how Pac knows how Philza does more than just get by. "Why? Axes are better here anyway, less risk of hitting an egg."

"Ah, I know, I know," Pac swishes his hand a bit as he thinks. "I just want to be better, you know? So - So I can protect Richarlyson!"

"You really don't want a sword then, king," Philza laughs a bit. "And you're good with an axe! You don't really need help with that."

Pac wants to object, he even starts going to; it's not just about helping Richarlyson, its about learning, about protecting himself and all his loved ones, its about finding an excuse to spend time with a man who never thinks to ask others for company.

"How do you feel about archery?" Philza follows it up with. "Much easier to keep the eggs safe when nothing can get close, you know?"

"Like... a bow?" Pac queries, and thinks. Remembers Philza shooting him from his boat, and that was terrifying - terrifying, horrifying, but also kinda hot. "I do some. I'm not good, though."

"So long as you can see shit, you can learn," Philza shrugs. "We could set some targets up along the potato farm, if you want a go?"

Shooting arrows through the potato farm sounds like a waste of food, but Pac also knows just quite how much the man on the wall has. He's not rich like many of the islanders, but his family are always the last which will go hungry.

Nobody Philza cares about ever goes hungry, love written in baked potatoes and avocado toast.

He nods to the suggestion, and something in Philza's face softens a little.

"I'll meet you up there, king; I've got some shit bows we can use, rather than waste our good ones."

"Alright," Pac nods. "I'll wait here?"

"You got top of the potato farm? I know some of them have enchantments, and I'd rather not set the house on fire."

Pac checks, and responds in the affirmative as he finds the waystone listed there.

"Great. If I just give you these..." Philza pulls out a stack of targets from his backpack, and passes them over. Their fingers brush, and Pac's heart does an awkward flip. "You start getting set up; I'll be there in a just a tick."

"See you soon!" Pac waves as Philza warps away; Philza laughs and waves back, even as he is taken in purple light.

Brushing over his hands, Pac gathers up the targets. Warping to the far end of the wall is easy enough, which only leaves finding where to put the targets. Unsure he places them along the side of the wall, sat on the raised lip for a little height.

He's put ten out when the waystone sounds and Philza appears, a bundle of half-broken bows in his arms.

"Sorry to use you to clear out my trash," he grins. "No idea why there's so many in the sea, but its good to get a feel for different ones anyway."

Pac just nods, finding it easy to agree. He knows Philza has not had a life like his, but still the man scrapes together every resource and uses every scrap - a near broken bow is good for practice, thousands of pounds of andesite mined from the wall can be used to bridge and to fight, rotten food goes back to the land and makes soil to grow life again on a dead, stone wall.

"Can I see your bow? I want to make sure I get you something similar to practice."

"Okay," Pac finds it in his inventory, passing it over.

Philza looks at it, turning the weapon over in his hands.

"Nice," he says. "It's well made, working with the wood. Let me see..."

Pac's bow is handed back, and his insides squirm happily at even the slight compliment. Philza's focus is entirely on the bows, allowing Pac a moment to squee out some feelings.

A couple of the bows are tossed into another of Philza's backpacks, before he makes a neat pile and grabs one for himself.

"Pick one to start with, and we'll see how long before it breaks," he says. "You got arrows?"

"Sim."

"Alright. Show me what you do, first - can you hit that target for me?"

Philza places a warm hand on Pac's shoulder, leaning in close as he points to one of the targets. Pac knows why - there's no good way to describe them, and getting close means more reliable pointing - but it still brings a blush to his ears.

"I'll try."

He shrugs Philza's hands away, and the man steps back. Pac raises the bow, aims, and shoots. It's not an exact bullseye, but it's close enough a monster would have taken serious damage.

"Nice work," Philza praises as easily as water flows. "Just a thought, though - in combat you don't get to stand still and aim. Try doing it moving."

"Moving?"

"Yeah moving," Philza grins a bit, twirling up his bow. "Like in a fight, you know? Gotta still dodge their arrows, else you aren't doing much good."

Philza doesn't wait for more answer, just starts moving. His turns are sharp like dodging imaginary arrows, as he backs and forths. After a few seconds he crouches, shoots a single arrow, then immediately starts running again.

The arrow lands about as close to the centre as Pac's did, and he knows this is really where it makes the difference. Pac's alright on a target and in calm conditions, but as soon as something is moving or a monster scares him? It gets trickier then.

"Your turn," Philza says. "Don't worry about which target, just try hit something - this sort of shit is worst when you get mobbed, anyway."

Pac tries to copy what Philza was doing, but cannot quite make the same patterns it seemed Philza made in his mind. So, instead, he settles just for running backwards. It's hard to take aim on the move, but he tries, drawing his bow as he runs and twisting to fire it behind himself.

He thought his aim was good - the arrow hits the ground a good way before the target.

"Right," Philza's word is stretched out a bit. "Okay, I see - good tactic, shooting while running, that'll save your ass. You would have hamstringed anything close to you with that shot and that's a great method to survive by. Honestly, getting out alive is more my thing so I'd say you're fine, but... Come back over here?"

Not feeling in the slightest bit deserving of the praise, Pac still returns. He wasn't aiming to hamstring a nearby enemy - he was aiming to hit a target! Philza's point sort of makes sense, and he has to agree surviving is more important than winning, but it still feels bad.

"Okay, just let me," Philza squints at Pac, then at another of the targets. "Draw the bow for me? But hold it - don't fire."

"Okay," Pac does as he's told, pulling it up and pointing it down the wall.

"Let me see..." Philza squints at him, circling him - even if he crouches out of the arrow's direct path. "Your posture is fine for short distances and stationary, but with the twist you're not getting all the power in your arms. Can I touch you?"

"Um, okay?" the question completely blanks Pac's mind; before he even realises he agreed warms hands are on him, adjusting his elbow and his arms.

Philza's head his close to him as he helps adjust Pac's posture; he can feel the breath on his neck, and a strong chest at his back. The tugging is insistent but gentle, even as Pac's limbs object somewhat to the postures.

Pac wants nothing more than to curl into the touch, to become one of Philza's people - warm and protected and fed and /loved/.

"Here you go," Philza smiles. "You should be able to get power into it easier with your arms like this, and keeping your balance should be a bit less shit. I'd fix your legs but we're talking about doing it running, so not much point right now."

Pac thinks of Philza's hands between his legs and, yeah, he might need a bit more warning before facing something like that. He tries to concentrate on how everything feels, before letting the bow down and stretching his arms.

"Thank you," he says.

There's laughter in reply, "that's not nearly enough time to have remembered it, but okay if you're done we're done."

"We could have a contest?" Pac suggests, already knowing he'll loose. "Speed shooting - just hit the target, not points?"

"You wanna?" Philza leans down and picks up one of the bows in the pile. "I can take left, you take right, we go until we break all these crap bows?"

There's a decent sized pile - Philza loves to fish - but Pac grins anyway. It's not a fight, not the adrenaline in that way, but he still loves competition. Maybe he and Richars could make some sort of archery range, possibly with moving targets in quirky colours or on a minecart rail! A rail shooter, like a theme park! It would be good practice, and fun, and someone can surely automate fixing the bows and making more arrows.

"Maybe half of the pile?" is what he says, mind already thinking and wondering if he should invite Philza to join in the building, if Richars likes the idea - Fit doesn't really build as much, but Forever speaks the world of Philza's abilities. Given Mike is still sick...

Philza must see Pac's face fall, because he says, "yeah sure, but are you okay?"

"Just thought of something Mike would like," he knows his smile is thin.

"Write it down," Philza suggests. "He'll be back soon enough, and you can just give him the book of funny crap he's missed. Might kill him, though, this island has so much weird shit being said and going on."

"I'll ask Richars," he replies, not entirely thinking about the book idea.

Philza looks confused, but shrugs and picks up a bow, "'right. You want to count us down?"

Pac takes a bow as well, and checks his arrows are easy to reach. As he counts Philza draws his bow back, and Pac copies the motion - it's only the first shot they get to aim, just like an ambush.

"Go!" he calls, and they do.

Five minutes and an inventory full of shattered bows later, Pac is exhausted and Philza is bent double, laughing - he lost, of course Philza was going to win, but Pac did better than he expected to.

His fingers, however, are starting to bleed, and maybe he should not have pushed so far.

He holds them up to the sky, watching the burst blisters now drip blood onto his face.

"Alright, alright," Philza finally gathers himself. "No more shaft jokes, though, I don't think-" the pause and drop in his voice is almost instant when he looks up. "Pac? You good?"

"Ah, sim, sim," Pac pushes himself to sit up again, fingers catching on the floor. "Just did too much, yes?"

"Yeah the stamina takes years to train," Philza comes and sits on the floor beside Pac, fishing about in a backpack as he does. "Ask Fit if your back hurts - he gives amazing massages, if you haven't had already - but for now..."

A potion bottle is held towards him.

"It's okay," Pac smiles. "Just blisters."

"On your fingers, which are fucking shit. Give me your hands."

Pac hesitates, but under the glare he does.

(Philza looks after what is his, does this make Pac his? At least by association?)

Philza takes Pac's right hand first, scowling at the blisters on it with an "aw, mate, you could have just asked to stop early". The potion is poured onto a cloth, and then gently dabbed against each blister - bleeding or not in turn. Then there's a box of children's plaster's in Philza's lap, and he picks out all of the green and blue ones. He alternates finger to finger - green and blue, green and blue - and... and...

And each time he presses a plaster down, he presses a tiny kiss to the padding over each wound.

By the time all ten fingers are tended to, Pac is sure he resembles a strawberry.

"All better," Philza promises, refusing to make eye contact as he tidies the waxed-paper packaging into his inventory. "With the potion, they should be all healed up by morning."

"Ah, um," Pac isn't sure how words work any more, but he wrangles them in the end. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," a grin, and Philza does look up this time.

Just as their eyes catch Fit returns, all four eggs in tow. Pac waves - Fit's eyes narrow on the plasters before relaxing at the sight of all the broken bows - and the kids run over.

"Fit!" Philza calls, instead of a greeting. "Pac here needs a massage, and I've told him of your amazing skills!"

"Oh did you now," Fit wriggles an eyebrow at Philza, before softening as he looks at Pac. "Come down to the gym, then; I'm sure Phil can manage the kids."

There's a mock protest, but it's only play pretend; as they walk away Philza blows them a kiss each, only to squawk in protest at something one of the eggs says.

Pac goes to look; Fit cups his hand behind his back and continues leading him away.

"He's Philza Minecraft," Fit says. "He can manage some kids; let's go have some fun."

"I really do need an actual massage," Pac quirks half a smile. "Not sure I'll be up to much."

"You say as if seeing your face isn't enough for me."

Pac is going to die. These two men are going to kill him, and he's going to die.

It might even be a death Mike only teases him over, not disapproves of, when he finally finds out.

[shoto-chann]

Izuku’s Lee Mood

My Hero Academia

Lee:

Ler:

Summary: Izuku can't help but find himself in one of his love/hate moods: a lee mood! How will he ever deal with this lovely curse all day?

*Warning: Contains small amounts of swearing

Izuku Midoriya woke up today in a lee mood. He knew it right away the moment he woke up. He couldn't stop giggling no matter what he did. "Dahahamn ihit! Whyhy tohodahahay of ahahall dahahahays?!" Izuku said as he got up to get ready for class. He loved/hated when he was in a lee mood. Ever since he was a kid, he's always had random lee mood days when he wanted someone to tickle him crazy. He assumed he grew out of it after attending UA, but he was proven dead wrong today. He didn't know how to handle this. He could never bring this up to his friends. They tease him about his ticklishness already. If he were to admit something like this to them...but then again, if his friends did know about his lee mood, then he could get wrecked with tickles, his favorite activity. "Ugh, stop it, Deku! You're an adult now, stop acting likena child!" Izuku managed to say before leaving for class.

Izuku wished he had stayed in his room. The day has been one close call after the other. First, after one of Aizawa's lectures, Uraraka and Iida walked up to Deku. "Hey, Deku! Iida and I have a question for you!" Uraraka said as she lightly tapped Deku's shoulder. Izuku’s brain interpreted this to scream like a girl and almost laugh. Both Uraraka and Iida were taken aback by this sudden action. "Midoriya, are you okay?" Iida asked. "Yesimtotallyfineokaygottagobye!" Midoriya said quickly as he left in a hurry. Both of them were left in shock.

Next, during lunch Deku was talking with Todoroki. "I heard that our next lesson's gonna focus on combat training against people who put us at a disadvantage" Midoriya said. "Interesting. I wonder who I would be put up against. Hunter outmatches me in power and abilities. Yaoyorozu can create weapons and defense to counter my ice. Your Quirk allows you to outmaneuver me. There's also Bakugo, with his insane agility and raw power" Todoroki answered back. During their conversation, Kirishima accidentally bumped into Deku. His brain, once again, interpreted this to scream and giggle. "Midoribro, you good, man? That was-" "Yeahimtotallyfinenothingtoworryaboutkirishimaokaygottagobye!" Midoriya once again ran out, leaving his friends confused once again. "What's wrong with Midoriya? He's been acting more awkward than usual" Todoroki asked, to which Kirishima shrugged.

What really made the day a lot more embarrassing was combat training. Midoriya was put against Hunter, who was playing a villain in this scenario: Midoriya was attempting to save a hostage (Mirio) from a villain who outmatched him and had to find a way to get the hostage to safety. During their combat training, Deku's sparring game way totally off, not just because Hunter had better versatility and combat ability, but Deku's lee mood was slowing him down, and it was showing. Usually, Midoriya had no problem fighting against Hunter and won five times out of ten, but he had to concentrate on not breaking down laughing while also keeping Hunter away from the hostage at the same time. Not an easy task for the One for All wielder. Toward the end of the training, Hunter slid in on ice and pushed Deku back with wind. He then caught Deku with a new move he made: lighting ropes, tying Deku up in midair. Deku struggled to get out, but he couldn't help but get that feeling again. His body was tingly all over and he couldn't help but laugh. Hunter, still playing the villain, smirked and decided to mess with the hero for a bit. "Looks like I caught me a hero. Let's see if I can make this hero talk" Hunter walked up to Deku with his shit eating grin and chuckled. "Let's see if you know anything useful, little hero" Hunter poked Deku's chest, and in return he got a full on screech laugh. Deku's screech laugh was so sudden and loud, Hunter jumped back and lost his grip on the rope, too shocked by what happened just now. Everyone else in the class just looked at Deku like he was crazy, including Aizawa. Deku just turned red on embarrassment and stayed quiet the rest of the day.

Once the day was over, Izuku immediately went to his room and plopped on his bed. "Damn it, Izuku. What is wrong with you? You shouldn't be like this. You completely embarrassed yourself today!" Deku groaned as he buried his face in his pillow. Just then, he heard a knock on the door. He decided to stay quiet, not ready to face anyone after today. The door opened slightly, and Shoji walked in. "Hey, Midoriya. May I come in?" Shoji asked. Deku didn't respond, but he didn't say no. Shoji sat down next to him and looked at him. "What's up with you today? You've been jumpy and very weird all day." Deku didn't want to answer. "Come on, Midoriya. I'm worried about you. You're not acting like yourself. Well, you are, but not in a normal sense. You get what I mean?" Deku just sighed and sat up straight to look Shoji in the eye. "It's...complicated," Deku finally said after a moment a silence. "Complicated?" "Yeah. I...I don't know how to explain it." "Well, take it slow. Try to describe what's wrong slowly. Start from when you woke up." Deku thought about this for a moment, afraid but excited to tell Shoji. "Well...I woke up today feeling...strange. It was like..." Deku had to hold back a powerful giggle in order to not embarrass himself...but he also wanted to giggle to give away to Shoji what was wrong. Aaah, this was so confusing for Deku!

Shoji noticed Midoriya trembling slightly, as if holding something back. A sneeze maybe? A cough? Or maybe...

"Midoriya, can I try something?" Shoji asked. The question took the young hero in green off guard. "Uh...sure?" "Okay. Lay down please" Delu did as he was told reluctantly. He was a bit confused but also excited to see what would happen. Was it possible Shoji knew? No, he couldn't know. Deku has never told anyone about this. The only one who knew about his lee mood was Bakugo, but even he would never openly admit something like that to anyone because of how ridiculous it is. "First, do you want me to do what I'm going to do?" Shoji asked. "What?" "Do you consent to what I'm going to do?" What are you going to do, Shoji?" "You'll see, if you consent" "Uhum...I guess I consehent-" And just like that, Izuku couldn't hold back his giggles any longer and just burst out giggling.

It was mainly Shoji's fault. It was he who started tickling Izuku’s sides the second he consented. "WAHAHAHAHA! Shohojihihi!" "So, I was right. You do have it" Shoji tickled Deku's sides a little faster, making Deku squirm violently. "SHOHOHOJIHIHI!" Deku screamed. But...this is what he wanted. He didn't want to move. He didn't want to run. He wanted to stay and let Shoji wreck him.

It seemed Shoji understood what Midoriya wanted because what he said completely shocked him. "You've been having a lee mood, haven't you?" Midoriya only laughed loudly at that, confirming Shoji's guess. "No wonder you've been jumpy at touch. You just wanted a little attention." Shoji decided to switch it up. He grew six other arms and looked at Deku with an evil smirk (not like he could even see the smirk, but Deku could just feel Shoji smirking at him). "Well, I know exactly how to solve your problem" "HOHOHOW?!" "How else, Leezuku?" Shoji teased as he went absolutely ham on Deku, tickling every inch of his tickle spots without rest. Deku, being the energetically ticklish baby he is, screamed bloody murder and laughed so loud the window in his room broke. He couldn't help but wiggle and giggle like he's never done before, but he never tried to escape. He was in heaven! He loved Shoji's fingers wiggling in the hollows of his armpits. He loved the way his fingers traced his ribs and his small belly button slowly. The way his fingers danced all around his knees, teasing him more and more as he got closer and closer to his death spot. Shoji was also having some fun, wrecking Midoriya like this. "Having fun, Leezuku?" "YEHEHEHEHES!" "Good" Shoji said as he stopped. Izuku, although still dying like a hyena, noticed that Shoji stopped and started complaining. "Whyhy dihid you stohohohop?" "Because you're having fun" "Buhuhut thahat's not fahahair!" "Sorry, Midoriya. That's just how it is" "NOHOHO! Plehehease keheheep gohoing!" Deku begged. Shoji's ears perked up hearing this. "Come again?" "I wahahant mohohohore! Mohohore more mohore!" Deku laughed while complaining and whining like a brat. Shoji chuckled. "I don't think you do" Deku whined even more. "Oh...it seems the little brat doesn't like to be told no" Deku kicked Shoji's leg in retaliation. "That's it, you brat" Shoji scooped Izuku in his arms and went to town on his hips, squeezing and scribbling them. "BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"Midoriya quickly started crying from laughing so hard, his squirming and wiggling never letting up. Yet he still intentionally opened up his other tickle spots for Shoji to attack, and Shoji obliged. Both of them started laughing as time passed on and on.

Twenty minutes later, Deku had enough and called it quits, but Shoji continued to tickle him to ensure that all of his lee energy had left his body, which took another ten minutes. Once Izuku calmed down enough after the tickling, Shoji sat down on the bed with him. "Is that better, Midoriya?" "Yeah...thanks..." Deku answered. "How did...you know-" "You're not the only one I've met with a lee mood." "No?" "No. You'd be surprised by how many of our friends here have lee moods." Like who, Shoji?" Shoji sat and thought for a bit. "Well, Ojiro has a lee mood and comes to me every time. Then there's Kaminari, Uraraka, Ashido, Koda, Kirishima, Tsu, Hunter... I can name more if you'd like" "Wow. So many of our friends have lee moods too...I thought-" "You were the only one? Not even close" "...And what about you, Shoji? Do you have a lee mood too?" Shoji didn't answer and looked up for a moment. Midoriya could've sworn Shoji was embarrassed because of his small blush. "You must be tired after all of that" Shoji said. Midoriya wanted to protest that he didn't, but he yawned in response. "You're right" Deku said. Shoji chuckled and ruffled Deku's hair. "Okay, I'll leave you be. Get some rest, but remember that you have homework to do" Deku nodded. "And remember, anytime you have one of those days again, just come to me, and I will help you. Okay?" Deku nodded again. Shoji got up and left the room, leaving Deku to sleep. As Midoriya drifted off to sleep, he felt much more at peace knowing that Shoji was here to help him with his lee mood. He would have to thank Shoji properly later once he was awake...

And after he buys a new window for his room. Oh boy, Aizawa's not gonna be happy with this one.

The End

I hope you enjoyed reading my first fic of 2024. I can't wait to put out more stories for everyone. If you made it to the end, here's a little teaser for the next story coming soon:

🗡 🌊 🗡 🔥 🩸

If anyone can guess which characters and what fandom I'll be using for the next story (besides the lovely person who requested this story), they will get a free tickle monster character created by yours truly. Good luck to you all.

That's all for now. Until next time,

❄️🔥shoto-chann🔥❄️ out

[world-of-horrors-au]

"What is with you and dogs?" Eyeless Jack said afterwards, as they stripped off their bloody clothes. "It's like your mind shuts off when you see them."

Jeff shrugged, examining the stains on the dark hoodie - one of EJ's, not his own. He only wore his white ones for special visits now. And they were all in the wash anyway.

"I just like them," Jeff said. "They make me happy."

"But why?" Eyeless Jack said, following Jeff from the front room, clothes in hand. "Is this a human thing? Because demons don't do this shit - right Jack?" He called down the hall towards the looming shadow passing by. The clown flipped him the middle finger from around the corner and kept floating. Sometimes Eyeless forgot his name-brother wasn't also a demon.

"Could be a human thing," Jeff admitted. Someone strung up the laundry lines through the big washroom, letting their clothes dry despite the rain outside. Electricity was too precious for BEN's survival to be used on unimportant things. "Humans have always liked animals, especially cute ones."

"So it's a cute thing." Eyeless Jack narrowed his empty sockets at Jeff, but Jeff just laughed.

"Not that kind of cute. Cute like babies." Not even looking at his mate, Jeff opened the many cabinets and examined their supplies.

"So it's biological." Jack said. "Reproductive."

"And dogs are just cool." Jeff said, opening up a bin to look at the powder within.

"Cool."

"Have you seen a dog?" Jeff said, finally looking towards the other.

"I've been bitten by them plenty of times," Eyeless Jack said dryly.

"They're just..." Jeff thought about it. Set the bin back down on the counter. His smile faded. "Man's best friend. They loved wolves so much, they broke them, right down to their genes."

Eyeless Jack didn't answer, watching as Jeff chewed on his bottom lip.

"Says something about dogs," Jeff said. "That they still love humans. You can do so much shit to a dog, bad shit, and a lot will just take it and take it and take it until they die."

"Because they're loyal?"

"Because they don't know any better."

Jeff picked up one of his clothes from the pile on the floor, his bloody shirt, took down the bottle of blood stain treatment they made, and squirted it on.

"I read stories, when I was a kid," he said, rubbing the liquid in, but not seeing it. "About dogs standing between abusers and their victims. Never biting. Just getting between them. I guess those ones, they knew better. Knew they'd be put down if they bit." He laughed. "Don't you know, how smart dogs are?"

"Too smart," Eyeless Jack said.

"I think they're even more manipulative than cats," Jeff said, "But in ways humans don't understand. Would humanity love them if they didn't work so hard to be lovable?"

Eyeless Jack thought about it, and hissed between his teeth.

"It was a husky." He said. "The one that got between you and that human."

Jeff smiled. "I thought it was Smile, but she was too small. But such a good girl, wasn't she? Such a sweet girl."

His smile drifted away. In silence he put the shirt into the wash bin. Eyeless Jack caught his hand as he reached for another one. Jeff looked up, eyes wide. Jack's chest muffled Jeff's grunt as the taller, bigger demon pulled the post-human into a hug. It took a moment, but Jeff's arms wrapped around the other, and hugged back tight.

Rocking Jeff back and forth, Jack smiled into the dark fluffy hair. And against his body, he felt Jeff's smile too.

"We don't need another dog," a voice protested from the speaker nearby. "We've already got Briar!"

Eyeless Jack planted a kiss on top of Jeff's head. "Shut up BEN."

[steddieassheg0es]

Not So Unrequited

Steve Harrington wasn’t the douchebag people thought he was.

Well, most people wouldn’t see it that way anyway. But he wasn’t the façade that most people couldn’t see past.

Eddie’s always been a bit of a wild child. Reckless and with a dangerous lack of self preservation instincts, it got him into many a rough spot over the years.

One such rough spot was back in middle school. He’d stupidly flirted with the wrong boy. He didn’t even like him, hadn’t even fully realized that he liked boys Eddie just didn’t always know when to turn his mouth off, or where the line was until he’d already crossed it. But that didn’t matter. It was enough for a group of boys to track him down and beat him up.

He’ll never forget that day. The day he realized being different meant being hated. The day he realized that that liking boys wasn’t allowed in Hawkins.

But also, the day that he met Steve Harrington. He’d apparently heard the hateful words that had been thrown at Eddie as those bigots left him to bleed on the pavement. And he’d crouched down next to him, reached out to gently rub his back.

“Are you ok? Do you want to me to get someone?”

Eddie lifted his head from where he’d buried it in his knees, looked up into those pretty hazel eyes. He shook his head, not sure who he’d even ask for. His dad wouldn’t care, and Uncle Wayne was great but Eddie tried not to burden him with his problems too much. He needed that safe space to run to too much to ruin it.

“Ok…well, I can stay with you. Don’t listen to those guys, they’re jerks. They don’t know anything. I think it’s ok for boys to like boys.”

And just like that Eddie was sure he liked boys. He thought he very much liked this boy.

So yeah. Steve Harrington wasn’t who people thought he was. At least not completely.

—

Once Steve’s graduates, there’s a change in him. He’s…softer somehow. Like he’s let that carefully constructed mask slip. Maybe getting out of school was enough. Maybe his relationship with Wheeler, or said relationship going down in flames, did him some good. For all that it made Eddie want to hurl. Maybe it’s his affection for the group of kids he’s inexplicably pseudo adopted. Whatever it is, it’s nice to see.

Even nicer when Steve starts talking to him.

It starts because some of his kids joined Hellfire and apparently he’s their permanent ride. First just a friendly nod as the kids scramble out of his fancy car. Then he’d smile and wave. Eddie’s embarrassed by how much those stupid little smiles made his heart flutter.

Finally one day he steps out of the car with the kids. Just leans against the roof at first, watching them run into the building with affection. Then he’s turning those eyes to Eddie.

“I hope they behave themselves for you in there.”

“Uh…” Jesus Eddie pull it together. “Heh, yeah. They’re good kids, man.”

Steve’s face is all soft fondness. “They really are. But they can be little shits when they wanna be. If you ever need any help…or, I mean can bring some snacks and shit if you want. Whatever.”

He shrugs like it’s no big deal. Like him even talking to Eddie at all is totally normal.

“Y-yeah sure. I don’t think they’d ever say no to more food. And you, uh…” Eddie can feel his cheeks heat up, “you can probably afford better shit than I can anyway.”

“Oh I wasn’t-Shit I didn’t mean it like that. I just wanted…”

Damn it. Two sentences in and he’s fucked it up. Steve’s giving him big sad eyes like he feels just terrible at the thought of offending Eddie.

“No! I uh…I know you didn’t. Forget I said that. It’s cool of you to offer to help. I know this isn’t exactly your scene.”

Steve laughs. “You’d think that, huh? But the kids love it so what can I do? I gotta admit I was a bit jealous at first, you know?”

What on earth could Steve Harrington have to be jealous of? “Of what?”

“You. Those kids, they worship you man. But then I figured, I don’t know shit about this stuff and it means a lot to them. And they still seem to think I’m not so bad. So I’m just glad they have you.”

“Steve…they’ve been singing your praises since the moment they joined Hellfire. Especially Dustin. You’re their hero.”

Now it’s Steve’s turn to go pink in the cheeks. It’s a good look on him. But then again, what doesn’t look good on him?

They’re interrupted by a loud bang from inside. Eddie just sighs and rolls his eyes.

“I should probably get in there before they burn the place down…” It’s true, but he’s reluctant to let this moment end.

“Yeah. So I’ll be back in like an hour, pizza sound good?”

Eddie blinks at him, confused.

“I mean…snacks yeah? I can grab a few pizzas and some sodas. If you don’t mind me crashing your nerd fest, that is.” He says it with a grin, but his eyes show a hint of worry. Like Eddie would ever say no to him.

“Right, yeah! Yeah pizza’s good.”

With that Steve is off, apparently to fetch Eddie Munson snacks. Well, not him specifically, but he’s included…He feels off kilter, not sure how to deal with this sudden shift, but also a little bit giddy. The kids all tease him about the daze he’s in when he joins them, but when he sits in his makeshift throne he’s in Dungeon Master mode and the game commences.

—

It turns into a semi regular thing. Steve can’t always hang around, but most nights when the club meets he’ll come back by after with food to share before hauling the kiddos back home.

Eddie thought he’d had a crush before. Now that he actually talks to Steve somewhat regularly…the guy is just so fucking sweet. He’s surprisingly dorky, and generous, and he’s so damn good with the kids. Eddie’s heart never stood a chance.

One night he hangs back as the kids pile into his car, slowing when Eddie stops to wave them off like he usually does.

“So…Me and Robin, Robin Buckley? We’re gonna go see a movie tomorrow. Probably get some food.”

“That’s nice.” Eddie says with an unmistakable tone of confusion. Is Steve trying to talk to him about girls? He desperately wants to keep this thing going, their almost kind of friendship, but he’s pretty sure listening to Steve go on about hookups or whatever will actually kill him.

“Yeah…and I figured, she’s kind of a nerd too. Seems like it doomed to surround myself with them. But I think you two would get along. If you wanted to join us?”

Steve has this adorably shy look on his face that makes Eddie’s heart thump almost painfully in his chest. How can a full grown man be so fucking cute? God he wants to say yes so bad, but…

“I don’t know that bringing a third wheel to your date would make her very happy, man.”

“Huh? Me and Robin? Oh god no. We’re, uh…just friends. ‘Platonic with a capital P’ as she puts it. I’m uh…not her type.” He says with a secretive little smirk. Oh no. This might even be worse.

“Not really looking for a set up…”

“Dude. No one’s hooking up with Robin in this situation. I just thought it would be fun and you two could be friends. But it’s no big deal, don’t worry about it.”

Shit. Well now he just feels embarrassed. And a bit like a dick. Steve starts to head back to the car and it’s a sad little wave over his shoulder and Eddie panics.

“No! I mean, yeah. I’m free. Tomorrow.”

Steve turns back and looks up at him from under his lashes. “Yeah?”

“Yeah…I’ll uh…meet you guys there?”

“That’s silly, I can pick you up. No need to waste the gas. I gotta pick Robin up anyway. She doesn’t drive. So I’ll come by tomorrow at like 6?”

Eddie nods dumbly. With a satisfied smile and a nod of his own, Steve finally gets in his car to leave. Eddie hears Dustin’s judgmental “Dude” from the back seat as they pull away and he’s not sure what to make of anything that just happened

—

He spends the next morning on the verge of panic, fidgeting and occasionally pacing. He’s being manic enough that Uncle Wayne shoots him a few concerned looks, but not enough for him to actually confront him which is nice.

Eddie’s not sure what he would say. ‘The painfully straight boy I think I’m a little bit in love with asked me on a not-date with him and his platonic gal pal and I am freaking the fuck out’? Yeah, he’ll pass on that conversation. Wayne may be incredibly chill about the whole gay thing, but Eddie doesn’t think he’d have any clue what to do with that. Eddie sure doesn’t.

Finally there’s a knock at the door (at 6 PM on the dot) that stops his restless motion. For a moment he’s completely, utterly still. Then all that frenetic energy rushes back and pushes him to the door so fast he almost face plants right into it.

When he gets it open, his breath catches in his chest. Steve has traded his dorky little polos for a black button up, top two buttons undone flashing a tantalizing peek at his collarbones. His dark wash jeans are snug in all the right places, and he has on a pair of combat boots that Eddie would’ve thought he’d never be caught dead in. He looks…fucking delectable.

“H-hey. I uh…should I change?”

He hears Uncle Wayne snort from the kitchen and dies a little inside.

“What? No, you look good man. You ready? Robin’s waiting for us.”

Shit did Steve just say he looks good? In his ratty torn jeans and metal band shirt under his usual leather jacket and battle vest, he feels utterly unremarkable. He shudders to think at what they look like next to each other. Too late now, though.

“Yeah, yeah let’s go.” He pokes his head back through the door to see his uncle smirking back at him with one eyebrow raised. So much for not saying anything.

“See you later asshole!”

—

It takes him all of five seconds to figure out why Steve isn’t Robin’s type. He’s pretty sure she clocks him right back, especially once they get out and she eyes the black hanky in his back pocket. He’s dying to ask if Steve knows, but if he doesn’t…

Anyway she actually is a cool chick, if a bit weird. Not like he has any room to talk on that front. They decide to grab food first so they can get acquainted. As soon as they’re seated she’s talking a mile a minute and Eddie struggles to keep up with he lightening fast change of topic but he thinks he’s holding his own pretty well.

Seeing Steve around her is fascinating. For all their differences, Beauty and the Band Geek, they seem to operate on the same wave length. He catches glimpses of silent conversations happening entirely with eyebrows and subtle lip movements. Steve doesn’t say much out loud, seeming content to watch them with a pleased little smile for the most part.

When the check comes, Steve takes it before either of them have a chance to even move.

“I forced you both out tonight, so it’s my treat.” Eddie tries to protest, as does Robin before she shares another eyebrow conversation with Steve and gives in. Then he turns to Eddie with his puppy dog eyes. “Please Eddie, I really want to.”

God damn it, not being able to say no to this man is going to get him in trouble.

“Fine! But I’m getting you back for this.”

The dazzling smile he gets in return makes his heart skip a beat. He’s so utterly fucked.

—

When Uncle Wayne asks him later than night how the movie was with a knowing smile, he just shrugs and says it was fine. The truth is he couldn’t tell you what movie they even picked, never mind how it was. The lights dimmed and he was hyper focused on the man next to him. Their fingers brushed as they both reached for the popcorn, their legs were almost touching, and at one point Steve had leaned over to whisper some comment into his ear and he had to bite his lip to stop any sound from escaping him.

He caught Robin’s teasing grin on their way out. At this point he might as well have “gay for Steve Harrington” stamped across his forehead, he was so transparent. At least the man himself seemed oblivious.

—

Billy Hargrove is exactly the asshole everyone thinks he is. Eddie sees how weirdly focused on Steve, in a way that make his stomach turn.

Eddie’s pretty sure the guy’s queer, but definitely the self hating kind. He looks at Eddie with disgust, calls him a slur a time or two. He knows Billy’s caught the way he looks at Steve and hates him for it. Thinks maybe he’s jealous of it as much as he is disgusted by it. It’s a weird, twisted rivalry over a boy neither one of them could have.

It wasn’t like Eddie thought he had any kind of claim over Steve, he just didn’t like the dark twist to the lustful way Billy looked at him. It scared him. He wasn’t quite sure what Hargrove was capable of or willing to do.

Now that Steve came to his place sometimes, he catches Billy outside his own trailer with a murderous look in his eye. He knows he has to keep a close eye on Steve anytime he comes by, makes sure he leaves safe. He watches his car until the taillights fade, then looks across at Billy’s trailer. He doesn’t think he’d have the guts to try to come after Eddie, Uncle Wayne may be soft spoken but he’s ex military and everyone knew he wouldn’t hesitate to kill someone who hurt Eddie.

But Eddie would have to be the one to protect Steve.

—

So they’re friends now. Like real friends. They don’t just both hang out with the kids at the same time. Sometimes Robin joins them for whatever they decide to get up to, but not always.

The first time he visits them at Scoops Ahoy he nearly chokes on his own tongue. Why would you need shorts that short to sell ice cream?

Then again…if they weren’t friends, Eddie would probably spend a small fortune just to have an excuse to come stare.

He lets out a low whistle. “Helloooo sailor.”

Steve turns a lovely shade of pink and scratches the back of his neck.

“Yeah, yeah laugh it up. Totally lame uniform, I know. But what are you gonna do? You here to take advantage of my perks like the kids?”

“Well I was just gonna hang around and see if you wanted to do something when you got off, but what kind of perks we talking about?”

Steve laughs. “Free ice cream, man. Whatever you want. And yeah, sure. I’m off in about 20 minutes. Robin’s stuck closing so it’ll just be us.”

Eddie feels a little bad being so happy Robin can’t come. He loves hanging out with her, and he loves her dynamic with Steve, but…alone time with Steve.

—

“So when you said ‘do something’, did you have something in mind?”

It’s hard to focus when Steve is still in those shorts. Especially because he’s walking slightly ahead of Eddie, leading the way to where the van is parked beside his car, making it far too easy and enticing to keep stealing glances at just how good his ass looks in said shorts. “Whuh? Oh, uh, no not really. I figured I’d be crashing you and Buckley’s plans so it didn’t really occur to me to think up my own.”

“K, well I don’t know about you but I would kill for some Chinese food right now. I could pick some up and meet you back at yours?”

It occurs to Eddie, not for the first time, that Steve never suggests his own house. He’s not sure what to think of it, but he’s not sure if Steve’s comfortable enough with him for him to ask.

“Yeah, that sounds good. I’m not picky so whatever you wanna get is fine, we can just share?”

“See you there then.”

—

He loves his uncle, but Eddie’s grateful he has the graveyard shift tonight. He doesn’t need to worry about making a fool of himself with an audience. He scrambled around to clean the place up a bit, even changing his sheets then feeling incredibly stupid for doing so.

When he hears a car door slam, he peeks out the window in excitement only for his heart to drop. Billy’s home, and from the looks of it he’s pissed about something. He stomps inside and Eddie decides now is a good time to go out for a smoke and wait for his guest to arrive.

He’s not waiting long. He greets Steve with a smile, trotting over to grab the bag out of his hand so he can get the beer he also picked up and close his door without a struggle.

Steve smiles at him gratefully. “Aren’t you chivalrous?” His voice is teasing, but Eddie still feels his face heat.

“Only the best for you, my king.”

—

Eddie decides it’s time to start Steve’s musical education, so he puts on some Metallica as they eat.

He tries to focus on the music and not stare at Steve’s mouth as he wraps his lips around an egg roll. Or licks a bit of stray sauce from them. He’s not very successful, but what else is new.

When the food is gone and they’re a few beers in each, they lay on the floor of the trailer. Bodies facing opposite directions and their heads side by side, just listening to the music.

“You play guitar, yeah?” Eddie startles out of his daze.

“I do. Even have a band. We have a standing gig every Tuesday.”

“Could I…could I hear you play? I know music is super important to you and uh…shit if it’s totally personal that’s cool, I just thought I could understand it better if I could hear it from you, but really it’s fine-“

“Steve. Chill, it’s fine. I don’t think The Hideout is exactly your kind of place, but I could be persuaded to give you a private show.”

“Yeah?” He looks so pleased that Eddie’s heart stutters in his chest.

“Sure. Maybe not tonight though. I’ve got a decent buzz going, and my coordination’s not the best. I’d hate to make a poor first impression.”

Eddie turns his head to find Steve already facing him. Those pretty hazel eyes blink sleepily back at him.

“You’ve already made quite the impression, I don’t think you could mess it up now. But that’s ok, I can wait.” Then he’s turning his head to let out a jaw cracking yawn. “Sorry, I forget how tired drinking makes me.”

“You a lightweight Stevie? It is getting pretty late, you could…you could stay tonight, if you wanted.”

“I’d hate to impose.”

“I’d hate to wake up to finding out you’ve wrapped your car around a tree. Seriously. Stay.”

Steve giggles, closing his eyes. “So bossy. Whatever you say, Eddie.”

“Alright Sleepyhead, come on, let’s get you to bed before you pass out on my living room floor.”

—

Eddie lends Steve some sweatpants and a well worn band t to change into. He sits on his freshly made bed and ponders if he should sleep on the couch or set himself up on his floor. He doesn’t think Steve is that drunk, but he’d still feel better close by just in case. At least that’s the excuse Eddie would use if anyone asked.

Steve comes back in while he’s laying a blanket out on the floor. Seeing him dressed in Eddie’s clothes stirs a possessive glee in his gut. Apparently that really does it for him.

“What are you doing?”

“Hm? Oh. Setting up on the floor, you can take the bed.”

“But the bed’s big enough…unless you’re uncomfortable sharing?”

Uncomfortable? Kind of…but not for the reasons Steve thinks. More worried that sleeping next to the source of his unrequited love will kill him, or at the very least be an exercise in sexual frustration. He can’t very well say that though.

“No, that’s…I mean yeah, we can share.”

He quickly rushes into the bathroom to change his own clothes and take a moment to collect himself. After a few minutes of deep breathing, he makes his way back to his room to find Steve already curled up under the blankets.

Eddie takes a deep, centering breath before climbing in next to him. He turns out the lights and settles in, leaving as much space between them as he can. Apparently Steve had other ideas though, because suddenly he’s pressed right up against Eddie with his arm thrown around his waist.

“Uh…”

“Oh, shit, sorry man. I’m uh…I get kind of touchy when I drink. I’m a snuggler. But I totally should have asked.” He goes to pull away and before Eddie can think better of it he grabs Steve’s wrist.

“I…I don’t mind. I just wasn’t expecting it, that’s all.”

“You sure?”

“Yes. Go to sleep, Steve.”

He hears a giggle in the darkness before Steve settles back in, this time resting his head on Eddie’s chest. There’s no way he doesn’t hear how fast his heart is beating, but luckily he doesn’t mention it.

Eddie thinks it’s going to be a very long, torturous night, but soon enough he finds himself lulled to sleep by Steve’s deep, even breathing.

—

He wakes to the front door closing, and would’ve paid it no mind if it weren’t for Steve. The other man jolts upright with a look of panic.

Eddie sits up next to him and rubs a soothing hand down his back. “Woah woah, hey, it’s just Uncle Wayne coming home from work. It’s alright.”

For a second Steve looks right through him before blinking into awareness. Then his cheeks flush with embarrassment.

“Yeah, yeah, sorry. Just uh…startled me.”

Eddie continues the gentle patterns his fingers are tracing along Steve’s back. He can’t shake the concern, that reaction too much for just a slight scare. He doesn’t want go jump to conclusions but he has to ask.

“Steve…you can tell me to fuck off if you’re not comfortable answering, but…Why do you never want to go to your house?”

Steve furrows his brows in confusion, clearly not having expected the question. “Oh, uh…shit I’m sorry, of course you’re welcome to come over if you want.”

“That’s not what I meant. Why do you never want to be there?” A little bit of the panic returns to Steve’s eyes. “Shit, I’m sorry. Seriously just tell me to fuck off.”

“No, it’s…it’s fine. No one’s ever asked me that before. I don’t think anyone’s noticed, I try not to make it a big thing. I mean if anyone asks to come over I let them, I just…prefer to be somewhere else.”

Steve pauses, then takes a deep shuddering breath and continues. “My parents…they had a kid because it’s the proper thing to do not out of any actual desire to be parents. So I was meant to be seen but not heard. Always be on my best behavior. Do all the right things, get the perfect grades. Be something they could show off to their friends. I wasn’t very good at it though. I was a sensitive kid, always wanted hugs and cried too easily. Stupid. Always fucking up somehow.”

“Steve…you’re not stupid. You’re not fucking anything up.”

He gets a sad little smile. “Yeah well, they certainly didn’t see if that way. And I guess my dad figured he could beat the stupid out of me. When that didn’t work they left. Traveling. They’d pop in now and again for appearances and to remind me of what a failure I was. Now they don’t come at all. They signed the house over to me. Made a big show of it to their friends, how their son was all grown up and they were so generous to give him a house as a graduation present. I haven’t seen them since. Which is good, I’m glad, I’m tired of trying to be someone I’m not so maybe they’ll finally love me. But I fucking hate that house. It’s huge and empty and filled with bad memories. Sometimes it’s nice when other people come over. Fill it with laughter, make good memories.” He looks up at Eddie through his lashes. “But I didn’t want you-I hate the thought of you in that house. It just doesn’t fit. You’re too fucking good for that place, man.”

Eddie feels his hands shaking with rage. He wants to find Steve’s parents and knock some sense into them. He wants to destroy them for making this amazing man feel like he was worthless.

He also falls even deeper in love. How Steve had managed to stay so soft, so kind in the wake of all of that…sure he’d made himself a mask but underneath it was the man Eddie knew now. The man he’d always known was beneath it. He hates those people so much for making Steve think he had to hide away the best parts of himself.

He throws his arms around Steve, the angle awkward but he doesn’t care.

“Steve…fuck. I need you to hear me, ok? You are the best person I know. You didn’t deserve any of that. You deserve to be loved, to be taken care of.”

He hears a broken sob as Steve’s arms tighten around him and he vows to himself that he will do whatever he can to make this man feel loved.

They stay like that for a while, Steve shifting at some point to basically curl up in Eddie’s lap and just lets himself be held. The quiet little whimpers stop after a while and they just cuddle.

—

They eat breakfast with Uncle Wayne before he heads to bed. Eddie worries that it will be awkward but they seem to get along really well. He can feel his uncles eyes on him more than once, but is too scared to meet his gaze.

Soon enough Steve needs to go get ready for work. It dawns on Eddie that Steve isn’t the rich kid anymore. He has that huge house, but he’s all on his own and has to support himself.

“I’m uh…sorry for crying all over you, man.” He pauses before look at Eddie cautiously. “Please don’t tell anyone. Not about the crying thing, I’m pretty sure everyone’s seen it at some point by now, just all the other stuff.”

It breaks his heart to think how Steve takes such good care of everyone else while no one takes care of him. He doesn’t want to burden the people in his life even though they love him. But Eddie’s here now and he’s going to change that.

“Of course. Your secrets will always be safe with me.”

He walks with him to the door, stopping to lean in the entry way as Steve continues down the steps and to his car. Eddie can’t help but smile at his dorky little wave, but his face drops when he looks up to see Billy watching them, furious. He must know Steve spent the night, clearly he’s making assumptions. A part of Eddie wants to grin lasciviously. To confirm what he only wishes were true. He thinks the better of it, and goes back to watching Steve’s car pull away.

But he can feel those hateful eyes on him until he closes the door.

—

Eddie considers heading up to Scoops a few hours later, but then figures after this morning he should probably give Steve a little space to breathe. He may be desperate to spend every moment in the other man’s presence, but that doesn’t mean the feeling is mutual.

So he ties his hair back into a low, messy bun and tinkers with the van for a bit. She was due for a tune up soon anyway, and getting his hands dirty has always been a good distraction for Eddie. Though today it’s not as successful as it usually is.

His thoughts wander to the place, or person rather, they always do lately. The conversation they had this morning weighs heavily on his mind. He can’t get the image out of his head, of Steve all alone in his way too big house. Or worse, bruised and bleeding at the hands of the ones meant to love and protect him. Eddie’s father was a piece of shit but even he’d never laid a hand on his kid.

Eddie hopes they truly stay gone for good. He’s not sure what he’ll do if he ever sees them.

Once he’s taken care of all he can in the van, he cleans his hands off with an old rag and heads inside. Just in time for the ringing phone to get sent to the answering machine.

“Hey Eddie, uh…it’s Steve. I’m off work soon and I just wanted to see if you were busy. Which clearly you are. So I’m not sure why I’m leaving this message. Shit. Sorry-“

Eddie trips over his own feet in his rush to grab the phone. “Steve! Hey!”

“Oh…hi. I’m sorry I didn’t mean to bug you, if you’re busy I can just call back some other time it’s no big deal.”

“Nah I’m never too busy for you. What’s up?”

“Well I was just…Robin’s got a hot date tonight so she’s blowing me off. I thought maybe you’d wanna do something?”

Eddie grins, tries to keep the joy out of his voice. “Ouch, Harrington, I’m the second choice huh? The back up plan?”

“What? No! No of course not!”

Steve sounds so distraught, Eddie can’t help but laugh.

“I’m just fucking with you it’s fine. Yeah man, wanna come over? I can give you that private concert if you’re still interested.”

“Yeah, that would be great!”

Robins voice interjects in the background, he hears a muffled “stop flirting and get back to work, Dingus, you’ve only got an hour left.”

“Shit, sorry, gotta go before Robin kills me for hiding in the back. I’ll see you in like an hour and a half?”

“Sounds good.”

If Eddie’s heart skips a few beats at the thought that Robin even teasingly saying Steve was flirting with him, that’s no one’s business but his own.

—

Uncle Wayne is up and about when he gets out of the shower. Takes one look at Eddie all clean and fidgety and sees right through him.

“That Harrington boy coming over tonight?”

“Is that…is that alright?” He’s never had to ask to have any company before, but then again the boys he’s had over don’t make repeat visits.

“Eddie, this is your house too and you’re grown. You can have whoever you want come over. I just…you been real happy lately Ed. That boy’s not gonna break your heart, is he?”

Well shit. Eddie doesn’t know what to say.

“We’re just friends.” He hedges.

“That’s what I’m worried about. You’re ‘just friends’ to him maybe. I seen the way you look at him Eddie, you don’t wanna be just friends. Shit I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so gone on someone. Look…I’m not tellin’ you want to do. All I’m saying is be careful.”

“Uncle Wayne…I’m not gonna say I’m not gonna get my heart broken, but I promise it won’t be his fault. He’s not leading me on. Whether I want it or not we are just friends. And I’m ok with that. If he knew-if he thought for a second he was hurting me he’d hate himself for it. So if I’m stupid with my heart and it gets broken, it’s on me, not him.”

His uncle just looks at him searchingly for a long time. Then he shakes his head. “I’m not saying he’s a bad guy. I actually like the kid, much better than anyone else you’ve ever brought home. I’m saying don’t be stupid with your heart. But for what it’s worth, son, that boy looks at you like you hung the moon. So yeah, I know he wouldn’t hurt you on purpose.”

Eddie feels his face flush. He tries so hard not to get his hopes up, he knows Steve is straight, but he imagines him looking at him like that. For a moment he lets himself live in the fantasy where this isn’t one sided. He shakes his head to clear it.

“Thanks Uncle Wayne. Love you.”

His uncle pats him on the shoulder. “Love you too kiddo.” Then he heads to the door to head out for another graveyard shift. As he opens it he smiles. “Hey son, go on it he’s expecting you.”

—

Steve must have stopped at his house before coming over, as he’s no longer in his uniform. He’s forgone his usual polo in favor of a tight black T-shirt with a dark green jacket. He’s also got on dark grey jeans. Eddie can’t help but notice his color pallet has shifted darker in recent months, wonders if it’s his own influence that’s inspired the change.

In any case he looks enticing.

“So I know you said you’d play for me, and I really want you to. But maybe after…Nancy’s throwing this party and that’s what me and Robin were gonna do before she got a better offer. Rob said you probably wouldn’t want to go, but I think the kids are going to make an appearance early on, so I thought maybe…?”

Eddie hesitates. “That wouldn’t be awkward for you?”

“What do you mean?”

“Going to a party hosted by your ex. With her new boyfriend.”

“Oh. No. Nah man me and Nancy are over. Like way over. But she’s a cool chick, and Jonathan’s not a bad guy, so we’ve stayed friends. I’m happy for them.” His cheeks are a lovely shade of pink. “I’ve got my eye elsewhere anyway.” He looks up at Eddie with his pretty hazel eyes and smiles.

Eddie tries to smile back. Thinks he should probably ask who, be a good friend and encourage Steve to go for it. Doesn’t matter who it is, of course they’d say yes. But he can’t. He allows himself to be selfish in this, to protect his heart as much as he can.

“Oh. Cool, then, yeah we can go I guess. We can just head over, I can play my guitar for you any time.”

Steve’s face falls a little, and Eddie tries not to feel guilty.

“Oh…yeah, ok.”

The van is still a bit deconstructed, so they climb into Steve’s car and make their way to the Wheeler house.

—

Eddie’s never been much of a partier, despite what people may think of him. He’s more inclined to smoke and chill at home, or hang with a few friends, than to go to some rager. He’s pretty sure Steve is much the same, at least the Steve who’s let go of his mask.

Needless to say he’s surprised and a bit concerned to see Steve dive headfirst into the alcohol.

“Hey buddy maybe you should slow down a bit? Pace yourself?”

“But it’s a party! Time to drink your troubles away!”

Eddie just shakes his head. Decides he’ll be sober tonight, watch after his little lush.

He chats with the kids for a bit, then mingles about trying to make friends with the other people Steve cares about. Eddie keeps one eye on him as he chats, highly entertained by a man he’s never seen before named Argyle. Then Nancy approaches him when Steve’s more than a few drinks in, all careful concern.

“Is he ok? I’ve never seen him like this.”

Now Eddie is worried. He’d hoped maybe he just didn’t know this side of Steve, but if Nancy thinks this is abnormal behavior…

“I’m not sure. He seemed fine earlier. He uh…he mentioned he’s into someone, maybe he hoped they’d be here and he’s disappointed?”

Nancy shoots him a look of surprise. “Oh, you’re not…huh. Ok. You should maybe talk to him about that. When he sobers up. But for now he’s going outside so you might want to keep an eye on him.”

Eddie looks around, finally spotting Steve slinking out the back. He looks back to Nancy, not really sure what to say, or what she’s trying to say. He settles for a nod before following the other man.

He finds him swinging on a porch swing.

“Hey, whatcha doing out here on your own?”

“S’too loud. Couldn’t find you, so I came out here to get away from the loud. You wanna sit?”

Eddie grins, then joins him on the swing. He kicks off the ground, sending them into a gentle sway.

Steve looks over at him and smiles. “You’ve got such pretty eyes. They’re so big. It’s very distracting. S’hard to think when you look at me with your big doe eyes all soft and pretty like that.”

Eddie has no idea what to do with that. He tries to tease. “Are you flirting with me Harrington?” He gets a manic little laugh in return.

“Have been for months, thanks for noticing!”

“I-What?” Before he can begin to process what Steve just said, he hears a voice that quickly turns the heat in his veins to ice.

“Aww Munson finally got himself a girlfriend. Careful though, that one’s got quite the reputation. But hey, if you don’t mind used goods…”

Steve curls in on himself, looking ashamed and miserable. Eddie curses himself for coming out here alone with just an intoxicated Steve. Friends party or no, they’re still in Hawkins.

“Fuck off Hargrove, go back to whatever hole you crawled out of.”

Billy keeps talking like Eddie hadn’t said anything. “He does have quite the pretty mouth though. What do you say Munson? We can share. I’ll let you fuck that tight little ass while I take his mouth. Bet he’d love it wouldn’t you Stevie?”

Before Eddie consciously realizes he’s decided to move, he’s got Billy on the ground. He’s not a fighter but fueled by protective rage he lands a few punches.

Billy gets his hand on a small potted plant and smashes it against his head and then Eddie is shoved on his back. He blinks the blood out of his vision to see the other man approaching Steve, and one glimpse of those terror filled eyes has him stumbling back to his feet.

As he stands he sees the trowel laying in the garden. He uses it to hit Billy in the back of the head, and as the man falters Eddie knocks him to the ground. Quickly hovering over him, he holds the trowel like a knife against Billy’s throat.

“If you so much as look at him again, I will kill you, do you understand me?” He pauses while Billy just stares at him, face blank. “Do you understand me?!”

“Yes! I understand.”

He stands, still gripping his makeshift weapon, and lets Billy scuttle away. He watches until he’s sure the creep is gone before he lets himself relax, swaying on his feet.

Steve is immediately at his side, tears streaming down his cheeks. He lifts his hand to brush the wetness away. “Hey, you’re ok sweetheart, please don’t cry.”

“I’m not crying for me you idiot! You’re bleeding. Jesus Eddie, I was so scared. I thought he was gonna kill you.” Steve buries his head in Eddie’s shoulder, shaking with sobs.

Eddie shushes him, cradling the back of his head. Thinks back to the moment before Billy interrupted them. He wants so badly to ask if Steve meant what he’d said, but he knows this isn’t the time. Between what just happened and Steve still being drunk…if they were going to talk about this, he needed to be sure it was real.

So for now he just presses a kiss to the top of Steve’s head and holds on tight, reassuring him that they’re both safe now.

—

Once the adrenaline wears off, Eddie becomes aware of the pain. His head is throbbing, there’s a decent chance he has a concussion. Definitely some busted knuckles. His hip aches from where it hit the ground. Could be worse.

Steve may be drunk, but he’s still Steve. He’s unsteady on his feet as he leads Eddie through the house, confidently finding the first aid kit in the bathroom. He sits Eddie down on the toilet and carefully cleans the gashes on his head, bandaging them and giving them each a sloppy kiss when he’s done. Eddie’s hand gets the same treatment, and the sight of Steve gently cradling his hand for a kiss makes his heart ache with want.

Eddie takes his other hand and wipes the tears that start leaking. “It’s ok. I’m ok. I promise it’s going to take a lot more than one slimy creep to take me away from you.” Steve giggles in response. “There’s that pretty smile, much better. No more tears. You wanna head home or do you wanna stick around for a bit longer?”

“Home. I mean…can I stay with you tonight? I know I was just there last night it’s ok if you want your space I don’t mean to be clingy-“

“Steve. You will always be welcome wherever I am. You don’t even have to ask. And there’s not a chance I’d let you go be in that house on your own, not after tonight. Besides, someone needs to make sure you don’t choke on your own tongue in the middle of the night, boozy.”

He stands and keeps Steve’s hand in his bruised grip, leading him out. Nancy spots them and shoots him a questioning and worried look, but he just waves her off. They can explain later.

He get Steve settled in the passenger seat of his own car, before holding his hand out for the keys. Steve just squints up at him, adorably confused, before reaching out to hold hands. Eddie snorts.

“No, you goof, the keys. Unless you want to sleep in your car you’re gonna have to hand ‘em over so I can get us home.”

Steve smiles fondly. “Home…that sounds nice. I wish. But my home’s no good. And I don’t think your uncle would want me to. But it’s where the heart is right?” He clumsily fishes the keys out of his pocket and hands them over. “So m’already there I guess. Don’t think you are though, which sucks. Your house is nice though, so we can go there.”

Eddie laughs. “I’m not really sure what you’re trying to say sweetheart, maybe you can try again in the morning, hm?”

As they pull in next to the van, Eddie glances cautiously across the to the Mayfield/Hargrove home to find it dark and silent. He’s pretty sure Billy won’t bother them anymore, but he won’t be letting his guard down any time soon just the same.

Steve has been drifting the whole drive over, so Eddie gently shakes his shoulder. “Come on pretty boy, let’s get you into bed so you can sleep nice and comfy.”

He groans and grumbles, but he gets out so Eddie counts it as a win. Until he tips dangerously close to face planting. Steve pouts at him like it’s Eddie’s fault he can’t stand up on his own two feet. Eddie wraps Steve’s arm around his shoulder to steady him and tries to shuffle them both forward.

Unfortunately Steve’s feet seem completely unwilling to cooperate. With an eye roll and a heavy sigh, Eddie bends down and scoops his legs out from under him. Steve squeals and almost flails right out of his arms.

“Shhh you’re gonna wake the whole trailer park!” Eddie whispers.

“Sorry, sorry” Steve giggles, “I wasn’t ready. My hero.” He swoons dramatically, then grins and wraps his arms around Eddie’s neck.

Once they get inside he gently places Steve down on the bed. He makes him drink some water, then throws the sweats from the night before on the bed and heads to the bathroom to change into his own.

He comes out to Steve curled up under the covers peeking up at him, suddenly looking shy.

“Eds…thank you. You really are my hero.”

Eddie laughs as he crawls into bed next to him. “I don’t know about that, but either way no thanks needed. You just keep smiling for me pretty thing, that’s all I need.”

Steve lives up to his word and remains a snuggly drunk. As soon as Eddie is settled there’s a body draped across his.

He knows tomorrow they have to talk and he has no idea how it’s going to go, so he enjoys this while he can.

—

Eddie wakes long before he opens his eyes. He can feel Steve’s steady breathing against his neck, an arm draped across his chest. He just wants to stay in this moment as long as possible. Live in this domestic little fantasy of waking up next to he man he loves.

But eventually he feels Steve stirring and knows he can’t delay the inevitable much longer. He opens his eyes and looks down to see Steve already looking back.

“Morning beautiful. Sleep well?”

“Mmm. Feels like I got hit by a bus.”

“That’ll be the hangover. Not too surprising considering how much you drank. You remember much about last night?”

Steve blinks through the haze of sleep and alcohol before his eyes widen.

“Billy. Shit Eddie, are you ok?” His hands come up to gently touch Eddie’s bandaged head.

“I’m fine. I’ve had worse. I may be a lover not a fighter but that didn’t stop the meat heads at school from playing ‘hunt the freak’. Anyway that’s not what I was talking about.”

“What’s more important than some psycho attacking us?”

Eddie hesitates. He’s not sure Steve will want to be snuggled up in bed after he says what he needs to say. “You know what? I can’t have this conversation like this. Come on time to get up. I’ll make you a nice greasy breakfast and get you hydrated. I need coffee.”

Steve gets up, casting nervous glances at Eddie as he heads to the bathroom to brush his teeth. He’s already claimed the spare toothbrush as his, because of course he has. Eddie swipes his own and brushes his teeth at the kitchen sink.

He hears the shower turn on and a part of him relaxes, glad that Steve feels at home enough here to do so.

Eddie may not be a great cook in general, but one thing he does right is breakfast. Bacon, eggs, hash browns, pancakes, French toast…the works. Today he settles for bacon and eggs with some toast. Just as he’s finished plating everything he hears the shower turn off. He gets gets the coffee for himself and puts out orange juice and a Gatorade for Steve.

Steve’s decided to stay in Eddie’s clothes from the night before. He sits across from Eddie looking like he may throw up, but more from nerves than the hangover.

“Eddie…look, I know what this is about and we really don’t have to do this. I can take a hint, it’s fine. I just…I really don’t want to lose you, ok? So it’s fine. We’re good.”

“I uh…I’m not sure we’re having the same conversation here Stevie. Because I have no idea what hint you think you’re taking.”

Steve laughs, but it’s a sad little thing. “Come on Eds, I know you heard me last night. I mean I lied a little, I’ve been trying not to flirt with you for months. But when I told you I had my eye on someone you shut down, you clearly didn’t want to talk about it. And when Billy called me your girlfriend you were mad. Like mad mad.”

“Jesus H Christ Steve you cannot possible think that’s what I was mad about.”

“…What?”

“The implication that we were together, that’s what you thought pissed me off last night? Fucking hell Steve. I was furious because of how he talked about you, because he said we should fucking share you. I wanted to fucking kill that little creep because he was talking about using you. Assaulting you. Jesus. The thought of him looking at you never mind touching you makes my skin crawl. Who cares if he thinks we’re together? I know you were drunk but shit, how the fuck could you think I cared about that?” He’s running his hands through his hair so hard he’s pulling strands out.

“I just…I said I was into someone and I thought you knew I meant you and you were upset, and then that happened and you were even more upset I just thought…”

“I was upset because I thought you were into someone else! Fuck Steve I thought you were straight, I thought you’d found someone and I was going to have to watch someone else make the the love of my life happy and it was going to slowly kill me.”

Steve’s head jerks up so fast from where he’d been staring at the table, it’s a wonder he doesn’t get whiplash. Eddie replays his own words in his head and realizes with horror he said more than he meant to.

“I’m the love of your life?”

And fuck, there’s this soft awed look in Steve’s face. It cracks Eddie right open.

“Fuck it.” He takes a deep breath to steady himself before he closes his eyes and dives head first. Reckless as ever. “I love you. I’m in love with you. Pretty sure I’ve been half in love with you since the day we met, but now? Yeah Steve, you’re the love of my fucking life.”

Before he can steel himself to open his eyes and see the reaction, he feels a hand on the back of his head pulling him and suddenly there’s a mouth against his. Oh. It’s soft, and sweet, and everything he’d ever hoped a first kiss with Steve could be.

It’s over as fast as it began and he leans forward to chase those lips. He feels Steve giggle before a hand at his shoulder stops him. He opens one eye to see Steve all soft and shy.

“You remember the day we met?”

“How could I forget? You were my gay awakening.” He opens his other eye and grins. “Pretty boy like you came to my rescue? I was gone.”

“You’re one to talk. My knight in shining armor.” The hand on his shoulder drops to his own bruised hand, thumb rubbing gently across the still bandaged knuckles. “Shit Eddie you really didn’t know? Everyone knows!”

“Wait what? What do you means everyone knows?”

“Eddie, everyone knows. The kids give me shit all the time. God the first time I tried to asked you to hang out with me and Robin they mocked me the whole drive to Dustin’s because I couldn’t just suck it up and ask you on a proper date. Robin also mocks me because I dressed up and paid like it was a date anyway. Hell Nancy knows….and also mocks me, Jesus I need better friends.”

Eddie laughs a little hysterically. “That explains why Nancy said I should talk to you when I told her you said you liked someone last night. Steve I thought you were straight. Why would I ever think I had a chance?”

“Well I’m bi, for the record. I mean it was me coming out to my parents that was the final straw for them leaving. I just thought you knew. Robbie said you clocked each other from day one. And she knew about me right away so I figured you did too and you were just too nice to say anything about my glaringly obvious crush. But everyone kept telling me to go for it so I thought last night I’d kind of open the door a bit and you slammed it in my face. So instead of having you serenade me and then maybe make out a little at the party I got spectacularly drunk in self pity.”

Eddie grins beatifically. “I can serenade you, baby.”

“Ugh god then there was that. Last night you called me ‘sweetheart’ and ‘pretty’ and I was so confused. You’d never called me pet names before.” He pouts adorably.

“I’ll call you whatever you want, gorgeous, as long as I can call you mine.”

“Oh Eddie, I’ve been yours for a long time.” Steve closes the gap between them once more.

~

I’ve had so many fic ideas in my years in fandom, but this is the first one I’ve actually written. I have like 3 others in progress, all Steddie, so there’s that. Anyway, be gentle. I’ve been writing for forever but this is the first fic and also the first story I’ve ever shared publicly.

I may write a follow up to this one too. We’ll see.

Find me on AO3

[delicrieux]

Hi lovely was wondering if you could maybe write a stranger things one with Steve. The reader is dustins older sister and is a bit bitchy with Everyone and one night when Steve’s over she upset and he sees what she’s really like and that she is actually human haha ❤️

THE STRANGEST THING | endless drabble series (summer edition)

summary: steve has a thing for dustin’s sister pairing: steve harrington x henderson!reader a/n: i love stranger things. there’s nothing i love more than stranger things. i want 100000 season’s of this series even if it turns into supernatural. i do not care. give me more. also, used prompt 5. warm, breezy nights, with this req mwah ty sm for sending it in <33

masterlist. ☕. reqs are open for the summer prompt list!

part 2.

It’s a miracle. It has to be. Or...or, a tragedy. Something between the two extremes. Because Steve has seen many outlandish things happen at Hawkin’s, but this one takes the fucking cake.

He’s seen you angry. Seen you happy (a few times, maybe, he’s not to sure about that to be honest, he might’ve been hallucinating). Seen you cracking a joke or two at his expense (he wasn’t angry, they were funny, but then again, everything you say is funny and only to him). But he’s never, ever ever in the history of all evers, seen you upset. 

It takes him aback. You Henderson’s are tough to crack, and to see you so visibly defeated is just uncanny. 

You’re not the easiest to get along with. You’re a bit rude to their rag-tag team of heroes that save the world every other month without a thank you. A bit cold, a bit distant. A bit pretty, too, but Dustin would probably bury him alive if he was to ever speak it out loud.

From your bed, you notice him. Shit. You weren’t meant to notice him. He was supposed to be watching movies with Dustin in the living room, then going to the bathroom and not halting by your door. To be fair, you could’ve kept it closed. Then again, you probably didn’t think he’d be lurking around like some villain ready to spy on unsuspecting high school seniors. 

That sounds horrible. He must explain himself immediately, “Just--” He waves his hand around, all smile and charm and perfect hair, “on my way to the bathroom.”

“Does this look like the fucking bathroom to you?” You snap back.

“Right.” He chokes out. Clears his throat. You make him stupidly nervous, “I just, uh,” He just what? The question is written all over your face and he’s already preparing for a lashing, “I was just on my way and...noticed that you seem a bit upset.” He smiles again, anxiously, trying to lessen the blow he’ll surely have to take after such a confession, “I thought it was strange, cuz, you know,” He motions to you, “you’re you.”

There’s a pause. He thinks he’s off the hook when, “The strangest thing is that nobody fucking asked, Harrington.”

Yeah, this isn’t going that well. At least he doesn’t have a thing for you, because that would make all of this worse. 

You jump up and make your way to the door ready to shut it in his face but he’s quick to stop you, “Woah! Woah woah woah!” He raises his hands in a pacifying gesture, one that, surprise surprise, seems to work, “I don’t mean any harm, I swear.” Okay, you seem to be listening, so that’s a start, “You’re Dustin’s sister. You know I love that kid.” He admits this a bit quieter, partly because he doesn’t want the said kid to hear and partly because what he says is really fucking true, “And... so...” He shrugs. It should all be already obvious.

That angry spark seems to fizzle from your eyes. Your features soften and your shoulders droop and you look at him unguarded and okay--okay, right, he might have a thing for you after all. 

“You can tell me.” He says, gently, afraid to scare you away, “If you want to, that is. I’m not forcing you or anything. Just...just, you know, you can always. Talk to me.”

“Why are you being so nice to me?” 

“I dunno, maybe because I’m a nice person?” That got a smile out of you. Jackpot. A smile suits you better than a frown, but then again, everything looks good on you. He grins, “Okay, well, if you change your mind, I’ll be down the hall. Once I’m done in the bathroom. You should come join us, by the way.”

“I’m not into that nerd stuff.”

“(Name).” He says, wounded, hand covering his heart, “Don’t let poor Dusty hear that.”

“He’s well aware of that already, trust me.” You say with a small smile. There’s a pause of pleasant silence, then, “You should go before you pee your pants.”

“Yeah, I really should.”

And it’s not completely unexpected when you, despite not being into that ‘nerd stuff’, join the two of them on the couch and steal Dustin’s popcorn. You’re quite vocal about not understanding what’s going on. To be fair, Steve doesn’t understand either, but Dustin explains it pretty clearly. The movie is just the three of you talking. Laughing. Exchanging glances that don’t quite have a meaning yet. 

Steve thinks that if all summer nights were like this, he wouldn’t mind. Maybe the three of you could go to a drive-in theatre on a balmy night like this. Or the two of you. He’s not about to say it, but if Dustin was to, let’s say, not tag along, it would be better. A whole lot better.

“Dude!” One, singular pop-corn hits his cheek. He blinks. Dustin is glaring at him, “Stop staring at my sister, it’s fucking creepy!”

"I wasn’t staring!”

“Like fuck you weren’t!”

“It’s fine, Dustin,” You say, “maybe he just had an aneurysm.”

“What the hell, (Name)?” He hisses. Dustin laughs.

Yeah, he’s not taking Dustin to the movies. Fat-fucking-chance.

hope you liked it! xx

[jadeylovesmarvelxo]

Little Rain Cloud 🖤

Summary; Yn arrives at Hawkins high and captures the eye of Eddie. Sarcastic and blunt she makes her way into Eddie's heart and he slowly makes his way into hers

Warnings; None really, swears.

Also includes this request by an anon

Hi! I just got an idea where Eddie and reader go to prom and she does the dance from the show Wednesday she has Wednesday’s personality too and Eddie is totally into it. Idk how to explain

Likes or reblogs are always appreciated and reblogs especially are extremely helpful💖 I don't give anyone permission to copy my work.

On a stormy morning in early October, a new girl called yn arrived in Hawkins and to Hawkins high.

The new girl was dressed all in black, ignoring the stares and whispers of the students as she walked down the hall and to her assigned locker.

English with Mrs. O'Donnell is first and as she enters the classroom one of the boys laughs.

"Check out Dracula's bride. Hey, new girl. Gonna bite me?" the neanderthals next to him chuckle along with him.

Her stone cold glare silences them.

"No thanks, I have taste you know" that silences them and she takes the empty seat next to a perky brunette who's called Robin.

"Hi, I'm Robin, it's so nice to meet you, you're the new girl yn? The last new people here were Max and her brother Billy but less said about him the better... Because he's totally a jackass but he kinda redeemed himself and... She stops herself, sorry I'm babbling aren't I?"

"I had an uncle who did that once, wouldn't stop talking" she replies to Robin who raises her eyebrows.

"I'm sorry had?" Robin inquires.

"His wife cut out his tongue and fed it to her pet pig" Robin's eyes widen.

"Sorry about your uncle" yn shrugs.

"I was more upset for the pig" Robin bursts out laughing and yn smiles, hmm this girl seemed okay, a little chatty for her tastes but nice enough.

"Mr Munson, so nice of you to join us," Ms. O'Donnell says to a boy who's just arrived. He looks a little bit older than the kids in class but not by much. A year or two?

He has shaggy dark hair, big brown eyes and is dressed in jeans, a leather jacket, a denim vest, and Reebok trainers, a sheepish smile adorns his features, he has dimples when he smiles.

His eyes briefly connect with hers and he stares at her looking stunned for a second.

She can't seem to take her eyes off those dimples. Unnerved by this she concentrates on the work that is being handed out.

🖤

It isn't until lunch a few days later that Eddie is introduced to her. The new girl who he first saw in Ms O'Donnells class.

Normally he wouldn't believe in love or first sight or that shit but he knew without a doubt he was captivated by her.

She's coming into the cafeteria with Robin, dressed in a black pleated skirt, and a band t-shirt his heart skips a beat when he notices it's Iron Maiden, she's wearing black boots with a heel that looks like they could cause some damage if used.

He can't stop staring at her, at those pretty eyes and gorgeous hair. She's close to his table and he thanks his lucky stars when Robin stops to say hey.

"Hey, uh who's your friend?"

"Yn and you are?"

"Eddie, Eddie Munson, hey it's cool that you like Iron Maiden. I'm a big fan as well"

"I prefer Metallica but they are a close second" that's it. He's pretty fucking sure he is making love heart eyes now.

"They are my favourite too, can play a few of their songs on my guitar off by heart now" she sits down.

"Fascinating. Would you teach me to play? I'm a fast learner"

"I'd love to" he stammers out and Gareth kicks him under the table.

She sits for a full ten minutes discussing songs with him until Robin tells her they need to go and get lunch.

He watches her go and his heart is racing in his chest, he can't wait to talk to her again.

🖤

Eddie is her new partner for Bio. Thank God, the last one was an imbecile who spent more time trying to stare at her chest than do some work.

The staring only stopped when she threatened to nailgun his testicles, he thought she was joking and laughed.

"In a pinch, a sharp pen will do" she then told him with a smirk and then he requested a transfer to sit with some girl who was fawning over him.

So yes, Eddie was much more acceptable and he had impeccable taste in bands so that was also a win.

It would be easier to concentrate on her work though if the girl called Ali who was sitting beside Jason wasn't talking so loud that she couldn't hear her own thoughts.

"My Little brother took my Barbie, he just took it. Fair enough it was old and stuffed in the attic but still. The little shit always ruins my stuff"

Jason turns to her and there's a cocky grin on his face when he realises she was listening.

"Do you like Barbie dolls too gorgeous?"

"When I was five I took the heads off Barbies and flushed them down the toilet," she tells the girl matter of factly who is sitting beside Jason and she notices Eddie trying not to laugh.

"Oh my God, the poor Barbies" Ali gasps in horror and she shrugs.

"I feel more sorry for the toilet" at that point Eddie can't hide his laughter anymore and yn turns to him, that intense stare draws him in even more.

"Do you find my childhood reminiscing funny in some way?" she asks him and he smiles.

Jason snorts.

"Munson no one asked you for your opinion freak" Yn frowns and adresses Jason.

"I think I can decide who to talk to for myself thanks" Jason's cheeks grow pink.

"Don't say I didn't warn you. Probably wants you to join his Hellfire cult and summon the devil"

Eddie is about to snap back at the asshole when yn speaks up.

"That sounds delightful" Ali and Jason gape at her and Eddie finds himself increasingly smitten with this new girl.

"You can join in the campaign next week if you like?" he hopes she says yes and silently pumps his fist under the desk when she does.

Jason still seethes that she didn't listen and the childish glare on his face annoys her.

Eddie nudges her.

"Don't think many girls say no to him" she rolls her eyes.

"I don't need anyone to watch out for me, I can take care of myself" he nods to her shoes.

"Shit I bet they could do some damage" a smile graces her features.

"Perfectly sharp and lethal, enough to take out an eyeball or testicle of some creep" this vanishes the smirk from Jason's face but amused Eddie to no end.

"Remind me to never get on your bad side"

🖤

"This is a fantasy game, not worshipping. I was gravely misinformed" she tells Eddie unamused as she stares at the dice and figures.

"I did think you were joking. You never brought it up again all week so I thought you wouldn't come, you never mentioned when we were speaking earlier"

Frowning she sits on one of the seats closest to Eddie's.

"We could make you up a cool character and you could try one campaign. See if it's your thing. I like spending time with you" he admits and his admission makes him smile shyly which creates a peculiar feeling in her stomach.

What was this?

Maybe she could ask Robin? Didn't she work at Family Video? She would go there tomorrow to talk to her.

"Maybe like an Elven princess or something like that" she blanches.

"Do I look like a princess type to you?" he grins those damn dimples showing again.

"Maybe a dark sorceress then?" that sounded more like it.

"Yes. Trained in combat with a penchant for knives and archery" she adds on.

Eddie nods along with her and wants to ask if that's based on her but the guys are all eager to play and he is anxious to see how she does.

One hour later she has created her character and entered the D&D universe. Already Dustin has joined her side due to her fierce magic and she's battled with Demogorgons.

Eddie watches her impressed as she rolls the dice once again earning a hit on the monster she's battling.

"You're a natural at this" he beams and his praise has her heart skipping a beat.

All these funny feelings around Eddie were disconcerting. It would be easier if she found him repulsive like Jason. Granted he wasn't unfortunate looking but his personality was subpar.

That was enough for her to decree Carver an idiot, she also didn't like the way he bullied the Hellfire Club, if she was part of this club he would rule the day he made fun of her.

In Eddie's case, she found him interesting in every way, the way he talks, how passionate he is, his love for fantasy and heavy metal.

His absolute insistence that he performed by no one's rules or expectations.

She liked it more than she thought possible.

🖤

The next day is a no go to head to Family Video but she ends up going on Sunday instead.

Robin beams when she sees her and her co-worker a guy with exceptionally perfect hair and hazel eyes looks her up and down and a smile works it's way on his face.

"I got this one, Robin" Robin rolls her eyes and pats Steve's shoulder.

"Not this one bud, a friend is currently smitten" Steve looks confused but heeds what Robin says.

"Judging by your facial expressions something terrible has happened? Are you okay?" Robin asks concerned.

It's only when she tells Robin that her friend stops panicking and teases her.

"Yes I knew it, tell me more. I'll help!"

Robin listens to her patiently as she tells her of her feelings, those funny reactions she gets when she sees Eddie.

"This is some magic Robin, some strange spell" Robin bites back a smile.

"No... it's butterflies, a feeling you get when you're around someone you like. A kinda fluttering in your stomach"

Butterflies?

"I'd prefer bats but go on...

"You like Eddie, like oh he's cute I'd like to kiss him like" hearing Robin spell it out makes her flustered.

She's never had a crush before not really. Robin senses this and smiles.

"Eddie's your first crush huh?" she nods and feels those butterflies again.

"This is absurd. He dazzled me with those eyes and dimples" Robin laughed at this.

"If it helps he's just as smitten as you are. It's pretty obvious when he's making moon eyes at you... Speak of the devil" Robin nods as Eddie comes in the store.

He chats to Steve and meets her gaze walking over to her.

"Hey, sweetheart. Was about to browse the horror section. Wanna join me?" she nods feeling nervous, she doesn't usually feel nervous and that was unsettling.

Those brown eyes weaved magic that was for sure.

"You could join me if you like. I was thinking of watching The Thing or Halloween, something like that?"

Like she ever needed an excuse to watch a horror movie.

"Throw in some popcorn and we have a deal" he agrees.

"Popcorn and Ice cream await if that sweetens the deal?" she nods.

From that moment on they were pretty much inseparable.

🖤

"So uh, I don't know if you realised but the Winter dance is coming up soon. The snow ball" Eddie brings up during their latest movie night where they are watching Nosferatu.

"A ball?" he nods looking nervous.

"Yeah, normally all that conforming bullshit of school dances and shit makes me sick but if you wanted to go... Would be nice"

He was asking her to the Snow Ball the notion sends those dratted butterflies fluttering around her belly.

"If it will stop you looking at me with those for eyes of yours then fine, she softens. I'd love to go with you"

Sheer delight etches on his features and conversation resumes to non dance related subjects.

They both have smiles on their faces all through the movie.

🖤

Robin takes her dress shopping with Nancy both are grinning at her reactions to some of the dresses.

"I feel nauseated. It's like a rainbow and a unicorn puked out this hellscape" she informs them as they begin to set out for dresses.

All hope isn't lost as she finds a gorgeous little black dress with lace trim around the bottom, the neckline is a tad plunging but the dress is gorgeous.

Robin and Nancy each find dresses too and she begins to feel a small frissonn of excitement about this dance.

Not that she would tell anyone that of course.

🖤

Eddie can't believe that he is at the Winter dance with yn, she's so beautiful and looks stunning in her dress.

"Do you want to dance sweetheart?" he asks her feeling a little nervous and she nods. An up-tempo song is playing. Girls on film by Duran Duran.

He would prefer Black Sabbath or Metallica but this will have to do. Plus when yn begins to dance throwing her head back, and doing some very intricate and unusual moves he's more captivated by her than by the music.

He smiles as she rolls her shoulders to the music, moving her body to the beat.

The song ends and a slower one takes its place. She looks at him and a trace of shyness crosses her features but it's gone quickly.

"We can go sit if you like?" he assures her and she shakes her head after a few second.

"No, it's okay" she moves closer to him and he wraps his arms around her as she rests her head on his chest.

They sway to the music and yn can feel her heartbeat speed up. Whenever she is with Eddie her guard drops more and more.

He rests his head on top of hers and she burrows closer into him.

Tilting her head up she looks deep into his big brown eyes and strokes along his cheek.

He kisses her, his lips moving against hers gently then turning more passionate as she deepens the kiss.

When they part he looks spellbound exactly how she feels and she longs to kiss him again moving closer to do just that.

🖤

[mickittotheman]

49 …out of necessity for the prompt game if you are so inspired?! ❤️😍

I did one for this prompt here, but I was indeed feeling inspired so here's another!

49. ...out of necessity

“Hey, Mickey?”

Mickey drops the bowl in his hands to the table with a clatter. Clears the distance between the kitchen and his room in quick strides. “What? What’s wrong? What’s happening?”

His gaze flits to Ian first. Still in the same position. Still curled up on his side, facing the wall, the sheets tugged up over his head. Mickey breaths out a long breath, not sure whether the feeling flooding him is relief or disappointment or both.

Carl blinks at him, wide eyed. “Nothing. Jeez. Just wanted to ask you something.”

Mickey sighs again. He snatches his brass knuckles out of Carl’s hand and shoves it back into the top drawer of his dresser. All his other weapons have been cleared out into a couple of cardboard boxes shoved deep inside the depths of Mandy’s closet. He’s not taking any chances. “Stop messing with my shit. You couldn't have fucking walked out there to ask me the question?”

Carl shrugs. “You said not to leave him alone.”

Right.

Mickey twists his lips. Looks at Ian again. Looks away. 

“Fuck did you wanna ask me?”

Carl goes all shifty. Starts fiddling with the sheets. Looks, for a moment, like the little kid he is, not the wannabe tough guy he’s pretending to be. “Um. I know it's kinda stupid, but… Debbie used to watch those stupid fairytale movies, you know? The girly ones, with the princesses and castles and shit?”

“Okay,” Mickey drawls, eyebrows steadily creeping higher. He waves his hands around when Carl doesn’t continue. “You called me in here just to tell me that?”

“No– I,” Carl frowns. Shrinks in on himself. Looks impossibly younger. “It’s just. You said you’d be willing to try anything, right? To make him better?”

Mickey makes his best ‘duh’ expression. 

“Well um. One time when we were little. And Monica was around. And she was like this. Debbie had this idea, that maybe Frank should try kissing her, because in her stupid movies they would always cure everything with true love's kiss or whatever. It didn’t work, but we thought maybe it’s just because the way Monica and Frank love each other is kinda fucked up, and maybe…”

Carl trails off, blushing furiously. He shoves himself to his feet before Mickey can even begin to wrap his mind around what the fuck he’s talking about. 

“Nevermind. This is stupid. I’ve gotta go. Gotta meet someone in twenty.”

He brushes past Mickey on the way out of the room. Mickey stares after him, mouth open, brows furrowed incredulously. The front door slams shut.

What the fuck.

Mickey sighs. Pinches the bridge of his nose. “Fucking Gallaghers, man,” he mutters.

On the bed, Ian doesn’t so much as twitch.

Mickey circles over to his side. Grabs the plate of toast off the nightstand– half eaten, better than yesterday– and brings it out into the kitchen. Eats the slightly stale toast. Finishes his bowl of cereal. Leaves the dishes there for someone else to deal with. 

He grabs a gatorade from the fridge, grabs an extra quilt from the couch, brings them back with him into his dark, stuffy room. He pulls the curtains open. Cracks the window just a bit. It’s cold as fuck outside, but he’s been looking into shit, and fresh air is supposed to help. He circles back to Ian’s side again, sets the gatorade in reach, seal already twisted off to make it easier for Ian if he decides to drink some. He drapes the quilt over him, tucks the edges in tight, smooths a hand over the sheet covering Ian’s hair.

Mandy used to like fairytales, too. Mickey stole a copy of Sleeping Beauty from this girl in his class back in primary school. He read that fucking thing to her so many times he could practically recite it from memory alone.

Carl was right. This is fucking stupid.

But he was also right about Mickey being desperate enough to try anything.

He scowls. Rolls his eyes. Crouches down beside the bed. Leans in. Squeezes his eyes shut.

His breath hitches when their lips touch. Fuck, but he’s missed kissing Ian.

He misses being kissed by Ian even more.

He pulls back. Digs the heels of his palms into his eyes. Fuck.

When he lowers his hands, Ian is awake, staring back at him.

“Holy shit. Ian.”

Ian doesn’t respond with anything other than a slow blink, but he hasn’t talked in days now, and his eyes look clearer than they have since this whole fucking mess first started.

Mickey grips hard at Ian’s arm. Ian doesn't shove him away this time. Just blinks again. 

Mickey takes in a shuddering breath. Pastes on a strained smile. “Hey there, sleeping beauty. You feeling any better?”

Ian moves his shoulder, just a tiny little twitch of a shrug. His gaze darts down to Mickey’s lips, then back up to his eyes, then down again. Mickey can see his jaw flexing, his throat working, his mouth twitching like he’s struggling to say something.

“What is it? You need something?”

A short, sharp, jerky nod. 

“You want your gatorade? More food? Another blanket–?”

Ian shakes his head. His brows twist in frustration. He looks at Mickey’s lips again.

Oh.

Mickey’s breath whooshes, like he’s been kicked in the sternum. He kinda fucking feels like he has been.

He darts forwards again. Brushes his lips against Ian’s, chaste. Pulls back to look at him before doing it again, and again, and again.

Fairytales are bullshit. But maybe there’s some things they got right.

send me a number~

[duchi-nesten]

Grayghost for the ask game!

it's been one hundred years, but i have not forgotten to answer the 983478349 of these i have left in my inbox.

-

Valerie was so ready to finally, officially, fully kill Danny.

Don't get her wrong, she really loved her boyfriend a lot. After all the secrets were out, they really bonded and were now dating for almost 4 years.

Since their anniversary was coming up, they both decided to celebrate it by going on a roadtrip across a few neighboring states. They've been saving money for this the whole year!!!

When summer break hit (they were in college now (rip)) they wasted no time, packing Valerie's new (old) car to the roof and going off into the unknown. (unknown = usa)

Valerie insisted that she was gonna be the one to drive the whole time. She didn't really trust Danny and his certified Fenton Driving SkillsTM to not wreck her car.

Danny argued for a while, since he didn't want her to drive so much. It was cute how worried he was that she was gonna be too tired or whatever, but she made it very clear to him that she doesn't mind. He was banned from the driver's seat, no matter what.

Unfortunetly, that led to a little issue that Valerie did not think well enough through.

"WE GOT A NUMBER ONE VICTORY ROYALE, YEAH FORTNITE WE BOUT TO GET DOWN (GET DOWN), TEN KILLS ON THE BOARD RIGHT NOW, JUST WIPED OUT TOMATO TOWN."

Danny was in charge of the AUX cord.

And Danny was abusing his AUX cord rights.

Hard.

"Danny, can you PLEASE turn on some NORMAL MUSIC?" Valerie asked for what felt like the 1000th time.

"What do you mean? Chug Jug With You is such a banger." Danny asnwered with the biggest shit eating grin on his face.

"I can survive stuff like All Star and the rickroll, but the shit you've been pulling up is too much." She let go of the steering wheel with one hand just to quickly gesture in the direction of Danny's phone connected to the car. "What even IS THIS?"

"A banger."

"Danny, I beg you."

"Well. You know the rules. One person drives, the other chooses the music." he said, shrugging.

"I can hardly call your playlist music."

He ignored her comment and continued, "You could always... Let me drive. The you can choose the music."

That Little Shit.

She knew he did this on purpose. She realized when he pulled out an already pre-made playlist. This was his plan all along. Maybe she wasn't so far off when she was insiting he was evil those few years ago. He sure as hell could be evil when he wanted to be.

Well, she was definitly not gonna give in. She couldn't let him win this.

"No. You're banned from driving." she said, holding the wheel just a bit tighter when a new song started playing. It sounded like a badly recorded version of Take On Me. She prayed it was only that, but her dreams were crushed when some little kid with the shittiest mic known to humankind started talking over the song.

"Well, that's fine! We get to listen to the legend himself, Mcap Steve!" Danny exclaimed and started singing with the kid about... mining? diamonds?

And calling it singing was generous, all of it was just screaming.

Of all the minecraft songs, he had to choose the one that was giving her an incredible headache.

.

She eventually gave up and let Danny drive after he pulled out this Mcap Steve's entire discography...

Possibly dying in a traffic accident was way better than another minute of that minecraft parody hell.

_____________

@hannahmanderr and I actually made Danny's roadtrip playlist, so you can listen to it and see what torture this boy put his girlfriend through yourself!

[THE PLAYLIST]

Also: Danny's right, those are bangers.

[thepartyresponsible]

this fic’s for the anon who asked for Jason Todd and Clint Barton for prompts 13 and 41, which are friends to lovers and witches.

warnings for a bit of magical violence, and also for everyone being a disaster.

                                                      - - - 

Jason Todd moves into Clint’s building in mid-July, and Clint knows he’s a witch because it said so on his rental application, but he knows also because all of the stray cats come out to greet him, lining up on the sidewalk to watch him unload boxes from a moving van.

“You looking for a familiar?” Clint asks, with a nod toward the cats as Lucky gambols around Jason’s ankles.

“Oh, nah,” Jason says, shifting the box onto one hip so he can scratch Lucky’s ears. “Strays look after strays, you know?”

Clint’s more of a lost cause than a stray, but he understands the theory. Like calls to like.

“You need any help with those boxes?” he asks.

Jason gives him a sideways, searching look, mouth quirking up in a lopsided smirk. “You help every new tenant move in?”

Clint shrugs. It’s hot as hell, and he’s already sweating. But he doesn’t mind a little exercise, and there’s something about Jason’s magic that settles nicely against his own. “Sure,” he says, “when I can.”

Jason laughs at him, but he puts a box in Clint’s hands, and, afterwards, he gives him a beer, wipes the sweat off his forehead with the hem of his shirt. “Fucking July,” he says.

There’s no real furniture yet, but Clint leans back against the kitchen counter, sips at the beer, feels Jason’s magic move over him like salted air next to the shore. “Just wait til August,” he says.

Jason groans, and the windows open, all at once and completely. A breeze roves through the apartment, and Clint laughs. “Oh, come on,” he says. “I even fixed the air conditioning.”

But he gets it. Magic’s better.

–

Clint’s got a patchwork shield of protective spells on the building. He adds what he can think of, when he has time and energy. Jason builds on them, without asking, and Clint decides he’s charmed, instead of annoyed.

“You know what you’re doing?” he asks, when he finds Jason on the rooftop in late September, probably using the equinox to springboard something particularly complex. “Cuz some of this shit has layers.”

“Mhm,” Jason says, and he flips a hand over, palm up. “You wanna help, or you wanna complain?”

He’s glowing, a little. Just around his head and the tips of his fingers. When Clint glows, it looks like sunshine, but this is red-tinted, like a stoplight.

“I get into some shit sometimes,” Clint tells him. “It’s not always just people looking to steal things. Sometimes real threats come around.”

Jason’s eyes slide open. They’re full red from lid to lid. It’s eerie as hell, is what it is.

“Don’t let the kids see you looking like that,” Clint says. “You’re a nightmare.”

Jason smiles, and the red glow’s in his mouth, makes his laughter fog up in the air like it’s winter. “Sometimes I’ve got real threats after me, too,” he says.

Clint drops his hand into Jason’s, and something like an electric shock passes between them. “Okay,” he says. “Let’s discourage them.”

–

It’s not just the stray cats that take to Jason. It’s the raccoons, too. And the pigeons. Probably the rats, but they stay out of sight. Clint’s coming home from a mission in November, in that weary stretch of time between fuck-off late and fuck-you early, and he finds Jason in joggers and a hoodie, fishing a raccoon out of the dumpster.

“Son of a bitch,” Jason says, when the thing uses his arm like a ladder and then hurls itself off his back. “Motherfucker.”

“You’re supposed to use something they can climb,” Clint tells him.

Jason levels a poisonous look his way. He’s cute, Clint realizes. Hair all fluffed up on one side of his head and flat on the other, looking lazy and lived in, all his sharp edges softened down.

“Oh good,” he says. “You’re back. Next one’s your problem.”

Clint likes Jason, but he’s never cared more about Jason liking him than he does right now. He wishes, suddenly, that he’d taken the extra ten minutes to shower after the mission. But, if he had, maybe he would’ve missed this moment entirely.

“They don’t talk to me like they talk to you,” Clint says. He can hear Lucky from six blocks away, but the strays of the city are silent.

Jason rolls his eyes, and it almost distracts from the sleep marks on his face. “Well, good news,” he says. “I can talk to you.” He holds his phone up, waggles it in the air.

Clint doesn’t even try to bite back his smile. “You really gonna call me in the middle of the night for raccoon rescue?”

The eyebrow Jason aims his way is dangerously inquisitive. “There something else I should be calling you for in the middle of the night?”

Clint panics, then pivots. “Pizza,” he offers.

Jason eyes him for a second and then shrugs, shoves his hands in his pockets, and squints up the alley toward the street. “You want pizza?” he asks.

And yeah, sure. He does.

–

Someone follows him home after an ugly mission that smears into a seventy-two hour parade of bullshit. It happens, sometimes. People get an eyeful of the Avengers and assume he’s the weakest link. They’re right, probably, but they generally fail to appreciate that the weakest Avenger is still a Goddamn Avenger.

He snaps awake when his windows shatter, and then he’s working his way through the targets, using his bow because his magic never wakes up graceful, and he’s just starting to get legitimately annoyed when his door slams open and Jason Todd comes in.

“Motherfuckers,” he says, and he’s not even touching the ground. He doesn’t even have a shirt on.

The whole room flares red, and Clint can feel the interwoven spells on the building humming so deep his bones resonate, and then the idiots who came through his windows fly right the hell back out and explode.

“Jesus,” Clint says.

“You missed the fireworks,” Jason says. He yawns into his hand, and his magic seeps back under his skin. His feet finally touch down on Clint’s floor. “Happy New Year.”

“Happy New Year,” Clint echoes back.

“Nice boxers,” Jason tells him. “Hi, Lucky.” And then, yawning harder, “This your bed?”

He drops right into it, curls his arm around Clint’s pillow, and closes his eyes.

“We gotta,” Clint says, staring at the sight of Jason, wearing low-slung sweats and nothing else, sprawled out in his bed. “There’s a fucking mess to deal with, Jay. My windows. The door’s still open. What’re you--”

“Fuck’s sake,” Jason groans. “It’s ass o’clock.”

He slaps the mattress next to him, open-handed and loud, and the windows knit back together in a soft shuffle, like they’re ashamed of themselves. Behind him, Clint hears his door close and latch.

“This is a hell of a way to make a move,” Clint tells him, just so Jason knows. Just so he doesn’t think he’s getting away with it.

Jason sits up far enough to squint at him. His magic is a little uneven; his hair is standing straight up from his forehead. “I’m this fucking close to taking myself to your couch, Barton,” he tells him. “And there’s only room for one on that couch.”

“Yeah, shit, okay,” Clint says, stashing his bow and sending a one-handed text to SHIELD: cleanup out front. some guys got exploded. He climbs into bed and immediately gets into a short, frantic, and ultimately productive fistfight for his share of the blankets.

“I’m gonna put,” Jason says, yawning, face mashed into Clint’s chest, “so much Goddamn magic on your apartment, Barton.”

“Oh yeah?” Clint says. “Guess that means you’re gonna be here a lot.”

Jason chuckles and then scraps his teeth along the edge of Clint’s collarbone before planting a brief, sucking kiss to his throat that really doesn’t help the restless kick in Clint’s belly. “Try to kick me out,” Jason mumbles.

“Maybe later,” Clint says. Maybe never.

[axcel-lucci]

Secrets...?

Trafalgar Law x fem!reader

Previous part --- next part

My masterlist

A/N: @jadedrrose it's been a while :)

After the two had left, the crew helped dice cleaning up.

Of course they talked to him about various subjects, lots of it just asking him "how is (y/n) as a kid?", "Is this whole island yours?", Or "do you have pets?"

"My starling... When she was younger, her and her father always... Let's say they always cause mischief. Literally, there would be times I'd see them covered head to toe with mud and sometimes scrapes on her knees because they crawl around spaces in the forest..." Dice answered before staring out into the forest, "that forest's big. She even got lost before... Good thing Luci found her in time before it got dark... Also, they have a treehouse out there... Luci would ALWAYS renovate it... Even though (y/n) isn't here anymore... it's like he refuses to acknowledge her absence..."

"That's... Does (y/n) know...?" Ikkaku asked

"If she knew, she would stay here... I know that kid. She'd sacrifice the world for her father... And he'd do the same to her... Even Luci knows that, and isn't afraid to acknowledge it. So... Yeah, we ain't telling her. If she finds out Luci refuses to accept that she's gone, in this island, she'd stay. You wouldn't want that for your dear captain, would you?"

Law sighs before shaking his head, "but... She needs to know"

Dice shrugs, "she does. But not now. She's smart, I'm sure she'll find it out and would see the little hints Luci drops unconsciously. Also, don't worry. It's not like things like me hiding such a fact would hurt her dearly. Sure it would, but she never holds grudges that hard."

"Mhmm... About that." Law rolled his eyes

"Yeah, yeah what-" Dice was cut off by a loud explosion outside, "for fuck's sake, did they just break into the fucking bomb warehouse?!"

"What...?"

Looking outside, it was just (y/n) and Lucifer "playing" with firecrackers.

Something Dice never let them do by themselves because either Lucifer burns himself or (y/n) gets ashes all over herself, causing it to burn her skin.

Though this time, Dice just sighed and watched from the window, "you know what? They're old enough, they can manage. I just hope Lucifer doesn't burn his suit, that shit's expensive"

"Like you'd have a problem with that." Shachi snickered

"Yeah well, that's his favourite suit. He wouldn't let it burn, would he?" Dice narrowed his eyes.

Meanwhile...

"Yeah, and the trajectory of this would cause these crackers to scatter..." Lucifer explained before lighting it up.

"Just don't burn yourself, ain't that your favorite suit?" (Y/n) asked as Lucifer hands her his coat.

"Don't worry! I won't." Lucifer chuckled as (y/n) shrugs

"If you say so."

...

"I say after this, they'd be hungry as hell... That or they just go training and playing with sharper fucking swords..." Dice hummed

"Play...?"

"Yep."

"Since when did Lucifer-ya train her...?" Law asked, watching the two play in the snow with firecrackers

"I don't know, maybe... I'd say 7? I have no idea." Dice shrugs

Later...

"I... Don't have my axe... At least not anymore..." (Y/n) muttered sadly.

"Axe...? She wielded an axe...?" Law muttered as Dice hummed

"Yep. An axe double her size and heavier than her by a ton." He smiled, "she loved that axe to bits... But it was shattered to pieces by one of her uncles... It broke her dearly. And I doubt nothing could ever replace that axe"

"Oh? Why don't we make one instead?" Lucifer smiled as (y/n) looked at him

"What axe could have been better than Axcel...?" She frowned

"Oh, I don't know... Nothing could ever be better than the other... But I'm sure... You'll love this axe just as much." Lucifer shrugs as he uses his magic to form a great double headed battle axe, colored in black with a blue edge... (Y/n) will just tell you what it is; "here..."

Lucifer hands her the sword that is definitely twice her size and double her weight.

It took some time to process once she had it in her hands making her gasp, "a double headed axe, made with fine high carbon steel, coated with a black glossy finish," she smiled as she ran her finger along the edge of the blade, "blue magic coated edges to prevent it from ever getting blunt... Sharper than the world's sharpest knife.... A sturdy handle... A well known bandaged grip... With..." She gasped in realization, "MY NAME IN GOLDEN PLATING ON THE HANDLE!!"

Lucifer visibly laughed at her excitement.

She didn't even notice a blush started to form and warm her as she describe the axe in full and running her fingers along EVERYTHING as if fixated with the axe.

"Is it good?" He smiled as he placed a hand on his hip

She grinned, still continuing to lovingly stare at the big axe, "wait... Oh my gosh... The black finish has gold sparkles!!" She excitedly expressed as she turned the axe side to side to see the sparkles shine in the faint light

"Well?"

"This. Is. Fucking... PERFECT!!" she yelled as she hugged the axe and squealed, "imma name you axie!!"

Dice laughed a bit, "it's not everyday you see her be so fixated with these... you know? And it's really cute"

"It... It is..." Law sighed with a soft smile as she sees (y/n) excitedly expressing how happy she is with the blade... The biggest smile he's seen on her face.

"Well? Do you think you can adjust to it?" Lucifer asked

"Well... Let me see if I still got it." She hummed as she swung the axe around in calculated form and strength, "I think I got it. Hehe."

"Good. Want a round?"

"Alright! I don't know if I can adjust to axiel like what I did to Axcel... Though I'm sure that through time, I'd be able to adjust."

"That's the spirit, kid." Lucifer smirked

"Do you guys need a timer?" Dice asked as he pulled out a watch

"Oh! Yeah, two minutes." Lucifer nods with a smile

Dice chuckled and motioned everyone to get out of the space in the middle before grabbing his whistle, "alright... Don't go easy on each other, got it?"

"Papa, can you be a little not easy...? I'll try to adjust to this axe" (y/n) requested

Lucifer laughed a bit, "I'll try honey." He answered before summoning his own greatsword.

A big sword with sharp edges, same colour scheme as (y/n)'s axe.

"Ooohhh! Your weapon looks like mine! Just a sword...!" She points out making him nod

"Yep yep!"

"Alright, ready...?" Dice counted, "and... Go!" Blowing on the whistle, the two soon charged at each other.

But (y/n) was the first to land a hit which Lucifer effortlessly deflected.

Their movements were fast despite the big weapons they hold, sparks of metal clashing against metal soon filled their own little "battlefield", it's like as if they're in sync to each other...

Their movements were calculated and precise, as well as the position of their every move.

It was clear that if these two were to fight alongside each other, Lucifer would defend and (y/n) would offend, vise versa.

But now, (y/n) stayed closer to the ground as possible as to Lucifer who try to keep himself in the air as much as possible, one dives while the other rises.

It was like a dance of blades, a beautiful display of swordsmanship... Though their weapons are not mere swords.

"Holy shit..." The crew breathes, watching them fight.

For someone like (y/n), anyone would think she's only capable of little things and not helpful in a fight against one of the two leaders of a very infamous gang leader, Lucifer.

And yet, they fought as if they were clashing for the power itself, their own strengths rivaled as their eyes flare with the thought of a win.

That was until Dice had blown into the whistle, meaning that the time was up.

The two immediately stopped to breathe

While panting, Lucifer couldn't help but laugh, "you've gotten quick... Starling. That was impressive."

She laughed as well, "not too bad yourself for an old man"

"I am so not old." He smiled warmly, despite the raging cold outside the manor walls, it was warm...

Warm inside the manor, warm inside this room... Warm inside his heart, knowing that despite his flaws and errors, he's got a loving husband and daughter... All to himself.

"You should've seen your face when I struck you first! Hah!" (Y/n) laughed as Lucifer looked offended

"For your information, I was just taken a back. I didn't expect you to be that quick" he defended.

The two "argued" on who's much better...

Though for Dice, they were both perfect. His small smile as the two eagerly argued on who is more better... But he knew that how hard they try, they'll always be at the same level... It has always been like this. And he's glad it never changed.

"Some things never change?" Law asked snapping Dice back to reality

"Oh uh... Yeah." He chuckled

"I hope it's not too bad, we need to leave by tomorrow..." Law says, "our log has set and (y/n) has healed..."

"I know..." Dice sighed, "aww... We could've at least had a simple double date before you guys leave, would that be possible? I'd arrange all of it, don't worry."

"Hmm? That's fine by me but, I don't know if it's the same for (y/n)." Law answered

"Law!" (Y/n) called as she jumped into his arms, "did you see that? I was so much better than the old man!" She laughed

"Hey! I'm not old!!" Lucifer pouted, "Dice...!"

Dice merely laughed before nodding, "he's not old, just REALLY really ancient."

"Hey!"

Later...

"Oh! A double date...?" (Y/n) hummed as Dice nodded

"I think that sounds perfect!" Lucifer beamed with excitement, "that way we can get to know Trafalgar even better."

"Exactly" Dice nodded, "since you guys will be leaving tomorrow..."

"Ahh... That..." (Y/n) sighed, "sure. We can have the double date."

...

"Law, does this look alright?" (Y/n) asked as she stepped out of the bathroom in her room wearing a beautiful dress (it's up to you what the dress looks like)

"Oh... It's more than alright." Law smiled as he fixed his tie.

Dice has said that the date would be somewhere fancy, considering the two, Dice and Lucifer, likes spending a shit ton of money.

"Here... Let me help" she hummed as she fixed his tie, "there..." She giggled a bit

"Thanks" he leaned down to kiss her softly.

That's when Lucifer decided to burst open the room, "hey-! Oh..." He paused for a moment as the two pulled away from each other to look at him.

"P-papa!" She yelled in embarrassment, "learn to fucking knock!"

"Sorry, sorry..." He muttered, "anyway... Are you guys ready?"

She just sighed, "yes... We are..."

"Awesome! Come on!"

At the restaurant...

"Oh wow... I didn't expect that there's such a restaurant in this island..." (Y/n) hummed as a hostess showed them their seats, it was somewhere private...

"I know, right??" Lucifer grinned, "Dicey-boo just has a knack for finding places like these, ain't that right baby?"

"Definitely..." Dice chuckled, "come on... Let's sit."

Law, being the handsome gentleman that he is, pulled the chair out for (y/n) as she sat, "thanks..." She smiled at him as law smirked a bit before sitting beside her.

Later after they had ordered and settled in, Law noticed how fancy the restaurant is, and kind of wondered that even though they were infamous gang members, it's like the public only knew them for their money and fame.

"So... Law..." Dice called snapping him out of his thoughts, "how did you two meet?"

"Oh... I met her at a bar, she was a bartender there and there was a big commotion that prompted to her running away with us..." Law narrates while thinking

"Ah... I see..." Dice nods slightly

"Hey, Law... Quick question, what made you want to become a doctor? I'm sure as hell it's not to help people..." Lucifer muttered, "is that offensive? I guess it is considering doctors help people..."

"Actually... That's pretty valid, I wanted to become a doctor because my parents were one as well... Also my devil fruit requires some level of medical knowledge to wield." Law explained

Lucifer nodded and drank some wine.

"Law..." Dice called, turning to his serious look. It reminded (y/n) of what is about to come; "how much do you love her? I mean you'd understand, she's my only child."

Even Law himself knew it was somewhat coming before sighing.

"I love her. A lot..." Law said

"A lot can run out pretty quickly." Dice narrowed his eyes at him while crossing his arms.

"Dice..." Lucifer called

"And you live a dangerous lifestyle. How can I guarantee you won't put my daughter in any danger once you're both married?" He snarked

"Dad... No-"

"(Y/n)-ya... I'll handle this..." Law said as she sighed

"Alright..."

Dice raised a brow with a small scowl on his face.

"I may have lead a very dangerous lifestyle, but... I have lost so many loved ones that I am not letting that happen ever again" he answered, "I will protect her for as long as I am still alive. Even if it gets me killed because of it. Just this once... May I marry your daughter?"

Dice hummed and looked at law up and down to observe how willing he truly is.

When there was no indication that he was faking it, dice scoffed and closed his eyes, "alright. Under one condition..."

(Y/n) and Lucifer lit up for a moment and looked at each other with slightly wide eyes

'did he really just...?'

'he just did!!'

It was a silent conversation but it was... 'meaningful'?

"Anything..." Law nodded in determination.

Dice looked at law before leaning forward with his elbows propped on the table.

"Give me grandchildren" dice grinned innocently.

Law smirked darkly, "that can be arranged on our honeymoon..."

"Wait... What?!" (Y/n) gasped

[khaleesiofalicante]

Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. - An IALS Alternative POV

When he woke up, he felt tired.

It’s been this way for the last month.

He did get his eight hours of sleep – sometimes even more. But it felt off. Everything felt off since the night shift.

But Max shouldn’t be complaining.

At least he got to go to sleep and wake up.

Even if it was the middle of the day now.

He still got to wake up.

Two people didn’t. Two people were dead. 

He shouldn’t be complaining.

Once he managed to get ready, he texted David that he was picking up the kids from the daycare.

David texted back a heart.

Max bit his lip tightly as he put the phone away. He took the subway and picked up the children.

They went to the park on the way home and ate cotton candy. Max carried Arthur it one arm while Lance tightly held onto the other as they walked home.

They decided to watch TV until David came home.

While Lance and Arthur fought for the remote, Max wondered what David would do when he came home.

Max knew what he wanted to do. But he also knew he didn’t deserve it.

Because when David came home, he wanted to kiss Max first thing.

But not everyone got to do that.

Not everyone could home and kiss their spouse.

Some people were buried six feet underground with their spouse.

“Bapak?” Max said when the call connected. “Can I come over tonight? For dinner?”

“You’re coming over?” It was dad who responded – because bapak answered his phone on speaker like a weirdo. “To eat? Here? Voluntarily?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t appreciate that tone, Alexander,” bapak tutted. “Of course you can come, Blueberry. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah. I, uh, I just…I want the kids to see y’all,” Max said. “It’s been a while.”

“We would love that,” bapak cooed. “I’ll text Rafe and see if he can make it too.”

“Nice,” Max said. “We could do game night.”

He quickly got dressed and got the boys dressed too.

“Get dressed!” Max said when David came home. “We’re going to Brooklyn!”

While David took a shower and got ready to leave, Max went through the tote bag David had been carrying when he came home.

Flowers. Chocolates. Scented candles.

And condoms.

Max put it away.

He didn’t deserve this.

He didn’t deserve to feel good.

Not when he took that away from someone else.

His parents spent all of game night playing with the children. Max distracted himself by goading Rafael into throwing darts.

“How come I have better aim than you?” Rafael asked. “Aren’t you trained for this shit?”

“My specialty is hand-to-hand combat,” Max rolled his eyes. “Not firearms.”

“So, I do have better aim than you,” Rafael grinned. “Amor, I’m better than Max at shooting!”

“Not really a flex, Santiago,” Anjali muttered as she walked past them.

Max grinned. “God, I love her.”

Rafael smiled at his wife and turned to Max. “We’re trying.”

“Trying what?” Max asked.

Rafael rolled his eyes. “Trying to have a baby.”

“Oh,” Max said in surprise. “I thought you guys wanted to wait?”

“We did wait,” Rafael pointed out. “We’ve been married almost a decade now.”

“Right,” Max said. “Well, that’s great news.”

“Do you have any advice?” Rafael asked.

“On how to make a baby?”

“No, asshole!” Rafael smacked him on the back. “On, like, how to do this whole thing.”

“You’ll figure it out,” Max smiled. “You’re better than me at that too.”

Rafael smiled softly. “Okay.”

“And most of this shit is instinct,” Max shrugged. “It’s like…You just always know what to do, you know? It’ll make sense. You’ll see.”

Rafael looked fond for some reason. “Well, I can’t wait.”

Then he grabbed Anjali and disappeared into his old room.

“Are you trying right now?” Max yelled. “Gross!”

“What’s going on?” dad asked as he joined him in the kitchen.

“Nothing,” Max said quickly, not knowing whether Rafael had already told their parents. “What’s up?”

“How’s the night shift?” dad asked, and Max shrugged. “How long do you have to do this shit for?”

“Two more months,” Max replied.

“Right,” dad hummed. “Magnus wants me to ask if you can stay the night.”

“Why can’t he ask me himself?”

“He thinks you’ll say yes if I ask.”

“Well, he’s wrong.”

“Max,” dad said. “Stay.”

Max hesitated.

“You can stay in your room and the kids can stay in Rafe’s room-”

“I’m keeping my children away from that room for the considerable future,” Max mumbled.

“It’ll be fun,” dad said. “David can make us all breakfast.”

“Do not exploit my husband just because yours can’t cook,” Max wagged a finger.

“I dare you to say that a little louder,” dad grinned.

Max rolled his eyes fondly.

“We just miss you,” dad said gently. “Stay.”

Max felt the ache in his voice.

He’s been incredibly busy - thanks to the night shift - and barely saw his parents anymore. He knew they missed him a lot and just wanted to spend some together.

Max wanted that too.

But he didn’t deserve it though.

Because there was a boy, somewhere in Queens, who didn’t get to spend time with his parents.

And he will never get to do that again.

Because of Max.

“David has school tomorrow,” Max said. “Maybe another time?”

Dad exhaled. “Sure.”

The older man went back to the living room and played with the children. Max grabbed a bag of potato chips and started to stress eat.

David materialized out of nowhere, grabbed him by the arm, and dragged Max to his old bedroom.

He hadn’t been back here in a while.

His bedroom.

His trophy room more like.

Max didn’t know what he was thinking as a child to do this to his room. Why did he need all these reminders to convince himself that he was worth something?

Well. He knew why.

He knew the stress he carried inside his chest.

But what good had that ever done?

What was the point of all these fucking trophies?

What was the point of him?

His eyes fell on the portrait of David.

The boy he fell in love with the and the boy he let down a month ago.

“Hey,” David whispered and pulled him closer.

“Hey,” Max said.

What was the point? What was the fucking point?

“Missed you,” David and pressed a kiss to his jaw.

Max melted.

He had thought that David would be angry or repulsed or disappointed when Max and his team had fucked up a month ago and got two civilians killed.

But David had been none of those things. If anything, David loved him and cared for him even more now.

Max didn’t understand why.

He didn’t deserve it.

David certainly didn’t deserve the bullshit Max said as he pulled away and said they should leave. David didn’t deserve the bullshit Max pulled when he pretended to be asleep when David came looking for him later that night.

David started to act a little weird since that night.

Max wasn’t surprised at all.

Of course David was being weird.

David had probably come to realize that Max wasn’t the big deal he made himself be. David would probably soon realize he could soon do much better.

What? No. Shut up!

He tried not to think about it all.

He tried to focus on his work. He tried to be a good cop.

He tried not to fuck up again.

During the second month of the night shifts, when he came home after a particularly rough shift, he ended up in the apartment later than usual.

The kitchen was empty, and the house was quiet. David, Max assumed, was still asleep.

It was late.

He should be up and getting the kids ready. Max wondered if David was tired or sick or if Max should just get the kids ready himself.

He walked into the bedroom as he took off his badge and gun. “Babe? Are you still-”

David was definitely still asleep.

He was asleep without a shirt on.

David wasn’t particularly fond of being naked.

While Max slept in his boxers, because why would you wear more layers than necessary, David always slept in his pajamas.

In the early days, right after sex, he’d even put his clothes back on because he felt self-conscious about the scars on his back and what he called his ‘spaghetti legs’.

Max thought it was tragic because he would gladly look at David – with or without clothes (although preferably without) – all day and every day.

David seemed to have taken his shirt off last night.

Max was fucking furious that he wasn’t home to witness this. But it was a little difficult to be angry when all he could feel right now was fondness – and lust.

David looked gorgeous. His milky skin on display against dark blue sheets.

He looked unreal.

Like an angel in a renaissance painting or a prince in a children’s storybook.

And the fucker was smiling in his sleep.

Max bit his lip.

It took him less than three seconds to make up his mind as he threw the gun and badge away onto the table and ran into the bathroom and pulled down his trousers.

Was he the worst person in the world? Probably. Was he the worst husband in the world? Definitely.

But right now he was just a horny piece of shit who really needed to get off because his husband was too fucking pretty, and it was too much to handle.

When he came out of the bathroom, relaxed and sated and definitely less stressed after his clusterfuck of a shift where Gabriel had almost gotten hurt, David was in the boys’ room helping them get ready.

His stomach grumbled as he helped Lance with his shoes. It seemed that David hadn’t made breakfast since he overslept. So, Max decided to make something for himself.

After David and the kids left, Max, instead of going to sleep as he should, decided to cook first.

He was rummaging through the refrigerator when Lance came running back into the apartment – as usual.

Max knelt down immediately. He knew what was coming.

“Daddy is still awake!” Lance said in surprise.

“Daddy is hungry,” Max replied. “Kiss?”

Lance nodded and pressed a kiss on his cheek. “Bye.”

“Bye,” Max kissed his baby back.

He watched Lance run back and waited.

David usually came in right after their son to give Max a kiss too.

But he didn’t today.

Max frowned as he ran after Lance who closed the door behind him.

“You go kiss daddy now!” he heard Lance order from the other side.

Max smiled to himself.

“Not today, my love,” David replied quietly.

Max frowned.

David didn’t want to kiss him?

Since when?

He remembered a time when David couldn’t kiss him even when he wanted to. But he also remembered their first date when David had kissed him – despite everything – simply because he wanted to.

Because David loved kissing him.

But now apparently, he didn’t want to.

Was this because of the night shift? They haven’t done anything in a while and had only kissed a little bit here and there.

Did David figure out how to live without Max’s kisses?

Something inside Max’s head screamed danger.

What if David got his kisses somewhere else?

Shut up. Shut up. Shut up.

David started to act weird around Max after that.

He kept getting distracted easily – leaving the oven on and accidentally eating pens and what not.

Max wondered why.

Was David close to figuring out the truth?

Were Max’s fears real?

Was David done with him?

Max knew David was frustrated with the distance between them.

No sex. No intimacy.

They didn’t even get to sleep on the fucking bed together.

Max wanted to blame everything on the night shift. But he knew that wasn’t fair.

The other detectives didn’t seem to have domestic problems because of it.   

Besides, the night shift was going to end in a month.

What would happen then?

Would Max find out that David actually preferred Max to be away? What if David asked Max to stay on the night shift permanently?

Fucking hell. 

He tried not to think about it all as he showered after his shift. He wrapped the towel around himself as he told his brain to shut the fuck up and came out of the bathroom.

He almost walked into David.

David who for some reason was covered in flour and what looked like possibly Arthur’s vomit.

Max blinked.

It was the most endearing thing he had ever seen.

He didn’t know why he was getting emotional – and even a little horny – over fucking flour and vomit.

But he was.

Because this man, covered in flour and vomit, wasn’t just the love of Max’s life.

He was Lance and Arthur’s father.

This was his husband.

The man he came home to every night – or every morning, rather.

The man who tirelessly took care of their children. The man who was always in Max’s corner.

The one who was born to do just this.

Love. Love. Love

The sight before him was so fucking domestic.

And out of all the fuckers in the world, David decided to marry him, huh?

Max let out a chuckle.

He wanted to marry him all over again.

“What?” David asked.

“You look really cute,” Max said, not wanting to blabber out his internal monologue.

David looked annoyed for some reason. “Don’t be mean.”

“What the fuck?” Max chuckled as David walked into the bathroom.

The voice inside his head started to act up again.

It was too much for David.

He was working and taking care of the children and keeping their home together while Max fulfilled his punishment for ruining someone else’s home.

David was done. David was done. David was done.

Max told the voice to shut up.

Until he couldn’t.

They were in the living room, sitting on the couch, doing their own thing. Max was watching the game and David was reading.

The boys were already in bed, exhausted after a day of adventures with their aunt and uncle.

Usually, when they got moments like this, Max and David maximized the hell out of it.

Sex. More sex. And then some more.

If they were both tired, they would at least sit on this same couch and make out.

If they weren’t in the mood, they would at least just cuddle on the couch as they did their own thing.

But today it was nothing.

David seemed to more be interested in reading Persuasion than kissing Max.

Max felt insulted.

He felt unwanted.

He felt like crying.

He grabbed the bottle of water from the table because his throat felt dry and his eyes felt wet.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

He can’t cry. Not in front of David.

He was supposed to be strong.

If he wasn’t that, then what was the point of him?

“What are your thoughts on threesomes?” David asked him out of nowhere.

Max choked on his water. “The fuck did you just say?”

David went on about threesomes and how he had changed his mind about them even though the thought of a threesome before today would make this jealous fuck furious as hell.

“I’ve changed my mind about a lot of things,” David told him when Max called him out.

Oh.

Was Max one of those things too?

“Have you found a third?” Max asked when the conversation started to make his stomach twist. 

He needed to know.

David looked uneasy. “What if I have? Would you be interested?”

Max could just see it.

It was a parent from Idris.

Some posh fucker who could afford to pay the annual school fees in one go.

A single dad.

He probably went to Harvard Business School.

He probably has a car – one he would let David drive.

He’d work in Manhattan. Come home at a reasonable time.

He most definitely won’t have stupid voices inside his head. 

Take David on vacations. Listen to Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez. Laugh like a normal person. 

He cooked for David instead of being the one who ate all the time. 

He gave massages to David instead of being the one to get the massages. 

He’d buy all sorts of cool shit for the kids. He could probably afford an iPad. Maybe five.

He’d buy flowers for David.

Fuck.

When was the last time Max bought flowers for David?

He couldn’t even remember. An indication that it had been too fucking long.

Fuck.

He looked at David.

He would do anything for this man.

Anything.

“I don’t know,” Max said. “It depends on the person I guess.”

Anything but let some ivy league asshole touch his husband.

His throat felt dry again. His eyes felt wet again.

Fucking shit. Not now. Not again.

“Max,” David said gently and leaned in, pressing their lips together, his hands roaming everywhere.

Max closed his eyes.

He wanted to lose himself in the kiss.

But he knew what this was.

This was pity.

God, David must think he was fucking pathetic.

He wasn’t a good cop. He wasn’t a good husband.

Next, he’ll find out he wasn’t a good father either.

But he knew that one already.

Shut up!

Max pulled away and told David he had to leave for his shift.

David let him go.

He didn’t fight or even point out Max didn’t have to leave just out.

He let Max go.

Apparently, it was easy to do that now.

He didn’t come home in the morning until David left.

He kept doing that. He kept avoiding David because he couldn’t bear it anymore.

Useless. Useless. Useless.

Later that week, David didn’t come home either.

Max had to get ready for work and put the children to sleep.

David didn’t come for even after that.

When Max had sent a text asking where he was, David had simply replied that he was with Jackson.

Where were they? What were they doing?

David came home close to midnight – sloshed as fuck.

Max had to drag him to bed while David hummed some Taylor Swift song under his breath. He got the man ready for bed when David whined for his phone.

Max found the device in his jacket – along with a note written on a napkin.

Oh.

‘From one pretty blonde man to another.’

What the actual fuck?

Max wanted to find the fucker and punch him.

He wasn’t jealous.

No.

Jealousy had never been something he felt or understood.

But he was fucking terrified.

Because he realized he took David for granted.

There were people out there – other pretty blonde men – who made David feel seen and appreciated.

And David let them.

He didn’t even throw the fucking note away.

He brought it home with him.

“I know the night shift is a pain in the ass,” Gabriel said later that night. “But you look like shit, man.”

“I think David’s gonna divorce me,” Max said.

Gabriel who was on their fourth cup of coffee for the night and spit it out and laughed incredulously. “You’re hilarious.”

Max stared at his colleague.

Gabriel blinked. “Shit.”

Max sighed.

“Okay,” Gabriel said. “From the top.”

Max told him everything.

Almost everything.

He kept the stupid voices to himself. 

“You want my opinion as a detective or your friend?” Gabriel asked when he was done.

“Detective,” Max said, because he needed to be objective about this.

“Okay,” Gabriel nodded. “David wants to get laid.”

“What?” Max blinked.

“He wants dick,” Gabriel said. “Give him dick. Everything will go back to normal.”

“Homie, I don’t know how you run your household-”

“I don’t run shit,” Gabriel snorted. “Selena runs everything, and I let her. You, sir, on the other hand, need to take control back. You know to show that man what he is missing.”

“This is terrible advice,” Max said.

“Is it?” Gabriel grinned.

Max rolled his eyes. “Sex doesn’t always fix things.”

“No,” Gabriel agreed. “But it’ll fix this.”

Max chewed on his lip.

Maybe it will.

Even if it won’t, it will at least feel fucking fantastic.

God, Max missed it.

Not sex.

Not just sex.

Sex with David.

He missed feeling good. He missed feeling wanted. He missed feeling safe.

Because that’s how sex with David made him feel every time.

Good and wanted and safe.

But he didn’t deserve to feel any of those things.

No.

He didn’t.

But that didn’t mean he was going to stand by and watch while some blonde fuck wooed his husband.

When he went back home, he made a plan.

A simple one.

David complained when Max suggested they go to the beach. But Max had told the children beforehand so they were too excited, and David couldn’t control them.

When they went to the beach, Lance ran towards the water. Max ran after him as David stayed back and set up a place for them.

He grabbed the little heathen and walked back, taking off his shirt on the way.

Show him what he is missing.

“Hey,” Max said when he joined them. “You want me to do your back?”

David looked up at him and blinked.

He still looked tired and sleepy.

Shit.

Max probably shouldn’t have dragged him here.

Fuck.

Why did he panic and pull this shit?

Fuck you, Gabriel!

David didn’t want Max to do his back and he didn’t want to swim either.

He stayed back and read a fucking book!

Max went back to the water with Lance.

He wondered if he wasn’t attractive anymore.

He knew he was attractive.

There were people who were literally staring at him right now.

But what if he wasn’t attractive to David anymore?

Max had brought David here because he had thought David would forget about everything once he saw Max shirtless.

Because it was that easy with that man.

Max remembered them yelling at each other and fighting over ridiculous shit and all he would have to do was take off his shirt.

And David would be distracted.

But it wasn’t like that anymore.

They weren’t horny young people anymore.

They were adults now. Proper adults.

What if David was attracted to proper adult stuff?

Steady income and a fully paid mortgage and a husband who didn’t do a job that almost got him killed every other night.

Fuck.

Fuck.

Gabriel was wrong.

Max can’t save his fucking marriage with his abs.

His abs were useless as the rest of him.

Maybe they should talk.

Arthur, who was also in the water now, grabbed Lance and went to the shore to find seashells. Max kept an eye on them as he went to find David.

David seemed to have fallen asleep under the umbrella.

Max went back to the water.

Yeah.

Useless.

He watched the boys from the water when a girl in a white bikini swam over to him and started to chat him up.

She wasn’t subtle at all. And she made him feel wanted.

But she did make him feel good.

She did not make him feel safe.

And sure as fuck didn’t make him feel needed.

No one else had that power.

David always acted like he would disintegrate if didn’t have Max with him.

Max loved it. He got off on it.

He had always been wanted. But he liked being needed more.

It’s why he did what he did for a living. He wanted to feel needed. 

Like he was doing something important. 

Necessary. 

When they got out of the water, after she quizzed him about surfing, she pulled him by the arm and dragged him towards the guy who was selling ice cream.

“I want ice cream,” she grinned at him. “Really in the mood to suck something, ya know?”

Jesus.

She was not subtle at all. Certainly not in the way she was flashing her tits.

What?

He had to look! They were right there!

“So,” she said, twirling a strand of wet hair with her finger. “Ice cream?”

“My husband makes ice cream,” Max heard himself say.

David did know how to make ice cream. He knew how to churn ice cream. He was fucking cool like that.

“Oh. Cool,” she said, unbothered. “You want get some now? With me?”

“I’m not really hungry,” Max replied.

He can’t have ice cream. He didn’t deserve ice cream.

He should probably watch his food.

He should probably work out more.

He needed to be attractive again.

But that wasn’t enough, was it?

Not to David.

No.

David came over soon after, he said a bunch of weird shit to the girl, and then left.

On the way home, Max thought about what happened.

Was that David being jealous?

Was Gabriel right?

Did something good come out of that beach trip after all?

“Today was fun, right?” Max asked he got ready for his shift and David climbed into bed after putting the kids to sleep.

David didn’t respond.

Max wondered if he had fallen asleep already.

He came out of the bathroom and looked at his husband, who was in bed. Still awake. “Babe. Did you have fun today?”

“Did you?” David asked him.

Max thought about it.

It wasn’t a bad day.

Not at all.

Any day he got to spend with his family could never be bad.

The children had a lot of fun. He got to see David be a jealous little shit.

And he got to swim.

“Yeah. Yeah, I did,” Max replied, feeling grateful for today. Even if it didn’t go according to plan. He cleared his throat. “Did you see me in the water?”

Without my shirt?

Did you think I was hot?

Do you still think I’m beautiful?

David didn’t respond though.

He turned around in bed and pulled the blanket over himself. “Goodnight.”

Oh.

Max turned off the lights and went outside.

No.

It wasn’t going to be a goodnight.